friday's lunch - java joe's

i have been really bad with friday's lunches lately, so maybe it is time to pick a new day or something!

today's lunch is from java joe's, a local coffee and sandwich shop in baltimore. i had the calvert (all sandwiches are named after baltimore streets or neighborhoods), which is chicken salad, bacon, swiss cheese, lettuce, tomato and mustard in a wrap. a generous portion size and very tasty; however, i love cheese, but it had a little too much cheese for me or it should have been spread out better. for $6.25 it also came with a pickle spear. i also splurged on their craveworthy drink, the peanut butter mocha cappucino. total for the two with tax was $10 and change... the drink is kind of pricey but so so good.

verdict: java joe's is pretty convenient from the office, so i'm sure i'll be back. plus, i like that they give you a side (pickle), i just wished the freebie was chips. next time, i plan on trying out another one of their many sandwich offerings.

drink of the week: water

since water is "free" and necessary for all life forms, this week's review will instead be an ode to water's greatness.

my water haiku:

oh how i love you
you're so crisp and refreshing
to drink anytime

updates

a few days have gone by since my last update, due to a number of quasi-exciting things that happened last week.

on thursday, in an act of pure klutziness, i busted my big toe open after slipping on some water in our kitchen. luckily, the puddles of blood did not require stitches, but it did mean i got to work from home on friday during the torrential downpour. perfect timing! as such, the blood loss caused me to forget to write up my lunch (leftover eggplant parmesan with bucatini, my absolute favorite pasta shape ever - yay for trader joe's stocking it!).

on saturday, we were supposed to head to assateague state park for a camping weekend with the wild ponies, but the aforementioned rain forced us to change plans friday. instead, after dropping off the dogs we headed to philadelphia, with a quick stop in atlantic city on the way. that is, after braving two hours of traffic for four miles in delaware. it was my first time visiting ac and while it has its advantages over its counterpart-in-sin, las vegas (namely the beach), visiting on a cold, rainy day with a bunch of shadesters/panhandlers did not give me the greatest impression of the area. however, it was awesome to see the monopoly board come to life, even if i never made it to baltic avenue.

we got into philly around 6:30 and stayed at the loews hotel, which comes highly recommended. it's in a great location (you can walk to almost anything) and has super comfortable and modern rooms in a converted bank. for dinner we had hoped to try el vez, one of stephen starr's hip restaurants near the hotel, but arriving at 8:00pm on a saturday without reservations left us with an "hour and 45 minutes" wait time. um, no thanks. everything was packed that night, we walked around in circles until finally stumbling upon the italian bistro. we had a four-course prix-fixe dinner, which was ginormous and overall quite tasty. the tiramisu was by far the best dish and j even got a surprise suppli on his entree plate!

after a lazy start the next morning, we headed to another one of stephen starr's restaurants, jones. this was our second time there, and i have to say it is one of my favorite restaurants in the world. nothing fancy, but an eclectic atmosphere and really tasty food for a good price. we got there at the perfect time, as we were leaving the place was packed. we split an order of the monkey bread (sugary diabetic goodness) and i had a breakfast sandwich with tater tots. j had their protein plate and we left stuffed.

we walked for a bit longer until reaching independence hall / the liberty bell. after a few pictures (and scary nps guards that whistled at anyone that dared to step off the curb towards independence hall without a ticket), we walked towards the philadelphia academy of natural sciences, maybe a 20 minute walk away. we passed a lot of people that must have just completed the race/walk for the cure, since they still had on their racing shirts. coincidentally, mother's day was founded in philadelphia 100 years ago, so it was fitting that we spent the day there. anyway, it was my first visit to the pans since first grade, but it was not how i remembered it (smaller)! the butterfly exhibit was really great though, and i would definitely recommend the two extra bucks for the admission.

on the way back to the hotel (in order to make it back in time for the late check-out), we stopped and took some photos of the castle-like city hall and the famous love statue.

until next time, philly! when we got home it was great to spend time with the pets, but my allergies returned hardcore. funny how crossing the city line does that to a person....

drink of the week: tazo berryblossom white

amazingly, this week's drink is not beer! rather i am passing on my favorite new bagged tea, tazo berryblossom white. according to the package, this tea has "enticing hints of blueberry & white cranberry." the berry flavor is very subtle, which works well with white tea.

i purchased this at the whole foods in portland, oregon for less than $3 for a box of 20 (bonus: oregon has no sales tax). since tazo is headquartered in portland, i thought i was discovering a new gem, but a few weeks later i noticed it at the coffee shop near work. oh well, it is still a great tea. i wish i would have made it to the factory tour (or that of stash tea, also headquartered in portland), but to my knowledge neither is not open to the public.

verdict: i really like this tea! especially when i'm in the mood for a white tea (often) or too lazy to deal with loose tea.

the extra rebate is here! and cinco de mayo ramblings

happy cinco de mayo to me! when checking our bank account online this morning i noticed the account summary was noticeably higher. last night little gop stimulus fairies deposited our $1200. sadly, it will pay off our 12 months no interest/no payments card balance that comes due in june for the carpet.

in related news, i'm never a big fan of the "ethnic" holidays that give the average folk one more excuse to act like a collective gaggle of obnoxious morons (i'm thinking of you, st. patrick's day), however i have to say that estoy super feliz to have a reason to cook mexican food tonight. i do so often, so it is nothing out of the ordinary, but our fridge was bare for a while now until we finally restocked it this weekend. yum!

oh pigtown

got to love the people that buy and sell smack within five feet of the girl playing outside. bonus points for those that go right around the corner and shoot up.

friday's lunch - potbelly

i was so hungry i forgot to take a picture of today's lunch: a "wreck" sandwich from potbelly sandwich works. it is probably for the best, as it was a mess of disgusting goodness and would have scared the average reader away.

verdict: at under $5 with tax, potbelly offers a good sandwich at a good price. since it is convenient to both work and the gym, i'll be back. the wreck is definitely not the healthiest thing on the menu, but the salty-hot combination is divine (i get mine with extra pickled hot peppers) and because i just worked out, those extra calories don't matter. :)

drink of the week: resurrection

(i took a pic on the iphone but it was way too dark, so instead you'll get a logo.)

this week's libation comes from brewer's art in baltimore, md. resurrection is one of ba's house beers and clocks in at 7% abv. the belgian-style beer has a powerful taste, and according to their website, it is crafted from "five types of barley malt and lots of sugar." one glass cost $4.25 (not including a $1 tip).

verdict: definitely recommended for a nice evening out as this is not a "typical" beer. the bar is cavernous and the best in maryland, at least according to esquire magazine. unfortunately, when we went on saturday evening one of the bartenders had on a horrible playlist (think blink-182), but in general brewer's art is a great space.

charm city cakes

i had the good fortune of trying baltimore's famous charm city cakes yesterday evening (of food network's ace of cakes fame). j had a ccc cake during a work party and managed to steal me a hearty piece.

let's just say that you don't pay for the taste.... to give them the benefit of the doubt, the cake was at least a day old and refrigerated (and possibly comped by ccc so the quality of ingredients may have been slightly compromised). that said, i've had better cakes from costco. the cake was plain chocolate with layers of vanilla buttercream and a chocolate fudge covered with a fondant. considering their laundry list of flavors on the website, this most basic cake (which you would think would be the easiest to get right) was a bit bland and certainly not moist. i did like the sugary fondant though.

ccc is an innovative bakery, but need to invest more into the flavor of the cakes or they won't get many repeat customers, at least those interested in combining art with taste. a few years back (before the tv show), i called to ask for a quote for a small birthday cake. i wanted nothing too fancy, and to serve about 15 people for j's surprise party. i was quoted at least $120 for the smallest cake they did. looking back, it was a bargain. they are now booked through november and the prices start at $500!!

restaurant review: the helmand

on saturday evening, the gang (minus j, who was plagued by baltimore's horrible allergies) and i went to helmand for dinner. the helmand is an afghani restaurant in the mount vernon neighborhood. surprisingly, it was my first time there... this was one of the places on my "try" list since i moved to baltimore three years ago as it is considered one of bmore's best restaurants and i tend to love central asian food.

luckily, i had made a reservation - the place was packed! after being told to wait by the bar, we were seated quickly in the main dining room, which appeared to be a converted rowhouse. we split a portion of the kaddo borwani, which is baby pumpkin in a garlicky yogurt sauce. i am no pumpkin fan, but this was very good - the garlic really helped combat the sweetness of the pumpkin. my only complaint would be the texture; the dish was served on a plate, but had the consistency of baby food. but alas, that is pumpkin for you.

we also got bread, which was delicious, but not sure if it is worth the $4.50 per basket price (unadvertised). everything else in the restaurant was fairly priced, so seeing this on the bill (times two) was quite a shock. $2 seems more fair.

for the main dish, we all stuck with the vegetarian specials. b and i got the vegetarian mantwo and the rest of the table had the vegetarian platter. the mantwo was amazing, very hard to describe, but was kind of like a cross between ravioli and samosas. it sat atop a yogurt sauce and was covered with dal and a sun-dried tomatoes/carrot sauce. it was served with a cinnamon infused rice (challow) on the side.

verdict: we were all very pleased with our choices. it was quite unfortunate about the bread, since the surprise $9 soured an otherwise great meal. the service seemed a bit rushed, but for us it was not a problem. i'll definitely be back with j.

friday's lunch - cafe hon

today's lunch comes from the famous baltimore institution, cafe hon, in the hampden neighborhood. this place is straight out of a john walters' baltimore dream, and features lots of kitsch devoted to baltimore's hon culture (beehives, beehives, beehives). 

i had the crab cake sandwich with hand-cut fries and cole slaw for $12.99 plus tax. the crab cake was delicate, yet well-seasoned, and sat atop a kaiser roll. (look for a future post regarding my picks for the best crab cake sandwich in baltimore.) the fries were delicious, but unsalted. i suppose that is healthier. i did not try the cole slaw, since i'm not a fan.  

verdict: i'll be back. hampden is not super convenient from downtown, but was easy enough to get to and they had free parking in the rear. plus, it is a great place to take out of town guests! 

drink of the week: meta

last night i went out for ethiopian at dukem with the girls and we tried their local beer, meta. i had ethiopian beer once before, hakim stout, and thought it was fine. meta had a nice touch of sweetness to it and paired really well with the food. too bad it cost $5.50 a bottle! (unbeknownst to us, our alcohol total came to $33 for six beers among the three of us.)

verdict: i really liked meta, but since it is only available at dukem/ethiopian restaurants/ethiopia (to my knowledge - the internet didn't have much on the beers of ethiopia) and rather expensive, i won't be having it often.

STAY!! NO!!

sunday marked the second time that iris, zoe and i encountered a stray dog during our walk. the first time went much more smoothly - i noticed the stray pit bull, picked up the dogs and calmly walked back to the house. even though the dog followed us the entire time, he too was rather calm and didn't put up a fight when we went inside.

yesterday, however, was much more chaotic. i took them on their afternoon walk during a slight lull in the rain. they went about their business and we were walking back - literally only one house away from the sweet sanctity of home! when seemingly out of nowhere, i see a giant schnauzer on steroids sprint in our direction. i was pretty out of it (a pleasant combination of a major allergy migraine, felt lightheaded from the staining, and dehydration), so my reaction time was slow and didn't pick them up before he got to us. instead i reacted by yanking iris and zoe's leashes up and away. poor zoe was suspended in mid-air for most of the ordeal, being yanked in a bunch of different directions while i repeatedly yelled "NO!! STAY!!" at the giant beast. the dog had a collar with a tag, but that doesn't mean much in this city, plus i've never seen him before. i was not about to reach my hand in while he was trying to smell them and risk them being attacked or a round of rabies shots for myself. eventually i managed to get iris and zoe up the steps, but i had to unlock the door without looking at what i was doing, since by this point, the dog followed us up the stairs. i once read a story about a stray pit bull that followed an owner home, got inside and killed her cat. i was not keen on repeating this story so i yelled once more and got all of us inside safely.

dealing with a stray dog is stressful, to say the least - afterwards i was shaky and nearly started crying. stray dogs put other dogs and their owners in danger. since this dog had a collar, i am assuming it had an owner... but do not own a dog if you are unable to properly care for it and take responsibility for its actions - i never once heard or saw the possible owner coming to look for it during our ordeal. what if our dogs or others in the neighborhood got attacked?

productivity rules, part deux

although we had originally planned to go to the march for the animals on sunday, a horrible forecast of heavy rain forced us to change plans at the last minute. the event was rain or shine but iris and zoe hate the rain; it would have been pure torture for them.

so what is the next best thing? a trip to ikea! this week we headed to the college park ikea, since the one in white marsh was out of stock of a few things. it turns out that this store was too, but when i called on sunday morning before we drove down, the woman i talked to swore the piece was in stock... grr...

the rest of sunday was spent staining wood to match the (in-stock) pieces we picked up at ikea and doing some other odds and ends around the house. i went to bed super tired, a bit lightheaded, and sore. what a combination, but at least it was a productive day.

friday's lunch - chipotle

this friday's lunch is a vegetarian burrito, procured at the chipotle baltimore, located in the inner harbor. it cost me $5.57 with tax and is massive!

the line was ridiculous, but moved quickly. the toppings guy was a little heavy handed on the spicy salsa, but overall a very good lunch.

verdict: of course i'll be back, it's chipotle.

drink of the week: saranac pomegranate wheat

another week, another beer. i swear i created this "column" for all types of beverages, but i digress.

this week's drink of the week is from the saranac brewery in the adirondacks, ny (utica). i tried this drink as part of saranac's 12 pack "summer sampler" (bought at our local smitty's for $12.99), which contains a whole host of different varieties. to date this is the only beer i've tried in the pack.

according to their website, the beer is a "wholesome combination of unfiltered wheat beer and real pomegranate juice." i would have appreciated a bit more pomegranate flavor, since i'm a huge fan of pomegranates. perhaps others would appreciate the subtile taste, but it wasn't quite enough.

verdict: i would try again (since we have another in part of the sampler), but i'm not super convinced yet that this would merit another buy.

productivity rules

this weekend we finally got around to installing curtains in the bedroom. this is not to say that for the past three years we didn't have anything - there were ridiculously crappy and filthy blinds left by the previous occupants that we used until we "rehabbed" and then j tried installing an ikea set a few months ago, but stopped after one window because it wasn't working as well as we hoped. so for a while we had one window bare, which is always fun times when living within spitting distance of your neighbors.

on saturday we decided to hit up ikea to see if they had some sort of table that we could use to set the scanner and the printer on in order to free up some extra space so we could use the futon again or buy the ikea mini-couch/sleeper for chillaxing/overnight guests. unfortunately, there were no good tables but i did notice their window treatment section with rods for $3, cool finials for $3 and curtains for $5. whoo hoo! it took all of 10 minutes to set up and now the room looks classy! the only downside is that pablo is obsessed with the curtains.

tea break

just now i sat down with a cup of so-so lichee black tea (at least i only paid about a dollar for a box of 20 in chinatown) and decided to look at the back of the package. who writes these things?

"PLEASING RICH AROMA BRIGHT RED LIQUOR HOMELY REFERESHER VALUABLE GIFT"

oh the chinglish! i really hope they hired a native english speaker when trying to translate stuff for the olympics. then again, what fun would that be?

bats

up until yesterday, i lived my life without fear of bats. now everything has changed.

last night i took iris and zoe down to the grassy gnoll #1, where we take them every day to do their business. when we arrived, i noticed something flash by in my upper periphery. i stopped to take a better look, and sure enough there were godforsaken BATS circling above. at first i thought it could be some crazy in love sparrows, but i heard the telltale "clap clap" that their ratty wings make while flying. all of a sudden something clicked, and i went from forgetting bats exist to being rather afraid of standing in that location while iris took forever to go to the bathroom. perhaps it was because i had exposed skin (tshirt weather) or maybe it was because they seeemed to get a kick out of flying low to the ground in circles that just missed my head by mere inches every 10 seconds or so. either way, i am not a fan! even doing a bit of "wisearch" (wikipedia research; said like a kid with a lisp) for this entry, i got squeamish: bats carry rabies and sars! bats bite humans! bats are flying rats! disgusting.

one another note, i find it extremely strange that our neighborhood is home to woodpeckers, bats, and praying mantis, among other things. i never would have expected to see so much fauna in a city, let alone in baltimore.

yay for spring weather!

i wore flip flops to work today. spring rules. unfortunately it is supposed to get rainier and colder, so this will probably be my last chance for at least a week.

in other news, allergies freaking suck. i thought i was getting sick until i realized it was probably the allergy curse. isn't vitamin c was supposed to help? it's not really working for me.