the real top chef

watching last weeks episode of top chef and thinking about how great my dad's bbq chicken is:D! 

(salivating!)

james beard's top chef 2011

congratulations to jose andres for winning this year's james beard award for top chef in the country! he is a great chef who has made living in dc oh-so-delicious!

iron chef america

dont miss local burger monger and top chef alumnus  chef spike on tonight's episode of iron chef america. i am a big fan of his good stuff eatery on capitol hill (could not believe it wasn't open last sunday), so i hope he kicks iron chef simon's butt!

top chef washington, dc

ok: dc has risen to the top of the proverbial 'food chain' as far as american cities go these days: everybody wants to be come here, be seen here, make their mark here. so why not have top chef dc?, asks chef spike. you can participate in the lobby-ing for top chef washington, dc.: suggest possible locations, ingredients, events, elimination challenges and guest judges at capital spice, and possibly win top chef prizes and shiz. hurry up though: you only have til 10:00 pm tomorrow to do it-right before the top chef finale-so get creative and be decisive!

the metropolitan cooking & entertaining show

too bad the metropolitan cooking & entertaining show wasnt any of the last three rainy weekends: it is supposed to be nice today, and i really dont want to be indoors. but if i did, i am not sure i would pay up up $75 to see food network stars Paula Deen, Giada De Laurentiis, Guy Fieri, Tyler Florence or the Neelys present live cooking demos or sign a cook book. Top Chef Contestant Richard Blais will be hosting Culinary Innovations seminar...i think i will head to chef spike's and grab a burger instead. but if you want to check it out, it runs saturday 9-7 and sunday 10-5 @ the convention center.

spike'd sundays

im hoping i will be in bikini shape this sunday so i can attend chef spike's barbeque and swim party at the capitol skyline pool, noon til 6pm. maybe if i start working out now, i'll be ready by september 6th-the last day!

top chef: the tour bus

i will watch any reality crap on bravo: some of it is actually really good! not so sure about last night's the fashion show with issac mizrahi, but top chef rocks! one top chef contestant, chef spike opened up an amazing burger joint, good stuff eatery on capitol hill here in dc. now he is on tour and will be serving up deliciousness from a portable kitchen housed on a tractor trailer (they call it a tour bus: whatever). saturday the bus stops in adam's morgan. pre-registration is closed, but additional seats will be available on a first come, first served basis. i think it's free!

remember last monday?

last monday i was sitting here watching snow fall to the tune of six inches...today: 70°!

it was a long, cold week that ended in a brilliant weekend here in washington, d.c.

friday night we road metro to union station and attended the dc independent film festival for the opening of borf! followed by drinks and indian food outdoors at the white tiger on capitol hill. saturday i had to take oto on a long walk and short swim because it was so nice and warm out. i headed to visarts in rockville to view a kawasaki motorcycle that is the subject of an art competition to benefit the art center. i dont know if i am going to be able to come up with anything interesting for the proposal, but i do have a few concepts i am going to sketch out. (i will keep you posted!) we decided to head to the eastern market to buy up as much fresh raviolis as we could carry home. i think we got eight different flavors. i freeze them and use them for quick meals during the week. kind of awesome. before we headed home, we grabbed burgers, fries and mini toasted marshmallow shakes from good stuff eatery, owned and operated by top chef's chef spike. he happened to be there, working the grill! during a break he stopped and talked to us for a while, then took pictures with thrilled tourists and locals alike. spike was very hospitable and cool. i chilled at home saturday night so i could work in my front yard sunday, trying to regain a little curb appeal! too tired to cook dinner after laying down fifteen bags of mulch, we grabbed amazing carry out pizzas from comet ping pong. i completed random paperwork and required reading about 3a.m., and...here we are at monday again!

i have the week planned out and hope to get a lot accomplished in my studio, my home, my garden, my life, my cyberspace. good luck!