A Monumental Event

This semester I had the honor and pleasure to work on an exhibit about the Washington Monument and its grounds (Read a review here). To celebrate our accomplishment and to mark the exhibit's impending invisibility, we gathered for a dinner party and toast.

The task was simple: prepare an appetizer or dessert inspired by the exhibit. I decided to re-create the National Mall while also paying homage to our original logo, which was nixed early on for technical reasons. Brownies would represent the earth, while green frosting would be the grass. I discovered a new product: base frosting, to which you can add packets of color and flavor. Luckily, the store had green, which was mint flavored. Yum! I considered constructing the WaMo out of graham crackers and frosting, but then a friend opened my eyes to the wonders of rice crispy treats (which actually could have used a toothpick or two for support). And of course, let's not for get the Jefferson Pier, which L'Enfant intended to be the center point for DC but now sits, forgotten, in the shadow of the monument (at least in the early morning).

Our original logo (more or less)

These special ingredients provide instand, monumental results!

Luckily, the green packet is mint flavored!

The Washington Monument (and Jefferson Pier) looking from the south-west.

H-M's cookies, shaped and colored like the WaMo and JP. These were delicious.

Don't play with your food! Or don't eat your toys?

Ashley used part of her Christmas gift to decorate this cake.

Sunstroke and Smoothies

Please forgive my lack of writing, oh two loyal readers, and accept this post as a natural continuation of my previous post. Another hot day, another exciting fruit drink. Except this time the recipe was (slightly) more complicated and (slightly) less seasonally local.

I spent the better part of Saturday laying in the sun with my friend while we discussed the very real possibility of giving ourselves sunstroke. After a few hours of basking and a frustrating attempt at scrabble, we decided to embark on the ultimate summer activity: smoothies!

A quick trip to am-pam (aka pan-am) produced a mango (Peru) and strawberries (Florida). The yogurt and honey were nixed in favor of our vegan friend. Chop the fruit, then add some pure cranberry juice and a scoop of whatever fruit sorbet you've got in the freezer. A few ice cubes do the magic.

Make sure you've got the lid of the blender on tight.

Pour the smoothie into cups, grab boggle, and head back into the back yard for more sunshine and frustration! (we were not having a good word-game-day)