berry season!

Here in Virginia it has been raining like it is going out of style. It’s been a little bit of a drag for summer outings, but it has been GREAT for the wild berries that are suddenly growing absolutely everywhere! Steve, my sister, and I have been picking them like maniacs. We’ve seen neighbors out noshing, and birdies, and no doubt all sorts of nocturnal creatures are indulging in them as we sleep and STILL, there are SO MANY! Nature can be so generous!

Let’s think about how overpriced berries are at the grocery store, huh? High fives all around when we can pick them in the wild! Sure, there’s a lot of sweating… and there are brambles, so you should really wear longer legs and sleeves on your clothes… which is just as well since there’s also a lot of poison ivy around. Still, it’s FREE NINETY NINE!

Here’s the work of, oh, half an hour? (With, yknow, a little of the yield skimmed off the top in the form of snackage in the field)

   

Shining like beautiful jewels! The raspberries are quite abundant and the blackberries are still coming into season. So. stoked.

 

Steve and I spent a really adorable afternoon walking in the sunshine picking berries and then getting hilariously soaked when the aforementioned crazy rain appeared once again. Apparently it wetted my camera, which ruined the next few pictures. Blurry though they are, I have to share this fab breakfast.

We begin with:
- Wonderful farmer’s market yogurt
- Whole flaxseeds
-Rolled oats
-Almond butter

  

Then atop, you guessed it, big handfuls of ripe and delicious raspberries! Note: the berries are delicious but a bit tarter than the ones you’d find at a grocery store. They’re also a little seedier. I think this makes for a wonderful texture in yogurt bowls but I found it unpleasant when I added them to a smoothie. Just FYI.

 

Hanging out in a bowlful of dry rice restored my camera. Phew!

Something I’ve done twice now with these beautiful berries is make a beautiful pie!

And, shocker of shockers, I have a RECIPE! A legit RECIPE! For the first time in MONTHS! It’s adapted from Mark Bittman, natch, but I put enough tweaks on it that I can call it my own.

Berry-Buttermilk Pie
Adapted from How to Cook Everything Vegetarian, by Mark Bittman

1 pie crust (I used a packaged one we had leftover, which is why it looks so BUSTED. The traditional pie crust was great, but you can also do a crumble type crust. See below for variation)
3/4 cup buttermilk
3/4 cup half and half
3 eggs plus 1 egg yolk
1/2 cup minus 2 T sugar
pinch of salt
heaping 3/4 cup of your choice of berries (I used a mix of raspberries and blackberries)

Generously poke the bottom of the pie crust with a fork, then bake the empty pie crust at 350 degrees for 10 minutes, until just lightly golden. Let it cool a bit while you prepare the filling.
Meanwhile, whisk together eggs, egg yolks, salt and sugar in a large bowl. [Tip: my pastry chef cousin taught me something important. Don’t dump the sugar on top of the eggs, or it’ll cause the eggs to get all clotty and coagulated. Instead, whisk continuously and gradually add the sugar as you whisk.]
Then, in a saucepan, heat together buttermilk and half and half on low heat until they begin to steam. Remove the pan from the heat. Add a small ladleful of the hot buttermilk mixture into the bowl with the eggs and whisk vigorously until combined. Then pour the egg mixture into the pan with the rest of the buttermilk mixture.
Get your pie crust, and scatter the berries all around the bottom, in an even layer. Then pour the buttermilk filling on top. NOTE: you will have more of the custard mixture than you need for the pie unless you are using a deep dish pie dish. You can put this mixture into ramekins and make custard at the same time as the pie if you wish. Pour the buttermilk mixture into the pie crust, on top of the berries, only until it is about 1/2 an inch under the top of the pie crust. Do not add any more than this or it will be impossible to get the pie in the oven without spilling, plus it’ll rise over the top.
Carefully put the pie in the oven and bake for about 40 minutes, until the middle is mostly but not quite set (it will cook a little after you remove it from the oven).

    

Note that when I made this beautiful fresh pie a second time, I used only raspberries (because the particular field I was picking in that day did not yet possess ripe blackberries). For the filling, I was lazy and out of eggs so I used Bird’s custard powder to make the custard. Howeeeeeeeeever, for the crust I kicked it up a notch and made a homemade crust. I’m kicking myself for not measuring, because it was wonnnnnnderful, but it contained approximately:
- 2 handfuls of walnuts
- 1 big tablespoon of cold butter
- 1 tablespoon or so of white sugar, plus another 1 or so of brown
- say 1/3 of a cup of oats?

I prebaked it in the same manner, then filled it, and WOW it was good. It had the texture and richness of those crumbly raspberry bars, but it wasn’t too sweet and it had the creamy custard and… mmm… Just it was good. Just trust me.

The day I made the pie was a crazy day because I saw not one but two of my friends’ babies! And by my friends, I mean my peers! One I’ve known since 7th grade, one since 9th! First I enjoyed salads at Sweetgreen with my friend Lauren, who had a sweet little girl named Aimee about six weeks ago. Then for dinner, I joined my friend Virginia, whose wedding I posted about in this blog, and her family. She has a 15-month-old named Charlotte (who’s walking and chatting and an absolute joy to be around) and is pregnant with her second child (!!!!!!!!!)

This is all a long way of saying that I told her to eat lots of pie because it had walnuts in them and omega-3’s are good for developing babies.

Back to the original pie. Original piecrust. My family thoroughly approved of this goodness.

It was delicious. Due to it being (vaguely) red, white, and blue, I brought it to the fourth of July celebration with my family. We enjoyed it after this fab dinner:

My once-a-year hot dog, corn on the cob, Georgian beans, a giant pickle, and the most exciting thing to the lower right hand of the plate. I’ve had papas huancaina, a heavenly Peruvian spicy potato and egg dish at La Limena, a Peruvian restaurant in Rockville and then made at potluck by my Peruvian friend David. Well, my aunt tried her friend’s version and loved it too, obviously. So she took a stab at it and PEOPLE OF THE WORLD: you have to try papas huancaina. My aunt is proof positive that one can google it and find a scrumptious recipe.

As usual, this blog post is all over the place with its train of thought. Returning to the wild fruit with which it began, I inquire the group: are these wild grapes?

They were growing on the same path as the berries. We aren’t complete lunatics and didn’t eat any, but we did break them open.

Any horticultural experts out there?

market, motivation, mystery

Farmer’s market chef series returns. Love! Starring the amazing chefs at Willow, as well as their super cute sous chef.

  

Costarring lots and lots of butter.

 

Ricotta pancakes with oven-dried strawberries cooked in balsamic and asparagus on top. All from the farmer’s market.

I could’ve eaten just the strawberries. Sheesh. Amazing.

Also enjoyed awkwardly interacting with the woman who originated the farmer’s market chef program.  I met her at a foodie thing last year. Said hi. Was awkward. As usual.

Not awkward: for some reason I am a subject of fascination for the vendors we in our family call “the sarcastic farmers”. One more than others (who gives me the silent treatment when I bring Steve to the farmer’s market. Hah! Well, I think it’s funny.)

Anyway, I was making fun of him for a sign that they had in a previous week saying, I quote:

“No” bugs were harmed in the raising of this product.

I didn’t add those quotation marks. They did. And I went, uh, hello, do we know what it means when you use quotation marks in that context? I worry for the bugs.

So I returned the following week to this:

Ridic.

I’m pleased I started this post on an amusing and cheerful note. I’ve been sick all week (blah blah blah, nothing you haven’t heard). I’m down on myself (blah blah blah, nothing you haven’t heard). I’m eating poorly (blah blah blah definitely nothing you haven’t heard, plus nothing I haven’t heard for, oh, my entire adult life).

I should’ve studied for my midterms all day to have any, ANY hope of even PASSING Chemistry (though honestly if I don’t get an A forget it. What grad program accepts someone who can’t handle a community college class? I wouldn’t blame them in the slightest).

Oh but wait. I didn’t. Does folding laundry and watching Julia Child on PBS count for studying?

If I was in my perky mode of posts past I could go on and on about how it’s okay to relax “for once”- and I’ve taken that attitude about as often as this hilariously spot-on Onion article.

But, no.

“For once” has translated to a gazillion pounds around my midsection and a gazillion hours I should’ve studied that I didn’t.

And I am now venturing into the territory of somewhat self-indulgent self-pitying, so I’ll stop.

Things I wish grew on trees: healthy coping mechanisms, work ethics.

Thing that does grow on a tree:

NAME THIS FRUIT! Any tropical fruit savvy readers? Steve picked this up, just for funsies.

  

Inside: positively sweet as candy! Huge inedible black seeds.

Guesses?

Coffeecoffeecoffeecoffee

Caffeine is such a valuable contributor to the human experience. I can’t imagine my days without it. 

When I get it for free- in a package in the mail, which is always so delightful- it’s especially great. When it’s from Peet’s, my favorite coffee shop to visit while in school, it’s even greater. When it contains a variety of coffee, a coffee vessel, and coffee coupons, it’s even better. Oh, did I mention it was free?

 

As part of the Foodbuzz Tastemaker program, I was lucky enough to be selected to get a free box o’ goodies from Peet’s coffee.

Let’s start with this coffee mug, because it’s vastly improved my life. Why? It is BIG, keeps things hot for AT LEAST three hours (it just hasn’t needed to be tested longer than that… I need my caffeine fix frequently). The best?

It is TOTALLY LEAKLESS.

As for the coffee, I’ve tried the medium-bodied Cafe Domingo and it is YUMMY!

It did take me a bit of trial and error to find my ideal cup.

I found their ratio to be a bit off; I measured the water by filling a LARGE coffee mug twice then added 2 T of the ground coffee to my coffee maker, and that was about right. And I like pretty strong coffee. That’s good for coffee for two.

The flavor is summed up pretty nicely by the “smooth and balanced” descriptor on the bag. Smoky without the ashtray taste. Very very nice with milk.

 

Question: does anyone who reads this blog want some of these? I drink a lot of coffee… but not that much.

 

I was encouraged to recommend pairings for this coffee.

We begin with with an attempt to make my long-suffering mother a nice breakfast in bed.

Burnt french toast is always nice with coffee. (Or rather, coffee that ISN’T burnt tasting- unlike a certain chain that rhymes with “bar chucks”- helps redeem burnt french toast)

And now let’s do a Morning Meal Roundup.

Fact: it is still true that the vast, VAST majority of work mornings, I eat banana oatmeal with peanut butter, precooked on Sunday for the rest of the week as in that post.

However, I sometimes liven it up. Cinnamon-apple form is nice for autumn.

Random fact: I once talked to an old man in line at the grocery store. We agreed that a bowl of oatmeal and a cup of coffee is a perfect breakfast year round. His apparently longevity made me feel confident about this meal choice.

 

Preparing apple cinnamon oatmeal: the key is to precook the apple, not just to cook it in the rest of the oats, or it is way way too crisp for me. What I do is:

1. Dice apple (I use about 1/2 an apple for a bowl of oatmeal made with 1/2 cup oats, 1/2 cup milk, and 1/2 cup water) and microwave for one minute, til starting to get tender.
2. Pour apple and any juices it is accumulated into a pot with oats, milk, and water. Bring to a boil on medium height, lower heat, and simmer til it has reached your desired thickness
3. Mix ins! I like with apple oatmeal a pinch of salt, vanilla, and a bit of sweetner (cause my palate is used to super sweet banana oatmeal). My favorite choices are liquid vanilla stevia and honey.

Obviously, I still top my apple cinnamon oatmeal with a big fat delicious spoon of peanut butter.

Coffee is also great with Sunday brunch, my favorite meal of the week.

This past Sunday, I cleverly gave new life to some sausage left over from my grandmother’s sausage soup. I scrambled up some mushrooms and AWESOME farmer’s market bell pepper, then added eggs. Topped with Sriracha! With toasted English muffin and butter on the side.

A breakfast experiment: protein pancakes. For those of you who don’t regularly read weird healthy living food blogger recipes, pancakes with protein powder in them.

They were… okay looking, if a bit flat.

   

But tasted like egg and chalk. Thank goodness I’d foreseen some flavor issues and made a topping of microwaved diced apples, pears, and cinnamon.

Masked the pancakes a bit.

   

Quite attractive, but not an experiment I plan to repeat. Eesh.

foodie pen pal!

Who loves getting packages? Everybody! Right?!

You know what are the best packages? Packages with FOOD in them! Thus the brilliance of Foodie Pen Pals.

 

A pen pal primer: the mastermind of this venture is Lindsay. She matches up food bloggers (or even just food blog readers who also want to participate) with someone to send a package to and someone to receive a package from. Here are the deets borrowed from her blog!

-On the 5th of every month, you will receive your penpal pairing via email. It will be your responsibility to contact each other and get mailing addresses and any other information you might need like allergies or dietary restrictions.
-You will have until the 15th of the month to put your box of goodies in the mail. On the last day of the month, you will post about the goodies you received from your penpal!
-The boxes are to be filled with fun foodie things, local food items or even homemade treats! The spending limit is $15. The box must also include something written. This can be anything from a note explaining what’s in the box, to a fun recipe…use your imagination!
-You are responsible for figuring out the best way to ship your items depending on their size and how fragile they are. (Don’t forget about flat rate boxes!)
-Foodie Penpals is open to blog readers as well as bloggers. If you’re a reader and you get paired with a blogger, you are to write a short guest post for your penpal to post on their blog about what you received. If two readers are paired together, neither needs to worry about writing a post for that month.

I was paired with another Lindsay, a denizen of Normal, Illinois. She hooked me up with, as she put it, “a little slice of the Midwest”!

The goods, all arrayed on my dining room floor (where I RIPPED THE PACKAGE OPEN. Guys, getting packages is so exciting).

For reasons best understood by me, I photographed the cookie BOX rather than the cookies themselves up close.

Suffice it to say, by the time I realized that, it was too late. Cookies were GONE.

 

 

Aaaaaaaagh you know those wonderful rich dense sugary bakery cookies? That are then sent over the edge by having beautiful and delicious icing atop? Yeah, that was these Jack O’ Lanterns. SO AMAZING. I sincerely hope to visit this bakery when I head to Illinois for Thanksgiving.

Next, the cutest chocolates I have ever seen:

As if the adorable Halloween-themed devil, mummy, spider, and cauldron of witches’ brew weren’t great enough just to look at, they topped SUBLIME chocolate. Three milks and a dark. Wonderful :D I had fun sharing these—the devil was the first to get claimed!

Sweet little honey bear of local honey (this is weird of me, but I am super into local honey. Since it’s so good for allergies, and I have such sucky pollen allergies. I’m hoping that if I just eat local honey from all over the United States, I can travel ANYWHERE without needing Benadryl).

  

With a recipe to go along! I love getting salads with honey mustard dressing when I go out to eat but somehow never combine the two things when cooking at home. Now I have a recipe to help me out!

So finally, let’s talk about those beer nuts.

Being such a clueless non-Midwesterner, I thought initially that they were literally beer-flavored nuts. Which I would’ve been totally down with. I don’t like beer but I do like beer bread, chocolate stout cupcakes, etc. Why not nuts?

But rather, they are nuts one can eat while drinking beer (though based on their deliciousness and my utter disregard for preserving my girlish figure after having imbibed in alcohol, I wouldn’t recommend it per se). A little sweet, a little salty, oily, and utterly addictive.

Okay so… remember the nut butter I raved about while at sea?

BEER NUT BUTTER!

I saw that the beer nuts were

1. Already roasted
2. Already infused with sweet and savory flavors so integral to peanut butter

And I thought, it is finally time for me to make some homemade nut butter!

A big thank you to Sarah from The Smart Kitchen for posting with such frequently about making homemade nut butter. It made me much less intimidated.

Because I wanted to save some of the beer nuts for regular beer nut eating, I decided to do a mixed nut and seed butter, with all kinds of delicious things contributing.

To that end, the plurality of nuts in the nut butter were the beer nuts. But I also added smaller amounts of roasted almonds, walnuts, pecans, and, taking a cue from Trader Joe’s, sunflower seeds.

Obviously, this made my kitchen smell awesome.

 

I actually wonder if putting the roasted nuts in the food processor while still slightly warm (though not hot) helped speed up and ease the butterifying process, because it took a few minutes but the blade seemed willing enough to make it happen (there was no ominous shaking or smoking from my food processor).

Anyway, it came together beautifully, a wonderfully gritty texture reminiscent of Trader Joe’s plain peanut butter.

How it’s Did:

1 cup beer nuts
1/2 cup walnuts
1/2 cup pecans
1/2 cup almonds
1/2 cup sunflower seeds

Roast walnuts, pecans, almonds, and sunflower seeds. Start with the walnuts, pecans, and almonds- they take around five minutes, whereas the sunflower seeds only take about two. I did this in my countertop toaster oven, at about 350 degrees.

Throw everyone in a food processor. Whirr away to desired consistency!

 

This nut butter was crazy tasty and utterly addictive. Slightly sweet, slightly salty, with a heavenly well rounded flavor of smoky depth. No one nut dominated (though I have the beer nuts to thank for a lot of the flavor, I’m sure); it was just totally synergistic nut butter delight.

Thank you so much, Lindsay!

birthday part 3: filled with sweetness

What follows is a story of the greatest dessert experience of my entire life.

It begins somewhere beautiful: the swank and glamorous 701, a restaurant in the Penn Quarter neighborhood in DC (where all the cool restaurants are these days).

   

The plan was an evening of leisurely dinner and copious amounts of talking with me and some of my fave female relatives (though we missed you, Kathy and Malindi!).

This plan was enhanced by a three course price fixe meal. The idea was that if you ordered before 6:45, your food would arrive promptly enough that you could see the theater. Instead, we ordered before 6:45 and then talked for three hours.

The menu, so as to allow you to fantasy foodball what you would order. (I may need to trademark the phase “fantasy foodball”. You guys know what I’m talking about? When you read a food blog and they post the menu and you go, “Well I would’ve ordered that!”

The meal began with a quality bread basket: aromatic and filled with a delicious variety of warm bread.

It featured a tasty and perfectly sized mini corn muffin;

 

Also ate some caramelized onion and herb foccacia (drool), and some ethereally light Italian bread. On your birthday (well, er, the day after your birthday on which you continue to celebrate your birthday), you should have lots and lots of carbs to celebrate.

You should also have wine! This was a Malbec rose (which I didn’t even know existed til I tasted it at the winery the day before), and was lovely.

Always inquisitive of waiters (annoying, some might put it), I made inquiries about what the “seasonal soup” entailed.

Basically once he said squash, he sold me. But added something about a balsamic reduction, which was FABBBB.

 

I took pictures by holding a candle above my plates of food and shooting one handed, frantically hoping that I’d sufficiently stabilized my wrist to produce a good picture.

At one point my family members started holding the candle for me. That is love.

The highlight of the soup? That would surely be the chunks of perrrrfect apple at the bottom. Tender and flavorful and so wonderfully unexpected. I love when chefs play with texture.

Swapped bites with my mom, who got the salad with the pumpkin and bacon. How could you go wrong, really? Perfectly dressed, too. And I’m so into frisee right now.

 

Next: entree. Our table was evenly divided between the ravioli and the trout (what a bunch of chicks, huh? No manly meat for us), but what sold me on the trout was that it was smoked. I really really loved smoked things. Also the mention of “horseradish mashed potato”.

It came out looking quite beautiful and architectural. It’s so nice going to restaurants at the higher end of the spectrum (I’d much rather go somewhere lovely like this once a year than go to Chipotle once a month or even once a week), because the food is more than just food. You’re getting to see something really beautiful!

I also really like ordering things I can’t make at home. Sometimes that means ingredients I can’t get; sometimes equipment (though I would really like a smoker…), and sometimes just professional technique: garnishing, knife skills, innovative flavor combinations and the like.

Lovely tender, flavorful trout (something had happened to brown the edges in the most delightful way). Bitter but oh-so-tender chicory underneath. The horseradish mashed potatoes could’ve been FAR horseradish-ier for me… but I understand the need to be cautious to keep the diners happy :D And love me some garnishes- the port reduction and the crispy onions were both fab.

It was also quite colossal in portion. It made yummy leftovers, too!

Okay. Now we are entering the major VIP experience aspect of the evening. I had already been spoiled with great company and great food. Now I was about to experience dessert… nirvana.

While ordering our dinners, we were asked to order for the three courses- appetizer, entree, and dessert. When our waiter got to me, however, he said that I’d be getting “something special” for dessert.

Let me backtrack- a week prior to my birthday, I’d attended the ridiculously cool Women Chefs and Restaurateurs event and met a lot of very cool chefs. In attendance was Melanie Parker, a very very cool person with whom I had a long chat. She being a pastry chef and me being a pastry enthusiast, we mostly talked about dessert :D  Whacky ingredients, what a pastry chef’s job is like, where she gets her chocolate inspiration, and so on. I totally salivated over the dessert she was sampling at the event, and she said, “Come to the restaurant. I’ll make you something.” Well gosh okay!

The rest of the table made do with the delicious dessert items that WERE on the menu, and seemed to be thoroughly enjoying digging into their creme brulees.

(I captured the crackly moment when my mom broke the sugar shell on top of the custard. Always fun!)

But then for me, out came this lovely and festive plate, featuring an unbelievable dessert that, our waiter informed us, Melanie had invented that day (!)

Please bear in mind that I am going by a waiter’s description, and no written menu, but mon dieu I want to do this dessert justice.

The base was a chocolate cake- rich and dense and genoise-y. Atop that was a caramel custard. It was so perfect. It wasn’t slimy like a creme caramel or a flan- it was dense, and imbued with the perfect level of sweetness and flavor. Surrounding these two layers was ganache, the ingredient I will associate forever with my grandmother and her unbelievable chocolate cake. It’s a staple of pastry; just cream and high-quality chocolate! Made a beautiful shell.

Accessorizing this cake of glory were several additional delicious elements. A homemade marmalade provided the most perfect tangy, ever-so-slightly bitter complement to the pure creamy sweetness of the caramel. Gold leaf blinged out my already fancy-shmancy birthday dessert. And resting atop was a perfect, PERFECT, hazelnut macaron.

The macaron’s crisp exterior shattered in your teeth, revealing an airy but oh-so flavorful cookie filled with the most unbelievably rich hazelnut cream.

Everyone else got to experience this macaron bliss because our waiter arrived with a plate with more than enough for the entire table. YUM!

 

But then. O. M. G.

Out of the kitchen comes Melanie, in her chefs gear, to very sweetly wish me a happy birthday in person.

But in tow is another set of waiters, carrying additional trays FULL OF DESSERT!

GUYS, IT WAS A BIRTHDAY DESSERT EXTRAVAGANZA! It was like WINNING THE LOTTERY! I spent the next few minutes incoherently thanking Melanie, running laps around the table to take pictures, thanking Melanie, sticking my fork out to taste anything that couldn’t hold still, exchanging “I can’t believe this is happening” looks with my family members, and telling our waiter to please, please thank Melanie again.

Here are the desserts I consumed in addition to the aforementioned feast. I only hope I can do them justice.

First, beignets! (<< Super awesome New-Orleans style fritters).

These were made of an apple and ROSEMARY batter (the first and not the last brilliant use of savory herbs) that was then fried to perfection with a crispy outside and tender center. I suppose they were meant to be reminiscent of apple cider donuts (and were, in fact, served in a warm and soothing apple cider broth) but they elevated the form to a whole new level. Also had a delish lemony panna cotta and candied walnuts. Bliss! BLISS!

Next arrived a PBJ! I KID YOU NOT!

 

This was the most clever dessert ever. Yet though it left you tickled pink with its nostalgia and wit, holy deliciousness it also delivered on perfect, sophisticated flavor.

In the forefront is the “bread”, two sweet and rich and crispy pieces of brioche dusted in powdered sugar. Nestled beneath them are luscious caramelized banana slices and rich banana ice cream that had wonderful chewy bites in it- toffee?

Then the ultimate in deliciousness and wit, the peanut butter and jelly! Melanie and I had discussed this dessert earlier- it was a peanut butter mousse layered with a Concord grape jam that she made herself. It was so rich and such a perfect combination and played on nostalgia in an amazing way. I don’t know how she got that amazing texture- it had the thickness and richness of ice cream but wasn’t frozen. Cream? Cream cheese?

The fig and almond tart.

   

(wasn’t sure whether I’d gotten a good shot at the beginning so got another one after we’d demolished it a bit. I sort of enjoy this one, too!)

 

This was the dessert through which I met Melanie! I ate the mini version at the Women Chefs event. However, the full sized version was even more brilliant.

It had the components I’d loved in the mini version: crisp but not dry, perfectly buttery crust; rich and sweet but not too sweet fig and almond filling.

However, this was greater enhanced with creme fraiche ice cream (mon dieu!) and the most complex, luscious caramel with fresh herb in it (I’m extremely frustrated with my ability to spot it. But perhaps it is an indication of a great dessert that it still contains a little mystery. Anyone a good herb spotter? Tarragon, perhaps?

But then CURSES, somehow I MISSED ONE!

I need you guys to picture this amazing dessert in your head:

The final dessert was a pear cobbler with a pedigree. It had a rich fruity base with fresh pear cooked to moist and luscious tenderness on top of a sweet and complex fig compote. The topping, however, was the piece de resistance: it was crumbly and subtly sweet and had an unbelievable depth and richness because it contained MAYTAG BLUE CHEESE! And it was BRILLIANT! (Our waiter said it was his favorite dessert). It was such a grown up dessert, not too sweet but with an incredible balance of delicious flavors and textures.

Many at the table enjoyed an espresso- I went for their lemon-lavender-mint tea, which was a nice tummy soother (more than a food baby, I had an entire food family in my belly)

I left the evening feeling mind boggled at how lucky I am to have the people I have in my life.

My aunt arrived with a card that absolutely touched me, remembering what it was like to visit me as a little four-year-old back in Spokane, and getting to spend time with me now.

This was one of those nights where I just felt unbelievably blessed. My mom, who treated our whole family to this unbelievable dinner (and treated me to the special event, where I’d met Melanie, the week before), is there for me always. She gives me a home to come home to every day, somewhere where I can unload the things are in my head and have someone to listen. She indulges my expensive food passions :D And it felt so special to have my whole family with me, to spend a leisurely three hours over dinner chit chatting about all the people we love and all the weirdos we know (:D).

And a special thank you to Melanie, who met me ONCE and then proceeded to treat me to a truly unforgettable birthday experience. I am just blown away by that kind of generosity.

Anyone who lives near DC or plans to visit DC or loves dessert enough to plan  to visit DC after reading this (which, frankly, you should)- get to 701. Just… get there. Just point at the dessert menu and say, “I’ll have that.” This culinary genius (and really, culinary HUMANITARIAN :D) should have lines going out the door!