This month was a bit slow on the blog front. I only posted two recipes and I attribute a lot of that to a) traveling or keeping busy every weekend and b) not having enough light to shoot with when I get home at night. I know these are unacceptable excuses and for the month of November I have resolved to post at least once a week, if not twice. Despite the lack of posts, a lot of fun and interesting things went on in October. Here are my tasty snaps:
1. First, I got to finally try oysters from the Rappahannock Oyster Co! I’ve been hearing about these oysters for a while now and luckily they have an oyster bar located within DC’s Union Market, a great place to go if you are a foodie and want to try several delicious (and often local) things. Rappahannock Oyster Co cultivates their oysters in a sustainable way on the Rappahannock River in Virginia. I ordered a dozen oysters (four each of the three they carry) for me and my friend Katharine, who was celebrating her birthday and had been furloughed (stupid shut down!).
2. Along with our delicious oysters, we tried some of Flying Dog’s Pearl Necklace Oyster Stout. It’s brewed using Rapphannock oysters, a fact that both intrigued us and scared us. It turned out to be a tasty brew. I’m guessing they use the oysters to kickstart the fermentation process, much like how oysters, baby shrimp and other seafood is often used to encourage the fermentation process in kimchi. Notice Katharine’s sparkler in the background behind the glass 😉
3. The real reason we ended up at Union Market in the first place was that I found out that on Friday nights they have a drive-in movie theater set up. Cars line up to park in the parking lot or you can set up chairs or a picnic blanket right in front of the market. Attending the movie is free, and it starts at 8pm when the market closes, so if you arrive early (recommended since the lot fills up starting at 6!), you have plenty of time to enjoy all the tasty treats you may find inside. Along with the oyster bar we got some cheese for snacking on during the film, checked out a really cute store carrying all sorts of knick-knacks, and drank from a real soda shop that serves soda made with homemade syrups and knishes (we had an adult punch though). There is one last movie playing next Friday, November 8th and I think I will try and go again!
4. It rained a LOT this month, but it often lead to some brilliant sunsets after the rain had cleared, so I didn’t mind so much.
5. I visited Richmond for the Richmond Folk Festival, a festival featuring folk music from around the world that happens every fall. I remember going to the very first folk festival back when Richmond hosted the National Folk Festival. Here is a bluegrass band playing along with some national champion cloggers. You need to click here to see the video. They really got the crowd going!
6. I was pleasantly surprised to receive an email from someone representing DC Wine Week. I was invited to attend an event called Brunch and Champs, featuring a sampling Sonoma Resturant’s new brunch menu, along with a tasting of several sparkling wines. I took my friends Bettina and Josh with me and we thoroughly enjoyed the food and the wine (Josh even had a second breakfast sandwich!). They had several really fun events, and I was disappointed that I couldn’t make their yoga and wine event, but I’m hoping they do it again next year so that I can attend.
7. I originally intended to eat a pear for breakfast at my desk in my office, but then my coworker walked in with a box of cannolis from South Philly. Um, yeah, that pear didn’t even stand a chance.
8. My friends and I decided to start a supper club of women who would gather every three weeks for a nice home cooked meal and some delicious wine. I had heard of supper clubs and I always wanted to start one and my friend Bettina and I decided to go ahead and organize one. Our first meeting was on October 30th, and I hosted and cooked the meal (okay, so maybe I ended up making caramel until 1am the night before, but it was totally worth it!). Every time we meet a new person will host and/or cook (two people can work together). I think everyone enjoyed the food and wine, and we had some funny and interesting conversations (some not dinner appropriate but I couldn’t stop laughing) and it was nice to be in a room full of smart, funny and lovely women. Thanks for coming guys!
I totally feel your pain with having trouble keeping up with posting. It’s so hard in these late fall/winter months when there’s no natural light by the time we get home from work on weeknights and weekends are busy with spending time with family and friends. I typically resort to dedicating one weekend a month to locking myself in my house, cooking up a ton of things, and photographing all day long. It’s a struggle to keep up for sure!
Do you live in the DC area?! Love DC! My good friend’s brother just opened a restaurant this year in DC called The Red Hen. I was just down in September to check it out and had a great meal. Check it out if you’re ever in the area.
Hey Chris! Thanks for taking the time to check out my blog. Yes, I live in the DC area. I’ve heard great things about the Red Hen and it’s on my to-eat list. Thanks for the recommendation 🙂
I’ve gotten a really great photography lamp to help me out with the photos. Along with the days being short the weather has made it to be quite dark and overcast lately as well, and it makes it so hard to shoot! I need to become more organized though and do what you do to get your photography done and I’m sure it’ll be more manageable. Ah, food blog photo woes 🙂 but isn’t it so fun?!