Technology is Fallible and Other Lessons

The Washingtonian Mag event at the National Building Museum.  Also, the last site my iPhone was seen working properly.

While I was attending the Washingtonian Magazine "Best of" event last week, my iPhone had a little whoopsies!.  When I bought the phone, my lovely friends at the AT&T store (where I am a regular due to things like slamming my phone into metal poles and flushing it in the toilet of Nationals Stadium) were apprehensive.  "Do you really want to invest in an iPhone with your, er, 'luck'?", they asked.  And, of course, I did.  So, they fitted me with the sturdiest (and most awkward) protective cover that money can buy and sent me on my way, no doubt frowning sternly and hanging their heads as I trotted off, forever the optimist.

I do hate to live up to expectations.

The Best Of party was very colorful this year.  Last year, it was under a big tent (indoors) and was quite dark.  But, the chefs were cuter in 2010- so what can you do?

Yet, here I am.  I discovered that the...let's call it a "slide"my phone took across the metro station last week was perhaps less gentle than I initially thought. At first, everything seemed fine.  Then, in the middle of a treadmill run last week (it's hot as hell here and I have a delicate nature), it suddenly cut out during an episode of 'Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me!' (Yes, I'm also a nerd...we covered that in another post.)  It then refused to play ANY public radio podcast in its entirety.  The damn thing still plays Lil' Wayne and Bon Iver but draws the line at NPR podcasts.  Seriously?! (sigh. seriously.)

People line up for various "best" restaurants tastings or drink offerings.  (Yes, yes, the drinks *might* have had something to contribute to the iPhone mishap.)

Mostly, I just make up excuses to photograph the guys working the event.  This guy is rolling corn in huge vats of butter.  And still smiling.  I like that moxie.

This was a spicy bison tartare sample.  Um..YUM!

Now, I find myself wondering what to do about this.  A new iPhone costs big dollars, and it's very possible I can limp this puppy along for a while.  Then again, I have terrible luck, and it could be a degenerative problem (I have this issue with boyfriends a lot) and slowly degrade until it cuts out in Boston right before a crucial phone meeting.  My lazy and practical sides will continue to duke it out for the next 24-48 hours until they come to a resolution I can live with for the weekend.  Won't it be suspenseful to find out if I can navigate a rental car around Boston, make every tightly scheduled appointment in far flung corners of the city AND keep my iPhone functional?  Wheee!  Good times.  I can hardly wait.

Now, excuse me while I go breathe into my paper bag.

The National Building Museum is really the prettiest indoor place in DC, I think.  

{In other news, this week's M@M post is up over at Zomppa.  Check it out here.  Melons and summer dinner parties are this week's topic.}

Pretty bar.

Gwyneth and the Rest of Us

Do you think GP licks the bowl??

Frequently, when I'm cooking in my home kitchen, I think about the clients in my classes and imagine recipes as they might view them.  What ingredients would be inaccessible to them?  How much would the recipe cost to reproduce?  Is there equipment used that many of the families I work with might not have at their disposal?  It certainly helps me realize how lucky I am, while at the same time considering the injustices of the food market.

This week, I've been cooking out of "My Father's Daughter", Gwyneth Paltrow's new cookbook.  Now, if you read my old blog, you know I'm a (not so) closeted Gwynnie fan.  And while I've been pleasantly surprised by the fact that most of the recipes I've tried have been quite tasty, and not too difficult, I can't see converting many of them to use when I teach.

Here are the recipes I've tried this week.

Summer Salad (GP calls it Famous Ivy-like salad, but since, (a) I will never, ever eat at the Ivy (b) I don't consider salads "famous" and (c) I'm not trying to impress you with salad names, I shall just refer to it as summer salad) w/ Lime Balsamic Vinaigrette

Butter lettuce, grape tomatoes, cilantro, basil, grilled corn/zucchini/spring onions, roasted beets.  We also added grilled wild salmon (a luxury, for sure) and avocado.

A shot of the raw ingredients

Dressing ingredients.  Simple for me, but I could not ask my classes to buy agave (I think we'd use honey) or  balsamic (red wine vinegar is less expensive).

Next, I tried a Cold Pea and Basil soup.  This one, I could actually try with my classes with minor adjustments.

Very few ingredients.  Please no comments on my basil plant.  It feels sad.

I topped it with some Greek yogurt and a sprinkle of parmesan.  And that basil leaf.  Color me fancy.

Finally, I tried what Gwyneth calls "the healthiest brownies you can make without sacrificing flavor".  I have my doubts about this, and I thought some of the ingredients were just weird and obscure (why spelt flour?  why not just whole wheat?).  BUT, they are vegan (except when I, er, make them with whole milk instead of the called for soy milk), so I guess for the no animal product person in your life, there's that.

This a LOT of ingredients for brownies.  My "normal" brownies have 5 ingredients.

I might have used a feeeeww extra chocolate chips.  This is why my arms aren't the size of toothpicks like Gwyneth.  Speaking of which, Gwyneth lists the serving size of this recipe as 8 people.  Really?? Like 8 GIANTS?!

Oooey, gooey (vegan...almost) brownies

To read more about the ways I am so *not* Gwyneth Paltrow, scoot on over to Zomppa and read this week's Melissa@Market.  You'll find another recipe for a chilled soup.  But, no pretense, I promise.

Bread for the City visit and farmer's market demonstration is tomorrow, here in DC.  Can't wait to tell you all about it.