Oh, hello there!

Well, it's been awhile! And lots of fun things have happened! Here's the rundown..

Two weekends ago was Greek Week at Hampden-Sydney! I took the day off on Friday so I would be able to spend lots of time there with Adam and all of his friends. It was so much fun! The weather was so nice, so we were able to hang out each day in the sunshine! There were all kinds of bands all weekend long ranging from a real bluegrass band to a Guns and Roses cover band.. costumes and all! The Last Waltz also made a repeat appearance on Saturday night, which was my favorite night! I ran into so many friends from USC and all over, and it was nice to just kick back and have a great time. I'm sad it's over, but maybe next year I can convince Adam to stop by HSC for one more GW!

I have mentioned before about the mutual love Adam and I have for onion rings, and one of our favorite places to order them is Macado's in Farmville. Not only are their onion rings the bomb, but they have great food in general. The sandwiches are the most popular because they have a variety of about 40 different kinds. I took a picture of the menu, much to Adam's embarrassment, but I knew it would be necessary to this blog post. Here it is.

This is only one side of it. I couldn't risk any more stares from people in other booths, so this is all I got. But, that's the largest menu I have every seen. The entire right side are different sandwiches called "Macado's Friends" because they are all named after someone or something famous. And it continues on the other side. Crazy!

Of course, we ordered the onion rings, and scarfed them down in about 2.5 seconds. I always get a side of ranch with rings, but Adam is all about the spicy dip. Here's a peek.

I have tried several different sandwiches at Macado's over the last two years, but my favorite is definitely the "Betty Boop." It has Mesquite turkey, bacon, melted Muenster cheese and mayo on Rye bread. I always ask them to add some lettuce and tomato, for crunch. :) It comes with a pickle and chips. Here it is below..

Adam ordered the "Steak Stack Sandwich" as a wrap, which are also just as delicious. It had Grilled London broil, melted Cheddar, lettuce, tomato, onion rings and bistro sauce. I don't know what bistro sauce is, but there was nothing left, so I am assuming it was good.

Needless to say, I was happy as a clam after my weekend in HSC. Lots of food, friends, fun, beer and bands. Too much? Mmm kk. Moving on.

Last Thursday, I attended the USC Alumni happy hour at Crystal City Sports Pub. I dragged Adam and Courtney along with me, since all of my friends that actually graduated from USC were all busy. No worries though, they welcomed the LSU grad and HSC kid with open arms. It was nice chatting with everyone there, but I was really excited about the raffle prize: two free tickets to the Nationals baseball game the next night!! I thought I had a pretty good shot, considering A and C both received raffle tickets when they came in. Well, we didn't win them, but by some stroke of amazing-ness, the president of the group, Melissa, gave them to me!! She said she was busy, and was more than happy to let me take them! I was so happy and thankful! It was so nice of her to do that for us.  After CCSP, we ventured to Clarendon Grill for the weekly happy hour with my friends. We had a fun time, as always and ventured home pretty early.

On Friday, we went here, despite the impending storm:

Although it did rain a bit during the game, we found some really good standing spots under the overhang near the beer stand, so we were happy campers for the most part. When it stopped raining, we would venture back down to the seats. We had a good time and the Nats ended up winning! So that made it even better!

On Saturday, I got tickets for us to go to the White House Garden Tour. I was pretty excited, since it is pretty rare you get to be up-close and personal with the WH. We took the Metro into the city, and found the line backed up 5 blocks and around the corner. Yeah, the WHGT didn't happen. We decided to walk around some more instead. We ended up traveling 1.5 miles to Foggy Bottom, Adam's old stomping ground last summer, and found ourselves in Froggy Bottom Pub.* It was so fun to be there again. I can't believe it's been a year since we first went there. Time is flying that's for sure. Overall the rest of the weekend was great too. We went to Katie and Heather's apartment and also went to Georgetown and Glover Park for a bit. Definite success.

So that's about it, up until now. Last night, I made Salmon Cakes for dinner and they were amazing. Thank you again, Giada. I changed some of it, but for the most part it's the same. Also, let me point out that this recipe takes about 2 hours from start to finish, so if you are super hungry make the salmon a day in advance. Here is the recipe:

Ingredients:

1/2 lb. fresh salmon fillet
Olive oil
S & P
1 large egg, beaten
1/3 cup fresh chives, chopped
1 sleeve saltine crackers, crushed finely
1/4 cup frozen corn, thawed
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
Juice of half a lemon
1 tablespoon lemon zest
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature

Recipe:

For the salmon, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place the salmon on a baking sheet lined with tin foil and coat with olive oil, S & P. Bake for 20 minutes until done. Let cool.

For the cakes, using a fork, flake the salmon into pieces and add to a medium bowl. Add the egg, chives, half of the saltine crackers, mayo, mustard, corn, lemon juice and zest. Mix gently until combined. If the mixture is a bit dry, add a bit more mayo. Form the mixture into patties, the size of each is up to you. I was able to make 5 out of this mixture. Lay the rest of the crushed saltines on a plate. Carefully coat and cover the patties with the crackers. Be careful to handle them gently, as they fall apart easily. Refrigerate them for one hour. This is to ensure they set and don't fall apart when cooking.

In a large skillet, melt the butter and vegetable oil together over medium heat. Starting two at a time, place the patties in the skillet and cook them about 4 minutes per side, depending on your stove. Be careful to check them for burning. Place on a paper towel to drain. Serve with tartar sauce.

Here they are.. I made corn bread muffins with Cheddar cheese, green onions and corn as a side.

They are realllllllly good. The cracker coating makes them really crispy, but the inside is so creamy with lots of salmon. The lemon juice and zest really go well and give them a bit of a punch. Definitely try them if you are tired of baked or broiled fish!

Well, there are two weeks worth of updates for you! Nothing too exciting is happening this weekend, so maybe I'll get creative and have more foods to blog about! Adam graduates in three weeks, so I'll be heading up to HSC for the last time that weekend. And in 37 days, my whole family is heading to Corolla Beach in the Outer Banks of NC for a WEEK! I can't wait!

Have a great weekend!

PS: Here is a little pic for you to enjoy. Those who know Adam's little friend, Jeero,  will appreciate this. Good thing he looks manly with his Budweiser and that he doesn't read my blog that much. Bahaha. You can find out more info about Uglydolls here. Hehe!

* Note to self: Jack Rogers are NOT conducive to roaming around a concrete jungle with a boy that sprints when he walks.