Love & Pizza...and Pork

Have you ever gone to &pizza? I’ve been missing out on life apparently!! And if you haven’t had it, you are also missing out on life! I have had the &pizza experience before, but I only tried a Jenny, which has delicious, fresh tasting shrimp, capers (God I love capers!) and fresh mozzarella. But my son likes to add pretty much every meat on the menu. So I broke down, and followed suite and OH BOY WOW!!! I got lots of pork products. Pepperoni, salami, sausage, bacon (oh bacon) added some fresh basil, garlic oil, spicy tomato sauce all on a multi-grain fresh made crust. When I say these meats were fresh, I was SHOCKED! I mean the meats are pretty much cooked before they go on your pizza. So you think, eh, it’s gonna taste like every other pizza. And I mean, I like pizza. But when I bit into this pizza….when I bit into THIS pizza, the meats tasted like they were prepared and made right there in that kitchen, just for my pizza, just for my tongue, to make me happy. It was a LoLo Pizza!!! It was a pizza made for Lo! My happy was found in that pizza. Absofreakinlutely delicious! The love that they declare on these boxes, are the love of true pizza-makers. #thatisall #justagirl

Brunch at Lavagna

Brunch with Mom is always great! Our usual locale is Banana Café. A yummy little place on M Street in SW DC. (Review for another post) But today my sister said, “Let’s try something different.”  And Mom said “Let’s try Lavagna!” She had me at bottomless mimosas!
Ristorante Italiano Lavagna, also located on M Street, SW, among an array of cultural delights. Lavangna’s brunch menu had me captivated with delicious treats like Marscapone Pancakes, Goat Cheese Omelets, and Italian Sausage Gravy. I was at a loss for what to decide! My first choice was the Marscapone Pancakes. It’s very hard for me to say no to anything involving marscapone, and these featured marscapone made with honey nutella!! WHAT?? I NEED!!! However, this trip I was pretty hungry and wanted something savory to go with my sweet. I decided to try something else this go round and indulge in the pancakes another day. Today I would try the Smoked Salmon Omelet! Citrus cured salmon, smoked gouda, spinach, capers (yet another thing I can’t say no to), with house made potatoes tossed in garlic oil and parmesan. They failed to mention that the omelet would be drizzled over with an aioli sauce, but I am absolutely not complaining!! The caramelized onions inside of the omelet were also a pleasant surprise! But sweet and perfectly caramelized they were the perfect addition to this amazing concoction! You get a healthy portion, I wasn’t able to finish it! The salmon was moist and flavorful, but a little cold. This may have been a purposeful, I’m afraid I’m not sure, but it wasn’t enough to make me complain or send it back and it was definitely fully cooked. This could be just the way it is meant to be served. The spinach still fresh and fairly crisp, proving Lavagna’s claim to fresh made meals, made from scratch. Overall, I was very pleased! Mom and sis both had eggs any style, and I took the liberty of sampling from both of their plates. Sis had scrambled eggs made with goat cheese, creamy, light and burst in your mouth flavor! Mom had some Italian sausage patties that I had to try! They looked like sliders, thick and hearty! Unfortunately, they tasted a bit more like burgers than sausage, but I could definitely taste the seasoning in the meat that I’m sure many would love. The highlight, I must say, was the focaccia toast! I was sad not to have any on my own plate, I think it should come with every meal! Lightly toasted and full of flavor these triangles came with honey butter that was to die for!! It took everything in us not to take it home, even once the toast was gone. There were little cups of jam as well, but unfortunately, we didn’t even notice it until the check was coming. Next time!
All in all, Lavagna was a great choice!! An enjoyable meal, pretty good service, and focaccia toast!! Made me happy! I will absolutely be back!

#justagirl

Saddlebags and Bacon

My son and I have fallen into watching a couple of different food related shows. Two of our favorites being, Man vs. Food and Bizarre Foods. You see, my son loves food as much as I do. He’s always been an eater, he’s Mikey! And I work with that to develop his palate early, and show him that there is more to the world than hamburgers and hot dogs (as delicious as they both may be). One day, while watching Bizarre Foods, we saw an episode on a restaurant in Boulder, CO called The Buff. At the Buff, they made Saddlebags….pancakes with bacon and/or sausage cooked right into them, topped with two braised eggs, and smothered in maple syrup (of course). Isaiah looked at me and I looked back at him, our faces totally identical, in awe, eyes wide, a bit of drool hanging from the sides of our lips. He says to me “Mom, I think I want that.” I say to him, “Saih, we are totally making that ASAP!!” Family Night rolled around, two days later, and with it, we were in the kitchen, whipping up some Saddlebags!! Now I have to say, as delicious of a love affair I have with bacon, this dish would have tasted even better with sausage (and perhaps a side of bacon…and angina, lol). HOWEVER, the bacon was absolutely divine!!! We cooked the bacon in the oven, something I had never done before, and DEAR GOD IN HEAVEN what have I been missing????? I thought I was obsessed with bacon before, I thought I was, I really really thought I was. But now, my love of bacon has taken on a whole new world of obsession. I want to take packs of bacon and put them in the oven and lay in bed with them and whisper sweet nothings to them as they make their ways into my mouth….but I digress. We put the bacon on the oven (mmm bacon) and added them to the griddling pancakes while we began our eggs. Now, I have never braised and egg before. I have never had a braised egg. I have no idea how to braise an egg. They were described as being similar to a poached egg…but I have never poached an egg before either, lol, so that really didn’t help. In a brave attempt at getting close to the recipe, I instead fried the eggs soft, without breaking the yolks in the pan. This way the eggs could sit on the pancake and when cut into, would still run like the braised eggs did. WE LOVED IT!!! I wasn’t sure how my son would react to the runny eggs, but he was really excited about trying them! I let his cook a little longer, so they didn’t really run, just in case he wasn’t crazy about them. He devoured it all. It was so good, in fact, that he forgot about the syrup right next to him and ate half the plate dry!! How many 8 year olds do you know who would do that?? We added a couple of strips of bacon to the sides of our plates just for the heck of it and sat together in absolute heaven for about 15 minutes. I tried my best, but I couldn’t finish my plate. Stuffed, I sat back and watched my kid inhale his last piece of pancake before laying back in his chair, hands on his belly, smile on his face. We declared this Family Night to be Different Foods night. A night where we would try something a little different as seen on our new favorite shows. This would be the start of something beautiful! Eating like this, we are DEFINITELY going to have to work out more. Healthy balances and all. But we’re ok with that. As long as there’s bacon when we get home. :-D #dontjudgeme #justagirl

I Am Woman? (Is today's American Woman confused? Or is it just me?)

I recently ran into a man who considered himself a “feminist”. Now this was on a dating website, and it’s possible that he didn’t see the word “feminist” as I did. It’s also possible that he thought he might get more female attention, or maybe a stronger minded-female’s attention to his site by using that word. When I see that word, I see bra burning, I’m better than men, who needs a man type of women. I certainly don’t see a man in that picture at all, except maybe one cowering in fear of being thrown into the bra-fire. Now, I realize that this is a pretty extreme view of a feminist. I know that I can go a bit overboard sometimes. So maybe it’s me. But I also know lots of women today, who feel very close to this vision I have. They walk around yelling “Who needs men!” and “I can do it by myself!”. And hey, I agree! I can TOTALLY do it by myself. I have been for years! (I’m a single mom for those who don’t know.) But just because I CAN do it, doesn’t mean I SHOULD do it. Just because I CAN do it, doesn’t mean I should HAVE to do it either. I would never discount a man just because I can do what he does. I don’t want to do what he does. That’s what HE is for!!
Now if a time comes that I have to step in and play both roles because of who knows what, I can do that. I feel like THAT is the beauty of a woman. The fact that she can jump up and take over if need be. That is the true strength of a woman. That is the real reason a woman should be revered and respected. We are so caught up on the “I am Woman hear me roar!” adage that we cannot see where our real power is. I believe in “I am Woman, know that I can roar, but keep me purring instead” type.
I think that women have this thing backwards now a days. This whole feminist movement started with our men going off to fight a war and us being left to handle things on our own. And we did it! And it worked. And then we got comfortable. So when the men came back home, we didn’t want to give it up. Now mind you, a lot of progress was made regarding women’s rights. And I can appreciate the rights that are now bestowed upon me because of the work that those women did. But those women didn’t stop cooking dinner for their families, or taking care of their husbands. Those women didn’t decide that they no longer wanted to be women. They wanted to be women who could be recognized for ALL that they COULD do!! They wanted the CHOICE to go to work or stay home. The CHOICE to vote or let the men decide. They didn’t become “Independent Women”. They just became LESS dependent. They wanted to work as a team with their husbands, not tell their husbands that they weren’t needed at all anymore. This, at least, is my view.
Now, understand this. A women being subject to a man is a part of the curse that God placed on Adam and Eve. The woman was not created in the submissive role. Eve was created as an equal to Adam. She was formed from his side, to be his partner. As punishment, and a part of the curse, Eve was told to submit to her husband and Adam was made the head. This could be why it is so hard for some women to play that traditional female role. We were never meant to be that way in the first place. (Now I’ve probably just fueled a whole new movement, lol). I also understand from the Word that while the serpent spoke to Eve, Adam was right there listening too. Now why Adam didn’t stand up and say, hey, stop talking that nonsense to my wife, I will never know. Maybe it was because Eve was, at that time, not subject to him. At that time, Adam was not the head, so he let Eve run that show and then joined in it with her. And that ended in disaster. (By disaster, ladies, I mean that monthly friend we all know and love so well. Thanks Eve. Thanks.) Eve was perhaps, our very first feminist. (And here comes the angry cry against me.)

I say, to each their own. If you choose to be a feminist, and be the man AND woman of your house, go forth, have fun. Do your thing. I know that you can. You won’t fail, because women CAN do anything. (Well, almost anything, but I won’t push that point.) However, I personally, believe in traditional gender roles. I can bring home the bacon, fry it in the pan, and make it into a delicious bacon-laced dip with cheese and scallions…..wait, what was I saying? Oh yes! I can bring home the bacon and fry it in the pan, but if we’re both bringing home bacon, we’re gonna end up with a LOT of bacon. And (while excess bacon isn’t necessarily a problem) I can’t cook that fast. How about I bring home some eggs, or a drink. Or I stay home and bake some bread to eat with the bacon, and we do it all again tomorrow. My Dad (also my Pastor) always says it like this: “I am the head of my household. I run this camp! BUT, my wife is the neck! And if the neck hurts or is unhappy, the head (or body) can’t do much of anything.” So be the neck ladies, there is SO MUCH MORE POWER in the neck than in the head anyway!! Guide the head. Show the head the right way to turn and the wrong way to bend. Be the support that the head needs to run a healthy body. And guys, keep your neck happy. Rub it down from time to time. Listen to it when it tells you that laying that way is wrong. Let’s work as a team. Not in a power-struggle. That’s what I say. But hey, I’m just a girl.

31!!!

I am officially 31!!!!

This is a twilight zone of young women everywhere. I mean, this is the official intro into my 30s. Sure, I started my 30s at 30 (duh), but now I’m THERE!! I’m all the way in! This is the age where everything becomes “Why?” all over again. I’m asking questions now like: Can I still shop at Forever 21? Is partying out of the question now? How young is too young of a guy to date? How old is too old? Is there a too old?? Should I start limiting my cheese intake? How much bacon can I get away with in a week? Can I officially be called a MILF?? Is skipping my multivitamin several times a week going to kill me now? These are hard hitting, real questions that deserve real answers!!! Especially the bacon one….and the cheese.
Meg Jay, an amazing psychologist I saw in a TED Talk* once said that the 20s are the years of revival. Those are the years of your rebirth. Your time to really start your adult preparation. But what happens if you didn’t learn that until you were 30?? Do those sparkly new brain cells disappear the moment you cross the threshold? Do you no longer have what it takes to be a hot 30-something on her way to the top because your 20s were spent, well, being 20? Mind you, I spent my 20s in two failed engagements and single motherhood, so I like to think “growing-up” absolutely happened for me. But what about those ladies who partied away their 20s? What about those who spent their 20s like an extension of their teens? What happens to them? Do they start a slow downward spiral towards mid-life crises and cougardom?  Is this where we get the women who sleep with the pool boys, and Moms who wear their daughter’s clothes? I don’t know. Maybe it depends on the woman. Maybe it depends on her upbringing. Maybe it depends on her 30s bacon and cheese intake. Who really knows until you get there.
In the mean time though, I plan to live my 30s as best as I can. I guess I can try this grown-up thing out for a while. See how it fits. I’m a real grown-up now. Possibly a MILF. Maybe looking weird in the Juniors department. Soaking up every time someone looks at me and says, “No waaayyy, you don’t look a day over 25!!” (Feel free to say that, Whenever you’d like. Ask for my ID too, like you need proof.) I am one year older, one year wiser (maybe) and one step closer to 40…where my Mom said she cried… because she was 40…..(**clears throat**).
I’m happy to say, I was one of the lucky ones! I found myself! Found Lo at 30, and spent the year breaking her in. I’m happy. I’m healthy. I’m probably a little bit off in the head (all a matter of perception). Most importantly, I LOVE ME!! It took me 30 years to love this chick (Thank you Lord!!). And I won’t be leaving her now. :-D
Cheers my 30 years!! #justagirl

*http://www.ted.com/talks/meg_jay_why_30_is_not_the_new_20.html