I'm excited to report that I just moved this weekend from Mount Pleasant to near Union Station, and after three years, Joe and I moved in together. To a >600 square foot apartment, which will be interesting. I loved Mount Pleasant, but it will be fun to try something new, and I'm excited to make this little apartment into our home. Be back with pictures soon!
Culinaria Cooking Class, Tart Style
I wanted to do something different for Mother's Day this year (as opposed to my normal not doing much of anything at all). At an event earlier this year, I met an instructor at a cooking school in Vienna near my parents' house and that seemed like it would be a fun thing for my mom and I to do together. Mom chose the "Luscious Tarts" class, so last week we headed to Culinaria Cooking School to learn how to bake some tarts.
It was an ambitious class: we made little blue cheese tartlets with a Roquefort-candied walnut topping, a caramelized onion, leek, and bacon tart, and a pear tart. That's a lot of tarts! I love the idea of making your own crust, and now I feel more confident about doing so. Just need to get some pie weights and I'll be in business. A fun tip: for the tartlets, we rolled aluminum foil into balls and wedged them into the crust during blind baking so the little cups would keep their shape without puffing up.
Mom and I had to pair with two other ladies and work together on the recipes. At first, it was kind of awkward deciding who would do what. I bake occasionally at home, but there I felt a little pressure to do everything just so. "Everyone is watching me as a I scrape this bowl," I thought. That's why I like cooking by myself, you can take your time and do things the way you want. But it was nice to work in a group as well. Brought back home-ec/teen-living memories from my middle school days.
Here are the fruits of our labor. Everything here used lots of butter and cheese and was decidedly tasty:
It was a lot of fun, our teacher Marilena was a calming presence, and the really cool part is that assistants kept swooping in to clear away our dirty bowls and utensils. If only they were in my kitchen all the time, things would run a lot smoother.
Here's our class! There were a few male students there, but they ducked out of the picture. Image via Facebook
I wanted to share the recipe for our dessert tart. This was my favorite. It was kind of like a giant cookie. Chewy and flaky and delicious! Aside from the time chilling in the fridge and baking, the actual prep goes really quickly. You could use pears, or plums, or peaches. Any fruit but berries, according to Marilena, who graciously allowed me to post the recipe here.
Marilena Leavitt's Divine Pear Tart
1/2 med. lemon (juice only) divided
1 lb. pears (Concorde or Anjou), cored and sliced 1/2" thick
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sugar
2 medium eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp cinnamon
2 tbsp sugar
1. Butter a 9" springform pan. Slice the pears to 1/2" thick, place them in a bowl and squeeze half the lemon juice over them.
2. In a small mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
3. With an electric mixer, cream 1/2-cup butter and 1-cup sugar together on medium speed, until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, and then the vanilla. Beat in the flour mixture (on low), until the batter just comes together.
4. Spread the batter in the prepared pan. Wrap and chill for at least 20 minutes.
5. Preheat the oven to 375 Fahrenheit.
6. Remove the chilled pan from the fridge and arrange pears in tight concentric circles on top of dough. Squeeze remaining lemon juice evenly over the pears.
7. In a bowl, mix the cinnamon with 2 tablespoons of sugar. Sprinkle over pears. Bake for 45 to 55 minutes or until the edges are golden and the center is set. Cool the tart in the pan for 10 minutes. Run a sharp knife around the edge and then remove the sides of the pan. The tart can be served warm or at room temperature.
Flight of the Conchords
Not trying to be too creepy, but I couldn't help but notice what my neighbor was watching on television.
This is taken of an apartment around the corner from me. I don't know if they have a giant television or the show was projected directly on the wall or what. Whatever it is, I tip my hat to you, fellow Flight of the Conchords fan. It's like Bret and Jemaine are my neighbors!
Goodbye Fuji
This weekend I sold my bike on Craigslist to someone who would truly love it: a preteen girl.
The cool thing about having a blog is I can figure out exactly when I first bought it: August 2009. Feels like forever ago. I adored it, mainly because of the color. But ever since I got the Bikeshare, I rarely rode the Fuji. If I get another bike, I want one with a step-through frame because this one was a bit too much bike for me. I love the look of this one, but that feels like a silly purchase for me. Even if I ride the Bikeshare to work every day, that has to be cheaper. Although, that's assuming that the Bikeshare bike is available for your commute...
Looking back through the blog's archives, I can see it's been an up and down relationship: I got passed by a jogger while riding the bike, received a bike light from a friendly biker, wrestled the bike up and down the stairs, and accessorized with a hot pink Hello Kitty bike helmet.
It's bittersweet: I feel like I kind of gave up on this bike, but I enjoyed it while I had it. And hopefully this new owner will give it the love it deserves. And I will pocket the cash.
Croquet Washington, DC
Last year, I tried to host a croquet-themed birthday party but it turned out to be 104 degrees on the day of the party. Stupid July birthday. It didn't seem fair to make my guests risk heatstroke in order for me to live out a scene from Heathers, thus croquet was canceled. I'm glad Joe discouraged me from buying two croquet sets as I had planned.
A year later, and we are finally playing croquet in D.C.!
In the shadow of the Capitol dome, no less! Here's Alex posing with the confident smile of a croquet champion.
As it turns out, I am horrible at croquet. As in, swinging and missing completely. I am going to blame this on the fact that the grass was a bit overgrown, which meant the ball could go any which way. Also, the set appears to be made of balsa wood. We had a blast though. It was also fun to watch bemused tourists looking on at our game. If you see me inspecting patches of grass, just know I am looking for our next croquet court.
Do More 24 DC - Thursday, June 6
The United Way of the National Capital Area reached out to me to help spread the word about their Do More 24 fundraising event. It's a 24-hour give-athon starting at 12 a.m. on Thursday, June 6, and organizations like Wegmans are chipping in, donating 100,000 pounds of food to area foodbanks. And if you donate at least $24, Uber is matching that by giving out $24 vouchers to the first 1,000 existing customers and any new customer. There are a ton of events on Thursday too, see the whole list here. The dress-up-your-pet contest appeals to me, even though I don't have a pet as of yet. One of my best friend's first jobs was with the United Way, so I know they are doing great work in communities, and I wanted to give this a shout out.
