Happy Funtime Friend Service

The Kite Festival is on the National Mall on Saturday (rain date is Sunday, but I think rain is actually more likely on Sunday than Saturday).

This year they are taking a differently approach and the focus is less on competition and more on the festival aspect - trying to get everyone to enjoy flying a kite.

Just one note - the Walk for Epilepsy is also on Saturday, so definitely take Metro if you’re heading downtown as there will be a lot of street closures. (And avoid driving in Georgetown on Saturday evening - the Hoyas tip off in the Final Four around 6 p.m.)

Hopefully the blossoms will wait until after Sunday’s rain, but the Cherry Blossom Festival officially kicks off this weekend. The peak time for the blossoms is projected to be April 3 - 5, so use that as an excuse to take a long lunch hour and go for a walk around the Tidal Basin.

Check out the Festival web site for a calendar of events and all kinds of things I didn’t even know they did - like a “Blossoms Secrets” walking tour.

That’s right, bastards. You heard me. Crafts. But we’re not talking macrame owls and plant holders: This is edgy, counter-culture, hardcore, serious crafts. Time to crank the Christmas shopping into full-on, nitrogen-charged, throttle-busting mode and head over to the Washington City Paper’s 3rd annual Crafty Bastards Arts & Crafts Festival right in the heart of the Adams Morgan neighborhood this Sunday, October 1st from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The pickings look good with crafters ranging from fiber arts, to pottery, jewelry, paper crafts, and art & photography. If you can’t find something here for those hard-to-shop-for peeps on your list, you weren’t trying hard enough.

Crafty Bastards Arts & Crafts Festival:
http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/craftybastards/

Belga Cafe over on Barracks Rows in Eastern Market is a new favorite of mine and one I found through Restaurant Week explorations. Well, that and I’m always looking for an excuse to check out places that serve both Belgian beer AND mussels. And Beglian chocolate pastries (and the pastry chef is cute… but that’s another story).

Back to the beer. This Saturday, 16 September, is Barracks Row Fest and along with the live music and street vendors, the lovely firefighters at Engine 18 / Truck 7 Firehouse will be hosting an Open House (take cookies and say thank you) and Belga will be serving brunch.

But that’s not even the fun part. Monday, 25 September through Sunday, 1 October is Drink Your Beer and Steal Your Glass and the glass is specially designed for each specific Belgian Beer. So go buy, get a kilo of mussels and some beer, steal your glass, and tell the pastry chef I said hi.

And it is - if you’re Ukrainian or of Uke descent which I am. Sour cream goes in the soup, on the pierogis, mixed in with cucumbers and dill, and it even makes a nice facial in the evenings just before bed. Unfortunately, a few of our family food traditions have been lost along with the relatives from the old country so that’s why I always keep an eye out for eastern orthodox church festivals where I can get my fix of pierogis, babkas, and holupki (stuffed cabbage).

And so my calendar is blocked out for this weekend’s Ukrainian Festival at St. Andrew’s Ukrainian Orthodox Cathedral in Silver Spring, Maryland (15100 New Hampshire Avenue). Last year, I went for the food, but stayed for the jammed packed outdoor stage o’ dancing, singing and assorted other kosacking. There’s also a small little market where you can pick up all your Uke supplies like egg dying kits and little magnets that say “Ukrainian Kitchen” (a most excellent stocking stuffer). And don’t forget to pop in to the church’s indoor eastern european shop inside where you can pick up super-sized Ukrainian beers, kielbasa and bags o’ poppy seeds. Yes, those slavs like their poppy seeds pastries and, apparently, the inability to pass a random drug test.

St. Andrew Ukrainian Festival, September 16-17, 2006:
http://www.standrewuoc.org/festival.htm

I love jazz and I live in Arlington, but a combination of events (usually business travel) has kept me from attending the Rosslyn Jazz Festival - that streak ends this Saturday. Find me at Gateway Park (at Lee Highway and North Lynn Street - a mere 2 blocks from the Rosslyn Metro). From 1:00 - 7:00 p.m., a line-up of solid jazz musicians will be playing for free (and people I’ve paid good money to see at the Kennedy Center) including Hiromi. If you’re not sure if you like jazz and want to check out a good mix of piano, trumpet, jazz vocals, and fusion, this is a great place to try it on without a cover or a two drink minimum. More details available at the Arlington Cultural Affairs office.

Maybe it’s the fall travel, but the past few years I’ve been looking for ways to spread my Christmas spending throughout of the year. That also allows me to spend time away from the malls and enjoying my favorite Christmas activities instead (watch this space for more details on that later this year.) I’m a big believer in books as presents and I think books personalized by the author are a nifty gift. Also, having the opportunity to hear some of your favorite authors read their works, outside on the National Mall surrounded by a bunch of other book lovers is a nice treat too. So, how handy is the National Book Festival sponsored by the Library of Congress on Saturday, 30 September.

There will be over 70 authors reading in tent pavilions (no standing out in the sun) dedicated to Teens & Children, Fiction & Fantasy, Mysteries & Thrillers, Home & Family, History & Biography, and Poetry. Authors include Doris Kearns Goodwin, Deborah Tannen, Bob Woodward, Geraldine Brooks, Christopher Buckley, George Pelecanos, Scott Turow, and Poet Laureate Donald Hall.

The last couple of years I volunteered and had a great time. If you’re looking to volunteer, drop a note to bookfest@loc.gov.

If getting books signed is more important to you than hearing authors read, be sure to check the schedule. Some authors are very popular and will have lines several hours long. Please be patient and understand that the authors really are trying to get to as many people as possible. You can help by having a post-it note with the name and desired message printed legibly and knowing that they may limit the number of items signed in order to get as many people through the line as possible. So my advice is plan your day, bring water, be patient and if there’s a book you really must have signed, buy it ahead of time and bring it – don’t depend on the book pavilion to have it in stock that day.

It is full on summer harvest time. I know that some folks may wonder what century it is when Alycia and I start talking about making pickles or putting up peaches and making jam, but if you have any desire to get out of the city and think about how food gets on our tables, this is the perfect time of year. As I write this I’m stirring spaghetti sauce made with tomatoes from Butler’s Orchard in Germantown, MD.

It’s still prime season for blackberries, raspberries, and peaches and the apples are coming soon (mmmm…caramel apples). I have forty-seven jars of blackberry preserves and fourteen jars of raspberry jam so far. There was one drawback which may have been because we were raspberry picking in the middle of the day - there were about a million bees trying to get to the same ripe, juicy raspberries we were. There was one bee that was so determined that he stuck his face right into the berry I’d just picked. That’s when Ian came up with the name “Bee Spit Jam.”

Try to look surprised at Christmas when you get jam. And I boil it for a long time. There’s no bee spit left. I promise.

One of the things I love about Washington that makes it different from other cities is how many cultural events we have that are free. Of course having the Smithsonian is a definite advantage and I always think I need to do more. There are three more weeks left of Jazz in the Garden. Local jazz musicians play in the National Gallery of Art’s Sculpture Garden (the one with the typewriter eraser – not the Hirschorn Sculpture Garden) in front of the Pavilion Café. Rain or Shine, 5:30 – 8:30 p.m. The café stays open later on concert nights and they have a special menu.

Events like this are great casual meeting spots or even first dates if you’re looking for such places.