Mushroom and Goat Cheese Tortas + Aina!

It's been about 3 years since I visited Aina in Oslo and she introduced us to one of our first go-to vegetarian recipes - vegetable casserole with herb dumplings!

Now it was her turn to come visit DC and for us to share one of our new vegetarian recipes from Food & Wine, of course.  Goes perfect with homemade rosemary bread too!

INGREDIENTS
2 large heads of garlic, cloves peeled and lightly smashed
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
Salt
1/2 pound cremini mushrooms, thinly sliced
1/2 pound shiitake mushrooms, stems discarded and caps thinly sliced
1/2 pound oyster mushrooms, stems discarded and caps thinly sliced
3 tablespoons chopped cilantro
6 bolillo rolls or other crusty rolls, split
3 cups packed arugula leaves
1 cup prepared tomato salsa
1/2 pound soft goat cheese

Preheat the oven to 325°. Put the garlic in a small, deep baking dish and toss with the olive oil, lime juice and 1 teaspoon of salt. Cover and bake for about 30 minutes, until the garlic is soft and golden.

Increase the oven temperature to 400°. Combine all of the mushrooms in a 9-by-13-inch baking dish and toss with the roasted garlic and 1 teaspoon of salt. Cover with foil and bake for 10 minutes. Uncover and bake for about 35 minutes longer, until the mushrooms are tender and golden. Stir in the chopped cilantro.

Scrape some of the bread out of the center of the rolls and set the rolls on a large baking sheet, cut sides up. Spread the mushrooms over the rolls and bake for about 5 minutes to crisp the rolls. Spread the arugula and salsa on one half of the rolls and the goat cheese on the other half. Close the sandwiches and bake for about 5 minutes, until hot and crisp. Cut the sandwiches in half and serve.

MAKE AHEAD: The cooked mushrooms can be refrigerated overnight. Reheat gently.

AND AINA!!!!

We had to stop by the Library of Congress since we both worked at the library at UNC!

And the weather was PERFECT to catch the last of the Cherry Blossoms.

Gorgeous...

...and so much fun to have Aina around.

Guess it's our turn to visit her in Norway next!  It's a rough life...

Spring in DC with M-C + Pat

Our long weekend with Ming-Cee and Patrick was too short, a little exhausting and absolutely WONDERFUL!  It's been about five years since they've come visit but we hope it won't be another five years until they come again.

As you can see, we just had the most perfect weather this weekend!  The tulips and cherry blossoms were in bloom in the Bishop's Garden at the National Cathedral...

The sun was shining at the National Arboretum...

The fish were smiling at the Arboretum too...

And most importantly, we were all smiling at the Arboretum...

Then Ming-Cee and Patrick struck a pose with the Chinese panda near the Spanish steps...

And of course we couldn't let them go without seeing the Library of Congress...

Cherry Blossoms hit their peak this weekend... two weeks ahead of schedule...

And lastly, it's a crime to walk around the tidal basin without stopping by the frequently-missed FDR memorial.

Ming-Cee and Patrick are also frequently missed by us!  Can't wait until we see them again soon.

The Last Two Hunger Games Books

Wow.

Since last year I've been debating reading the second and third books from the Hunger Games after I read the first one.

Honestly, the whole premise of kids killing each other is uncomfortable and emotional.  And I heard from a couple people that the second and third books weren't as good as the first one.  But Michael was interested in reading them and got the trilogy for Christmas so I picked up the second book a couple weeks ago.

Wow.

Could not put them down!

And I LOVED them so much more than the first one, which really surprised me!

The first one just seemed a little more focused on the violence of the games, but the second and third one focused more on the relationships between the characters.

These books were fantastic and I they are definitely 10 out of 10.

And Michael and I will probably watch the movie (in the theater!) when it comes out too...

...after all, it was filmed in Asheville!

In the Garden of Beasts

Super interesting history book!

I know some of you are probably thinking what I thought when I saw this book: Oh my goodness... another book on WWII?  No thanks.

But our book club picked it and Erik Larson wrote one of Michael's all-time favorite books (The Devil in the White City) so I thought I'd give it a shot.

It was very interesting from a historical perspective.  I've always wondered HOW no one could see that Hitler was killing all the Jews and HOW the U.S. could decide to stay out of it for so long.  Larson did a great job of giving you a glimpse into the social hierarchy, political dynamics and office politics of the time.

My favorite parts of the book focused on the U.S. Ambassador to Germany's daughter, Martha, and her scandalous love life!

If you're interested in WWII history and/or political history (which I really am not), this is a good book to pick up.  Personally, I give it a 6 out of 10 (even though it was good for a non-fiction book).