Deirdre: Hello Again

Hey Friends!

Here’s what 2011 has been like for me so far:

In February, I met The Pioneer Woman! She signed her book and we talked about West Side Story. It was surreal because I’ve become such a huge fan of hers in the past year.

For the Superbowl, I made buffalo chicken dip. Yes, it is the most unphotogenic food ever but tastes just like wings. Tina was right because this stuff is like crack. I will only be making it once a year because it is ridiculously unhealthy, and I felt grossly full after eating it.

For President’s Day weekend, I visited my sister and brother in Washington, D.C. I visited D.C. last year on President’s Day weekend, but the city was full of snow. This year it was beautiful spring-like weather. For lunch on Friday, I met my sister at Jaleo. This fantastic tapas restaurant has a great lunch special where for $11 you can have a sandwich with half a soup or salad. I chose the ‘JLT’ which the menu describes  as Jamón, lettuce, tomato, Manchego cheese and mayonnaise on a fresh brioche. To me it tasted like the best prosciutto I’ve had in my life with the exception of the prosciutto I’ve had at Mike’s Deli.

For my soup, I chose gazpacho which was so phenomenal that I was half finished with it before I remembered to take a picture.

During my trip, we also went to Ben’s Chili Bowl, a D.C. institution.

Chili fries split with my siblings

A chili dog that was consumed by me. I really loved Ben’s chili. It was typical comfort food but felt lighter than most chili because there wasn’t too much ground beef in it. It was the most flavorful chili I’ve had in while.

Source

On a personal front, I gave up all caffeine for Lent this year. I put up a picture of Diet Coke because it is the form of caffeine I consume the most. I’ve never been a huge coffee person. I love the taste, but I don’t need it every day like some people do. I’ve probably consumed more coffee and iced green tea in the last 4 years or so because there is a Starbucks in my office building. I actually don’t normally consume caffeine in the morning. I am more of a I need a pick me up at 3pm to get me through the rest of the work day type of person. The first week I had a few headaches and every now and then the headaches return but so far so good. I’ll give you guys a full report when Lent is over.

Question Time

Anyone read any good books lately?

I feel like I’ve been a reading machine this year. I think its because of the long winter. Some of the best books I’ve read this year have been The Hunger Games Trilogy. I am not a person who normally reads young adult fiction. I never read The Twilight series, but I really enjoyed The Hunger Games books. I am warning you right now this is an intense series and I sometimes wonder if they are totally appropriate for young adults. But if you like futuristic, dystopian society stuff I definitely think you will love these books. They really make you think and the themes are timeless.