Italian Memories and Cooking Abroad

For years I have been saying that for my next "milestone" birthday, I want to do a cooking school trip to either France or Italy with my friends for a week. Of course, I'm envisioning mornings spent chatting over piping hot coffee and pastries sitting in street-side cafes, then afternoons meandering the local market for ingredients, and finally, evenings standing in front of an old farm table preparing to cook, chopping vegetables, seasoning meats, and discussing the meal we will be enjoying together. 

Before the arrival of our Little Mister, Ken took me to Italy to celebrate becoming a family of three. It was amazing. One of the things we did was take a cooking class while we were in Florence, which was a surprise Ken arranged before we arrived. It confirmed my plan to do it again with friends one day. 

 Dusk in a small Florentine piazza. The streets, architecture, and city life were better than I even imagined. I found myself sort of getting lost and having a sense of belonging at the same time. The locals were welcoming and friendly, and didn't mind my feeble attempts to converse in Italian.

 A Florentine Market

 Waiting to speak with the butcher.

 Prepping and cooking together is one of my favorite things to do. Sharing a love for good food with the people who mean the most to me, there really is not much in this world better than that. 

Also, don't these aprons make us seem so official and so touristy at the same time?

 Fresh goat cheese raviolis in butter and cream. 

Tagliatelle with local beef in red sauce. This dish was my favorite, and I have attempted to recreate it at home a few times, especially on days when true comfort food is in order.

While I am not celebrating a milestone birthday this Summer, I will be next year. And, here's to hoping La Tartine Gourmande will be offering this Sicilian cooking course again. Her photography of food, scenery, local culture, and her daughter is an amazing blend of captivating, compelling, and calming. If you enjoy cooking and traveling, her blog is absolutely one to follow. But consider yourself warned, you'll read her blog and immediately need to eat and cook and book a plane ticket at the same time.

If any of you are already planning to attend this, or end up deciding to go, I would love love love to hear all about it!

Buon Appetito, 

-Domestic in the District

An Iowa Find: West End Architectural Salvage

This weekend I traveled to Iowa to visit my amazing friend, Emily, who just had a baby!! She and her family live in Iowa right now, so I ventured to the Mid-West (for the first time) to meet her sweet little one, cook a few meals, and just be an extra set of hands around the house. One day, we drove to Des Moines to wander through West End Architectural Salvage after an amazing lunch at La Mie French Bakery.

 West End Salvage is a four-floor shop filled with unique and repurposed furniture, light fixtures, and various building, construction, and factory components.

 

Emily and I perused the warehouse while her little baby quietly slept. Being able to wander this shop with Emily was amazing, her home is a welcoming blend of farmhouse meets city. The granddaughter of a farmer, she lived in London for a stint before moving to the District. Her style reflects the influence of her time on her grandparents' farm blended with the enjoyment she finds from living in a busy modern city.

 The entry way to the warehouse.

 Brightly painted bin after brightly painted bin, all size 7.5. All I could think was these somehow belonged in an Anthropologie store window, or in a design studio of a designer participating in the CFDA Fashion Fund.

Being a salvage location, there were many pieces, including pews, clearly from old churches.  I have always thought it would be great to finish an old pew in outdoor paint and seal to use as a bench in a garden, especially if it were bleached for a white-washed look. That said, I'm really more focused on small-spaces and vertical gardening at our home in the District. Here in Iowa though, a girl can day dream about a large garden.

This mirror and frame were incredible. We both agreed the frame would be amazing in a color other than it's current shade of green. It was so large it easily would have been a floor-to-ceiling mirror for my living room back home.

The stairwell portrayed the warehouse perfectly, with the repurposed iron pipes serving as the handrail. Very industrial but with a sense of warmth and lightness of the creativity used throughout the space. 

West End Architectural Salvage also serves coffee and offers part of their space as a venue for events (I'm not kidding.) When Emily and I were there, a baby shower was being held in the cafe portion of the shop. 

If you find yourself in Des Moines, Iowa with a little time on your hands, stop by West End Architectural Salvage, and then get an Avocado Tartine from La Mie Bakery.

Here's to unexpected treasures and weekends with dear friends, 

-Domestic in the District

p.s. A special thank you to all the friends who so generously watched my son during the week days I was away and Ken was at work. I cannot sufficiently thank you. I am so very grateful for your friendship.

Monday Morning Craving: Papaya + Peanut Butter

During a trip to the Hawaiian Islands last November, we came across a local variation of the classic peanut butter + banana sandwich, and we fell in love. Since then, we have been working on perfecting our version of Island Vintage Coffee's Peanut Butter and Papaya Sandwich.

Using Walnut Raisin bread from Lyon Bakery, we toast a few slices at 350 for 3 minutes on each side.

Then, simply schmere oh-so-liberally with peanut butter. Drizzle the peanut butter with honey, and add slices of fresh papaya.  Enjoy immediately, as the peanut butter and honey melt into the warm toast.

Happy Monday Morning!

-Domestic in the District

Argentine Steaks and Cemeteries

 Outside Don Julio's in Palermo, our favorite neighborhood steak restaurant.

 Inside, the place was filled with wine bottles with hand-written notes on the labels from the people who had eaten at the restaurant in years past. It is clearly a local favorite.

 Can you see the excitement on his face?!

 "Lomo" (Fillet Mignon) and a salad- one of 2 salad options we found on the menu. The other involved black olives, marscapone cheese, avocados and bean sprouts.  We also ordered fries and proveleta (a 4" diameter disc of provolone cheese brushed with olive oil and herbs and quickly grilled until it was crisp on the outside and gooey on the inside.)

 Don't you love those surprise photos?

 Our waiter and the butcher/cook in the background. From our table we could see the large cuts of meat being sectioned off into individual portions before being placed over the wood fire behind the cook. From there the steaks went directly to the customers on bare plates with no silly garnishes or extras.

I had assumed there would be something to eat other than steak in Buenos Aires, but the only other real option was Italian. So we mostly ate "Lomo." Here are Ken and I's "Half Portions" at the last restaurant where we ate. Note: my half portion includes three medallions of fillet totaling 1 lb, and Ken's half portion is smothered in Roquefort cheese. Can you even imagine ordering a regular portion?

 Recoleta is the national cemetery of Argentina, where Ava Peron and many other important officials and once-wealthy Argentines are laid to rest. It is beautifully kept up, and it's free to tour.

 Walking along between the moseleums. It was so expansive, and really sobering to realize the inevitability and finality of death. All of these people were once great in their time, but very few names seemed to be recognized by visitors. 

A map of the cemetery is helpful so you a. don't get lost and b. know a little bit about the people and families buried in the different moseleums.

 The Peron family moseleum. All the fresh flowers were left by the day's visitors.

 After being outside for 3 hours in the summer sun while walking through a cemetery, it seemed a little cheering up with Freddo ice cream in the plaza was the thing to do.

Contrary to How It May Seem...

... We did not get lost in Buenos Aires. We've been back for two months. Please forgive the long absence, I'm still not sure where the past two months have gone.

We spent just under a week strolling the avenues and enjoying the constant music, lights, and food of Buenos Aires. Our trip was filled with much needed time together, talking, laughing, reading good books, sleeping in, seeing amazing architecture, and Ken will tell you, "Eating the best steaks I've ever had in my life!" 

 The view from our first hotel room in the MicroCenter District

 Enjoying a Steak Sandwich in the oldest cafe in B.A.

 It was weird to have travelled 10 hours and to see this at our destination. Ken believes its further evidence that B.A. should be our second home.

 We loved the reverse season, summer in February! Everything was in bloom and so green.

 Waiting for our lunch reservation at the local family-style restaurant in the background where you can see a crowd of people. This was in our favorite neighborhood, San Telmo.

 Tango in the middle of the mercado!

 The crowds and the beautiful old buildings. I loved the terraces lined with flowers.

 It seemed like every building was like this!

 Resting at our hotel in the Palermo neighborhood.

 Enjoying the terrace at the hotel between our 4pm lunch and our 11pm dinner.

The Streets of Palermo- they were so quiet and peaceful compared to the constant crowds and music of MicroCenter and San Telmo. We loved getting to see what different parts of the city had to offer. 

Up next: Our favorite restaurant in Buenos Aires, and a visit to their national cemetery, Recoleta.

-Domestic in the District 

South America Bound

It's finally here- the time when we leave for the airport! This is going to be the longest continuous flight I have ever taken. {10 hours- I definitely have books and movies packed} In the spirit of taking a true vacation, I'm not taking my laptop, which means no blogging. The camera, however, did make the cut, and there will be plenty of pictures if food, architecture, and whatever misadventures we can find to post about when we get back.

 This is what we were doing last Presidents' Day!

Hasta Luego,

-Domestic in the District

When In California...

Vacation in California To Do List:

1. Visit Yosemite
2. Eat lunch on a pebbly beach by a chilly mountain river
3. Spend time with family
4. Make a minimum of 2 stops at In-N-Out for double doubles with extra extra mustard and pickles. Oh, and be sure not to forget the strawberry milkshake (to split with your best friend, of course!)
5. Revel in the delight of fresh-off the tree pluots, including a brand new type yet to hit the markets. (The benefits of a father-in-law in the California fruit industry just cannot be denied.)
6. While driving from the Valley to Orange County, plan no less than 4 hours to slowly peruse through the exhibits and architecture of the Getty Center outside of Los Angeles

What's on your summer travel to-do list?

-Domestic in the District