New Comic: Fool’s Rice

This assignment was about using outside inspiration, and the plot points were dictated by random flips in a reference book. In my case, Zingerman’s Guide to Good Eating. It’s a little nothing of a comic, but I hope you enjoyed the whimsy. The physical size is a piece of copy paper folded “hotdog style” as my roommate Kevin would say. The second “page” of comics here is actually a two page spread, and I struggled with how to present it, so click to see it bigger. For your additional edification, dear readers, a photo of the pot rendered in such loving detail above:

Valentine’s Day Cupcake Tour

The cupcake trend has hit DC with full force. Forget donuts and frozen yogurt, there are at least 4 popular boutique cupcakeries within city limits. For Valentine’s day this year, I figured that the lady and I would do our best to try some of them out. Here’s the route we took, and all the pictures. (She also tweeted the whole way, if you’re into “new media.”)

We started at Baked ‘n Wired. One of my bosses wrote an article about the cupcake obsession, and picked out this place for making “the only just-right cupcake.” (First, watch the accompanying video, it’s great! Second, AU students who have taken photography should note the photo credit at the top of the article.)

I thought it was amazing. I got a “chocolate satin” cupcake, and apparently I was making a lot of strange noises as I demolished the thing. The icing was extremely creamy and luscious, but the flavor of the cake itself was huge. Without being overpowering or too buttery, it was really delicious.

Next we walked over to Georgetown Cupcake, which I’ve heard is more in the Magnolia Cupcake tradition, and it is ripped apart in the above-linked video. Frank Bruni loved this place. I went to Magnolia when I went to New York over a year ago. I took these pictures there, and remember waiting a long time but really enjoying it. Unfortunately, there was a really long wait at Georgetown, and we spotted a kid we really dislike in line, so we decided to go elsewhere.

We walked to Hello Cupcake in Dupont. We took our cupcakes home for later, and it did make a nice dessert. I mean, let’s be serious, it’s hard to not like a cupcake! The Baked ‘n Wired cupcake was more fresh, but the Hello cupcake (I got a peanut butter blossom) was more classic tasting. B+W was definitley the winner, and I really reccomend it, even at $3.50 a pop. I’m still curious about Red Velvet over in Penn Quarter, but I’m sure I’ll get there sooner or later.

Two Quick, Easy (and Healthy?) Meals

I’ve never really been crazy enough to cook meals because they are HEALTHY, but recently I’ve been noticing myself cooking and eating meals that are indeed what some would call “healthy.” These meals are usually healthy by virtue of being fresh, unprocessed, vegetarian and sometimes mostly-raw. But let’s be serious: meat is expensive, and raw meals can be delicious and usually don’t require that much work. And while I’m not trying to lose weight, it seems that I’m not the only one find him or herself eating this way. Did you see that article in last week’s food section about less people dieting and more people just enjoying good food? I think that’s really super, but the article stops short of talking about people who aren’t dieting, i.e.: the not-so-middle class. I’d like to think that this national trend extends to people who aren’t able to spend more money at farmer’s markets and Whole Foods, but really, it doesn’t. Obviously there are big changes needed here (many in legislation like the Farm Bill), but in the mean time I’ll still be enjoying pita pizzas, zucchini and carrot pasta, and shrimp in cous cous.

Soup’s On: Late Summer Minestrone

Just a quick note: I’m a bit late on this, but last in last week’s NYT food section, I cut out the recipe for Mark Bittman’s “Late Summer Minestrone.” It’s easy enough to saute veggies and then add a lot of water, but I’m not sure I’ve ever had a minestrone so light and so sweet. The flavor reminded me how delicious zucchini flavored water is (don’t knock it till you’ve tried it). It also occurs to me that is nothing like the soup I had in Florence, but then again I think this is another thing entirely. Now that fall’s approaching—and it made a bit of gesture today—we all have to step up our soup game, and that’s REAL.

Madrid, Capital of Spain and Cool

I thought I published this back in Barcelona, after staying in Madrid for about a week and a half. Now I’m in Nice, and heading to Paris tomorrow, where the internet is 4 euros an hour, but stay tuned. For most of the time in Madrid, I stayed with my friend Molly in a quiet but convenient neighborhood called Embajadores. It was relaxing. I spent a lot of time in nearby Lavapies, a ethnically diverse and architecturally barrio. For the first couple of days, I couldn’t help comparing Rome, where no one would dream of there being an openly gay neighborhood like Madrid’s Cuerca, to the modern bustle of Spain’s capital. Indeed, I once again found myself in a “stand on the right, walk on the left” escalator city. Madrid has a better Metro system, more interesting fashion, and much more interesting nightlife. However, they have far more Starbucks, McDonalds, and Burger King. Still, the two countries have many of the same social problems. They are both plagued by high real estate prices, unemployment, and incapable governments. More after the jump.

Keep on Moroccan in the Free World

The weekend before last I went to Rabat, the capital of Morocco, to visit Mia. Traveling took literally all of Thursday to get there and all of Sunday to get home, but I feel like I saw a lot for two days. It was unlike anything I’ve ever seen before, and I’m going to avoid making my trademark generalizations about a place I’m definitely no expert on. However, I’ll do my best to describe my stay, as a lot of people seem to be dying to hear about it. It was disorienting to be in a country where I can speak neither of it’s main languages (French and Moroccan Arabic). Above is the Hassan Tower. Across from it is the Mausoleum where the two previous kings of Morocco are buried. The current King, Mohammed VI, has ruled since his father died in 1999. The Tower still does the call to prayer, which Mia can hear from her nearby house. More pictures and stories, after the jump.