Thoughts About Birthday Cakes.

My roommate, Karilee, had a birthday last week. She had about ten people over for dinner, and I volunteered to make her birthday cake. And then I asked her what kind of cake she wanted because on your birthday you should choose the type of cake.

Keyword - should.

My little sister doesn't eat chocolate. When my birthday rolled around each July, we ordered a vanilla cake. It wasn't until I went to college that I learned that in other families the birthday kid picked the kind of cake or dessert. We always had white cake.

As I write this, I know that my mom and sister are rolling their eyes. The fact about the white cake is that it was the best cake I've ever had. Still to this day, it is the greatest white cake ever. Unfortunately, the "Cake Lady" as we called her, isn't in the business anymore. Otherwise I would buy each of you a cake for your birthday.

It was that good.

Back to Karilee's birthday cake. She wanted chocolate, and I instantly thought of our friend Meg's wonderful chocolate chip cake. It was so rich and delicious, and I knew Lindsay had the recipe. She emailed it to me, and I almost died. Seriously, my arteries closed up a little bit. The reason the cake was SO good had a lot to do with the 3/4 cup of oil in the cake.

I found an almost identical cake at Cooking Light but in a much lighter form. I followed the directions exactly as they were written and made this beauty of a cake.

Rachel is the only person who thought it tasted "light" but not in a bad way. It was well received at the birthday party and the leftovers were gobbled up at school lunch.

I would make it again because it was moist, and it came out of the pan. My biggest fear in cake baking is that it won't come out of the pan.

And most importantly, it was chocolate. I will spend the rest of my life making up for all the chocolate cakes I didn't get to eat as a kid.

Thursday with Trumans.

Today a group of really nervous college juniors are interviewing for the Truman Scholarship. Last night I hosted a dinner for them in Washington, D.C. at Asia Nine to introduce them to area Truman Scholars. It's a pretty casual event, and we had about two dozen finalists and scholars gathered together for the event.

This photo is from the restaurant's website. I'm embarrassed to be a blogger sometimes when I'm with a new crowd, so I stole one of their photos. Asia Nine was a great spot for the dinner, a true miracle in DC because they willingly split the checks for 24 people. The service was wonderful, food was hot, and we were able to visit around our large table easily. They had several vegetarian options, which is good, because the Truman lot tends to include quite a few vegetarians. Remind me to tell you about the time that I hosted a finalist dinner at Jack Stack BBQ in Kansas City. BBQ restaurants are not vegetarian friendly. Whoops.

The scholars have a lot of fun telling the finalists about what we do in our real jobs, because very few of us actually do what we said we would do in our Truman proposals back in the day. According to my plan, I would have taught three years and then pursued a degree in education policy, probably at Stanford or Harvard. HA. Even on the days where students make me really really frustrated, I wouldn't want to trade my job for a policy position.

I might trade it for a fountain machine and an unlimited supply of diet coke. Like 7-11 or QuikTrip with every option being diet coke. All the time. Yeah, that's a tempting trade.

Conversation is always fun at these events. I love to hear about the things the finalists are doing as undergraduates - it makes me hopeful for the future. It should make you excited too. Water filters in Bangladesh, education standards reform, social entrepreneurship with rats and land mines - this is cool stuff.

I trade their cool adventures with harrowing stories of 8th graders in Kansas and Virginia and a few funny anecdotes from my application days. Like the fact that I watched "The Newlyweds" with Jessica Simpson before my interview. Or I like to tell them that during my interview the panel asked if I had ever been to the Teaching Hall of Fame in Emporia. And I lied and said yes.

Hopefully it helped one of the finalists that was nervous this morning, and he or she said, "If the girl who watched the Newlyweds and lied during her interview could win the Truman, then surely I can too."

Dream big America.

Belle, On a Diet.

Everyone's favorite canine heroine is as lovable as ever. And lately there is a little more Belle to love. When I took her for a check-up and vaccinations a while back, Belle weighed nine pounds more than when she left Kansas City. I wasn't that concerned at first because she was always a little skinny so I thought it was probably just the decrease in her puppy appetite.

But then I began to really notice the extra pudge around her belly. On Sunday, Rachel tried to take her on a six mile run with Copper. Belle was exhausted after two miles. They tried again on Tuesday, and Belle was exhausted again very early and ended up walking with me instead.

Oh Belle. Poor poor Belle. The whole situation is made worse because I know that a lot of this is my fault. I spoiled her during the long winter with puppy biscuits and not enough exercise. And peanut butter, oh, the peanut butter. It made her happy, and she would leave me alone for awhile to clean it off her bone.

We're walking more thanks to the return of warmer temperatures and melted snow. And the other day I stopped at the pet store to pick up this bag of dog food. It's the same brand Belle's been eating, just lighter. I also bought some doggie treats that are "lite."

Look at her face. She knows she's been put on a diet.

So far, so good. No complaints at meal time.

BFFs in Brooklyn.

Brunch Review: The Lodge.

I knew immediately when I stepped into the Lodge that it was the kind of place you can trust for a good brunch. The atmosphere is a funky and homey blend, and according to Andrea it is huge by Brooklyn standards.

Look at all the warm woods and antler chandeliers. Cozy, huh?


We were out for a very casual Sunday morning brunch (along with the rest of Brooklyn) so we were delighted to find out that mimosas and Bloody Marys were two for one, at only $9 a person. Yes, please, and thank you.

I don't care for Bloody Marys. But I do care that it is served in a Ball canning jar. Perfect! I wish the mimosa was that big too...

The menu included hearty biscuits, egg dishes, french toast and buttermilk waffles. Apparently many people (my bestie Andrea included) like to eat burgers at brunch, so they are common on the menus in Brooklyn.

Andrea's burger was huge and rare - the way she ordered it! I knew there was a little Kansas left in her, eating that huge rare burger. The little bites of burger I had were yummy. I'm from Kansas. I have an opinion on good beef, and this easily passed the test.

Breakfast is my favorite meal of the day, so of course I went traditional with pancakes and sausage. They were pretty heavy on the buttermilk which made them perfect for soaking up syrup. The blueberries were sparse, but added fresh pops of flavor.

Brunch is my favorite time of the day to eat "out." The whole day is ahead of you. Girlfriends are honest and conversation is casual.

I Would Be a Bad New Yorker.

I'm on the bus headed home from New York City. When I get back into DC, it will drop me off smack in the middle of downtown DC about two blocks from a metro spot. It will be easy for me to navigate around to the Metro and home to my quiet Virginia suburb. But no matter how comfortable I feel in my own big city or in Chicago, New York City always wears me out.

I love New York. Visiting Andrea and being a quick bus ride from my "oldest" best friend is fantastic. But moving there is out of the question. I would be a terrible New Yorker.

1. My skinny jeans are not skinny enough.
   
2. I have a dog that is really accustomed to having a backyard.
3. I prefer waiting until the subway has stopped completely before standing up to get off. (In DC, you can tell out-of-towners because they stand up to exit so early. In NYC, if you aren't standing up, you are clearly not a New Yorker with important places to go.)
4. I do not own riding boots to tuck my skinny jeans into.
5. I get lost too easily. And sometimes the roads in NYC and Brooklyn start to all look the same. Bars. Restaurants. Tourist shops. Repeat.
   
6. The best grocery stores to me have more than four aisles. And customer service counters.
7. I am overly obsessed with famous people. Seeing them in New York City might make me act like a fool. I had to sit on my hands so I didn't wave at Jimmy Fallon during the rehearsal.
   
8. I like driving my huge SUV around town.
9. Public school teachers don't make very much money. And NYC is pricey.
10. Every time I see a NYC cop car, I wonder if Olivia Benson and Elliott Stabler are inside.

I could get used to the walking. Eventually my body would catch up with all the late nights out in Williamsburg bars with Andrea. I would put on a few extra pounds eating slices of NY style pizza and bagels, and then walk them off again.

(me in Union Square)

But I think eventually New York and I would want to break up. It'd be one of those "let's be friends" sort of break-ups where everyone mutually decides that it is for the best. We'll still see each other sometimes, and have a great time, but we won't be committed into anything serious. It's for the best, really.

NYC Good Eats: Andy & Vic Edition.

Andrea and I had a busy Saturday that included carefully planned sustenance around NYC..

First stop, Bagelsmith in Williamsburg on our way into the city.

New York bagels are something special. They are big and serious. Because of the way they are boiled and then baked, they are a little chewy in a good way. Not unlike most New Yorkers, they are a little bit of tough on the outside.

Andrea's bagel was a whole wheat everything with scallion tofu "cream cheese." There was no cream cheese, and instead they made tofu look like the real stuff. I don't know about this, but Andrea swore it was good. This is NOT a knock on tofu - I have purchased it several times in the last few months. I just really loved the real walnut raisin cream cheese generously schmeared across my whole wheat bagel.

After the MOMA and the Tim Burton exhibit, we shopped around Union Square for awhile. Then it was time for more food, specifically frozen yogurt at Pinkberry.

I got the medium (don't judge) and all of the fruit the man could squeeze on the cup of coconut and original yogurt. Apparently, it was magic "have as many toppings as you want" day, so Andrea and I both loaded up with all the toppings possible. Good news is that there is a Pinkberry headed to DC soon so I don't have to sit around longing for frozen yogurt for too many more days.

We saw "The Ghost Writer" in Union Square with my friend Vishal. The movie got great reviews, and they were accurate. We all really liked it!

Time for more food. Dereck, eat your heart out, it's New York pizza at its best.

At Carmine's in Brooklyn, there were a ton of beautiful pizzas to choose from for dinner. Andy and I added a cannoli and calamari to our huge slices of pizza - including one slice of veggie, eggplant, pesto, and CHILI DOG.

So good. So good. And then we were so full. The end.