Virginia’s best Fried Chicken
I’m craving some friend chicken. Here are my two faves:
The little river market has great salty friend chicken. I only get to go maybe twice a year, but its always delicious. The only pictures of it I could find were when we got some, “salty fried chicken” (as requested by the captain) for some fishing in bay. Natty boh optional, but highly recommended.
I blurred my buddy’s face to protect the innocent.
My second favorite fried chicken spot is Moseberth’s. If you’re in the Portsmouth area, stop by, and don’t forget some gizzards.
(photo credit, I couldn’t find a pic I took)
As for a local option, I’ve heard good things about Flavors, but I’ve not been. My favorite local fried chicken is bon chon, but thats Korean style, not Southern style. My wife and sister both make great friend chicken. Anybody know where to get good Southern friend chicken in Nova or DC?
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Heroism
One of my fraternity brothers was recently honored for his heroism. While in school, I always thought of him as one of the nicest guys I knew, funny, hardworking and very virtuous. Given the article, we can definitely add brave and inspiring to that list. Damn proud.
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Football and BBQ
I got my dad a smoker for xmas. He called me about coming over and breaking her in before the big game. I got on the interwebs and found a recipe for beef back ribs (something I hadn’t smoked before), called around until I found some (all the way out in Springfield), threw some beers in the cooler, cooler in the truck, and headed over.
There a ton of info out there on what to buy, and how to get started smoking, so I won’t get into it in depth. I will say that no matter what kind of charcoal cooking you do, you’d be crazy not to start without a charcoal chimney. To keep an even temp in the Weber Smokey Mountain, I used the minion method. For wood, we chose mesquite and apple. Mesquite can impart too strong of a flavor in some meats, and for some people, but I tend to like it most of the time. When the grill got up to temp, and I’d rubbed the ribs and threw them on, I headed back inside. My mom isn’t a beer drinker, so I made her a margarita.
The instructions I found online for the beef ribs called for about a 5 hour smoke, so we had some time to kill. The wife got some buffalo chicken dip going in the crockpot, and we headed downstairs for some pool, pinball, and darts.
At 4:30 or so our friends started arriving. I sauced half of the ribs about then, and left the rest dry. I pulled them at 5, let them rest, and then served.
One of the wives made peanut butter cup cakes, and another guest brought a peanut butter porter. It was a pretty crazy combo. The ribs were a big hit. None of us really had a team to root for, but we had good food, good friends, and plenty of beer, so it was a great night.
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Home Sweet Home, with a small town feel
I grew up in Arlington Virginia. I loved it. I thought, and still think it was a prefect place to grow up. We lived near a park, walking distance to the metro (but quite a walk), close to the bike path, and walking distance to Ballston. We lived on a quiet enough street that kids could play on it. The public school system was one of the best in the country, and still is highly regarded. While I was away at college, my parents decided to move. They only moved a few miles away, but they no longer lived in Arlington. This bothered me at first, but then I came to love Falls Church City. I expect a lot of my content to be Falls Church City focused in this blog, but I’ll keep the topics diverse and try to go for mass appeal.
Falls Church City is a 2.2 square mile, 12,332-person independent city. Its boundaries do not include greater Falls Church. What I love most about Falls Church City is that you get a small town feel, in an otherwise, metropolitan suburb. I liked FCC so much, that when it came time to get my own place, my wife and I picked a place in the little city. The city is extremely walkable, and we’re right near the bike path. Our friends in DC complain that we rarely leave.
FCC will only get better for us, as they have a great public school system (recent rankings here), and a very family friendly vibe.
The local newpaper keeps us up on the goings on, as is the case with the super bowl this weekend. I’ll be smoking some ribs, but if I wasn’t, I’d consider watching the game on the big screen at the state theater.
I’m off to run some errands around the city, and enjoy many of the amenities FCC has to offer (more on that later). I’ll see y’all at Mad Fox, Space Bar, the farmers’ market, and around town.
For FJ who really did grow up in a small town:
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Lazy Saturday, Sunshine, Spring
I watched Sunderland get a win against Newcastle this morning, and I’m going to watch the US v South Korea friendly later this afternoon. The only thing on the agenda today is getting the superbowl food ready for tomorrow. In the meantime, I’m wishing it were spring, and enjoying someone’s great taste and style via tumblr here.
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Don’t just stare at it…
One of the best fiction (not really my cup of tea as I prefer non-fiction generally) books I ever read, was American Psycho by Brett Easton Ellis. I read it when I was 27, and getting my MBA. The protagonist (Patrick Bateman) is a 27 year old investment banker. If you’re not already aware, the plot is essentially that Patrick is obsessed with superficial things, loses touch with humanity, is prone to murderous drug-fueled rampages, and may or may not be real. Its quite complex, but I don’t want to give anything away or color your perceptions. The book is sick, sadistic, psychotic, and extremely interesting. The style in which the book is written really allows you to experience the obsessive and crazy life of the main character. The book makes one think about the state of Capitalism, conformity, the American dream, and US culture in the late 80s. What is also interesting, is that the real Wall Street guys this book was inspired by, grew up to cause the subprime mortgage crisis, bailouts, Madoff, Enron, etc. This book is definitely worth your time, even if you’ve already seen the movie. The movie only begins to hit on the best parts of the book. If you haven’t seen the movie, its on Netflix and Amazon instant video.
An interesting parallel between American Psycho and the book I’m currently reading, A Man in Full, is the idea that the boardroom is a modern incarnation of the battlefield. This sentiment is made explicitly in A Man in Full, but really only alluded to in American Psycho though competition (in reservations, business cards, suits, tans, really everything), and physical violence. I believe both books were published within a few years of each other.
To get in the mood, enjoy a playlist inspired by the novel:
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Old school camo
http://www.gentlemansgazette.com/tweed-guide-harris-history-styles-patterns/
I was thinking about getting a hacking jacket, and I thought I knew a little about tweed… The wealth of knowledge linked above is amazing.
Photo courtesy of http://www.gonomad.com/component/content/article/30-outdoor-adventure/4827-virginia-blue-ridge-mounts-primland-sporting-resort , and if you’re not heard of Primland, check it out.
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Favorite Hat
A couple years ago, during a rainy fishing trip in Alaska, I picked up a waxed cotton Alaskan Brewing Company hat. It served me well in the rain, and I still have it. When I got home, I looked into waterproofing my own hats. I picked up a bar of otter wax, and bought the blue version of my favorite hat (pictured below in Old South Grey):
It was really easy. You just rub the bar on the hat, then heat the hat up with a hair dryer to melt the wax into the fabric. You can find some tutorial videos here. The finished product is great for a rainy day. Its an easy DIY project, and the hat will go great with your Barbour jacket.
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Shopaholic
I probably enjoy amazon prime a little too much. That said, I’ve bought several things in the last few months I’d recommend to my friends. Here are a few:
BBQ and Tailgate:
Weber wood chunks (cheaper than at my home depot)
Pork Rub (I’ve used this at our latest annual whole hog roast (best pig in 9(?) years), on the WSM on ribs, and on a pork butt for pulled pork. I love it, some think its a little salty.)
EZ UP tailgate shelters (I have a 10×20 Eclipse II for the house (love it), and just got, but haven’t tried out the Vantage. Its not tailgate season right now, but we did just use one for the smoker competition.)
The Cabin:
Fiskars axes (My Dad needed a new maul for the house. I use the 36 inch one at the cabin. Light and gets the job done. Make sure you order the axe you need for the job you need done ((splitting, chopping, etc)).
Red Cross emergency lights (I have at least one of these in all the main rooms of my house. Lots of people have plans for home defense (guns, pepper spray, etc.), but that can be dangerous if you can’t see whats going on. These keep enough light to see whats going on, while not being too bright to sleep (your sensitivity may vary).
Icebreaker longjohns (I have both the 200 and 260 weight. I’ve used them skiing, hunting, in Montreal in -45 windchill, etc. Highly recommended.)
Personal Items:
Old Spice Original Deodorant (17% aluminum zirconium tetrachlorohydrex gly ((19% is about as high as it gets for non-prescription)) great smell, classic.)
Less drowsy Dramamine (Off-brand, but compare the price per pill with the tube you can buy at the pharmacy. Insane value. If you’re prone to motion sickness, and especially if you’re prone but try not to let it hold you back, how can you afford not to buy one?)
Professional garment brush (I was having trouble keeping a velvet blazer looking fresh, and was watching Downton Abbey…don’t judge. It works wonders on normal suits as well.)
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PTSD
I occasionally wake up from nightmares, in which I believe I’ve forgotten that an assignment is due. Its been almost two years since I got my last degree, but the fear persists. As I come out of the hypnagogic state, at least I get to realize that I don’t have to worry about school anymore. I remembered that I my student subscription the The Economist still works today, and took a look. I found an interesting article about cigarette companies:
some highlights:
“In Europe 7% of smokers had tried “vaping” by 2012 but only 1% kept it up.” I really thought ecigs would catch on, and based on commercials and seeing them in stores, I thought they had.
“This month health officials in China, home to more smokers than any other country, called for a ban on smoking in public places.” (As far as I know, its still only a potential ban) The night before the smoking ban went into affect in VA, my wife, a buddy of mine, and I went to a cigar friendly restaurant in McLean and had some PG cigars. Maybe one day I’ll try to convince my grandkids that the Virginia smoking ban was as big a deal as the last drink before prohibition.
Admittedly, this is already a pretty scattered post, but I’ll go ahead and switch gears again. I remember getting to read Harvard Business Journal articles for school. There were plenty of reading assignments I didn’t enjoy, but the HBJ articles were usually pretty good. I found one of my favorites (though its a bit dated now), so I figured I’d share:
http://group4jbsswiftco.wikispaces.com/file/view/910405-PDF-ENG.pdf
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