FoodFash

Adventure Begins in the Kitchen

Good Times At Hard Times

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Thanks to excessive Facebook status updates, my old roommate, Lex, noticed that there would be an ever so slight overlap in our DC work trips this week. And since my office is located in Alexandria (near DCA), it ended up being super convenient for her to swoop over and meet me for lunch after her plane landed.

I had eaten at Hard Times Cafe once before and was pretty impressed by the intentionally veggie options at such a meat centric place.

I ordered fried pickles as soon as I sat down with hopes that Lex and app would arrive around the same time.  Good thinking, cause it worked.  It should also be noted that these friend pickles were pretty delish sans sauce (since I don’t do ranch).

I ordered the chili salad, nixing everything except for lettuce and tortilla chips. A few shreds of cheese found their way on my plate,  but they were slight enough to push aside.

I was so happy to see the little Lex, even if it was only for lunch!

Are you a picky diner?  What are your signature special requests when dining out?

A Gray Day

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It’s been non-stop dreary since I arrived in DC on Tuesday.

And usually dreary weekdays at home equal movie time with this guy.

But since I’m not home, I ordered delivery (again) and tried to replicate an HLS meal as closely as possible.  Cremini mushrooms, oyster mushrooms, artichokes, truffle oil, and Daiya pizza on whole wheat crust from Zpizza.

Now back to work!  One more day o’ meetings til the weekend!

Have any fun plans for the weekend?

Not Ideal… Not Ideal At All

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Simply put, today was terrible.  Like 9 hours of back to back meetings and thinking that you have the chicken pox terrible.  What?  Chicken pox?  Yes… Chicken Pox.  Never had ’em.  But more realistic than pox was probably the woody photo shoot from Saturday.

Apparently I was attacked by something from the nature world.  So it looks as though I’m neither athletic nor outdoorsy.  Thank goodness for being cook-y and crafty, right?  Oh, and Calagel, thank goodness for that, too.  I put my label reading skills to the test to find which product had the most of everything relief related.  Calagel won and it worked.  Highly recommend the stuff.  Saved my life.

When I got back to the hotel, I placed a delivery order with Urban Thai, knowing they already had my address on file.  Yum tofu and supposed-to-be vegetarian pad thai.  Here’s to hoping my leper-ness goes away before my weekend with Emily!!!

Are you the one that always gets bitten in a crowd or are you the luckier sort that leaves the nature scene bite free?

Special Treatment

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I’ve  posted up at the same Crystal City hotel spot frequently enough to know the lay of the land, but not long enough to stop thinking that Crystal City is a goofy name.  Don’t you think Crystal City should look like the picture below and not the picture above?

photo source

Crystal City… Emerald City…  Potayto, Potahto.

And since I’ve crossed the line of feeling familiar, I braved walking the dusk streets rather than ordering delivery.  This was a big step for me.  I’m afraid of the dark.  Like… more afraid than any little kid you know.

I read every street-side menu and finally decided on one of the seven Italian restaurants on the strip: Cucina Vivace.  The chilled tomato and roasted pepper soup and linguine with olive oil, spinach, and herbs caught my attention.

I could have done without the soup, it was a little chunkified for my liking, but the pasta was super fresh, delicate, and well seasoned.  I felt really terrible leaving my leftovers but, like I told the waiter (who thought my flashy camera was an indicator that I was important), leftovers and hotel rooms don’t quite mix.

Have you ever noticed a difference in restaurant service when you’re with camera as opposed to without?