Saturday, March 27, 2010

Tourist season is coming…and I can’t shoot them…

The tourist season kicks off in the Washington DC area today with the Cherry Blossom Festival.  It reaches its peak on July 4th and finishes when schools start in the fall.  For almost half of the year the DC Metro area is taken over by what I call the 3 Fs…families, field trips, and foreigners.  It isn’t that we don’t appreciate people coming to the city (it brings in money to the economy and shows off our great city), but the tourists are on vacation and we are not.  It can be great fun to watch a family with little kids visit the National Zoo or see the reactions on people’s faces when they see the National Mall (no, it is not a shopping mall...ugh) for the first time; however, what the residents remember most is not the warm, touching moments…when we think of tourist season, we think of people getting in our waaayy!!!  So if you plan on visiting DC, here are a few tips…


1)      Try to visit during an off peak time.  From October through February, the museums are practically empty during the week days.  The winters here are typically mild (expect this year…don’t even get me started.
2)      Use the Metro…correctly.  Our Metro system is a wonderful attribute to the city.  You can get around underground safely, quickly, and cheaply.  You can buy an unlimited day pass or a reusable SmartTrip card (these are the only accepted payments at Metro parking lots).  Having said that, incorrect use of the Metro is probably the biggest thing us locals complain about.  Try to avoid rush “hour”.  Rush hour in DC is from 7am-9:30am and 4pm-7pm.  If you can avoid using the metro during these times, you will save yourself and the locals a lot of trouble.  The museums don’t open until 10am anyway, so sleep in a bit, and at night you can try out one of the great restaurants downtown. 
3)      While on the escalators to/from the station remember this rule: WALK LEFT, STAND RIGHT.  This unwritten rule in DC is considered law by the locals.  If you want to stand and ride the escalator up, stand on the right.  If you want to walk up the escalator, walk on the left.  I have trampled my fair share of tourist standing on the left while running up the escalator in heels screaming, “WALK LEFT, STAND RIGHT”.  Once I trampled a few tourists just coming from the airport with their luggage…welcome to the city, get the f*&# out of my way!!  For more information about the DC Metro, visit www.wmata.com.
4)      One last thing about the escalators, when you get off of them…don’t just stand there!!  The escalator doesn’t stop even if you don’t know where you are going…and there are 8,000 angry Washingtonians piling up behind you.  If you don’t know where you are going, step to the side, and then figure out where you are going…or get trampled.
5)      See the museums, they are free!!  All of the Smithsonian museums are free…and there are a lot of them.  One pet peeve overheard on the Metro is, “today we are going to see The Smithsonian”…as if it were just one building.  The Smithsonian Institute has multiple museums along the National Mall, the National Zoo, the Air and Space Museum out by Dulles Airport, and many more museums scattered throughout town and throughout the country.  Saying that you are going to “The Smithsonian” is not very specific.  For more information, they have a wonderful website full of information about visiting each one…www.si.edu.
6)      Find some things that are off the path of the traditional DC visit.  Once you’ve seen The Mall, visited Arlington Cemetery, and visited a few museums, there is so much more that the city has to offer.  Here are a few other things to do: Eastern Market, Congressional Cemetery, DC Nationals, United, or Capitals game, The Kennedy Center, Ford’s Theater, FDR Memorial, The Supreme Court, The National Archives, and many many more.
7)      Buy a good guidebook.  I’ve had a great experience with this book.  It is a sturdy and compact book with nine foldout maps including a metro map.  It has color coded markings for restaurants, locations of interest, lodging, and much more.
8)      Wear good shoes.  Although the Metro is helpful, it won’t get you everywhere.  You will have to do A LOT of walking.  Whenever I give a tour of DC, I always wear sneakers…and if I’m wearing practical shoes, then there must be a metric ton of walking involved.
9)      Plan out your day ahead of time.  The city may be small, but if you don’t plan out where you are going to go and in what order, you will end up crossing The Mall back and forth and putting in 5+ miles.  Even with good planning, you are likely to put in several miles.
10)   Visit some of the great restaurants.  DC has a wealth of ethnic and gourmet restaurants of varying flavors and prices.  Try to visit as many as your stomach and wallet can afford.  The Washington Post has a great online restaurant finder that searches by ethnicity, location, reviews, and price.  You can find it here.
11)   If you come during the summer, bring light clothes and sunscreen.  It gets very hot in DC during the summers.  If you come during July or August, plan for 90+ degree days full of humidity.  As tempting as it will be to wear flip flops to keep your feet cool…don’t!  Hot weather + humidity + flip flops + lots of walking = BLISTERS.  Just wear sneakers, you can wear the cute shoes to the restaurants after the touring is over.
12)   Have fun!  DC is such a busy and fascinating place, that you will have a great time rain or shine…and you never know what Senator will be walking around the next corner…so carry pepper spray.  Also, try to remember that the grounds and monument are memorials and should be respected...so don't be like me...

 

Friday, March 26, 2010

When cars attack...

I got hit by two cars this morning…no big deal…ugh.  I’m fine.  It was a low speed rear ending.  I’m really surprised that I’m not hit more often…like every day…with the way people drive out here.  You have to understand that drivers in DC drive like drunk, aggressive, monkeys.  Ok, that is an insult to monkeys…and drunk people.  It is really bad.  A study done in 2009 tested current drivers on the written test.  It found that DC ranked 44th among the states.  Where did Wisconsin rank…yup #1!!!  We got beer, cheese, Packers, and good drivers…what’s not to love??  You can check out the rest of the study and see what you would get on the test here.

I was driving in Arlington on my way into the city to go to work, just trying not to get hit…so like any normal day.  It was dark and rainy.  A road that is usually not a problem, was completely clogged.  I saw cop lights ahead, so I thought it was an accident, but nobody was getting by.  Then I realized it wasn’t an accident, it is something you learn to hate as a DC metro resident…motorcades.  Some “important” person was probably coming from Fort Myer.  It was a pretty small motorcade…only about 10 police cars.  Not POTUS or anything exciting.  So it gets by, and we are allowed to drive through again, but with any motorcade, they drive slowly, and we had to stay behind them.  Ok, so it will take a few extra minutes to get into work; no biggie, it is Friday!  The traffic line was stop and go.  Then the whole line of traffic was coming to a stop.  If I wasn’t stopped, I was at a crawl.  I was near the end of the line of traffic.  I heard a car horn, saw a car with no lights on coming fast behind me…then impact, then another impact.  She hit me then another car hit her…good times.

Luckily the damage to my car looks minimal…we’ll see what the dealership has to say.  Most importantly, it was casual Friday, I was wearing black Sketchers sneakers, and didn’t ruin any good heels in the rain…do car insurance policies have fabulous shoe replacement??  …cause they should.

Saturday, March 20, 2010

Cannoli


I’ve always loved Italian food.  Pasta, cream sauces, cheese…what’s not to love?  My real respect for the Italian people came about when I discovered the cannoli…fried pastry, filled with a cheese/sugar filling, dipped in mini chocolate chips, and topped with powdered sugar…is that even legal?  Apparently it is, but unless you have an Italian bakery near you, you’ll have to make your own.
I’ve now made cannoli twice, so I’m hardly an expert, but I’ll show you what I’ve come up with.  You will need some special equipment: large, round cookie cutter and cannoli molds.  These are the ones I have.  Yes, I buy stuff from a restaurant supply store, and yes my husband would suggest some sort of treatment program…but he really likes the food.  I have the smaller size, but this set gives you four of each so you can make two different sized cannoli.  I would also suggest getting more than four molds.  You have to wait for the molds to cool before removing the shells…so the more molds, the better (my birthday is approaching…hint hint).  You will need a round cookie cutter that is about an inch shorter than the length of your cannoli tube.  You can substitute a round Tupperware container or a large cup.  The cannoli dough needs a solid inch overlap so they don’t break open while being fried (guess what I did wrong with the first batch…see pictures below).
Equipment
large pot (at least 6” tall to have enough room for the oil and several inches at the top to prevent the oil from splattering out and causing a fire…been there, done that)
candy or oil thermometer that can be clipped to the side of the pot
cannoli molds
large, round cookie cutter
pasta maker (if you have it)
rolling pin
pastry brush
tongs or other device for removing the cannolis from the oil
Ingredients
4 c flour
1 tbsp sugar
½ tsp cinnamon
¾ - 1 ½ c red wine
3 tbsp butter at room temp
1 egg beaten
~4 quarts of vegetable or canola oil…enough to get 3-4” of oil in your pot
3 lbs ricotta cheese (I love any recipe that specifies the amount of cheese in pounds not ounces.)
1 ¾ c powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp cinnamon
one bag mini chocolate chips
additional powdered sugar for sprinkling
Mix the flour, sugar, and ½ tsp cinnamon together.   If using an electric mixer with the dough hook, add ¾ c red wine to the center of the flour.  If kneading by hand, make a well of the four, and add the wine to the center.  Slowly incorporate the wine with the flour mixture.  Add the butter one tablespoon at a time.  If it is dry, add more wine.  Once it is able to form a ball, wrap it in plastic wrap and chill it for 15 minutes.  The dough should be stiff and dry, but still able to form a ball.  It will be a slight purplish color from the wine.



Beat the ricotta cheese for 5 minutes, then slowly add the sugar, and beat for another minute.  Add the vanilla, cinnamon, and ¼ c mini chocolate chips.  Chill the mixture until ready to assemble the cannoli.




Put the oil in the pot, clip on the thermometer, and set it on the stove to medium high heat.  The oil needs to get to 390⁰F.  Once it is near 390⁰F, turn the heat down to medium low.  You will need to constantly adjust the temp between medium low and medium because the oil will cool as you cook the cannoli.  Try to keep it at 390⁰F as best you can.


 
Once the dough has been chilled, you can begin rolling it out.  Here is the setup I have: pasta roller, extra flour with cookie cutter, egg with pastry brush, and rolling pin.



The first time I made cannoli, I divided the dough into 24 parts, and rolled each one out…this took…awhile.  This time I rolled out a good chunk, then used my pasta roller to complete the rolling.  The dough needs to be very thin (less than 1/16th of an inch) in order to bubble and get layers of pastry…drool.  I put the pasta roller on the 1st setting and then moved the dial past 1 to make the rollers as far apart as possible.  Roll the pasta through once, fold it over itself, roll by hand, and roll through the pasta roller again.




Then roll it on setting 1, then setting 2.  Use the cookie cutter to cut out the dough and repeat with the remaining dough. 


Roll each circle of dough around the cannoli form sealing it with a brush of egg.  




If the cannoli don't stay around the mold while cooking, they will look like this...


...and those do not hold the filling well at all.

Fry two cannoli at a time for about a minute or until brown.  Make sure that they don’t stick together or to the bottom of the pot. Remove them from the oil and set on a paper towel covered plate (4+ sheets of paper towel).  Allow them to cool for a few minutes before removing the hot molds.  Repeat with remaining cut out dough.  If any of the rounds break, you can use them as chips to dip into the left over filling…YUM!




Once all of the cannolis have been cooked in the oil, turn off the heat.  Fill a gallon zip lock bag or pastry bag with the filling, cut off the end, and fill the cannoli shells with the filling. 



You can also use a spoon or knife, but a bag is much easier.  Dip each end of the filled cannoli into a dish with the mini chocolate chips.  Sprinkle the finished cannolis with powdered sugar, and enjoy!  This recipe makes about 25 cannoli.  Only fill the shells if you are going to eat them that day.  The shells and filling should be stored separately if eating another day.

 

After all of that fried pastry filled with cheese, you may want to check out some of my running posts here and here.

Thursday, March 18, 2010

Mind Games


I talk to myself…a lot.  Mostly just inside my head, but occasionally aloud and in public.  Usually this is while I’m running.  (But sometimes when I am at the mall, I just can’t help myself but utter out loud, “Good dear Lord that is ugly—avert your eyes!!!”)  Anyway, long distance running can become boring, and when you are bored, you notice every step and every pain.  There are several techniques to avoid boredom while running (or doing any cardio for that matter)…
1)      Try out different routes and trails.  This will give you different scenery to check out.  When I use a new route, I will print out a map or write out directions.  I get lost VERY easily, so I’m really paranoid about missing my turn.  Following the new route keeps the boredom at bay.
2)      Listen to music.  I have a huge variety of tunes on my mp3 player for my many different crazies moods.  I have a playlist of high intensity music when I need motivation.  I have many musicals that keep me occupied with the story line…and of course Lady Gaga, which serves the purpose for me to dance in my head.
3)      If you’re training for a race, imagine seeing your friends along the race route and crossing the finish line.  Be careful that you don’t speed up too much during this because if you spend too much of your energy at once, you won’t be able to get home.  Practice keeping your cool and staying calm.  Race day emotions can run high, and keeping them in check will lead to a stronger performance.  While racing I try to imagine a regular run in on the trail.  So yes, while I train I visualize the race, and when I race I visualize the training…it works even if it is crazy.
4)      One mind game that I’ve come up with is this: imagine that you’ve just won the lottery, and you are going to take each of your family members and friends on an individual vacation.  Where do you take each person, and what do you do?  Don’t think about it now!  Wait until you are running.  My brother and I are going to go to London, and my mom and I are going to see a Paul McCartney concert from the front row.  I’m going to take my Dad to see Memphis and Graceland, then fly down to the Keys to snorkel.  Al and I are going to sit on the beach of a tropical island for about a month.
5)      Speed work.  This usually helps the most when I’m forced to run on the treadmill…because I get sooo bored on the treadmill (it is soul crushing).  For the last mile or two, run at a faster but controllable speed for 30 seconds, then back to normal for a minute and 30 seconds…repeat until you are done.  Try to end on the fast speed because it always feels good to end strong.  This keeps me from getting bored and helps to increase my speed.  On long runs if I end on a flat stretch, I will run the last mile faster than the rest (if I can).  For long distance races, it is extremely important to pace yourself so that you can run the second half of the race faster than the first half.  It is the exact opposite than what your body wants to do (which is take off at the beginning and curl up in a ball on the curb at the end), so it is a real mental game.
Find whatever works for you, change it up, and enjoy the run!!

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Saw two robins screwing today…


…so it must be getting closer to spring!  Something amazing must have happened while I was at work today because the seasons seemed to have changed in a matter of hours.  It probably had to do with my little chat with Mother Nature last week (or it was a weekend of rain combined with a day of sunlight).  When I was driving home, I kept seeing this all over…



GREEN!!!!  That combined with the roughly eight hundred robins I saw while running (not all were screwing though), made me even more excited for SPRING!  We have four days until the official start, but I think VA is getting a head start.

Thursday, March 11, 2010

An open letter to mother nature...


This week’s temperatures were in the 60s!!!!  I was able to get in a 6 mile run and an 8 mile run…in shorts!  Somehow a tank top and shorts felt naked compared to just a week ago when I was a gender neutral blob of layers.
I was getting ready for the run and looked at my winter running gear.  “It is March,” I thought to myself.  “I should be able to put this stuff away”…but it has been one hell of a winter here in Northern Virginia.  For those of you who are unaware, the DC area got 2 feet of snow followed by another 8 inches 4 days later last February.  Now this is an area that can’t even handle 2” of snow…never-the-less when they are measuring it in feet!  This is pretty much what happens when there is any snow predicted for this area…http://snowpocalypsedc.com/.   Not only does the area not have the equipment to handle the snow, they buy really strange equipment like this…http://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local-beat/DC-Snow-Melter-Spotted-85741287.html  Ummm…whatever happened to plows?  You know how many plows for the front s of pick-up trucks $120,000 would buy?  I don’t, but I’m sure it is a lot…and I’m sure they would collectively clear away more snow than any Harry Potter magic melting machine.

Anyway, so we got a mega-ton of snow this winter.  You can see that P and G were not so thrilled about the snow…”Hey Ma!  Where do we pee??”




I would like to take this time to write an open letter to Mother Nature…
Dear Mother Nature,
There are only three things that you expect from living in Virginia…
1)      That you can get a firearm as easily as you can get change for a dollar.
2)      That you can’t buy liquor in a grocery store and must go to a government run facility.
3)      That you can expect a mild winter with very little snow.
So far so good until this winter…I feel like I should be able to report you to the Better Business Bureau…but you don’t exactly have an address for place of business.  I really feel like the DC Metro area has paid its dues this year for winter (actually we’ve paid our dues for the next three winters as well).  I would like to be able to put my winter running gear away without you throwing me a cold front and another foot of snow.  I’ve really enjoyed the last couple of days of being able to run outside and would like to officially declare winter OVER.  So please don’t get a giggle out of dumping snow on me after I’ve pack my gloves and such away.  Also, I’ve put my plants out on the patio…so lows above 32 would be super.
Sincerely,
Anne Marie
PS…Don’t think that you can make up for the low temps this past winter by making the summer especially hot…that’s just not cool.