Resolved

I was going to make a bunch of resolutions this year. Start exercising in the morning again, cut down on the booze, deal with unpleasant situations in a mature & direct way, all the usual bullshit we say we're going to do. But the one promise to myself that I must keep is to start writing again. One blog post per week MINIMUM.

I'm not going to give myself a minimum number of words to write because I know that I can force myself to type until I've reached whatever arbitrary limit I set and I'll end up kind of just . . . trailing off instead of finishing my thoughts.


I already know that my "go to" topic for a quick post will be recipes and food. Food is the new hotness these days and I'm 'bout it, 'bout it too. Everyone's talking about food; Mrs. Obama is up on food's tip, food in the schools, DC Healthy Schools Act. Food, it's everywhere you want to be.

Since WifeRat and I got together nine years ago I've been cooking more and better food. And for the last 6-9 months I would say that I've really been "feeling my flavor." Everything I do in the kitchen is just a little bit sharper, a little bit better & tastier these days. When I dice an onion now, the pieces are uniform. My temperature on meat & fish is getting close to perfect. I seem to be able to avoid typical home cook kitchen disasters either through careful preparation or simply having the confidence to try something to save the dish.

It's a nice feeling, having command of your kitchen. The freedom to start branching out into making new recipes and new types of food is almost like being able to fly. We started eating a lot of Indian food over the last 12-18 months and now I've started making it at home. I make a pretty good potato & cauliflower curry, but the thing that real makes the crowd go wild is my palak paneer. My newest challenge is to stop paying $10 for paneer cheese and start making it myself.

Food occupies a central place in our household, we have a beautiful open kitchen that's the heart of our home. In consultation with the rest of the family, usually I'll plan a week's worth of meals and then take the kids with me to the grocery store to do the shopping. I'm happy to trade off whatever drama & stress (minimal IMHO) taking two kids to the grocery store entails to ensure that I always have food I want (in the quantities I require) to eat in the house.

Since I like to cook in a clean kitchen, I also serve as the de facto scullery maid in our home. I feel like Sisyphus with the constant loading and unloading of the dishwasher. Most days it's the first thing I do when I get up in the morning and the last thing I do before I go to bed at night.

I actually enjoy cleaning the kitchen, scrubbing the counters and stove after doing the dishes and then wiping them down is like a form of meditation for me. It's a way for me to show my family how much I love them each and every day and connects me to the lessons my parents and grandparents taught me about how to live.

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Teddy Folkman to Help out at Annual Brainfood Charity Event -- June 11

 

3^rd Annual Brainfood Grill-Off Brings the Heat of Competition to DC

Top chefs team up with amateur cooks to benefit local nonprofit

 

WHAT:             Teams of award-winning chefs, amateur grilling aficionados and Brainfood program graduates compete for top honors at the 3^rd Annual Brainfood Grill-Off. Brainfood is a DC-based nonprofit that uses food and cooking as tools to teach life skills and healthy living to teenagers in a safe and positive environment. In addition to the grilling competition, highlights include hors d'oeuvres, open bar and live auction. Thanks to the generosity of Reznick Group and other sponsors, 100 percent of ticket sales will support Brainfood after-school and summer programs, including hands-on instruction, educational field trips and guest chef demonstrations.

 

WHO:               Top local chefs team up with amateur cooks, including:

·         Glenn Babcock, Nage

·         Anthony Chittum, Vermilion

·         Daniel Giusti, 1789 Restaurant

·         Teddy Folkman, Granville Moore's (and finalist on the new season of The Next Food Network Star)

·         Jonathan Krinn, Inox Restaurant

·         Jon Mathieson, Inox Restaurant

·         Cedric Maupillier, Central Michel Richard

·         Bryan Moscatello, Zola

·         Shannon Overmiller, The Majestic

 

Emcee for the evening is Leon Harris, WJLA-TV ABC7.

 

WHEN:             Thursday, June 11, 2009

                        6:30 p.m. – 9:30 p.m.

 

WHERE:           Decatur House on Lafayette Square

                        1610 H Street, NW

Washington, DC 20006

 

COST:              $75 per ticket

                        $3,000 per team entry

                        http://brain-food.org/brainfood-grill-off-june-11th-2009

 

MEDIA VISUALS:         

·         Professional chefs help amateurs turn fresh ingredients into culinary masterpieces

·         Brainfood graduates – all DC high school students – show off their cooking skills

·         Event photos: http://brain-food.org/category/image-galleries/brainfood-grill-off-2008

 

About Brainfood:

Brainfood is a nonprofit youth development organization that uses food and cooking as tools to teach life skills and healthy living to teenagers in a safe, healthy and positive environment. Local high school students participate in our programs either twice a week after school or five days a week for six weeks during the summer. Activities include hands-on cooking classes, lectures, field trips and community service projects. Brainfood graduates are equipped with practical cooking skills, an introduction to the food industry, a framework for nutritious eating, and leadership and life experiences that prepare them to make a difference in their communities. Brainfood is in its 10^th year of operations and has locations in the Columbia Heights and Chinatown neighborhoods of Washington, DC. For more information, visit: www.brain-food.org.

 

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Halloween Hangover

After finishing last night's post I went out with the boys and got seriously crunked up. At 10:30 Krusty and I realized we were pretty gone and started talking about heading home, but neither of us had driven and we had no intention of walking home so we ended staying for the infamous "one more drink." Next thing I know it's 2am and Juan is stumbling around the parking lot of Chumley's yelling into his cell phone for his girlfriend to come pick us up. As a result, I spent most of the morning staring at the screen of my PC, nursing a hangover and pretending to work.

One thing I did get done today was make some chicken noodle soup and I did it the old fashioned way from scratch. I threw a meaty chicken carcass into a pot of water with some salt, pepper, onions, and carrots and let that cook for two hours. Then I strained out the chicken and vegetables and returned the newly made stock to the big pot I was just using. After the chicken cooled I picked all the meat off the carcass, chopped it up, and put that into the stock along with the carrots that I used to make the stock. I threw in a one pound bag of egg noodles, added enough water to cover everything, let it all cook for about twenty minutes and boom, HillRat's soon to be world famous chicken noodle soup.

I have to say, this soup is delicious (I'm having another bowl right now). Adding the noodles before everything is boiling releases a little extra starch and gives the soup a really nice creamy texture. I really do love my own cooking.

But something occurred to me while I was making this soup. There seems to be a lot of talk about how American families eat so poorly; they go out to eat too much and eat too many prepared and convenience foods when they do eat at home. I'm lucky enough to work from home, so I have the luxury of being able to watch over a boiling pot of deliciousness and go through the necessary steps to make a big batch of homemade soup. I have to wonder how many families have the desire and skill to cook healthy and nutritious meals at home, but simply lack the time to do so?

Halloween

Today was the first time that BabyRat has been trick or treating. The last couple of years, we've simply gone to "Hilloween" over at Eastern Market and called it a night.

We went over the in-laws for a quick dinner of burgers and headed out with a whole posse (in-laws, me, wife, a cousin, and a brother-in-law) at about 6pm. We live in a very generous neighborhood where folks were giving out name brand candy by the handful. After about an hour BabyRat was getting tired and having trouble carrying her massive bag of candy, so we headed home.

One thing I have to mention was the parent WHO WERE DRIVING THEIR LAZY ASS KIDS AROUND!! I couldn't fucking believe it, maybe it was the parent who were lazy, but seriously WTF? If it had been ridiculously cold or something, I guess I could see it. But driving kids around to mooch free candy is just whack.

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Grillin' & Chillin'

So I'm grilling yesterday while WifeRat, BabyRat, and SisRat are playing in the yard; the sky turns dark and rain begins to fall, suddenly and heavily. My three ladies quickly dash into the building and I'm left standing outside in the rain with food on the grill. I'm thinking I haven't started cooking the burgers or veggies yet, so I'll just finish up these shrimp real quick and do the burgers on the griddle upstairs and put the vegetables in broiler or something.

When I asked WifeRat to take the burgers upstairs, she gave me a puzzled look and said, "But we're grilling" as she ducked back inside. By the time I grabbed an umbrella out of the car and got back to work cooking I realized that the rain was letting up a bit and the situation was manageable.

As I continued to juggle an over sized golf umbrella, spatula, tongs, and a beer while trying not to overcook my shrimp and get some vegetables on the grill; I hear someone call out, "Hey, nice cooler!" I look over and see my neighbor Dan, who's cooler I was using.

We had gone swimming with Dan and his family at the Prince Georges Community Pool on Sunday and had inadvertently "absorbed" their cooler when packing up. Rather than drop it off right when we got home, WifeRat decided she would return it later in the week and that would give her an excuse to call Roberta, her current candidate for BFF.

One of the things I kind of didn't realize about starting a family, is that you enter into this totally different social network that revolves around children and family. I'm the social butterfly of the family, I've worked hard to keep my friendships up despite changing circumstances but now I'm obliged to enter into these strange whole family friendships. What's really wacky about initiating and maintaining these relationships to me is how much it ends up being like dating.

First you meet, either at a party of a mutual friend or at the park or some kind of "Third Place" like a coffee shop. Usually one parent from each family meets and then the spouses get introduced at some meeting in the future. After everyone has met and seems to like each other,
one party or the other has to take the bold step of asking for or proffering contact information. After the exchange of information is made both couples will then confer about taking the big step of actually calling or e-mailing and making plans with the other family; the big first date and things progress from there.

We've been dating Dan & Roberta and their kids for about six months now and things are going pretty well. Dan was outside playing with his two kids in the rain at the park that's right next to our backyard, so I invited him over for a quick beer. We could see the park from where the grill was and stood around BSing for about ten minutes while I cooked and we knocked down a couple of PBRs then Dan and his kids headed back home with their cooler and I finished making dinner.

It wasn't until I got upstairs with all the food that I found out the BabyRat was very upset that everyone had left her Daddy out in the rain.

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