We Are Family

How do you get your butt out of bed early on a Saturday morning even though you are still on CA time, meet some really cool people, help Alex conquer his fear of older people (translate: growing up), get a decent workout, and see new parts in DC all in one? You volunteer.

Last night Alex got an email from We Are Family, a volunteer organization that he helped out a few years ago with his staff. We Are Family is group started by seniors citizens and now run by one employee and a volunteers who deliver groceries, help seniors with housing issues, provide transportation, go on house visits, and more.


This morning, Alex and I joined around 20 volunteers to assemble and delivere 200+ bags of groceries for senior citizens throughout DC on a sweltering, humid day. The people we delivered groceries to were appreciative (except for the woman who pouted when Alex would not give her an extra bag) and I met my first 100 year-old person. The diverse group of volunteers I met were also great-- my favorite being the 7 year-old who helped load the bags with soup. There was something really cool about the fact that by the end of the 4-hours working together, we were all giving each other hugs and waving goodbye. Everyone was just so nice.

I really miss doing volunteer work. Amongst one of the many things that I wish Obama would do is encourage more service. I am a proponent for compulsory community service hours during high school, but that is a whole different blog post. I volunteered for hundreds of hours in high school (and no, not just for college apps) and then kind of dropped the ball during college and law school. I did things here and there, including Habitat for Humanity with Alex before we started dating (the paint fumes won me over) and my law school's legal clinic, but nothing regular.

So I am making a resolution, at least one volunteer activity a month. I think that is realistic with my work schedule and everything else "fun" that I have been wanting to do post-law school.

Acid Trip

While Top Chef makes for great entertainment, it is also educational. The greatest lesson I have learned after watching five seasons plus a season of Top Chef Masters is that if there is something missing in your dish, add acid.

The Asian Noodle Salad I made yesterday was good but needed something. So I splashed some rice wine vinegar on it. Voila.

Top Chef taught me that while most people tend to over salt their food, what most dishes need is acid to make the flavors pop. My pantry is slowly accumulating more acids: balsamic, rice wine, and regular vinegar; lemon juice and limes. I think whenever I get a house, I have to plant a lemon tree.

My latest food discovery is how amazing acidic pickled vegetables are on sandwiches, particularly on Vietnamese Banh Mi (Saigon Sandwiches from San Francisco pictured above). Sure, I grew up on Banh Mi my entire life but I never put on the vegetables. I always assumed they were soaked in fish sauce or something because my dad did not eat them and thought they were smelly. Little did I know that it was just carrots and radishes picked in vinegar and sugar. The pickled vegetables, jalepeno, and fresh cilantro provide a great balance to richness of the meat, pate (I love pate), mayo-like spread, and baguette. Such an amazing combination of flavors.

Funny how I do not make these food epiphanies until I am 3,000 away from Little Saigon. Hopefully Virginia's Eden Center has something comparable or I might try to make it.

Back in Action

I am back in DC after a relaxing three-week stay in California. Even though I did not get a big bar trip, I loved going back to my home state and doing touristy things with my family (wine tasting, hiking amongst the redwoods, going to the Hollywood Bowl, visiting museums, walking along the beach) as well as doing local things (eating in-n-out and a lot of Vietnamese food). I would do a more extensive recap but there are many pictures on Facebook and, well, I am mentally still on vacation.

As great as vacation was, it felt good to be back home and not living out of a suitcase. There was a weird comfort about cleaning my room, scrubbing down the kitchen, and stocking my fridge again. I was cleansing my apartment from the Summer of Study.

Finally, after watching hours of Top Chef and Top Chef Masters yesterday, I knew I wanted to cook and had hours to do so. I have been eying Asian Noodle Salad from Pioneer Woman, and despite the lackluster produce selection in DC, it was delicious. Light and summery, had those Asian flavors I ate all summer as well as tons of vegetables-- Napa and purple cabbage, spinach, bean sprouts, red peppers, cilantro, etc. Even though I cut the recipe in half, I still have enough salad for days. Yum.

I cannot wait to try out more recipes with this free time I have now.