July Review

How time flies!  I can’t believe it’s August already!  If you’d like to catch up on monthly reviews, check out May and June!  So what photos did I capture on my iPhone this month?

We buy some fruits and veggies from the Penn Quarter Farmer’s Market every week.  This week we purchased: blueberry yogurt, watermelon, tomatoes, cucumbers, milk and eggs!  Check out the tomato tart and Lebanese salad with pita chips.

New this year is Gordy’s, they make small-batch artisanal pickles!

A fellow DC blogger, Thrifty DC Cook, introduced me to Saigon Cafe in Falls Church.  This was our 2nd visit in a month- the pho was that good!  So if any of my DC friends have a car, and have a craving for pho, I’ll be glad to introduce you to this new find!

Sam and I are always on the lookout for some great new beer.  I found this one at Cowgirl Creamery.  Baba black lager is from Uinta Brewery in Salt Lake City, Utah.  Love the cute label!

Another week of great finds at the Penn Quarter Farmers Market!  This weeks deliciousness was: eggs, green beans, corn, tomatoes and sweet melon.  Check out the tomato tart and fresh corn salsa we made this month!

A friend, and fellow DC blogger, Emily of Em-i-lis held a canning workshop at the Bethesda Strosniders Hardware Store.  If you’d like to learn more about canning she’s teaching another class on August 25th at the Silver Spring location (it’s free, just sign up!).

Sam and I tried out a new pizza place in Columbia Heights- Red Rocks!  The pizza above is the Funghi (fresh mozzarella, mushrooms, cherry tomatoes), the other we tried was the Boar Sausage (smoked mozzarella, wild boar, scallions, grana, parsley).  Both delicious, we’ll definitely be back!

Our friends Brittany and Ben will be having a baby any day now, we’re all so excited!  To celebrate, Stephanie threw a wonderful baby shower!  These were on all of the tables, with some delicious popcorn in them!  How cute is that?!?

I visited my parents for a week in Chicago- great view of a wonderful city!

While I was in Chicago, Sam went to the Penn Quarter Farmers Market.  What did he buy? Eggs, tomatoes, bacon, butter, blackberries, okra, peaches and peppers.  Check out the tomato tart!

While visiting my parents, my Mom showed me how to improve on my pierogi-making techniques!  We made blueberry pierogi’s- and they were delicious!

I attended a workshop at the Common City Good Farm on composting.  I’ve been wanting to learn more about it, and how to start.  Once everything is in place, I hope to do a couple of blog posts about the process.

We spent a couple of hours at the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery, and it had a great view from one of the terraces.  Definitely a museum all of you should check out while in DC!

More delicious food from the Penn Quarter Farmers Market!  This week we got: eggs, plums, peppers, tomatoes, cheese curds, peaches and peppers.  Check out the tomato tart!

Lastly, Sam and I began our scuba diving certification!  We got some log books to note all of our dives!  Cannot wait for Thailand to explore the underwater!

European Food Adventures- Kraków

Hello everyone, we’re back!  We were in Europe for 12 days and we went to Kraków, Poland; Vienna, Austria and Munich, Germany.  Each city got about 3 days, and we really enjoyed each of them.

Since we are foodies, we would love to tell you about some of the delicious food we had eaten.

Kraków, Poland
We arrived in Kraków around noon and after dropping off our bags at the hotel, we decided to walk around the city.  The Main Square (Rynek Główny) is located in the center of town and dates back to the 13th century.

Fun Fact #1: It’s the largest medieval square in Europe.

In Poland, as in many European countries, breakfasts consist of cold cuts, cheeses, bread and some vegetables.  All of this is usually accompanied by juice or water, and coffee.  This is mainly what we ate throughout our trip, whether it was in our hotels (breakfasts included!) or in cafes.

This first breakfast definitely represents the standard around Europe.  It was also accompanied by twarozek.  Twarozek (English: quark cheese) usually has chopped green onions and radishes mixed with it, and eaten on its own or on a slice of bread.

In the next couple of days we had a lot of traditional Polish food.  One of the meals was at Polskie Jadło:

This is kiełbasa and kapusta kiszona (Polish sausage and sauerkraut).  There are many different varieties of sausage and can be served cold, cooked, smoked or grilled.  The sauerkraut usually has mushrooms, carrots and onions cooked with it.

These are kopytka.  The word “kopytka” means “little hoof”- it refers to how the dumplings look- like little hooves.  They look similar to gnocchi, but are made with grated potatoes and flour.  They can be served with meats, being a substitute for potatoes.

These are pierogi’s.  Almost everyone has had one, or something very similar to it (many cultures have these).  They are boiled, baked or fried dumplings with a variety of fillings.  In Poland, the  most popular are: meat, cabbage, mushroom or cheese.  The one’s shown above are with the twarozek I described earlier, they can be boiled or fried with butter, or another fat.  There are also pierogi’s which have fruit in them, most often strawberries and blueberries.

If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to ask!

Up next: Vienna!