Month: June 2024

The World’s Tiniest Front Porch

M's Adventures

In a world of territorial conflicts, there is a quintessentially American space that is sought and claimed — the front porch. In America, having a front porch is a sign of pride. A place where one can sit outside and enjoy the evening, the fresh air, the sunset — whatever it is that makes you feel like the king of your castle.

You can read some of the history of the front porch here. Basically, the porch is the in between space, a greeting space for the house, a place to cool off during hot weather, and a social space that is not all the way in the house but also not on the street. Sometimes called a deck, patio, stoop, or veranda, the front porch is something else.

From the 19th century until World War II, houses had a porch, including upstairs (often for sleeping outside during the hot nights). Then air conditioning became much more affordable and house design focused more on backyards. Modern houses are often built with a porch for nostalgia but people do not seem to sit out on their front porches anymore.

It makes me admire those who still insist on having a front porch, no matter the size.

The Capital Cookbook Club

M's Adventures
A concoction from the book.

Apparently a cookbook club is the thing to do. I am part of one that was recently started by one of my social friends.

Cover of the cookbook we cooked from this month.
Cornbread.

Luckily the rules are not too strict (some clubs require evaluating the recipes and other rules. Read about how to set up here or if you don’t live in that area or want to find one to join, look at this site) at the Capital Cookbook Club. We get one cookbook to choose from, tell what recipe we are making, and then bring it to the meal on the agreed upon date.

The spread of bean salad, crab salad, peach glaze chicken, cornbread, potato salad, beans, and drinks. There were two desserts.

I do not like cooking anymore so I found a simple way to make a chicken dish. Others had made more effort. It was a lovely evening socializing while eating dinner. In honor of Juneteenth, we made recipes from Watermelon & Red Birds by Nicole A. Taylor, a James Beard winner.

Where to Eat When Everyone Else Is Asleep – 24/7 Restaurants in the DMV

M's Adventures

Washington, DC is a city that goes to bed early. Most restaurants are open all day and many serve dinner as early as 4 pm. There are even restaurants that close at 9 pm! But if you get here in the middle of the night and need to eat, here are a few places open all day, all night, every day of the year, 24/7. Most of these places are not on the Metro line, but then again, the Metro does not run all night.

Tortas y Tacos Chiquita, 2911 Columbia Pike, Arlington, Virginia. It is a Mexican place located about a mile from the Pentagon.

Mexican place on Columbia Pike.

Kabob Palace, 2315 S. Eads Street, Arlington, VA. This is a well known kabob place near National Airport.

Yechon, 4121 Hummer Road, Annandale, VA. This Korean barbecue restaurant is large and humming at 3 am.

Tosokchon, 7031 Little River Turnpike #21D, Annandale, VA. A Korean restaurant hidden in the strip mall behind Shilla Bakery.

Steak ‘n Egg (24 hour on Saturday only), 4700 Wisconsin Ave NW, Washington, DC. Located way above Georgetown, this all day breakfast place is famous. After a renovation, they now have a bit more seating.

Bob and Edith’s is a diner that has various locations.

Ihop is a fast food pancake restaurant. All day breakfast and pancakes piled like cake available all day.

McDonalds. Some are open all day but in the DC area, this tends to be the ones out on the highways.

Denny’s is a breakfast chain that also serves food throughout the day.

Subway is a sandwich chain. Most do not have too much seating.

And a few others on this list from Eater that include Gom Tang E out in Centreville.

Spicy Meat and Ham

M's Adventures

SPAM. Not the sort of spam that you get in your inbox, but the kind that one finds in America. Okay, okay, the other kind is prevalent in America too! The first time I had SPAM that I liked was when it was fried and served with rice. SPAM is more popular in Hawaii as a result of the its introduction to Hawaii during WWII.

SPAM as a canned meat product was invented by Hormel in 1937 as “SPicy meat and hAM” and the use of spam for unwanted junk mail is from a 1970 Monty Python sketch partially quoted here:

Waitress: Well, there’s egg and bacon; egg sausage and bacon; egg and spam; egg bacon and spam; egg bacon sausage and spam; spam bacon sausage and spam; spam egg spam spam bacon and spam; spam sausage spam spam bacon spam tomato and spam …

Chorus of Vikings (chanting): Spam spam spam spam …

Waitress: … spam spam spam egg and spam; spam spam spam spam spam spam baked beans spam spam spam …

Vikings (singing): Spam! Lovely spam! Lovely spam!

SPAM is best eaten warm and fried, but it is also good in a sandwich or a soup. SPAM is a potted meat sort of like a sausage encased in metal instead of intestine. People have strong feelings about SPAM but I think of like sausage. Another thing that should be fried and warm when eaten. And like sausage, you do not want to think too much about what is in it or how it is made.

In the way of urban legends, there is also that idea that SPAM tastes like human and that is why it was so popular in the former Sandwich islands (Hawaii) where the original inhabitants did eventually boil up Captain Cook… such an unfortunate name…

Barbecue, the All American Way

M's Adventures

Discussing barbecue or bbq can lead to arguments. There are strong opinions of what is true barbecue. Experts will tell you tales of smoke, heat, wood, water, fire, dry or wet, brine or no brine, cut, butt, baby back ribs, spare ribs, pork shoulder, brisket, beef ribs, East coast, Carolina, Florida… the terminology goes on and on. Plus now in the DC area, there is Korean and Salvadoran barbecue and all the fusions in between.

Barbecue is quintessentially American. The word comes from the native word barbacoa from the island of Hispaniola (today’s Haiti and Dominican Republic). The idea is that long slow applications of heat will improve tough cuts of meat. Everyone used to use all the parts of the animal and turn them into sausages etc. but here are the most famous types (for a good read, try this article) explained simply:

Carolina style is pork usually slow smoked for 12-20 hours, served pulled apart, tossed in a vinegar dressing, and served in a bun.

Memphis style is pork ribs (and shoulder) in a dry rub. The shoulder is pulled and served in a bun.

Top platter has chicken, Texan brisket, Memphis style pork, Carolina style pulled pork, sausage, and turkey.

Texas is all about beef. Brisket is the most famous type but there are also tri-tips. The best barbecue in the DC area is 2fifty.

Brisket can be as juicy as this but it is hard to find. This was at Rose’s Luxury years ago.

Kansas City was once the meat packing center of the US. The barbecue here is ribs with sauce.

Kansas style ribs on the upper left smothered in sauce, pulled pork, sauce, coleslaw, brisket, sausage, and wings. Fries in this style are a new fusion-y thing.

Apart from the meat, the sides are a big part of barbecue. I once had the best garlic coleslaw at a barbecue joint in Texas. I tried to buy the sauce but they said that it was only for eating in the restaurant. Darn.

Every year there are barbecue competitions and secrets about sauce, rub mix, and every other element are guarded in bank vaults.

If you are here on Memorial Day weekend, enjoy the smell of outdoor parties.