Cooking No. 13: Aretha Frankenstein's

My mom and Drew’s mom both do this cute thing where they pack us a bag or two of groceries whenever we leave after a visit. My mom gets it from her mom, who did the same thing whenever we visited Connecticut back in the day, and I can only assume it runs in Drew’s family as well. When we left Chattanooga last Thanksgiving, Mama D. threw in a box of Aretha Frankenstein’s pancake mix – aka “the best pancake mix ever created” – and assured us the pancakes were as delicious as the box humorously states. (One reviewer, for instance, says that they are “Abbey road era Beatles,” while other pancakes are “Ringo solo stuff!”) I can’t use Bisquick to save my life, so it sounded good to me!

Unfortunately, the box demands you use buttermilk and canola oil lest the “Pancake Gods…strike down upon thee with great vengeance,” so the “Box of Magnificence” went into the cupboard and sat around for awhile. Like, until March. Whoops. My bad. Secretly, I just didn’t know where to find buttermilk. (Can you tell I’m a Yankee?) But happily, once I actually looked, it turned out to be right next to the regular milk! Who knew?! (Related Question: Who knows WHY the grocery stores in Virginia stock breakfast sausage and Italian sausage on opposite ends of the store? OMG. I’ll walk it off after I eat it, thanks.)

The box suggested making a “Jug-Of-Love” for a weekend of pancake fun, so when Sister V. came to visit all those weeks ago – like the pancake mix, this post has sat around for awhile – I decided it was time to put the cockiest box on the shelf to the test! I hunted down the elusive buttermilk, bought an enormous jar of canola oil that should last through at least two presidential administrations, and set to work.

Shhh! I didn't buy enough buttermilk and had to sub in some 2%. Don't tell the Pancake Gods!

I rescued an empty milk jug from our recycling bin and gave it a little make-over, both for its benefit and ours. No pancake batter on the cereal in this house! (Pre-coffee, anything’s possible. ;) We don’t have any funnels, so getting the mix into the jug was a bit of a challenge, but on the flip side, I finally learned what a batter bowl is for! Despite that, the Jug-of-Love was actually a great idea. It was easy to make ahead, easy to store, and easy to shake up in a jiffy! (Obviously, this post is not sponsored by Jiffy, but I’m more than willing to plug their Not-Real-Blueberry Blueberry Muffins. After 20+ years of eating them, I still think they're amazing!)

Demonstrating the proper shake!

And yes, the pancakes were as good as the box claims. The batter cooked even, thick, and flipped well, even for a pancake klutz like me! The pancakes were a bit sweeter than I was expecting, but not in a bad way. Just in a “use less maple syrup” way. ;) And with a few strawberries sprinkled on top? Mmm...perfect!

We probably have enough mix left in the box for a Saturday morning, but not a Jug-of-Love. Looks like we’ll be rationing until our next trip South!

Can you cook and take photos and keep the cat off the counter at the same time? Me neither... ;)

NTOTD No. 17: Spring

Growing up in New York, I hated spring. Mostly because we didn’t have one. Instead, we had a few gloomy weeks between winter and summer when snow and mud were indistinguishable, recess was confined to the basketball court-sized blacktop, and all the teachers got really cranky because the classroom rugs were inevitably covered in tiny, unvacuumable bits of dried mud.

My younger self, who prided herself on never getting in trouble, found the latter most distressing. There was never enough time to get the mud out of your treads after recess – we used twigs to scratch it out – and it dried too quickly to make it back outside at the end of the day. Thankfully (or otherwise), my pride escaped mostly intact, although now I'd probably make more of an effort not to get caught. But I guess it’s hard to escape when the evidence is on your feet...

Regardless, I never saw a decent spring until we moved to New England and I never experienced a glorious spring until my first semester in Virginia. The Northeast has fall pegged, man, but the Mid-Atlantic has spring all to itself. The weather is pitch-perfect, the trees are exploding with blossoms, and my allergies are – knock on wood – completely MIA. The Cherry Blossom Festival is forecasted to peak this weekend, so we’ll be going into D.C. on Sunday to revel in it all. It will be my birthday and I can’t think of a better way to turn the magical almost-old-but-not-quite number of 28! :)

What about you? How’s the first day of spring in your neck of the woods?

Culture No. 39: The Sterling & Francine Clark Art Institute

My very first job after college was working as an assistant construction administrator for the Sterling & Francine Clark Art Institute in Williamstown, Massachusetts. (Don’t quote me on that title, but it's basically what I did. ;) The job was fun, but by far my favorite part was all the life-long friends I met, both at the museum and in the greater Berkshires.

Awww...Baby Architect Sarah! If I wasn't such a giant, you'd be able to see Tadao Ando standing right behind me!

I didn’t realize how much I missed working at a museum until a few weeks ago when Cousin Emily and I walked through the National Gallery and I found myself waylaid by a couple of Winslow Homer’s. The Clark’s Homers were always some of my favorites and when I saw his signature style, it instantly took me back. I haven’t been to the Clark in years, but when one of my nearest and dearest sent me a link to their latest exhibition that she worked tirelessly on - Great job, T.! :D - I knew I had to share.

Because the Clark is in the middle of an extensive renovation project – I was involved in Phase 1, but they must be in Phase 2 or 3 by now – and gallery space will be severely restricted until construction is over, the museum sent a large portion of its permanent collection on the road for a few years. In the meantime, they’ve created an on- and off-line exhibition called Clark Remix. Two online applications – uExplore and uCurate – allow you to explore parts of the permanent collection that remain at the museum and create your own three-dimensional exhibition around your favorite works. (Including one of my Homers!) The best part? While you can save your exhibition and share it with others – check out my feeble attempt here ;) – the curators will actually pick some of their favorites and install them in the physical museum. How cool is that?

The apps are pretty advanced and let you choose between paintings, sculpture, glass, silver, and ceramics and whether you want to display the pieces on the wall, on a pedestal, or in a wall case. You can even paint the walls! My favorite part was learning more about the Clark’s silver and ceramic collections. I can't lie: I never thought twice about those collections while I worked there, but they’re actually pretty interesting once you give them a chance. Robert Sharp’s honey pot and stand was my favorite – so much classier than my plastic honey bear jar. :)

Check it out and come back to share your exhibits. I’d love to find out which Clark pieces are your favorites!

PS Don't believe me? Listen to the New York Times then. ;)

Cat No. 11: Springtime Sleeps

DC's Best Cupcake No. 4: Sprinkles

Okay, so I haven't been to Sprinkles yet - I thought they were West Coast only, but a quick search showed that a new one just opened up in Georgetown! - but I couldn't resist sharing this video on a Saturday when the beautiful sunshine is affecting my ability to write at any great length. Apparently, their Beverly Hills location has - get this - a 24 Hour Cupcake ATM! For reals? Genius! Genius, I tell you! Hopefully, they will not import it here. Otherwise, I'm toast! (Cinnamon swirl toast. With cream cheese frosting. New cupcake flavor? You heard it here first! :)

(via Design Mom)

Have a great weekend!

Top 100 Signs I Married the Right Man No. 80

80. When I deadpan, "The name of my ship is the Lollipop...it's a good ship," (at 7 a.m. in the morning, no less) he knows I am quoting an early and obscure (and to be honest, absolutely awful) episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation and not Shirley Temple's trademark ditty.

And no, I can't remember why I felt the need to quote Riker so ridiculously early in the morning. It was pre-coffee. I'm lucky I remember it at all.

Culture No. 38: Mount Vernon

Can you believe this weather? It's hard to believe a week ago, while Sister V. and I walked around Mount Vernon, it was actually snowing! (Wimpy Virginia snow, but snow nonetheless. This year, I have to take what I can get!)

Because Sister V. had to make the two o'clock train, we only had a morning to spend walking around George Washington's estate, but you could definitely spend the whole day there. (And once things warm up even more and their extensive gardens are in gear, I'm hoping I can!) We watched the brief intro movie - starring Pat Sajak, of all people - and then hightailed to the manor for our house tour.

I can easily see how mobbed the place must get in the warmer months - they have a "Tour Waiting Line" that stretches hundreds of feet away from the house - but we had the place to ourselves and entered the building almost immediately. The house was interesting, although I'll admit most of its glamor comes from the fact that is was the Washington's home. Architecture-wise, it's hard to compare it to Monticello or some of its other contemporaries. But I think that really speaks to the personality differences between Washington and Jefferson, which is a whole 'nother discussion in itself. (I will spare you for now. ;)

After the house tour, Sister V. and I walked to Washington's tomb and around some of the outlying buildings, before taking the National Treasure 2 Tour. I totally forgot that part of the movie was filmed there (and still can't really remember because I'm waiting for someone to return it to the library so I can rewatch it ;), but they let us walk through the cellar of the main house to look at the "vault." The basement isn't included on the main tour, so that was kind of neat. You can see some of the scenes really briefly in the trailer when Nicolas Cage is talking to the president underground, right before the Secret Service tries to break in:

Another thing I found really interesting about Mount Vernon is that, unlike a lot of memorials and monuments, it's not run by the Park Service. It's privately owned and managed and has been since 1853, which makes it the oldest national historic preservation organization in the country. Back in the day, the mother of a woman named Ann Pamela Cunningham sailed past Mount Vernon and was aghast at its condition: "I was painfully distressed at the ruin and desolation of the home of Washington, and the thought passed through my mind: Why was it that the women of his country did not try to keep it in repair, if the men could not do it? It does seem such a blot on our country.” She wrote to her daughter, who consequently started the Mount Vernon Ladies' Association. They raised money, purchased the estate, and have maintained it ever since without taxpayer money or public grants. I admire their financial independence. That's pretty sweet.

It was a rushed morning, but a fun one, regardless. All the volunteers are really enthusiastic and helpful, and you may even see one or two dressed in period costume! (Side Note: I now believe all men should greet two or more women with, "Good morning, Ladies." Dreamy! :) They have an entire museum that we didn't even have time to see, so I'll definitely be back. Me and a million other tourists. :)

Have you ever been to Mount Vernon? Monticello? Which was your favorite?

Happiness is...

...a fridge full of Avery's soda. (And a recycling bin full of empty Avery's bottles. ;)

Remember this post from oh-so-long ago? Well, living anywhere outside of Connecticut is not really conducive to an Avery's habit, so our household has been a bit short in that department since then. About a month ago, ImGivingYou.com had a contest to win a dozen free Avery's and - *Surprise* - we won! I'm sure the good folks at Avery's went out of their way to mail twelve bottles of Black Cherry to the crazy girl in D.C., but we're sure glad they did! Thank you, Avery's and ImGivingYou.com! We are putting them to good use. Promise. :)

Top 100 Signs I Married the Right Man No. 81

81. He randomly comes up with gems like this:

"Are cherries considered a fruit? I always thought they were a candy."

And I always thought they were a berry, which would place them on his "Do Not Eat" List. (Usually I nag about not eating enough fruits and veggies, but this I do not mind. More blueberries for moi!) Six-and-a-half years later, and I'm still learning something new. :-*

A Blessing in Disguise

Thursday night was very windy here, and by the time Friday morning showed up, a large branch had fallen off one the trees in our parking lot. (Thankfully, not on anyone's car. Geoff the Mazda has already had a rough go of it so far in VA. :-*) I love fresh flowers and hate paying for them, so I thought a few budding branches might be a nice (and free!) substitute. They've already started to shed like a Christmas tree come January, but they are pretty to look at, if only for a few days. They've totally put me in the mood for the Cherry Blossom Festival, which is supposed to peak (early) on my birthday weekend! I've been to the Festival once before, for a rugby tournament back in my wild-and-crazy days, but didn't have a whole lot of time to look around. Definitely looking forward to it this year!

Commerce No. 6: Old Town

I’m always up for birthday snow – Only a few more weeks to make it happen! – but I’m not one to look a gift horse in the mouth either. So when I found out it was going to be in the SEVENTIES today, I knew there would be no sitting around at home.

What?! A year’s worth of Vitamin D in one day and there’s no beach involved?! This pasty girl’s totally there! ;)

For all the time we’ve spent in Old Town over the past month, there were/are still a lot of little shops I wanted to check out. So I booked the husband for lunch and made a day of it. I took the bus to the Metro station, grabbed a roast beef sammie at The Butcher’s Block for me (I’m hooked!), a coffee at Starbucks for Mr. C, and met him on Market Square for a picnic in the sun. (He refused to eat any of my sandwich, because apparently the peanut butter ones I make are just that good. What a cowboy.) The sandwich was delicious, of course, although I mistook the cheese for dried mangoes at first because I’ve never had hard cheese in a sandwich before. I felt decidedly low brow after that. (Is this like the new thing?)

After lunch, I roamed around and tried not to spend too much of Mr. C’s money. Paper Source, Mint Condition, the Torpedo Factory: I stopped at all my favorite places and a few new ones in between. I picked up a pack of (Clearanced! So it was okay! ;) gingko leaf kraft paper at Paper Source and a few pairs of $5 consignment shop pants. (I discovered yesterday that 2 out of 3 pairs of my “good pants” have grease stains on them. You know, the kind of stain you can barely see but never get out? So annoying!)

But by far the most dangerous moment of the day was when I ventured into the Crate & Barrel Outlet. It’s not on King Street, which is why I’ve never seen it before, but Sister V. spotted it earlier this week on our way to the Metro station. Egads. Who knew they even made Crate & Barrel Outlets?! Why does her eyesight have to be so good?!

When I walked in, all I could think of was this:

But of course I didn't listen. ;)

Unlike most outlets nowadays, this actually was an outlet. Everything was seriously discounted: dishware, scratch and dent furniture, and leftover not-quite-so-seasonal-anymore merchandise. But by far the most deadly part of the store was the fabric counter. Why? Because they sell Marimekko fabric for $4 a yard. Let me do the math for you: that is 90% off retail, folks. Translation: I'm going to need a bigger sewing machine. And a dedicated room for all the new projects swirling around inside my head. ;)

Thankfully, I had to leave the store without buying anything in order to make it to the bus stop on time, but it doesn't matter. The damage has been done. Watch out, CBO. I'll be back!

Tuesday Thrifting No. 3

This week it really should be "Wednesday Thrifting," as all the stores I went to yesterday were kind of a bust, but whatev. Let's hear it for alliteration.

This morning I stopped at one thrift store I missed yesterday (Who hates driving miles and miles on Arlington Boulevard in order to make a U-turn? *This* girl!) and picked up these two beauties.

Contestant number one is a bamboo charging station in perfect shape outside of a wipe down and a few rickety dividers. Our current 'charging station' is a wire mesh basket that's WAY too big for the number of devices we actually charge, so this will be a nice downsize. I'm thinking of pulling out the dividers - one of them is already loose - and lining the 'device bed' with scrapbook paper. I'll let you know how it turns out.

Contestant number two is a little drawer contraption that would speak to anyone who secretly desires that their house resemble The Container Store. (Whoops. Secret's out. ;) It needs a little cleaning up as well, but it will most likely play a role in a friend's upcoming bridal shower and then come home to roost somewhere. I can't say much more than that because said friend reads this blog, but I'll definitely let you know how it ends up!

And these little guys came via Listia rather than Goodwill, but I couldn't resist! Look for them in my shop later this week!

What about you? Any good finds lately?

DC's Best Cupcake No. 4: Lavender Moon Cupcakery

If I was slightly more hip, slightly more quirky, and slightly more in possession of a cupcake pan – I got angry at my silicone one and Goodwilled when we moved – Lavender Moon Cupcakery would be exactly the kind of cupcakery I would want to open if I ever felt like making a drastic career change. (Not that I have a career now or anything, but you know what I mean…)

This Old Town cupcakery is tucked away in a sliver of a row house off of King Street, and while the exterior looks like an obedient member of the Historic District, the interior is anything but. The walls are painted with thick vertical stripes of pink and red, all the furnishings look fresh out of the thrift store (in a good way), and the ceiling is festooned – for lack of a not-quite-so-random word – with cupcake ornaments and mismatching chandeliers. If the Mad Hatter let off the tea, switched over to cupcakes, and moved in with your eccentric aunt, this is where they would party.

Very eccentric. Very original. You get the idea.

The cupcakes are displayed on raised cake plates behind a sheet of framed glass. There was a microscopic menu taped to the front of the case, but as none of the cupcakes are labeled and I almost blind, it wasn’t very helpful. This was annoying while we waited in line, but when it was our turn to order, the woman took the time to point out and explain every flavor to us, which turned out to be very personable and much more informative than reading mystifying names off a menu. (Aka “what happens to me every time I go to Ben & Jerry’s.”) Sister V., Mr. C., and I chose, respectively, the Red Velvet, Peppermint Patty, and a S’mores cupcakes.

The table wasn't that gross in real life. I'm not sure what's going on there...

We elected to sit down and eat there, so our cupcakes were served on paper plates – nothing too exciting. (Although the pink and red paper napkins matched the walls. I love those kind of details!) Cupcakes-to-go, however, are served in adorable Barbie-pink boxes. Oh man…you could sell me pretty much anything if it’s in a cute box. ;)

Sister V.’s Red Velvet cupcake consisted of cream cheese frosting and a strangely-not-red cake. The frosting was tasty, but it was the only thing you could taste. The cake was moist, but nondescript. I’m not even sure what flavor it was. In hindsight, I kind of wonder if they even gave her the wrong flavor. It was the most un-Red Velvet-like cupcake I’ve ever tasted.

Sister V., double-fistin'!

The frosting on my S’mores cupcake was actually a lightly torched meringue – a very pleasant surprise, although I wish they offered a “burnt to a crisp” version cause that’s how I roll. ;) The chocolate cake was dry, but I don’t know if the graham cracker crust sucked the moisture out or if it’d just been sitting around too long. (It was probably around 6 p.m. when we sat down to snack and the cupcakes are displayed ‘open air.’) The chocolate cake in Mr. C’s cupcake was "box mix moist" (i.e. practically perfect), so maybe it was just a fluke. The frosting on his cupcake tasted like peppermint patty concentrate. Holy smokes, no watered-down extract here!

So what did my panel of cupcake tasters decide? (Speaking of cupcake tasters, you people are coming out of the woodwork! ;)

Cupcakery Design - 4 out of 5 Cupcakes

The Cake - 3.5 out of 5 Cupcakes

The Frosting - 4 out of 5 Cupcakes

If not for the inconsistent cake moisture issue, Lavender Moon would be tied for first place with Alexandria Cupcake in my book! Way to go, Old Town! Cleaning up the cupcake wars. :)

Cooking No. 12: BRABO Tasting Room/The Butcher's Block

("Cooking" as in "other people who cook for me." So maybe this post should really be filed under "Eating." ;)

It feels like real winter here today - Wind, flurries, and everything! - so after spending a cold morning touring Mt. Vernon with my sister, I've tried to spend the afternoon as close to a cup of hot coffee and/or tea as possible. Sister V. (who has informed me she appreciates my thinly-veiled attempts to protect her identity ;) came down on the train Saturday night and left this afternoon, taking the warm weather with her back to New England. (A first, I know.)

When she got here on Saturday, the weather was beautiful. After Mr. C and I picked her up at Union Station, we walked around Old Town for hours without our coats, even after the sun went down. We hit up a new cupcakery (My review is forthcoming!), a great consignment shop, and Anthro (of course), before heading back down King Street to BRABO Tasting Room for dinner.

We picked this particular restaurant because Mr. C and I had an anniversary gift card from Mama and Papa V. for any place in the entire Kimpton chain. It seemed like a balanced mix of good food in an unpretentious atmosphere. (I find fancy restaurants a little overwhelming sometimes, you know? Gourmet food tastes better when I'm wearing jeans.) They don't take reservations, so when we arrived there was a 45 minute wait. No problem. They have a little grocer next door called The Butcher's Block where you can take a seat and order a glass of wine or a cheese plate. Of which we did all three. ;)

Sister V. and I both ordered a glass of Ponga Sauvignon Blanc from Marlborough, New Zealand, which has the distinction of being the first Sauv I've ever liked. (I lived in Marlborough for a year, so I always try to keep my dislike of Sauv on the DL. Got to stay loyal, no matter what. ;) Sister V. even got a bottle to go!

Our cheese plate was a trio of cheddar, goat cheese, and a hard, local cheese, and was served with jam, dried fruit, and a bowl of do-you-want-a-refill (Yes!!!) baguette slices. Delish! None of it lasted very long, which was a shame because the tables in the restaurant stopped turning over and our 45 minute wait quickly turned into two hours. The host was wicked annoyed (and had a few choice words for people who stay at their tables after paying the bill ;) and gave us all a free glass of sparkling wine to keep us occupied. (I was kind of hoping for more cheese, but you know... Free is free! No complaints here!)

A table opened up just in time - we were seriously discussing jetting over to Five Guys before they closed - and we settled in for dinner around 10 p.m. We ordered a House Made Italian Sausage Tart (aka a mini sausage pizza) as an appetizer and a round of sandwiches for our entrees: Hot Roasted Beef, Veal Meatball, and a Croque Monsieur. I thought the sausage was a little bland - although it was Mr. C's fav - and the Croque Monsieur a little salty, but overall everything was fresh, hot, and tastefully put together. Yum!

My only real complaint? After having The Butcher's Block pretty much to ourselves, the restaurant seemed too loud and a little cramped. Next time I'm thinking we'll just go earlier and order sammies (and that amazing cheese!) on the grocer side. My own private restaurant? Yes, please! Thanks for the awesome gift, Mom and Dad!

Apartment Tour: Living Room

Someday, I hope to live in a world where none of our furniture is from Ikea. Don’t get me wrong: I love their designs and I love their prices, I’m just at the point in my life where furniture disassembly and assembly is not fun anymore. (Was it ever?) And our furniture is at the point where every reassembly is a frightening experiment in the longevity of cheap plywood, in addition to a rousing, unfun game of "Find the Pegs!"

Maybe I should stop moving three times in one year. That might help.

Regardless and without further adieu, let me present to you, our not-sponsored-by-Ikea-but-you'd-never-know-it living room. It is XX square feet of wood floored goodness, complete with plantation shutters that make my world go round, all the midday sun you could ever want, and nary a suspended ceiling in sight. It’s like I died and went to apartment heaven. (Who knew it was in NOVA?)

The shutters, wonderful as they are, present a bit of a design problem, because anything that goes against that wall must be lower than the sills. Originally, I wanted our couch to back to the windows, but it was too tall. So the chaise section ended up that way instead. (I can still drink my morning coffee in the sun, which is all that really matters. That dent in the pillow is from me! ;)

Our TV sideboard is actually my dresser. Our bedroom is too small for two dressers, so mine was exiled because Mr. C’s is smaller. So now we share both dressers: the ‘essentials’ go in the bedroom and everything else goes out here. Not the best-case scenario – Watch out, visitors! ;) – but it works. We also commandeered a drawer for DVDs, which was a convenient way to get them out of sight. (See the missing board at the lower left? The victim of one move too many!)

And this is…another sideboard-shelf-thingamajig. The front door opens in between the living room and the dining room, so I always imagined this as a kind of ‘landing zone,’ but right now it’s just an extra place to put stuff. The metal pole is from the previous occupant - I think it's for hanging tapestries? It will be coming down as soon as I'm in the mood for a little touch up painting.

Future plans? I’d love to get a couple of round rugs to overlap in the room – an 8’ diameter to go under the couch and something smaller to go closer to the front door – but as eight footers are kind of ridiculously expensive, those might be a while. A set of matching lamps on either side of the above mirror might be nice too.

I wanted to hang a few floating shelves above the TV, but when I checked them out at Target and saw the evil-looking “cleats” used to hang them, I totally chickened out. Our landlord in PA reamed us on our security deposit even though we spackled, sanded, and generally left things better than we found them, so I’m a little wary of crazy holes in the walls right now. Do you have any other ideas?

And this little table…is my arch nemesis. What is it about Lack tables that just scream “I’m in a college dorm room!!!” We had two of them when we moved, but I’ve already managed to Goodwill one of them due to “lack of space.” I’ve got my eye on this end table as a replacement. I love the warm industrial look and Mr. C could use it for his laptop when he works at home. And it’s even on sale right now… Hm, hm, hmm… ;)