Washington DC!

I am a DC girl at heart. We were fortunate enough to fly back for a few days recently. I love being back there! I don't miss the snow or the humidity (well maybe a little!) but I miss everything else! I lived in a small town just outside of DC in Maryland called, Cabin John. We were within biking distance of Georgetown, via the C&O Canal. Nearby, in Glen Echo, was an emerging art community, thanks largely in part to my high school art teacher, Walter Bartman. I can confidently say that I wouldn't have the career I have today without his instruction. He has opened up the Yellow Barn Studio and Gallery now that he's retired from the public school system. It's located in Old Glen Echo Park, which looks like it's being restored to its original glory! Wonderful place to visit. Everything is green and lush and there are things on the East Coast, I just can't get anywhere else! A few items are Blue Crab, Yuengling Beer, and Utz's Crab Potato Chips!

One of the first things I wanted to do was have some soft shell crabs, since we happened to be there at the right season. I unfortunately don't have a picture of the ones we had at dinner, but they were every bit delicious. They were prepared in the usual Italian way, coated in a light batter, pan-fried and served with a lemon caper butter sauce. I'm drooling again! I do have a great picture of what Frank's Aunt had waiting for us the next day. A big pile of steamed crabs!!! A dream come true! This trip was off to a great start!


Frank's mission was to obtain some of Utz's famous crab chips, which you can see we did! He talked about filling a suitcase with them but I just couldn't imagine bringing back a bag full of potato chips! A little salty, but every bit of the classic Old Bay type flavor you would expect from a crab chip. Delicious with an ice cold beer! Preferably Yuengling! They say that they are the oldest American brewery. I don't know if age has anything to do with it, but their beer, is rich and flavorful and immensely refreshing.


The other wonderful thing about DC is the Smithsonian Mall. I love it there! It's free and there are amazing exhibits. We had to do a whirlwind tour of the museums since we didn't have a whole lot of time and the rush through was killing me, but we did get to see some extraordinary things. I won't go into detail but if you want to see a fantastic range of art check out the following museums if you ever get there. Hirshhorn, National Gallery of Art East and West, National Portrait Gallery, and the American Art Museum to name a few. One special note is that we had a fabulous lunch at the Garden Cafe, in the West building. I was surprised to stumble upon this. The food at the museums in the past had been mediocre, but this was fantastic! We had Mimosas, Bouillabaisse, and a assortment of artisinal cheeses, as well as a few other delicacies. One dish that was quite interesting was the grilled asparagus with a Passion fruit sauce. Interesting and unique combination of flavors. The cafe was in a serene setting, in the museum, situated around on of their indoor fountains and was off the beaten path so it was quite peaceful. Service was excellent!

Here are a few other photos that Frank took on our trip...

The National Gallery has a very impressive permanent Calder exhibit.


One of the gorgeous marble hallways of the National Gallery West building.


Not Rothko's! Not sure who painted these, but the room glowed from them!


The best and only way to travel in DC, the Metro! I love the interior architecture as well!

Oh, how our garden grows! 3

Frank's been taking more lovely pics of our garden. I must say, that because of his photography, this site has come out much better than I could have hoped for. I try taking the pictures, but I never use them, his just have more "soul" than the ones I take.

This is a Christmas Cactus flower that just bloomed a few days ago. They only last for a day or two, so I watch them with anticipation for when they will open. The flower is quite big, about the span of my hand outstretched. Frank's Mom, Mali planted it and it seems to be doing well, but I think I will move it to a sunnier location.



Beautiful Onion Blossom. Probably a common yellow onion that Frank planted. Whenever I compost an old onion, Frank saves them and tries to grow them. One of our many "orphans" around the garden that we decided to keep. I love the big pom-pom type flower. It reminds me of how artichokes have those big, beautiful blooms from such a thorny start. I need to grow some, next season!



Young zucchini and blossoms. I need to try cooking the blossoms some time!



I plant a lot of lettuce in the garden for two reasons. First, we eat a lot of lettuce, and second, as a living mulch. They keep the ground cooler for our other plants and make the garden look very lush. Only problem is we can't eat them fast enough so they get kind of big. This one reminds me of a green fireworks explosion! Boom!

Unagi Bento - a work day lunch

Frank and I have been trying to pack lunches more often for work. Our reasons are the usual; save money and eat healthier. I enjoy trying to come up with lunches that are a little different. This keeps it interesting for me but can also really add to my time in the kitchen. Here is a pretty simple one, unagi bento. I can’t really say I cooked anything, as the eel goes in the broiler, pre-seasoned and the pickles are pre-made, but someone had to assemble it! In preparation for packing lunches, I purchased some really cute bento sets from J-List. Making the eel bento is really quite simple. I try to approach it as with any meal, where the menu is balanced. With this bento, I served pickled cucumbers, endive with ginger dressing and pickled ginger on the side. I was trying to cut the richness of the eel, with some light and tangy sides. Not shown in this picture are some fresh cut oranges from our tree. When lunch time hits at work, I really enjoy the effort taken, minimal or not!


Deluxe "Urara" Bento Box Set -- Red (Rabbit)



Totoro Lacquered Bowl w/ Bento Box

Baked Eggs on a Monday Morning

I really, really wanted some eggs this morning. Frank was kind enough to run to the store to get some because we only had 3 in the house. Weird to have an odd number like that, when it is just the 2 of us. I had been noticing on some of the food blogs I check out that people were making various types of baked eggs, so I thought I would give it a try. I have 2 All-Clad small baking pans that were wedding gifts and I have never made anything in them after 2 years! This would be perfect! The dish came out really nice, rich but not heavy. Frank took some nice photos for me again. Thanks, Frank! I used a variegated sage from the garden and chives. I would like to try it with some other herbs as well.

4 extra large eggs (I wish I had the duck eggs for this!)
2 pats of butter, unsalted
4-5 fresh sage leaves; thinly sliced
1 small bunch of fresh chives; minced
1/2 cup of milk (I used 2% for this, because that’s what I had on hand)

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
2. In 2 small baking dishes, evenly divide the sage, chives, butter and milk. I had enough milk to cover the bottom of the pans.
3. Place in the oven for about 5-8 minutes, or until the liquid begins to bubble at the edges.
4. Crack 2 eggs into each pan and return to the oven.
5. Bake for about 5-8 minutes or until the eggs have set.
6. Serve, but be careful, the pans will be hot. Season with salt and pepper if desired.



Frank and I have also gone a little espresso crazy. We went and purchased a DeLonghi electric moka maker and a traditional stovetop version by Bialetti. We plan on making some at work, so I don’t keep spending money at the local coffee house. Unfortunately, they are not “true” espresso machines, as they don’t create the beautiful crema on top, but I must say the coffee tastes just as good! I just couldn’t justify the cost of a few hundred dollars (or more) for a machine. Especially, since we are saving up to redo our house. We bought some beautiful, oily, black beans from Le Pain Quotidien and some additional classic espresso cups, so I would say we are sitting pretty.

Kyoho Grapes

If you are fortunate enough to live near an Asian or specifically a Japanese community, go out and buy some Kyoho grapes. They have a big, bold flavor. Perfect for summer snacking. They are similar to a Concord, but I find them to be more balanced in terms of the tang in the skin compared to the rich, juicy almost wine like quality of the flesh. These things are packed with juiciness, which is exactly what you want on a summer day. The nicest thing about these grapes is that their flavor is so rich it makes you forget about the poor quality of the peaches, nectarines and apricots you find in stores today. I am going to try and grow some, but I will have to see how they do in my region. For more info check out this site: Produce Hunter

Malichanh's Khao Pun

One of our all time favorite summer dishes is Khao Pun! Once you have the sauce made, we sometimes keep it for up to a year, this becomes a relatively simple dish. It’s really using whatever cooked meat you have around. Actually, the whole purpose of our garden seems to be for making Khao Pun. It’s why we grow lettuce, mint, basil, cilantro, tomatoes, well, essentially if you can put it into a salad you can put it into Khao Pun. One thing I haven’t quite mastered is the noodle bundles. My mother-in-law once told me that a potential wife, in the Lao tradition, is based on her ability to make well-shaped noodle bundles. Let’s just say I am working on it! I have good days and bad days. Once I get a photo worthy bundle I will post it and try to explain how it is done. It is one of those things done more by technique than anything else.

The sauce recipe below is from my mother-in-law. The rest of the recipe follows.

Makes 1 quart of Khao Pun sauce.

1. Caramelize 1 cup of sugar, and 2 tablespoon of salt together.
2. Then add four cups of water, 3-4 big cloves of garlic peeled and split in half, 3-4 whole red hot peppers (optional).
3. Bring to boil; stir often to dissolve all the caramel.
4. Turn off the heat, and then add 1-2 tablespoons of fish sauce.
5. Cool it off sauce a bit then add 1/2 cup of vinegar (half white vinegar and half apple cider vinegar also good).
6. Now taste it. Adjust the flavor to your liking. I like sour so I put 1 cup of vinegar instead of just the half cup, and add more fish sauce. There are many kinds of fish sauce. Some are stronger flavor than others-just adjust to your taste. I also add some brown sugar for the richer flavor.
7. Finally add a large amount of fine shredded carrots- I usually shred two good size carrots. Also, finely mince the garlic. The peppers can just be left in the sauce but give it a stir every once in a while.
8. Store the sauce in an airtight container in the fridge. Stir well before serving.



As I said above, Khao Pun is essentially anything you have on hand. I often use cold cooked shrimp, leftover steak, and chicken and/or tofu works really well. If you have all of those things then try that too! As for the greens, I usually have lots of basil and mint on hand, cilantro, lettuce, arugula is very tasty, sprouts are great, avocado, sliced cucumber etc. Well, you get the idea…

For the noodles, use somen and make according to manufactures directions. When cooked, drain and put into ice water to chill. Make the bundles by picking up a small handful and in a figure 8 motion drop into your free hand. Place on a platter. Sounds simple right! Good luck! Once you made some bundles, just bring everything out on patters and let guests help themselves. Have large bowls for them to drop everything into and serve the sauce in a bowl on the side so they can add as much as they want. Have fresh cut limes and extra fish sauce available so they can adjust to taste. Frank's favorite way to eat Khao Pun is to take the letuuce leaves and make wraps out of the various fillings. There is really no wrong way to eat it. Enjoy!

Lemongrass Marinated Flank Steak

This is actually one of the dishes from the Thai themed birthday party in April. It’s a very easy recipe, which is a nice feature if you are making a few things at once. I made it a few hours before the party and served it slightly chilled.

1-1 1/2 lbs flank steak
2-3 stalks lemongrass, minced
6 garlic cloves, minced
1 tbsp minced ginger
3 tbsp fish sauce
2 tbsp canola oil
1/2 tsp sesame oil
Juice from one lime

1. Combine all the ingredients in a non-reactive container. I like to use a large Ziploc bag.
2. Marinate for a minimum of 4 hours or overnight
3. Grill or broil to desired doneness and slice thinly to serve.