Nicole in D.C.

When you’re gearing up for certain death and the impending apocalypse, there are two things that immediately come to mind: food and sex. So, maybe certain death wasn’t approaching, but everyone in the DC metro area sure as hell acted like it was. People all across the area stocked up on food and condoms, like never seen before.

I didn’t succumb to the fear of impending starvation or a few days without sex. Instead, I headed out to Arlington to get snowed in with two friends with a well-stocked pantry. They had plenty of food to keep the three of us alive (and very full) for several days without having to go to the grocery store. On my way, I stopped at a vegan bakery to get some delicious cupcakes, but the next day, we really started cooking… literally.

A few weeks back, a friend invited  me out to the Peacock Cafe in Georgetown where I had the best breakfast I’ve had in my 6 years in DC and I’d been wanting to recreate it ever since. My friends had all the ingredients – pancake mix, bananas, walnut, and maple syrup – to recreate this magnificent concoction and it was almost as good as the restaurant.

Not too long after breakfast, we gathered more ingredients to make some slow-cooked chili. If you don’t know me personally, you wouldn’t know that I’ve never consumed an entire burger in my life, and have only attempted to eat ground meat three to four times. We added a package of cooked, ground turkey, kidney beans, six cloves of grated garlic, spices galore, and onions. My lack of experience with ground meat excluded many other things from my diet including chili, but I was bound and determined to give it a try and see how much I hated it.

This was actually my second bowl of chili that evening. Immediately afterwards, I told my friends I felt I’d been cheated by parents who always told me I didn’t like things before I had a chance to try them.

Throughout the course of the weekend, we spent most of our time eating, playing board games, and watching people shovel out their cars too early. I was so moved by my chili experience that, before the second storm, I decided to brave the storm and get ingredients to make my own chili. I have a new affinity for black beans so I found a recipe that was more suiting to my taste. Not only was it my first time making chili, but it was also my first time cooking ground meat. I was surprised at how much moisture the turkey had, so I strained all the juices out of my tomatoes – big beginner’s mistake. Instead of coming out as a chili-type thing, it’s more like a ground turkey stew (but delicious nonetheless).

While all this food was delicious, I don’t know if my stomach – or my waistline – can take any more back-to-back snowstorms like this for awhile.