Brussels, Sunday March 13th

[Beth]: Okay, now the bulk of the blogging begins.  As I mentioned in the previous post, we were gone for 10 days.  Our current plan is one post per travel day!  We took an overnight flight and arrived in Belgium at 8am their time.  Despite sleeping for only a few hours on the plane (and Jared, really, slept none), we determined to push through the day and stay awake until after dinnertime.

Thankfully, we were able to check into our hotel as soon as we arrived.  It was located right in the heart of the old city, just steps from the Grand Place and the central train station.  Brussels is a major European city thanks to the E.U. headquarters and NATO, but it is a remarkable compact city.  It is also divided by elevation: the Lower Town, built around the river (now paved over) with narrow cobblestone streets and old buildings, and the Upper Town, quite literally up a steep hill with wide boulevards and palaces.

In order to get the lay of the city quickly, we went on two of Rick Steves’ walking tours.  In between we had lunch in a quaint, medieval cellar restaurant right on the Grand Place.

We quickly covered many of the dishes Belgium is famous for: mussels, beer, and fries.  Mussels are cooked a handful of ways and are surprisingly fun and delicious!  We shall talk more of the beer soon (it might even get its own post by Jared).  The fries are spectacular!  Belgian-style fries are deep-fried twice – once to cook them and a second time to brown them.  I think that makes all the difference.  That and the fact that Belgians eat them with mayo.  Yummy!

Not far from the Grand Place is the Mannekin Pis, a quite famous little fellow.  I wasn’t really familiar with the statue before our trip, but I read about him and the folklore stories about his creation.  The guidebook made a point that most people are underwhelmed when they first see him because he is smaller than they think.  I knew this –and still thought he was smaller than I expected!  He is very entertaining, as is watching the tourists gathering around and taking pictures.

After sufficiently honoring the little man (he just keeps going and going and going….), we decided to indulge in another Belgian tradition: waffles.  We discovered that one cannot walk a block in Brussels without passing a waffle shop or chocolate shop (MUCH more on those later!).  The waffles are thick and sweet and served hot, either plain or covered with fruit, chocolate sauce, and whipped cream.  Although Brussels had many great sights, the eating was the best!  We made a conscious effort to not pass up opportunities to eat all these goodies, and we still wish we had eaten more waffles!

By the time 5pm rolled around, the rain and clouds and Sunday evening had made the city very quiet and deserted.  All the museums had closed, so we had to kill a few hours before dinner.  But what a struggle!  We ended up on a couch in our hotel, reading to each other and occasionally swatting one another with a magazine to keep ourselves awake.  It may have only been funny to us in the punch-drunkness of sleep deprivation and long travel.  But, oh, was it hilarious at the time.

We had dinner at a local bistro: salad, sandwich, and of course, more beer!  Then thankfully, it was time for rest.  The next morning, Jared had to be alert for his conference and me for sight-seeing!

Cheesecake and Virginia

[Beth]: There is nothing like a deadline to get one to post.  In this case, the deadline is an airplane flight to Virginia.  We are so very excited to be headed to DC, Richmond, and Charlottesville for about a week.  The original purpose of the trip is a college friend's wedding at UVA.  And once we committed to that trip, we decided to make our first return to Virginia in over a year a real, true vacation.  We definitely DO promise to blog about that trip upon our return.

In the remaining 2.3 minutes I have, I will share some of my latest culinary adventures.  On Sunday, we made chili, along with some sour cream cornbread in our new cast iron skillet. By the way, the skillet is my new best friend.  We are still working on the non-stick aspect of the seasoning, but it is getting there.  And it makes cooking scrambled (or fried) eggs for breakfast a lot more fun.  Then on Monday I made a Tuscan cheese tortellini stew in the crock pot.  I can't decide which is a better friend: the skillet or crock pot.  Hmmmm....  And least, but definitely the best: a cheesecake.  I made it for the first time, and I think it turned out really tasty.  Check it out:

Virginia, here we come!!

When your CSA gives you cucumbers...

[Beth]: Make pickles!  Which is what we did yesterday.  I have a strong feeling that this blog may very soon feel like it has turned into a food blog.  I have been baking up a storm in the past few weeks, but more about that in a bit.

Like I said, we recently got a large batch of cucumbers from our CSA.  We use them in salads, but it was clear that we couldn't finish these before they went bad.  As it happened, we also got a bunch of dill.  So, cucumbers + dill = pickles.  At least we hope so.  I bought some Ball jars at the store, and we got everything ready.  After sterilizing the jars, we loaded them with dill, peppercorns, garlic, and the cucumbers.  To that we poured in some brine (simply water, vinegar, and salt), and then boiled the jars for 15 minutes.  As they cooled, we got to hear the jars "popping" as the sealing process occurred.  Supposedly that means we did it right.  We should find out in a week or so!

For some reason, I have gotten on a baking streak lately.  Well, actually, I know the reason: I am back in the job hunt and need something besides looking at boring job boards to occupy my days.  I am splitting my time between cross-stitching and baking.  That combo suddenly makes me feel like a 1940's housewife.  And I embrace that.  :-)  My first endeavor was cinnamon raisin bread, utilizing our bread maker.  Although we have had it for two years and used it a fair number of times, I still feel like bread is hit-or-miss in it.  The loaf turned out pretty well, although most of the raisins did fall to the bottom half of the loaf.  (Btw, I sadly have no pictures of my baking - must remember to take some in the future!).  Second, peanut butter brownies.  I got the recipe from a gigantic cookie cookbook from my mother-in-law.  It has about 500 recipes, all of which make me wish I could eat dessert for every meal.  These brownies took a bit of time and labor, but were well worth the effort.  Jared and his coworkers will attest to this.  The base is basic brownie batter, but with the addition of chocolate chips; then comes a peanut butter and cream cheese fluffiness on top.  Finally, some more brownie batter on top, and the mix swirled together a bit.  So heavenly!  If any readers are motivated enough to email me, I will send you the recipe.  And third, this past Friday I made banana nut bread, again using the bread maker.  I LOVE banana nut bread, but Jared isn't a fan.  This was supposed to be another concoction that I made, we sampled, and then Jared took to work to pawn off on his coworkers.  Well, that did not happen.  We ended up eating the entire loaf between Friday and tonight - and Jared doesn't even like banana nut bread!

I am debating what to try next: cookies? more bread? pie?  I am sort of intrigued about the idea of making a cheesecake.  I hear it's challenging, and besides we don't have a spring-form pan.  So maybe in the future.  But check back soon to hear how the pickles turned out!

San Diego > Wisconsin Dells

[Jared]: Annnnnd....we're back!  Four weeks ago today my family arrived to spend a week in San Diego.  They left three weeks ago.  You might say a new post is overdue.  But that's you.  I would say that it took three weeks to recover from all the fun we crammed into that week.  And since it's my blog, what I say goes.  Even so, let's take a quick look back at Family Vacation 2010:

For reasons unbeknownst to you (but knownst to me),  my family arrived in three shifts.  Wednesday afternoon the parents arrived.  This worked out great since they were the ones bunking at our apartment that week.  It also gave us time to have a nice quiet dinner for four.  We even busted out the china.  The meal included pecorino-stuffed-bacon-wrapped-dates, spicy seared tuna with avocado (one of our favorite dishes to make for guests), jicama & black bean salad, and crème brulée for dessert!  It was a relaxing evening.  I wish I were able to cook meals like that for my family more often.

Thursday morning we four headed to the San Diego Zoo and were treated to quite a show.  Zoos, as you know, can be hit or miss re: animal activity.  We got a barrel of monkeys (well, not literally). The pandas were awake and playful, including the "baby".  The sea otters antagonized one another.  A couple of black bears went claw to claw.  The elephants took a swim right in front of us.  And best of all, we watched two polar bears wrestle underwater literally right in front of us (we watched through glass).  These guys were having a blast and it was incredible to watch them.  After the zoo we headed to the airport to pick up B^2 and Kaya, our 2-year old niece.

That night we hung at our apartment and had a couple of muy delicioso rotisserie chickens.  The birds were organic, free-range, and sustainably raised.  Or, in the words of my brother... hippie food.  :-)  It was a mostly chill evening - though it was clear our darling niece would be dealing with jet lag for the following few days.

Friday morning we rose relatively early to catch low tide at Cabrillo National Monument's tide pools.  It was a grey, grey morning but pleasant for climbing rocks and exploring the tide pools.  Everyone had a great time, including Kaya who splashed a little, played with rocks and sand, and continued forth unabated in her cuteness.

After a quick stop at the monument and lighthouse, we headed to another San Diego favorite, Ortiz's Taco Shop for some California burritos.  For the uninitiated, perhaps Urban Dictionary says it the best:

California Burrito: A delicious and mythical burrito found in Mexican eateries, also known as a Cali Burrito. It is native to Southern California, especially San Diego. The California Burrito consists of carne asada, cheese, sour cream and French fries or potatoes rolled into a flour tortilla.  "I almost had a heart attack while eating a massive California burrito last night!"

Our bellies (and arteries) full, we bolted for the beach on Coronado Island.  By this point, the sun made its debut.  Kaya had passed out on the 20 minute ride to the beach and remained passed out as we walked from the parking lot to the waterfront.  But the minute we laid her down on a beach towel, she woke up and shrieked, "Sand!!!"  She had a ball and we had a ball with her.  She played in the sand and jumped in the waves until her tiny teeth chattered.  Super cute.  The folks took a stroll down to see the famous Hotel Del Coronado.  And just as we had had our fill of beach for the day, we packed back into the cars and headed to pick up the last two members of our entourage from the airport.

Now that the whole gang was in town, I had to shift the menu from kill to stun.  Friday night was burger night.  In addition to the burgers we made some hummus (remind me to post my recipe some time), bacon-wrapped jalapeño poppers on the grill, and enjoyed more of the never-ending-bowl of jicama salad.  Family, food, brews, and the Cardinals game on the tele.  What more could a man ask for?  How about a trip to....

Disneyland!  Saturday the family made our way to Disney for the first time in 19 years.  Thanks to our super-incredible friends Heather & Brian - who are recently engaged - 6 of the 8 of us got in for free!  Seriously, just so so nice of them.  It was a great day at Disney, if a bit on the hot side, and we covered a lot of ground.  Bri, Kevin, Beth, and I even got to stick around for the new World of Color water show.  But the Moment of The Day goes unarguably to Briana for her side-splittingly funny picture on Space Mountain.

Sunday we took a bit easier.  Slept a little later.  Skipped church.  Then drove up to Riverside to visit some old friends for lunch.  It was a beautiful and cool afternoon and a great time to reminisce with a family with whom we spent many holidays during our previous tenure in southern California.  Before departing we swung by our old house and chatted with some neighbors for about an hour.

Monday was spent at the Wild Animal Park.  If Thursday's trip to the Zoo was a boom, this one was the bust.  Don't get me wrong, it was nice to stroll through the park.  And the safari ride is always enjoyable (even Kaya liked most of it).  But in general, it felt like nap time in Africa.

Monday night, however, was much more enjoyable.  We headed to one of my and Beth's favorite restaurants, Stone Brewery.  The setting is so peaceful.  The gardens are lovely and the open-air dining room inviting.  And obviously, the food is great (though I wish the menu varied a bit more frequently).  In addition to the food itself, Beth and I also really love the philosophy of the restaurant.  I would encourage you to read their philosophy statement which captures much of how we have grown to feel about food over the past few years.  Now if only Stone's beers weren't so blasted hoppy.

After Monday evening's festivities, 4am Tuesday came mighty early.  Yes, 4am.  I got up on the last day of my vacation at 4am... to go deep sea fishing!  Everyone other than Beth, Kaya, and my mother headed down to Seaforth Fishing for a half-day fishing trip to the La Jolla kelp beds.  It was another grey morning (i.e. cold boat ride) but a fun day on the boat.  I caught the first fish of the day, a delicious bass.  Briana became known on the boat as Queen Mackerel.  Dad aimed for the big fish by using what he caught as bait.  And Kevin did his best not to throw up.  It was a successful trip I think, and we greatly enjoyed some grilled barracuda later that evening.

Tuesday night was our final night together.  So in the tradition of years past we had a Nacho Night.  Chips, cheese, beans, house made guacamole, queso fundido, grilled carne asada, and yes, more jicama salad.  I had planned to make some salsas from scratch as well as a couple of ceviches, but after such a long day on the boat, I was too exhausted.  Next time!  We chowed down on the nachos, but thankfully saved just enough room in our dessert boxes for Beth's incredibly delicious strawberry and blackberry pie.  The berries were fresh, local, and organic and the crumb topping was the best!  It was a delicious way to end a delicious trip.

Wednesday morning, the clan departed.  It was sad to see them go but so joyous to have had them. Beth and I are so fortunate to have families that we love and that love us and each other.  Hopefully we won't always be so far removed from them, but until then, such visits are truly cherished.  Thanks!

New Awlins (Part 3)

[Jared]: Before my family arrives today, I thought we should try to finish up our exciting tale of a weekend in New Orleans.  I promise this post won't be entirely about food.  But that's where we'll begin...

After Friday night's dinner at Restaurant August, you wouldn't think we'd have needed to eat the rest of the weekend.  But what fun would that be?  Saturday afternoon we had some solid sandwiches at a place recommended by some locals.  It was good.  I especially enjoyed their surprisingly tasty cucumber gazpacho.

After lunch we headed to the park to play (or in my case, watch) some Frisbee with the bridal party.  By the way, has it been mentioned how absurdly humid it gets in New Orleans?  I mean, I lived in the Midwest for a long time, but this was pretty suffocating.  I suppose living in San Diego has made me soft.  Seriously though, the heat index over the weekend ranged from 105 to 115.  And on afternoons such as these we did what most people would prefer to do - but which only New Orlean-ites are able to do: we went to a drive through daiquiri place.  They had nothing but daiquiris.  A dozen or so different flavors.  Not a bad business model.

Saturday night was the rehearsal dinner to which we were kindly invited.  This dinner provided yet another new experience: a craw-fish boil. It was something else :-)

Sunday after church we headed to Dante's Kitchen.  This was another recommendation by a local.  It was right up Beth's and my alley too as they focus pretty heavily on local, seasonal cooking.  Beth and I split a BLT&E and the just-as-awesome-as-it-sounds: Alligator Sausage Sliders with Habañero Jelly!  Oh man.  So so so good.  The jelly was good and spicy, but still sweet enough to make it delicious.  And the alligator sausage was quite good too!

Our last meal in town was at the wedding reception that night and it too kept the spicy coming.  I particularly enjoyed the jambalaya and corn bread.  Oh, and the green beans almondine!  They were great.... and spicy!  I'm sensing that Cajun food is predisposed to being spicy...hmm.

Ok.  Enough on food (for now).  Let's rewind and cover another important aspect of the trip: the music.  Obviously when one heads to New Orleans, one naturally expects to encounter a variety of good old dixieland jazz.  I'm glad to report that we had ample opportunity to enjoy the fine musical tradition of New Orleans.  It started with a few tunes over lunch at the street cafe on Friday.  And yes, they did play "When the Saints Go Marching In".  We heard that one a half dozen or so times during the weekend.  Unfortunately not long after we sat down to eat, the band took a break.  Ah well.  The real deal came on Saturday and Sunday.  Saturday night after the boil, we headed down to the Quarter with Beth's parents, her brother, and his wife.  First stop, more beignets.  Second stop, Preservation Hall.

Preservation Hall is a super cool old building where the band plays traditional New Orleans jazz.  The inside is hard to describe.  It's run down, to be sure.  But it also feels authentic.  Seating is very limited.  And the place is hot as Hades.  I love being able to put a musical style in its proper context.  And the lyrics and rhythms of the music (especially the down tempo tunes) made more sense than ever in a setting such as this.

After catching the last set of the night, the elders retired for the evening and Beth and I headed to Rue Bourbon.  This was my first stroll along the famed street and it was...well... what you'd expect it to be.  Crowded.  Loud.  Gritty.  Sweaty.  Smelly.  Dirty.  And let's be honest, fun.  We walked a little ways and then decided to whet our whistles at another jazz hall.  We grabbed a table up front and enjoyed some more classic jazz.  I should add that at one point, a police-person on horseback directed about half of the enormous horse into the bar.  Finally I can say that I've been to Bourbon Street and listened to New Orleans jazz music with a horse!

At the end of the set, we decided to take a final evening constitutional along Bourbon Street to soak up the atmosphere.  We passed the night clubs, the bars, the daiquiri joints, and the strip clubs.  I don't think I can (or want to) imagine the craziness of Mardi Gras.  Honestly the whole scene made me slightly uncomfortable.  I'm all for having a good time, but Bourbon Street is pure excess.  And ultimately it is not fulfilling. It was actually sad to see so many people living so carelessly (not that I'm trying to judge anyone). 

 

In conclusion, we had an outstanding trip.  It was a wonderful time with family and friends accompanied by equally exquisite food and music, set amidst beautiful architecture.  By the way, the architecture was truly breath-taking.  I think we all would have been perfectly content to just spend the weekend driving around (or better yet, riding on the trolley with a cooler of beer) gawking at the old houses.  That said, it was incredible to see just how much devastation remains from Katrina.  The signs were everywhere.  Empty lots, houses being rebuilt, water damage.  It was heartbreaking, even five years after the storm.  New Orleans is at once both Paris and East Saint Louis.  But after spending a weekend there and meeting some of the people, I can tell it won't be long before it more closely resembles the former.

New Awlins (Part 2)

[Jared]: I thought I would take a break from eating and preparing food (yes, at the same time), to blog about food....mmmm.... food! This evening, I've been working on Julia Child's Boeuf Bourguignon.  It has actually been more work than I expected.  But we saw the movie Julie & Julia recently and obtained some lovely beef from our first shipment of J&J Grassfed Beef, so I figured I would take a stab at it.  Unfortunately I should have started a bit earlier in the day.  Ok, enough on that.  On to New Awlins...

As Beth already noted, it was a fun trip.  Congratulations and all that to the happy couple (half of which reads this blog!).  And since I didn't get a chance to say so to the hosts, I feel inclined to announce that that was easily the coolest wedding band I've ever heard.  Aside from the wedding and family time, I was most excited to explore the culinary delights offered by New Orleans.

Day 1: Had a nice jambalaya for lunch at a street cafe in the French Quarter.  Nice and spicy.  After lunch, it was beignets and cafe au lait at Cafe du Monde.  Those were undoubtedly some tasty doughnuts.  I surprised myself at my ability to abstain from eating two dozen.

Friday evening was the meal of the weekend.  Several months ago when we confirmed our plans to attend the wedding, we immediately made reservations at John Besh's Restaurant August (prompted primarily by Rod Dreher's blog post about the restraurant a few months back).  Besh is a super star in New Orleans (and everywhere else too), and the meal did not disappoint.  Beth had a delightful and fluffy potato gnocchi with blue crab to start (I don't even like crab and I loved her dish), while I opted for the slightly more sinful trio of foie gras.  The garlic and heirloom tomato version was nice but not earth-shattering.  The mushroom sauce bite was rich and earthy and wonderful.  But the third setting with caramelized peaches was so good that I'd fly to New Orleans for one bite.  Something about warm fruit and seared foie gras just makes me melt.

Typically at restaurants, I wait for Beth to order and then adjust my own order in response.  I tend to avoid duplication so we can try as many dishes as possible.  But when Beth ordered the spiced, glazed duckling, I didn't hesitate to order the same.  Indeed, Beth's mother made it three of four people ordering the same entree.  And I can assure you that we were each glad to not have to share!  The duckling was perfectly tender and the glaze had me ready to lick the plate.  I especially enjoyed the subtle fennel flavor in the sauce.

Finally, desert.  Goat cheese cheesecake, with local honey ice cream.  Simply decadent.  Ok, wow.  So, I've already written a lot.  My lap is overheating from the computer and I need to check on the bourguignon.

Memorial Day Weekend

[Jared]: Beth and I have been enjoying our nice, long weekend in San Diego. My weekend actually began early since the company computer servers were shut down early on Friday in preparation for the weekend relocation to the new office. Our weekend has been relatively low key and relaxed, but as always - delicious.

Saturday night I rocked out a rotisserie chicken on the grill. This time I used some BBQ 3000 rub from Penzeys, then finished it with a little Kassebaum family barbecue sauce.  It was quite tasty.

While the chicken was on the grill, I spent the rest of the evening with a rather ambitious undertaking.  Several years ago, I was enjoying some late night drinks and appetizers at one of my favorite restaurants in Charlottesville when I successfully convinced my waitress to share with me the chef's recipe for curry corn chowder (a soup I had on every visit).  At this point the kitchen was closed and the chef had gone home, and I'm quite certain it was this fact alone which allowed the waitress to comply.  In fact, she brought out the entire restaurant cookbook - I couldn't believe it.  I wrote things down as fast as I could, sure that any moment I would be interrupted and told that I couldn't have the recipe after all.  Thankfully I escaped with a delicious recipe.

And yet, one problem remained.  The recipe was in bulk quantities.  As in, 5 pounds potatoes, 10 pounds corn, 1 carton cream, etc.  As a result, I never attempted to make the soup, until this weekend.  I finally decided to go for it.  I used the ratios of the ingredients to get as close as I could and just improvised the rest.  After about four hours, I'd say the experiment was a resounding success:

If anyone wants me to post my version of the recipe, just ask and I would be glad to. I wouldn't call it a healthy soup, but it is pretty darn good and was worth the effort.

Last night we made our first visit to 30th on 30th.  On the 30th of each month, a bunch of restaurants and bars on and near 30th Street offer specials, such as a feature appetizer for $2. This makes it easy to go on a restaurant crawl and check out all the amazing places on the 30th Street corridor. Beth and I made four stops last night and had a great time. We also discovered a few new places in North Park that we're excited to return to.

Adventures in Grilling (Episode 1)

[Jared]: I recently (finally) became the owner of a grill. Our apartment community in Richmond didn't allow grills of any type. Thankfully our new place in San Diego does not hold such restrictions. Even so, it took me nearly 8 months to see the dream fulfilled - mostly due to monies (or lack thereof). About a month or so ago, after much research and debate, I pulled the trigger on a Weber Summit S-470. This thing is a rock star. Four main burners, a fifth for use as a sear station, a sixth beneath a built in smoke box, an infrared rear-mounted rotisserie, and a side burner. I'd wager that since the grill arrived Beth and I have enjoyed roughly 80% of our dinners from the grill. I'm still getting adjusted to this particular grill and I have a long list of recipes and meats and grilling methods that I am anxious to try. This week though, it was finally time to have my first go at using the rotisserie. I will admit that I made a few simple mistakes, such as not tying the bird tightly enough or enough times. As a result the sliced lemons and garlic fell out of the cavity half way through cooking. Beyond that though, my biggest mistake was merely trying to do my first rotisserie on a weeknight instead of a weekend. Beth and I didn't get to eat until about 9pm. That said, we ate very well. :-)



Rotisserie chicken: Salt, garlic, lemons in the cavity. Outside rubbed with salt, pepper, butter, and Penzey's Herbes de Provence [rosemary, cracked fennel, thyme, savory, basil, tarragon, dill weed, Turkish oregano, lavender, chervil, and marjoram]. (I should point out that I love love love Penzey's Spices. Rest assured you'll be hearing more about them.)