Archive | May, 2012

Fire Works Pizza Arlington

31 May

We were feeling pizza night last Thursday.  The contenders were Rustico, Pupatella, and Fire Works which are all Arlington spots offering a good slice!  Ultimately we decided on Fire Works for convenience sake since it is walking distance from our place and I was doing a gym class immediately before.  If Bryan doesn’t eat before 8 pm, he gets hangry- so hungry he’s angry- so it is imperative you get him to food ASAP.  I had tried Fire Works once before for lunch and remembered it being pretty decent so no qualms on my end. 

After waiting 20 minutes or so, we had decided on our meal choices and were ready to eat our arms.  We started with Stuffed Lamb Meatballs.  They were stuffed with goat cheese and served atop marinara.  Pretty tasty and tender although after having those ridiculous Filet Mignon Meatballs in Vegas, all other meatballs may be lackluster for me moving forward.  Just a fact of life.  One and a half meatballs did not satisfy the rumbles so the arrival of “The Fire ‘Works’” pizza was very welcomed.  The pizza was topped with Italian sausage, pepperoni, onions, green peppers, mushrooms, and tomato sauce and cheese.  We opted for the 10 inch which offered us 3 slices each- perfect to save room for dessert!  The pizza was a thinner style and there could have been a little more sauce going on, but it was certainly enjoyable.  Best I’ve ever had?  Not quite.  I REALLY love Lost Dog pizza.  Ironically enough our waiter looked very familiar and I had a hunch I’d seen him at Lost Dog before.  It turns out he still works there and at Fire Works.  I asked him to tell us which spot has his favorite pizza to which he answered perfectly as not to get himself in trouble.  He likes his own homemade style of pizza best because he can choose the toppings and make the crust in such as way to capture the combination of the best of both spots.  Fair enough I guess.  I’ll need to make a visit to Lost Dog soon and I’ll tell you all about the fantastic pizza they offer!

So the pizza and meatballs became a thing of the past and the sweet tooth crept up.  We’d seen Yelp reviews on the Hot Cookie Dough Sundae and made a game time decision.  Our otherwise not too sinful meal quickly made a turn for SIN. Typical.  Luckily, it was not a body ruiner as it was fairly small.  It was the type of sundae where the cookie is cooked and crispy on the outside, but totally gooey and undercooked inside.  It was topped with chocolate sauce and vanilla ice cream.  A classic winner of a treat!  All cravings for that night were met with success :)

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Hiking Old Rag Mountain

29 May

I write to you with soreness in spots in my upper back and glutes where I have never experienced soreness. I LOVE THIS because it means I challenged myself and muscles in a new way.  Claire, my co-worker and friend (and also one of  the friends I ran the Move4Mobility charity race with about a month ago now) suggested going on a hike a few weeks ago.  As Memorial Day weekend drew nearer, I was admittedly a little anxious about this adventure due to the combination of a 90 degree/ high humidity forecast and this being my first big hike.  I committed and got myself prepared asking Claire for tips on the right snacks and what to expect out of this new experience.  I bought myself a sweet Camelbak which is pictured below (70 oz. or 2.0 L capacity) and lots of all-day hike worthy snacks like trail mix, PowerBar Energy Blast gummies, a granola bar, and a tuna lunch kit complete with tuna salad, crackers, diced peaches, and a chocolate chip cookie.   The Camelbak had a number of useful pockets where I could store things like extra socks, TP, a mini-first aid kit, and sunscreen/bug spray.  I was not messing around with my level of preparedness, my friends!

We departed on Sunday morning at 7 am for Old Rag Mountain with a brief stop for Starbucks and a directions/bathroom break.  Claire brought along her college friend, Ali, who is also fitness-minded.  I was excited to make a new friend on this new adventure.  Old Rag is about 85 miles outside of the DC area and we made it in a little less than 2 hours given the back roads with slower speed limits.  By the time we parked, paid the $5/person entry fee, and walked the 0.5 mile-ish to the trail start, it was around 9:45 am.  The hike would take us around 5.5 hours with lunch across 9 miles. 

The trail started with a number of switch backs (this is when a trail zig zags due to the steepness of the incline) and became more rocky after that until we reached a good portion of rock scrambles.  This is what separates you from more of a nature walk.  The rock scrambles included a bunch hand over hand climbing and strategizing where to place that foot or hand to get leverage and progress.  I found that chivalry is not dead as a number of men along the course gave us a hand to pull up to a rock overhead.  One gentlemen actually gave us his knee for boost which meant his khaki shorts would be covered in dirty foot prints, but he insisted.  We could not have done without some of the helpful people along the way.  There were also a bunch of cool looking narrow passage ways and small caves to pass through.  Having limited knowledge of hiking,  I was pleased to know that accomplishing these rock scrambles on my first go at a hike would mean that plenty of other hikes will be a cake walk for me according to Claire.  FANTASTIC!  Along the way, there were spectacular views like that of the photo header of this post.  I need to load some additional photos here, but funny story to share.  We took some pics of us reaching the summit in a bunch of celebratory poses.  We stopped to eat lunch there and everything gloating of our halfway there accomplishment.  After lunch, we continued through more rock scramble challenges realizing that we had NOT actually reached the summit after all.  We reached a good stopping point for eats and a beautiful, open area for lots of viewing pleasure, but it was not the summit.  Oops!   The pic below was taken from the ACTUAL summit.  Gorgeous scenery, right?

When we actually reached the summit, we had another photo shoot and took in the views some more.  The first part of the hike was uphill, steeper, and included the rock scrambles but was actually a little shorter in distance than the second part.  At the summit, we still had around 5 of the 9 miles ahead of us.  It became more of a nature walk with a downhill path including a lot of cautious hopping over rocks and the occasional walk over small bridges to cross serene creeks.  The only part of the hike that I was not a huge fan of was the final 2.5 mile stretch.  It was just wide, dirt fire roads.  Not so thrilling after all the adventure of rock scrambling and caves etc.  It became very, “Ok, are we near the parking lot yet?!”  It didn’t ruin the experience by any means, just a change of pace for sure.   In the end, the hike took us 5 hours including a few brief stops for snacks, lunch, and enjoying the views.  Not too shabby!

All in all, I recommend taking on Old Rag Mountain.  Maybe think about the spring or fall as opposed to the start of summer, but definitely go buy a Camelbak as well as awesome fuel-your-body snacks and grab some friends for a great time.  Have you done Old Rag?  If so, tell me about your experience.  Have you done other hikes you love love loved?  Share your suggestions please.  I’m interested in hiking more after having done this one.

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Pre-Memorial Burn Ride at Revolve

26 May

On Thursday night, I took the Pre-Memorial Burn ride at Revolve.  You know- that awesome cycling studio in Arlington that I told you about where I did that SPINco de Mayo ride?   Led by a motivational and highly-enthusiastic instructor, Dorothy, Pre-Memorial Burn ride infused those songs that immediately make you think and feel like summer into Revolve’s extended Complete Body Ride.  This made for an INSANE hour of heart-thumping, muscle toning, sweat-dripping fun.  The “Burn” part of this ride’s name was no joke.  If you wanted that bathing suit ready bod, you came to the right spot.

The class kicked off with a warm-up to LFO’s “Summer Girls”  to get those legs and behinds ready for the hour ahead.  How can you not be psyched for the work out ahead with that song?!  A variety of music genres like fun country song “Summer Girl” or pop hit “Whine Up” got all us riders through those climbing hills, up downs, and sprint intervals.  The heart rate came down a bit and those arm muscles were put to the test with a couple upper body tracks targeting those shoulders, biceps, triceps and more.  The sweet sound of Justin Timberlake’s voice in tracks like “Summer Love” or “LoveStoned” was plenty motivation to work it on the upper body front.  Guy riders: you don’t have to admit it, because it’s just a fact! 

Just when we wondered if we could make it through the whole ride, Dorothy was hopping off her bike urging the class to think of why they came to Pre-Memorial Burn ride and to visualize what was at the top of the big, steep hills we were climbing.  Her occasional dancing on the bike or lip syncing to the songs made the ambiance all the more fun and inspiring!  

This is what you can expect from Revolve rides getting you ready for milestone weekends like Memorial Day.  Have so much fun this weekend if you’re beaching it up!  If you’re here in the Arlington area and want to experience a ride like the Pre-Memorial Burn, check out classes on Sunday or Monday led by other fantastic Revolve instructor.  I recommend that you grab your seats ASAP as these classes will be full before you know it.   

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Problem: Bathing suit season in a few days! Solution: Spicy Teriyaki Chicken Salad

24 May

No need for stress or flavor-lacking meals when you can whip up this asian-inspired Spicy Teriyaki Chicken Salad!  Eat things like this and your bathing suits will warmly welcome you to wear it :)   This recipe reflects 1 serving. 

Ingredients:

For the Chicken:

    • 1- 5 oz. chicken breast, cut into bite-sized pieces ( I love Perdue’s Perfect Portions to keep it reasonable portion-wise.)
    • Kikkoman Low Sodium Teriyaki Sauce
    • Kame Sriracha Sauce
    • 1 TBSP Olive or Vegetable Oil

For the Salad:

    • 2-3 cups of salad mix. (I recommend Dole’s Greener Selection mix with its crisp mixture of romaine and iceberg lettuce.)
    • Apprx. 1/2 of a red pepper, chopped
    • Handful or so of sugar snap peas, raw
    • 1/2 cup canned mandarin oranges in pear juice, drained
    • 1-2 TBSP Almond Accents Honey Roasted Almonds (40 calories/ 1 TBSP.  I used a little more than 1 TBSP, but less than 2.)
    • 2 TBSP Ken’s Lite Asian Sesame Dressing

Directions:

1. Place bite-sized chicken pieces in a shallow dish and add 2 parts of your teriyaki sauce to 1 part of your Sriracha sauce.  It should cover the chicken and allow for an additional thin layer of marinade in the dish.  Throw it in the fridge for about a half hour.

 

 

 

 

 

 

2. Meanwhile, rinse your salad mix to refresh and drain.  Add red pepper, sugar snap peas, and mandarin oranges. 

3. In a medium-sized saucepan, heat your oil on a medium-high heat.  Add your marinated chicken and cook thoroughly, about 5 minutes.   

 

 

 

 

 

 

4. Add chicken to your assembled salad followed by your almonds and dressing. 

5. Toss and enjoy!

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Tis the Season for Food Festivals: Taste of Arlington

22 May

As it has gotten warmer now in the DC area, it’s not just pool time it’s food festival time.  It is a time where you can go sample a ton of specialties from local area food vendors and because they are small you can justify that they are not horrendous for you.  Okay okay I am aware that they can be horrendous for you and that is exactly why I made Taste of Arlington my breakfast, mid-morning snack, and lunch this past Sunday.  Pictured above you see the remnants of my ticket which originally was a card with 8 tear-off  tasting tickets.  As you can probably guess I did use all 8 of my tickets as well as one or two of my boyfriend’s Mom’s because she (thankfully) got full.  This was my second time attending Taste of Arlington and while I thoroughly enjoyed last year I think I enjoyed this year even more.   There was around 35 food vendors this go around.  I had 10 samples- 8 savory and 2 sweet.  I’ll walk you through in the order that I enjoyed them.  The asterisks denote my top 3 favorites on the day!  It is not a shocker that 2 of my favorites were the sweet samples I had since my sweet tooth is insanely strong.  The Chicken Lettuce Wraps at P.F. Chang’s were so awesome when I tried them last year that it was not long before I was inspired to find a knock off recipe, buy a food processor, and make them myself.  Yes, my ownership of a food processor stems from Taste of Arlington 2011-  it’s true!  Read on to see what else I sampled enjoy the slideshow.  The next food festival I’ll report back on is from my hometown’s annual festival called Herndon Festival.  This is my and Bryan’s favorite out of all the ones we’ve attended in the area.  Check out the website and consider going yourselves.

  1. P.F. Chang’s*: Chicken Lettuce Wraps
  2. Sangam: Butter Chicken and Chickpeas
  3. Rocklands: Mini Pulled Pork with Coleslaw
  4. Cafe Caturra: Red Pepper Chicken Lettuce Wraps
  5. Lebanese Taverna: Beef Kafta in Pita Pocket (included ground beef, lamb, spices, parsley, and onions patties with hummus)
  6. Willow*: Bite-sized Churros with Caramel or Chocolate Dipping Sauce
  7. Thirsty Bernie: Kielbasa and Reuben samples
  8. Whole Foods: Chicken Kebab with Fire Roasted Corn Salsa
  9. Rustico: Veal Meatball
  10. Bayou Bakery*: New Orleans-style Sno Ball (with Wedding Cake flavored syrup and condensed milk on top)

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True or False?: All Wedding Food is Bad

19 May

I feel like we often hear that wedding food for lack of a better word sucks.  I actually have not had this experience much myself , but I certainly hear horror stories of the meat entree being frozen in the middle or the food being extremely bland.  As we approach the biggest wedding season of the year, I’d thought we should chat about it.  Of course, I’d love your comments- the good, the bad, and the ugly!

On the issue of cocktail hour, I would say I’ve never been unhappy.  This could have to do with the fact that I’m ready for a drink and some yummy sustenance depending on the length of the ceremony or that I’m hoping that crab cakes are going to happen.  Who knows?!  Either way little finger foods and dips work for me.  My friend, Adrienne, who got married in New Orleans in early March of this year had very tasty softball-sized crab cakes at her cocktail hour.  Seriously they were massive.  Bless you, Adrienne, bless you.  Shrimp, mini tart, or stuffed mushroom apps are crowd pleasers too in my mind.  Sometimes I feel bad for the cocktail hour servers because depending on the crowd pleasing level of the app, they either get swarmed or have to continuously offer their app selection to people.  The guy/girl with the crab cakes or shrimp are always stalked out hard.   

I have been to weddings with plated dinners and buffet-style dinners and I’d say there are pro’s and con’s to both.  Plated dinners are nice because you are getting served and can look forward to multiple courses.  On the downside, the food can come out cold and the dishes may be served very sporadically.  It’s no fun when everyone is doing the polite thing waiting for everyone at the table to be served and just oneeeee person does not have their food yet.  Also, the portion sizes leave much to be desired.  Buffets, on the other hand, offer a bunch of choices and you can choose your portion-sizes.  However, sometimes the good stuff runs out before you get to it.  I’ve heard of people ending up with just veggies for dinner and not because they are vegetarians.  ROUGH!  I do not envy the caterer’s job to please a big group with varying expectations and palettes.  I completely appreciate the challenge of serving so many.  I just wanted to share my general perspective on wedding cuisine. 

I’ll close with my most recent wedding experience which was last weekend.  I applaud that caterer as I thoroughly enjoyed the appetizers and the dinner.  Cocktail hour featured beef wellington, shrimp cocktail, mini BLT croissants, and hot crab as well as spinach dip.  The dinner menu is pictured below as well as some other photos for your viewing pleasure.  The crab cake first course was a win of course.  The groom is from Baltimore so you were not going to have a nasty crab cake served to you at this wedding.  The filet was cooked to my liking (medium), was still warm, and was accompanied by a few steamed asparagus spears and mashed potatoes.  No complaints!  The colors at the wedding were JMU-inspired purple and gold so everything including the cake was absolutely gorgeous.  The cake had a white cake with berry filling option and a moist (and higher quality) rich chocolate cake option.  True to form Bryan and I grabbed opposite flavors and shared.  Congratulations on your marriage, Craig and Elizabeth…and on your great food choices for your guests :)    

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A Favorite Breakfast: Ah-sigh-eee Bowls from South Block Smoothie and Wrap Co.

17 May

Coco Rio Acai Bowl

By ah-sigh-eee, I mean acai bowl.  Many people, myself included, aren’t sure of the pronounciation at first so I thought I’d add that educational segment into this post.  South Block Smoothie & Wrap Co. is this fantastic spot walking distance from my house that offers a variety of healthy smoothies and wraps as well as espresso beverages.  Perhaps my favorite menu item however is their acai bowl, specifically the Coco Rio bowl. 

The Coco Rio bowl includes blended organic acai, strawberries, mangos, and passion guava juice and is topped with fresh banana, shredded coconut, and organic hemp and flaxseed granola.  It is very satisfying and under 400 calories.  Paired with an Iced Vanilla Latte or Nutella or Milky Way Latte (if you want to be a little sinner-ish), the Coco Rio bowl starts my day with a smile.  Bryan would argue the better day starter is the California Bowl.  I’ll have him give you his take…

Bryan on South Block’s California Bowl:

What Carrie fails to tell you is that this guy-yes, this guy- discovered this gem.  Although at first I pronounced it as ahhhh-kaaaaaaa (like a parrot), Carrie immediately corrected me that it was ah-sigh-eeeeeeeeee.

Anyways, Carrie thinks she is making the best choice by going with the Coco Rio bowl, however she is sorely mistaken and you should go with the California Bowl.  Don’t get me wrong, the Coco Rio bowl is delicious, but an added ingredient makes mine stand apart.  The California Bowl has acai, frozen blueberries and bananas, and soymilk all blended together to make a smoothie-like texture.  It is then topped with flaxseed granola,  fresh blueberries, and bananas.  What sets this one apart is (drum roll please)…adding peanut butter. Lots of it.  Once you add the creamy PB into the mix, the sweetness from the acai and fruit make it taste like a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.  It makes your mouth go ohhmmaalooooorddddd.

Who doesn’t love the taste of a cold PBJ topped with crunchy granola?  And for those Spartans out there, you can add a scoop of protein into the mix which doesn’t take away from any of the flavorful goodness.

Back to Carrie:

Well, the worst part of your trip to South Block is going to be deciding between these two delicious options.  Maybe go with a friend or your sig other so you can split?  Or simply go back multiple times!  When you try it once, I pretty much guarantee you will anyway.  Which one is making your mouth water the most?

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School’s Out, Cardio Kickbox is In!

15 May

Well, school is out for the next two weeks anyway, but a new term means I get my Monday nights back which have historically included my favorite gym class.  If you haven’t tried a Les Mills Body Combat class, you need to!  My gym no longer has the rights to the trademarked class format and the music that accompanies it, but it is largely the same- we just call it Cardio Kickbox now.   It is essentially a cardio meets mixed martials art class.  Between the amp-you-up music and the karate, boxing, taekwondo, tai chi, and muay thai moves, you can look forward to burning a RIDICULOUS amount of calories in 55 minutes.  We’re talking like over 700 calories! It is not for the faint of heart let me tell you.  Bring your badass persona along with ample water and a towel.  If you happen to give it a go at Washington Sports Club in Clarendon, prepare for instructor Damion Moss to really push you to your limit.  Regardless, you will be delighted to find out that roundhouse kicks are not just for Bruce Lee or Chuck Norris.

I made my glorious return to the class last night and I’m feeling it today.  It was quite tough to do spin class this morning after all those Capoeira moves (Brazilian form of martial arts that incorporates elements of dance and music) including a seemingly endless series of a type of lunge (I’d have to look up the name or maybe Damion will comment with it!), esquiva (literal meaning is escape or dodge) , and side kicks.  Just when you are running out of steam, Damion checks on us with a few chants like, “Feels good?” to which we are expected to reply, “Feels great!”  Another is, “What do you do to your opponent?” to which we are expected to yell, “OWN IT!”  We (the class and Damion) joke that that second one does not exactly make sense but it feels good to scream it.

I wanted to share another fitness activity I love with you all!  I hope you’ll give this fitness class a try as a result of my glowing review :) .  In other fitness news, I am officially signed up for the Army 10-miler in October.  The registration opened at 12:01 am today and it was sold out within 8 hours.  Apparently this race is no joke!  A number of my co-workers as well as my college best friend were unable to secure a spot as they tried to register after 8:00 am.  Luckily, as of June 1 a buy/sell period for race bibs will open so hopefully they will all be able to get in on the second try!  I’m psyched to get back into longer distance running shape.  More to come on those training adventures…

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Crock Pot Buffalo Chicken Lettuce Wraps

11 May

Buffalo Chicken Lettuce Wraps: The Finished Product

I thought I’d lead with an image of this full of flavor meal that I urge you to cook…like today!  This is a Skinnytaste recipe.  Skinnytaste is a great food blog to follow if you are looking for the gammet of low calorie/carb/ fat versions of meals you may otherwise feel guilty about.  I am not the biggest buffalo chicken person in terms of craving wings on the regular.  I have really enjoyed the flavor recently though and Bryan loves buffalo anything pretty much.  The low carb low fat upside to this recipe is only added to with the easiness of prep factor characteristic of crock pot recipes! 

Key players in Buffalo Chicken Lettuce Wraps

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ingredients:

For the chicken:

  • 24 oz boneless skinless chicken breast
  • 1 celery stalk
  • 1/2 onion, diced
  • 1 clove garlic
  • 16 oz fat free low sodium chicken broth
  • 1/2 cup hot cayenne pepper sauce (I used Frank’s)

For the wraps:

  • 6 large lettuce leaves, Bibb or Iceberg (I went with Bibb)
  • 1 1/2 cups shredded carrots (Don’t allow your boyfriend to come home with baby carrots.  What an adventure grating those!)
  • 2 large celery stalks, cut into 2 inch matchsticks or chopped

Directions:

1) In crock pot, add chicken breasts, chicken broth, stalk of celery, onions, and garlic.  Make sure the liquid covers the chicken.  Add additional water if it does not. 

Step 1!

2) Cook on high for 4 hours or low for 8.   If you opt for the latter, be sure you don’t stretch it any longer than that as it can get mushy.  (Thanks to my lovely friend Adrienne for that tip!)

3) Remove the chicken from the crockpot and place in medium bowl, reserve 1/2 cup of the broth and toss the rest including the celery stalk.

4) Using a couple of forks, shred the chicken and return to the crock pot along with the 1/2 cup of reserved broth.  Add the 1/2 cup of hot sauce (or  more! I did around 3/4 cup myself.)

Shredding the Chicken

5) Cook on high for 30 additional minutes

6) Arrange your lettuce leaves and add a 1/2 cup of the chicken per leaf as well as 1/4 cup of carrots, celery, and dressing if you so choose (a light bleu cheese or ranch perhaps?)

Easy peasy and tasty!

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SPINco de Mayo and Trucko de Mayo

8 May

SPINco de Mayo

My Cinco de Mayo included a nice mix of a hardcore spinning class at my favorite local spinning studio and a food truck/live music extravaganza at RFK stadium with great friends.  I hope everyone enjoyed their Cinco de Mayo fiest-ivities as well!

Revolve Fitness is Arlington’s first indoor cycling studio.  It is the epitome of a chic, well-oiled machine of an exercise studio!  As soon as you walk in the door, you are greeeted by friendly Revolve staff as you check-in on one of a few iPads that remind you of the seat you reserved online.  For right around $2 each, you can grab rental cycling shoes or a variety of cold drinks like Smart Water, Coconut water, or Vitamin Water.  Then, you proceed into their studio room where you’ll find around 40 top of the line bikes and a friendly, energetic instructor ready to help you set up if you’re a newbie.  I have taken two of their 3 formats of classes offered, Complete Body Ride and Barre Ride, which are both unique compared to a traditional spin class.  Complete Body Ride offers the intense cardio experience characteristic of a traditional spin class and adds a strengthening component by incorporating an upper body workout with your choice of 2, 3, or 5 lb dumbbells.  Barre Ride, the ride I chose for SPINco de Mayo, offers that intense cardio cycling as well as lengthening barre-based exercises.  You essentially complete your ride portion in around 40 minutes, hop off the bike, and using your bike’s handlebars proceed through a unique set of Barre series movements that aim to sculpt your guns into a lean dancer-like shape.  You use a small, squishy ball as well as dumbbells during the series and tone that behind, legs, and arms as you plié (bent) or relevé (lift) at the instructor’s request.  Barre Ride kicks my butt everytime, but I keep going back for more.  What made this week’s Barre Ride class even better was the inclusion of the Cinco de Mayo theme.  We had battles during the class where one side of the room was competing against the other or where individuals were competing to hold positions the longest during the Barre series movements to win free classes.  All that while our special guest drummer drove the energy in the room along with our fabulous instructor, Christianne.  Afterwards, free smoothies and Vitamin water with gummy worms (mimicking a tequila-type cocktail) were offered.  Additionally, funny photos in sombreros were being taken which would be posted to Facebook.  If you tagged yourself, the promise of a free class was upon you.  It was a great time!  The class and atmosphere at Revolve got me all the more pumped (and hungry) to take on some serious eats at Trucko de Mayo.  Let’s discuss shall we?

Trucko de Mayo involved 40+ DC food trucks, beer, and live music by RFK Stadium.  Admission was free, but you are left with the tough decision of where you want to spend your money before your tummy fills up.  Luckily, I am not new to this environment.  I have attended Truckeroo which is a smaller (20-ish food trucks), similar type of event held monthly across the summer at Das Bullpen by Nationals Park.  Typically, selections at the various food trucks will run $5-10 from my experience.  The food truck vendors often offer tastings of their larger meal offerings so you can feel it out before you buy a bigger entree.  This is to your advantage at food truck festivals because you can enjoy a wider array of the truck cuisine!  This time Bryan and I went with our good friends Fahad and Arfa who were new to the food truck festival concept.  I’d say both couples tried about 5 different spots this go around.  Here’s a list of what Bryan and I chowed down on:

  1. Fojol Bros of Merlindia- Butter Chicken with Basmati Rice (tasting)
  2. Sinplicity- Black and White Sinwich.  This is without a shadow of a doubt my FAVORITE dessert ever.  It occurs second in this list because I was having anxiety that they might run out so after one savory tasting, I was in line for my sinwich.  A sinwich involves two generously-sized macaroons with creamy, sinful ice cream in the middle.  The black and white features blackberry flavored macaroons, berry compote, and vanilla bean ice cream.  It has some crunch but then you hit the soft middle of the macaroons followed by the creaminess of the ice cream.  I’m drooling on myself typing this so I’d better leave it at that.  In sum, you MUST try one!
  3. PORC (Purveyors of Rolling Cuisine) – Pulled pork (tasting)
  4. TaKorean- Korean BBQ Tacos.  They offer 3 for $9 so we did 2 Bulgogi steak and 1 chicken.  These are worth talking about a bit more.  My favorite savory item would be these guys for sure.   The deliciously marinated meat is place on corn tortillas and topped with Sriacha, lime crema sauce, fresh cilantro, sesame seeds, and  your choice of slaw (spicy kimchi style or napa romaine- I prefer the first one myself.)  The line alone is an indication of how crazy tasty these are.  Ok, I’m experiencing the onset of drooling again.  NEXT!
  5. Dangerously Delicious Pies – Chicken Pot Pie with side salad.  I have visited the DC restaurant location of DD Pies before and it did not disappoint.  They offer a broad selection of savory and sweet pies that leave you with that just had a homemade meal feeling.  This particular chicken pot pie recipe was unique compared to the chicken pot pie one usually thinks of.  It was good and hearty with large chunks of chicken and vegetables (potatoes, carrots, peas, and corn) and less emphasis on a creamy gravy.  As I said, it is no doubt the definition of comfort food.

I’ll close with the top food pics of the day!

The infamous Sinwich.

TaKorean Tacos.

Dangerously Delicious Chicken Pot Pie.

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