A busy weekend, part 1

Part of our new life in the DC Metro area has involved finding our way around, getting oriented to the area, discovering new and interesting things to do, and, not least of all, seeing friends.

We combined all of those things this past weekend.

On Friday, we went to Ashburn, Virginia, to visit our friend Mike. He was hosting a beer tasting, as he and his circle of beer aficionado friends do every month, and the husband I were lucky enough to be invited. Curtis is much more knowledgeable on the beer topic than I am, and he's definitely more of a beer enthusiast than I, but I always like a chance to a) see people I know and like; b) meet new people; c) see new parts of the world; and d) drink alcohol.

Mike had told us that Ashburn was "out in the country," but I had trouble envisioning it. I came up here with the idea that Northern Virginia was just one big parking lot linking an endless string of strip malls, and while our area does have its fair share of pavement and the aforementioned linked stores and restaurants, I'm pleasantly surprised to find trees, forests, and parks. And, as Mike promised, there was, indeed, country all over his neighborhood. The drive there was a two-lane road sandwiched between farmland, and it was extremely reminiscent of the Virginia near where I grew up, Tazewell County, and the Virginia of my undergraduate years, Blacksburg and greater Montgomery County.

On the way there, we saw the charming Evergreen Market. It was one of those rickety old markets made of cinderblocks, the kind you see mouldering on back roads, about to be torn down, until someone comes along and rehabs it. Kudos to the Evergreen Market folks; if we didn't live so far from you, we'd shop there. 

We met two of Mike's friends, Tony and Trisha, who are fellow West Virginians, and that was interesting; of the five people there that night, four were from WV, and I can't remember the last time that has happened outside of family reunions. After 13 years in South Carolina,  I became accustomed to seeing no West Virginians, ever.

Mike had made a really delicious chicken chili, and I tried Frito Pie for the first time. Only last week I ate Chili Mac for the first time, from Hard Times Cafe, here in Fairfax. I can't remember who told me about Chili Mac, but it sounded vile the first time I heard of it: spaghetti with chili on it? Oh, HORK. But I tried it at Hard Times, with their Terlingua chili (they have 4 different kinds, including a vegetarian version), and found it unexpectedly delicious. So, armed with my new knowledge of Chili Mac, I felt comfortable branching out to Frito Pie, which is, for those who don't know: Fritos topped with chili. It was good, and a good experience, but next time I'll eat the chili by itself.

We tried 6 different Imperial Stouts that evening, one of which tasted exactly like chocolate Tootsie Roll Pops. There was another I drank right afterward, which was literally tasteless in the beginning, but after it had neared room temperature, was quite flavorful. Sadly, I do not remember the names of these. I will have to ask Mike.

We also had Sierra Nevada's 30th Anniversary Imperial Stout, easily my favorite. Curtis is a fan of all things Sierra Nevada, and this particular gem did not disappoint. After it, I'm sad to report that we drank the one Curtis and I had brought, Young's Chocolate Stout, and it did not stand up as well. While it boasted a truly prodigious head, it was surprisingly thin.

I'd also used the Young's to make my dessert, a chocolate toffee trifle, of which Carolyn is a fan. When I made it before, I used Kahlua to soak the chocolate cake; this time, I soaked it all day in Young's. I wasn't sure how it would turn out, but was pleased in the end.

We had a lovely night with old and new friends, then headed home to rest up before our jaunt to Catonsville and Ellicott City, Maryland, to see fellow SC transplants Mich and Eric.

That trip will be the subject of the next installment of No One's Wearing Pink Here . . .