Food food food food . . . food food food food

It was a pretty food-centric weekend this weekend. New restaurants, new recipes.

Friday night we went to the Art Museum to see Cézanne and Beyond, finally. Two days before it closed. You know, because it has only been open since the end of February. And we are members. So it is free and all. It was a good exhibit. Smaller (it seemed) than the Frida Kahlo or Renoir exhibits. I realized that 1) I didnt know anything about Cézanne, 2) I dont hate him, 3) I am not a big fan of anyone who came after him (the Beyond part). I am not really a "modern" art kinda girl. Or whatever it is. Picasso, Matisse, Kelly? Not a huge fan really. It was kinda neat that one of the curators who narated the audio tour was actually there giving a private tour. So you would hear him on the audio tour and then you could hear him in the room talking to someone else. So that was our culture for the weekend.

After the exhibit we decided to try a new place (for us) in the Art Museum neighborhood since we never go up there (and Matty LOVES trying new things). So we went to St. Stephen's Green at 17th and Green. Your basic little-pubby type place with a fairly ambitious menu and failrly extensive beer list. The food was . . . ok. I mean it was fine. But nothing spectacular. We had pork nachos (on the special's menu) to start. If you are going to call something pulled pork nachos, I expect a bit more pork. I also expect cheese on my nachos. Like a noticeable amount of cheese. And then we split a "chicken cheesesteak" served open faced on a baguette with brie and wild mushrooms. Again, it was pretty tasty, but nothing at all like a cheesesteak. And again with the lack of noticeable cheese. Pretty good fries though. All in all, I wouldnt go to the neighborhood specifically for it, but if I was there (not sure why I would be) and we were looking for a quick bite, I would go back.

Saturday we got up, did some much-needed spring cleaning and then headed out to yet another new (for us) restaurant: Plaza Garibaldi. It is one of the numerous Italian Market taquerias, on the North side of Washington between 9th and 10th. We ordered way too much food and it was only $20. Which is a nice change. We started with sincronisadas which were mucho tasty. Ham and chihuahua cheese roll-ups with a chipotle sauce. Then we got a chicken mole burrito and marinated pork sopes. All in all very tasty, tons of food, great price, would definitely recommend and will probably go back.

After lunch and some walking around I decided to make margaritas. And of course I couldnt just make normal margaritas, because that would be boring. Well, that and we had a whole bunch of oranges in the fridge that were threatening to go bad. So I ended up juicing 5 oranges and 4 limes (all by hand of course) and then crushing up some blackberries and using that. And I have to say, I was pretty happy with myself. I also froze some blackberries and used those as "ice cubes." Very tasty indeed.

Yesterday we made pulled pork (mostly because we had been watching Diners, Drive-ins and Dives and they had featured some tasty looking barbecue Friday night). It was by far our best yet. And easiest. Saturday we bought a 7.75 lb pork butt (a little ambitious on our part). We usually use pork shoulder but the butt didnt have any skin, and the only shoulder they had left was on the small side. So Sunday we threw the butt (rubbed down in Paula Deen's Butt Rub), 2 onions (sliced), 5 cloves of garlic (minced) and about a 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar into the slow cooker, put it on high for 7 hours (and then on low for another 2) and my god! So tasty! And fall off the bone and totally apart tender. We ate it on kaiser rolls with some bbq sauce and cheddar. It was so pork-y! And we have a giant bowl of it left, so excited!

I also made a pot of sauce for later in the week, because I am Italian and that is what I do. And while I did that, Matty made homemade Whoopie Pies (recipe below). Because he likes to bake and that is what he does. Hey, you know what is worse for you than a whoopie pie? Not a whole hell of a lot. But they are SO good! Of course he didnt read how many the recipe made and so we now have 2 dozen whoopie pies in our fridge. So if anyone wants any, let me know!

WHOOPIE PIES (from Cooks.com)

WHOOPIE PIE:

2 c. sugar
3/4 c. shortening
2 eggs, slightly beaten
2 c. milk
2 tsp. vanilla
10 tbsp. cocoa
4 c. flour
2 1/2 tsp. soda
Pinch of salt

FILLING:
1 1/2 c. shortening
1 1/2 c. confectioners sugar
12 tbsp. marshmallow fluff
2 tsp. pure vanilla

Cream shortening and sugar. Combine beaten eggs, milk and vanilla and beat into creamed mixture. Slowly stir sifted dry ingredients into the creamed mixture, and beat on medium speed about 2 minutes. Drop with tablespoon onto greased and floured cookie sheet (enough dough to make a baked cookie about 2 to 2 1/2 inches). Bake at 350 degrees until cookie just springs back when pressed in center with finger. (About 10-15 min) Remove to rack and cool completely before filling.

Combine fluff, shortening, and vanilla and beat until well mixed. Slowly add confectioners sugar until well mixed. Place a generous amount on the flat side of one cookie and top with another cookie. Makes about 2 dozen whoopie pies.

These store well in an airtight container in the refrigerator and also freeze well.