So Much Sweetness

Hi everyone! I hope you all have been enjoying my blog thus far. I've been having a great time documenting all of the sweet things DC has to offer.

On a literal level, there are lots of sweets here in the District that have been super fun and delicious to enjoy.

On a figurative level, there are so many sweet opportunities here, and I'm trying to take advantage of as much as I can! Last week I started interning at the Department of Commerce, which has been going really well. Classes are in full swing, and I'm loving every one of them. This weekend Balance, the Ballet Group I'm involved with, hosted auditions for our annual Nutcracker performance (rehearsals start this week) and recruitment is coming up for ADPi.  I guess you could say I have a pretty full plate...but I find that I thrive off of being busy. Whenever I have limited free time I find I am the most efficient, which is working out really well right now.

That's why I haven't been able to blog over the past week! I'm going to try to stay more on top of everything from now on, so stay posted!

Here's a look at the sweets I discovered this past week:

Tuesday was a special day for everyone here in Foggy Bottom: Whole Foods opened on GW's campus! Incredibly fresh fruit, vegetables, bread, turkey, and cheeses now fill our kitchen. The store is absolutely wonderful: both the grocery and dine-in food options are outstanding and I'm thrilled to have a Whole Foods so close.

Thursday I finally learned how to make the perfect omelet. My mom and I love omelets, and we search the North Shore to find the best egg-white omelet. This week I finally succeeded at making the perfect, classic omelet, thanks to Jamie Oliver's tutorial:

My final product!

I always eat my eggs with ketchup (somewhat unusual), and for lunch I made the omelet with mesclun greens and a side of sliced turkey breast.

I'm looking forward to baking this week--hopefully Wednesday! Any suggestions? I'm waiting for some peaches to ripen so I can make Marina and my roommates the pie they've been waiting for!

Seize the Summer!

Now that it's Labor Day Weekend, I guess you could say that summer is unofficially over. Womp. But that doesn't mean that summer fruit is gone! Be sure to take advantage of all of the sweetness of summer fruits (nectarines, plums, cherries, peaches, strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, raspberries...the list goes on and on!) with this pie recipe.

Pie sounds daunting...it's a two-part deal. Crust and filling can seem like an overwhelming task for a new or infrequent baker. But fear not--this pie is not only incredibly easy to make, it also takes a mere 15 minutes to whip up. Who doesn't want a slice of that?

The Ultimate Summer Fruit Pie

1. Preheat the oven to 400°F
2. Mix 1 cup of all-purpose flour, 2 tablespoons of granulated sugar, and a pinch of salt
3. Cut in 1/2 cup of butter until the pieces of butter are smaller than peas. Be sure the butter is room temperature, or slightly softened. Cut in the butter by putting the butter into the mixed dry ingredients, and taking two knives and cutting through the butter in opposite directions.  

   

   Cutting Butter

4. Add 1 tablespoon of white distilled vinegar.
5. Spread in a 9" circular pie pan, pressing the dough firm and evenly up the sides.
6. Mix 1/2 cup of granulated sugar*, 2 tablespoons of all-purpose flour**, a dash of cinnamon, and 2 heaping cups of fruit***.
7. Put the filling in the crust and bake it for 40-45 minutes. The crust may get brown on the edge, but don't worry it's not overdone!
8. Add 1 cup of fruit on top while the pie is still hot.
9. Sprinkle powdered sugar on top once it has cooled.
10. Enjoy!

The aftermath of my most recent Peach-Blackberry Pie.

*If the fruit you are using is more sweet than tart (sweet blueberries, plums, strawberries etc.) use less sugar.
**If the fruit you are using is juicy (nectarines, plums, strawberries, peaches etc. unlike blueberries) use more flour.
***Feel free to use any kind of fruit you like! I love combining different fruit, but a classic blueberry is always outstanding.

Let me know how it turns out! This pie will quickly become a summer staple; I hope you enjoy as much as my friends, family and I do!

It's a New School Year...

Which means trying new things!  Aka this blog.  My goal (well...one of my many goals) for this year is to do go on more culinary adventures, including exploring the city and all of its wonderful restaurants and bakeries, expanding my baking/cooking knowledge now that I have my own lovely kitchen, and having a year filled with sweetness and fun.

I should probably introduce myself (for those of you who don't know me)...I'm Rachel, a sophomore studying International Affairs and Public Health at George Washington University in the heart of DC.  In my somewhat limited free time I absolutely love baking. This summer when I wasn't working on a congressional campaign I worked at Baker Boys, a small bakery/cupcakery north of Chicago that is by far better than anything that I have ever tried. At Baker Boys I was a cupcake finisher/froster, and helped with customers. If you're ever in the northern suburbs of Chicago you absolutely must try Baker Boys. More to come on that in later posts.

At Baker Boys I created their newest cupcake, "Curious George." It's a banana chocolate chip cupcake filled with hot fudge, topped with peanut butter buttercream and chopped Reese's. (Side-note: my nickname at Baker Boy is George because I go to George Washington University, and because I'm super curious!)

My massive sweet-tooth usually drives my baking escapades, as does my desire for a challenge and my passion for experimenting.  Even though I've only been here in DC for a week, so far I've had a lot of fun trying out new things in my kitchen:

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

Peach-Blackberry Pie (recipe to be posted soon!)

That's all for now--I hope you've enjoyed learning a bit about me. I can't wait to share all of the wonderful things my sweet DC has to offer!