Halfway to DC: March 2015

Sunday, March 29, 2015

Halfway visitors and other pictures

Pat and Patti visited DC this week. Great to see Halfway friends and have they chance to show you a little bit of my DC. You'll have to come back when the Nationals are playing Pat and we can have the full neighborhood tour and go to a game. This time around we me at the National Portrait Gallery (it has a great atrium which is open in the evenings and a good place to meet in Chinatown), had chicken dinner at Nando's Peri-Peri, and then Pat and Patti visited my apartment on Sunday for a late lunch of arugula salad with candied pecans, split pea soup, and brownies (see the recipe for that in the last post).

The remnants of lunch

Sarah and Pat at the Waterfront plaza

Intrepid travelers Patti and Pat (with the new Sky House apartment in the background)

This morning I went on a very chilly run with Kori--it was 0 degrees C when we left. (Yes I often have to do the conversion but 0 is easy...that's freezing, the same as 32 F.) I did end up with an 11 mile run in two hours this morning though so a good workout despite the cold.

Yesterday Elizabeth and I biked to the Arboretum. It was cold and gusty then too! I guess spring isn't really here yet, although the plum blossoms are giving it a good try.

A lovely pale flowering plum.

This one is so vivid! The cherries don't get this bright.

Here's a full tree.

And here's a view of the sunny day. You can't see the cold wind though!

Elizabeth liked this sign. It looks like it's been there a while.

And for Erin I found goat milk (pasteurized) for sale at Eastern Market. It's pretty good and not goaty.

Speaking of Eastern Market, I'm glad my favorite weekend fruit seller (the Pennsylvania orchard that sets out a table full of samples of all of their different apples) still has Gold Rush apples. They are so good! I sent Pat and Patti off with two golden apples for their train ride tomorrow.

And this is a reminder for myself. Since I finished off the last block of feta I want to remember that the Keswick Creamery feta cheese (aged at least 60 days) is really good. I found it at the Tacoma Park farmers market several Sundays ago.

Remember this cheese maker

And their feta cheese in particular

Saturday, March 28, 2015

Brownies for Theresa (and the rest of the world)

I was curious so I looked for gluten free brownies and found this recipe from David Lebovitz. When I saw the 8 ounces of chocolate in a single pan I knew I had to try it! And yes, I can report that these are a great brownie with intense chocolate flavor. I sprinkled nuts on part of mine and left part plain. You could also mix nuts in if you like. These are so chocolaty that they are best in small pieces. They are a bit more crumbly than regular brownies and you should let them cool before cutting. I won't tell if you cut one out of the corner while it is still warm though. Read David's post and be sure to really beat the batter for a full 2 minutes or more.

Gluten Free Chocolate Brownies

6 T (85g) butter
8 oz (225g) semisweet chocolate, chopped (or even part unsweetened like I did)
3/4 c (150g) sugar

1/4 t salt
2 large eggs
1 T unsweetened cocoa powder
3 T cornstarch
optional: 1 cup (135g) nuts, toasted and coarsely chopped

Line the inside of an 8-inch square pan with parchment paper (or use foil if you like) so that it goes up the sides at least an inch. You don't have to grease parchment paper, maybe lightly grease foil. Preheat oven to 350º (180ºC). Sift together the cocoa powder and corn starch in a small bowl.

Melt the butter over low heat then add the chocolate. Keep heat low and stir constantly until smooth. Add the sugar and salt and stir and heat a bit (but don't cook or anything, warm but not burning hot). Stir constantly until smooth. The sugar won't melt much.

Remove from heat and touch. If not too hot (don't want to cook the eggs) beat in the eggs, one at a time.

Add the cornstarch and cocoa mix. Beat the batter vigorously for at least two minutes, until the batter is smooth. Add the nuts, if using, then scrape the batter into the prepared pan. It will be very thick.

Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until the brownies feel just set in the center. Do not overbake. Remove from oven and let cool completely before removing from the pan and slicing.

It took 29 minutes in a pyrex pan, a metal pan would probably cook faster.

Monday, March 16, 2015

Super Ultimate Pie Day

3/14/15 9:26:53

God said, let there be a circle...

Kori in her pi shirt

And there was pi!

Cherry, pear & raspberry, mini blueberry cheesepie, mini pecan, mini apple cranberry

Mushroom tart, chicken pot pie, butternut squash and caramelized onion tart (with and without cheese)

Jenny's getting pie

Key lime pie martini with graham cracker crumbs on the glass!

We had great fun cooking, thank you Kori! And thank you to Janet, Mark, Jenny, Elias, (and Catherine although she's too little for pie, good entertainment though), Mary Grace, and E for helping us to eat it. I didn't even get a picture of Mary Grace's tangy lemon cream pie.

March at last!

Finally, warm enough to go for a comfortable run when I got home this evening! Time to get back to my favorite Tidal Basin loop. There was a lovely pink sunset too (although the cherries are totally bare still).