the arugula files

Food Blogger Bake Sale: Photos

The DC Blogger Bake Sale at 14th and U Farmer's Market was a huge success, with over $400 raised for Martha's Table.  Thanks to Adventures in Shaw and Thrifty Cook DC for an excellent job planning and organizing.  

For Sale at 14th and U Street Farmer's Market: Congo Bars

Remember when I said I was making candy apples for the spooktacular dc food blogger bake sale?  I lied.  Instead I made these.  Want one?  Come buy.  All proceeds benefit Martha's Table.  Details are here.

Conquering Kale Part 2 (Braised Kale with Farro, Gruyere, Parmesan)

I'm lovin it (the it being kale, my new favorite vegetable).  After last week's success with this nutritional powerhouse, I decided to make another kale dish.  I promised a dish by Dan Barber, the chef at the Stone Barns at Blue Hill, where I enjoyed a creamy, salty, tangy, soft-boiled egg drizzled with a pancetta vinaigrette, placed on a nest of arugula.  It was an amazing egg.  So, after searching for kale on the internets, I was pleased to find a recipe for melted kale and farro by Mr. Barber.

DC Food Blogger Happy Hour: November 4

 

The next dc food blogger happy hour is November 4th at the Black Squirrel, one of my favorite bars in Adams Morgan.  The Black Squirrel has a killer beer list and tasty bar food.  The crispy calamari is a personal favorite. 

Come and meet fellow food bloggers (we'll be on the second floor).  Please RSVP in the comments and help get the word out by posting the photo above. 

Not sure what this is all about?  Check out photos from our last rendezvous at CommonWealth and Poste.

Thanks to the planning committee: Modern Domestic, Gradually Greener, Capital Spice, Capital Cooking, and the Beer Spotter.

Spooktacular DC Food Blogger Bake Sale for Martha's Table

Do you find yourself staring longingly at your computer screen, wishing you could try the delicious concoctions baked daily by DC food bloggers?  Wish no longer.  Come to the DC Food Blogger Spooktacular Bake Sale at the 14th and U Farmer's Market and you can actually try some of the mouth-watering treats that you read about every day. 

We're having a bake sale, and all of the proceeds go to Martha's Table. 

Macheesmo is making snicker doodles.  Modern Domestic is making whoopi pies.  Adventures in Shaw, the mastermind behind the bake sale, is making heath bar cookies and some other goodies.   Thrifty DC Cooks is making rice crispy treats and caramel apples.  State Dinner is making chocolate chip pumpkin bread.  And there are more food bloggers that I have yet to mention --stay tuned for more updates coming via Twitter.

Want to know what I'm making?

"A Bull Walks Into an Apple Orchard and Says to the Pig..." (Apple Picking at Stribling Orchard)

Today Marcus and I went apple picking at Stribling Orchard in Markham, Virginia.  When we arrived at the farm, a very interesting character greeted us:

Baked Shrimp with Feta and Tomatoes

Barton Seaver, the Chef at the helm of Blue Ridge restaurant, says "if you can turn on your stove, you can cook fish." He's right.  Cooking fish is easy.  And, more importantly, it's TASTY.  I would happily give up meat if I could eat fresh, sustainable fish every night for dinner.  The problem is that fish is expensive and most varieties you find in the supermarket are unsustainable and usually not that fresh.  Further, I want to know the origin of the shrimp. I don't want to eat farmed shrimp from China because I've read the news articles.  I don't want to get into that here, because this blog is about arousing people's appetites, but let's just say that imported farmed shrimp is definitely bad for the environment and it's probably bad for you.  That is why I'm eagerly anticipating the opening of Seaver's new fresh fish market, which will feature sustainable fish choices.  

Enough about that.  Let's talk about this dish.  It's basic, easy, and packs HUGE flavor from the onions, thyme, and garlic. Cooking the shrimp in the tomato broth produces a juicy, tender shrimp, and the feta brings the salt.  All you need to add is crusty bread to sop all the goodness up from the pan.  

Fall: Way Better than Summer

Fall is my favorite season.  Easily.  Sure, summer brings watermelon, beach trips, and outdoor BBQs, but --at least in Washington, DC -- it also brings oppressive humidity, which necessitates a co-dependent relationship with my air conditioner.  Not fall, though.  Fall brings light, cool air that requires comfy jeans and big sweaters.  Sure, no watermelon, but what about ripe, juicy, honey crisp apples from West Virginia?