Brunch in DC: Crab Benedict

Barracks Row in DC is one of my favorite places to go for brunch. Historic charm, close to Eastern Market, plenty of walking-around-sights, cozy places to go, great people watching, and so on. I recently went to one of the restaurants down there, Cava, and had some awesome Eggs and Crab Benedict. 

I think you've probably already guessed what I did the following Sunday. Yup, I tried to replicate this on my own at home. Let me say...I surprise myself sometimes. This was awesome.

Essentials:
-1 english muffin, halved, toasted
-2 poached eggs
-1/3 to 1/2 cup of warm hollandaise sauce
-1 slice cooked bacon
-1/2 small can crab meat, briefly cooked in some butter

Try a recipe here for more info (not the exact one I used but close): Hollandaise sauce with Eggs Benedict

I tried a couple of things I'd never tried before, poaching an egg and making hollandaise sauce.

First of all, eggs benedict is apparently supposed to be with canadian bacon. If you ask me, I think canadian bacon is dumb, because not only does it look like ham and taste nothing like bacon, it couldn't even think of an original name for itself, and it is tough and rubbery. Nobody wants to have to saw through a sandwich at 1pm in the brunch-morning. That is why I used real bacon and crab meat, the way nature intended. 

Secondly, big ups to Em, who had a post awhile back on poaching an egg. Stirring is so essential. My cookbook said "make a whirlpool." On the first try, boyfriend and I went whirlpool-overboard, and my egg almost whirled out of control. The egg somehow stayed together though. On the next 3 tries, I slowed my whirl and stirred it constantly to keep it moving and non-sticking.

Finally, hollandaise sauce was fun. The recipe link glosses over this, so I will mention that my cookbook beat it in to me that the water has to simmer, not boil. The sauce is basically egg yolks, so I had to cook it really slowly so it wouldn't turn into scrambled eggs.


Now get on with your weekend.

Summertime parties, and a cookout recipe!

This past weekend, I didn't go anywhere quite as exciting at NYC, but I still had fun!

I went to my friend/former roommate's bridal shower (Congrats LM!). I was impressed at all the decorations and activities LM's family put together for her. Also, her family should get a prize for having a basement dedicated entirely to the Washington Redskins.

I also went to a friend's housewarming/cookout. Nanda made some great grilled chicken and carrots, and I met some friendly folks. I asked her for the recipe, and she writes:

This is from Bon Appetite May 2010.

Grilled Chicken Breasts and Chipotle-Cilantro Carrots 

Ingredients:

1.25 lb boneless breast halves (they say skin on which we've done, it makes it juicier, but we prefer skin off b/c we pull it off anyway due to the fat, and having it off means more flavor on meat and none thrown away with skin)

6tbs olive oil

2.5 tsp fresh oregano

3 tsp lemon peel finely grated

2 garlic cloves

freshly ground black pepper

1.5 lbs large carrots peeled cut on deep diagonal into quarter inch to half inch slices

3/4 tsp minced canned chipotle chilies (we used chipotle in adobo which the magazine said was fine)

2 tbs fresh lemon juice, divided

1.5 tsp honey

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

crumbled feta if you want

Place chicken between two sheets plastic wrap and pound with mallet to 1/2 - 3/4 inch thickness.

Place chicken in 11 x 7 glass baking dish.  Drizzle with 4 tbs olive oil, sprinkle oregano, 2 tsp lemon peel, garlic and pepper. Turn to coat. Cover and let stand for 1 hour at room temp.

Fill large bowl halfway with ice cubes and water. Cook carrots in boiling salted water until crisp-tender, about 2 minutes. Drain.  Immediately place carrots in bowl of ice water to cool. Drain carrots; pat dry.

Prepare barbecue (medium high heat).  Toss carrots, 1tbs oil, and chipotle chilies in large bowl; sprinkle lightly w/ course salt. Place chicken, skin side down, on grill, along with carrots. Grill chicken until cooked through, about 5 to 6 min per side. Grill carrots until tender and grill marks appear, about 3 min per side. Transfer chicken to cutting board. Transfer carrots to large bowl. Drizzle carrots w/ remaining 1 tbs oil, 1 tbs lemon juice, and honey. Add cilantro and remaining 1 tsp lemon peel.. toss to coat. Season with course salt and freshly ground black pepper. Slice chicken on diagonal. Arrange on platter, surround with grilled carrots, and sprinkle w/ crumbled feta (we left this out at the party, but it's good too).  Drizzle remaining 1 tbs lemon juice over and serve.

We also doubled this recipe. 

Enjoy!

Volunteer experiences in DC

Over the past few months, I have signed up with Greater DC Cares to volunteer with a few local organizations. For those unfamiliar with this organization, GDCC serves as a middleman to sign up volunteers with non-profits across the area. The best parts about signing up with GDCC are that you can help out with different non-profits while only signing up with one organization, and that there are no long-term commitments (you sign up for 1 project at a time, and each project is only about 2-3 hours). It also means, though, that you're not guaranteed a spot on the project each week and you won't necessarily get to work with the same people consistently. Their system works for me though - I like variety. I thought I would use this post to recount some of my experiences with GDCC, for the information of anyone who's interested in volunteering with them, or for anyone else who just wants to hear about it.

One project that I helped with this weekend, that I have mentioned before on this blog, is a community garden group at the Parkview Rec Center in DC. Mostly the work has involved pulling up weeds. I have to admit it is disheartening to spend an hour pulling up weeds one week, only to come back another time to see that they have multiplied. But that aside, I am really impressed so far at how well the garden is growing there. The people that work on the project are also pretty cool and enthusiastic about urban gardening. My favorite part is when the kids at the rec center come by to help us plant.

Earlier this week, I also helped out with Books For Prisons, which sends books to prisoners who have written in to request books. Some people ask for any kind of book, fiction or non-fiction, others have a particular book in mind which they ask for.  Many of the letters I opened were from people who said they had no money or no one to send them anything, and the project staff told us that they especially try to fulfill book requests from under-served areas. For two hours, I opened letters from prisoners, looked through stacks of donated books for books that at least came close to their requests, and wrapped the books up in brown paper to send. The man who worked there said, "If there was ever any lesson that might teach someone to stay out of prison, this would be it." I can believe it. Prisoners are only allowed to request 2-3 books every few months. Often the letters I opened were weeks or months old, which shows how long it takes for requests to go through "the system." Some of the requests for specific authors or types of books I was unable to fulfill simply because those kinds of books hadn't been donated. I normally don't stop to think about how life would be if I had all the time in the world but I could only receive two books, picked somewhat at random from a donations bin, every six months. But what would it be like?

Through GDCC, I've also worked on a soup kitchen project (Loaves and Fishes) which is based at a church in DC, and a furniture donations non-profit (A Wider Circle) based in Silver Spring. If anyone reading this would like to hear more about those projects, feel free to leave me a comment and I can tell you about it here or in a future post.

La Fete de la Musique

This weekend, I went to La Fete de la Musique (The Festival of Music) that was hosted at the French Embassy in DC. The Embassy is an enormous concrete compound, taking up more space than I even thought there was in the whole District. Having come here once some years ago to pick up my student visa, I'd never have imagined that outside its staid, bureaucratic walls could be a carefree summer festival. So I was stunned, and I was happy. Bands were set up all around the hills, and as we walked by we heard a band playing world music, a DJ spinning funk, a cover band singing american songs in a french accent, and people singing along and dancing. Inside the embassy there was more music: an old-time jazz orchestra, people swing dancing, an a cappella singing group, and a jazz trio with bass, piano, and fiddle (my personal favorite of the evening). I was amazed by those guys. Aside from the jazz trio, the other best part of the evening were the flamethrowers. They fought with flaming swords. I was again, of course, blown away.

The DJ in the courtyard:

A video of the flaming sword fight:

From Fete de la Musique

DC-Inspired recipes: Week 5

On my latest edition of DC-inspired Recipes (hosted by Prince of Petworth): local produce goodies, including Garlic-Sauteed Swiss Chard, Pork and Vegetable Curry, and Black Bean Salad.

Dan is always so nice to post my weekly feature, and I love reading all the comments. If you are visiting from PoP, thanks for dropping by!

Eat Local: Community Supported Agriculture

I just joined a CSA (community supported agriculture) for the first time this spring. For those of you wondering, a CSA is a farm that you can buy a share in, in exchange for locally-grown produce once a week. You sign up and pay before the season starts, so they have the money ahead of time to invest in growing wonderful produce at their farm.

The one that I joined, Norman's Farm Market, allows me to pick up the produce from their local roadside stand. Other CSAs sometimes deliver, whereas some ask for volunteer work at their farm. Some CSAs offer "half shares" for 1-2 people and others only offer "whole shares" for a family. Some offer flowers or meat/dairy products, and some just offer fruits or vegetables. The point is, you can find what you want, when you want it, how you want it, where you want it! As for me, I am super excited about this because each week will be a surprise (as I don't know in advance what produce I will get)! It is like Christmas each week.

Sunday was the first pick-up week, and I was thrilled to take home a HUGE box of fruits and vegetables. Part of the fun was just in going to the different tables at the stand and deciding what I would fill my box with. I got a basket of potatoes, 3 pounds of vegetables including squash, peas, and tomatoes, a bunch of swiss chard and a bunch of beets, and a pint of strawberries. It was awesome taking home all this plunder. It's fresh stuff, too - as a friend of mine put it, "wow, these are actual strawberries, not fake strawberries!"



So is it worth it?
Cost for CSA per week: $15
Cost at nearby chain supermarket (Giant) for comparable items: $27

Wow! Can you believe it would have been almost twice as much? The calculation for Giant was with conventional produce too - it wasn't considering what probably would have been higher prices there for "organic" or "local" produce. Since one of my goals right now is to spend less on my groceries, this helping me save a lot of money while also allowing me to try new foods, eat healthy, and help the local economy.

Well, I'm excited to see what I'll get for the rest of the season. If you are interested in finding a CSA near where you live, check out Local Harvest. Do any of you have any other tips on getting local produce?

An evening at Volt

Partially because of my man's birthday request and partially because of a lost poker game, I took my boyfriend out to dinner at Volt, a local "fancy rest-o-rahnt." Volt, or more correctly, VOLT, is about an hour north, in Frederick, MD, along a strip of quaint buildings (not unlike Old Town Alexandria, VA). I think VOLT can most accurately be described as fine ironic dining for former hipsters. The restaurant is located in a renovated Victorian brownstone and serves gourmet food on white tablecloths, but dresses its waiters in converse sneakers and plays Franz Ferdinand from the loudspeakers. To give you an idea of how popular this restaurant is, we could not get reservations until about 3 weeks after my boyfriend's birthday. VOLT is not to be bothered by such things as when his mother decided to birth him.

Among the items we enjoyed were tuna tartare, beef tenderloin over risotto, and what I could barely order with a straight face, the "textures of chocolate." The waiter even sent us home with cellophane-wrapped lemon-poppy muffins. Until the next birthday-slash-lost bet, I think my culinary demons have been quite satisfied!

Reflection: Learning to Cook

Week 4 of DC-Inspired Recipes is up, and this time it's an Eastern Market recipe: http://www.princeofpetworth.com/2010/06/dc-inspired-recipes-cornish-game-hen-from-eastern-market-by-laura/

I've gotten asked before, "How did you learn how to cook? How do you find the time and energy to cook and blog about it?" Here's some of my reflections on the matter:

When I first took an active interest in cooking, I started from my mom's cookbooks and cooking occasionally for my family. I just had to think about what we had on hand, and what I could do with that. Since my family were creatures of habit and didn't buy a massive variety of foods, I had to look through a lot of recipes to find one that we had most of the ingredients for and that everyone would eat. 

Now that I'm out on my own and am free to make whatever I want, I often think of things I enjoy in restaurants, and then I try to make them at home. If I really liked the breakfast burrito I had for brunch at a restaurant, I'll remember that it had eggs, tortilla, peppers, beans, and cheese, and make it at home one day. Restaurants are a great source of inspiration. I find it's fairly simple to find a comparable recipe online, and most dishes are not as complicated as they seem. The magic is mostly in the flourishes like that fresh sprig of parsley or leaf of basil. If something does sound complicated, I look around for easier-to-make version of that same item. Ultimately, if I make a dish and determine it's not worth committing that much time to cooking it, I feel better about buying it at a restaurant. Sushi, for example, CAN be fun to make at home, but it's labor- and time-intensive and requires ingredients I don't normally buy. Even though it costs more at a restaurant, the time and work savings cancel out for me. Sushi's a fun "project" food, but not something I want to make regularly.

I constantly refer to cookbooks and/or online recipes. If you follow the ingredients list and cooking instructions, it's hard to go terribly wrong. What I like about online recipes are that I can see other people's reviews and suggestions on how to alter a recipe. Reading the feedback helps me know how hard or costly the recipe was for other people to make. 

Related to that, if I want to learn a new cooking technique, I use YouTube videos as my 'cooking school.' Cookbooks sometimes assume you already know how to, say, roll a gnocchi. If you don't know how, I can guarantee that someone on the web has already posted a video to teach you. I don't know what these random chefs' motivation is, but kudos to them.

Once I learn how to make something, I think of recipes as "equations." Take the omelette for example. You start with a "base" of egg and you can fill it with anything. Most recipes boil down to equations like that. 1 egg base, 1 type of cheese, 1 type of vegetable, 1 type of meat, and some seasoning. Ingredients are just variables. I hardly EVER make the same recipe twice. I like to vary my options. I do make similar recipes very often, though. When you invest time in learning how to make a dish, you learn even more if you can figure out what foods can be substituted next time. 

When I'm selecting items to go in recipes, I try to purchase raw, versatile ingredients. For example, if I buy mushrooms, I can use them in multiple ways such as salads, pasta, omelettes, stir fry, and so on. Purchasing raw ingredients (as opposed to ready-made frozen stuff)  allows me to be more flexible. If I have an ingredient leftover, I don't have to make the same dish again. I look up something new I can make with that!  

Where do I get the motivation to do this after a long day of work? I've always had an interest in making recipes, which I think I picked up from my mom. She also liked to make meals from scratch when I was a kid. We only went out to eat a few times a month! The rest of the time we had food from scratch, or at least from a kit or mix. I think one way she made this go efficiently was that she had special "nights" of the week for certain foods. I can still tell you what we ate when I was 6 years old because it hasn't changed much over the years. Sunday night used to be chicken, vegetables, and mashed potatoes (although now it is soup and sandwiches), Monday night is spaghetti with mushrooms and meatballs, Friday night used to be hot dogs, baked beans, and macaroni when I was a kid (but now it's seafood from the local shop), and Saturday is steak or hamburgers with baked potatoes and salad (always grilled during the summer). What about Tuesday through Thursday? Well, that was the mystery meat :) Anyway, it always makes me smile that whenever I go home, I can count on Friday Night Seafood.

Aside from that, I don't write about every dish I make. I think that would be boring! Not everything turns out great, but more often than not, I'm pleased with the results. If I think there is an unusual aspect to write about for something I've created, I snap a quick picture on my phone before I gobble it up. Then I try to write it up after dinner before I forget. 

That's most of what there is to it. Nothing too radical - just a love of variety, learning new skills, and good food.

Adams Morgan, or Brunch with Oompa Loompas

I love brunch in Adams Morgan/Dupont. Variations on the Scrambled Egg are enough to get me out of bed.

Since I've been apartment hunting for new digs in the District, I've been down in the area a little bit more recently. And yes! That means more brunch!

Saturday's stop was at Lauriol Plaza. I've been there before for their crazy crowds, enchiladas mariscos, and swirled margaritas, but never for brunch. The best bet is to show up early before the noon rush. We got in around 11:45 am - the place was empty. About 10 minutes later, the whole patio was buzzing. 

Turns out that Lauriol was the best place to be at noon on this particular Saturday, since as we soon witnessed, all kinds of contestants for something called the "Great Urban Race" came running by. Is anyone familiar with this? From my observation this must be some sort of race-slash-costume contest-slash-scavenger hunt. Or as my boyfriend put it, "Do these people really have nothing else to do?" We witnessed a couple of Oompa-Loompas, Super Heros, and People Dressed in Lots of Pink run by and take pictures at the intersection. 

People watching, check. Breakfast burrito, check. 

Sunday's stop was at Slaviya, the restaurant that replaced my old favorite, Left Bank. I'm not quite sure what the story is on the renovation, but basically what they did was swap out Left Bank's breezy yellow walls with black, brown, and red night-time decor. It would be like if you gave techno music and rail drinks a visual. I don't know if that paints a picture for you, but just think that this doesn't really bode well for the brunch atmosphere. They have exactly the same brunch menu as before, though. I was hoping the quality of the food would have been the same as before, but unfortunately it was poorly made this time. I'm assuming they just hired a new chef who doesn't know how to cook the old specials the same way. Slow service, too. I will have to find a new place for brunch. 

Eggs with salmon and cream cheese, check.

New apartment? Still searching for that one. 

The best Nats fan

Dear Diary,
Last night at the Nats game was incredible. I saw the best sports fan ever. His name was Terrance. I know this because it was on the back of his special red Nats Jersey. Terrance was a lively soul, rousing the crowd into cheers. When we were down in the 9th inning, Terrance was not dismayed. Terrance was in great cheer. He lifted us all to our feet with his exuberant bursts of team spirit. I've never seen anything like Terrance and his rousing of the crowd. It didn't matter that we were down by 2 to the Marlins. No! Terrance did a special dance to make us all love being Nats fans again. In my opinion, Terrance should be promoted from mere fan to Coach. Sorry Riggleman, Terrance is coming at ya. Instead of the coaches doing subtle signals, Terrance is going to wave his arms and get down.

Don't you worry about a thing, Terrance is gonna come to your rescue!

Yours truly,
Laura

flip flop weather

During flip flop weather, there's nothing like being a tourist in your own city. Having recently put brand-new tires on my bike (thanks to the fine folks at Silver Cycles, who didn't swindle me when I came in to get it checked out), I've been out touring the trails and sights of DC - namely, Rock Creek and Mount Vernon trails. I think it would be cool to do a blog post on good bike-and-lunch destinations one day, so stay tuned for that in the future. 


I spent this past weekend entertaining my parents, during their belated trip to wish me a happy birthday. They love to visit free museums, so off to the Mall we went. We went to the American History museum for my mom where we watched videos of Julia Child roast a lobster in 2 sticks of butter, and we went to the Air and Space museum for my dad. My favorite exhibit featured the history of passenger airlines, complete with a walk-in cross section of a plane. 


It is funny that people used to get dressed up to fly on a plane. I am just glad that nowadays I can wear my jeans and flip flops and snuggle up next to the window whenever I fly. Plane naps are the best. Second to that are metro naps. See, normally naps make me feel like I am wasting time. But, if I am en route to a destination, I really don't have much else to do, so it is very efficient to both travel and nap. Plus, I feel somewhat victorious for being able to fall asleep amidst the noise of engines and people talking.  I am flying this weekend, actually, to go visit some friends in a flip-flop friendly clime, so I am looking forward to some spectacular plane napping. 

Weekend roundup: Early shots of spring edition

Wow! it was really beautiful this weekend in DC. I spent a lot of time outside walking around and even did a little biking. I really could stand a find a good bike shop, though.

I'm planning to volunteer this spring with the Parkview Rec Center in Petworth through DC Cares (a local volunteer organization). They have a garden plot which they'll need help with growing vegetables in during the spring and summer. The food all goes to the kids at the rec center, which is great because it sounds like a lot of the kids are on the school lunch program and don't get much healthy food on weekends. I went to a planning seminar this weekend and also had time to walk around the neighborhood a bit before the meeting. The neighborhood is typical of so many DC areas - boarded up businesses punctuated by liquor stores, but also a charter school, community center, and a friendly mom and pop antique shop.

This weekend ended with me crossing off another item on my Silver Spring to-do list: Samantha's Restaurant. It's a local mexican place that gives my other favorite, El Aguila, a run for their money. Samantha's has a delicious pulled-pork-and-mole-sauce dish, and great salsa. 4.25 stars - They get an extra quarter-star for being one of the only restaurants around MoCo that's open late on Sundays. Not everybody sits at home doing chores on Sunday evening, and we need to eat too!

Snider's Super Foods

In a grocery round up of Silver Spring, I hit up another local grocer this weekend: Snider's Super Foods.

(photo from yelp.com)

Tip: do your grocery shopping where old people shop, because they're the ones who have been eating longest. This place is swarming with people who want to pinch your cheeks and get a pound of potato salad on sale. I thinking I subconsciously started humming the tune from "Driving Miss Daisy" while I was in here. The aisles are tiny and cart bumps make neighbors out of strangers. It's a meet-cute waiting to happen. I can only conclude with: 88 CENT AVOCADOS!

On a related note, check out: Old Jews Telling Jokes

Valentine's at 2941

I hope everyone had a great Valentine's Day (or at least had fun grumbling about it).

I had one of the best meals I've had in awhile. The boy took me out to dinner, and as usual, the boy has taste. He surprised me with a dinner at 2941, which is the kind of restaurant that should only exist in movies. The restaurant itself is stunning to look at, with priceless art, huge ceilings, and its own waterfall and koi pond. With all the snow on the ground it looked like a private mountain getaway. The food was just exquisite - what really took it to the next level was the attention to detail in every dish. We ordered from the a la carte menu. They did have a prix fixe tasting menu, but I just prefer to be able to pick my options. I ordered a hickory smoked tuna over a bed of potatoes, roasted duck with quinoa risotto, and the most amazing chocolate/coffee-sauce filled tart. Little details, like the topping of carefully placed blood orange marmalade slices on the duck, or the sprinkles of chocolate cake around the dessert, made every bite taste unique. As the guys say, Gotta feed the lady...

Behemoth icicle hanging off our balcony

It's huge! Couldn't even get all of it in the frame.

National mall in the snow

And this was before snowmageddon 2010 parts 1 and 2.







If you're down here, i suggest checking out the exhibit on the original flag (the one that inspired the star spangled banner) at the american hiatory museum. Also venture downstairs to check out julia child's kitchen.

Washington wizards at verizon center

In today's installment of "my life chronicled through crappy iphone photos," i bring you the Washington Wizards vs the LA Lakers at the Verizon Center.

If clapping is any indication of the proportion of lakers to wizards fans there last night, i think crickets might have drowned out the sounds of wizards fans. (we lost too.)

But the live version beats watching it at home (even in hd). Why? Cause at home you dont have:
-the jaws theme played for the defense
-a world record unicyclist juggling bowls
-a step team
-miniature cows floating from the sky on parachutes
-people doing the sprinkler dance on the jumbotron

Eastern market

A beautiful weekend calls for a trip to Eastern Market, and of course, a stop at the crepe stand.

My first NFL game

I went to the redskins vs saints game on Sunday. They lost by one
field goal that they missed. I am sure glad that going to UVA prepared
me for this. Anyway it was lots of fun while they were leading-and
before my toes froze. Also big ups to the five year old kids behind me
that knew more about football than most people know about anything.


Tried to post this from my new phone..but I got some sort of error message. But not just any error message - an error message in German. De-NEIN'd! 

just another weekend around DC

Since my boyfriend got an iPhone recently, we checked out the "urbanspoon" app to find a good place to eat on Friday. We locked in on a "$$" place in "Old Town Alexandria", and shook the phone. For those of you wondering, "$$" is supposed to be 10-15 per entree. Bam! Instant suggestion. It suggested that we go to "Landini Brothers", an Italian place. Well, the restaurant was great, very romantic and candlelit, but the "$$" was definitely very off-base. It was more like $16-25 per entree. There was a $780 bottle of wine on the menu! $780! It's a recession, folks! Maybe they mean that you only have $10-15 left in your wallet after you eat here. Anyway, it was a fun little outing, but I'm not sure if I will trust Urbanspoon if I'm feeling frugal in the future.

No success with finding a bike this weekend. More slippery folks on Craigslist. One guy wanted to drive here from the beach to sell bikes and was trying to get everyone together to look at bikes at the same time (I have a hard enough time getting people I actually KNOW together to do something, getting a bunch of strangers together to meet at a metro just sounds like a poorly planned idea). Another guy kept telling me to call him back to see if he had anything in his shop (I really love telling you the kind of bike I want each time I call you). And another set of folks were "in town for the weekend, but maybe we can meet you somewhere, we've heard DC is convenient to navigate". Translation: telling people where to meet you in an unfamiliar location almost always winds up with you sitting around for half an hour while they get lost. My other favorite: "It's a small bike...I'm 5'9". Oh yeah, and the chain is a little loose!"

Now I know how people on dating websites must feel.

Anyway.

I also did one of my favorite weekend night activities this weekend....Sunday Night bowling! I love going out on Sundays because, well, what else is there to do. There's a couple of places in the area that I like to go to, that have "trendy" bowling, meaning the kind where you DON'T show up with your own bowling gear, and those are Lucky Strike in DC, and 300 in Gaithersburg. 300 is very large, with lots of lanes and music videos playing. They also have a nice system for getting your balls and shoes - you pick the ball out at a counter along with the shoes - so you're not rooting through balls trying to find the right size. However, their menu is lame (they have "gourmet chips" on the menu). The music videos also distract me from beating my boyfriend in bowling, which I love to do. I start grooving to "Put a Ring on It", and the next thing you know, my ball is heading straight down the gutter.

We actually went to Lucky Strike this time instead. It's not really that crowded on Sunday evenings, which is awesome (try getting a lane on Saturdays...). I like the food there (as bowling alleys go). They also only show sports on the big screens, which has the distinct advantage of NOT distracting me. I am very excited because last night, I bowled over 100 in one of my games! I got 2 strikes (plus one 9) on the last turn! (Yep, I beat the pants off the bf on that game.)