a collection of tried and true
The grown children of two whacked out performance artists try to come to grips with their strange upbringing. The novel goes back and forth between when the siblings were little kids and part of their parents “art”, and the present when they are young adults. The parts in the past are hilarious. Fun book.
PJH rating: ****
Courtney and I went on a quick trip to DC on Thursday to pick up Jack and we went out to eat at some good places.
Thursday, 6/7/12; Firefly
After an action packed day we ended up in Dupont Circle where I made a reservation at Firefly after looking through Open Table reviews. It turned out to be a good pick. We had a dinner reservation for 7:30 but still had to wait 20 minutes for a table as the place was hopping. It was a beautiful evening and everyone was out. After having a beer at the bar we eventually made it to our table. For firsts, Jack had a bowl of matzah ball soup and Courtney and I split a plate of shrimp and grits. The shrimp and grits were great – creamy and cheesey. I don’t think I have ever had grits before… I like them. For seconds Jack had a plate of sausage and greens, Courtney had a vegetable casserole of braised endive, asian mushrooms and other veggies over polenta and I had a soft shell crab. All were good. The soft shell crab was a work of art. I wish I would have taken a picture. It tasted as good as it looked – crispy, chewy and just a little bit spicy. One of the best dishes I have had in a long time. We skipped dessert and had ice cream at a place a few blocks down the street.
Friday, 6/8/12; Pizza Paradiso
After walking and walking and walking we stopped for lunch at Pizza Paradiso in Georgetown. Courtney was happy and officially declared it vacation as she had a peroni on draft for lunch. We split a big salad of greens, white beans and artichokes and ordered two big pizzas…a margarita and one with pepperoni. The margarita was the best…it always is. The pizzas were very good; crust nice and crispy and charred, chewy in the center, with fresh mozarella and just a small amount of sauce. Just the way we like it. Again, a good place to be.
Friday, 6/8/12; Graffiato
I made a reservation at Graffiato about three or four weeks ago once we knew for sure when we were going. Graffiato is Top Chef contestant Mike Isabella’s restauraunt in China Town and is a hot ticket. It reminds me a lot of Cleveland’s Lola but a lot more casual. Everything is small plates and we tried a lot of good stuff. We split six plates: red and yellow beats with a citrus sauce; flatbread with pepperoni sauce; a platter of six different cheeses that we chose; hangar steak with a green sauce served with little chunks of deep fried polenta (mmmmmm); pecorino tortellini with peas, pea tendrils and mint; and salmon served over a bean puree with arthichokes and capers. All were excellent. We split three desserts: chocolate cake with salted caramel gelato; blood orange cheesecake with passion fruit sauce; and a serving of mango sorbet. Again, all were excellent.
A book you can’t put down and spend all day reading is always good. Thanks for the recommendation Stephanie. It was interesting that the same day I was reading this it showed up on the Plain Dealer top books of the Summer. Esch is a 14 year old dirt poor girl in Mississippi who finds herself pregnant and chronicles the days leading up to the hurricane Katrina. Very good.
PJH rating: ****1/2
The ingredients in the refrigerator last night led me to this simple and very tasty pasta recipe. Roasted tomatoes are wonderful and the goat cheese made it nice and creamy. Grace announced that this is now her favorite pasta.
Below is the recipe that I followed pretty much as is except I cooked the tomatoes at 300 degrees for about an hour and they were perfect. I also used a different kind of pasta and didn’t have too much basil yet so used a bit of parsley, basil and oregano from the garden.
Pasta with Slow Roasted Cherry Tomatoes and Goat Cheese
Sara Moulton, Sara Moulton Cooks at Home
Ingredients:
Directions
Preheat the oven to 250 degrees F.
Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper. Halve each tomato and place cut side up in 1 flat layer on the baking sheets. Drizzle the tomatoes with 1 tablespoon of the olive oil and sprinkle on the salt. Roast until the tomatoes are dried around the edges but still moist, about 2 hours.
Crumble the goat cheese into large chunks and refrigerate until ready to serve the pasta.
Cook the pasta in salted boiling water according to the package directions. Remove 1 cup of the cooking liquid and reserve. Drain the pasta well and return to the pot. Add the tomatoes, goat cheese,basil, reserved cooking liquid, and remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil. Toss well and season with salt and pepper. Serve warm.
Doc is a historical fiction novel about Doc Holliday and Wyatt Earp before they became famous at Tombstone. Written by Cleveland native Mary Doria Russell, and much different than her other novels I have read, it is a great story that is beautifully written.
PJH Rating: ****
We continued our Spring of culture last night with a visit to the beautiful Severance Hall to hear the Cleveland Orchestra perform Verdi’s Requiem. I was not quite sure what to expect as I don’t think I have ever heard it before. It was A M A Z I N G. The full chorus and the four outstanding soloists really went over and beyond. Seriously raising the roof. I’m looking forward to getting a copy from the library and listening to the good parts again. There is nothing like being there in person though.
Tragedy struck Friday night. The last Dairymens glass broke. The end of an era. Manhattans will never taste the same.
We are growing lettuce for the first time ever and it’s growing great in this great spring we are having. Not sure what kind of lettuce this is, I think I have it written down somewhere, but it has been very prolific and we have used it most every day for the past week. We made a nice rice salad for today’s Memorial Day Picnic with it that was nice and tasty. Recipe that I sort of followed is here: Basmati Rice with Summer Vegetables. Sorry no pix of salad, but here’s some pix of our lovely lettuce
