Month: July 2016

Thoughts on Food Traditions

LaurenLeave a comment

Here’s two things about me that I don’t think are any big secret: 1. I watch a lot of Food Network and 2. I read a lot of Bon Appétit.com articles.  I have a feeling that if my life was subjected to one of those analytic tests they use on suspected murderers (remember when they searched Oscar Pistorius’s entire text history with Reeva Steenkamp to see how many times “love” had been used??), “Food Network” and “Bon Appétit” would show up A LOT.

But embarrassing degree of obsession aside, I recently realized that something I truly love about the chefs/employees at both of these places is the way they talk about their food traditions.  Not just the ones they’ve formed themselves but the ones that were formed for them, by their parents and their grandparents before them.  As I read through all the “Road Trip Week” stories last week, I felt clearly and deeply the desire to have those types of traditions, not only for myself, but for my (REALLY REALLY FAR IN THE) future family.

I love to cook and I get SO EXCITED to make new things, but I’m trying to remember that it’s equally important (to me, at least) to have those things that you cook so many times you don’t even need a recipe.  Or those restaurants you always go to.  Whether I knew it growing up or not, those things — that your mother always cooks (red velvet, stuffing, corned beef & cabbage) or your grandpa always ate (frozen Sunny Delight) or your uncle always has the freezer stocked with (red beans, white beans, gumbo) — are what give your life structure, make your childhood feel safe, give you the comfort to know that even though life is always changing, some things remain the same.

So here’s to developing and fostering some food traditions.  I think going to The Med for my mom’s birthday tonight is the perfect start.  Also, I’m really glad we’ve graduated from celebrating all birthdays at The Olive Garden 🙂

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P.S. This Week

 

Corn with vegan sriracha aioli // Our garden game is strong

Saw this patch of grass and wondered if someone mows it // BBQ & trivia

 

Weekend Things

Lauren2 Comments

When it’s Friday and you meet Trevor Story or it’s Saturday and you have a pre-Shakespeare Festival picnic with you mom and sister or it’s Sunday and you brew beer before deciding to go to City Park Jazz then nothing is bad ever ♥

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We got invited to an “Exclusive Autograph Session” before the game on Friday and totally expected to meet a relief pitcher or maybe someone on the DL, so imagine our surprise when it turned out to be Trevor Story!  Guys, in person (and not on the field) he is HUGE!  I was gonna make a “you didn’t have to dress up just for us” joke because he was in a t-shirt with cutoff sleeves but then I got too nervous.

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Afterwards (and before the game started), we grabbed dinner up on the rooftop patio at Whiskey Foxtrot Tango.  The service was kind of slow and my tuna bánh mì was WAY TOO spicy but it was a perfect night for some rooftop sitting and also I didn’t care because: Trevor Story.  He went on to hit a homerun, Rockies went on to win the game and we had the best seats behind home plate.  Just an overall perfect night, even if we didn’t catch any Cracker Jacks during the 7th Inning Stretch.

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I’d been dying to try The White Whale Room for MONTHS and we finally made it there Saturday morning.  We were the only ones there (save for a friend of the barista’s, sitting at the bar) so that felt weird but the space is so funky-beautiful (that’s a term, right?), they serve drinks in Tiki mugs and that breakfast burrito is griddled and plated to straight perfection.

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The rest of the day involved complaining about how hot it was errand running, in preparation for a picnic I was having that night and picking up beer supplies for some Sunday homebrewing.  Cheese + Provisions opened up in our neighborhood a few months ago and I had been looking for a good excuse to go drop some money on fancy cheese, so a picnic seemed like the perfect opportunity.  Spoiler: I loved the shop!!!  Also, we walked through this new bridge tunnel to get to the liquor store and I’m frightened that this is what we consider excitement.

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The moment I look forward to all summer… SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL!  I know, I know but my nerdy English major heart just loves sitting outside in the Mary Rippon Theater with my two favorite people, listening to cryptic-Shakespearean language on a summer night.  Joey suggested we picnic before and when he heard the spread we had planned his response was “um, well I just meant something like sandwiches.”  It’s like he doesn’t even know us Dorseys at all.

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My mom claimed The Comedy of Errors “wasn’t her favorite,” and I’ll admit it was a little overdone but I still liked it and ended up loving that they switched out the four main male characters for females.  Girl power!  Haunted Mackey Auditorium was looking extra eerie as we walked back to the car afterwards.  My heart is always so full after attending the fest with my family and this year was no exception.  Is it too soon to start looking forward to next year??

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I dragged Joey on a run Sunday morning but then I made up for it with homemade Vietnamese Iced Coffee!  Turns out it’s totally easy to make yourself and it was a good way to use up some of the dark roast coffee I bought then decided I didn’t like on its own.  Sweetened condensed milk makes all things better, ya know?  We also jumped right into beer brewing and were done and cleaned up by noon?!  We’re never not doing it that way again.  Red ale comin at ya in 3-ish weeks.

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As we were outside pulling weeds from our garden, I lamented that “I don’t want to do any responsible adult things today!”  Not into it at all.  I bucked up and eventually dragged myself to the grocery store/prepped lunch for the week, but then we ditched dinner at home and decided to hit up City Park Jazz.  It was the second to last week AND we already had all the (leftover) makings of a picnic so it seemed like perfect timing.  It was SO NICE to just spend an evening outside on a blanket, eating cheese, listening to live music and taking advantage of as much weekend time as possible before Monday.

In other words: PERFECT WEEKEND.