Roses, Thorns & Buds | a spot for things I make, bake and think about

Really Great Meals

February 21, 2012

Great meals I have enjoyed in the order they occurred. To be updated occasionally.

1. Blue Duck Tavern, Washington, D.C., brunch, Spring 2010

A small group of friends gathered here midmorning on a Saturday in early spring.

Memorable moment: Five different servers delivered our five dishes at exactly the same moment.
Best menu items: Fresh-baked croissants with jam and clotted cream. Hot apple pie with homemade butter pecan ice cream. (The server insisted we have ice cream — on the house — since we ordered the pie.)

2. The Olde Pink House, Savannah, GA, dinner, Fall 2011

Becky and I dined here on our quick “midnight train to georgia” weekend trip.

Memorable moments: On a winding, impromptu tour of the place, a restaurant host told us about ghost sightings. Candlight seating in the wine cellar included a piano player.
Best menu item: Crispy scored flounder with apricot shallot sauce, creamy grits & collards. (It was a enough to share and they were kind enough to serve the dish on two plates.)

3. Talula’s Garden, Philadelphia, PA, dinner, Winter 2011

Patrick and I dined here after seeing the Van Gogh Up Close exhibit at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

Memorable moment: Rustic farm atmosphere. High ceilings. Candlelight. A kind, knowledgeable server who was obviously a cook himself and delighted with the product he was serving.
Best menu item: Everything I ate. ”Bring on the Funk” cheese plate appetizer. Potato gnocchi with buffalo milk Taleggio and charred brussel sprouts. Pink Snapper with grapefruit (wow!), fennel, fingerlings, herbs and warm baby lettuces.

Posted by Lori in Rose.

Restore Belief in Happiness

February 17, 2012

I’m going on to Philadelphia tomorrow (hooray!). But after reading this hunger-inducing article in yesterday’s New York Times, all I want to do this weekend is make a pie.

“We must have a pie,” David Mamet wrote in “Boston Marriage,” his 1999 play about Victorian women struggling not to talk like Mamet characters. “Stress cannot exist in the presence of a pie.”

It may well be true. For much of the nation, this is the season of deep winter blues, lake-effect depression, the sad pull of midwinter dismay. There is either too much snow or not nearly enough. The furnace clicks on regardless. Night comes fast.

Introduce an apple pie into the equation, though, and watch what happens — as a result not just of the pie itself, but also of the process of making it. Apple pie is a weekend project to slow the baker’s heart rate and restore belief in happiness. The scent of fruit softening, kissed by cinnamon, of buttery crust, of sugar caramelizing — these can combine into a fragrance of redemption for the cook and everyone else. The taste delivers bliss. [Pie Fidelity, by Sam Sifton]

However, I’m not sure I agree that all pie bakers should precook the apples. I rather like a bit of crispness to the filling. To each his own, I suppose.

Posted by Lori in Rose.

CALL FOR ENTRIES: EMU EGGS BRUNCH

Let me start by saying that dating Patrick is always an adventure. You never know what kind of plan he’s got up his sleeve. Maybe it’s a screening of Casablanca. Maybe it’s a trip to New Jersey. Or maybe it’s emu eggs for Valentine’s Day.*

Emu eggs are GREEN! (like avocados)

That’s right. Emu eggs. Maybe I’m going out on limb here, but somehow I suspect that I am the only girl in the world to receive emu eggs last Tuesday.

Eh?

Anyone?

(chirp, chirp)

OK. Well. The idea here is that I will use these massive eggs to make a brunch. The best gosh darn emu egg brunch you’ve ever seen. Here’s where you come in: WHAT EMU EGG DISH SHOULD I MAKE? The person who submits the best answer wins an invitation to the most exclusive brunch spot in town — my studio apartment. Submit your answers via email, comment, Facebook, etc. and we’ll cook, eat and blog the whole thing. I’m really looking forward to this.

*He also gave me beautiful red roses. We will not be cooking them at brunch.

Posted by Lori in Rose.

A Challenge, A Sustenance, A Home

February 16, 2012

I’ve written about my dear friend Miriam several times on this blog. Her mother, Jeannine Maynard, passed away last weekend due to complications of stage IV lung cancer. She was an incredible woman.

I found this section of her obituary to be an inspiration and particularly appropriate for Valentine’s Day.

On January 13, 1980 she married James Francis Ford at the chapel of Columbia University in New York, leaving the sisters and starting a new phase of her life as wife and mother. Jeannine and Jim moved to Virginia. Her wedding vow to Jim read:

“In the presence of this assembly of God’s people I am at once humbled and proud to be with you in marriage. I promise to be for you a challenge, a sustenance, a home, a loving listening spouse till the end of my days. We believe in signs of God’s presence among us. We believe deeply that our marriage is a sign of that presence. We further believe that our marriage will best flourish and be sustained in the midst of a loving, forgiving, challenging community of believers in Jesus Christ. For us this is the Church. We will be brother and sister to each other in the struggle for justice, and wife and husband in the shaping of a just and loving home.”

Posted by Lori in Uncategorized.

Be Mine, Neon Valentine?

February 14, 2012

I had fun crafting an extra special Valentine yesterday. At the risk of over sharing, here are few images. If in doubt, use neon orange!

Posted by Lori in Rose.

Sending Love to R.I.

February 10, 2012

Posted by Lori in Uncategorized.

Play It, Sam

February 7, 2012

Last Friday, Patrick and I went to the grand opening of the Warner Bros. Theater at the National Museum of American History. We dined on Moroccan hors d’ oeuvres, watched Casablanca and heard Stephen Bogart reminisce about his father, Humphrey Bogart. Patrick wore a tie and a nice gray sports-coat and I wore a new blue dress (which incidentally matched one worn by Malia Obama in a White House photo). But the best dressed attendee was the film itself, which sported a restored and re-mastered look. It was captivating.

I’ve seen the movie a few times. I watched it at a younger age and disliked Ilsa for lying to Rick when they left Paris and disliked her even more for meeting Rick in his apartment while her husband risked his life attending an underground meeting against the Nazis. I found it terribly frustrating that she would need Rick to think for her in the end. Couldn’t she decide right from wrong for herself?

However, watching it with a few more years of life under my belt, I let go of the unforgiving moral compass I once held and appreciated the gray areas, poor timing and misunderstandings. Life is full of miscommunication.

The movie, of course, stayed the same. But I continued to change and somehow the film felt like it changed along with me.

Here’s lookin’ at you, kid. I suppose you’re growing up.

Posted by Lori in Thorny Rose.

Ostrich Dream

February 1, 2012

The other night I had a dream that an ostrich was my best friend. It took a dark twist when an emu tried to hurt us, but my ostrich-friend protected me. I crafted this piece of art to honor his bravery.

: Ostrich & Large Flowers

Posted by Lori in Rose.

Is The Building Shaking?

January 31, 2012

Ever since the earthquake scare of 2011, I’m convinced I can feel the building shake at least once a day. Occasionally I ask my office mates if they feel it too. They almost always say no. Sometimes Andrew humors me and says, “Not today, but I’ve felt it other times.”

I try to think of reasons that I like the 7th floor. The view is nice and I’m near the cafeteria (snacks!). But one day I’d like to work on a ground floor, preferably closer to an exit.

Can you spot the Capitol dome?

Posted by Lori in Thorn.

A Process

January 27, 2012

I made several resolutions this year. Some of them are going well, others not so much. Change is a process, or so they say. The list is rather long. I’ll only share three:

1. Drink more water.
This is on my list every year. I haven’t been keeping track so I’m not sure how well I’m doing, but I just drank a glass. So that’s good?

2. Clean up dishes immediately after I’m finished eating.
I’ve been doing REALLY well at this one. Until today. But maybe I’ll still wash them before I go to bed. Who knows. I’m unpredictable.

3. Make my own coffee in the morning and stop buying breakfast on the way to work.
I was doing pretty well with this one, but fell off the wagon this week. Oh winter. You make eating cereal so difficult. I just want to eat warm breakfast sandwiches and have my coffee handed to me. But I will change my ways… next week.

Woody Guthrie’s 1943 New Years Rulin’s made their way around the interwebs earlier this month. Here they are for list-making inspiration, in case you missed them:

Don’t get lonely. Shine shoes. Wash teeth if any.

Posted by Lori in Bud, Rose.

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