9.28.2009

UPDATE: Okra Challenge

Nana says I won't make her okra recipe because she fries them in bacon grease.

No *wonder* they are so YUMMY!

Still haven't made them. They are staring at me like that GEICO stack of money.

I have found more okra recipes that look great though:

Martha Stewart's Corn, Cranberry Bean, Fried Okra Salad

Damon Lee Fowler's Grilled Okra with Tomato Vinaigrette

The Lee Brothers' Fried Okra

And how did I forget I could make GUMBO!

9.18.2009

A Tale of Twitter, Tenacity & Triumph


I often joke (or am mocked) about my Twitter addiction and my "Twitter friends", but I wanted to share one neat story about why it's been such a great platform for me - not just to get information in a different way, but to meet new people that I never would have come across.

Ali Holden's just down the street. She's one year younger than me. She likes all things DC (except tourists and drunk Georgetown students trashing her hood) and has a quick wit. I feel like I know her and yet we've never met.

At first it was just funny back-n-forth banter about life in DC or a guilty pleasure TV show that we both watch. As time went on I learned that she's raising a teenager - and if that weren't challenging enough, last April she was in a car accident that resulted in injuries that forced her to put her job on hold and in many ways relearn simple tasks. (read more here on her blog.)

So, what does Ali want for her 36th birthday?

To help build a well in a far away community that doesn't have clean, safe drinking water.

Ali and I, like many others, learned about charity:water's efforts via their Twitter campaign where they share daily pictures of kids enjoying clean water.

Charity water found me on Twitter and I find myself on the website daily, sharing the photos and telling everyone I know about it. It was founded by a guy named Scott Harrison who is about our age and who decided he wanted to make a difference. There are so many big and small ways that we can each do that in our own lives on a daily basis.

Today I made a small donation towards Ali's charity:water well. I hope you'll do the same and as we all band together to raise a couple grand, we'll be able to track our progress and eventually see our well on Google Earth here. Just $20 can give one person water for TWENTY YEARS! And you'll always be able to look up your well and see who and how it's helping. So neat!

Ali Holden's Charity Water Well Page

Follow her @aliholden or read her blog at Holden It Together. Follow @charitywater for inspiration.

9.17.2009

Market Challenge 9.17.09

Despite the buzz around the opening of the White House Farmers Markets (Thursdays 3-7), a rainy day kept me in the Penn Quarter neighborhood... And my regular market didn't disappoint.

Ended up with sweet corn, okra, nectarines and feta... All coming less than 100 miles from my doorstep.

So, what should I make? Here are some great ideas that inspired my purchases:

Fresh365's Two-Corn Polenta


Arugula Files Corn Quesadillas


My Nana's Fried Okra (Confidential)

Barton Seaver's Grilled Okra with Charred Onion Dipping Sauce

Smitten Kitchen's Nectarine Galette

9.12.2009

Food Challenge: Twitter Edition

This unambitious, drizzly weekend morning, I found myself with what could only be called disparate ingrdients. From bed, I issued a desperate call (ok, tweet):

@floridagirlindc Q: What can u make w/Bisquick, milk, peaches and'or mango (no eggs)

The quick responses make me wonder if Twitter may have some future Top Chef challengers. With "quick fire"- like timing, I got back links and ideas for a pancake version w/o eggs, beignets and biscuits with peach spread. All YUMMY sounding.

The winner (this time) was an old "brick and mortar" star... @BettyCrocker! Proving that old brands can "get" and thrive in new media, "she" tweeted me a simple cobbler recipe that took me about 2 minutes to toss together and was foolproof.

Results pictured (and quickly digested), recipe here.

9.07.2009

Eat Your Veggie Cupcakes

Cutest vegetable cupcakes at Buzz Bakery off Slaters Lane in Alexandria, VA (No vegetables were harmed... Their totally made of icing and the dirt is chocolate)

My Windowbox Urban Garden

What should I chef up with my newly acquired mint, basil and cilantro?

Also, what's the over-under these are all dead in 2 weeks?

9.05.2009

Vegetarian Kryptonite

I'm currently cruising past cute Virginia farms on the way to Charlottesville for the first college football game day. I'm already in fear of what lies ahead... the tailgate. The tailgate is a vegetarian slayer... Last year's attempt at becoming a vegetarian was taken down quickly.

I began making exceptions before I was in the car. By the 3rd quarter, I was declaring in between bourbon and cokes, "I'm a vegetarian, except for all breakfast meats, BBQ, chicken of the finger variety, pepperoni and cheeseburgers."

This year, I'm taking a more laissez faire attitude. I'm trying to reduce the amount of meat I eat, for health and environmental reasons. But on the kickoff of college football season, with a full Ritter tailgate spread less than 20 miles away, I'm being more realistic.

Call Dr. Drew - I'm giving full notice that we are about to backslide for the next 12 hours.

PS. I made fresh guacamole for the tailgate - so I'll have at least one vegetable (or is that a fruit? Man, I'm a vegetarian rookie...)

9.02.2009

Things I Loved About Texas

- fried okra readily available as a side order
- respectable fried pickle chips
- Kate Spade & Juicy Couture at Galleria
- great guacamole
- downtown Fort Worth super cute, including Bass Performance Hall and the lil Flatiron Building
- Electra bikes for sale near TCU
- Dallas Cowboys stadium is amazing. World's largest retractable garage doors and sun roof.
- Frozen margaritas served in the stands at Rangers Stadium (also I want an office with balcony in centerfield... possibly best balcony since Mardi Gras)
- Chip's guacamole burger & chocolate malt in Dallas
- charging & internet stations at DFW
- fun, nice people

Love Emeritus: Austin

Things That Scare Me About Texas

- lots of dead cow skulls in people's yards
- chicken fried __________ (i get it, it's tasty people, but...)
- people really dressed like cowboys (and not employed as a cowboy)
- my Blackberry doesn't hold a charge here
- self identifying as a vegetarian elicits similar reaction to having swine flu
- the Governor is actively urging secession
- traffic