Have not posted for a while since I work 8-10 hours in the garden everyday , weather permitting ( I do work when it is raining, unless it is pouring, my favorite time as there are less bugs then). When I do return to my. home, I am usually muddy, strip my clothes in utility room, take a quick 5 min shower to rinse off my dirt and mud for a quick lunch, rest for an hour or so , then back in the garden. Not much cooking and if I do, too tired to take pictures as dinner is often after 10:00PM weeknights. Weekends, no cooking as my son in the past 6 weeks since he returned home from South America has taken my poms out to cruise on the Chesapeake bay, sleep either in Annapolis or Solomon’s island during weekends. They are leaving today again with guests from DC and will cook at the beach or eat breakfast tomorrow in restaurants . My poms are usually so tired returning home!
Yesterday was different. Had a dental appointment, had to go to Dulles to pick up a guest from Amsterdam who is staying for a month so, grocery shopping!
I could not find OLLI’s saucisson anymore at any of the Costco’s store, neither does Wegman’s carry our favorite, which is the wild boar. So, had to go to Balducci in Bethesda. The deli guy told he has both D’artagnan’s duck and wild boar saucisson aside from Ollli’s wild boar but in his humble opinion, D’artagnan’s duck saucisson is the best! Well, ended up buying 2 wild boar and 6 duck saucisson. Hope he is correct!
Wander if I ever go to DC market , perhaps try to get some of the Spanish Fermin’s iberico pork saucisson which is considered tops also. Hope my son will take his friend to tour DC so he can buy some for comparison otherwise La Tienda charges over 50 dollars for 3- 7 ounces which is too expensive bec of shipping. These will serve as great snacks ( they eat every few hours) with some reserve cabot cheddar cheese( someone commented that is good), and other cheese ( friend brought my son’s favorite cheese , Dutch Old Amsterdam) Also great for her to bring home to Amsterdam when she returns in. month!
Also went to Asian store, found halibut ( fantastic price but only managed to buy 2 big slabs as we took t he sedan instead of my wagon which is filthy with my weed pulling - I pulled between 8-10 gallons per day to bring it to a neighbor’s revine as our recycle center will not allow weed.) Have also been planting at least 30 if not 40 pails ( 5 gallon) sedum this past months. Also was able to purchase small baby squids which I cannot find locally in Southern Md. That would be good fried with Korean seafood flour mix. Wished I bought more butI know I have limited space bec I had to buy a big supply of paper towel from Costco. Snow peas, Asian spices ( chili crisp, gojuchang, broad bean paste etc) We literally came home with every space in the car piled up with food. I had to carry the poms in my lap as their car seats were also filled with groceries!
Lunch at the Asian store was fantastic. Brought some buns which I an only find in that particular Asians store in the DC metro area. I believe it is called Hujiao bing. It is a mini bun that is baked in sort of a tandoori oven so the bottom is crisp brown, very little but tasty dough and inside is this fantastic pork that was full of juice so when one bites into it, one has to be ready with a paper towel to catch the drippings . I just literally oozes and spurts out!!! This cooking originated from Fujian Province, my ancestral hometown. Bought 8 of them, ate 2 while I was there after lunch but my guest loves it when we came back home. Too bad my son does not like it ! Great for me an dry guest!
After the dentist while my son went to airport, the wife o the dentist dropped me off at Costco. I bought a bag of Organic Dried Figs by Sunny Fruit from Smyrna Turkey. These were sundried, pasteurized, were absolutely tender and juicy! HAS TO BE REFRIGERATED AFTER OPENING. I ate 4 figs last night. I think my son and his guest ate these with cheese , wild boar saucisson after midnight with pinot noir. At around $10 for the 56 pieces, they were one of my Best Buy. Will go back to Costco, and buy some more as Costco has this problem of not ordering more. These are the 40 ounces bag which I just found sells for over $18.00 from Amazon. I had to hoar some of their cooked beets yesterday as they were out ( 5.99) whereas I have to buy them at around 10.00 from Amazon. So, yesterday, I bought 2 more boxes of those which are great for salads!
I hope we will start putting our crab pots in the water so the guest can have a taste of our crabs here.
