Weekly Roundup: “Are We Really Going To Call it ‘The Teens?'” Edition.

January 8, 2010 at 7:35 am · Filed under DC ·Tagged "the teens", dc restaurants, new years resolutions, recipes I want to try, weekly roundup

Seriously - I'm so fickin' happy we're in a new decade. Can't it have a better name?

Thirteen. Fifteen. Eighteen. What do these numbers remind you of? For me, it’s really awkward clothing choices (leggings, over-sized sweatshirts and Doc Martens), an insufficient acne-fighting skincare regime, and rereading “The Bell Jar” more times than I care to admit. In other words, any phrase that reminds me of being a teenager does not inspire confidence. So are we really going to call this decade “the teens?” Couldn’t we find a better name for this decade? I’d even settle for “the not-aughts.”

Anyway, this week the Internets were buzzing with New Years resolutions, trend predictions for the new decade, restaurant week news, and roundups of our fabulous Food Blogger Potluck. Not a bad week for the first full week of 2010.

Recipes I want to try, as found during my obsessive Internet reading:

• Grapefruit ginger tea bread, from The Kitchn.

• Pho-like matzoh ball soup from Mango and Tomato.

• Farro salad with roast rutabaga and goat cheese, from The New York Times.

And in other news:

• It’s New Years resolution time. The Arugula Files has a list of food-related resolutions – a whopping 25 of them. And Lemmonex is making a New Years resolution to indulge in some self-care (and, like me, wants all those New Years resolution people to get out of her gym).

• Missed the Food Blogger Potluck? Dining in DC, Capital Cooking, The Arugula Files and Bisnow have roundups.
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• Derek Brown (who founded The Gibson and co-owns The Passenger, both known for their craft cocktails) has a piece in The Atlantic on cocktail trends for the next decade. He predicts food and cocktail pairings, monk-made liqueurs like Benedictine (get it?), vermouth, orange flavored liqueurs, and different varieties of ice will be big in the teens.

• Restaurant Week is January 11-17, and Dining in DC has been working round the clock to collect all the available menus. (Way to go Lisa!) Also check out her restaurant week picks.

• Best Bites lists foodie “ins and outs” for the new year. In: spaghetti and meatballs, bahn mi, and crushes on White House chef Sam Kass. Out: bacon, dirty martinis, and duck-fat frying. Some of the stuff I agree with – but can chocolate and peanut butter ever truly be “out?” I don’t think so.

• We Love DC reports that chocolate shop ACKC just opened a wine bar. Chocolate . . . wine . . . did they open it specifically for me?

• Gradually Greener totally reminded me that Hanks Oyster Bar has a great winter happy hour – oysters are only $1 each from 5:30-6:30. Damn my New Years resolution to go to the gym more. All I want to do it go out now.

• Tim Carman chronicles his attempt to make pizza from scratch on Young and Hungry, using a recipe from master baker Mark Furstenberg. And decides that, next time, he’s getting take-out. I want to take this opportunity to give a shout-out to the Rose Levy Beranbaum pizza recipe. It’s so easy, so quick, and so good (and so much cheaper than takeout).

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