The Great Escape: Brush 'N Blush

Learn to channel your inner Picasso!

Your teens are babysitting for the neighbors on Saturday. Your parents have volunteered to watch the kids while you run errands on Sunday afternoon. Your tweens are glued to Glee on Tuesday evenings.  It’s your time. Take it. Looking for ways to spend it? Each week, Patch throws out one great idea to give you a much deserved break, and make your life a little easier, maybe a whole lot easier! Some of you reading this weekly column live in Arlington, but Patch has found a "Great Escape" this week that definitely worth crossing the Key Bridge for. Located at 3210 Grace St. in Washington, Brush 'N Blush is a nifty Georgetown painting studio that allows you to work on a 16x20 inch masterpiece while relaxing with your friends and fellow …

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Culinary Adventures with Tyler Savoy

A Chef's Perspective on Valentine's Day

One man's view on V-Day and two recipes for two.

I’ll be honest. I felt nervous writing this article. Valentine’s Day is a double-edged sword. The possibility of making a lot of friends or a lot of enemies exists equally. That said, hear me out. Romance should exist 365 days a year. Valentine’s Day should not be that one magical day of the year where you make up for lacking romance the other 364. Do things with passion. Let actions speak louder than your words. Remember that little things matter. Remind that person how it’s good to be here and how you’re happy to have them in your life. Be genuine and yourself. Love is not weird and love, actually, can and should be beautiful. It doesn’t take a heart shaped box of chocolates and a stuffed animal on the bandwagon romance day of the year …

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DIY: Fermentation in Preparation for Spring

Go green by brining your veggies.

As winter drags on and before the spring farmers markets begin, try your hand at creating fermented foods–it’s a great entry into the more elaborate process of canning and making sauces and jams. Chopping vegetables, stuffing them into jars filled with brine and letting it sit in the kitchen for a few days to ferment is an unusual sort of food preparation in contrast to our frying, baking, and sautéingin a battle to rid our foods of bacteria immediately and efficiently. The process of fermentation, involves the conversion of carbohydrates to alcohols and bacteria, as vegetables pickle, becoming crunchy and juicy in the brine. Fermenting foods is fragrant, colorful; and the jar can develop a foamy crust. The waning weeks of winter are an …

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Georgetown Gatherings and Goings-On Jan. 14-16

It's a long weekend, make the most of it.

Friday evening play it cool at Baked and Wired with a poetry reading beginning at 8 p.m. Grab a cupcake, a latte and enjoy D.C. Poetry's performance of works by CAConrad, Debrah Morkun and Adam Robinson.  Getting hitched? Paper Source is hosting a wedding invites workshop Saturday from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. for $40/person. Learn all about enclosures, layering, and stamping and all that jazz. Need to get kids out of the house and have to pick up groceries? Whole Foods has a "two-for" Sunday from 12 p.m. to 2 p.m. and 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. At the Go Greens! workshop at the Healthy Eating Station, you can sample recipes prepared by one of the store's Healthy Eating Specialists. They'll show you how to make getting your greens easier with soups, …

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