I have been a bad lil’ blogger. To make up for it, I humbly offer you what I’m digging right now in no particular order.
1. Gluten-free restaurant menus - in the area. That’s right, dedicated GF menus that you can ask your host or server to provide: P.F. Chang’s in Ballston (I love the Chang’s chicken with brown rice) and Austin Grill in Old Town on King Street (risk-free enchiladas and a great casual place to go with out-of-towners.) If anyone knows of anymore dedicated menus, please comment!
2. Bikini wax at Sisters3 in Clarendon. This place is a lingerie shop up front, waxerie in the rear. It’s right across from Whole Foods on Wilson and next to the newly relocated ShoeFly. I’m headed to Mexico next week, so this was a necessity. I have been brutalized before, but this was a walk in the park. We followed it up with a trip to Murky Coffee at Wilson/Washington in Clarendon, but given the nearly 30 minute wait, I can’t quite recommend it in good faith unless you are dying to stand around in the presence of rare D.C. slightly dirty, hungover hipsters with Mac laptops for some top-notch people watching (but the latte was soooo good).
3. Twitter.com - I’ve heard a lot about it and suddenly I’m totally addicted to sharing my 15 minute update with everyone I know.
4. Hard boiled eggs - These Easter leftovers make great GF breakfasts on the fly and fantastic salad toppers at dusk. I learned a new way to make them: put them in the pot, cover with cold water by an inch, boil, remove from heat and cover for 12 minutes, then drain and rinse in cold water. PERFECT yolks!
5. Homemade Peanut Butter Cups! This (recipe) isn’t as easy as it looks but they spank cookies where it counts in terms of richness, wow factor, and utter gluten-freeness. The trick is to use a nice big spoon so you can drizzle each layer completely in the paper cups without a lot of back and forth which increases your risk of drips! Just because, I added fresh-fried bacon crumbles to the center of a few of them - something I highly recommend. And, do yourself the favor, double the recipe from the get-go.
6. Jiffy Lube - This place (we go to the one on Four Mile Run in Arlington by the DMV) not only does the oil check up business but they vacuum your car and change any defunct headlights. Trust me, a girl going to an auto store to buy wholesale lightbulbs and then seeking installation is a total pain - just make it part of your 3,000 mile check up.
7. Foxfire Grill - This little American bistro at the corner of Braddock and Little River in Alexandria is full of GF options. Almost no entree is served with a gluten side - there’s plenty of polenta, greens, and mashed potatoes to go around. Plus, they have two pages of fancy cocktails and an impressive wine list. A good dinner off the beaten path is a refreshing change.
8. Home decor online destinations Bluelines blog (the remnant of the recently failed Blueprint magazine), apartmenttherapy.com and DesignPublic.com. These three sites are how I while away the hours. I’m particularly enamored of the Mibo pendant lamps at DP.
9. Turkey roasted red pepper meat loaf from Real Simple. We made this the other week for the first time and again on Sunday. When we made it the first time, we ended up having it again 3 days later because my husband was so addicted. I won’t lie, it is good and makes great leftovers with potatoes or rice. The key here is Orgran bread crumbs - available at Wegman’s.
10. Dirt - On FX…its back, its gluten-free and it’s so over the top you’d think you ate a loaf of cookies n’ cream bread rolled in Cheerios.
Tags: apartmenttherapy.com · austin grill · bikini wax · bluelines blog · DesignPublic · Dirt · foxfire grill · hard boiled eggs · Jiffy Lube · Little River · meat loaf · Mibo · Murky Coffee · Orgran · peanut butter cups · PF Chang's · Sisters3 · twitter · Wegmans5 Comments
5 responses so far ↓
For the record, I happen to adore Murky Coffee! But then again, I also adore “the presence of rare D.C. slightly dirty, hungover hipsters with Mac laptops.” In fact, I’m quite often sitting in the back with my MacBook on lazy Sunday evenings! =)
I love to plug local restaurants any chance I get - but I do have to say that I LOVE P.F. Chang’s in Fairfax. Not only is it close to home, but I get to satisfy my cravings for asian-noodly type food without worry. I have eaten there more times that I can count and I’ve never, ever had a bad experience with their GF service.
Okay - now onto the not so good: Mike’s American Grill in Springfield. Yep, they DO have a dedicated GF menu - right at the restuarant. And my husband was so happy to find that out that he took me there for my birthday last year. It was a disaster. A seared-tuna asian salad on the menu had no warnings, like “ask for no crutons”, etc. So, when the delicious-looking salad arrived I dug in and immediately crunched on something. It was a fried wonton!!!
To the disgust of my fellow diners who were eating with me, I promptly spit my food out. Managers came to console me, one of whom said she was also a Celiac and she understood. They had changed the salad recipe and had not yet updated their GF menu. She said she would make me another and bring it out.
It soon came out. By that time I was starving and just wanted to eat a little something before I started feeling really crappy. So, I proceeded to dig in again. And wouldn’t you know - I bit into another wonton! I was in shock.
The entire meal was free and they gave me a gift certificate. I threw it away. I ended up being sick for a week.
Hi, I’m new, first comment from me, great blog here!
Silverado in Annandale, like Mike’s American Grill, is owned by Great American Restaurants. Silverado also has a limited gluten free menu, and my experience there was better than the other comment about Mike’s. I’m going to have to try Firefox. http://www.greatamericanrestaurants.com/silverado/
Ugh, Adrianne, I’ve been in that situation before, too! In fact, I was in Pittsburgh a couple weeks ago and had a bad interaction with a surly waitress at Primanti’s Brothers. (Hmm… I should probably just blog about it!)
Thanks for the tip, Barry!
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