Long Time No Blog

I have no excuses. I just was uninspired for a little while there. Now I'm back with lots to report.

The hubby and I went to Pizzeria Orso, which is touted by some as having the best pizza around, and since we're partial to Neapolitan-style we thought it imperative to check it out. The hubby had pepperoni and I had white pizza topped with clams, capers, and hot red pepper flakes. Both were really good but not the best. I think they lacked salt, mine especially, and the clams were a little off-tasting. Two Amys still tops our list, though we have yet to try Pizzeria Paradiso and Seventh Hill Pizza (owned by the same people as one of our favorites, Montmartre).

We had the pleasure of going to the Columbia Room speakeasy inside the Passenger bar. Derek Brown is the barkeep and, since there's only 10 seats, you get to interact with him one-on-one. In my case, this meant discussing Italian aperitivos like Aperol and Campari and getting free samples. We did the fixed price option, which meant three drinks and two small plates. It was so amazing that I made a second reservation the minute we got home.

In the realm of recipe-testing, I decided to give homemade mozzarella another chance. Fail! I even had the hubby check that I was reading the instructions correctly. I was so we concluded that one of the ingredients is old or bad. The milk was fine so I blame either the citric acid or the rennet tablets. I plan to order fresh stuff soon to try, try again.

Now that I'm re-inspired, more cooking and some baking to come, including that layer cake I mentioned a while back.

Finally, I have to relay this...I'm not tooting my own horn...One of my yoga instructors told me out of the blue that he bets I'm "amazing" in the kitchen, that he just has a feeling about it. This was without knowing about my love of food or this blog or anything. I don't have a clue how he arrived at his conclusion. Maybe during meditation I chant "lamb" instead of "om." All I know is this made my day, well, my week (or more) actually.

My Week In Cooking 3 Plus Some Updates

First up were fish tacos with tilapia, black beans, shredded cheese, and cilantro topped with a squeeze of lime. We used blue corn hard-shell tacos. I made the tilapia on the stovetop, not really making any attempt to keep the fillets together. I flaked the fish up in the hot olive oil and stirred in my spices: cayenne, cumin, garlic powder, oregano, paprika, salt, and pepper.

Next was chicken pot pie from Cook's Illustrated, which was good in very small quantities. SO rich! I actually woke up in the middle of the night after we made this for dinner. I was so full I felt sick to my stomach. Not a rousing endorsement, I guess, though it also could have been because of what me made for dessert.

Cannoli cheesecake from Gourmet. Yes, another very rich dish. Perhaps we should have made them on different nights. Anyway, it was pretty good, but I'd take regular old cannoli any day. Every day in fact.

In terms of updates, I'm currently looking for a new place to volunteer. DC Central Kitchen has been very difficult to get into, and I really liked it there! Well, there's lots of other kitchens, farm markets, community gardens, etc., that can use help. I'll find the one with the best fit then spend my Mondays there.

I got the spring course book for L'Academie de Cuisine. I signed up for a tart workshop. I also decided to try Culinarie cooking school in DC. The hubby and I are taking an Indian cooking class. Can't wait for that!