Spring has SPRUNG!

I can't believe Spring Break has come and gone for the girls. :( We've been keeping busy. My youngest started her first soccer clinic and she loved it. The kids had their Easter Sing at church. The weather is warming up, so that means church picnics start up soon. My children so look forward to that.

So far for Spring break and recently we've been hanging out here.
We went swimming, can you say cold? It was an indoor pool but still. Cold. I didn't go in the water. There is a plus side to having older kids!

We also went to the local gardens to take pictures. It was fun taking pictures there because everything was just starting to bloom. So beautiful!
We also went canoeing, and saw the Cherry Blossoms in the Tidal Basin.

 The girls asked to go out for sushi twice during Spring Break. I wasn't about to argue. 

We also went to the Science and Engineering Festival. So fun. I can't wait to share some of those pictures with you.

What are you up to with the weather being so mild?

Peek-a-boo.

Sushi, Matuba Review

Sushi at Matuba, I did a review on this place quite a while ago. But we went there for lunch over Spring Break, the kids asked to go twice. But once was on a day that the buffet wasn't open. You can find my earlier reviews here HERE, and HERE. I'm adding a little update here because there are some changes.

The sushi chef that is there regularly is wonderful. He's Lao so he asks how my parents are, if they are coming to visit etc. He's fast, and knows the regulars. Even if you aren't a regular, he's attentive. If it's not crazy busy he'll ask how everything is and if you have a request. The owner always greets us with a smile. 

Matuba has a military discount now so if you're military make sure you ask. I still suggest getting there early, especially if you have a party of 3 or more. I'm talking when they open for the buffet, not main dinning room.  

There's always a selection of nigiri, rolls, and hand rolls on the buffet.

California Rolls 

Spicy Crab Rolls

Tempura Rolls

Spicy Tuna Hand Rolls

Salmon Skin Hand Rolls

and more...

Salmon, Yellow-tail, Mackerel, cooked Shrimp, and Tuna are the regular line up for Nigiri 

The girls and I are big fans of the Salmon Skin rolls. They are made with hot crispy salmon skin. It's the only thing I eat with nori.

They do NOT serve sashimi on the buffet, and no the sushi chef won't give you sashimi either :) . I just happen to have one child who likes rice dipped into the Teriyaki chicken sauce. She leaves me the sashimi, I don't argue. My middle child eats her rice first, then eats her fish separate. So that's what you see in the picture above. Fish that my youngest left me because she ate my rice.

There are so many non sushi items on the buffet also

Teriyaki Chicken

Shrimp and Vegetable Tempura

Dumplings- steamed and fried

Fried Rice

Mussels (Rarely)

Seaweed Salad

Salad with Ginger Dressing

Edamame
Miso Soup

Tuna Collar (Rarely)

Fruit

And other items.

There is a parking garage right next to Matuba if you can't find parking on the street.

Matuba has always been clean when we've gone. The bathroom is also clean. That's a biggie for me. It's one of my favorite places to eat because it's quick and delicious.

American Girl- Washington DC

I mentioned we'd be back right? When we asked the girls where they wanted to go have dinner for their birthday's they said the American Girl Doll place. Hermm. Here's my first review of the place. The girls did say they wanted tea this time, but because of schedules we had to make reservations for dinner instead. I wasn't too disappointed we couldn't have tea. Other than the fact that it does cost less. Tea is $12.  Dinner was $17 a person. Except for Pixie she ordered off of the Bitty Bear's Picnic menu, $7.50 - not bad it comes with an entree, drink, and dessert. Prices don't include tax and tip. 

Each of the girls brought a doll along with them. So they got little seats to sit in. Of course you can borrow a doll or bring a teddy bear also. This is Diva's doll, Marie-Grace.
We got to the mall a little early so the girls and their cousin could look around the store. They all fell in love with Saige, the girl of the year. Diva really wanted her and Caroline. I told her I guess she's got some saving up to do. Piglet had just purchased Molly a week before our dinner. It was fun walking around and seeing all the accessories and the girls got to play with some of the items. All the salespeople on the floor were very helpful,  I had some questions about certain items and they were knowledgeable or found someone who knew the answer for me.

Our table was ready well ahead of our reserved time. We just decided to wait until all of our party was present. We were waiting on SIL and DH. So it was 7 of us for dinner total. We were seated promptly. I mentioned when making reservations that we had a peanut allergy and that we were celebrating 4 birthday's but did not want a birthday package. When we were seated they brought us favor bags and I had to remind them that we didn't reserve with the birthday package, sigh. I just wasn't going to be able to do $30 a child and $20 per adult. I did feel bad about that. BUT I did pack these "favors" for the girls

Let's get this day 18, 19, 20

I've been so busy! We have company. It's kinda hard to eat right. I made a ham the other night so I know totally processed, high in sodium and sugar. I didn't glaze it but I'm not sure that redeemed anything.  Last nights dinner was hamburger patty and salad. I made the dressing. The girls at so well, we've all missed simple dinners- salad and protein.

Georgetown Cupcakes

I reviewed this place before HERE. (BY this place I mean the Bethesda location.) BUT, this is a different review- read on. I went with Pixie one morning and picked up some Campfire S'mores cupcakes- it was the secret flavor of the day. If you like their facebook page HERE. Georgetown cupcakes posts a flavor of the day and they give 100 of them away FREE.  These cupcakes were AMAZING. So VERY good. Not dry and crumbly, the icing was flavorful and not too sweet and toasted marshmallows on top? Perfect, and they aren't even homemade marshmallows, which would have been DIVINE. All of the cupcakes we had this time around were moist and DELISH, aside from one- but more on that later.

Wong Gee Chinese Restaurant (Dim Sum) Maryland/DC

I already reviewed this restaurant once HERE. I still think the food here is great. Today the service was so so, I had to ask for water and had to call the waitress over twice. It was busy, though. My one beef is that the last time my mom and I went with the girls the service wasn't that great so my mom tipped 15% as we walked away the waitress said "that's it? that's not even 20%", I told myself I wouldn't be back there. I had forgotten about that until I saw the same waitress today. She was much better today. 

I took the girls out for lunch/Dim Sum. It was good. The food was hot and fresh, not dried out- with the exception of one item below. Sometimes you go to places and the food has been in the carts for so long it's just yuck.  Here is what we had today.

 

Salt and Pepper Prawns. This is our exception item. They were not crispy and fresh. They were cold. Still good though.

Sushiko Resturant

Sushiko Restaurant

THE. BEST. MISO. SOUP. EVER. Seriously, Diva and I both said it. SO good, so flavorful and JUST good. Not that powder or paste instant stuff. SOOO GOOD. Piglet doesn't like Miso soup but Pixie girl loves it and had a whole bowl with rice. That's what she likes- miso soup with rice and big beautiful Salmon roe that she picks up with her cute little fingers off of mamas plate.

PJ's Rice Bistro - Washington DC/ Maryland

Here's to making life simple. I just don't post at Here for the Food much. I should. I have pictures to post. I just don't, so I'll post here instead and figure out how to combine the two blogs maybe. PJ's Rice Bistro is a wonderful Chinese restaurant. Like good looking authentic I see lots of grandparents there Chinese food. The thing is they have $4 sushi rolls which the girls love and the sushi's great there so,  I don't order Chinese. These pictures are from several visits. This place is in the mall, it's a nice restaurant. Clean, nice ambiance, great service and it's a God send because I'm not a big fan of food court food. Unless it's Hot dog on a stick but I haven't seen one of those around.

The fish is fresh and sliced generously. The last time I had a Chirashi bowl it was a big serving, even with little hands trying to snag my food.

Georgetown Cupcakes- Washington DC/Maryland

Sometimes you just need a cupcake you don't bake yourself. What is it about cupcakes that people love? Is it because you can pick several flavors? They are "little" so you can eat more of them. (You know you tell yourself that too.) I've gone to cupcake shops before, and blogged about them here. I'll be honest, I really liked the cupcakes at Georgetown cupcakes. BUT I didn't LOVE them. If I'm going to pay $30 bucks for a dozen cupcakes, they need to be GOOD. Like lick the paper, Press your finger to get all the crumbs off the napkin good. I'm just cheap like that. These were not as moist as I like my cupcakes/cakes. The butter cream and cream cheese icing was good. The red velvet was on the dry side. The cherry blossom was delish, not overly sweet, full of cherry flavor... and seasonal :-). I guess I just don't feel like any of them were worth writing home about.Or fighting to get a parking space for. I may try them again. Maybe it was an off day.

Matuba (Bethesda, MD)

That's Kevin. He rocks. This is my second trip to Matuba, I have been wanting to take my girls for a LOOONG time. So SIL is visiting and we had a girls day out. Pixie stayed at home with DH. Here is my last "review" I use that term so very loosely. But it's worth the read I think, so I cut and pasted it below. Anyway. The service was a bit off today, but still good. I think the waitress was just swamped. I don't care, I'm sitting right next to Kevin, right where he puts each little dish of goodness onto the conveyor belt. Again- Strategy People (read the other post.) So I don't care, I'll help myself. Piglet (3), kept saying I LOVE SAMMY. (Salmon) And again the fish was fresh, the salmon buttery, soft and just so good. We had a great time.

Wong Gee Chinese Restaurant (Maryland/ Washington DC)

I am certain we would have never tried Wong Gee if it weren't for the fact that I was looking for a Lion Dance performance the week AFTER Chinese New Year to take the children to. It's in a strip mall, on a main street, but nothing that would make me turn my head for a second look. They serve Cantonese style Chinese food. The food is fantastic. They also have an Americanized menu. DH ordered chicken curry- it was OK. I ordered some FAN-TA-BU-LOUS dishes. They also serve Dim Sum. More on that later.

When we went for the Lion Dance the waitstaff was so nice and accommodating. They had our table ready for us when we got there (reservations aren't needed, but I made them).  Brought extra napkins and got our drink order right away. The restaurant was clean and so was the bathroom :-). They have fresh (live) seafood cooked to order also.

Matuba- Washington DC/Maryland

Now THIS I wish I had a picture of for you (Pictures here). Matuba in Bethesda. I mean sushi on a conveyor belt. I am a sushi fan. OK correction I am a Sashimi fan. But still, I had to check this place out. DH took me on a date, after I told him there was also other items offered on the belt. So we went early at my insistence, you know, to get a good seat so we could hoard, err sample the items as they were put on the belt instead of waiting at the end hoping others wouldn't grab that salmon before it got to you. Strategy people.

When we were finally let in (we were standing at the door like hungry wolves waiting for the kill, ok one of us was), the hostess took payment from the people who were also waiting at the doors before they opened, so we weren't the only party- there was one more :-). I felt like a stalker, but in the name of sushi- who cares. When you walk in it's a little confusing if you haven't been there before (us). The sushi bar is on the left and dining room on the right. No sign of what I am sure will be in heaven at the wedding feast- the conveyor belt. We quickly learned that the belt was located in the back, and you pay before you sit down. I didn't leave a tip up front. There is a jar in the back for that. As we walked up the stairs to the back I got a little giddy and did a happy food dance. I did notice that the place was clean, plenty of seating (so far) and the decor was nice. In the back there are tables on one side of the conveyor belt, for parties of I think 3 or more. In the end we were asked to sit in a certain place and not able to pick. Doesn't matter it's not a HUGE belt and we were still up close to the chef. The waitresses got our drink orders and the chef in the middle was ready to start. He was fast too because the place got packed quick with people standing in line at the stairs waiting for your seat.

The food-

Thai Derm- Washington DC/Maryland

The other day we went to dinner with DH's uncle. Actual uncle, that's the thing about DH's family relatives are actually related to you in some way by blood. Not so for me, if there is a friend of the family, they are an uncle or aunt, their children become cousins and eventually there is a lot of confusion.  But it's also wonderful, it's a sense of community and closeness that is cultural. Anyway, we went out for Thai food. We chose the Thai Derm, because it was close to his hotel and we don't know the area. The atmosphere is like most Thai places I usually go to, you don't go for the atmosphere, you go for the food. It was clean with the usual touches and no frills. Well, there is this... scenery, it looks like a child's train table with plaster on top to form a hillside. It's made to look like a Thai country side complete with oxen, and rubber duckies you bathe with, but hey my girls LOVED it and we're here for the food right?

Chinatown Express- Chinatown DC

I will never get this blog updated. I won't, I have pictures in a file, I do I promise. The thing is half the time I forget my camera anyway. So here we go, Chinatown Express is a little place in Chinatown in Washington DC. An easy walk from the metro, I guess depending on what stop you get off at. You see that guy up there hand stretching noodles? He's fast, efficient, good at what he does and ... well he's got a lot of noodles to make and dumplings to fill so he doesn't really smile or interact with the crazies standing out front gawking- me being one of those crazies. I suspect one can only handle so much of that. It's amazing to watch him stretch the dough and dip it ever so slightly in water so it doesn't stick together and stretch some more finally cutting the ends when the noodles are the perfect thickness. Watching him take a ball of dough and quickly rolling it out to fill and form dumplings make you think it might be easy. It's an art he's made look like child's play.