Saturday, August 30, 2008

pig smoking/ smokers needed

saw this message recently:

We need to borrow your Meat Smoker.

On Saturday, September 13th we will be having a massive Pig Smoking at the Big Bear Cafe, and we need all the smokers we can pull together.

So far we have 2 smokers on hand, two promised by "friends of the Bear", and Ted McGinn has supplied his plans for the fire pit.

If you know of where to get a smoker we could definitely use it.

-Stu

2nd Annual Haitian Invasion/ housing needed.

See this request from Bloomingdale resident Teal:

I am working with Stu Davenport to prepare for the 2nd Annual Haitian Invasion.

Les Petits Chanteurs Choir will be passing through our community from Saturday, Sept 13th -- Tuesday, Sept 16th. The group is not quite as big as last year. This year we will have around 36 children ages 6 years to 18 years old accompanied by their chaperones.

Again this year, we need to find housing for everyone. I would like to put a request out on the list serve to ask for volunteers to help with housing for these kids while they are here. We need to find a place for everyone to sleep for the 3 nights that they are visiting our community. During the day, the group has planned activities to attend to. Hosts will be expected to drop the kids off at designated places/times early each morning and then pick them up again at the end of each day.

If anyone has room to accommodate any of our visitors, please contact me at: teal_d @ yahoo.com or 703- 855- 7296.

Saturday, August 23, 2008

farmers market tomorrow

Good morning BFM fans,

Ted says: Another great weekend is coming up and you will find new items and great deals at the BFM......Reid will have the first grapes of the season together with fresh pressed apple cider and heirloom tomato juice. Stop by early, grab a melon, some croissants and free- range breakfast sausage,plus a bottle of heirloom Tomato juice then head home to make a great brunch featuring heirloom bloody mary's.


Reid: Grapes! Grapes. Grapes. Caitlin is growing wine and eating grapes. Plus Satsuma and Duarte sweet plums, raspberries, blackberries, pesticide-free heirloom tomatoes, white and yellow peaches, yellow nectarines, and great eating and cooking apples. NEW NEW NEW: Heirloom Tomato Bruschetta Spreads: 1) Marsala Wine/ Sweet Onion, 2) Spicy 3) Basic House. More of their seriously peachy Peach Juice, some Heirloom Tomato Juice, and the first Apple Cider of the season. Many people say it is the best cider in the region. Try it yourself and decide.



Truck Patch Farms: Tomato Sale: Quarts of sauce, canning, gazpacho, cooking tomatoes: $3.50 a quart (about 2 pounds in a quart so about 1.75 a pound.). Use them for sauce, canning, gazpacho, cooking. I bake a bunch of them regularly on a hotel or cookie with olive oil, garlic, thyme and salt, and roast them for 5 or 6 hours at 250 degrees. Then I used half as a sauce and throw half in a freezer bag for a gray winter day.. Green beans, peppers, cucumbers, squash and squash blossoms, Sugar Baby and Crimson Treats watermelons. herbs.

I grilled some of their pork chops (rubbed with Indian spices and salt for dinner Wednesday night.) Just let them sit with the spices for at least hour before you cook them. Raves at the table. And if you pre-salt them and let them sit overnight, they cook up even juicier! (The salt acts like a brine and makes the chops really juicy).

Hungry for salads? Brian is growing tiny heads of romaine and other lettuces. Great with their arugula.

And pork, pork, pork, of course.

Did you see the WP article on baby squash/ flower fritters for breakfast: here is how to do it.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/20/AR2008082001032.html


Garner: Bernard asked us to tell you that he picks his cantaloups RIPE so they should be eaten on Sunday or Monday. Don't wait three or four days or they will be overripe.

Tomatoes, White sweet corn,cherry tomatoes, green beans, white superior potatoes,s eggplants, peppers, okra, squash, baby lima beans (boil and eat like edamame) , RIPE cantaloup for Eating NOW, watermelons, cukes.

Those mild-flavored, yellow pattypan squashes look funny but they are made for stuffing (or you can slice them for the grill). Just slice off the top for a lid, hollow them out and stuff them with ssauteed chopped veggies or cheese or a mix of sauteed meat and rice and veg...

http://www.theworldwidegourmet.com/products/vegetables/pattypan/

Tip:
* To know if the squash is cooked, poke it with a knife as you would do with a potato. Its tender flesh can be scooped out with a spoon.
* It appears in numerous dishes in the islands.
* Prepare pattypans like stuffed peppers. Bake for 20 minutes covered with aluminum foil.
* Sauté thinly sliced pattypans, seasoned as you would a sauté of chanterelle mushrooms.
* They go well with highly-flavored accompaniments: stuffings with ginger, vinegar, sweet and sour soups.

Recipes

Prepare like stuffed peppers.
If you decide to stuff the pattypans, cut off the lids; hollow out the inside with a spoon; heat some butter and oil in a skillet until foamy, add onion and cook gently until translucent; add meat and spices; cook for 3 minutes longer; blend in some bread crumbs; stuff the pattypans and place them in a baking dish into which you've poured 1/2" of water.

Bake for 20 minutes at 350° F, covered with aluminum foil. They can be served on their own, or with a tomato or white sauce, depending on the ingredients of the stuffing.
At the end of the cooking time, you can remove the lids and gratiné the pattypans by laying a piece of brie cheese over the stuffing.
Stuffing for a one-dish meal
Squash flesh, mushrooms, chicken breast and shallots, diced and sautéed; add cream, mint, parsley, salt and pepper and bake for at least 30 minutes in a 350° F oven.
OR
Stuff with a knob of butter or a mixture of ground meat( beef, pork or lamb), tomatoes, sautéed onions, garlic and ginger.

NanBon: lots more peach and berry cobblers.

7th Street Garden is back with eggplants, herbs, plants, greens and some surprises.

Breadline continues to have those great squares of onion focaccia, baguettes, muffins, cookies and loaves of multi-grain, whole wheat and French Country breads. (Let them know if they are running out of your favorite breads before you can buy them.)

See you Sunday

Robin, Ted, Ben, Jess


--
Robin Shuster
Markets & More
14& U Farmers Market
Bloomingdale Farmers Market

email: marketsandmore@gmail.com (sign up for our weekly market email!)
The 14&U Farmers Market:
Day: Every Saturday May 10- November 22nd,
Time: 9am - 1pm
Place: On the sidewalk of the Reeves Plaza, at the NW corner of 14th and U Streets NW.



The Bloomingdale Farmers Market:
Date: Every Sunday May 18th- November 23rd,
Time:10am - 2pm
Place: In front of the Big Bear Cafe on First and R Streets NW.

We Welcome WIC and Senior GET FRESH checks at both markets.

Thursday, August 21, 2008

2020 Martini

2020 martini

what's going on?

anyone know anything?

52 O street on NPR

look here

lost kitten

a kitten has been found in Truxton Circle on 4th street between R and Q NW.
To claim the kitty, email Lindsay at lreopelle AT mac.com

Post Offices

I got to the post office a lot. at least twice a week. My wife and i both sell stuff online via commissions requests and etsy.com.

It is rare that i go to the LeDroit Park Post Office.

For one, the hours suck.
8:30-01:00PM
2:00-05:00PM
monday through friday.
is this still 1975?

also, its dangerous to get to.
walking across florida and rhode island avenue during those hour is taking your life in your hands.
driving to the post office, you must enter by going east on florida. turning into the lot on florida while cars are closing in on you at 50 mph is not my idea of civilization. exiting is equally tricky.

Nor is entering the post office fortification. The bullet proof glass decontamination chamber feels cold war/ crack war era.

I went yesterday. no one was in line, i had two packages. it took 45 minutes.
apparently a guy there turned off the computers while the clerk was in the middle of scanning my packages in.
while the computer was blank, but my packages were on the other side of checkpoint charlie, mainly stood by laughing and talking about their job benefits.

That was maybe the fifth time i've been to that post office in the five years its been my closest post office. i hope i remember to never go there again. in fact, i quite hope that it closes allowing that whole clusterfuck on an intersection to develop into something less wastelandlike.

i would like to point out that the next two closest post offices to me, Brentwood and Union Station are the to BEST post offices in the city, staffed by friendly and very professional clerks.

At least once a month i am moved to compliment them. Brentwood is generally quicker and easier since there is a parking lot, but the hours at Union Station and the ease of public transportation are terrific.

no berlin wall at either, to boot.





Thursday, August 14, 2008

car break in last night

i received an email asking me to post this:
------------

My name is ( name withheld) and last night my car was broken into. It would have happened between 10PM when I went to sleep and 445AM when I went out to the car. The front passenger window was busted, my radio was stolen and my car was trashed. I don't think they took anything else and I filed a police report but I was wondering if anyone saw anything last night. I am sure someone would have called the police but just in case I thought I would ask around. I don't care so much about the radio but (this may sound cheesy) I think if we show that we notice these things and attempt to report the criminals then they will leave our neighborhood alone. My car was parked in front of 227 S street (near the BP end). I live on Florida but park behind the house. I am sorry if this is rambling but I am just a bit shaken and upset. I hope this helps but with something so minor I doubt it will. If anyone tries to sell an alpine radio CDA-9853 to any of the local shops then don't buy it or get their info and report it.

Thanks so much
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

howard theatre

here is a post about the renovation of the howard theatre

pizza pizza pizza

seems there are now three potential pizza places in the hood.

Martini2020
Baraki
and theres a rumor of a third one in the works at 2nd & elm NW.

anyone have any details?


on the subject of food, has anyone been to Hot Trout on Florida @ North Cap.?

Soul Day Spa

Apparently Soul Day Spa has been undergoing some renovations and has new signage.
anyone ever been there? what did you think?

The Bloomingdale Public Safety Initiative Neighborhood Walk.

Neighborhood Walk – Wednesday, August 13, 2008, 7:30

The Bloomingdale Public Safety Initiative

Invites You to Be a Part of Our Next Neighborhood Walk.

We had some great guests just our walk last Friday. So who knows who will join us this week! But we certainly hope you will come out and walk a few blocks with fellow neighbors who want to make Bloomingdale a better.

So please join with your neighbors, MPD, and DC Governmentt Staff and walk the streets of Bloomingdale! A strong, diverse community presence announces that this neighborhood does not tolerate crime, drugs, violence, and prostitution! But that’s not all our presence can do: we also encourage a caring community where neighbors look out for neighbors and who appreciate what everyone brings to the community table.


WEDNESDAY, August 13th

meet at the corner of 1st and V Streets, NW

7:30 P.M.

We can do it! See you there!


John T. Salatti
Commissioner, ANC 5C04
Recording Secretary, ANC 5C
(202) 986-2592
jsalatti @ earthlink.net
Together, Building a Better Bloomingdale"

empty lot at q and florida



this image is facing south
look at this:
DHCD Seeks Offers For Development Of District-Owned Lots
[http://newsroom.dc.gov/show.aspx/agency/dhcd/section/2/release/14484]

(Washington, DC) – The Department of Housing and Community Development officially released today a Solicitation of Offers for the development of several District-owned lots (site clusters).

The Department is seeking offers for the development of single and multifamily units, including affordable housing units, to be built on site clusters in the following four locations:

Site Cluster #1: W Street, SE;
Site Cluster#2: Kramer Street, NE; and
Site Cluster#3: Q Street and Florida Avenue, NW.

The Solicitation of Offers package, including application materials (in CD format), is available for pickup at Department of Housing and Community Development, Property Acquisition and Disposition Division, 801 North Capitol Street, NE, first floor receptionist desk.

The deadline for submission of offers is 3 pm on Wednesday, September 17.

LeDroit Park Mural "This is How We Live"

LeDroit Park Mural "This is How We Live"

CALLING ALL CHILDREN!!!

Did you know that LeDroit Park is getting its own mural?

The DC Commission of Arts and Humanities has selected an Artist to create an ORIGINAL mural for the wall at the intersection of 3rd & Elm Streets NW (next to the entrance to the Gage-Eckington School).

The design will include ART by the children of LeDroit Park!!

What: Art by Children for inclusion in the LeDroit Park Mural!

When: Saturday, August 16, 2008 from 1:30 to 5:00

Where: 400 Block of U Street NW (the event will be held during the annual U Street "pot-luck" Block Party)

Artist materials will be available for children to create original "ART" that may be selected to be in the final mural design! The mural's Artist and representatives from the DC Commission of Arts will be on hand to show-off the design & to answer questions about the project.

COME OUT AND JOIN US!!
Questions? Email Andrea at feniak-buchanan@ att.net

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

about the potential tavern...

interesting comments over HERE about the potential tavern on first@ t

Its an interesting discussion.

the prince visits timor

wonder what kind of google hits that title will get....
anyway, The Prince of Petworth visits Timor Bodega.

but you guys already knew about that place and shop there, right?

Friday, August 08, 2008

Neighborhood Walk – TODAY Friday, August 8, 2008

Neighborhood Walk – TODAY Friday, August 8, 2008

The Bloomingdale Public Safety Initiative

Invites You to Be a Part of Our Next Neighborhood Walk.

Word must getting out that these Bloomingdale walks are the thing to do! Because, in addition to our wonderful group of neighbors, we may also be joined by Councilmember Harry Thomas Jr.; Alice Thompson of the Mayor’s office; Debbie Smith, a former Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner serving ANC 5C; Robert Brannum, Chair of the 5D Citizens Advisory Council; and visitors from other neighborhoods.

So please join with your neighbors, MPD, and DC Gov ' t Staff and walk the streets of Bloomingdale! A strong, diverse community presence announces that this neighborhood does not tolerate crime, drugs, violence, and prostitution! But that’s not all our presence can do: we also encourage a caring community where neighbors look out for neighbors and who appreciate what everyone brings to the community table.


FRIDAY, August 8th

meet at the corner of 1st and V Streets, NW

6:30 P.M.


We can do it! See you there!


John T. Salatti
Commissioner, ANC 5C04
Recording Secretary, ANC 5C
(202) 986-2592
jsalatti @ earthlink.net
"Together, Building a Better Bloomingdale"

baraki and yoga

thought i'd post a link to Veranda, considering this

and oh.. it seems like there may be a yoga place across the street.

IMG_8240

first street is gonna be kickin it, huh?

Saturday, August 02, 2008

not Hellers but Baraki



Imgoph has the details of the future tavern at this spot



heres the message from the anc:
Dear Neighbors in Bloomingdale:

The Alcohol Beverage Regulation Administration has issued a “Notice of Public Hearing” for Monday, 29 September 2008 on a application for a license under the DC Alcohol Beverage Control Act for applicant/licensee: Baraki, LLC, operating under the trade name Baraki, license class – Retailer’s “C” Tavern, 84-85 T Street, NW. The licensee contact information is Dimitri P. Mallios, 202-625-7700. The nature of the operation is a local tavern featuring standard American fare with occasional DJ, occupancy load is 99. The planned hours of operation and hours of sale, service and consumption of alcohol beverages are Sunday-Thursday, 11am-2am, Friday and Saturday, 11am-3am; hours of entertainment will be Sunday – Thursday 9pm-2am, Friday and Saturday 9pm-3am. The hours for a sidewalk café with 24 seats will be Monday-Sunday 11am-12am.

Persons and ANC Commissions wishing to comment must file on or before Monday, 15 September 2008