Saturday, March 26, 2011

Operation Liberty Bell

Last night me, Ger and my friend Shayla randomly went to Philly for a party. It was one of the most spontaneous things I have ever done and the most fun I have ever had in 3 hours

Waiting for the Chinatown bus

the party was actually a birthday party for my friend Mikey.... the Birthday boy


Manny!


cant be in Philly without a peanut chew in hand


Twas a great night

Spring Stew

While the signs of spring are everywhere, its still cold as hell in DC... definitely not the 80 degree weather I was enjoying in Mexico. To combat the cold and get back on my cooking game I decided to make what will hopefully be my last stew for awhile.

...Besides, my bestie Jared bought me a slow cooker for Christmas and I've been dying to use it! Best gift ever!!
I've done stews plenty of times so I'm comfortable eyeballing amounts and just winging it. For anyone looking to try a stew of their own here is a recipe from allrecipes.com specifically for slow cookers

  • 2 pounds beef stew meat, cut into 1 inch cubes
  • 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1 teaspoon paprika
  • 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce (I use soy sauce instead)
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 1 1/2 cups beef broth
  • 3 potatoes, diced
  • 4 carrots, sliced
  • 1 stalk celery, chopped

Directions

  1. Place meat in slow cooker. In a small bowl mix together the flour, salt, and pepper; pour over meat, and stir to coat meat with flour mixture. Stir in the garlic, bay leaf, paprika, Worcestershire sauce, onion, beef broth, potatoes, carrots, and celery.
  2. Cover, and cook on Low setting for 10 to 12 hours, or on High setting for 4 to 6 hours.



before the meat goes in the slow cooker season and tenderize


Next brown the meat. I use flour but it isn't necessary. Just a few minutes on each side in the pan will do the trick


Chop the potatoes and veggies



Secret ingredient: BEER!!! I used Black and Tan by Yuengling this time, but any dark ale will do


Put everything in the pot and let it rock. 12 hour cook time :( on low if your patient, 6 hours :) on high if your ready to eat like me

Enjoy a bowl and check out the side bar for my cooking music

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Viva La Mexico!


As is the time honored tradition, me and a group of my friends traveled to Cancun, Mexico for a break from the cold and to get little wild. These are just a few of my favorite photos.

We stayed at the Bracelo Tucancun Beach resort which had an awesome view and kept the mini fridge stocked with Modelo!!


For shopping we went downtown Cancun to one of the more popular markets, Market 28. This was one of our favorite salesmen...he kept telling us he couldn't get enough of our brown sugar


My bestie Jared always making faces



After a couple days of Hotel food we were dying for local cuisine....BEST TACOS EVER!





Cancun was an amazing time and way too much fun.

Check out the side bar for the "Try five beers" Cancun edition for a little taste of Cancun of your own

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Wizards and Rockets

In the spirit of march madness and also just because I love sporting events it was a great surprise when my friend Armani invited me to watch a Wizard's game. The game was last night against the Oklahoma City Thunder

Fresh cut for the ladies or for the game???

Soooo the Wizards have this tradition where the fans are supposed to stand until they score their first points....We were standing for awhile...
Highlights from the game: My $8 Bud light, Seeing Kevin Durant BEAST, Getting caught on the jumbotron and acting a fool, Armani massacring his Js (luckily he was able to save them), and the final score of Thunder 110- Wizards 89 :(

After the game we went to Red Velvet cupcakery. I had the feature of the week, a Guinness cupcake with Guinness cream frosting....

...eh, its close to St. Patrick's day and it sounded good...not so much though. I'll be sticking to the signature cakes next time

Our last stop of the night was Rocket Bar. I love this place for one reason, SKI BALL!


After whooping up on Armani in Ski Ball, my gal pal Geraldine (shameless plug: www.chicsquared.blogspot.com) joined us for some drinks and darts

The face of victory

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Fat Tuesday

No lie, Midterms have been kicking my butt. But there is always time for some fun when Fat Tuesday rolls around. Couldn't make it to NOLA so me and my friend Ash hit up McFadden's in Foggy bottom


had to kick things off with a Hurricane
and then it was let the good times roll...

Ash


the "rager faces"



keep 'em comin bar keep


The madness

ARRGG!