the roundup: February 2024
Food:
We spent the first few days of February on our San Miguel de Allende trip and it was such a fun time! On our day trip to Guanajuato I had one of the best shrimp tacos I have ever had in my life. You may be looking at this taco and thinking “this is nothing special”, but that is so not the case! The corn tortilla was fresh, the shrimp was lightly fried in (perhaps) some seasoning and corn starch so it was perfectly crispy but not filled with batter, and it was topped with fresh cabbage and carrots. It also came with a delicious and creamy habanero sauce. I am still thinking about it.
When we got home from Mexico we were in desperate need of some veggies (since the only veggies I had while we were in Mexico were the toppings on tacos) and I made an unreal lemon kale Caesar salad with shrimp. This recipe will definitely be going on our dinner time rotation.
My friends and I were looking for something else to do in DC besides eat and drink so we decided to eat and drink at afternoon tea at the West End Ritz and it was great! If you are looking for something else to do, I would definitely check this out. The food was really nice and it was a great way to spend some quality time.
February also brings the Super Bowl and we all know I only like the Super Bowl for the food. We went to our friend’s house and the spread was unreal! I contributed the macaroni and cheese and it was a hit!
It has been a while since I made a trip to my favorite place in the world, H Mart (specifically the Fairfax, VA location) and when I go, you know I have to eat at the food court. I got a mandu and rice cake soup and it was so good. I also had some of my friend’s fried squid tteokbokki that was SO good.
I made dinner post my H Mart trip and I made a Cantonese inspired roast pork butt and bought some frozen bao buns. I put together a delicious but speedy bao dinner complete with hoisin sauce, scallions and cucumbers.
We had dinner at one of our favorite spots in DC, Izakaya Seki, and it was as delicious as ever. If you love Japanese food, and you are in the DMV area, this is a place you have to check out.
It has been a while since I have made my favorite Jewish cookie, the Mandelbrot. I made a batch of my chocolate almond mandelbrot to bring to my Aunt this week. If you have never had mandelbrot, it is essentially the Jewish version of a biscotti.
It is citrus season and I truly cannot get enough of Sumo oranges. They are the superior orange, please do not fight me on that. And if you have never tried them, please, do yourself a favor and give them a try!
We spent some time in Northern New Jersey with my Aunt and Uncle and they took us to heaven on earth aka Uncle Guiseppe’s Market Place. Uncle Guiseppe’s is a MASSIVE Italian grocery store so for lunch we picked up the ingredients to make sandwiches and some fun side salads. My dad made an amazing sandwich of Italian bread, fresh pesto, tomatoes, mozzarella, prosciutto and basil. If I lived in the area, Uncle Guiseppe and I would be VERY close friends.
Continuing with the Italian American food- my dad requested “Jersey Italian” food for dinner so we went to Trovato’s Due’ in Oakland, NJ and it was really delicious. We started with fried calamari, clams oreganata and the Caesar salad and then for our mains we did family style orders of the eggplant parmigiana, shrimp beeps, and the linguini with white clam sauce. Unreal!
I was able to spend a day in Hudson, NY again with my parents and we stopped for a delightful lunch at Le Perche. We got the crab fried rice, spicy chicken sandwich, green salad and the French onion soup. Oh, and Arnold Palmers!
We picked up bagels and lox at Goldberg’s Bagels in Wyckoff, NJ and they were SO good. The bagel was fluffy and crispy when toasted and the lox literally melted in our mouths. DELISH!
My parents and I spent two days in Windham, NY for my mom’s best friend’s 60th birthday and my dad and I were in charge of the charcuterie boards for the party! I think they came our beautiful!
We wrapped up the 60th birthday celebrations with some stunning morning caviar. No complaints from me!
When I was in NJ with my family, my Aunt Vicki made us Chicken Savoy for dinner and I just could not stop thinking about it. The second I came home, I asked her for the recipe and made it at home. You can find her recipe here!
Drink:
In San Miguel de Allende, we did a tasting at Casa Dragones and it was super fun. I actually don’t know much about tequila so it was fun to learn and taste all the different varieties. I am definitely a “blanco” kind of gal.
My favorite margarita of our Mexico trip was at the Luna Rooftop at the Rosewood hotel and it was their “sunset margarita” which was a classic marg with hibiscus juice. It was not too sweet and super balanced.
Other Things:
We spent the first few days of February in San Miguel de Allende and you can read all about my trip here. It was so nice to see family and get all together!
I watched the Netflix series, Fool Me Once and really enjoyed it! I liked the fact that it was a mystery show but it wasn’t necessarily scary. It kept my attention from the start!
February means Valentine’s Day and my husband surprised me with some beautiful roses! Getting flowers is such a treat!
We watched the series on Hulu called Murder at the End of the World and I haven’t stopped thinking about it since we finished it up! It is a bit tech-y / murder mystery / strangers all forced together and it was a really great watch. I highly recommend it!
At the end of February, I got to see author, Dolly Alderton, speak about her new book, Good Material. It was so fun to see her speak and she speaks just like she writes. I love finding fun and different things to do in DC.
Lenny:
