Cook Off!

My itinerant blog has become, well, rather quiet while I've been grounded by the office and the summer weather here in the swamp has beaten me up. Apologies. However, fear not! The fiscal year is nearly over, and I have a plan. In fact, I've already had my leave approved, and I'll be taking off for four whole weeks (yes, really!) during the fiscal year turnover. My team has plenty to do, and if I don't take a break then -- one year after my last break -- I won't get another chance until the project is done next May/June. So, I hope to make the plans next weekend, and then I'll fill you in.

In the meantime, the summer of festivals has come to a close. I don't have tons of images to show for it, owing to some camera/phone issues I've had lately, but here are a few. But I promise to take lots (with the real camera) and do some good blogging while I'm on vacay, so hopefully these will cover for a bit. And, Bree's coming to visit weekend after next, so I'm sure we'll get some good ones then too.

Weekend before last, Mom and Dad Dawson were in town, and we headed out to Pittsburgh for a family reunion. This is the same reunion from which we've seen photos before, where Greg has said, "That's a cousin. That's a cousin. I don't know who that is. I think that's a cousin. Maybe that's a relative? I have no idea who that is. I think that's a cousin." You get the idea. And my usual reply is, "Well, one year we need to go so that you can reconnect with the family." Turns out, this was our year. Mom and Dad decided to drive out, and figured they'd stop in DC and pick us up. Not exactly on the way, but it's relative compared to driving from Florida.

Once we got there, all was fine, but that proved to be the trick. The usual Washington-area traffic, which did flummox Dad, but not compared to the Pittsburgh traffic on the turnpike near the (closed) tunnel. Ah well, we made it. And it was a good weekend with really nice people. However, aside from seeing the in-laws, what I liked most was out stop on the way home, after we'd been to Morgantown WV to see relatives again before heading home.


Sideling Hill! Near Hancock MD, this road cut along I-68 in the Allegheny Mountains (Appalachian Range), is actually one of the best rock exposures in the eastern U.S., notable for the exposed strata and the geologic structure.


Really, look at that syncline! Look at that inversion! (OK, OK, I know I'm a geek. My graduate geology class took a field trip out here and it really is an amazing structure. Check out this link for more details: Sideling Hill.) I'll tell you just one cool thing in case you don't share my enthusiasm: that white stripe near the top? The remains of a sea-level alluvial plain that once covered the area from Maryland to Ohio.


This past weekend was the Living Earth Festival at the museum, the first of what is planned to be a regular event. We'll see. It was good, but not a smooth behind-the-scenes production, for many complicated reasons. In any case, I'm tired, finishing now day 8 of 11. I'm looking forward to my three-day weekend coming up!

The closing event was a cook-off, between the chef of our award-winning cafe, and another local chef. I'm thrilled to be able to say that he was my recommendation, one of my cooking instructors at L'Academie de Cuisine! It was a wonderful battle -- they both did a fantastic job! Our chef provided all the "protein" -- bison, duck, salmon, etc., all wild and natural from Native communities and organic farmers the cafe usually works with. The secret ingredient? Green chilies, roasted at the festival by our visiting farmers from Zia Pueblo.


GORGEOUS food! Look at that beautiful king salmon from Quinault.



Chef Hetzler shows the crowd how to filet the salmon. Boy was he quick!



Chef Patterson, who teaches in the professional cooking school as well, works with his sous chef Ian. Both sides had 75 minutes to prepare two appetizers, three entrees, and one dessert.


Here the chefs present their dishes to the judges. They actually alternated. Since I was the staff person assigned to assist, I actually played waitress (yes, it felt like old times) and cleared plates. That was the only down side -- it killed me to see how little the judges actually ate, and to have to trash all the beautiful and amazing food.


And the winner? Well, I was sad for my friend Chef Brian, but I was glad to reconnect with him and am looking forward to taking some more of his classes soon. However, he was incredibly gracious, and seemed to have had a blast, which is terrific. And we have a new contact now: the emcee, Scott Drewno, was fantastic. He should be! He's executive chef at Wolfgang Puck's The Source, and DC's 2010 Chef of the Year. And congrats to Chef Hetzler. I eat his food regularly, and marvel at his menus each season when they change. There's a reason we are Zagat rated, regularly on the Food Network, and widely touted as one of the best museum restaurants.