The District Darling: Cheers from the District Darling

Last week, my friend and coworker Melanie celebrated her birthday atop an apartment roof overlooking the city and Union Station. There was DQ ice cream cake and champagne there too! What more could you ask for? Later in the week, the birthday girl invited me to see Donavon Frankenreiter at the Hamilton. A friend of hers couldn't go at the last minute and I scored the ticket as a result. The beachy tunes and fake put-put golf course grass on stage made me feel that I had taken a trip to Hawaii.

Last Friday, John and I were happy to host our first dinner guests-Laura and Clint. We know them through mutual friends from back home and were so happy to be able to get to know them more since our move to the District. I made a big pot of Italian Wedding Soup, Laura brought a yummy salad and I made some homemade chocolate chip cookies for dessert. It was a perfect and relaxed evening with friends.

Italian Wedding Soup

Ingredients:

1/2 lb ground Italian Sausage

3 Tbsp Italian breadcrumbs

1/2 cup Orzo

2 cups baby Spinach, chopped

1 Tbsp olive oil

1 small onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic, chopped

3 carrots, chopped

2 tsp Worcestershire sauce

1 tsp dried sage

4 cups chicken broth

2 cups water

1 Tbsp Parmesan cheese plus a dash for garnish

Meatballs: Preheat oven to 350. Combine ground Italian sausage, Parmesan cheese, breadcrumbs, 1 clove garlic, 1 tsp sage and 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce in a bowl. Mix to combine. Form 1 inch meatballs and place on a lightly greased baking sheet. Bake at 350 for 10 minutes or until cooked through.

Soup: Heat olive oil in pan over medium heat. Add onion and carrots and cook until they are softened. Add 2 tsp garlic, 1/2 tsp sage and 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce. Cook 1 minute. Add chicken broth and water and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer until vegetables are tender. Add orzo and cook until pasta is tender, about 7 minutes. Add in meatballs. Add in spinach right before serving and garnish with Parmesan. Enjoy!

The next morning, I met up with Laura to have brunch at Big Bear Cafe. I will say, the neighborhood may mislead you into judging the restaurant prematurely, but it is most definitely a diamond in the rough. The building itself is covered in grape vines, trellises, and big bulbed twinkle lights. The menu is small but filled with fresh baked pastries and tasty breakfast treats like a breakfast bagel with bacon, egg and cheese. Ingredients are sourced from local farms, dairy producers and vendors. It is such a great atmosphere and a wonderful place to grab breakfast on a sunny Saturday morning.

After we had our caffeine fix, we strolled on over to Union Market to check out some of my favorites like Salt and Sundry and Lyon Bakery. Then, we were on our way to the Dolcezza Gelato Factory housed directly behind the market. I have posted about my obsession with their decadent gelato before. So, you can imagine how thrilled I was to see where it was made. Even though there wasn't an active tour of the factory going on during our visit (*you better believe that I will be going back to catch one though), we still got to take in the sights of the place as we enjoyed our tasty treats-blackberry cream for this girl. Delish!

Later that afternoon, I met up with my friend Wesley for a tour of the Anderson House. The 1905 lavish estate belonged to the prestegious Anderson family and was, and still is , a meeting place of the Society of the Cincinatti. The artwork, architecture and stately beauty was quite a sight to take in. Oh, and the best part? It was absolutely free.

That evening, as soon as John got home for work, we had a late dinner at Thai Tanic (yes, pun intended). Don't let the goofy name or bright neon sign fool you, the food was quite good. We started with an order of Kanom Jeep and Tom Ka Jae and then finished it off with an order of chicken Pad Preaw Whan. In addition to the food being good, the location was perfect seeing as it was right across the street from Churchkey- where we celebrated one of John's fellow resident's birthdays.

The next day, after a lovely church service that featured music by none other than the Beatles- my friends Seton and Cristi met up with me to run/walk alongside a group from my church to benefit Back on My Feet. The nonprofit helps those experiencing homelessness turn their lives around through running. We meandered our way from Dupont Circle to the Mall and back, enjoying some sunshine and conversation along the way.

After I cleaned up, I quickly made my way to Capitol Skyline Hotel to meet up with some new friends, Carly and her sweet baby girl Adler for the SynchroSwim (synchronized swimming competition). Carly is also a fellow resident's wife from Alabma(although her husband is at a different hospital). We were set up through some family back home and I couldn't have been happier to finally put a face with a name. I had never seen the sport before. So, it was a quite a treat and I couldn't get over how many people turned out for the event. It was so fun, especially because I got to hang out with new friends during the process.