DCVegEats

I need sugar.  Face it, this lock-down requires a little (just a little) stress eating.  My attempts at baking Chocolate Chip cookies have not turned out well, so I headed to Georgetown to check out the new Levain Bakery.  The line was two blocks long.  So, I headed to Plan B, a new pastry shop in western Rosslyn.  Named Eclairons it doesn't have a website yet but is related to Pastry XPO , a cafe at Mosaic I had tried a year or so ago.  Despite opening issues (I was the only one there but the clerk took a while to ring up the order and almost overcharged me), the sweets here are better than the Mosaic version.  I purchased a lot of iems to get a sense of what worked and what didn't.  Visually impressive their "cookies" (two meringue wafers filled with a variety of fluffy stuffings) were the least yummy.  They are "okay" but not stunning and tend to crumble everywhere at the first bite.  More engaging were the cupcakes and eclairs which ...

It's the first of September, and while it is still toasty outside Labor Day is looming and autumn is likely right around the corner.  With the lockdown continuing forever, it seems, I continue to cook a lot.  Like, a LOT.  I've tried a "significant" number of new recipes this summer, just to get out of the rut.  Many have been good, some not so much.  There were four standouts worth sharing.   First was the Whole Lemon Walnut Pesto .  I used this stuff on EVERYTHING.  Pasta, of course, sandwiches and wraps, rice, vegetable mix-in, you name it.  I made two batches in one week.  It is one of those perfect dishes, where the balance is there of sweet and sharp and tangy and creamy and chewy.  It appeals to my sense that there should be no waste after cooking and was a delightful summer spin on a basic staple.  Brava to this one. Second was Mujadara.  There are a number of recipes online but they are all essentially the sa...