Tuesday, January 26, 2010

The Copper Pot's Smoked Bacon and Parmesan Tomato Sauce


I have a lot of respect for people who break away from the daily grind and pursue a dream. It takes a lot of guts and with hard work, great things can happen. Stefano Frigerio is one of those people who knew he wanted to spend more time with his family and left the restaurant business to do just that. He later started making jams and pasta sauces and started a company with these canned goods.

My first experience in trying to contact Copper Pot was not so great. It was in December when I tried to email them and order online but nothing was working. It was really quite frustrating. So a few weeks back, at the Dupont Circle Farmers Market, I ended up meeting Stafano. Once I mentioned that I tried to get ahold of him, he knew exactly the day I was talking about. Turns out that his family and him were travelling for the holidays and he tried to respond via his iPhone but it wasn't working. These are the kinks you have to work out when starting your own business but looking at the big picture, they seem minor. This is a man who now gets to spend more time with his family. As my grandfather said on his deathbed, "Family is the only thing that matters."

The picture above is a jar of Copper Pot's Smoked Bacon and Parmesan Sauce. It is $6 for a 16oz jar. This may seem pricey for a jar of pasta sauce but the tomatoes taste amazingly fresh and the bacon just gives it the sauce a surprise salty, smokey bite when you get a piece in the sauce. I brought this jar to share with my friends Angie and Christina and both enjoyed it. This is a great sauce to get if you have guests over and want to have some special yet simple on the table.

Monday, January 18, 2010

DC Food Blogger Happy Hour - February 3, 2009


Are you looking for another opportunity to drink specialty beers, eat delicious bar food, and slur recipes to one another? Well here it is. The first DC Food Blogger Happy Hour of 2010 will be at Againn on Wednesday, February 3rd. The bar is located where 11th Street, I Street, and New York Avenue NW meet (this bar is located within walking distance of Metro Center and Chinatown/Gallery Place). To get the $5 happy hour special, be sure to get there before 7pm. Please RSVP in the comments below and feel free to bring me any unwanted grocery store coupons. I'm serious.

Thank you to Arugula Files for creating this great flyer. Also, thank you to the planning committee:


Saturday, January 9, 2010

Friday, January 8, 2010 - Deals at Giant




It has been so cold in DC that I literally force myself to imagine that I am walking on a sandy beach with the hot sun burning my skin when I am really just walking to work with the freezing wind burning my skin. This cold weather has made me crave one thing: soup. I have become one of those of people in the movies that look kind of gray as they stare at their office computer screen dreaming of a better life. My better life equals being in my pajamas in my warm home making a big pot of soup. I dream big, don't I.

Here are some recipes I would like to try out:

Beef, Leek, and Barley Soup
Veselka's Cabbage Soup
Lentil, Kale, and Sausage Soup

Here are this week's deals at Giant:

Yukon Gold Potatoes - $2.99 per 5lb bag
Oscar Mayer Bacon - $3.50 per package
Whole Roasting Chicken - $0.99 per lb
Chicken Drumsticks or Thighs - $0.99 per lb
Grapefruit - $2.99 per 5lb bag

Thursday, January 7, 2010

Wednesday January 6, 2010 - Sale at Safeway


The Food Bloggers Potluck was a lot of fun and...I cooked. I literally cooked at the potluck. In the end, I decided on a soup since the weather has been bitter and cold. My first choice was to make a Vietnamese soup called Mien Ga which is a simple chicken soup that has onions, shiktake mushrooms, and bean curd noodles in it. Unfortunately, I couldn't get out to VA or MD to a proper asian market for the noodles. The ones they had at Whole Foods was 10 times the price and they didn't have enough of it. Instead, I pulled a recipe from the time I spent prepping at Thai X-ing. Its a Tom Yum Goong soup but stepped up a bit with some poached salmon. It turned out pretty good. I want to post the recipe but out of respect for Chef Taw, I'm going to check with him first to see if he is okay with me leaking his secrets.

In any case, the potluck was a lot of fun. I had to assemble each bowl individually so I didn't get a chance to walk around and take pictures but I'm sure they will be posted on some other sites soon. Mango and Tomato made some great macaroons, Pete Bakes brought some good brownies, and Johnna Knows Good Food made a delish onion dip. I wish I could have sat back and just ate everything but just didn't have the stomach. I did however walk around with a big tupperware container to take some of the goodies home. Yes, I have no shame.

Here are some deals at Safeway this week:
New York Strip Steak - $3.99 per lb
Whole Roaster Chicken - $0.99 per lb
Lean Ground Beef - $2.49 per lb
10-lb bag of Russeet Potatoes - $1.98
Pork Shoulder Country Style Ribs - $1.99 per lb
Organic Milk - $3.49 per half gallon
Avocados - $0.99 each

Sunday, January 3, 2010

DC Food Blogger Potluck


How intimidating is this? There are some serious food bloggers who will be at this event. Since I have decided that 2010 is going to be a "no fear" year, I'm going to cook something. In hopes of building up my ego for this event, I will post the following food affirmations on my mirror:
  • Your dish is delicious
  • The presentation is beautiful
  • I haven't eaten it better anywhere else
  • Morimoto should be your student

Ok, maybe that last one was a stretch.

If you would like to join in, please R.S.V.P here.

Saturday, January 2, 2010

Friday, January 1, 2010 - Deals at Giant


Hope everyone had a safe and happy New Year's Eve. Here are this week's deals at Giant:

Boneless Chicken Breasts - $1.99 per lb
Petite Sirloin Roast - $3.99 per lb
Dannon Yogurts - 20 for $8
Ground Turkey - $1.99 per lb
Frozen Vegetables - $1 per bag
Progresso Soup - $1 per can
Romaine Hearts - $2.50 per bag of 3
Mangos - $1 each