Monday, November 8, 2010

The Weekend Report: Decadence with Sister1 and Geoff

I just want to eat good food and see the important stuff, said Sister1 when asked about her impending DC weekend. Ummm done and done.
Sister1 and her fiancé Geoff came to visit me (and DC) for the first time and it was so much fun (I love when my family visits!).

And for a short trip, we crammed it in. We walked 12 miles in one day! We did some touristy/museum stuff between delicious food adventures: the Holocaust Museum, Freer-Sackler Gallery, the monuments at night, Air and Space Museum, American History Museum.

But I’ve blogged about tourism and museums before, so let’s focus on the important part – aka the food.

The first afternoon we deemed it necessary to take a museum break and stop at FroZenYo on our way home. We all agreed – Dulce de Leche is the most delicious flavor ever.

We fueled up for a late-night monument walk by going to BGR. Geoff got the Wellington (yum!), and Sister1 and I split a Southwest burger. It was good but not really a burger – more the consistency of a sloppy joe. The fries and onion rings and asparagus spears were fantastic, per usual (and OMG they have a pumpkin milkshake on the menu - looks like I need to plan a return trip).
After a chilly but beautiful monument walk it was cupcake time. We’d walked 12 miles that day, so we felt completely justified in our cupcake carnage. (And it’s official, Baked and Wired not only has the best cupcakes in DC, but they’re also the most durable!

These 4 spent the entire day in a box in my purse and survived the trip unscathed.) Our flavors: Mocha, Chai, Pumpkin, and Carrot. Our judgments: the pumpkin was the best. It was so moist and the frosting was fabulous! It wasn’t just spice butter cream or cream cheese, there was actual pumpkin in the frosting.

The Chai came in a close second – so flavorful. The Carrot was good, but not as dense as I like my carrot cake, and the Mocha frosting was chocolatey and delicious, but we all agreed that homemade chocolate cake is always better.

The next morning, after spending an hour at the Dupont Metro station (if you push your card in too far, the machine eats it - Be warned.) we finally made it to Ted’s Bulletin for breakfast. And a breakfast that happens after 1 pm requires milkshakes, am I right? Sister1 got a Caramel Macchiato shake, and LLC got Heath Almond. I took a sip of Sister1’s and gasped. Wow, I mean, wow! And then I chased the milkshake with pancakes. Because that’s how I roll.

We meandered around Eastern Market before heading to the museums. We hit up the Air and Space Museum for Geoff, then Julia Child’s kitchen at the American History Museum for Sister1.

Later that night we boarded a bus to Glover Park because LLC’s Homemade Chinese Dinner is officially a must-see DC attraction.

We helped make dumplings from scratch – kneading a dough of flour, water, and salt, then forming it into little pockets of spicy shredded veggie awesomeness.

Then we ate large quantities of vegetarian Chinese dishes – eggs and tomatoes, spicy string beans, potato and eggplant, tofu and peppers, tofu w/veggies and peanuts. Obviously I don’t know any of the real names of these dishes – all I know is that they’re good and LLC is the wok-master!

Full and happy we headed home to rest up for the next day. We went to yoga (this couple of crazies are doing a 30-day Bikram Challenge – aka my worst nightmare), then to the Dupont Farmer’s Market. There is no better way to start your day than with a chocolate croissant, apple turnover, and almond croissant while sipping on an Americano.
And we had to see Georgetown Cupcake, where my former housemate handed us a box of frosted goodness. Sister1 and Geoff took those ones to go, and boarded the metro to start their trip back to Petaluma.

We walked at least 23 miles in 3 days. (Sister1 didn’t warn Geoff that I’m a crazy walker – whoopsies!) I miss them already, and I’m so excited for their impending wedding this December!!! (Yep, they got talked into it.)