Life In An Apartment Near Chinatown

On Friday night, we tried to go to a new restaurant in the neighborhood but it was super packed and we were hungry! We headed to Bangkok 54 (old reliable) instead.

Fresh rolls and fish cakes!

Dirty martini!


Z ordered the salmon entree which came with brown rice and a fresh salad. The salmon was cooked really nicely!

I ordered the green curry with a seafood combo (mussels, octopus, shrimp, and scallops). It was spicy! I took half for lunch which is a bonus!

After dinner, we watched Woody Allen’s Midnight in Paris which was really cute!

I love date night!

In a few minutes I’m heading out the door to get tested for allergies.

I’ve been meaning to do it for a LONG time but several factors (stupid doctors, money, health insurance, money, etc.) have been getting in the way. My eczema is not getting better and neither is my health, so I figured I would bite the bullet and pay out of pocket get tested!

I’m hoping they can do a blood test to see if I am sensitive to Gluten (which  I fear I am). I’m just hoping to get a lot of answers about what is going on with my body!

I don’t love gluten-free bread and I don’t want to have to eat it anymore. I will if I have to, but I want to eat this:

and this:

and this:

and this:

and this:

You get my point.

I’ll be back with an update soon…unless I’m eating biscuits.

I guess I’ve been busy doing other things besides blogging lately. Well, I’m back for now ;) We’ve been cooking and eating well, so I’m here with a couple recipes and pictures for you…

I found a recipe for Baked Coconut Lentils on my Whole Foods App and knew I wanted to experiment.

Ingredients: lentils, onions, shredded coconut, ground ginger, Bragg’s liquid aminos (gluten free soy), turmeric, coconut spread, and…

dates!

I sautéed the onions in the coconut spread first, then added the spices. After the onions were soft and nicely colored, I added 6 cups of water, the bag of lentils and the chopped dates.

While the lentils cooked, I made an Indian-inspired marinade for the tilapia with plain greek yogurt, lime juice, curry, turmeric, S&P, and cumin.

The fish and marinade went in to the fridge to hang out while everything else was cooking.

After the lentils cooked for 30 minutes on the stove, I transferred them to the oven!

z cooked the tilapia when the lentils were almost ready to come out.

The pup stayed close to supervise…

Along with the lentils and fish we had a nice fresh salad!

YUM! The meal turned out great. Neither of us really tasted the coconut flavor which would have been nice, but it was still delicious. We had TONS of leftovers which is great for lunches!

Another night this week, z stopped at the store after work and picked up two beautiful swordfish steaks, herbs, and some red potatoes. Paired with some steamed green beans this was an awesome dinner!

This blog used to be about packing my lunch (which I still do every day), but I stopped taking pictures! Oops! For nostalgic purposes I snapped a picture of the lunch I packed on Friday when I was at a Professional Development training.

Sunbutter and peach jam on gluten free bread, banana slices, a honeybell, and a gluten free granola bar!

Things are good in general. Classes start this week so it’s about to get really busy. I can’t say when my next blog post will be but I was never really a daily blogger anyway…and hey, at least I’m consistently inconsistent ;)

 

peace out and congrats to the GIANTS!

Cozy Sunday.

The Giants won and Tim Tebow beat the Steelers. I’m not even mad…did you see that throw?

On Saturday night, z and I met up with foca, G, and KB for some Mexican food at Anita’s and some good music.

Sangria and guacamole. Can’t go wrong there…

Chile relleno with lots of cheese, beans, and rice. Delicious.

After our bellies were full, we headed to Epicure Café for some live music.

Hooray for Norman Rockwell (the band).

I also like Norman Rockwell (the artist).

The end.

Monday, January 2nd.

A day that Louis will never forget.

The day his mom and dad…took his manhood!

He has no huevos AND he has to wear the cone of shame.

This picture is right after we brought him home. Poor pupster. 

We knew dinner would be awkward, so we ordered Thai and basically took turns eating.

Fresh rolls.

Tofu soup.

I also got catfish curry which was tasty!

Louis felt better the next day, but looked super pathetic trying to play with his toys.

He’s still on the mend but is almost 100% back to normal. He still wears the cone just so we have a reason to make fun of him to be safe!

 

Get well soon pupster!

2012 started quite nicely for us. No headaches or dehydration (like the past two years) and no early morning puppy potty time!

Another bonus…we got a very special, homemade donut delivery!

I’ll give you one guess as to who dug in the bag first…They were fresh and delicious!

After breakfast we did what any normal person does on a weekend in January…We played tennis. Outside. Without jackets. The temperature was just unbeatable and we didn’t want to waste the sunshine! After tennis we made a salad and headed over to the G’s for our good luck foods of the year! I’m definitely liking this tradition. This is the second year in a row and it’s just so yummy!

Sarah made quiche, mashed potatoes, stewed black-eyed peas, and pork with sauerkraut!

Even this guy had some peas and sauerkraut for luck :)

For dessert…a delicious Linzer Torte, complete with “2012” on top!

Topped off with homemade whip cream…YUM!

A good start to the year!

Happy 2012 all :)

As you know, z and I went to a Mexican restaurant to celebrate New Year’s. I like to think it was an “authentic” Mexican meal, but below you will find a TRULY MEXICAN New Year’s Eve meal!

My aunt lives in Mexico and sent me these pictures to show how she celebrated her New Year’s, Mexican style! She sent me this sweet email with the description of all the food! I begged her to let me put them on the blog, and I’m so glad she was cool with it! I think being a foodie runs in the family…

From my aunt’s email:

Left to right, Rosca de Reyes cake (with a hidden trinket), Lentil Salad, Bacalao Guisado (Cod Fish Stew), Sidra (Sparkling Cider), and grapes (eat 12 just before midnight and make a wish with each one). Quite colorful. The stew was better when I added fresh squeezed lime juice (Yea! limes!!). The cake was store bought but good.

I loved seeing these pictures and reading the descriptions! So fun and festive…now I’m in the mood for lentils! Note to self: add lentils to your shopping list ASAP!

 

Thanks for sharing, Auntie!! Feliz Año Nuevo!

It’s 2012. Woa – 2011 went by super fast! New house, new pup, and a new internship!

z and I had 9:30pm dinner reservations for Oyamel Cocina Mexicana (Mexican Kitchen) in DC for New Year’s Eve.

Because the reservation was so late, we made sure to relax and snack before we left. After getting ready, I came downstairs and z said “Want to do shots of tequila?” Um…sure? I walked to the dining room and it was already set up:

Yum.

We got to Oyamel around 9:15 and they sat us right away. There was a live band just getting started and we chose to sit at a table where we could hear them! So festive!

We went all out and did a four-course dinner, a five-course drink pairing, AND dessert!

First drink (with chips and salsa): Mini Oyamel: José Andrés’ personal favorite with Milagro blanco, Luxardo triplum, fresh lime juice and ‘salt air’

SALT AIR = SO DELICIOUS!

Before we finished our first drink, our second drink came out: Margarita Soda with Smoked Sea Salt Air – it was like a fizzy margarita! Yum.

z and I made sure to order four different plates so we could share.

The first plate out was the “Gaspacho” estilo Morelia: From the historic city of Morelia, a salad of seasonal fruit, jicama root, cucumbers, queso fresco and chile pequín

Next up were the ceviches:

This was z’s Hawaiian Marlin Ceviche with chilies, grapefruit, and mint

I ordered the Ceviche de huachinango: Red snapper with avocado in salsa mexicana of tomato, sweet onion, cilantro and lime juice – One of my favorites of the night!

The third drink was…weird. It was a super sweet, syrupy strawberry and chocolate cordial cocktail called Amore Ponche. We drank them…but they were not our favorites.

Next up: Hawaiian Blue Prawns grilled with a cilantro herb puree.

The one thing I knew I wanted to order before we even got to the restaurant was…the Col de bruselas estilo San Quintín: Crispy brussel sprouts with an arbol chile sauce, pumpkin seed, peanuts and lime

Moving on to the fourth drink – please be forewarned, I’m pretty excited about this one! Get ready…I think this was the best wine I’ve ever had. Now, this may be for many reasons: a) we were three drinks in already, b) we just had a drink that was less than stellar, and/or c) it was just amazing wine.  It could be a combination of all three, but let me introduce to you:

KENNETH-CRAWFORD, Grenache, Larner Vineyard,

Santa Ynez Valley, CA 2007

Menu Description: Gorgeous Grenache with classic expressions of strawberry and white pepper.

Denise’s Description: Delicious. Please give me more.

Come to mama!

Ok, moving on to the next dish Cayo de hacha con pipián de chile pasilla: Seared scallops with a pasilla chile and pumpkin seed sauce, orange segments, pumpkin seed oil and toasted pumpkin seeds.

I was pretty stuffed at this point but managed to eat 3/4 of a scallop that z so nicely shared with me. They were perfectly cooked. I feel like I don’t have the right adjectives to describe how tasty this dish was. It was so balanced: creamy and crunchy, earthy and bright, awesome and amazing…

I couldn’t believe we still had food coming…my last plate of the night was a Hawaiian Blue Prawn taco with avocado and fresh salsa! I ate most of it but z helped finish it off for me!

When it was time for dessert I didn’t think I wanted anything but then it came out and that whole “I’m full” thing went out the window…

Jericalla de chocolate con maracuya: Oaxacan chocolate custard with a Mexican-origin chocolate sorbet, passion fruit gelatin, chocolate and pumpkin seed

Pastel de tres leches con piña: A traditional cake, soaked in Coruba rum and three kinds of milk, with a rum and milk foam, fresh pineapple gelatin and a pineapple salsa, served with a scoop of caramel ice cream

Both desserts were crazy delicious, but the tres leches took the cake…literally! Amazing.

Ok, so now I’m back to the whole “I’m full” thing and out comes our final drink – a Tejate cocktail! According to my “research,” Tejate is a Mexican drink made with toasted cacao, corn and flowers! It was thick and strong…and I couldn’t drink all of it!

When I thought all consumption had concluded…we were given free champagne for the New Year’s toast!

We counted down the last seconds of 2011 and welcomed 2012 with a Mexican band, lots of people, full bellies, and happy hearts!

 

!!FELIZ 2012!!

 

Side note: This was a really good picture of z and I, but you know his rule “no face on the blog,” so I cropped him out to show you how festive I was!

 

Happy 2012 to you all! I hope your year is filled with love, laughter, blessings, fun, and good food!

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Want to check out our other trips to Oyamel? You can find them here and here!