Ever since the amazing dinner at Bourbon Steak DC, there was no question that I’d be back, but it’s not the kind of place one can visit every day. Still, when a friend was celebrating a birthday with a Four Seasons spa day and lunch to follow, I couldn’t resist joining.
This post won’t be about the meal, though I could go on about it at length. My dining companions were so relaxed and blissed out from the spa, and I so enjoyed …

We all have our standby recipes that are, first and foremost, easy. They may also be impressive, but like a well-known commercial illustrates, they really aren’t any trouble at all. And then there are those recipes that may happen to be easy, but are also chosen clearly to knock people’s socks off.

I first made this cake nearly 4 years ago when some friends were getting together for a cooking night. I’d never tried making any sort of mousse before, let alone into a cake, so …

It’s like I keep telling people, brunch isn’t just some cutesy little meal for the chicks and the gays, brunch ain’t no joke! Baratunde Thurston just linked to this on twitter. Not normally known for his food-related comments, I clicked through and found the official anthem “We Brunch Hard” (there’s a tiny bit of blue language) from Elon James White of This Week in Blackness and The Brooklyn Comedy Company:

Follow it up with the Salon article, Brunching While Black: The birth of #webrunchhard. I’ve written plenty …

It still feels weird to open up the browser to write for this blog when the devastation in Haiti continues. Adventures in Shaw wrote about some local venues and restaurants making donations and the Washingtonian has an updated listing of benefit events still taking place.

One of my Christmas presents to myself was a Camerons stovetop smoker and while I’ve been enjoying trying a few different dishes prepared with it, the main thing I was looking forward to was smoked turkey legs! These tender salty & …

Just some quick shots from a little holiday lunch with friends and co-workers. Matchbox is quickly becoming our go-to restaurant for lunch excursions and it’s well-earned. I was surprised that they hadn’t announced the day’s specials on twitter yet, but when we got there the server told us the special entree was a crab and mushroom mac & cheese–SOLD!

We also shared their shrimp and grits starter which was yummy, their grits were appropriately seasoned and creamy. I might stop back by for brunch …

After a museum visit downtown, we found ourselves wanting a little nosh and I mentioned Bar Pilar. While we were both thinking burgers, it turned out that they were only serving from the brunch menu (PDF) at that time. Not exactly what we wanted, but no problem, roll with the punches, etc. Plus, the prospect of a Bloody Caesar soon put us at ease. I’m not much for Bloody Marys, and often when replacing the Vodka with Gin, it’s too much for me, but …

I can’t always be bothered to take photos of the entire meal from prep to finish, especially when it isn’t my recipe! Plus it’s a crock pot meal and believe me, there’s a good six to eight hours when they aren’t exciting in the least. Chris over at Ramblings of a Hopeless Khowaga posted this recipe for slow cooker chicken n’ dumplings that was passed along to him. Even though we aren’t feeling the bite of chilly fall/winter yet, I’m loving my crock pot meals …

A stunningly beautiful November morning, birds are singing, coffee is brewed and a little snack to get my day started. I can almost hear Simple Gifts playing softly in the distance–life is good.

From a multi-page ad spread in an old copy of Gourmet or Saveur. I’ve always loved this simple and direct image. When I have a home with a proper kitchen, I’m having this framed and placed over the door.

On video: A forklift driver in a Russian vodka factory plows into a shelf that causes a horrible chain reaction. The NBC4 news anchor said about it, “If you’re a drunk, we have some sad news.” — Hey news anchor… don’t you judge me!