Pierogi and Salmon

We hit the jackpot with pierogi this year. In our home it was customary to make Polish pierogis on Christmas eve. We always had potato and cheese along with sauerkraut, cabbage and hamburger. But now we rely on Mrs T’s for every day affairs. They make a great side dish as well. This year our son and daughter in law sent us some very different pierogi from a place in Colorado called Baba & Pops, care of Gold Belly. There were four dozen pierogis - two dozen potato and cheese, one dozen pulled pork, and one dozen tomato, basil and mozzarella. So we tried the pulled pork on Friday night as the main dish. We added a bit of barbecue sauce. It was good, but too much meat - for us. But we should have made fewer and had something else with them. Then on Christmas Eve we decided to stay with the traditional potato and cheese but we mixed them up with some salmon, along with broccoli. All of the pierogis look handmade and we were not disappointed with this batch. We are now looking to trying the “Italian” batch. Rather than try those on Christmas we had a small turkey breast, mashed potatoes and peas. It’s always nice to get consumable gifts. It’s interesting to try different things. In the end we always like our own cooking the best. But this was a great diversion! 

An Ikea Adventure

I needed to pick up a few more packages of mirror tiles at Ikea. The den in our new condo was still lacking something. Without windows it is a pretty bleak place and one way to lighten it up is with mirrors. I already had twenty mirror tiles on the back wall but it could do with another bunch around the perimeter. So we set our sights for the Ikea store in College Park Maryland. And since it was lunch time, we thought we would stop at the cafe and check out the fare. We ended up with Swedish meatballs and salmon. We once went to a Swedish restaurant by the University of Chicago - and had Swedish meatballs and mashed potatoes. I dare say we probably wouldn’t return any time soon - for lunch. Afterwards we walked the store and got in a few steps in the huge place. There we some interesting showrooms of 250 and 500 square foot homes - like our tiny condos on Capitol Hill. It’s amazing what you can live in if it’s set up right. After finding our mirror tiles we made our way to the check out line wandering through the huge warehouse. Everyone who worked there was very pleasant and eager to be of help. The drive home was a royal pain on a Friday afternoon. All in all it was a great adventure! 

Mamie's Cafe With Love in Aberdeen

We took a ride to Winterthur in Wilmington Delaware to see the Downton Abbey costume exhibit. On the way home we thought it would be a good idea to have an early dinner. So I looked on google maps to see what the options were outside the usual fare. I found Mamie's Cafe in Aberdeen. It had good reviews so we decided to try it. It was indeed a very unique experience. It was filled with fifties decor, music, and antiques, all packed in a space much bigger than it looked on the outside sitting in a strip mall. By the time we left the place was packed. We ate two bites of cream crab soup and were full and ended up taking everything home including the free dessert. Luckily we don't eat like this every day. It's definitely a change of pace - only to be taken on a road trip every once in a long while.