The Government Didn't Shut Down...

...but my motivation did! Sorry folks!

I'm sure you all know the feeling I've been having these past couple of weeks... You get home after a long day at work, having run a number of errands on the way home, and the last thing you want to do is dream up what to cook that evening. Times like these are why frozen pizza is a multi-billion-dollar industry!

(For the record, I find the best frozen pizza to be Freschetta Rising Crust cheese pizza.)

This day-in, day-out tedium of eating to survive (not to enjoy) is a rut we all fall in to at some point. I'm sure even Ina Garten (love her) orders Chinese delivery every now and again. However, there will always be something to break us out of our food shell.

For me, this week, that something is the upcoming Easter holiday. For you, it may have been Passover. Or the weather getting warm enough to grill again. Perhaps you saw some amazing looking artisanal cheese when your local farmer's market started back up. What ever it is, run with it! Spring is a time of delicious ingredients, a time for the return of fresh fruits and vegetables to the table. Let the food inspire you!

Like I said above, the coming Easter holiday has knocked me back in to food mode. Unlike many years, when I travel to see extended family, this year they are coming to me! Obviously, I've been fantasizing about this meal since January.

Over the next couple days, I'll be posting recipes that I will be making, or those that came in a close second to the final choices. I hope you all enjoy them!

So, about that bread line...

Aren't our bowler hats stylish?!

Well faithful readers, it looks like the US government is about to shut down until the crybabies (ahem, or one crybaby in particular) on Capitol Hill get their acts together and pass a continuing resolution for the budget for fiscal year 2011. Being a life-long DC-area resident and avid policy wonk, I know many, many Federal government workers who will be, in effect, furloughed (aka, vacay without pay).

Now, while one of my friends (a staffer for a House member from the Midwest, and who shall remain anonymous for fear of the guillotine), laughed heartily and said "LET THEM EAT CAKE", I'm thinking that many of these Federal employees are living a fairly meager existance in DC, the city with the third-highest cost of living in the country (behind Manhattan and San Francisco).

I feel for you, my friends. Having been, until recently, among the long-term unemployed, I understand the feeling of having a depleted savings and paying for groceries in spare change. Thus, I have decided to bring you some inexpensive edibles, all tasty, and all costing less than 20$ for 2 servings at DC supermarket prices.

Now, I will not be providing my recipe for my world-famous gruel (that's a joke, folks), but I will be exploring some great food staples that are also inexpensive (for example: eggs, chicken thighs, flank steak, and rice). And don't worry, I promise everything will be tasty!

N.B.: I will not include spices in the pricing of my meals, so if I use one you don't have around the kitchen, write me, and we'll work out another option!

Please sir, can I have some more?

PS: None of these recipes will involve tea in any way, shape, or form. I promise.