DC Weekend 2011: Part Three

Truckeroo.

This was probably my favorite food adventure of the weekend. I was almost giddy with excitement as I walked into Truckeroo.  For those of you who may not know, the food truck scene is big in DC and is ever-growing.  Food trucks nowadays are no longer the disgusting roach coaches they used to be. Those still exist but are more in the form of hot dog carts and such. Food trucks are becoming quite gourmet, to a point where a lot of brick-and-mortar restaurants are feeling a little threatened and are doing whatever they can to get rid of the food trucks. But if Truckeroo is any indication as to the growing popularity of food trucks, they're not going anywhere any time soon.

not too crowded for lunch...

theres the lobster pound!!

Big Cheese: specialty grilled cheese sandwiches

Truckeroo is an event where once a month between June and October, about 20-30 food trucks all gather in one location and basically have a big food truck party, live music included. 

Curbside Cupcakes

DC Empanadas

It. Was. Awesome.

some kind of tropical food truck; didnt get the name

Cap Mac does mac'n cheese

Dangerously Delicious Pies

They set up around 11am and stay all day and night until about 11pm or until the food runs out.  We went for lunch and met my dad who works nearby in DC.  We hit the Lobster Pound, which I've blogged about before, and got ourselves a couple Lobster rolls. Superking opted for the Connecticut style (melted butter) and I and my dad opted for the traditional Maine style (mayo). It was still super yummy and I certainly wouldn't turn it down but I think I like the buttered one better.

While Superking waited in one line, I hopped over to the Sauca truck (globally inspired cuisine) and ordered a Pork Banh Mi. Its a griddled flatbread stuffed with Vietnamese pork, pickled veggies, and peanut and Thai coconut sauces. It was great, sweet, tangy, spicy, yumm. Although the guy running the truck told me their best seller is the Mumbai Butter Chicken. I'll have to try that next time.

Superking went for the BBQ Bus.  Obviously they serve barbecue sandwiches.  We got the traditional pulled pork bbq...slow roasted smokey pork on a cornmeal-dusted kaiser roll with crunchy slaw and pickled red onion and a smokey sweet bbq sauce.  Nothing particularly unique or outstanding but a great pork sandwich nonetheless.

After all that I needed a sweet treat and headed over to Pleasant Pops, a truck that makes popsicles using local, organic, seasonal ingredients.  They had flavors such as Peach Mint Iced Tea and Strawberry Ginger Lemonade.  I went for the Peaches and Ginger flavor. Both flavors were very prevalent and you could tell they were fresh. Very yummy!

To be continued for dinner...

DC Weekend 2011: Part Two

The Zoo and a Shake Shack

Thursday evening after we got settled in at the bed and breakfast, we attended a special event at the National Zoo. I love the DC zoo. Its clean, its free, and I love the animals! So much so that we recently became FONZ members (Friends of the National Zoo).  Its fun getting the zoo newsletters and hearing about whats going on with the different animals and we get discounts now too! Support the zoo!! Yay!

Anyway, at this zoo event, there was lots of good food samples. It happened to be Belgian week in DC so all the restaurants featured there were of Belgian theme.  I didn't really get any pictures of the food unfortunately. It was crowded, kinda hot, and I was too hungry! Plus one hand was holding a drink, the other hand was holding the food. There were no hands left for a camera! :(

Here's a few of the food items we had though: sausages on a roll, chicken liver pate, Belgian waffles, and mussels. All of it was delicious and came from local DC restaurants such as The Mussel Bar (which we went to last month), Brasserie Beck, Firefly, Et Voila!, and Locolat Cafe.  Even though I didn't get pictures of the food, I did get a few pictures of an alpaca the zookeepers brought out for us to meet while we enjoyed our food.

After we left the zoo, we were still a little hungry for a late night snack so we stopped off at the Shake Shack.  The Shake Shack is a burger joint that began in New York City. They pride themselves on using local, organic, and seasonal products as well as sustainable recycled materials whenever possible. Their menu isn't very big but what they have is really good!  They specialize in burgers, hot dogs, fries, and shakes.

We decided to go with the classic double cheeseburger topped with lettuce, tomato, onion and we added ketchup.  The burger was juicy and big, both in size and flavor.  Our favorite burger is still Five Guys, but this one was a close second.

To accompany our delicious burger we ordered the peanut butter shake.YUMM! Peanut butter is one of my favorite things in the world and this shake was super peanut buttery. It tasted like real natural peanut butter too...thick and rich, sweet but not too sugary. Perfect! Would love to go back, if for nothing else than another peanut butter shake!!

They even offer organic doggie treats!!

DC Weekend 2011: Part One

This past weekend, Superking and I spent a long weekend in DC. Yes, we only live about 40 minutes away but driving and parking in DC can be somewhat of a nightmare at times so its just easier to get a room and either walk, bike, or cab around the city.  It makes for an inexpensive vacation thats kind of like a "stay-cation" since you're close to home and in familiar surroundings but with the added bonus of not having to stay at  your own house.

cool old houses near where we stayed

Last year, we made the same trip and stayed in a hotel and visited some really cool restaurants, which you can read about here and here. This year we decided to stay in a bed & breakfast we found in the historic Shaw District, called Mount Vernon Square Bed & Breakfast. It was owned by a charming couple, Keith and Lydia,  who had a beautiful house and served us the most lovely breakfasts each of our three mornings we were there.

Mount Vernon Bed and Breakfast

pretty flowers out front of B&B

living room in B&B

dining room in B&B

Friday morning, we came downstairs to the dining room to see the table beautifully set with clean white plates and sparkling silverware.  On each plate was a pretty little glass bowl filled with fresh pears and peaches topped with a fresh mint leaf.  We sat down and were soon joined by two other couples that had been staying there for a conference at the nearby convention center.  One was an older couple from Australia and it was very interesting to talk to them about the differences between our cultures and governments. As we chatted with the other guests, we were served scrambled eggs with sun-dried tomatoes and chorizo, waffles, and yogurt (which I forgot to take a picture of. sorry.).  Accompanying our meal we had tall glass carafes filled with orange juice, cranberry juice, or apple juice as well as hot tea and coffee. It was very lovely.

beautiful stained glass windows behind me

Saturday morning, we came down for breakfast to discover that we would be alone. The other guests had left for an early meeting at their conference. So it was a quiet breakfast but good nonetheless.  We were served a pretty plate of oranges cut into circles.  After the fruit course, we were given very large omelets covered with cheese and stuffed with more cheese, ham, onions, and peppers, along with buttered, toasted croissants.  Everything was delicious!

Sunday morning, our last day, we were given a beautiful plate of sliced mango.  We were also joined by some new people; a Hawaiian lady in town for business, and a couple from Finland taking a three week vacation around the American east coast. Again very neat to meet people from so many different places and cultures. We were also served pancakes, chorizo with caramelized onions, and scrambled eggs with some kind of herb in them.  The pancakes had another subtle  flavor too which I couldn't place but were delicious all the same.

Every meal they served us was simple yet beautiful and elegant and of course very yummy! Thanks Keith and Lydia! Can't wait to plan our next weekend in DC with you all!!

DC Weekend #2

This weekend we had so many really cool food adventures in our beloved DC!  Can't wait to share them with you over this next week!  For now, I will share one word while you wait for many more epic food blog posts about DC...

Truckeroo.

Toasted Coconut Almond Pops

The final flavor of the Popsicle Series. Have I mentioned before I love coconut? It always makes me think of being at the beach, which is a sore subject right now since I'm not going to the beach this year.  Boo! Hiss! Oh well, we must save our pennies somehow, I guess.

Anyway, I digress.  Popsicles. Coconut. Here are your ingredients...

1 cup heavy whipping cream
1 cup low fat yogurt (I use Stonyfield organic, plain)
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup shredded coconut
2 Tbsp almond extract
2 Tbsp coconut rum

In a medium-large bowl, blend whipping cream and sugar with a hand mixer until soft peaks form.

Spread the coconut out onto a baking sheet and put in a 350 degree oven just until it starts to turn brown on the edges.  Be careful and watch it closely because it can brown quickly.  If you get too distracted with something else, you will have burnt coconut in no time!  Put the toasted coconut in the food processor and pulse a couple times just to make it a little finer.

Add coconut, yogurt, almond extract, and coconut rum to cream mixture. Stir until well blended.

Using 3 oz Dixie cups, scoop the coconut mixture into the cups almost to the top.  The original recipe says it makes 9 but I sometimes got as many as 11 cups filled. Remember to cut a small slit at the top of each cup to allow for easier removal from the pop later.  Once the cups are filled, you may insert a popsicle stick.  Allow pops to freeze for about 4 hours before serving.

Watermelon Mint Pops

The third flavor in my Popsicle Series.  What's more refreshing during the summer than watermelon and mint? This was definitely the most involved of all the popsicle flavors simply because there were more ingredients and a little more prep for those ingredients. But still pretty simple to make just like the others.

Ingredients:
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1 cup low fat yogurt (I use Stonyfield organic, plain)
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 of a mini seedless watermelon
1 Tbsp lime juice
8-10 fresh mint leaves
1 Tbsp club soda (optional; this gives it a little bit of a Mojito feel)
3 Tbsp creme de menthe ( a mint liqueur)

In a medium-large bowl, blend whipping cream and sugar with a hand mixer until soft peaks form.

Dice the watermelon into bite-size pieces.  Finely mince mint leaves.  Put watermelon and mint together in the food processor and chop/pulse just a few times.

I wish we had smell-o-vision for this one! The watermelon and mint smelled so wonderful together!

Add watermelon and mint, along with yogurt, lime juice, club soda, and creme de menthe.  Stir until well blended.

pretty green color!

Using 3 oz Dixie cups, scoop the watermelon mixture into the cups almost to the top.  The original recipe says it makes 9 but I sometimes got as many as 11 cups filled. This mixture is a little more liquidy than the others. Remember to cut a small slit at the top of each cup to allow for easier removal from the pop later.  Once the cups are filled, you may insert a popsicle stick. Freeze for at least 4 hours.