Another Meal and Parting Scenes

After I returned from my adventure I took a really delightful nap, the details of which I will not bore you with. Then Dad and I went back to the main house for a second dinner with a slightly different cast of characters. This involved another cheese platter or three, not to mention the turkey that wasn't able to cook the night before.

Oh and steamed artichokes.

And a sesame kale salad and deviled eggs and smoked salmon and pickled okra and a few other treats.

And then the next day came. I briefly went over to the house with my father before determining that I needed to get back to Philly. On my way off the lands I came across this dog, which was steadily running up the road...but for what I couldn't tell you.

He was working hard.

Just beautiful.

Sunday Mezze

I got back from my walk, took a shower and put on fresh clothes. Here's proof.
Then many of us started prepping the table that would serve as eating central for H.'s friends and guests. I brought these olives and two different kinds of cured salami type meats. Then I cut the salamis and made this plate.
I also brought two different kinds of wood smoked salmon and created this plate. Capers. Red onions. Lemon. Hard boiled egg.
Folks either sat in the living room or on the porch to chat.
A., H.'s brother, brought out drinks on a cutting board turned serving tray.
B. and D. came from Silver Spring. Here B. is with her plate.
Here is my own plate. I love cheese. I should have taken more photographs of the cheese. I do declare it was an obscene amount of cheese. Disgusting. Over the top. Too much to bear. Awesome. Incroyable! I also like black olives. Did I mention my feelings about cheese?





Though i was enjoying myself and could have filled up three more plates, I needed to get on the road home. B. and D. departed around the same time as me. Here they are.
There will be one more Virginia-based post, in which my drive out of town is properly recorded. But this was the end of the social times. It was quite lovely to see H. after over five years, as well as H. and A. and all the other nice people that came out over the weekend. I had visions of returning to the house secretly and spackling and painting its cracked and fading bedroom walls and just sitting, watching the light change for some indeterminate but very long time.

International Great Beer Expo c/o Yelp

A few weeks back I won free tickets to the International Beer Expo (thanks to yelp.com) and asked C. if she would like to join me. There were two time slots to choose between. I had daytime errands and responsibilities to deal with, as did C., so we went with the 5:30-9:00 option. The event was held in a cruise terminal at the Navy Yard. There was a school bus to ferry people from the subway station to the event. I haven't ever gone any further south than the stadiums (unless you count the airport, which I don't), so it was nice to add a little tiny piece of Philadelphia to my personal brain-map of the city.
Before we were permitted to wander freely in the hallowed halls of beeeer all was calm. I took so many photographs of beer. I'm going to try to figure out how to do a mosaic thingy, but my brain is just not up to the task on this particular afternoon.


C. was sad because her sample cup was empty.
Sugar Hill to the rescue! I really, really liked their beer...drinkable to the max but not without a little more class/flavor. I'm not sure that really makes sense.



This man was dressed like a sailor.
The outdoor part of the venue was on the water. The water was dirty and trash-ridden, but the view was still interesting. What with the planes going by really low.
C. coveted pretty much everyone's pretzel necklaces.
These guys were part of a bachelor party. They sky-dived (sky dove?) earlier in the day and were relatively entertaining. They asked us about marriage. The guy on the right was really, really, like seriously, tall and the brother of the groom-to-be.
Like I said, C. was a sucker for the pretzel necklaces. This guy is the groom of the bacehlor party.
There were many people at this thing, but it never got too overwhelming or crowded. We were not packed in like sardines, which I appreciated.
About two hours into the tasting madness people would start raising their glasses and huzzah. Well, they wouldn't literally say huzzah, but it was the spirit of a huzzah.
After an initial haphazard walk around the building, C. and I began to be a bit more scientific in our approach to trying as many beers as we could. So we started at the top and proceeded to go from one beer to the next in a logical progression. We made friends with these two, who also applied order to their tasting experience, and were in town from New York expressly for the expo.
And the evening progressed. I believe that we were able to try at least one variety of almost every brewer...we didn't bother with Bud Light or Stella or any of the more big commercial name beers, but all the rest we tried to try.
After the event we went to National Mechanics where I had their pork empanada special. It was good to get some food, but they would have been so much better with cheese.
Then we met up with R. at Brahaus Schmitz and drank beer out of a boot.
A good night.

Catan Food

Last week M. sent me the links to a whole new level of Catan-crazy. Though I haven't played the game since my time in Indiana, it used to be a pretty major entertainment factor during the days of the ebf and Vassar, and then Chicago and grad school. I still have the games in my closet, just waiting for someone who knows how to play (it's hard to be the only one because as fun as the game is, it takes a fair amount of 'splaining and enthusiasm...and if you're the only one with the knowledge, and you have to teach at least two more people in order to actually play...well they are majority and will probably just hate you, or something).
But look at this! There is a whole world of people out there who like the game! Nay, I think it's safe to say that they love it! I mean, look at those perfectly cut (shit, not hexagons but septagons?)....Amazing. If you live in Philadelphia and are not overly creepy or strange (I am the only person who can judge this, sorry), and already know how to the play the game...um, can we be Catan friends? I have knights and castles and seafarers, if that makes me any cooler?
Oh my god, geek alert.

Best of 2008, Meal Edition

I usually abstain from looking back on things (ha, biggest joke ever). Okay, so I look back pretty much constantly, but I don't generally compile lists of things that I have liked over a span of time. But I thought I would do so today (well, I started this yesterday, but whatever), as New Years is fast approaching and that's what people do. So for your enjoyment, my 17 most memorable meals (due to perfection of the dish, and/or fun of the company).

It's surprising how good a toasted slice of Pepperidge Farm thin white bread can be when spread with a bit of my cheesy artichoke dip and drizzled with truffle oil. Simply amazing.
The escoveitched fish c/o Greensboro, North Carolina's Da Reggae Cafe was so surprisingly tangy and yet refreshing. I have been meaning to go to Philly's best known Jamaican restaurant to take another try of the dish, but haven't. No matter, this was great (though I could have done without the plantains; a prejudice I am unlikely to conquer).
The power of a good everything bagel, with lox cream cheese, should not be underestimated. Ever.
I still love sushi, but don't partake of it as much now that I am single and poor-er. This plate of sashimi is, by far, the thickest cut and yet buttery/quality sushi I have had in my life...or, since I can't remember everything I've ever eaten (though it often feels like I can...ask me about a meal I had with you and there's a 60/40 chance that I'll be able to tell you what you had and what I had), at least this year.
This would be a perfect example of the glory of the tastes of a meal being seriously enhanced by the company (and liberal amounts of sake). My multi-course meal at Zenkichi with M., A., S. and C. was just a great time. I have long appreciated (re: since high school) the company of M. and S. and A. won a place in my heart a few years back when he convinced M. that they should continue to hang out with me in Tennessee for two days after their original departure date...and C., well I had read her (now defunct?) blog for so long it made sense to actually meet her. The drinks we had a little later on were also great (no food was had however). Good work everybody!
Pork shoulder has become one of my stand-by impress-people-with-my-cooking-prowess dishes over the last two years. This particular pork shoulder was made during my time as guest/freeloader/housewife to C. and T. in Indiana and was quite moist and delicious (if I do say so myself).
My last night in Indiana is another prime example of how good food and good people are complementary to an overall 'best' meal experience. C., T. and I went to Farm and it was a lovely ending to a special couple of months.
My first Bubby's burrito in nearly four years. Three? Whatever. It was really wonderful.
The breakfast (and poached egg) by which all others are judged. 'Nuff said.
Coming back to the east coast was a move I made that I thought would have a number of positive outcomes (work being a big one); soft shell crabs, marinated in ginger milk, lightly breaded, fried and served with fresh corn was certainly another big draw.
Going out to see A (aka Mr. Ass). and E. in Newtown, even if a flat tire factored heavily into the day, and sitting in A.'s well provisioned (their stove, oh I would die for their stove) but entirely welcome and homey kitchen while watching A. and E. construct a pesto made (if I remember correctly) from basil from Mr. Ass' garden and just catching up and eating together with a lovely view makes the list.
The first batch of the macaroni and cheese I made for the rooftop barbeque I hosted while K. and J. visited was quite good--especially with a sliver of truffle cheese and a Philadelphia view-- (thanks again to K.).
Concord grapes in all their true grape flavor glory made a big impression during the fall months of the Fairmount Farmers' Market.
The Primo's sandwich (technically a sub, but whatever) that arguably started my recent infatuation with all things sandwich. The salami, the sharp provolone, the peppers, the pickles; the fine, fine sandwich that I dream about.
It would be a sad 'best of' if my birthday dinner didn't manage to find a spot on the list. My latest birthday meal did not disappoint--from the tower of tasty Lyonnaise Salad to the gluttonous fois gras topped burger--a heaping hearty thank you goes out to the parents for making it possible.
While my most recent trip to Pho Ha may have resulted in my pondering the meaning of coincidence in this modern world, my first trip to the Washington Avenue shopfront restaurant proved to be exactly what the doctor ordered: fatty, beefy, brothy, noodley goodness (aka the best pho, ever).
And what would a year be without a good dose of dim sum. Each time I've dim summed since moving to Philadelphia has been great. This specific outing, with my parents, was especially useful for tastographic pictures.
And thus concludes my 2008 meals in review. Having reviewed the past year I am tempted to include other 'best roundups'. Like, best pretty-ness, or best hanging out with children, or best getting drunk somewhere...but I think that will have to wait for another year (or forever, whichever comes first).