…a rustic vision of French lavender sitting pretty on my windowsill. i <3 farmers markets.
An Evening with Mark Bittman
*posted by em*
Going to THIS on Tuesday night at Long Island University. Get your tickets! Proceeds go to the Brooklyn Food Coalition.
Chicks Who Kick Ass … Literally
*posted by em*
As obsessed as I’ve become with watching it, mixed martial arts isn’t a topic that has ever graced the creative craft-, style-, and food-filled pages of mousybabe. But today, a post about MMA is warranted because, well, it’s about girls who kick some serious ass — something we celebrate above all here at MB. 
The UFC’s 2nd-ever women’s MMA fight went down on Saturday — “Miesha Tate vs. Cat Zingano” — and I am giddy as a little girl (OK fine, I really am a little girl). I have to say it was one of the most exciting battles that I’ve seen (and I’ve seen my share of MMA fights in the last few years, thanks to my judoka and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu aficionado of a husband). The coveted “Fight of the Night” award went to Tate v. Zingano, which turned out to be a seriously hair-raising tornado of a bout with knees to faces, vicious elbows, take downs, near-submissions, and more. Have yourself a little peek HERE.
Both women had a LOT on the line: the winner would get to make history and become one of two first-ever female coaches on The Ultimate Fighter show, opposite Ronda Rousey, the U.S. Olympic judo medalist and queen of the armbar submission who first got this party started (it was her meteoric starpower and talent that convinced a skeptical UFC President Dana White to give women’s MMA a chance to shine in the UFC). In fact, IMHO… Tate and Zingano showed up all of the men on the rest of the fight card by putting on the most fast-paced, grueling, no holds barred fight of the night. In a male-dominated sport, that’s um, pretty durned amazing. Zingano was the underdog, but ground out a pretty spectacular third-round technical knockout (TKO) and major upset. (And she’s someone’s mom too, mad props!). Mostly importantly, the fight passed the bigger test — that yes, women’s MMA is exciting to watch and that yeah, people want more!
Meanwhile across the Atlantic that same day, my No. 1 favorite female fighter, Jo Jo Calderwood, threw down in Cage Warriors (Europe’s top MMA fight club) and got her arm raised with an impressive Round 1 TKO. I can’t get over how cool this Scottish lassie is. So unassumingly badass, humble, and tough as nails — all rolled into one adorably feisty fighter with a pair of lethal knees and elbows. When you watch her interviews, she talks just like a little girl, almost diffidently. But when she steps in the cage, goddamn, girl. (You know the best ones are always the quiet ones). She holds a record of 19-2 as a Muay Thai fighter. And like the UFC card, it was her fight (the only women’s bout on the card) that really raised the roof in the building.
Anyway, seeing women break new ground in business, politics, or elsewhere in the ‘professional’ world is always fantastic. But when it happens in an industry that is still as overwhelmingly male-dominated and testosterone-filled as MMA, it’s especially special to watch it unfold. It’s a reminder that world-class athletes out there include women with enormous talent, grit, and amazing chins, and that martial arts ain’t just for the boys. In fact, I’d argue that, at this point in time, women’s MMA probably has the potential to do more for the sport of MMA than men — giving women a bigger stage in this sport would challenge the notion that MMA is just about throwing a pair of brawler dudes in a cage and watching them tear each other apart. It’s a legitimate, highly technical form of competition that showcases some of the most elite among elite athletes around the world, who apply dedicated discipline in mastering their skills and technical prowess. If women’s MMA catches on, it also has the potential to broaden the appeal of the sport beyond the stereotypcial demographic — less of the blood-thirsty, beer-chugging, meathead alpha males from Miami sporting TapOut tshirts … and perhaps more 5’0″, twiggy-armed Asian girls like me 
So, ladies. Instead of getting our panties in a bunch over the oft-contentious postulations about whether we oughta “lean in” more, or why we can’t really “have it all” between work and life, or about the merits of “Machiavellian” vs. “Tiger” motherhood… how about we stop for a sec to shine a nice spotlight on a class of women (mothers among them) who are showing the world how to kick some ass … literally?
Get in the know and tune in to the next Invicta FC fight, a global series for pioneering female athletes in MMA, or the next season of TUF, which airs in September. Tryouts for TUF18 start today!
And the next time someone says, “You fight like a girl,” you can say, “Why, thank you!”
* * More of my fave rad female fighters to watch: Rose Namajudas, Michelle Waterson, Jessica Penne. * *
FOOD FIND in Cartagena: La Cevicheria
*posted by em*
The TripAdvisor reviews for La Cevicheria didn’t stack up quite as highly as some of the other restaurants in Cartagena, but seeing as it’s somewhat of an institution here (Gabriel Garcia Marquez used to frequent the spot), we decided to give a whirl. It was Sunday anyhow, when few restaurants were open. The exterior of the restaurant was the picture of charm: brilliant turquoise doors and window frames and a balcony enmeshed in pink flower bushes.
Sven ordered the Vietnamese Rice dish, which came in a coconut shell overflowing with ‘mariscos’ and with two fried plantain discs propped up in an endearingly designed wooden box tray.
I opted for the Tropical Paella dish, which was super flavorful and generous in terms of seafood. The only drawback was how sugary the dishes were — in some of my bites, you could almost crunch on the sugar crystals in the rice.
FOOD FIND: Estadio in DC
*posted by suzi*
A radly designed Devil’s Backbone Dark Abby Ale… which I enjoyed at Estadio in DC for the first time. After hearing a good bit about this place from my trusty foodie friend Buddha, it certainly lived up to its reputation. The tables are tightly packed into the small space. Prolly had something to do with the large wooden tables and chunky throne-like chairs hehe. I loved that it was dark in there.
It was a particularly memorable dinner. Maybe it was the good company we kept Charlie and I met up with old comrades Uday and Buddha (collectively, Buddhay, as we like to call them sometimes hehe). And we had a grand old time trying the delectable tapas dishes. Really, every dish seemed like it was well thought-out and immaculately executed. It’s one of those places where you couldn’t go wrong if you just closed your eyes and pointed to something on the menu. You can trust that the chef wouldn’t allow something on the menu as filler – a dish would only make it on the menu because it earned its way there Below are the pretty food porn pictures I came away with.
Boquerones A fancy word for anchovies. These were slivers of salty fish paired with pieces of bread.
Foie Gras Scrambled Eggs & Black Truffle Butter My choice, and everybody at the table loved me for it the moment they bit into it. It might not look quite as heavenly as it tasted (unless squishy brains look tasty to you). And it occurred to me what an amazing brunch dish it would make, since it’s essentially scrambled eggs! Also, the toasted bread underneath wasn’t just regular toast, it was toasted with that sinful Black Truffle Butter spread. I almost didn’t think it was real it was that good.
Various cheese, including “manchego” made from sheep’s milk
Grilled Octopus, Potato-Caper Salad, Pimenton I usually stay away from grilled octopus for obvious reasons… it’s a fricken alien tentacle with suction cups! How can it not make you think of the movie Aliens. Anyway, despite all my juvenile commentary, I was a good girl and ate my share of it. Again…delicious.
Blistered Shishito Peppers & Sea Salt Damn these were scrumptious. Sizzling hot with generally a pretty mild flavor, except when you picked a randomly ridiculously torturously spicy one. Buddha had to stop eating for a few minutes and stare into space to get over one of those. Then a few peppers later, I was doing the same thing.
Crispy Duck Breast, Beluga Lentils, Catalan Greens Look, the duck breast is even a little rare. Sweet. And the lentils were so full of rich flavor.
Manchego Cheesecake, Quince, Pistachio Granola and Chocolate-Chestnut Truffle Cake, Cinnamon Creme Anglaise A perfect finishing touch.
The Holy Grail: La Arepa Colombiana
*posted by em*
On the morning of Day 3 in Cartagena, I finally reached the Holy Grail of our trip — feasting on an authentic Colombian arepa! For breakfast, we ordered the “arepa con huevo” (something I didn’t know even existed until I saw it on our hotel breakfast menu). In New York, we’d only ever had the traditional arepa con queso. Here’s a shot of my fried deliciousness, with a side of “crema.” Everything here seems to be served with some kind of cream, milk, dulce de leche, or arequipe.
Check out the pics — evidence of a perfectly cooked egg, crispy fried arepa skin on the outside, gooey and runny on the inside.
Here’s what we’ve yet to try this afternoon: street arepas con queso!
Travel Treasure in Cartagena: El Portal de Los Dulces
*posted by em*
I made it a mission to check out the famed Portal de los Dulces in Cartagena (the town’s portal of sweets). On our way out to explore Getsemani (the emerging, but once seedy neighborhood of Cartagena outside the Walled City), we found it: a slew of two dozen tiny vendor stands along an entire block of colorful Spanish colonial-style arches, each one operated by a little old wrinkled Colombian woman. I had to see this place for myself, after learning that it was the setting for many of Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s works of magical realism, including Love in the Time of Cholera. (OK, I was also pretty durned excited about the 50-cent “munecas” made of dulce de leche that I’d read about over the Internets.)
So before we procured any goods for the fam back home, we wanted to taste test the goodies. Here’s what we picked up, for a measly $3,000 Colombian pesos (~$1.75US). The coffee came separately from the original Colombian Juan Valdez Cafe (the one with a location in Washington, DC).
- Let’s start with the most eye-catching of the bunch: “La Muneca de Dulce de Leche,” or Cream-Caramel Doll. These were a bit of a creepy sight, especially when packaged in saran wrap in bulk or peering out of large glass jar. This one was actually a “Bebe de Leche,” which were even creepier since they have these big skeleton eyes. Of our purchases, these were by far the best tasting.
- Near the bottom were the “Cocadas,” or coconut balls of multiple flavors, including guava and pineapple — we chose the Leche and Arequipe flavors. They were aight but a bit too sugary.
- But the kings of sugar were the “bolas” — the little balls that closely resembled an American donut hole. They were heavy. The dark one was tamarind flavored and was basically a large fried ball of sugar (Dr. Robert Lustig would balk at this). The ball even had tamarind seeds inside that you had to spit out. The lighter-colored bola was chocolate flavored but the consistency was literally like eating a ball of cinnamon-flavored sand.
Each stand had variations of the same things — large glass jars and plastic packages of color — more amenable to the sight than their actual taste, as we would learn. Boy, do the Colombians like their sugar and cream.
Travel Treasures: Vamos a Cartagena, Colombia!
*posted by em*
In less than a day, I’ll be hopping on a jet plane with Sven for a 5-hour JetBlue flight to Cartagena, Colombia — by all online accounts a charming, romantic fisherman’s town with horse-drawn carriages and open air cafes on the northern coast of South America. People have shot me some puzzled looks about our vacation destination, for good reason I guess. I did spend several years in school studying the grisly modus operandi of the FARC, paramilitary, and Cali & Medellin cartels (read: Colombian neckties, kidnappings and other such monstrosities).
But apparently they’ve turned a corner in the last 5 years or so. With firsthand confirmation from Sven’s boss back in December, Cartagena will soon become (if not already) the “It” place for travelers. We decided against making it a beach vacation, since Boca Grande is oft-likened to Miami (blech). So we’re opting to stay in the historic Walled City, also a designated UNESCO World Heritage Site. Think Istanbul… in the tropical climate of the Caribbean!
Stay tuned for tales and snapshots of the 5-day expedition (arepas, exotic fruits, tortuga eggs and other top culinary delights of Colombia). I already dug up Anthony Bourdain‘s episode of No Reservations in Cartagena:
Vintage Patterns – $3 a Pop At Bits Of Thread DC
*posted by suzi*
I found out that Bits of Thread sewing studio has a whole basket of vintage sewing patterns for sale! I went through a phase last year where I was compulsively surfing websites full of vintage patterns and I couldn’t stop, even at work. I’ve since recovered, but I think this discovery might just put me over the edge and into a relapse hehe.
Here’s a cute little polkadot tunic, and also a wraparound. Love how it says “Super Jiffy” … as in “This will take 5 months to make.”
And some ’70s-era bohemian outfits. The era of bell bottoms, long vests, wispy blouses and flowy dresses a la Joni Mitchell.
In the wake of some Great Gatsby trailer viewings, I’m appreciating this midnight blue dress below. The lady’s hairdo seems a little more on the ’20s side. I highly doubt this pattern’s from the 20′s … the paper pattern would have disintegrated by now if that were the case. More likely the pattern is from the ’70s and, just like us, they had a love affair back then with the “retro” ’20s
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