April Book Club Review

This one is a little late, obviously, but worth discussing.  Last month's book was Peace Like A River by Leif Enger. 

This was definitely not a book I would normally choose for myself.  It has a western flavor to it and I am not a fan of anything having to do with cowboys and indians, so that turned me off right away.  But, the story generally sounded like something I could get into.  In this book, the story is told by Reuben, an 11 year old asthmatic boy, and his father and sister, as they journey to find his older brother who is on the run from the police for murder.  There is a strong spiritual theme and miracles factor prominently, but I wouldn't call it a religious book specifically as I think anyone with any beliefs could appreciate the story. 

At times, it was a little slow.  And some of the decisions made during the journey are questionable, but there is closure at the end and that is always important to me.  The best part about this book, in my opinion, was the way the author uses language.  I was constantly marveling at the way he'd phrase something or choose the way to describe something.  I would never in a million years think to put words together the way that Enger did and it made turning the pages all that much more interesting.  The little sister, Swede, is a wonderful character who narrates the story in her own way by writing an ongoing poem that mirrors everything else going on.  A solid book, not my favorite, but it was worth reading.  7/10.

Happy 1st Mother's Day to me!

Here's last week's dinner review a little late.  Oops.  BJ wanted to make sure my first Mother's Day was extra memorable, so he decided to take me out to a nice restaurant.  He chose Bastille, in Alexandria, and I was very excited to be going.  We both got dressed up and enjoyed the thought of table for two instead of a table for two and a high chair.  Bastille calls itself a "contemporary bistro and wine bar," which I definitely agree with.  The menu on Sundays is prix fixe and 3 courses, all of which looked delicious.  The atmospehere is lovely, like being in someone's home in their chic dining room.  Our server was very attentive and answered all our questions.  For our 1st course, BJ had a trio of rillettes and I had a goat cheese pana cotta with a salad.  Both were fantastic and I knew that if that was any indication of what was to come, this was going to be a success.  For our main course, I had the flat iron steak and frites and BJ had a ribeye with bernaise sauce and veggies.  My meal had a lot to live up to, as one of my most favorite meals of all time is the Onglet (hanger steak) and frites from Les Halles (RIP the DC location, but it is still around in NYC).  Bastille did a good job, as the steak was tender and well cooked, but it was not very memorable.  The shallot sauce also was sweet and salty and not in a good way.  The frites were good though.  Next time I'd order this again and ask for it without the sauce.  BJ's meal was excellent, he especially liked the vegetables.  For dessert, we both ordered the pot de creme, which was one of the best desserts I've ever had.  Dark chocolate heaven, topped with dark cherries and whipped cream.  I could've eaten that all day.  This was an excellent, decadent meal and we had a nice, adult evening.  Even though my steak wasn't perfect, I would highly recommend this restaurant - 9/10.

A mom and a pop

Happy Mother's Day!  As this is my first one as a mother, it is certainly special.  BJ was away this morning at our dear friend's graduation (Congrats S!) so the Luce and I decided to check out the Columbia Pike farmer's market in Arlington that just happened to have a food truck vendor....funny how that worked out that way....  We took a stroll around the small, but busy market and saw the Pleasant Pops freezer cart positioned right in the center.  A nice young man told me his favorites for the day were the pina colada and Chongo, which was a Mexican sweet cream and cinnamon.  I went for the pina colada and was not disappointed. 

It had a bright pineapple flavor and while the coconut was not quite as strong, the overall flavor was good.  The Luce enjoyed it as well! 

It was also well-packaged in a Pleasant Pops wrapper.  At $2.50, it was slightly expensive, but a recent visit from the neighborhood ice cream man tells me that about $2.00 is normal, so this wasn't a terrible price.  We perused the rest of the market, bought a few things, and went back to the stand for a Chongo. 

WOW!  It was amazing.  A great balance of sweet and spice, similar to the awesome cinnamon ice cream my dad makes.  I was sad when it was gone.  And, I felt good about buying and eating their product because that they use all natural, local ingrediants, so there are no weird chemicals to worry about and I'm supporting farmers in our area.  Two thumbs up for Pleasant Pops - 9/10 overall.  A nice start to a wonderful Mother's Day :)

OBX - Duck, Duck, Luce!

The second half of our spring break was spent with BJ's family in the Outer Banks, specifically Duck, NC.  We're not necessarily beach people, but we love OBX and have always had a good time.  This was the first trip for the PA family, so it was fun for us to see them experience it for the first time.  If you've never been, let me describe it for you.  OBX, for the most part, is pretty "rural" as far as beach towns go.  You have a handful of shopping areas and a grocery store or two, but it is mostly restaurants and big houses.  Instead of getting a hotel room or a condo, most people rent these enormous homes and share them with family and friends.  We're talking upwards of 20-25 people can fit in some of these suckers.  We call them wedding cake houses since they have multiple balconies on each floor and are often pastel colors.  You pretty much go to veg and spend time with whoever you came with, as opposed to the kind of beach experience where you can play putt-putt and walk a boardwalk and play arcade games (i.e. like Myrtle or Ocean City). 

This was the Luce's first trip to the beach, which was pretty exciting for us.  We had a lovely time relaxing and hanging out with the family, spent some time walking on the beach and in the pool.  We also had the opportunity to eat out a couple of times.

1.  Duck Deli & BBQ - This was just up the road from our house and very convenient to one of the shopping areas in Duck.  We wanted some North Carolina BBQ and since the sign jumped out at us, we stopped.  The NC style was very vinegary, maybe more than it should've been.  The meat was tender though and served in generous portions.  I opted for the Kansas City style beef and it was also just okay, the meat was stringy and not as tender as it could've been.  The wings were well received, as was the smoked chicken.  When we told some friends who are often in OBX that we went there, they said it is not the first choice among the locals.  6/10.

2.  The Rundown Cafe - The same friend met us for lunch here.  They recommended a couple of dishes from the very diverse menu and we ordered confidently.  I had jerk chicken with cocnut rice and beans.  It was excellent, perfectly cooked, and the rice and beans were great when mixed together with their salsa.  BJ raved about the Rundown Soup so much that I've forgotten what else he had.  He said this soup, which was fish, coconut and sweet potato, was the best seafood soup he'd ever had.  He even ordered a pint to go.  AND we liked it to much, we took the rest of the family back for dinner the same night.  I tried the sesame noodles with coconut fried chicken then as it was fantastic, even better than lunch.  Just the right amount of spicy and sweet.  I believe everyone else was happy with their meals, but I was too busy eating mine to notice!  We will definitely make this a stop every time we come down.  10/10.

A great trip and some pretty great eating!!

A Trip to Harrisonburg, Va

Last week was Spring Break and boy did we need it!  I have no idea how you people who don't work in schools do it.  BJ and I had previously purchased an Escapes deal from Living Social, way back before the Luce was born, and decided to use it over the break.  We were really looking forward to it, as we are familiar with H'burg with many friends who attended James Madison University there.  Here was the package, which was really a very, very good deal considering:

- 2 nights at the By The Side of the Road Inn in the main house.   Because we had the baby with us, we were told we had to stay in the Bishop's Retreat, which is further away from the rest of the house and has 2 bedrooms, a bathroom and a sitting room, as well as a small fridge and microwave, which are not included in the other rooms.  The house is very nice, but situated in a residential area of town, which was kind of weird, but it was fine.  The owners, a husband and wife and their daughter, were exceedingly nice and helpful.  They were really sweet about the Luce being with us and gave us suggestions for places to visit.  The 2 breakfasts we had, an herbed egg souffle with sausage and pancakes with orange cardamom sauce, were delicious.  It was served at 9 am though, so that was hard for us to wait for with a little one who wakes up at 6.  The room itself was nice, though perhaps not at luxurious as other B&B's we've been to.  I didn't see the other rooms though and wonder if they are more what we're used to.  I guess a "family room" doesn't really need to be swanky.  7/10 for our experience there.

- $10 to the local farmers market.  This was fantastic.  The market is in the center of town and is open more than just weekend mornings.  They had tons of fresh salad greens and flowers and baked goods.  We spent our gift certificate on cheese from Mountain View Farms.  The Swiss-style "McClure" was amazing.  9/10 for the market.

- $10 to the local ice cream joint, Kline's Dairy Bar.  We loved Kline's.  We went both nights and had delicious homemade ice cream in the weekly flavor, which differs by location.  We had Cherry Nut and Raspberry,and both were awesome.  10/10.

- Tasting fees waved at 2 wineries.  One was closed while we were visiting, so we made it to just one of the free vineyards - Bluestone.  They're fairly new but the tasting rooms was very nice and they even carried the McClure cheese we loved so much.  Our favorite wine was the Beau, named after their dog.  The owner was very sweet and didn't bat an eyelash at our bringing our baby in.  8/10.  Not part of the package, but recommended by another guest at the inn, was Crosskeys Vineyard. 

The setting was gorgeous and the wine was tasty, but the service was horrid.  I think the woman doing the tasting could have been drunk.  She was slow and flighty and did not pay attention to what she was doing.  Plus, when a little girl visiting with another couple knocked something over and could have been hurt, she showed no concern and ignored it completely.  Rude.  9/10 for the wine and the setting, 0/10 for the service.

- $60 to one of 2 restaurants.  Because we had the baby, we chose the more casual L'Italia.  Our hosts had gushed about the food earlier in the day, so we were really looking forward to it.  We started with bruschetta, which was enormous and pretty good.  BJ had the lobster ravioli, which he found had zero taste.  My steak Gorgonzola Alfredo was also off.  The steak had no seasoning at all and the sauce was sweet.  Bleh.  To finsh out our gift card, we ordered cannoli to go but had to toss it because it was also bland and kind of tasted like paste.  Talk about disappointed.  I feel badly about this review, because it was hyped to us so much, but you can't help what you like.  2/10.

We also at a meal at Jack Brown's Beer & Burger Joint, which was the culinary highlight of the trip.  They only serve burgers, beer and fried oreos.  The burgers are also served with a variety if intersting toppings.  We tried one with cream cheese and pepper jelly.  The burger was delicious, flavorful and juicy.  BJ likes it so much he ordered another one.  I also enjoyed my very first fried oreo, which was kind of like an oreo flavored donut.  Great service as well.  10/10.

Another note - Harrisonburg is perhaps not the best place for a romantic OR a family getaway.  It is a good base for hiking, but I think there are more charming towns.  BJ felt like we were in an agricultural version of his hometown, and not in a positive way.  So, now we know.  We had a decent time over all, but won't be back.