In Honor of the Presidential Debates...an Apple Pie

So I decided to bake an apple pie in honor of the first presidential debates. I borrowed ideas from two different recipes and set out to make my first pie. I was stressing about the crust, since as a child my grandma made the most amazing flaky, buttery crust I have ever tasted. I choose a recipe that used both butter and shortening (yum fat) and was pleasantly surprised with the texture. I don't own a rolling pin, so I used a glass which proved to be challenging and my crust kind of looked like a patch work quilt on the top. Here is a photo of the apples being put in the crust.

After this I rolled out another sheet of crust to go on top (which tore in places) and then after I put it on top of my pie realized I forgot my cubed of butter (which are supposed to make the pie rich and creamy) so we had to do surgery on my pie. Needless to say I finally got it all together, wrapped the edges in tin foil to avoid burning and popped it in the oven.

After a small minor catastrophe...the insides bubbled out of the crust and started smoking, setting off our fire alarm, I ended up with a delicious pie that was greatly enjoyed during the debates.

Take Me Out To the Ball Game

I had asked Alex to take me to a baseball game at the new Nationals park. (Ironically I am now employed by the firm that did much of the planning and development of the park, but more about that later). We took the metro in, which was decently crowded on the way in and I was in awe when we got off the metro and went to take the escalators up to street level, to see that all the escalators were going up...no way to go down!

The Nationals played the San Diego Padres. Unfortunately the opening singer who performed the national anthem was less than talented and made you grit your teeth. The park is very open and clean and does boast some decent baseball food options. I was a fan of their cotton candy but not impressed with their overly priced-overly iced sodas.

On Fridays there is a fireworks show following the game, we went on a Sunday so didn't get to see that, but we did get to watch the President races (some historical presidential mascots racing around on Segway scooters...Roosevelt never wins apparently). The park does boast a huge, amazing LED screen that really does enhance your ability to watch the game and catch the score.

The Presidents Race...

Adams Morgan Day

So I have some catching up to do on my adventures. Alex found the information about Adams Morgan day, in the...who would guess, Adams Morgan neighborhood. So despite the 91 degree weather (a record for the day) we jumped on the metro and went to see what it was all about. There was many blocks blocked off and running down the center were booths of food, local artists, jewelers, and various other represented causes and businesses. Local music was on display, however neither one of the performing acts were to my liking. We did not stay long due to the intense heat but there were tons of people there and hope next year we will be able to enjoy more of the food and entertainment. Here is a photo from one of the local restaurants...the name is rather entertaining. They were not participating in Adams Morgan day due to some "scandal" but their name, "Madams Organ" still makes me smile.

Georgetown/Pizzeria Paradiso

A few weeks ago (yes I am very bad at documenting in a timely fashion), Alex and I ventured over to Georgetown. There is not a metro stop in Georgetown. Alex informed me that when designing the metro the Georgetown area decided not to have a stop there because they did not want to have the "riff raff" coming in and disturbing the area. Now it seems like a really bad idea, as it is a huge shopping district as well as home to Georgetown University. Despite the lack of a metro stop, it is not terribly difficult to get there. We took the metro to Rossalyn and then took a short bus ride. The worst part of it was waiting for the bus to go back to the metro when i had developed bad blisters from walking around so much!

Some of the highlights for the day were: Old Stone House, the oldest standing structure in D.C., Georgetown University (we were wandering around during orientation and move in day), and the steps from the Exorcist.

We also ate at a pizza place, I guess it is what you could call "designer" pizza. I loved that for an appetizer they served a variety of Olives. We ordered a simple 4 cheese pizza and for starters bread with elephant garlic. The elephant garlic lived up to its name in size...it was huge, but had little flavor and was not the typical garlic flavor you expect.

Dupont Circle

Recently a friend of mine from high school was in the area interviewing and I got to meet up with her for lunch. We met in the Dupont Circle area. Due to bus and metro delays I got an extra two hours to explore and people watch in the area.
I ventured into the necessary Starbucks that tends to be on a busy street corner in every major DC neighborhood. Unfortunately they, like most Starbucks around here butchered my order. So instead of getting a no water, extra foamy, two pump vanilla chai, I ended up with a no foam, skim milk chai. Ok so maybe they get some points for make some random alterations to the drink? Anyways I grabbed my cup and headed to the park that lies between the two metro stations at Dupont. There is a beautiful large fountain in the park surrounded by benches where a variety of locals come to eat lunch on their hour off, or bring their children to splash in the water. It is also a gathering spot for dogs and cat owners. (There was a strange display of two cats in carriers). There is everything from the business man who is constantly talking on his blue tooth, to the group of friends meeting up, to the little old man who is simply looking to go for an afternoon stroll.

Ariel view of Dupont Circle
The beautiful fountain
From my readings online the fountain was designed by the two men who did the Lincoln memorial (a site I will visit at some point I am sure). There are three statues representing the stars, sea and wind.

My friend and I originally sought out a thai restaurant which we soon found was not open for late lunch. So we ate at a Mexican/everything else cafe type place. We experienced cheap prices which was reflective in the food. Generally I have not been impressed with my dining experiences in D.C. but hopefully I will find some more notable places!

In other news, I am still job searching. We are still without much of our furniture and my parents have yet to ship a large portion of my belongs. I am much more familiar with the Alexandria/Old town area now that I have been out and about running errands and interviewing.