Testing…4,5,6…Tested

Posted on April 6, 2013 by melsmosaic

The pesto-like dip was tested the other night with no complaints!

Then, the next day came about for taking a friend around DC. Between museums, one must eat! So, after going to pizzeria #1 and having a long wait, we opted for pizzeria #2…longer wait. What now? We stumbled upon another restaurant/pizzeria in the Gallery Place/Chinatown area that was amazing…District of Pi. The restaurant is based in St. Louis and this location has been in DC for about 1.5 years.

Table-wise, no wait at 12:15pm on a Thursday (though we opted for the bar). Great beer-on-tap selection and many pizza options, both thin crust and deep dish. We opted for one of the thin crust specials of white bean, chicken, chorizo and arugula, requesting half with/half without cheese because of my lactose intolerance.

Now, the order was place AFTER great conversation about, and tasting of, the beer on tap. They have amazing brews available and the bartender gave me samples of nearly half a dozen before I opted for a wonderful Bell’s Amber.

When the pizza arrived, it was amazing — thin, hot, perfectly ‘halved’ cheese-wise and delicious. And, nice beer pairing, too.

If you’re in the DC area, I would highly recommend checking this place out. It’s just about a block from the normal ‘turf’ of Gallery Place/Chinatown and amazing.

Testing…1,2,3…Testing

Posted on April 3, 2013 by melsmosaic

The kitchen is my playground. My parents brought my brother and me up in the land filled with spoons, forks, knives, blenders, mixers (go KitchenAid Stand Mixer), stoves (gas is the only acceptable type), BBQs & more. And, we had to eat everything. I have therefore learned not to waste anything. In order to not waste, I love just making stuff…testing. I know various flavors and what can and can’t, or shouldn’t, go together.

I have some fresh herbs left from a dinner last week that I don’t want to them go bad/waste. What to do with them? Thick pesto-like dip, cheese-free is what I came up with. So, ingredients I pulled from various areas of the kitchen, along with the essential mini-prep food processor:

All quantities are ‘some’ — who really measures? It’s all about taste!

-fresh basil

-fresh flat leaf parsley

-1 lemon (ok, measured, but still could be big, could be small)

-garlic — I cheated and used stuff from the jar

-walnuts

-almonds

-S&P

-a great Penzey’s spice with lemony-Italian flavors

-olive oil

Blended, sampled, added more stuff, blended, sampled. Good! Now, will get final reviews after it’s been in the fridge for about 24 hours. Plan to serve with chips, tomatoes and/or mushrooms for dipping.

Testing…1,2,3…Testing.

Give Me Some Candy!

Posted on March 28, 2013 by melsmosaic

T minus three days until Easter. What does that mean? Only a few more days of walking into stores and being surrounded by chocolate eggs, loads of colorful jelly beans and both chocolate and marshmallow bunnies. Want some crazy stats?

According to the National Confectioners Association,

The first chocolate eggs were made in Europe in the early 19th century and remain among the most popular treats associated with Easter
90 million chocolate Easter bunnies are made for Easter each year
16 billion jelly beans are made for Easter
Each day, five million marshmallow chicks and bunnies are produced in preparation for Easter
Easter is the second top-selling confectionery holiday behind only Halloween
88 percent of adults carry on the Easter tradition of creating Easter baskets for their kids
76 percent of people eat the ears on chocolate bunnies first
Red jelly beans are kids’ favorite
According to the Guinness Book of World Records the largest Easter egg ever made was just over 25-ft high and made of chocolate and marshmallow. The egg weighed 8,968 lbs. and was supported by an internal steel frame.

Dang! Need some other good numbers to give you a sugar high as we head into the weekend? Check out The Fact Site. After reading all this, what do you plan to load up and/or munch on the next few days?

From blogs to lactose intolerance

Posted on March 20, 2013 by melsmosaic

After some suggestions from friends, I decided to finally start a blog for Mel’s Mosaic. It won’t be overly frequent, but it will go from deep cooking thoughts to new recipes I find that I’d like to share. What prompted to me finally put this together tonight? Lactose intolerance, or the best thing I’ve heard “Lactards” — I will only accept that name since I am one. I was making Mocha Rum Balls and Orange Cream cookies tonight and could not have a single bite. I was worse than Movay, the Food Lab, drooling (not in the bowl of dough), just wishing I could have a bite.

Bake on…