The Weekly Wreath Wrap -- Now Through December. Too Many Beautiful Ones From My Local Virginia Farmers' Market. One Post a Week, It Just Has to be Done.

If you're new here, you need to know that I love wreaths (and welcome!). And I go to my two awesome local farmers' markets on Saturdays.  Where, year round, is an amazing team of European master floriculturalists who bring their creations year round.  With the holiday season in full swing, many of the independent, family farms are bringing their own creations, also.

(this and the wreaths below were at the natural-designs.net the Old Town Farmers' Market)

 As I've mentioned before, I pay for everything, not that anyone is offering, I just get very excited about products, people and services I love -- someday I really will do a whole post on my love of Cetaphil, or maybe bacon, and John Freida's Frizz Ease products ...)

Magnolia over curly kale at Three Way Farms at the Del Ray Farmers' Market. (Click to learn more about the Del Ray Market on their facebook page)

A sweet little twig wreath also from Three Way Farms.  Nestled in the parsnips.  Duh, where else would the cute wreaths hang out?

Closer shot of the friend-of-the-parsnips wreath.

Two Cobblers and A Tart.

If it wasn't Thanksgiving, and my husband wasn't rubbing his belly and groaning when he said it ("two cobblers and a tart"), I would have thought he was talking about some new British comedy.

I cook, Dennis (husband) does the dishes.  Being that he had to work on Friday, it was his idea to go out (no dishes, and I can't blame him, I hate doing dishes).  And he promised me I could make sauerkraut for him this week.  And I suppose our arteries could use a year off from my stuffing. 

Denny found this place.  On the Greorge Mason U campus, there is a brand new hotel, and in it is a beautiful restaurant. Floor to ceiling windows looking out into the surrounding woods. Soothing, modern decor, warm in color, minimal in design. And a fantastic looking Thanksgiving menu.

Dennis was sooooo happy about the gorgeous glazed ham.

This might have been D's third plate.  He missed the biscuits on his first two passes and when he found them, they were merely a new vehicle for that ham he was lovin' on.

The spectacular Executive Chef said to us, you're not DONE, are you?? 

Only with our second plate, we said.  And we couldn't wait for those gorgeous desserts.

 Chef is also a golfer and frequenter of his local Fredricksburg, Virginia farmers' market (which I will definitely be visiting soon).  He has a great smile and table-side manner.

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Fastest and Most Delicious Route to an Old Fashioned Italian Sugar Coma (And a Pretty Fall Wreath To Go)

Dispatch from Beantown.  Let's start with a wreath I passed walking through the North End.  Because you know I LOVE wreaths. (Also check out my "I Have a Thing For Wreaths" board on Pinterest!)

Pretty wreath on the shiny black door of a restaurant in the North End.

Mike's Pastry, the iconic North End shop of Italian pastry heaven.

Mike's gets ready for Thanksgiving.

No fewer than Eight flavors of macaroons (with two o's, different from the exquisite almond flour French macarons - one O ), my all-time favorite Italian cookie/sweet/dessert rainbow layer cookies) and magical looking marzipan on the bottom row.

Cannoli extravaganza:  this summer, Mike's expanded the traditional cannoli flavors to include twelve more -- including the four above, limoncello, strawberry, Oreo, and peanut butter. 

The cannoli parade continues (under the fists of an excited customer!): chocolate covered (shell dipped in chocolate, ends dipped in chips), Florentine (candy and nut shell), chocolate mousse (the filling, as you guessed), pistachio (dipped in the nuts) and on and on they go.

And of course, all kinds of cupcakes.

One of my all time favorite restaurants in the Boston's North End is Piccolo Nido ("Little Nest" in Italian). It is the epitome of what I believe a great Italian restaurant should be: warm and comfortable space, an experienced owner from Italy who is also a wonderful host, the freshest hand made pasta, minestrone of fresh small-chopped veggies in a light tomato broth, all at a good price.  Full review coming next week.  It is a true hidden gem, tell owner Pino that I sent you!  Your meal will be glorious!

Yours, in sugar coma just from posting these photos,
JPV

Good Morning, Sunshine! Thank You for the Unspeakably Gorgeous Sunrise, So Let's Just Say it in Pictures

{Ok, ok, pictures and a few words}

Came up to Boston for a visit with my awesome mom (mawsome? awesmom?).  She lives in the converted 1917 Prince Spaghetti factory on Boston's waterfront. (Yup, my brother worked as Aladdin at Disneyland, and my mom lives in a spaghetti factory, and that's just the beginning *sigh*) 

 Sun setting behind us, to the back of the building {below}.

{View:  form left, the stone building is Lewis Wharf, next is the roof  of a commercial building, in the distance is the Hyatt Harborside, the white and gray building at the end of the wharf to the right is Yachthaven, which, in case you are thinking of visiting my mom and would like to arrive on your yacht, caters to mega yachts, the lights behind it are a bunch of tugboats just hanging out, and along the right is Commercial Wharf.)

Not much (um, nothing) can make me actually WANT to get out of bed at 6:15 AM except the glow coming the floor to (high) ceiling, quadruple width glass separating Mom's living room from her porch looking out onto Boston Harbor.   

This morning, half (probably more like three-quarters) asleep, I stepped out there, with camera, in my jammies.  Oh what a sight!  (both the sunrise, and me in my jammies snapping the sunrise in the frigid cold ... for different reasons.)

Everything below is sunrise over about 30 minutes, enjoy!

 

The pilings you see to the left, poking out of the water, are original wooden supports for the buildings that used to be on these wharfs more than 100 years ago. They are actually privately owned real estate.

 

Meeting Cinderella and Elvis at a Virginia Farmers' Market

When I met her in Disneyland (world?  I so get the two mixed up, even though my brother actually worked at the California one, as Aladdin -- no joke -- he looks like Aladdin...and then he dated Jasmine, the Little Mermaid, Cinderella and Snow White, at least two of whom were the same person, it was a confusing time for all of us), Cinderella did not look like a giant orange squash.  But I guess they couldn't call this thing a pumpkin, right? (Btw, bravo to Blogger's spell check for knowing the correct spelling of Cinderella)

The princess with her hand on the Cinderella above is my friend Meghan.  It makes sense she felt a connection because a month ago she was dressed like this, Prince Charming and all!:

*sigh* Back to exotic looking squash. Delicatas.

Spelled Kabocha, I'm going to experiment with these gorgeous babies over Thanksgiving. I plan to use
Tiny Urban Kitchen's wonderful and simple recipe.  Someday, I also plan to take pictures as gorgeous as hers!
For now I'll start with a successful kabocha squash bake.
Look at those little kabochas, you know they so want to be Cinderella when they grow up. Cinderella squash, that is.

Fun with Leftovers -- Chili Eggs Benny and More! (Duh, Did You SEE all That Tuna Casserole I Made?)

 

{Note for those of you signed up for email notifications:  I do not know why Blogger sends out the email sometimes as long as 24 hours after I (or other blogger, too, I've noticed) actually publish the new post, but it happens way too frequently.  Sorry and I am trying to figure out how to add feed and other buttons so you can follow that way.  I'm publishing five days a week now so please check back. And, again, my apologies.  I'm hoping, someday to find a human to speak with at Blogger. Current research show no live humans work there.  Wherever there is. Out in the Blogocyberspherical Interwebs?} 

Enough with the disclaimer, on to important matters. 

Food.  Duh.  

{What did you think I was going to say? My usual melancholy over the same old abysmal turnout in Tuesday's Elections?  The ripple effect of the financial meltdown in the Mediterranean (which has been going on way longer than the last few weeks it has finally made above the fold p.1), how cute and ridiculously entertaining my cats are? Nah, you know all that already.}

BEHOLD (above), friends, the magic of leftovers! Remember last week's easiest chili ever?  Here it is again, on an English muffin topped with perfect poached eggs (I am seriously proud of my egg poaching prowess, it should be on my resume) and I will do one post soon on the secrets of the perfect poach.  I make good Hollandaise, too, but, well, I do not really like the stuff.  So, at home I do cheese, usually Parm.  But chili benny calls for dipping into hubby's taco blend.

{above} Everything I need (except chili and cheese, still in fridge).  Toasted muffin, gorgeous Amish eggs from the Del Ray farmers' market, vinegar (the giant jug I keep under the sink to clean everything), beloved mini long handled strainer (no idea where I got these but I use them all the time), wooden spoon to stir up a vortex int he water and to be nice to my pans, and a tablespoon for the vinegar. On my favorite blue and white dish that hand I hand carried back from Japan. (I think it was $12, in the restaurant district in Tokyo, and made IN Japan, unlike many other dishes there which were made in China.  Seriously.)

Large pan, shallow water. And yes, my kitchen is the size of a postage stamp.  Best use of nine feet of space. Ever.

Every Week, New, Creative, Gorgeous Designs From One of My Favorite Vendors at the Farmers' Market

Seriously, how beautiful is this?  Being a dope about deer and antlers, I asked if it (antler) was real.  Designer Anne of Natural Designs kindly did not look at me like I'm an idiot, and said yes, it is real and she found it out in the woods (if you check out their website, nearly everything comes from the woods around the studio where the magic happens).  The DV (husband) informs me that antlers are shed every year.  He learned this because there are so many deer around the golf course (who knew?) and ergo, antlers (who knew?).

I know there are people within a five mile radius of me, in Alexandria, and the Metro DC area, ordering wreaths to be sent to their home from someplace else, for twice as much money.  Plus shipping and handling.  Stop the madness!  Come to the Old Town Farmer's Market this Saturday for your wreath and impress all of your guests when they arrive at your door for Thanksgiving.  Or have the prettiest door to come home to when you return from your Thanksgiving adventure. 

(For the record, I pay for everything, not that anyone's offering, and no advertising here, I just get super excited when I find great stuff or a fantastic resource -- for example, do not get me started on how I worship Cetaphil, or my Parmesan cheese grater.)

I had to back away from this one slowly so I do not overwhelm our little Del Ray townhouse with more wreaths than a Christmas village.

Hang it or centerpiece ... love the all acorn one!

Taco-ish Delish Chili Sneak Peek

I am editing pictures of the chili (Read:  combing through the zillions of pictures I take, increasing the odds that I get a few good ones. I don't actually know how to edit photos yet except to crop and compress so they fit on the blog).
And love the chili though I do, hunks of raw ground turkey are not as pretty (read: easy to make look yummy) to photograph as pasta shells and bubbling cheese (click on the left or scroll down to see the previous too-much-tuna post).   
Did you like the tuna post?  What do you do with tuna?  Do you have the awesome cheese grater already? Let me know in the comments!

Sneak peek of what's coming to you in the morning:

Mmmmm!!  Almost FRIDAY!!

xoxo JPV

Easiest. Chili. Ever. Except It's Really Taco Mix. (I won't tell if you won't.)

Problem:  My chili-from-scratch is inconsistent (Cause of problem:  I really like cumin.  I even brought some back from a trip to Morocco last year.  So I keep adding more. And more.  And then even I won't eat it. And, c'mon, I'm half-Italian from Boston, what do I know about making chili? You want a marinara?  You got the right girl.)

Remember that Taco flavoring packet (my) mom used for make-your-own-tacos? A few weeks ago one of those little packets of goodness caught my eye at the grocery store. I thought, yes!  But now I reflexively check the ingredients. They included: maltodextrin, partially hydrogenated soybean oil and ethoxoquin. Pass. (*sniff*  It was like finding out the Velveteen Rabbit all along had been stuffed with some flammable, toxic fiber fill.)

Make no mistake, when I want a Filet-o-Fish and fries, I ignore whatever sludge I am putting into my body because I want to and I cannot immediately see the actual ingredients. The issue arises when the ingredient list is right there where I can't ignore it.  And if I see words I do not recognize as anything edible, thank you, Michael Pollan, I gotta put it down and back away slowly  (and, in this case, go back to using too much cumin).

Solution: Trader Joe's Taco Seasoning Mix!
I took a chance on this good looking stranger, and I recognized all the ingredients! None of which included the words hydrolized, hydrogenated or partially oxygenated syrupificationizationated.

I trust their cumin distribution.  it's a wonderfully balanced mix of spices.  1/2 package to one pound of meat.  Full package for spicy.  First time I used 3/4 package on 1 lb of meat.  My DV (husband, those are his initials)  ate slightly more than half.  So this time I made more than 2 lbs and used 2 packets, plus the leftover packet from a week or two ago.

Here's my ultra easy take on what is written right on the packet of spice (Six servings):
1 1/2 T canola or veggie oil (I use canola)
1 medium onion, diced (or more if you like onions like I do)
1 lb of lean ground beef, turkey or chicken
1/2-1 packet of flavoring (Trader Joe's Taco Seasoning -- buy a bunch and keep em around)
1 15 oz can of beans, drained and rinsed (I have tried it with pinto and kidney -- pinto wins, a little softer and smaller than the kidneys right out of the can, but both are good.  Black or white/great northerns would be yummy, too.)
1 32 oz can of diced tomatoes and their juices

Heat oil in havey skillet or large saucepan over medium-high heat.
Add chopped onions.  Saute til translucent, about 3 minutes.
Add meat and the seasoning. Break up meat and stir continually over HIGH heat for 5 more min until meat is browned.
Reduce heat to medium. Pour in the tomatoes, and the rinsed beans.  Mix well.
Allow liquid to come to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally for 5-8 minutes. Allow liquid to reduce.

Add chiles if you like.

Serve over rice, or a tortilla, with any toppings including cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, guac, avocado, or fat free Greek yogurt (just like sour cream except really good for you).

I turn it off, put the cover on partially, and let it stand for 30+ minutes and the pot keeps it hot.

Remember, I doubled the recipe so this shows twice the ingredients that you need. I made a double batch this time so I would have a fighting chance of some leftovers.

Too Much Tuna -- What to do (Let's not call it a tuna casserole, let's just call it a tuna bake)

Tuna is good for me.  Love me a great tuna steak.  But canned tuna, eh.  Though I keep trying (see first sentence:  Tuna is good for me. And you.).  Also, I keep buying it.  Evidently I keep forgetting that I haven't eaten canned tuna in a while because I don't love it.  So I buy more, and it joins my collection of forgotten tuna.

Witness, friends:  My tuna problem.  My oppor-TUNA-ty (ooo, yeah, that was bad, but I couldn't resist ... )

[And yes, I did rearrange re-pose my tuna so the labels were facing forward and the "bags" or pouches or whatever they are were standing instead of floundering - ha! - on top of the cans.]

My Tuna Solution:

New recipe -- Every Day Food Magazine's Tuna Casserole (with a few tiny tweaks -- who am I to heavily edit Martha Stewart? Nobody, I tell you, nobody.)

My version:

I used Barilla's extra fiber small shells, rather than elbow macaroni, and extra Parmesan. Duh.
Oh, and it was (still is) delish!

It was actually challenging to find the recipe online. But my researcher skills kicked in and I got it for you.  In the October issue is a feature called "better-for-you-bakes" and I fell for the closeup of a giant spoonful of this recipe.  The photo was about five inches large on ipad which is how I get the subscription.  There are pluses and minuses to magazine e-versions versus the paper versions.  But, for me, despite the fact that I prefer the tactile pleasure of actual paper, the e-versions now come down heavy on the plus side.  E-mags are vital to my husband's mental health which is not good when he  sees magazines everywhere he turns in the house ... but that's another blog post. 

Halloween in my Hood -- Life Size Angry Birds and Dressed Up Doggies

Welcome to the Annual Del Ray Halloween Parade! The life sized Angry Birds was the big hit of the parade.

Here is one of our Pig Kings from Angry Birds awaiting rescue.

Angry Bird looking for his slingshot via gathering Halloween goodies

The life size slingshot with pirates, goblins, cowboys lined up to take a shot, and an angry bird watching from the left.

Pint size Angry Bird costume (compared to the one above!), with an exhausted little blonde/green pig.

 I  heart the mummy hot dog! He looks like a tough guy, even in mummy costume.