My crazy commute
About a week ago, I received a text message from Mint.com, alerting me that there was unusually high spending in my accounts for Public Transit. Sitting at my desk at work, I literally LOLed.
Over the past month of working in DC (hey! It’s been a month!) I’ve spent just over $331 on public transit costs, which includes credit on my SmarTrip card for parking, Metrorail, and Metrobus. This is up from my Philadelphia transit budget of a mere $46.50 per month, and, since I didn’t take the bus every day, I almost always had tokens left over at the end of the month. This left me buying fewer tokens the following month, therefore saving many dollars.
I’m not complaining, too much. Even though I am now paying out the wazoo for transit, it’s really not that bad, considering that I have to drive to Greenbelt, take two Metro trains, then transfer to a bus. After 8 hours, I get to leave work and do it backwards.
My commuting time has also greatly increased. I used to walk to work (or take the bus, if it was too hot or too rainy) and home again, which only took about 35 minutes. Now, I leave my house just past 8am and get into the office just before 10am. The worst part, really, is waking up. I don’t get much time to relax in the morning, to do things like make lunch or eat breakfast, as it’s difficult get be out of bed early enough due to circadian rhythm disorder.
Regardless, I really do like my job, which makes the commute seem not as long. I also have been marathon knitting a sweater each for my mother and father, which wouldn’t have been possible had I not had such a long ride for doing nothing but.
I get my yarn fix
I knit. I love to knit. The idea of taking some yarn and a couple needles and in a few days having a piece of art is amazing. While I’m knitting at home, I watch a lot of Netflix. This wasn’t really an issue when I lived in Philadelphia, had a half-hour commute, went to work at noon, and stayed up well after all my friends had already gone to sleep.
Now I get home around 8pm, not that much earlier than before, but now I need to be snuzzled in bed around 11pm. (This is extremely hard for me for a number of reasons, the most important being my circadian rhythm disorder. That’s for another story.) This doesn’t afford me the luxury of watching 2-3 movies a night anymore.
I’ve also lost my knitters. While I still run a blog and podcast with several of them—one long overdue for an update, I know—I miss the interaction of weekly visits to one of our favorite coffee shops for hours of “social knitworking”, and the occasional bottle of wine.
Enter Looped Yarn Works.
Last Thursday, I trekked over to the cozy store just north of Dupont Circle; I needed a few knitting notions that I’d not yet unpacked or simply couldn’t find. Besides grabbing some stitch markers and a new tape measure, I discovered that I’d just coincidentally stopped in on their regular open knit night.
I tend to be shy when meeting new people, and especially in groups larger than half a dozen, but so far I’ve been content to sit, knit, and listen in on the conversation. I’m slow to remember names, but the group is friendly and funny. In addition to a lovely, well laid-out store with friendly and knowledgeable staff, I’ve found a little place I can hang out and get a regular fix.
I’ve been told of other yarn shops in the DC area, but this one will most likely be my go-to shop. It’s not too far off my route home from work, and I’m happy to fork over money to people who seem genuinely interested in my current projects and willing to help me if they can. Indeed, last night I purchased 9 skeins of Malabrigo worsted for a sweater for my father, and was asked to show it off when it’s finished.
Red Robin
About a month back, before I’d even started packing up my old apartment to move down here, I spent the weekend at Matt’s house while his parents were visiting. The drive from their house is about an hour and a half, and they had come up early to install a new screen door to the main entrance of the house. We spent dinner in Baltimore on Saturday night with Matt’s parents, brother and his girlfriend (dinner which will be discussed in another post!) but Sunday was just for us.
I woke up early that day because I wanted to get breakfast at IKEA, but we missed it by about a minute; a restaurant employee was just roping off the line as we walked up. Instead, we got lunch, walked around the store for a good long time, and picked up a few things for my bedroom. (I’ll discuss this, with photos, when I’m completely done unpacking.)
After a busy day of running errands and assembling furniture, we hit Red Robin for dinner, mostly because it was one place that was still open. We ordered the fried zucchini appetizer—so good!—and both Matt and I ended up choosing the same entree with minor differences: the Whiskey River BBQ Burger. His came with a gourmet beef patty and steak fries, mine with a Garden Burger and sweet potato fries.
(Side note: I’d ordered a Boca vegan burger at Red Robin in the past, and remembered not liking it, although I’ve bought and cooked my own Boca Burgers at home. I’m not sure what the difference is.)
This thing is delicious and wonderfully messy. The sauce is sweet and tangy, and fits terribly well with the crunchy onion strings and cheddar cheese. My only complaint is that it’s stacked so high with toppings that I have trouble getting it into my mouth—an interesting side effect of my wisdom teeth removal two years ago.
The servers at Red Robin are great about answering questions on food ingredients; if they don’t know, finding that information is no hassle. I don’t remember who out our server was that night, but she was fabulous about bring me more freckled lemonade when my glass was nearing empty.
I cannot comment on any of the meat-oriented dinners, but the veggie burgers are definitely acceptable. Easy to customize, tasty ingredients, bottomless fries… It’s a decent place to hit when you’re hungry and in the mood for a sit-down restaurant-type burger (as opposed to a place like Fatburger or Five Guys).
An overdue break
I am exhausted. I spent every weekend since Fourth of July doing something around my old apartment, even if it was just packing up a couple boxes. The past three consecutive weekends were filled with packing, moving, and more packing and moving. It’s amazing what you can fit into a studio apartment.
A lot of things went to Goodwill. I had so many things just sitting around that I no longer needed, or boxes left to me by my ex when he moved to Arizona that I never did get around to giving away until now. I’m also a master of using available space, and there were hidden hooks and storage all over my apartment. (When we took apart my bed to take to Jo’s house, I discovered an entire laundry basket full of tee shirts. I gave Jo two of them.)
This weekend will mostly be spent knitting and watching television, because I just don’t want to do a damn thing. Of course, there is much to get done—just about every room of the house is currently stacked full with boxes—but I think after the past month, a little weekend break will be the best thing ever.
I’m looking forward to being a bit more settled in, because I really want to explore more of the area. So far, I know how to get to and from work, and where the nearest Target, Trader Joe’s, IKEA, and Wawa can be found. Important things, you know.
The indoor potluck cookout
Today is the last day of my first week of work down here in Washington DC. So far, things have been going well, both for living in Maryland and working in DC. I haven’t done much actual work yet—being my first week, I’m still really just setting things up and getting the proper access—but my team is great.
I’ve spent much of my time commuting, trying to find the perfect way of getting into work. Tuesday found me taking a route that involved one Metro train and two Metro buses, which got me into the office a mere three hours after I left my house. Three whole hours. I’ve decided to stick with the Metro train, but added a DC Circulator; this brings my commute to under two hours.
Even two hours seems long, as my old commute from home to work was barely forty minutes, and that’s if I walked. I blame Georgetown for not having any Metro train station here. It’s all buses, and if I miss a transfer, it could be over half an hour to the next one.
But let’s focus on the good part of this week: food.
My first week ended with what should have been an outdoor cookout and picnic, but moved into the conference room once we learned the temperatures would soar to 105°F today. (It’s curently 100°F as I write this post.) Since several people were already signed up to bring desserts, I broke out of my usual baking comfort zone to create a delicious and easy cold pasta salad. Last night, I only had to boil water for the pasta, so it was great to make for summer.
Our lovely hodge-podge included not only my pasta salad, but also couscous, tofu salad, potato salad, vegetable plate with pita and hummus, watermelon, strawberries, tomato and spinach pizza, vegetable dumplings, brownies, strawberry-rhubarb pie, and pound cake with roasted stone fruit. There were also a few buckets of fried chicken for the meat-eaters.
It’s easy—and I mean super-easy—to make this salad, but if you’re the kind to like a recipe, here you go. I’d say it’s more of a guideline; add different vegetables, use a different dressing, Take away the olives. Omit the cheese to make it vegan. Whatever. It’s tasty.
Italian seasonings cold pasta salad
Ingredients
- 12 oz box tricolor rotini pasta
- 8 oz yellow sweet corn (about half-bag, frozen), cooked & drained according to instructions
- 14.5 oz can petite diced tomatoes with basil, garlic and oregano
- 6 oz can small pitted black olives, drained
- 15 oz can chick peas (garbanzo beans), drained
- 16 oz bottle Italian-style salad dressing
- grated parmesan & romano cheese blend
Directions
- Cook the pasta according to the instructions on the box. I often add a bit of olive oil and seasoned salt to the water while boiling.
- Drain the pasta, and transfer to a large mixing bowl. While the pasta is still warm, add the corn, tomatoes, olives, and chick peas. Stir to mix thoroughly.
- Add about a third of the bottle of salad dressing to the pasta. Mix through the salad, and add more dressing as needed. I end up using about half the bottle.
- Transfer the salad to a serving dish, and sprinkle a bit of the grated cheese on top. Cool completely before serving.
If I’d had more time, I would have used more vegetables, like diced cucumbers. I also normally get a bunch of cherry or grape tomatoes to cut in half for the salad instead of the diced tomatoes, but these work well in a pinch, in addition to being already seasoned.
Vegetarians, take note: some Italian-style dressings are not suitable for vegetarians, as they may contain anchovies or worchestershire sauce. If you’re making the salad vegan, be on the lookout for dressing that may contain hidden cheese.
Frisco Tap House and Brewery
A few weeks ago, I had an interview for a job in Washington, DC. Not just any job, but the one I wanted. The one I really wanted. The Job. While this in itself was nerve-wracking—as job interviews usually are—it had deeper implications: if offered the job, I would be moving from Philadelphia, PA (where I’ve spent most of my 32 years) to Columbia, MD, sharing a house with my partner, Matt. We’ve been dating two years, and the 100-mile commute was starting to get the better of us.
When I saw the opening for The Job in Washington, DC, I sent in my resume, fully thinking that I would never hear from these people, because a job that perfect is, more often than not, just a dream. To my surprise, not only did I share many an email, but also a phone interview; after that, I was called down for a full afternoon of meeting the team on-site.
Matt offered to buy me dinner that night; it was either going to be a celebration or a consolidation. I knew I didn’t want any of the local chain places, but didn’t feel like exploring too much, so I chose Frisco Tap House. We’d been there before, both at the old and new locations, and I wasn’t worried about trying to find something to eat with my vegetarian diet.
We started off with the empanadas, savory little triangles of fried dough filled with black beans and Monterrey cheese. I could eat about 20 of these myself, but we ordered just one dish and each had half. These are definitely fried, and fried good, but not so much that they are tough. The dough is crispy, flaky, and not greasy in the slightest.
For my dinner, I asked for a beans and rice burrito, with tofu and guacamole. When it came out, I admit I was a little disappointed in the presentation; the thing looked so plain and lonely on the plate, with its little side of greens and salsa. I was also expecting the guacamole to be on the side, like the salsa, and flagged my waiter before he could walk away. He explained that they always put the guac inside the burritos unless specifically requested to have it on the side. Ah. That makes sense.
The thing is huge. Not quite “size of my head” huge, but the burritos are deceptively large. That tortilla is stuffed full of beans, rice, cheese, and sauce. The tofu… oh man, the tofu. I figured there’d be tiny cubes of it peppered through the burrito, but the tofu is amazingly seasoned, savory with a bite that’s not fire hot but surprising. I could eat a plate of that tofu alone.
Since I knew I’d be driving back to Philadelphia that night, I opted for a root beer instead of one of the many many beers on tap. After that burrito, I also wasn’t hungry for any dessert right then, so we left without ordering anything off their menu. (We did end up at Tutti Frutti later that night, which is a nice way to end the night.)
Oh, and I did get The Job in DC, and will be starting in a couple weeks, and you may have figured out my the name of the blog. I’m looking forward to eating my way through most of Howard County, plus parts of DC and Baltimore.
And Wegmans. Please oh please I hope that Wegmans opens up as soon as possible. And, if it’s not asking too much, for it to be open 24 hours. kthxbai.
Mac & cheese with tomato jam
I’ve been in a food slump lately. It’s the end of summer, and the beginning of the school year, meaning my budget (both time and money) for food has been sparse, leading to a lot of frozen meals, big salads, and mac and cheese dinners. In other words, mostly boring dishes to post on the blog.
But last month did see one lovely mac and cheese dinner: the small side dish of mac and cheese with tomato jam at Devil’s Alley at 19th and Chestnut.
Matt and I had tickets for Paul F. Tompkins (and I met him after the show!), and decided it would be better to have dinner after instead of trying to rush a meal in before. I picked Devil’s Alley because 1) it is close to the Plays & Players Theater and 2) I’d been thinking about that mac and cheese.
They have very few vegetarian options on the menu—just a couple sandwiches and salads, and I think the cornbread muffins are made with lard—so I chose a simple salad to complement the order of mac and cheese I wasn’t sharing with Matt. It’s smooth and creamy, little crunchies with a baked crispy top and a good dollop of sweet tomato jam. So far, it’s the only restaurant that has a tomato jam I enjoy… especially on that mac and cheese.
Matt and I did split an order of onion rings, but after the deliciously perfect crispiness of the ones at Fish Tales while we were in Ocean City on vacation, we was less than thrilled, Matt more disappointed than I. We never finished them.
Fajita and beans dinner
Some unfortunate events have occurred over the past week and a half, leading to a lot of on-the-go fast food dinners for me, and little meals of interest for your blog-reading pleasure. But, instead of dwelling on all that stuff and risking the boredom of you, dear reader, I’ll finally get to tell you about vacation dinner.
As I mentioned before, Matt and I were headed on vacation with his family a couple weekends ago. His brother’s girlfriend and I planned dinner for Saturday night: T and I would split up food duties and create a fantastic fajita-style dinner.
T brought the steak, chicken, tortillas, chipotle mayo dip, and jasmine rice while I brought the vegetarian refritos, corn salsa, guacamole dip, chips, yellow squash and a variety of bell peppers. In addition to making the homemade beans, I also made salsa with diced tomatoes, sweet yellow corn, and minced onions, with a bit of olive oil, basil, and packs of Archer Farms salsa spice mix from Target. The guacamole and chips were also bought at Target. (Oh man, I love that store.)
Most of the food was cooked beforehand and simply heated up at the beach house. Matt’s dad gladly took up the chore of slicing the peppers and squash, and Matt and I gently fried the veggies over medium-low heat with some olive oil. T had already marinated the meats and just had to cook them up over the stove.
We also fried the refritos over medium-high heat in olive oil. As they cooked again, people sniffed around and wandered into the kitchen. Really, they smelled fabulous. I would make these again just to have that smell in my house, although I would love to taste them fried up in butter.
With an even dozen of us at the dinner table (including four children under 10) we had a lot of food! Luckily we’d made just enough for dinner, with a little bit for leftovers on Sunday for lunch. T’s chipotle mayo was amazing, and I must say that my salsa went surprisingly fast.
I hope we do this again next year. I can’t wait to see what kind of meal we cook up next time.
Linguine Alfredo
Yesterday I went bra shopping with my mom and her bestie. There’s a great shop in Delaware that I love, especially being a cup size that’s hard to find through non-internet means. However, being along Concord Pike, we didn’t have the option of walking around, searching for that cute little restaurant no one’s heard of yet.
Nope, we found ourselves at Red Lobster.
This particular location was in a cluster of other similar restaurants: Lone Star, Famous Dave’s, Olive Garden, TGI Friday’s. While I’ve nothing against any of these places specifically, none would be my first choice. Being vegetarian, I went along with Mom and D, since I know I can find something to eat pretty much anywhere.
(I say I can eat something at almost any restaurant, the exception being the Diner at the Plaza in South Philadelphia. Oh boy. That’ll be a story for another time though!)
Our server asked us about appetizer, and my mother mentioned the stuffed mushrooms, inquiring about the “stuffed” part since I don’t eat any meat or fish. The waitress wondered what I did eat, more out of interest in our food than any weird curiosity.
Oh, and the mushrooms are stuffed with crab, by the way.
I spotted a couple pasta dishes on the menu, and prepared to order “shrimp alfredo without the shrimp, please” when our lovely waitress informed me that they did have an a la carte menu item of just the linguine alfredo, considered a side dish; I could have that as my lunch entrée instead. She also said it was a lot cheaper than either of the other linguine dishes. Seriously, it only cost $3.99.
I’d never been in a chain restaurant with wait staff as nice as this. She seemed sincere and honestly interested in my food. Most servers try to sell me on the meat anyway (“…but it comes with the meal!”) or grudgingly make trips back to the kitchen to find out exactly what’s in a dish. It made it a lot more bearable being the lone vegetarian at the table in a seafood place.
Wawa Junior cheese hoagie
There is one sandwich I get nearly every time I order at the Wawa touch-screen: Junior (4-inch) hoagie, with cheddar and colby cheeses, mayo with a little bit of oil, tomatoes, pickles, and oregano. Sometimes I get the egg salad, but chances are it’s cheese only.
In my book (and many other’s) Wawa will always top 7-Eleven in the age-old Philadelphia debate, one of those reasons being its vegetarian fare. Wawa offers made-to-order hoagies, with cheese and veggie being persistent options, with the occasional egg salad on the deli menu. The Ready-to-Go case has all kinds of fruit and snack cups, some of them (like the mango, apple, and grape pack) vegan. If there are no Sizzli bagels available without meat, the people at the deli counter are usually pretty accommodating about making one up.
Tell me: how easy is it to find fast, fresh, and tasty vegan options at the 7-Eleven?
With little time for dinner before leaving for vacation last Friday night, I stopped at Wawa on the walk home from work and picked up my usual sandwich, plus an iced coffee (sadly for some of my friends, not vegan) in my reusable 16-ounce cup. I opted to sit for a few minutes in Washington Square instead of trying to wolf down a hoagie while trying to pack my car. I’ve done that before; it never works out well. My Friday evening was much better for it.
