Cakes by Happy Eatery

At the DC Metro Cooking and Entertaining Show, my dad and I had the pleasure of meeting the owner of Cakes by Happy Eatery, which has locations in Manassas, Va and Centreville, Va.  It started from the dessert menu at a traditional Chinese restaurant and has grown into a highly successful business on its own.  We were treated to a sample and explanation of all the varieties she had with her at the show, as well as lively conversation. 

We sampled traditional vanilla vanilla, gluten free vanilla, red velvet, chocolate vanilla, vegan chocolate and vanilla, and sugar free vanilla.  All were solid, though the best by far was the gluten free vanilla, which was made with a combination of rice and potato flour.  It had a great flavor and the whipped cream frosting was a nice pairing.  I really enjoyed hearing how the shop tries very hard to perfect their recipes, in particular the specialty ones.  For example, they have experimented with both splenda and stevia for the sugar free recipes.  Lots of bakeries are now offering a gluten free or a vegan cupcake, but this is the first one I've seen that has gluten free, sugar free, and vegan.  And, it seems they're willing to try to make a recipe with any kind of special exception you might have.  I felt the personalization was really great here and worth checking out if you or any of your loved ones have special dietary needs. 

The reviews on Yelp also rave about the items in their cafe, so next time we're put that direction, I think a stop in for a bbq pork bun is in order!

DC Metro Cooking and Entertaining Show 2011

Yesterday I had the pleasure of attending the DC Metro Cooking and Entertaining show with my dad.  As we're both bloggers, we had registered ahead of time as "media" and we were given snazzy media badges and best of all, we got to attend at no charge.  Thank you Metro Cooking!  I was very excited to attend, as many of our favorite celebrity and local chefs were giving lectures and demonstrations.  The show was at the very large DC convention center and thousands of people were milling about, checking out the hundreds of vendors, tasting delicious food, and learning new recipes from the presentations.  Here's what we did:

Saw Giada De Laurentis make lamb bruscetta on the big stage.  She was a tiny little thing, but very warm and gracious and invited audience members on stage to cook with her.  While they did most of the cooking, she answered audience questions.  The best part was when a 4 year old girl asked her what she liked to cook with her daughter and then asked for a hug, which she got.

We saw DC legend Michel Richard prepare an orange juice soaked sponge cake.  He was HILARIOUS.  Watching him cook made me want to go to Citronelle even more.  Someone needs to give this man a show on tv.  The cake was great and definitely something a home cook could prepare easily.  I also really liked that they had high school and college kids from local culinary programs passing out the samples - good experience for them!

 

After that we went to the National Beef Cook-off stage where  we saw Mary Beth Albright, a food writer and finalist (and my personal favorite) for the last season of the Next Food Network Star.  She was preparing a recipe from the cook-off's winners' cookbook, which everyone in the audience received.  Mary Beth was exactly as she is on tv, funny and friendly, and I was happy to see her in person.  

We then went right over to the cook-off's booth, where they had prepared samples, big ones!, of all the winning beef recipes.  

I actually went through the line twice so I could taste different recipes.  I tried the big winner, which was Asian flavored skirt steak, a fiesta beef and rice, modern strogonoff and a grilled enchilada.  The Asian steak was the best by far, so it was easy to see why it won the cook-off.  

We then went to the wine tasting area, where my dad discovered a new favorite that apparently retails for just $5.50.  I wasn't really impressed with the rest though.

We then spent the rest of the time wandering the vendors and sampling their wares.  There were literally hundred of booths with oils, vinegars, cookies, cheeses, soup, bbq sauces, hot sauces, you name it, it was there.  I keep trying to find someone that has balsamic vinegar that is on par with the one we got in Connecticut over the summer, but nothing measured up.  The best thing I tried all day were a series of sauces/dip from Maison Le Grand.  The four nut pesto was amazing.  Can't wait to try it on pasta.  We also got an excellent cupcake tasting from Cakes by Happy Eatery.

On our way out, we stuck our head in the Paula Deen presentation.  I got to hear the accent in person!  I love Paula, but I didn't need to watch her from the back of a crowded audience and we were tired from walking around all day.  

It was a really fun day and the company does a really great job of organizing the event and making sure everyone is happy.  I'd definitely recommend going next year!

I Heart Chubby Jones

Anyone who knows me knows I've never really been athletically-inclined.  I like going to the gym and have taken up rowing in the summers over the last several years, but nothing really hard-core.  I leave that to BJ.  But, after hearing about the Couch to 5K program on the interwebs and from some friends, I thought, gee, I could maybe do this!  The C25K program is exactly as it sounds - a program designed to get a total novice from running very small amounts to running a 5K in about 9 weeks.  There are many podcasts, websites, and apps available to help a newbie get started.

I started this program while I was home on maternity leave last fall.  I got about 5 weeks in and then went back to work and pretty much stopped exercising for many many moons as our family adjusted to new routines.  This past summer, I picked it back up again, hoping to finally get to the end.  I am happy to say that I can now run 30 minutes without stopping.  I'm not fast, definitely won't win any races, but I will finish! 

A major factor in my being able to get through the program has been the Chubby Jones Podcast.  Chubby Jones, who is really Mia Jones, is a blogger and music/tv critic who has recorded a podcast for anyone who wants to run the C25K with her.  She chooses the music for you, normally mash-ups and independent artists she won't get in trouble for using, and she tells you when to walk, when to run, and gives all kinds of encouragement including giving yourself a pat on the butt and drinking margaritas as rewards.  You also occasionally hear about her 2 French bulldogs.  Mia is hilarious and it has been really great having her in my ear as I've been jogging.  So, a big thank you to Miss Chubby Jones!!!

If you are interested in starting this program, I highly recommend checking her out!

Bobby's Burger Palace

August 27 was a momentous day around here.  First, we got hit with a hurricane, which almost never happens in the DC area.  Second, BJ and I attended not one, but 2 weddings while said hurricane was occurring.  And third, we checked out the newest celebrity chef restaurant, Bobby Flay's Bobby's Burger Palace.  We love Bobby Flay.  I didn't used to be a fan, but he's grown on me and now he's one of our favorites.  We appreciate that he doesn't take himself too seriously AND that her recently appeared on the final season of Entourage.

We had some time to kill between weddings, so we used it wisely and went to check our Mr. Flay's newest franchise.  It is located on K Street, which we shuffled along in the pouring rain and gusting winds to get to the front door.  Here is what greets you when you go in:

We knew from looking at the website ahead of time that the specialty is the Crunch Burger, which just means adding potato chips on top.  You can "crunchify" any of the other burgers.  We ordered one regular cheese burger crunchified and one Dallas burger also with the crunch.  We also got fries and a coconut shake.  The restaurant itself is pretty neat looking, with a curvy bar area and then normal table, everything a loud yellow and orange.  Being that it was the middle of a natural disaster, the place was fairly empty and we didn't wait long for our food. 

My burger was pretty good.  I think I'd give it about a 7/10.  It was cooked more well-done that I like (even though you can choose how it is cooked when you order) but the flavor was good.  The potato chips on top didn't add anything in my opinion.  BJ felt the same about his burger.  We did enjoy the fries a lot and the milkshake was fantastic - lots of real coconut flavor and pieces of coconut.  All in all, a solid experience, but there are a couple of other places in the area we'd go to first if making a choice.  We're not often in the K St. area, so I'm not sure when we'll be back, but I'd recommend it to anyone who works near there and needs a quick lunch.

Date Night in DC

BJ and I had an opportunity to have a mid-week date night this past Wednesday, thanks to Goldstar for cheap tickets, an unused giftcard, and willing grandparents for babysitting.  We purchased heavily discounted theatre tickets to see Oklahoma! and made a reservation at a place we'd been dying to try - America Eats Tavern.  This is the José Andrés pop-up restaurant in the old Cafe Atlantico space.  We've been a José fan for a long time and thought the combination of food and history was intriguing. 

We tried:

- fried chicken with blueberry ketchup:  great crust, but under-seasoned chicken.  The ketchup was good though.

- vermicelli prepared like pudding:  an old-fashioned mac and cheese.  Very delicate cheese flavor.  I could've eaten a whole plate of this.  The sauteed mushrooms on the side were amazing.

- crab cakes w/ pickled watermelon salad:  BJ said they were the best crab cakes he's ever had.  The salad was nice as well, a good combination of flavors.

- bbq shortrib with succotash:  this normally comes with cole slaw but I asked for a substitution.  The succotash was delish, very creamy and fresh tasting.  I really wanted to like the short rib, it had such good reviews, but it was incredibly salty and spicy.  Maybe the chef was having an off day.  It was cooked beautifully though.

- Kentucky burgoo: a stew of lamb, rabbit and squab  BJ liked it, was glad he ordered it, but wouldn't get it again.  He did say he'd eat rabbit again though. 

- strawberry shortcake:  a light shortcake and fresh berries, some even filled with strawberry gel.  Good, but not outstanding.

- pineapple upside-down cake:  this was awesome.  A light cake willed with warm pineapple sauce and fresh whipped cream.  Smooth and sweet.

So, maybe 3.5 stars out of 5.  We liked it and the overall experience was good.

Oklahoma! at Arena Stage was fanastic.  The cast was amazingly talented and they really brought out the humor in the script.  Definitely worth staying out too late on a school night!