There is a big difference between baking and cooking.  Baking generally requires much more attention to detail, exact measurements and timing, an oven that heats evenly (my old oven definitely does not), and a lot of patience.  I’ve managed to make some decent baked goods in the past — like that amazing pumpkin pie last Thanksgiving — but  because I have had so many misses (I had to make said pumpkin pie twice on Thanksgiving day after burning the first one and forgetting an ingredient), I like to have a back up dessert ready…just in case.

So if you do not want to take on the task of baking dessert for your Thanksgiving dinner this year, or if you want to have an extra pie on hand just in case, I have a great solution for you.  Slice of Life is partnering with Food and Friends to let you buy a pie while also helping out those in need, which is perfectly in line with the spirit of the holiday.

Here’s how it works: Place your order by November 19 from the team Dining in DC Unites Food Bloggers for a Cause (created by Dining in DC).  Then on Tuesday, November 24th, you can pick up your pie from the location of your choosing.

SLICE OF LIFE is the only DC area pie sale allowing you to purchase your Thanksgiving pies while making an impact in the lives of thousands in need in your community.  All proceeds from sales go to Food & Friends.

Food & Friends’ mission is to prepare and deliver specialized meals and groceries in conjunction with nutrition counseling to DC Area residents living with HIV/AIDS, cancer, and other life-challenging illnesses. In 2008, over 913,036 meals were served.

This large-scale bake sale is in its third year and not only allows you to purchase pies for you and your family, but also to complement the full Thanksgiving meals our clients will receive by purchasing a pie, or two, to be delivered with their holiday meal.

You have the choice of five delicious flavors:

• Picture Perfect Pumpkin Pie  $25 – Thanksgiving would not be complete without this traditional favorite. The creamy pumpkin filling, in a delectable crust, has the perfect mix of spices and great pumpkin flavor. You’ll certainly want to more than one for your family and friends.

• Harvest Apple Crumb Pie  $25 – Perfectly flaky with just the right amount of sweetness, you’ll enjoy this classic pie filled with a bushel of apples, spices and topped with sweet crumbles. Whether you serve your pie alone or a la mode, it’s a must have.

• Oh So Sweet Potato Pie  $25 – For many, Thanksgiving means Sweet Potato Pie. This southern specialty, filled with creamy bright orange sweet potatoes, cinnamon and nutmeg is sure to warm the hearts of your holiday guests.

• Southern Pecan Pie  $35 – Embrace true hospitality by sharing this Southern treat with your holiday guests. Ya’ll will love this delicious buttery crust, loads of pecans and sweet gooey filling.

• Creamy Chocolate Cheesecake  $35 – A chocolate lover’s delight! Your guests will go crazy over this rich, creamy cheesecake topped with a decadent dark chocolate ganache.

All pies are 10″ rounds and shrink-wrapped to ensure that you receive the freshest, most delicious product possible. Each pie is placed in a sturdy, gift-quality box, making it a perfect hostess gift or token of appreciation. Upon receipt, you will want to immediately refrigerate your pies.

Picking Up Your Pie: Upon purchasing your pie, you will be asked to select a Pie Pick-Up Location.  Pies are available to be picked-up on Tuesday, November 24th from 10am to 8pm. Thanks to the generosity of  CVS Caremark, there are 15 convenient distribution sites throughout the metropolitan area.  Food & Friends volunteers will be stationed at each site to help make sure your pick-up is as quick and easy as possible. Please note: Your pies are ONLY available for pick-up at the location you select when you place your order.

** Since Food & Friends is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, contributions are considered tax-deductible. The fair market value for the purchase of a pie is $7.00. The remainder of your purchase, and the purchase of any pies for clients is fully tax-deductible. All contributors to Slice of Life will receive tax documentation from Food & Friends after the conclusion of this event. Thank you!

For the entire month of November, Belga Cafe will be serving its delicious brunch every day of the week.  It’s not every day that you can get good Belgian waffles and crepes in the middle of the week, so I had to share.  You can view the full brunch menu at BelgaCafe.com.

Photo by TangoPango on Flickr

I always love the creativity that people show with dishes for Halloween festivities.  Endless Simmer found 10 that are sure to creep out your friends as they reach for the hors d’oeuvres at your Halloween party.

Sadly, the eyeball drink above is not included, but I’m not sure anyone would drink it anyway…

As we feasted on the results of our Brunch for the Lazy class at Hill’s Kitchen, a number of people commented that there was little “laziness” involved in any of the recipes we had just learned.  I had to agree as I thought back to the many steps involved in each recipe, and actually started to worry about about what the next class, Brunch for the Ambitious, was going to entail.

But after looking back at the recipes a few days later, there was a perfect “laziness” involved in each recipe – it was that all could be prepared in advance, so you could technically sleep in a bit and then enjoy mimosas and bloody marys with your friends instead of slaving away in the kitchen in the morning of your party.  As I learned from a brunch party I threw last winter, the more you can do in advance, the better.  And if you can master a few recipes that will impress guests a day after they have been cooked, you will have a great thing going.

Click through* for the full recipe to try them for yourself:

• Spinach and Potato Frittata
• Ricotta Pancakes
• Blueberry Compote
• Fall Fruit Salad
• Bacon Hash Browns (this is the one item that is best to make on the day of, to ensure the perfect crispiness)

And a note about the drinks from Brock:

• Good quality orange juice is key to a good mimosa – possibly more so than the champagne.  You do not need to spend a lot on the bubbly but do want to get something dry, rather than sweet.  And avoid “blanc de noir” varieties made with Pinot grapes – they do not mix well with champagne.  Trader Joe’s sells an excellent prosecco for $4.99 that does the job very well without braking the bank.  And the best ratio is 1 part OJ to 2 parts champagne.  Serve right away and enjoy!
• Bloody Marys don’t require expensive liquor either, and you will find the best success by using good quality tomato juice and spices that suit your tastes.   It’s also very easy to make a large batch in advance, and let people add extra spices as they would like, so this is perfect for parties.

* All of my recipes are now loaded into Kitchen Moki, a site that a friend of mine helped build and launch.  I decided that listing out recipes in here were a pain, and using that site will allow you to print out or email any recipe you would like to try.  If Kitchen Monki looks like something you would enjoy using, sign up and send them any feedback or suggestions – they are still developing the site and adding in new features every day.

Young & Hungry has an update on Capital City Diner, a place I have anxiously been waiting to try.  They’ve run into a series of delays (from issues with utility companies, to parking tickets on the old-style diner while it sat on the street awaiting foundation approval from the city) but it now looks like may finally be opening next month.  And yes, they will serve breakfast all day long.  Now that’s a place worth waiting for!

I’ve mentioned before that the Argonaut is a great brunch place before, especially for larger groups with kids.  While I wasn’t blown away by the food I was won over by the general feel of the place and bloody mary bar.  After reading Capital Spice’s recent review, I think I need to give the food another chance.

Click through for their full review: Argonaut: You Can’t Spell Brunch Without “Arrrrrrrggghhh!”

photo by stevendepolo on Flickr

I saw this mouth-watering announcement from Dining in DC and had to pass it along.  Because, really, what’s better than a restaurant dedicating an entire week to bacon?

During The Week of Bacon (October 21-27), Arlington’s Restaurant 3 will have a special 3-course bacon tasting menu for $30.  According to Dining in DC:

Each day for the duration of the week of bacon, the restaurant will offer a daily Bacon Happy Hour, where bar guests can feast on bacon bites such as bacon on a stick & bacon-wrapped shrimp and wash it all down with $3 craft beer draft specials.

Executive Chef Brian Robinson cures all his own bacon in-house and is a firm believer in the foodie philosophy that, “Everything tastes better with bacon,” a philosophy that he looks forward to sharing with his guests through his gut-busting Bacon Tasting Menu being offered throughout the duration of the Week of Bacon. Priced at $30 per person, the menu will feature some of Robinson’s favorite food and bacon pairings such as Bacon & Eggs and Maple Bacon Ice Cream.

Sounds good, doesn’t it?  You can see the full tasting menu here.

The much anticipated opening of Seventh Hill has finally arrived!  The owners of Montmartre took over the space next door, which was formerly Ben & Jerry’s, and put in a big wood-burning oven months ago.  With promises of a “late summer” opening, I was checking in throughout the month of August.  Word finally came out that they were going to open on September 1, but they were only able to give away free pizza as they waited for a few more permits from the city.  Since I work downtown, I missed out on the early preview. Finally, almost a month later, they officially opened for business yesterday.

I stopped by for dinner last night with a friend and ordered the Barracks Row and Lincoln Park. The gourmet pizza market in DC is pretty competitive, and I know how people can be about their pizza (especially when it comes to 2 Amy’s and Pizza Paradiso), so I will have to suggest you just give it a try for yourself to see if it will be your new favorite.  Is it better than 2 Amy’s or Pizza Paradiso?  No, but that bar is pretty high.  Does it compare?  I think definitely think it does.  As for the pizza choices on the Hill, I do think it’s safe to say that this is the best of our choices.  They are a welcome addition and if the crowd last night is any indication, they will be doing very well!

All of their pizzas are named after Capitol Hill locations, and range in price from $9.95-10.95 for an 8″ and $15.95-16.95 for a 12″.  They also have paninis, soup, beer, and wine.  You can also call in your order in advance if you want to take it to go.  With their limited seating area (especially once it is too cold to sit on the patio), take-out will likely be the most popular option.

Pizza list:

• Pennsylvania Ave: fresh tomato, olive, pesto, pecorino spinach
• Lincoln Park: artichoke, rosemary, mozzarella, zucchini, portobello
• Navy Yard: tomato, Toulouse sausage, oregano, pecorino
• Eastern Market: tomato, goat cheese, fresh herbs, tapenade, fresh mushrooms
• Southwest Waterfront: tomato, black olive, anchovies, basil
• Union Station: goat cheese, mozzarella, pecorina, gorgonzola, garlic
• Capitol Hill: tomato, basil, mozzarella
• Barracks Row: tomato, mushroom, spinach, red onion, mozzarella
• Stanton Park: zucchini, red onion, garlic, roasted red pepper, eggplant, tomato, mozzarella, pecorino, parmesan
• Seventh Street: prosciutto, parmesean, roasted red pepper, tomato
• Garfield Park: tomato, mozzarella

If you don’t have plans for Saturday afternoon yet, add this to your calendar:  H Street Festival is back and it sounds like it will be bigger and better than ever!  Among the many many things planned, Curbside Cupcakes (which will soon be delivering in DC) and Dangerously Delicious Pies (which will soon be opening on H Street) will both be debuting their tasty treats.

Other reasons to come:

• Rock and Roll Hotel has a full line up of bands and a DJ
• Palace of Wonders is reportedly putting on a family-friendly version of their burlesque show.  Maybe some of their sword swallowers will be walking around too?
• The Pug is sponsoring a boxing ring with our local Nomis Gym and Babie Doll Productions.
• The H Street Country Club will have piñatas in the alley next to their restaurant and mini-golf tournament inside.
• More than 15 Art Cars will be on display
• While Biergarten Haus (the new beer garden) won’t open for months, the owner is building a German beer garden in front of his under-construction restaurant at 1355 H.

That’s all just a taste of what you’ll find.  Lots of vendors and other entertainment will be filling up H Street NE between 10th and 14th Street.  Free shuttle bus service from Union Station and Chinatown will be available as well as free shuttles from Eastern Market (I’m waiting for more info on this).  There will also be free bike valet service available.  So come on down from noon-6pm!

After taking the breakfast baking class and hounding the owner of Hill’s Kitchen enough, she has scheduled not one but two brunch classes this fall!  So now’s your chance to come perfect your brunch-making skills.  And while you’re there, shop around a bit.  This kitchen store has been a fantastic addition to the Hill.

Brunch for the Lazy $45
Sunday, October 18, 11a

Need to totally impress some brunch guests, but also, meh?  This is the class for you.  We are starting off with the proper way to make both the Bloody Mary and the Mimosa, both often ruined by unloving hands.  Then we’ll cover how to make a good frittata, buttermilk pancakes, fresh blueberry compote, hash browns fried with bacon, and fruit salad that people actually like and don’t just eat out of politeness.  We will also discuss how to pre-make everything above so that you can get tipsy with your guests while brunch basically makes itself.  Join us!

Brunch for the Ambitious $45
Saturday, October 31, 11a

Do you love breakfast, but wish that you could justify serving it for lunch (or dinner) every day?  Become a Breakfast Ninja and you can serve it any time of day and no one will say a thing.  This class covers the amazing yet scary Eggs Benedict, Crispy Waffles with Seasonal Fruit Compote, and Blinis served with Gravlax and Horseradish (gravlax is like lox or smoked salmon).  And because we’re ambitious, we are going to make our own Bloody Marys from scratch, as well as learn how to cure our own bacon and gravlax, poach eggs, and make our own fruit syrups.  Breakfast is the new black.

For a full listing of fall classes, go to hillskitchen.com.