Dinner c/o Marigold Kitchen

Since CP began pursuing her Master's, which involves commuting to Baltimore for a large part of the week, we haven't seen as much of one another. This saddened me greatly. So a while back I proposed some kind of dinner where we could catch up ... and I could cross another restaurant off the list. CP perused the remaining restaurants I need to frequent and chose three that were particularly appealing to her. Ultimately we concluded that a trek to West Philly for the culinary stylings of Marigold Kitchen was in order. I pretty much never ever go to West Philly. Like, really ever. And CP was pretty much in the same boat. In fact this turned out to be the first time either of us had taken the underground trolley. I feared we'd somehow get on the wrong one or in some other way mess up...but we didn't. We arrived at Marigold in one piece, and I finally got to see Clark Park. Marigold is located in a corner row house on a well maintained, nicely landscaped street. It's very unassuming, and if you didn't know to look for it, you could pass right by thinking it was just a really nice house with a funny name. We were quickly seated in the front dining room, and soon thereafter our prosecco was popped (it's BYO) and the first of oh so many small courses came our way. Let me take a moment to explain further. Marigold has a relatively small menu of appetizers and entrees, but in addition to those dishes, it provides its patrons with a number of 'amuse bouches' throughout the meal. So while we were still trying to determine our meals proper, we were given fried parsnips. Crunchy, earthy, with a light dusting of - if I remember correctly - confectioner's sugar?  Next up was another little treat. A mango pearl on a little bed of creamy custard. Or I think that's what the bottom layer was. That little orange dollop packed quite a mango punch. Its thin skin, once punctured, allowed concentrated mango magic to flow directly onto our tongues. It was surprising and clever and tasty all at once.
Then there was a little helping of chick peas. Simple, but not ordinary.
Then came little foie gras squares wrapped in caramel. Yes. Caramel. The richness of the foie and the salty sweetness of the caramel were a nice, and atypical, pairing. I was particularly fond of this dish.
This unassuming thing might make you think that it was a Combo unadorned. And, in a way, you would be correct. Only the cheddar filling of this cracker was anything but stale. It oozed. Oozed with joy at being so cheesy. I think it was a Cabot Clothbound cheddar. But maybe I'm making that up.
When this dish was explained to us I think both CP and I were a little skeptical about how much we were going to enjoy it. Looks like a cappucino, don't it? In actuality it's a cauliflower soup with ham foam. Yes. Ham foam. CP and I both took a spoonful predominantly of the foam and were at first a little less than enthusiastic. It certainly had the smoky ham thing going on, but it didn't seem all that anchored in any deeper taste or texture. This initial misstep was quickly righted by getting a better ratio of creamy cauliflower soup to light and airy ham foam. Once we properly balanced the two in our spoons, this dish really came alive. The  soup in and of itself was creamy, rich and delicious. But the added smoke/salt of the ham foam made it come further alive.
This was a ravioli filed with pea puree, and maybe a touch of cheese? I love everything pasta, and I have quite the penchant for peas, so this little treat was nothing short of happy making for CC.
We decided to be ballers and order both appetizers and entrees. The menu is a little pricy. But I think the cost of the appetizers and entrees takes all the small little dishes into account. CP chose to have the Hudson foie gras "Lunch Inspired". This turned out to be a piece of seared foie gras with a special foam (that I forget but hopefully CP can tell me soon) and a foie gras root beer float with fries that I suppose were probably fried in duck fat. The foie's texture was a little less smooth and fatty than many a foie I've had. And it had a slightly different overall taste than what I'm accustomed to, but it was still quite good. CP said the float tasted mostly like root beer, and that she didn't really pick up on the foie aspect of it.
I debated whether to go with the Blue Crab Mac and Cheese with Clothbound cheddar (so maybe that wasn't what was in the cracker), orzo, wild mushrooms, pickled jalapenos and herbed crumbs or the Chicken Gallantine Banh Mi. I asked our server what she would suggest and she endorsed the mac n cheese and so that's what I went with. It's very hard to go wrong with mac n cheese, and Marigold didn't get anywhere near wrong. The cheddar had a sharpness to it that I worried would overwhelm the crab aspect. But I worried in vain. It balanced. It worked. I also enjoyed the herbed crumbs. I don't really remember picking up on the jalapenos, and wouldn't have said this had any real spice or kick to it.
I believe this is a sorbet. I can tell you no more than that. Though I think I thought it did a good job of properly cleansing my palate.
For my main course I chose the Wild King Salmon with foraged wild mushrooms, fiddleheads, ramps, farm egg and a sauce verte. These more in depth menu descriptions come directly from their website, so I'm not sure if they are completely accurate to that specific evening. I say this because I don't really recall a sauce verte. In any case, the salmon was cooked perfectly. Still a little rare in the center. Flaky. Moist. I had expected a full egg, so I was a little surprised by the yolk crumbs that represented the egg. I can't say that I found them to add much to the dish. But the ramps and fiddleheads were great. 
CP chose the Wild Caught Barramundi with parmesan broth, english peas, bacon lardons, wild mushrooms and puffed skin. If I recall correctly, she was quite pleased. The broth was marvelous. Really, just marvelous. The fish, like the salmon, was cooked excellently. And the puffed skin was a fun and tasty texture change.
Next up were a series of little sweets. This was some kind of custard or pudding?
This was like a tiny little ice cream sandwich.
We went the whole hog and ordered dessert in addition to the amuses bouches. CP went with profiteroles filled with mint ice cream.
I chose the dish that had a number of different forms of chocolate...maybe chocolate seven ways? This included ganache, white chocolate ice cream, a chocolate snake, little chocolate pellets, and chocolate dirt. So rich.  I would probably suggest just splitting one dessert. Between the bigger plates and all the smaller ones, there was no way I could truly ravage this plate as savagely as it deserved. I was delighted by the white chocolate ice cream.
And that was our evening at Marigold Kitchen. It was totally worth the trek and the overall price tag. Definitely a 'special occasion' kind of place, with excellent and friendly service.

Salad and Pasta c/o Jackie's

After the drive back to Silver Spring we quickly regathered ourselves and went to Jackie's for dinner. Their menu had quite a number of things on it that looked appealing, but I ultimately decided on a salad and an entree. Our waiter was not the warmest of servers and when I asked about how the tuna on the Nicoise salad was prepared, he told me that there wasn't any tuna at all. I found that to be quite confusing, as I have never before run into a Nicoise Salad lacking in tuna. In fact, I would go as far as to say that a defining characteristic of a Nicoise salad is tuna. So that was weird. I went with the salad with Le Bocage spicy greens, sugar snap peas, Chinese peppercorn and a mango infused vinaigrette. I loved the bit pile of greens and the look of the peas and ate the entire thing, though the peppercorn and vinaigrette's overall presence could have been better enforced. What?
My father had the shrimp and squid ink gnocchi with mustard greens and spring garlic, as well as mussels and peas from the looks of it.
I had the orecchiette primavera with pesto, broccolini, foraged mushrooms and Idiazabal manchego cheese. I liked it very much. A little oily at the bottom but good.
I generally try to say no to dessert, but once I looked at the dessert menu and realized that my father was going to split a little sweet treat that I might as well jump on the wagon. This was a butterscotch panna cotta I think, with little cookies. It was a little soupy, but tasty.
I think elements of this chocolate cake dessert were heralded as good, though my father was a little less positive about the cake itself. Alas. Or was that D? I forget.

Memorial Day Sunday w/ J. and J. and S. and N. and F. and T.

On Sunday I drove back to Philadelphia, regrouped briefly then went on over to J. and J.'s for some hang time and foooooood. Within moments of my arrival there was an impromptu and improvisational round of yoga done.



F. and T. were coming over too, but we started chomping on the great charcuterie/cheese plate that he-J. concocted before they arrived (and made a good dent). Watermelon was also consumed, with forks at S.'s request.
Delicious.
He-J. found a suburban Whole Foods that sells beer, a rarity in Pennsylvania.

I was wearing a pair of my fake glasses, which turned out to be a pretty big hit with the under four foot crowd. I also brought the kids flashlights as a birthday gift to S. and a don't-fight-over-the-flashlight gift for N. The idea seemed solid, unfortunately the flashlights were poorly constructed and, I would imagine, have already been entirely destroyed. But for the person looking to buy a little boy a present (girls too maybe): get a mini-flashlight for the tyke, it will be used and appreciated for at least four hours.
He-J's apocalypse garden experiment seemed to be thriving.
And their strawberry patch was also producing.
Some sort-of baseball was played.
He-J. made quite a nice spread of food for dinner. Pasta salad, brisket, baked beans, cherries and more.
That was some really tasty brisket, with a great accompanying barbeque sauce. I assume he actually made the sauce, but if it was store bought I want to get in on that action.
There was just a little beer left in this jug, so I drank it.
Drinking the beer made my face go all a'twirl.
F. and T. brought a bottle of limoncello, which we tasted alongside He-J's homemade stuff. I forget what we decided (they actually said we didn't have to decide anything...but I wanted a decision). I think I liked his better, though it had the advantage of already being cold. Maybe it was a little less sweet too? Or sweet in a more organic way? If that makes any sense.
T. also had a pair of glasses. Her poor glasses were licked at one point. Mine just got cake all over them. Oh yes, F. and T. also brought the most ridiculously rich chocolate cake you could imagine. Insanity. I couldn't even finish one slice. The littler ones had less of a problem with cleaning their plates.
N. as a young and outspoken academic.
F. and N. in serious debate about the ramifications of eating chocolate cake after 8 pm...that or the likelihood of peace in the Middle East.
F. took a few photographs of J. and me and T., but this is the only one in which I don't look like a complete mess. And you know it's all about me. I actually photoshopped a piece of chocolate off my mouth in this one. Such vanity. Whatever. I am so cool.
My late nights in NYC forced me to leave the house before games were played or another bottle of wine was consumed, which was a disappointment but couldn't be avoided. A great heaping thank you goes to both the J.'s for the good time, wonderful food and lively company, as always.

Chocolate Chili Stout and Chile Burger c/o Elysian Fields Brewery

For lunch on Monday we went to Elysian Fields Brewery. Or maybe not the brewery, but one of its brew pubs? Probably the one in Capitol Hill, as that is where C&T live. I ordered what I thought was a brewery beer, the chocolate chili stout, which I liked very much but can't find on their list of beers. It's a bystery.
C&T found the beer to be more spicy in character than I did. I did like the little smokiness that the chili engendered, and the chocolate notes weren't as sweet as your typical chocolate stout.
We continued the tutelage of how to take a flattering photograph. Did that sentence make sense?

Less of a perfect example, but there's something about the tone of T.'s point that amuses me.
The masters, demonstrating how it's done.
In terms of food, I ordered the chile burger. It was good, not all that chile-riffic, but it hit the spot. I'm thinking about a burger right now, actually.

Trip to Lampson Falls, Part 1

After the wood hauling and dog-watching, M. and I left the house and headed to Lampson Falls. It was a nice back-country road drive, complete with...um...birds with babies? M. felt these were quail. I think they look bigger than the few quail I've seen in my life...but I'm sure that quail, like most everything else, come in all shapes and sizes and that my memory of the size of the birds is questionable. Later on we saw turkeys with lots and lots of babies...but I couldn't get a photograph.
So we went to Lampson Falls but M. didn't set us, and our accompanying picnic, up in view of the falls. I was a little confused by this, as I was seeing a number of great spots to sit on a rock and look at the falls and gnaw on a nice hunk of fancy chorizo sausage. I have learned, however, that following M. usually results in a pretty good time, even if, at some points, things seem uncertain. So I put my doubts aside and after a bit more walking on a less than well-maintained path, we arrived at a nice rock by the resulting stream/river of the falls. This was a far more isolated setting than the falls, where a number of children were swimming in its pool and a bunch of dudes were making a fire and camping on a ridge overlooking the pool. Among our foodie treats there was cheese and sausage.
Not to mention grapes, tomato and avocado. The water by our specific rock-place went into a bit of a current swirl and we couldn't help but throw the occasional grape into the water to see it take a very roundabout course in it inevitable trip downstream. I then wondered at human beings' love of throwing things in water.

M. also had the foresight to bring two Hershey's chocolate bars, one of which overheated in the sun and could only be saved by being immersed in the cold-cold water, weighted down with a rock.
A strong gust of wind caused trouble for us at a number of different moments. In this photograph the wind knocked over my sunscreen and M., because she has always been the more industrious of the two of us, is sprinting to go get it.
Success!