It is time once again, my followers, for Andrea to write again! It has been too long again since the last time I posted, and I apologize for that.

Yesterday was July 4th, a day celebrating our nation's Independence with hot dogs hamburgers and excessive drinking. Most holidays in America are celebrated with food and I am thankful for that! I celebrated my 4th of July with friends of mine who just so happen to be British. What do British people do on the day that celebrates Americans kicking their ass and gaining Independence from their country? They eat hamburgers, hot dogs and drink excessively. This is what my British people do, at least. I am a fan of hamburgers and hot dogs but sometimes they just seem so mundane. I can have hot dogs and hamburgers any day of my life. On Christmas the ham is broken out and on Thanksgiving a whole roasted turkey is ooo-ed and ahh-ed over. Why does the 4th of July, America's birthday, does not have a special food to be celebrated with? Does anyone out there have a tradition where they eat something special or at least different on this historic day? I would love to know!

Since the last time I posted I have done some cooking of my own, not just eating. I think you have to know how to cook in order to be able to judge other's cooking. My parents have asked me to cook dinner at least once a week, I agreed. The first night I decided to make dinner for the fam I made meatloaf. Very traditional American cooking. I felt as though I should have had a dress and half apron on like June Cleaver. I found a basic meatloaf recipe on FoodNetwork.com and adapted it to make it Lauer approved. I also made Parmesan mashed potatoes and green beans. I'd say a successful dinner! I made so much meatloaf that my family was eating it for days after. I think we actually have a whole pan in the freezer just waiting to be devoured.

The next week I didn't make dinner but the side dish, which I think stole the show...I don't even remember what the main dish was...and that is saying a lot. I made macaroni and cheese. It was cheesy, very cheesy and had a good crunch on top. I made the mac and cheese with cheddar so there was a nice sharp bite. The recipe I used said to add nutmeg but I didn't have any. After looking through the spice drawer twice, I decided to try using allspice. Just to let you know allspice is not a mixture of a bunch of spices or one of the spice girls. The person who discovered the spice thought it tasted like a mixture of cinnamon, clove and nutmeg, therefore naming it allspice. The mac and cheese turned out really well even with the change of spice. Unfortunately there is none left. I guess Ill have to make more!

This past week my dad asked me to use up some leftovers that were crowding the fridge: chicken, noodles, and some random assortment of veggies. All I could think of was a stir fry. So I just dumped everything into a large pan and stirred. I tried to get a little fancy and make a peanut butter satay sauce...lets just say it didn't work. The peanut butter wouldn't melt down and become saucy, so I added soy sauce and that just turned the peanut butter a dark ugly brown. I then walked away from the goopey mixture and forgot about it for a second and it burned. I threw that away right then and there. The stir fry still needed some sort of flavor or sauce on it so I added a few tablespoons of soy sauce to it. I thought it was good, it could have a used a little spice but James, my brother would have complained. Not my most flavorful dish but it accomplished what my dad had asked me to do.

That is all for now, lets hope it doesn't take me as long to write again! Until then, KEEP EATING!!!

The Best Thing I Ever Ate

Nothing new has happened in my world of food this past week :( EXCEPT there is a new show on the Food Network called 'The Best Thing I Ever Ate' where Food Network chefs talk about the best BBQ or fried food or dessert, etc. that they have ever eaten. This show was a special last year on the Food Network but I guess it got such good ratings that the network brought it back as a series. Last night I watched the best BBQ and fried food. Some of the food the chefs were talking about looked so good...I admit I almost got up and tried to lick the TV...ok not really but my tummy grumbled so loud I'm sure it woke up my parents upstairs!

This show has got me wondering, what has been the BEST thing I have ever ate in my short 21 years of life? Have I had the best thing yet? Probably not so I will continue to search but I have had some amazing meals in my life so I could probably pick one or two out that could be considered the BEST thing ever. The first one that comes to mind was a meal I ate just this year in Chicago when I went for a trip with the Wittenberg Communication Leaders (a group I was apart of my senior year of college for networking, professional and other jobs searching purposes). We went to a nice dinner with Witt Alumni and other Communication Leaders alumni from Ohio University at Carmine's. I had been to this restaurant one time before and had spaghetti and one giant meatball. It was good but standard Italian fare. This time I was not paying for my meal so I decided to go all out, thanks Witt! I started with a caprese salad, always a favorite. This salad is made up of fresh sliced tomato, mozzarella and basil drizzled with balsamic vinegar. The tomatoes were juicy, the mozzarella buttery and soft, but not too soft, the basil was sweet and savory at the same time and the balsamic gave the whole dish a little kick. It was amazing but this was not the BEST thing I ever ate. What came next was truly divine. Asparagus and shrimp risotto, need I say more? I have had risotto before but this was so creamy and smooth and amazing. There was so much! I ate about half of what was served and packaged the rest up for a midnight snack. There was no way that I was leaving this gold in the form of food behind. The worst thing happened to me the next day (the worst thing next to losing my favorite pillow that I called Pillpo) I LEFT THE RISOTTO IN THE MINI FRIDGE!!!! NOOOOOOOOOOOO. I get really sad to this day thinking about that amazingness being thrown away. I'm sure the maids did not understand what was left behind. I will go back to Carmine's and eat that risotto and not leave it behind.

If you don't know, risotto is traditionally made with Arborio rice. They are a little fatter than your usual short grain white rice therefore they are able to absorb more liquid which is the key to making creamy risotto. The rice is first cooked with olive oil and then white wine is added. The next steps are the most important and if done too quickly you will not get risotto but more of a rice soup. Stock is added one ladle at a time. Between ladles the rice is stirred until all the liquid is absorbed and then and only then is another ladle added. This is done until all the stock is absorbed. It is a painstaking process but the outcome is so magnificent that it is worth the wait and sore arm.

I am so hungry right now. I think that one of the downsides to having a blog about food is that I'm going to be hungry a lot. I mean, I am hungry a lot but this makes me really think about it. Whatever, its ok. That's it for now, as always, KEEP EATING!

A long time coming

I asked awhile back how often one should blog. How soon is too soon and how long is too long? Well, I have gone too long without a new posting and I apologize. My friend, ANDREA, said she checks my blog everyday to check if I had posted something new and unfortunately I have disappointed her for over a week now. It's not like I have had nothing to blog about, because I have, I just haven't had time to sit down and write about it.

I said a couple postings ago that I got a job at Rio Grande in Bethesda as a server. I started training this past Monday and it has taken up most of my time this week. The training program is so detailed and in depth, covering every possible situation or issue that might arise during service. They are very thorough when it comes to preparing new servers. I have been a waitress before but it was a more relaxed, learn as you go restaurant. There is nothing wrong with either type of restaurant, they just so different. Part of training was trying ALL of the food on the menu, which is the best part of training. I have eaten at Rio before but hadn't tried everything on the menu. Trying everything gives me the ability to describe the way things taste to customers. My favorite item on the menu are the homemade tamales. Tamales are made from spreading corn masa (corn flour) on a corn husk filling it with chicken, pork or veggies, rolling it up and then steaming. They are topped with a sauce, which depends on what kind of tamale you order. The fajitas are amazing, as pretty much everything else. I even tried the FROG LEGS and they really do taste like chicken, chewy chicken. The flavor is really good which masks the whole eating a frog thing. I recommend going to Rio for lunch or dinner...not just because I work there but because the menu is really yummy.

Even though i have waited tables before I was still nervous I was given two tables today. Im pretty sure I did a good job, no mess ups and no upset costumers! I even made a little money, $12.00!! Tomorrow is another day of training, followed by Friday and Sunday night. After the next three training sessions I am a certified Rio Grande server! WOO HOO!

Last week was my friend Laura's 22nd birthday so her boyfriend, Will, set up a little party at the restaurant he works at as a chef, Cava. It is a Greek restaurant with traditional Greek food but with a contemporary twist. The food was amazing. I ordered lamb kapama which is braised lamb shoulder mixed with haloumi, Greek yogurt and orzo (pasta that looks like rice). I could taste cinnamon and other warm spices, which are common themes in Greek food. Other people orderd hummus, a favorite of mine, steak, scallops, more lamb, chicken and a lot more. We were surprised with... I can't remember what they were called but it was fried dough topped with cinnamon and honey, SOO GOOD! After stuffing our faces we went to a Nationals baseball game...they lost, big surprise! <----said sarcastically. I was still stuffed from dinner so I didn't get anything to eat at the ballpark. I was also trying to save money. Similar to the movie theater, ballparks jack up prices of everything so much, but what are you supposed to do? You can't bring your own food and if you get hungry it is very tempting to buy a 5 dollar soda and 7 dollar pretzel or nachos, highway robbery!! The game was a lot of fun, as was the little party at Cava. Lately, when my friends and I go out on the weekend or for happy hour we have been going to Caddie's, a small-ish bar in Bethesda. I really like it there. The food is pretty good and the atmosphere is comfortable. Their happy hour is a really good deal, half price apps and $3 beer, different beers everyday. Caddie's gets kinda of crowded on the weekend and during happy hour later in the week. Whats great is we haven't had any issues like we had at Harp and Fiddle...grrrrr.



I promise I wont take as long to post again! Until next time, keep eating!

a new post is coming soon I PROMISE!!

Sushi is yummy

For the past couple of days I have been eating lunch at Panera with my gym buddies. Panera is pretty good, I do go there often, it is consistent and a standard in my repertoire of lunch spots. I finally went somewhere new for lunch today, Hiro Sushi, which is off of Rockville Pike. It was great! Jamie and I each got a California roll and a tuna roll and then shared edamame and tempora. The total for lunch was just under $20!! I consider this a good deal. I could eat at Panera for the same amount and have a lot less food and this is sushi I'm talking about, not normally a very cheap food item. It wasn't poorly made and the ingredients were fresh and tasty. If you do not know, a California roll is made with avocado, cucumber, and crab and then wrapped in nori (seaweed) and sticky rice. A tuna roll is very simple: tuna, rice and nori. The edamame was new to me (see picture). They are baby soybeans that are boiled and served lightly salted. They look like large sugar snap peas. You don't eat the pod but the pea inside, which kind of looks like a lima bean. I would definitely order them again. Not only do they taste good but they are really healthy! Edamame contains lots of protein, vitamin A, B and calcium. Delicious and nutritious! I had never had tempura either. Tempura is battered and fried seafood, vegetables and/or meat. We had shrimp, green beans, zucchini and sweet potato. What I really liked about the tempura was even though it was battered and fried, it was lighter then American fried shrimp. The coating is very light and crunchy and not too greasy. I'm sure there are still tons of calories but the flavor of the food is not disguised by the heavy batter.You can actually see the color of the food through the batter. ^

I tried KFC's new grilled chicken last night while over at Shayna's house. It was actually really good but if people are eating the grilled chicken over the fried because they think there are eating fewer calories they are WRONG! The chicken is still very greasy and you still have to get biscuits and Lord knows those things are not fat or calorie free.

I am going to see The Hangover tonight with some friends and popcorn will most likely be ingested. I try not to buy movie theater popcorn because it is way too expensive, but it is soooo good...all that butter and salt, mmmmmmm (I might be drooling right now). It really is a rip-off. Movie theaters can continue to raise the prices of popcorn, candy and whatever they sell but people will continue to buy the food, no matter what. It is highway robbery I tell you. What is it about having to have popcorn and a soda while watching a movie? Tradition, I guess. Even if I don't buy the popcorn I know one of my friends will and I know my hand will find its way into the lap of the popcorn buyer at least five times before the movie even begins. I do this without realizing it too.

That is all for now! Keep reading and as always, keep eating.

Fish n' Chips

So I have been told that I need to blog more. I agree but I posted three times within a 24 hour period, I thought that I should wait a day or two and I had nothing that I felt blogging about. That is where my followers come in! I have 8 now!!!! I need suggestions...places you like that I should try, really any topic having to do with food.

I'd like to make a revision to that last posting about the experience I had at the Harp and Fiddle. The main issue I was complaining about what the way our problem was handled; there was no way that my friends and I could have been right, according to the waitress and her manager. My issue was the obvious ageism being displayed as we were trying to solve the missing money mystery. The food wasn't so great, as well. On the other hand, the atmosphere of the restaurant is great! Sitting and eating was a lot of fun (minus the store bought chips and frozen fries). I have also been there later when it is more of a bar and less of a restaurant and that was the best I've seen it. A live band and dance floor was my favorite part. I am still upset about what happened and will not be returning for dinner. Beer is hard to mess up, so going there later with friends for a drink will be ok, also because Samantha (our waitress) will not be serving us!

Today I was watching Barefoot Contessa. Ina Garten is the host of this show which takes place in the Hamptons. The location should be a give away of the feeling of the show...hoighty toighty. Garten makes pretty simple dishes but with high quality, expensive ingredients. I would consider her one of the chefs on the Food Network that I like, she isn't my favorite but I do watch her when she is on TV (I switch channels when, for example, Rachel Ray is on TV). Today's menu included fish and chips and some sort of fruit tort. I was craving fish and chips today because I was talking about it on the way to lunch with my friends Sam and Jamie. Sam is from England so I would consider him an expert when it comes to fish and chips. Now that Ina Garten has made fish and chips I think I am going to find a recipe and try it out! I mentioned a Bristh friend in my first post but it is not Sam, I actually don't know the other guy. Anyways, Sam is not like this other British guy in that he isn't friends with bigger girls cause that means they know all the good places to eat.

I applied for a job at Rio Grande, a restaurant in Bethesda, yesterday. I'm pretty sure I made it through the weed out interview because I was asked to come back on Monday for an interview with the general manager. They like me, they really like me! I have been working in a restaurant for about 5 years, so I think by hiring me, Rio is making the best decision of their life, seriously.

As you might be able to see, I am struggling for things to write about. That is why I need suggestions. I will continue to babel on like I just have if you don't suggest things for me to write about. Give me a prompt. Years of teachers and professors telling me exactly what they want has lead me to this...not knowing what to write in my own freakin' blog!!!

Until next time, keep eating!

Trivia Night Goes Bad

Tonight was trivia night at a restaurant in Bethesda, Harp and Fiddle. I was looking forward to tough questions, most of them with wrong answers, and hanging out with my friends. The questions were hard, as expected, and my team came in second to last...the team we beat was made up of my friends as well, real accomplishment! Trivia was the highlight of the night, but it really had nothing difficult to beat.

The food was mediocre. I had the buffalo chicken sandwich. There was more breading than chicken, and on the menu it said it would come with homemade potato chips, unless Harp and Fiddle is now manufacturing Lays ripple potato chips in there kitchen, they were not homemade. My brother had the chicken fingers and fries. All I have to say about the fries is that Ore-Ida makes better frozen fries than Harp and Fiddle.

OK, I'm being a little harsh but that is probably because of the terrible mis-hap that happened with the check. My side of the table was first to look over the check totaling $296.32 (this is including an automatic 18% gratuity). Between the 4 people on my side of the table we paid about $100. Next came the other side of the table who put in about $50 in cash. Credit cards were added to finish off the rest of the check. Our waitress, Samantha, comes back with the credit card receipts and tells us that we still owe about $32 more. Jamie's Visa gift card did not go through, which covers majority of the balance left over. We gave Samantha, our waitress, the money and started to leave. She then stops us and says that we still owe her the $43ish dollars of the automatic 18% gratuity. If that was true then we shorted her over $70. I have been working in a restaurant for over 5 years, why would I try and jipp a waitress when I understand the inner workings of a restaurant and that tips are the only way for servers to make money?! Most of my friends that were with me tonight have worked in restaurants before, they understand too. As we were trying to figure out what happened, Samantha did nothing to help us or figure out what went wrong. We could have not been missing $70! We ended up paying the rest of the money, but we were not happy about it. This Samantha chick obviously cannot count or was trying to make more money off of us, well she picked the wrong group of young people to mess with.

I could not leave without talking to a manager so I went back inside. The manager got the receipts and "all of the cash" we gave Samantha. I put all of the cash in quotes because I am convinced some money was misplaced or pocketed. We counted everything up and there was about $300, cash and credit. This was only after we had to add more money because we supposedly did not give enough. The manager really didn't do anything to help us but side with his waitress, which is fine, but I think that if it were older customers, around my parents age, we would have been given more respect or at least tried to figure something out besides telling us we were wrong. AGEISM!! That is exactly what was going to on. One doesn't normally think about ageism against young people, but it happens, ALL THE TIME!

This blog wasn't completely about food but about the establishment and treatment of customers. I think it is just as important to talk about the treatment one gets at a restaurant because the service adds to the experience of eating out. You can go out to eat and have a great meal but if the service and atmosphere are bad then it can ruin the whole experience. This whole check ordeal ruined my experience and unfortunately, I will not be going back to Harp and Fiddle. I would hope that if I did go back I wouldn't experience the same thing but I do not want to give it a chance and why would I support a business that does not give the same treatment to young people as they would to the older generation.

Rant is a good word to describe what I did in this posting, but it is because I'm pissed. I do not recommend going to Harp and Fiddle, for food or service. Trivia was fun, but that was because it was not done by the restaurant...it is an outside company called Stump Trivia. I'm sure I'll be able to find other restaurants to play trivia games, one being McGinty's Public House in Silver Spring, MD. I recommend going there instead of Harp and Fiddle.

Hopefully my next posting will be a positive one. Until then, keep eating!