Food

I made my way to the new Whole Foods last night after work. It was a mad house. The parking lot was packed which I have never seen before. The store is different than my other WFs. First it's smaller I think. It must be since I was underwhelmed by the produce section - still best in town but compared with the other stores its half the size. Considering produce is over half the stuff I buy at WFs I'm hoping they've edited it down to my specific palette.

I meandered around the store, getting a lay of the land. This store has a lot more of the yuppie specialty stuff. There was a whole aisle of alternative herbal medical stuff. There was a bank of bulk stuff that turned out to be just for making protein shakes or something like that I think.

The butcher counter is strange since all the meat is pre packaged but the fish section was custom order. I think there was only two aisles of food staples but I couldn't find anything missing. Thankfully the cheese counter was half size - that's always my Achilles heel - good cheese. And next to the cheese is a cured meat/fresh pasta counter. I had never seen this before. It's separate from the deli counter. There's still a robust section of prepared foods and salad bar and even a burrito counter. Usually the stuff I skip.

It was a little eerie walking the aisles. Although there has been a major face lift the store is still similar to Johnnies that was there before. Except different lighting and very crowded. I started missing the old quiet place where I didn't have to jostle to get a jar of tomato sauce. I'm hoping it will quiet down and be a good addition to the neighborhood. Overall happy although half the store I could do without. The non-grocery store part.

And on to the beginning of a tradition I hope. Making better meals during the week and posting the details so I can keep track of keepers.

I picked up some Gruyere cheese and made this chicken dish that I found on Pinterest. It's a take on French onion soup (which I love) and seemed to fit in with the new fall weather.

http://www.thekitchn.com/dinner-recipe-french-onion-chi-144744

Can't seem to do a hyperlink so this will have to do.

I liked the dish but the chicken stock I used must have been salty which diminished the dish. It took a long time, about two hours, so won't be in the regular rotation. I had fresh thyme but not the rosemary so left it out and don't think it mattered. The cheese seemed to get lost in the dish so if budget conscious just leave it off.

I had it with a baked yam, cooked in olive oil and fresh thyme. As well as a side salad with avocado and feta. Followed with a bowl of raspberries for dessert. A very colorful dinner!

I think I'll get about three meals out of the dish since I halved the recipe. Next time use less mustard, maybe half of what is called for so the caramelized onions can shine through more.

And that was my night.

Autumn

This morning I was a sad mess. My tooth with a new filling hurt when I ate, I have a head cold with a wicked sore throat and a red and runny nose and last night I tore my contact and left half of it in my eye - it migrated to the back and I still couldn't get it out!

But things are looking up. I popped into my dentist and they verified everything was good just give it time. Much better than having to have more work done. Then tonight at work I was rubbing my eye and was able to shift the contact and got it out. I drank twice as much liquids - water and tea galore so hopefully I'm flushing the system of the cold.

I did miss my bus tonight so had to wait for an extra half hour. I miss having the bike but its gotten cold and dark. On the upside I did have a good mystery, a Peter Robinson one that I picked up in Greenwich England at an Oxfam - this is now becoming tradition. And I just found out that Whole Foods is opening tomorrow! I'm so excited to have one so close by. Which is crazy lazy since I already have 2 Whole Foods and 2 Trader Joes within 2 miles. Now it will be 3!

DC travel

I got back from London last week and was able to pop into the office Friday for a few hours between meetings only to find out I had to be down in DC today for a meeting.

Last minute booking got me on the last JetBlue flight Monday morning. It got me in just in time and I'd have to go directly from the airport to the clients office. No stopping at our Alexandria office first.

It was a strange flight. First, about twenty minutes in they made an announcement asking for anyone with medical experience to buzz the flight attendant. I thought we might have an emergency landing in NYC or somewhere short of Regan airport. But all was quiet on the flight so I guess everyone was ok. A little while later I noticed on the news info about the Navy Shipping Yard.

As you know if you've flown JetBlue the seats are equipped with individual TVs that stream cable channels. It's like sitting at home flipping through TV. I was watching something else when my neighbor nudges me and points to his tv screen showing Regan airport is closed.

So that got us all talking speculating our flight will get rerouted to Dulles airport. Finally the pilot gets on and announces that there has been no change in plans that we were still scheduled to land at Regan. He then jokes that we all probably know more than he does with our TV sets.

In the end it all worked out and we arrived at our meeting five minutes early. I did get a little nervous that I had just flown down to DC for nothing since by the time we arrived from any other airport to our meeting we would have been so late we missed it and would have had to reschedule.

But it all worked out. Got to pop into the office after the meeting to say hi to some of the new hires. I stopped by the grocery store on the way home and bought a ton of fruit and green juice to try to fight off the cold I caught. And now I'm home hunkering down debating if I have a little more energy or if I should just call it a day and go to sleep! I'm very happy to be safely home.

London II

I'm off again to London, just sitting in my little pod on Virgin and was just offered a set of pajamas for the flight.  I was a bit surprised and passed on them for now but it's strange seeing everyone around me getting ready for bed.  Frankly it's been a hectic week.  I got a little breather earlier last month but didn't notice that things had let up a bit until everything ramped up again.  Today was just a mad dash getting everything in order at home and at work before I left.  I've been running around non-stop not having a chance to even figure out my London trip.  

I finally booked a hotel two days ago and splurged on a day trip I bought today.  I ended up staying in Greenwich (of the meridian fame). I was contemplating seeing some other part of England since the hotels were much pricier this time round (which is strange September is more expensive than June). I think I got a good little fine for a hotel and Sunday I'm taking a trip that is a bike tour of some bucolic area outside of London, visiting castles and everything.  Now that I'm boarded and leaving work and home behind I'm finally settling in and relaxing ready to enjoy my little mini vacation.

Nothing like traveling business class.  I love the preferential treatment - no waiting in security lines, special lounges and awesome food to snack on.  Very advantageous since I worked through lunch today and was famished.  I just got interrupted by the steward who gave me the run down.  The tv screen is touch screen, .... Must log off, we're leaving!  See you on the other side of the ocean!!

Airport lounges

All this times was flying the wrong airline. Check out this spread! Cheese plate, NE clam chowder and a sandwich made to order not to mention all the great salad sides and dessert I had to pass up since I have to save room for the actual dinner on the plane. Virgin Atlantic btw.