Disaster

My car got crushed in the North Grounds parking lot today.  No one was hurt, and hopefully she will be good as new after repairs.  Not that she really needed a new bumper or anything, because the same damn thing happened last summer....but in a different parking lot on the opposite side. 

Sigh. 

::UPDATE 8/3::

The estimate on the damage is $8700.  Lulz!!!  Tomorrow, we find out if the Ac is truly totaled or not.  Yay.

::UPDATE 8/4::

Totaled. 

Crack

This recipe is for a salty, sweet, crunchy snack made with chocolate, caramel, and saltine crackers.  Sorry to disappoint if this isn't the type of crack you were looking for (although instructions for making crack cocaine are also scary easy to find online, thank you google.)

The first time I had this, my big sister's friend had brought it to a dinner party.  As I've said before, I'm not big on sweets, but I was starting to get hangry and so began to snack on everything in sight.  I started with a small piece of crack.  Then I had another piece.  And then I started double fisting giant chunks of the stuff.  And now I guess I'm addicted to crack.  It's also made from crack(ers) and is also "cracked" into pieces at the end, so there's your triple entendre.

Just give in to the addiction.

Fossett's at Keswick Hall

If I could do restaurant week over again (and you better believe I'm going to in about 6 months...), I would have skipped over C&O altogether and eaten at Fossett's 7 nights in a row.  What can I say? I never knew that food could taste like this.  Creamy, rich, deeply satisfying.....yummmmm.  

Keswick Hall is a beautiful hotel, spa, and golf course a few minutes outside of Charlottesville.  Fossett's is one of its restaurants, and offers a gorgeous view of the golf courses and mountains.  The last time T and I came was in January, and by the time our dinner reservation rolled around, it was unfortunately already too dark to really see well outside.  Luckily we got a great view of the sunset during our dinner.  This is the front courtyard...

And here is our view of the grounds from our dinner table - sorry for the funny glass reflection.  Most of what you see here is the golf course. Aren't these little chairs cute?

Check out Sam's Blue Light Grill Restaurant Week experience here!

Keep reading about Fossett's!

C&O

For restaurant week this time around, we decided on going to C&O and Fossett's at Keswick Hall.  Keswick is still to come (tomorrow, yay!) but we started at C&O.  I've been to this restaurant only once in the past, also for restaurant week, but the menu was pretty different from the last time. 

By the way, I apologize in advance for the image quality of the coming photos - I forgot my camera at home and so had to make do with my cell phone.

Open for business since 1976, C&O boasts a really beautiful interior and ambience - portions of the restaurant are constructed from wood from an old Albemarle barn that was torn down in the '70s.  The lighting is low and romantic, but not so dark that you can't see your food.  There are 6 separate areas for dining:  the Mezzanine is what lies in front of you when you first walk in, the covered Patio is just past that, the Bistro is downstairs by the bar, the Upstairs which is more formal and geared towards events, the Terrace, and the Gallery which is usually used for private events.  Unfortunately, there was a private party out on the covered patio, so we ended up sitting in the mezzanine, which was still private and comfortable.  The staff was attentive, pleasant, and well-informed.

The bread basket that we started with was nothing special. I usually eat the bread because I'm so hungry during the wait, but I didn't finish mine.  They were just soft and texture-less, with no flavor.

I started with PEI mussels with roasted garlic, leeks steamed in pilsner-preserved lemon broth.  It came with two small crispy crostinis that were rubbed with oil and some herbs.  This appetizer was great, they gave me a spoon, so of course I drank all the broth.  Mm!!

T had the gazpacho with basil granita and cucumber.  It was definitely smoother in texture than what I typically think of gazpacho as being but in a good way, with just a few chunks of cucumber.  Light, refreshing, summery.  Also good!

Keep reading for the rest of the nomz!

A Bad Egg

I wanted eggs for dinner.  So I went to the fridge, pulled out the carton, and found more than enough eggs for a nice meal. 

But, egads!  I had no idea how old they were.  You see, sometimes to save space I'll consolidate old eggs and new eggs into the same carton.  I always forget which ones are which.  Should I risk it?  Dare I play the salmonella game?

I knew there must be an easier way than gastroenteritis to find out if the eggs were still good.

Pho Ga (Chicken Pho, or Vietnamese noodle soup)

I will never forgive myself for waiting this long to make pho.  For TOO LONG I've been too intimidated to make it, because of how complicated the process is, and how long it takes.  While that may be true for beef pho (which is truly a very involved process involving many hours and different cuts of bones and meat in order to make a rich stock), chicken pho can be prepared in about 3 hours.  And yes, that is a relatively "short" process.  The good news is that most of the time is spent passively waiting in agonizing suspense while yummy smells fill your house with the promise of hot soupy saltiness.  Or, you could alternatively spend 3 hours hovering over a simmering stockpot.  Not that that's what I do or anything...

Pho ga with lime wedge, thai basil, jalapeno, cilantro, sliced onions, and scallions

Key things to this recipe

-you need a ginormous stockpot.  The one we used was about 3 gallons. 

-you need a free range chicken.  Allegedly.  I've only made this recipe once so I can't truly say I've done taste comparisons, but every recipe and native Vietnamese cook swears by this step.  Unfortunately, a free range bird will be about 2-3 times more expensive, but since this pot will make at LEAST 10 bowls of pho, it breaks down to less than $1 per bowl

-you need spices that you might not already have in your pantry (clockwise from top left, coriander & fennel, cinnamon stick, cardamom pod (?), star anise, cloves)

-you need garnishes.  Maybe not all of them, but at the bare minimum, you'll need sliced onions, lime, cilantro, +/- thai basil and scallions.  If you like it spicy, sriracha or sliced jalapenos is indispensable, and if you like some sweetness, you should have some hoison on hand, also :)

-like pad thai, you need to soak the noodles for at least 30 minutes or so in cold water before serving.  Otherwise you will be hungry and have no one to blame but yourself for not following directions.

Recipe (and pics to drool over!) after the jump.

Zynodoa

As part of my birthday celebration (from March) and to commemorate T's transformation from a lowly intern to a wise-and-experienced PGY-2, we made a special trip down to Staunton, VA to have dinner at a little place called Zynodoa.  I still have no idea how he found this place to begin with, but it has been receiving some ridiculously rave reviews on Yelp and TripAdvisor, UrbanSpoon, etc.  It describes itself as contemporary Southern cuisine with an emphasis on local and seasonally fresh items. 

Good thing I called ahead, because they literally ran out of reservations by the time I arrived.  On a Sunday night!  Apparently their last seating is at 8 pm, which is pretty early, but maybe just because it was Sunday.

I couldn't bring myself to take pictures of the outside of the restaurant (can't stand looking THAT touristy....) but it only occupied a tiny space in the middle of "downtown" Staunton - I probably would have walked right by it if I weren't looking for it.  The decor inside was interesting and eye-catching.  A big bright yellow wall behind the bar, wooden overhangs and modern lighting fixtures.  The bathroom (which was the only part I didn't like) was weirdly dark red with black toilets and a faucet shaped like a half cut open bamboo. 

I started off with the "115 East" cocktail, which was a blend of Virginia vodka, cointreau, cava, and cranberry juice with a lemon twist.  It was pretty as a picture, but also reminded me why I never order cocktails.  Probably someone else would have considered it delicious, but I personally just have a hard time drinking vodka disguised as fruit juice.  Should have just stuck with the beer.

Keep reading to join us as we stuff our faces!

Mint Oreo Ice Cream

Ice cream ranks at the top of the list of my favorite foods along with spaghetti and meatballs, cheetos, white nectarines, and Filet-O-Fish.  A Cuisinart ice cream maker has sat humbly in our family pantry for ages now, collecting only dust and the errant moth.  Inspired by a Ben & Jerry's "missionary" at my office who gives out free ice cream making books to anyone expressing interest, I chose to revive the little gadget.

More after the jump...

"Everything Tastes Bitter!"

Something terrible has happened.  Over the last 2 days, everything salty that I eat tastes weird.  It's bitter and soapy, and for a second I thought I had developed the horrible aversion to cilantro that a few of my friends complain about. My coffee tasted terrible.  I even threw away a half eaten cracker with cheese because it just tasted wrong.  

Something was clearly amiss.