Jazz in the Garden

Friday night I found myself at Jazz in the Garden at the National Gallery of Art Sculpture Garden. Now, I'm not usually a jazz kind of gal. You might even call me a bit of a jazz neophyte. Being my anal, structured self, I typically prefer something a little more orderly...something where you can really keep the beat, follow what's going on, tap your feet to a rhythm.

You know what? I really wouldn't care what kind of music they showcase at Jazz in the Garden - it could be Showtunes in the Garden or Solid Gold Oldies in the Garden or Throwback Jamz in the Garden - this is just a good time to be had by all. I couldn't even tell you who was playing last Friday without looking at the schedule, which is conveniently available online here. Basically, the premise is...grab some friends, a blanket, a picnic, and spend an hour or two or three or more hanging out the sculpture garden, listening to some good music, enjoying a pleasant summer evening of live music and ridiculously strong pitchers of sangria.

It was so crowded by the time I made my way there! Fortunately, I was meeting an exceptionally tall person who's quite good at providing directions in a crowded space with certain landmarks. This exceptionally tall person happens to be Carolyn's boyfriend, Justin, who was in town for the weekend visiting a friend, so I met up with them and spent some good time catching up and enjoying a D.C. summer evening. I don't think I would ever get tired of Jazz in the Garden.

The Vaughns do D.C.

I know these two would visit even if I lived in a far more boring locale...say, Bismarck, North Dakota...which may be a fascinating place for all I know...but I daresay our nation's capital holds a little more intrigue on the travel front. I just think it's much more interesting for two of your dearest friends to come into town for the weekend and do cool things like tour the Capitol, visit six Smithsonian museums, and explore the Lincoln Memorial than trek around the North Dakota Heritage Center. Although if you're looking for something a little more low-key, maybe Bismarck is the way to go. I digress. Diana and Trinity came to town for the weekend!!

After making the trek into town from Dulles late Thursday night and catching up a little bit, we woke up on Friday morning with a list to tackle. Yes, a list. A list of activities. This is only one of the many reasons why I love Diana so dearly. First on the list - we headed off to the Capitol for a tour, which involved standing in a line, standing in a line, and standing in one more line before we made our way into a theater for a short film about the history of the Capitol that actually did give me some small "I love America!!" goosebumps. We then headed out in our group of twenty or so for our guided tour. It was really interesting to hear the history of the artwork in the rotunda and learn about the "whisper spot" in the former House chamber (supposedly John Quincy Adams had a strategically placed desk where he could hear, quite clearly, what the opposition was whispering on the other side of the room...something about the arch in the ceiling and acoustics and who knows what). The visitors' center is gorgeous, by the way, which is a nice feature considering how much the darn thing cost.

After soaking up some of our nation's history and checking out a pretty impressive building, we were starving, so we headed over to my default dining spot on the National Mall, the café at the Museum of the American Indian. I tried something new this time (of course), a chipotle chicken taco on fry bread (oh yum!) while Diana and Trinity both opted for the pulled buffalo sandwich. Once we refueled our tummies, we headed out for Museum Extravaganza 2009. First stop - Air and Space Museum, where Trinity and I decided to embark on the Cosmic Coaster, described as a "white-knuckled" adventure through the solar system. Diana, fearing for the lunch resting in her tummy, decided to explore a little bit of the museum while we embarked on this amazing adventure. Ummm...her lunch would have been quite fine, because this adventure was far from white-knuckled. However, the two tiny children seated in front of us had the absolute time of their lives, which did put a smile on our faces. How we managed to pick the one ride out of four that doesn't spin you upside down, I'm not sure.

After checking out the Wright flyer and giant missiles and Skylab and a few other aviation wonders, we made a stop in the gift shop to pick up some freeze dried ice cream (astronaut food!!), in part because we needed a treat to make up for the flight simulator disappointment. It was...chalky...yet...strangely ice cream-like once it hit the tongue. Interesting.

On to natural history! We were attacked by dinosaurs, mesmerized by the Hope Diamond, and fascinated by the butterfly exhibit where you can walk through a greenhouse-type thing with about sixty kinds of butterflies. We went a little snap happy in here. Feel the flutter! Oh, and is it every little boy's instinct to attempt to catch the butterflies, thereby killing them? I can't tell you how many moms had to keep exclaiming "don't try to catch them!!" Silly little boys.

And next stop...American history! The American flag that inspired the Star-Spangled Banner, Julia Child's kitchen, and bits & pieces of pop culture all over the place. Per Trinity's request, we then embarked on a comic book mission (I know, I know...but you can see for yourself just how much the comic books mean to him when you see his despair when denied his regular comic book binge) and found ourselves at Big Monkey Comics. That expedition was a little bit of a bust, but we drowned our sorrows (well...Trinity's sorrows...Diana and I could care less) in some fine German beer and ridiculously tasty pizza at Pizza Paradiso in Dupont Circle. Absolutely exhausted after walking around all day (even though it wasn't seventeen miles, as some....ahh hmm, maybe one...pointed out at the end of the day), we retired back to my place with a deck of cards and some Blue Moon on the roof. I love rooftop time with friends - one of my favorite things about city life.

Saturday we set out to tackle the memorials and monuments, with stops at the White House (front AND back, of course - we needed to find a good photo angle for the potential Vaughn Christmas card), Washington Monument, World War II Memorial, Lincoln Memorial, and the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. There's a lot of walking there, folks, so we opted for a quick ride on the Circulator to take us back down the National Mall to the National Archives. There is always ALWAYS a line to get in, so we waited it out with some real (not astronaut) ice cream while the sun blazed down on us. After checking out some extremely old and important documents...Magna Carta, Declaration of Independence, Constitution, Bill of Rights, you know, semi-important stuff...along with some cool stuff in the Public Vault (the original Texas constitution!) and the BIG exhibit (Taft's bathtub! Shaq's shoe!), we continued on Museum Extravaganza 2009 with a visit to the National Portrait Gallery and Smithsonian Museum of American Art. I'd already seen a good chunk of this one, so we divided and conquered, enjoying everything from crazy modern art to the presidential portraits to some quiet time in the courtyard. I love this courtyard, by the way - it's such a great space in the middle of the city to just sit and...well, sit. Thai food for dinner, and so went another great day in the city.

Sunday we continued on Museum Extravaganza 2009 with a sobering exploration of the Holocaust Memorial Museum, which was high on Diana's list of to-dos. Before embarking on our serious afternoon, though, we spent some quality time perusing the offerings at both Borders (where I happened to buy four books and haul them around the rest of the day - this is how much I love books) and H&M (so cheap! so adorable!). Having fairly recently visited the concentration camp at Dachau, we were pretty well-versed in the horrors that took place before and during World War II, but the Holocaust museum is certainly worth a visit. Definitely a little crowded (weekend!), but watching a short film on Hitler's rise to power, walking through the moving exhibits, and hearing the stories of survivors made up for the early crowds as we worked our way through three levels of history. If you have the time, make a stop here - well worth it.

After just a little more ice cream (the street vendors suck you in with their amazing array of frozen options!!), we made our way home, loaded up in the car, and headed out to Dulles to drop off Trinity at the airport. Diana was headed to work in NYC for the next week, so we had time for a girl dinner at Jaleo...and maybe some sangria...and maybe a little extra sangria from the friendly, native Texan bartender...before heading over to Union Station so she could catch her train.

I had a fantastic weekend with these two. I can almost forget how much I miss these people until they show up for the weekend and remind me how wonderful they are. Check out my full collection of pictures from the weekend here. For the full photographic adventure, I'm sure the Vaughns won't be too far behind with their pictures here. Three cheers for good times with dear friends!

Maybe there is a little Texas here...

You know what? Even though I'm not in Texas, I can still find little bits and pieces of it trickling across the country and into my home. For example...

• I found an adorable Texas cookie-cutter at Hill's Kitchen, a cutesy little kitchen shop in Capitol Hill. I'm a total sucker for these kitchen stores. I could spend hours just wandering through them. Anyway, Texas shaped cookies are in my future, which definitely reminds me of this cake so lovingly baked by Mr. Vaughn, which just makes me feel all warm and fuzzy and Texan inside.
• Homesick Texan, a food blogger I follow, fittingly has a little write-up in the July issue of Saveur because...the entire issue is dedicated to Texas - Texas food, Texas chefs, Texas Texas TEXAS. Oh, and Mom, I'll be calling you for recipes soon. All of that culinary wisdom needs to make its way onto a piece of paper and into my recipe box so I can start wowing my friends up here with things like chicken fried steak and red velvet cake.
• I fried something last weekend.
• I've spotted UT, A&M, Tech, and even UNT shirts adorning what I can only assume are summer tourists...but possibly locals. The footwear usually gives them away.
• Stephanie's husband, a native Texan, often wears cowboy boots. I find this a surprisingly refreshing change from the excessive amount of lobster-embroidered shorts and/or polo shirts adoring the prepsters.

Ok, so maybe these things don't just trickle in...you kinda have to seek them out. I'm more than willing to do so, though -- just take a look at the number of cans of Rotel I have stashed away.

And...two of my favorite Texans are making an appearance this weekend. As in...live and in person, coming to D.C., good times in store for all. The Vaughns are coming into town tonight! Diana and Trinity, get ready for your D.C. adventures, and if you feel like smuggling some Rosa's queso through the TSA folks (it's a liquid, right? Three ounces at a time, baby), I wouldn't be opposed to the idea. Except I'm writing this as you're already at the airport. Drat. Maybe next time.

A taste of America

Last Sunday I made my first official trip to Baltimore (you almost get there when you catch a flight out of BWI and you almost get there when BoltBus drives you around the city, but just not quite!) to meet up with Dana and a couple of her NYC pals for the Orioles-Red Sox game at Camden Yards. My first impression of the area around the ballpark was general amusement at all of the signs proclaiming "THIS IS BIRDLAND." I realize your team is the Orioles and all, but couldn't the PR department come up with something a little bit better than "birdland?" It just made me giggle.

Second impression was...what exactly is in Baltimore? I-95 coming out of D.C. drops you right into the stadium area, so I didn't exactly explore the city, but...what does this place have going for it? This question wasn't really answered on this particular exploration, but I know off the top of my head that Duff bakes cakes here and Anthony Bourdain found some pretty tasty "pit beef" that might remind me of Texas barbecue, so maybe I'll plan on a Baltimore Saturday to better explore the city.

Now, I've babbled on before about baseball and how I'm generally more enamored with the food than with the game itself, but on this particular occasion I found myself flipped around a little bit. Due to some rooftop times the night before that involved grilling, card games, blueberry crumb bars (oh yes, you know that was my contribution), copius amounts of adult beverages, and Chinese food at 4 AM, I wasn't feeling quite as food and/or beer adventurous as I usually do. Oh, and the game was actually exciting. Home runs all over the place! Crowd banter between the Sox fans and the Orioles fans! I was even inspired to capture an action shot of the game!

Even if I didn't enjoy the food and beverage the way I should (I'll be back to remedy that, I promise!), the sight of Boardwalk Fries accompanied by add-as-much-as-you-like apple cider vinegar and Old Bay seasoning (which didn't sound that great, honestly - I think it was the vinegar part that was getting to me. Something about that smell...) got me thinking about great regional food offerings at America's ballparks. Where else are you going to put vinegar and seafood seasoning on your french fries? The Nationals offer Ben's Chili Bowl, Yankees have Nathan's hot dogs, the Mariners proffer grilled salmon sandwiches, and the Astros serve up a BBQ stuffed baked potato. Not only can you enjoy America's pastime, you can enjoy a taste of the area. Makes it kinda tempting to go on a ballpark tour. Also makes me wish I still had summers off.

Oh, just fry it

Some people are inspired by a farmers' market bounty to create something healthy and delicious from all of the fruits, vegetables, and herbs on display. I mean, you're surrounded by things that are inherently healthy for you - just think about all of the prominently displayed naturally occurring vitamins and cheery summer colors:

I, however, am a person that's inspired to fry things or cover them in brown sugar and sauté away. We'll call it a nod to my Southern roots.

I had a much better stop at the Penn Quarter Farmers Market last Thursday than I did back in April when there were zero vegetables to be found. It's kinda remarkable that I actually haven't made it back there until...well, almost August. Where is the summer going, anyway? I found superstar onions (I'm going to nickname them narcissistic onions) and pattypan squash and green tomatoes this time around, and of course the first thing that comes to mind (to my mind, anyway) when faced with green tomatoes is...fried green tomatoes! For some of you this may bring to mind the film version, which is based on the book version, which actually does include a recipe for fried green tomatoes. I suppose it's the Southern in me that immediately jumps to the "fried" when it comes to vegetables, although I can think of several perfectly acceptable substitutes that basically involved smothering everything in cheese. Oh, that's rather Southern, too, isn't it?

I was proud of myself for winging it somewhat and throwing together several different recipes to create the taste I was going for instead of following one recipe ingredient by ingredient, line by line -- I am an accountant, after all, and it's just in my nature to follow the rules. However, The Great Fried Chicken Adventure of 2004/2005 came to mind as I was testing the oil temperature - as it spit angrily at me, I made the wise decision to take it off the heat and cool it down just a smidge before dropping what could have been spattering oil bombs (that should have turned into beautiful fried green tomatoes) into its midst. The tomatoes turned out completely delicious and entirely unhealthy, which is just the way I prefer my vegetables. Although it's actually a fruit. Hmmm, fried fruit...I wonder what I can do with peaches...

Oh, and the squash and onions were a total experiment that turned into squash and onions with brown sugar, which is actually quite tasty. The accompanying write-up suggests that this combination "would be a success with a vegetable-averse child," so perhaps this is one way to get Trinity to eat his veggies. Cover them with sugar.