In The Meantime

October's Over!

2011-11-02T18:37:00.002-04:00

So I have emerged from the craziness that was my month of October. It began fantastically- an amazing weekend at the beach with my mom, aunt, cousin and sister. I went back to work on Monday and then on Wednesday, I ran back to New Jersey to pick up my birthday present (the fancy-ass camera that took all of these pictures!) and then I had to go to the courthouse downtown, because I was called for Jury Duty on the 6th. I sat there, confident, when the judge said that it was a three week case, because I knew I wouldn't be called. It would have been a financial hardship! My job doesn't pay for jury duty! I was called up to the judge and told him that, and sat back down. And then, at the end of the day, I was called up. Instead of being dismissed, I was put onto the jury. For three weeks. And because I don't get paid for jury duty, I had to use my vacation time at work, and work on the days that I wasn't on jury duty. Which meant that yesterday was my last day off since October 6th. It was glorious.

So that debacle is over, thank goodness, and I can focus on the good things that are happening.

For one, I got the TV that has been traveling around in my backseat for... a long time into my apartment! Check it out- it's so huge!

Also on my day off, I put together these shelves, which house my kitchenaid, my "bar area" with my new bar stuff from my aunt, and other various and sundry kitchen things.

Also: I've been dating a totally cute girl who is, to use my favorite adjective, quite awesome.

And aside from the fact that I haven't been there that much, work has been great.

Plus! I have had some time in the kitchen- I made a roast chicken, and my own stock, and chicken and dumplings... all fall flavors and deliciousness. Now that I have some more time, I'm looking forward to having more time to play around.

If I compare where I'm at this year to the same time last year, I think last year Val would be super impressed. It's been a long hard road, but I am finally happy.

To end, some gratuitous Earl pictures:

For real, he's super cute, right?

Ten things that are making me happy right now

2011-10-10T21:53:00.002-04:00

I haven't done this in a while!

1

Cousins, and the most wonderful birthday weekend ever.

Duckpin bowling

Sunsets

4 My crazy cat, who is not currently biting my feet right now, but is looking at them hungrily.

5 Temps dropping to the fifties

6 Glee Tuesdays

7 Picking up crocheting again

8 Spiced Apple Cider

9 Work is really, really good (if exhausting, at times)

10 My fancy-ass new camera that I love SO MUCH.

30/30th 50 Cheeses

2011-10-03T13:16:00.002-04:00

When I was having Birthday At the Beach this past weekend, we had The Cheesing Hour on Saturday and Sunday.

On Saturday, we had a selection of three cheeses: Stagnola Blu, Brie, Mini Brie Bites, and Cranberry Chevre.

The brie that we had was 62% Brie, which was super creamy and buttery. In the background, there are brie bites, which come five to a package and are really cool- I'm a fan of having them in the fridge in case I need a quick hit of brie and I don't want to buy a huge wedge.

The Stagnola Blu is a cheese that Trader Joe's carries, but it is about to be discontinued- I'm not sure if you can get it other places, but it's a great blue- creamy, and has a real knockout flavor.

Chevre and Cranberry are two of my favorite combinations, it's a really great combo in this cheese too. I think after the brie, this was my second favorite of the cheeses.

Sunday night we had some harder cheeses, a Manchego, a Cinnamon Dusted Toscano, and I also wanted to try out a Hot and Sweet Pepper Jelly that I had gotten from Trader Joe's, so I served that over a brick of cream cheese.

The pepper jelly was really good, except the "hot" part of the Hot and Sweet was.... missing. It was tasty, though! It is definitely going on my next party menu.

The Manchego was really nice- a milder cheese, salty in a good way. I didn't really prepare as well for this cheesing hour in terms of accompaniments, and I'm a little bummed out. I think it would have worked really well with some olives, or maybe a slice of apple.

The Cinnamon Toscano was really different. It is a really strong tasting cheese- and then to add a powerhouse spice like cinnamon ups the flavor to eleven. I liked it a lot, even though it's definitely a "holiday" cheese- the cinnamon reminded me of Christmas. My mom said that she thought that this cheese would go really well with apple pie, and I would have to agree. I think that would be awesome.

So! Six cheeses down, 44 to go!

30 in the 30th

2011-10-02T11:06:00.000-04:00

Without Further Ado.....

1 Write up my list and hang it somewhere in my apartment so I can be mindful of the list.
2 Couch to 5K
3 Call G/Grandad at least once a week
4 Update my blog at least once a week
5 End the year ten pounds lighter than I start it.
6 Go as many as I can of the restaurants in the CityPaper's Best of Baltimore List
7 LEARN HOW TO CAN THINGS
8 Create 12 new Ice Cream flavors (or make a different ice cream each month. or sorbet)
9 NYC for the weekend!
10 Learn how to bake bread.
11 DFTBA Tattoo
12 Go to Rhode Island
13 Make a concerted effort to schedule more 'sister' time with jack
14 Be better at keeping in touch with friends and family
15 Read books from five authors I have never read before
16 Try 12 different kinds of wine
17 Go to a Scotch tasting with Julie
18 Go on 30 dates.
19 Go to Boordy for a wine tasting.
20 Perform six random act of kindness
21 Create a Val's guide to Baltimore and write it up on my blog.
22 Throw a party!
23 Try 50 different cheeses
24 Take photo portraits of my family and friends
25 Volunteer for a day somewhere: soup kitchen, City Year, something
26 Read five classic books: Definitely on the list: Jane Eyre, The Scarlet Letter, and A Tale of Two Cities
27 Try to maintain a more positive and less self defeating attitude.
28 Take a photography class (or photoshop) With Katie.
29 Make ten cocktail's I've never made before using my new barware cocktail set (fancy!)
30 Write and mail actual, physical birthday cards to my friends, because it's awesome to get real mail.

29 in the 29th- a Roundup.

2011-09-21T15:37:00.002-04:00

With a week and a half of my twenties left to go, here's where the list stands:

1) Go see a taping of Wait Wait Don't tell me. Nope! And they even came to Baltimore, which was SUCH A BUMMER to have missed. I was pretty broke at the time though, so no Wait Wait for me.

2) Take advantage of a Southwest sale and go somewhere with Julie that we've both never been. Sadly, nope.

3) Redesign my website. Buy a domain name and move the blog there.

No, not this one. Maybe if I can be a little bit more disciplined about posting, I will think about it this year.

4) Enter a cooking contest. (a real one. not one at work. With real judges and everything)
I entered one at my last workplace (which doesn't count... I know, but it was still a contest) and.... lost. Sad Clown.

5) Buy a video camera and make and edit more videos (even if it's just a flipcam)

No, but I did put up more video content this year! This Video is the reason I get like, 90% of my google referrals. heh.

6) Update my blog at least once a week. I was not so successful at this, but it's going on next year's list. I need to remember that I can't abandon things when i'm sad (the cause for this year's earlier abandonment) or busy (the reason why I haven't been updating so much this recently)

7) Plan fun things to do to show Jackie Baltimore, now that she is living here. We've done a couple of good things, but we could definitely be doing more.

8) Go to a restaurant for restaurant week. DONE! Went to Dogwood with Jackie this summer. It was AMAZING. I am still thinking about the chevre that they served on the salad I had there. So creamy!

9) Go tubing down the river (I don't know which river. Any river. Preferably with Paul, who suggested this list item)

Nope!

10) Take more pictures, post more pictures.

I think I've taken more pictures this year.

11) Taste 20 types of beer.

Eh, I've decided I'm not such a huge fan of beer. my tastes tend to go to Miller High life... classy, I know. but I couldn't justify the expense of trying all those beers when I know how delicious gin and tonics are.

12) Continue my tradition of Top Chef Wednesdays and Glee Tuesdays.

Glee tuesdays stuck it out for much of the year! And we've started up again now that the season has started. This is really, really one of my favorite things- I look forward to it every week.

13) Donate money to causes I believe in.

I have!

14) Go to NYC for a weekend.

I have not!

15) Go somewhere where there is not much ambient light, and look at the stars.
Chincoteague, 2011. So. Many. Stars.

16) Learn how to identify more constellations than just Orion. I found The Big Dipper and Cassiopeia!

17) Master bread baking (this guy is also going to be baking bread this year, and I want to bake some with him!)

Nope, sadly

18) Help someone else complete a List item on their list that isn't on my list.

I feel like I've done this one, but I can't remember. If i helped you with a list item, would you let me know via comments? I know I've helped inspire some other people to make their lists, and that's quite awesome.

19) Go on a picnic.

I went on a great picnic with my sister Jackie and my cousin Kate, and Jackie even did all the cooking for it! it was really awesome.

20) Figure out what I'm doing with my life professionally.

This was my big one, this year- I was really really miserable and unhappy in my last job, and I made the move to a new one- which has its own challenges, but I am so much more happy professionally that on a scale of 1-10, where 1 is my old job, I'm about at a 15.

21) Set one weekly excersise goal every week and then meet it. (even if it's small: i.e. 3 days of wii fit a week, two long walks around the ten hills neighborhood, walking up the giant hill in front of my house)
Uh, no. but! with the new job comes a lot more activity, and i've gone down a few pants sizes!
22) Move to a new apartment when my lease is up, with the following requirements: decent size kitchen. hardwood floors, fun area of Baltimore. (optional but would be nice: washer/dryer combo)
Nope
23) Go to one of the City Year Events in DC (or philly, or NYC, or RI- Just do one event with them)
Nope
24) Decorate a cake with fondant.

Nope

25) Learn how to can things. Seriously. Making this happen. For real this time.
Seriously, I need to get this one together. it's going on next year's list.
26) Go to see a drive in movie.

Nope

27) Do one social activity that is outside my comfort zone per month.

No, not really.

28) Go down to Florida to visit G; make it home to visit my Grandad more often.

I didn't get down to Florida this year, sadly.

29) Go to some kind of food festival. Whether it is barbeuce, or Garlic, or a Pickle festival.

I went to the Baltimore Food Truck Rally but it was waaaaaaaaaaaaay too crowded, and the lines were insane, so we ended up going to Ze Mean Bean instead. Maybe the next time they have one, it'sll be in a little bit less claustrophobic space, and I can actually get something to eat.

So all in all, not a great year, in terms of getting things done (all told, it was a pretty horrible year all around, actually). The one important thing that I really needed to do, #20, got done so for that I'm considering this years' list a success.

but I'm working on the new stuff (and keeping some of this year's stuff) and will come out with my 30/30th list next Sunday!

Cheese-a-day: Chevre with Honey

2011-08-24T13:31:00.000-04:00

This is a picture of the view from the back of the house we're staying at- at five this morning. I was up, so i went out to go watch the sunrise, which I tried to do, until the bugs were eating me alive, and I had to come back in and snuggle back into my bed for a few more hours.

Anyway.... so the cheese yesterday was a Honey Chevre, which you can read about here

I served it with toasted Tuscan Pane bread, and apricot jam, and there was also a little container of dark chocolate almonds with turbinado sugar and sea salt to snack on at what we've dubbed "the cheese hour"

I thought it was REALLY good. the honey adds a sweetness, and there isn't any of the chalkyness that you sometimes get with chevre, and I had let it sit out about an hour before serving, so it was room temp and really pliable. I think the honey emulsifies the cheese a little- it was really spreadable and delicious, and you could taste the honey in it. The family liked it too, even more than yesterday's brie, which I thought was surprising.

We still had some cheese left when we were running low of things to put it on, so my sister toasted some more bread, and let me tell you- when it's on warm toast, this cheese goes from a solid, standard cheese, to something amazing and wonderful.

Cheese-a-day: Double Cream Brie

2011-08-23T15:44:00.000-04:00

Because of my job, I've been recently very motivated to expand my cheese knowledge. This week while we're in Virginia, I decided that to expand my palate (and the palates of my family) by trying some awesome cheeses that I haven't tried before (and a few, I must admit, I have, but wanted my family to try)

First up, was a double cream brie that I haven't tried. It's French, and let me tell you, it is goooooooood.

I served it with fig butter and slices of granny smith apple.

My cousin Dan really liked it- he said it was creamy and smooth, and not too strong, and went really well with the sides- I agree with his assessment.

For me, brie is a "comfort food" kind of thing. It is meant to be mild, and unassuming, milky and buttery, and this one really was. Delicious! Plus, the fig butter was really outstanding- it's one of my new favorite things. I think it would go well with just about any cheese, but it really rocked out with the brie.

A preview of things to come:

2011-08-18T16:20:00.000-04:00

Chincoteague Island

Next Week

Number 25

Champagne Grapes

Ball Jars

Pectin

Sugar

I AM MAKING THIS HAPPEN, PEOPLE.

Just some randomness

2011-08-15T17:56:00.001-04:00

I have had an early morning. I opened at work, and now I'm killing time at Panera until my theater company meeting. I don't know if it is just my level of tiredness, or my need to stay awake, but these are the things that I am thinking right now. It's a jumble. Consider yourself warned.

***
The air conditioning is a gentle breeze (or maybe I'm just under a fan), and I'm looking outside the window, it's grey, and a little windy, and all of the sudden, it feels like it could almost, almost be fall.

I know stepping outside will smash this fantasy, and the humidity will curl my hair (even more) and the warm rain will begin on my drive, and that will be fine, but it's nice to hold onto the hope of fall, and cooler temperatures, for a little while. I love the fall. Sweaters, and a crispness in the air, crunching leaves under my feet, and stirring risotto on the stove. It's my favorite.

***
I've had Elizabeth Bishop's One Art in my head all day. I wonder why that is? I especially love this verse. I think it is because I love the word lovely. Also, because it is beautifully written.

I lost two cities, lovely ones. And, vaster,

some realms I owned, two rivers, a continent.

I miss them, but it wasn't a disaster.

***

We are closing in on the end of my 29th year. I have... not done so well with this year's list, which, I'll expand more on, in a post later, but it's been a hard year- and I got some of the key items done, but I feel a general sense of frustration at how little of the list I've done this year. Next year's list- I'm making it an achievable- I want my thirtieth year to be a success- unlike this one.

***

I think I want to go back to this haircut:

****

My Drunk Kitchen is still totally awesome.

***

I just caught myself humming to my music (I have my headphones in) I am totally one of Those Crazies at Panera, aren't I?

***

Pinterest is a thing. I am on it.

***

Coffee is awesome.

***

I am probably going to regret this word-spew.

***

I can't wait for vacation next week. Getting through this week is going to be an EPIC CHALLENGE.

***

Edie's music is beautiful.

***

I'm really tired, you guys.

***

Maybe I need another coffee.

****

Maybe not. My eye is twitching.

***

Ooooooh, iced tea.

There is life outside my apartment

2011-07-18T14:23:00.000-04:00

I work ten hour days. Five of them, every week, at what is at times, a fairly physical job. Once I got over the initial time of just sleeping when I wasn't at work (which was about two months, give or take) I began to emerge and start living life outside my apartment again. When before I couldn't imagine doing anything after my workday, now I can take some time and hang out. (Unless I have to be in the next day at 3am)

This weekend, I was able to do two awesome things: a picnic with my sister and cousin at Druid Hill Park, which was wonderful and relaxing. We ate, and laid on the grass and talked about lots of things, did a lot of "would you rather" questions, and generally had a good time.

Then, on Sunday, I made plans to meet Jackie in Fell's Point to get gelato, (note: this is one of my favorite things to do ever) I left work at three, ran some errands, grabbed dinner at Five Guys, and still had an hour before I was supposed to meet her. I (miraculously) found parking in Fell's, and walked down to the end of the pier. The weather was gorgeous, there was a light breeze, and I was just able to sit, and soak in the beautiful day, and the dwindling sunlight. I could feel any remaining tension seeping from me- I feel like being that close to the a body of water gives me perspective, and I just hung out for awhile, thinking, and watching the families as they strolled up the pier, putting coins into the viewfinders to look at the ships and sailboats floating around. I felt peace- something that, as unsettled as I've been, has not been easy to come by, lately. I walked slowly back to the main promenade, and people watched (an always excellent activity) until it was time to meet Jackie.

We hit Pitango, and I got the Grapefruit Sorbet and Coconut (the grapefruit tastes like you are biting into the most perfect piece of cool, slightly sweetened, tart grapefruit- so good. And the coconut is rich, and has an amazing pure coconut flavor. We walked down to the edge of the pier, and sat, talking and eating our gelato. We decided to walk for awhile, and took a large loop around Fell's.

And now it's my weekend- Harry Potter tonight, dinner at Tim's tomorrow.

Life is good.

Culinary disasters and successes

2011-07-12T11:57:00.000-04:00

I decided to head to my parents' house in New Jersey for my days off this week, and a few days before, I found a recipe online for Peach Chipotle Gummy Candies. After turning the idea over and over in my head, I decided that I really wanted to make my own, grown-up gummy candies. I had visions of strawberry balsamic, merlot, white grape and basil... chardonnay.... there were lots of ideas. So I came home, hit the grocery store for ingredients, invited My cousins Kate and Potter over for dinner to taste the spoils, and got to work.

Because there was no peach jello at the store, I improvised by making a peach juice reduction, and adding the chipotles. I set them up, and left them in the fridge to cool, and when they were done, tasted them. They were.... not good. all I could taste was the overwhelming flavor of gelatin. (not tasty) so round 2, was just straight peach juice. Those didn't taste like anything at all (until you got to the piece of chipotle, and then it just tasted like... chipotle.

Frustrated, I tried the strawberry balsamic. While they were tastier (I used an actual Jell-o packet) the balsamic did not set in the gelatin as well as I had hoped, which my aunt pointed out, may have something to do with the levels of acid in the vinegar.

Sigh.

It was a good thing I was making dinner too, because I needed some culinary redemption. We started out with my latest favorite thing to make:

photo credit: Walt Hewitt

It is toasted Tuscan bread, with a Greek feta salad dressing, and topped with thinly sliced Persian cucumbers. So. good.

photo credit: Walt Hewitt

Then I made a lot of kabobs. (this is actually about half of the ones I made) They are mushroom, orange and red bell peppers, chicken, red onion, pineapples and squash. I marinated them for a few hours in a jarred marinade from Trader Joe's (the Island Soyaki- it's really good)

This is what they looked like all cooked:

photo credit: Walt Hewitt

And because I believe that no meal is complete without starch, I made my roasted potato salad.

photo credit: Walt Hewitt

I drowned my gummy candy sorrows in a few glasses of wine, good dinner, and amusing conversation. My mom reminded me about how when I was little, we had to have a "no jokes" rule at the dinner table because I would laugh so hard I would feel sick. (this was after I was laughing for a significant amount of time over a "that's what she said" setup that Potter did that was perfection. You just can't pass those opportunities up.)

It was great to be home.

Haircut!

2011-07-08T17:00:00.000-04:00

Before: Oh, the crazy. (sidenote: it is insanely humid today- it does not normally look quite this crazy)

I have a confession to make; unfortunately, it will not surprise many of my friends. I have not had a haircut in over a year. Part of the reason is that I have been wanting to grow my hair out, and my hair grows insanely slowly.

Plus I'm lazy.

So I've finally been pulling myself out of the funk I've been in lately, and I decided I needed to get a haircut to enhance the awesome upswing in my life. Flaunt has been an awesome supporter of my theater company, and my friend Bradley used to work there before he skipped town to go to Costa Rica (and then to Massachusetts) So I made an appointment, and went over there today.

Lindsay set me right at ease, and did not even comment on how insanely terrible my split ends were! (for the record: EPIC TERRIBLE. SEE ABOVE) I was really relaxed and aside from a few directions (wanted to keep the length, need to be able to put it in a ponytail. nothing that requires a lot of futzing with) I let her go to town, and I am so, so happy with the result:

Ta Da! (still with the humidity, and I didn't get to take the picture until a few hours after the cut, and it had been subjected to both a long walk and some rain, so does not look like quite the awesomsauce it did immediately after my haircut)

I love it. It's shorter in the back, which you can't tell from this picture- but it has actual layers in it, and it feels so light and amazing. and I know that this probably is understood, but it is way, way, way better than the ten-dollar Supercuts experience that I usually do (I know! I know! Supercuts is terrible! I deserved all of those bad haircuts I got)

I feel like a whole new person! Getting haircuts always makes me feel this way- small, but important changes that just make you feel better.

I also got some advice on how to style it, and what I was doing wrong ( putting it in a ponytail when wet, going for a year between haircuts.... you know... the usual)

Yay!

Do haircuts make everyone happy? Or is it just me? It's an instant mood enhancer.

Ten Things Thursday

2011-06-30T11:07:00.000-04:00

(Why hello, Ten Things! It's been a long time since I've done this!)

Ten things that are making me happy RIGHT NOW

1 Lisa and Katie's wedding this weekend. It was such a fun, awesome party, and a beautiful day, in all senses of the word. I am so happy for them!

2. Getting to hang out with Tim. We always have such an great time when we do- he totally gets my sense of humor, and is right there with me in the That's What She Said jokes. Also, my cat loves him. or wants to bite him. One of these things is true.

3 The awesome, giggly fun brunch Tim and I had at Salainte on Sunday. Full Irish Breakfast!

4 Seeing Edie play. (Also hanging out with her at the wedding) and not just because she's awesome (which she is). Hearing her play always makes me want to write more. Her beautiful words make my heart stretch out and try to capture those feelings for myself, and I always have an itch to write after hearing her live.

5 I've kept a plant alive for four weeks! SUCK ON THAT, BLACK THUMB! (cue karma killing the plant..... now) it's a basil plant. So maybe.... I can keep delicious plants alive?

6 Having the most awesome Wedding Twin ever!

7 Actually getting into my kitchen to make things- I haven't really cooked in a long time, but I made Fruit Salsa, (my mom's recipe) and Lora Brody's Intense Chocolate cake. (and it was yay!)

8 Being really happy with something I wrote (a rarity)

9 Feeling pretty when I was all dressed up.

10 My Drunk Kitchen. Seriously. You should all watch this. I have... multiple times.

2011-06-27T21:21:00.000-04:00

photo credit: Tim Bingaman

Two of my best friends got married this weekend, and they asked me to write something to read at the wedding. After I got over my initial terror of not writing something good (read: procrastinating like a mofo) I started to write. And everything I wrote came out like stupid, saccharine cliches about love. Which was kind of appropriate, because they have an epic, ridiculous amazing love, that they fit all of those cliches... but alas, I wrote several drafts, and wasn't happy with any of them.

Then, a few weeks ago, they got legally married in DC. (they couldn't get married in Maryland on their wedding day, because Maryland is dumb, and AGAINST BASIC CIVIL RIGHTS. ahem.) I saw, on that day, that even when things get a little crazy, and are not the way that they might have imagined (the ceremony room was tack-ay), in the end, it didn't matter, because all you could see is how much they love each other.

So one night not long after that, I was driving home, and thinking about this thing that I was writing, and how much about life, and friendship and love, that I've learned from them, and then, miraculously, the words came very easily.

This is what I said:

When I had a question about friendship,

I turned to you and you both showed me what an amazing friendship was;

with caring, love, and honesty

When I had a question about strength,

I saw how you lean on each other when things are hard

and cheer for each other when you need it

When I had a question about loyalty

I was blown away by your fierce faith and devotion to the things that are important to you.

When I had a question about trust,

I could see it in the way that you are careful with each other's hearts.

When I had a question about humor

I was gently and relentlessly mocked.

When I had a question about family;

I saw how much you love yours, and how you've created a family of friends that I am honored to be included in.

And when I had a question about love, I already had all of the answers, because I have been a witness to your love for each other for the last nine years.

L&K- I love you guys so much, and I'm so happy you asked me to be part of your day.

Ten awesome things about my dad

2011-06-19T11:57:00.000-04:00

1. That he's always supported me, and is an excellent sounding board when I have problems that I need to work out.

2. His sense of humor, even though it verges on the ridiculous at times.

3. The way that he gets so excited about things- whether it be a french press and Bolivian coffee, or stepstools for his collection, or his "man cave"

4. He never hesitates when asked to help someone. No matter if it's a friend needing help moving, or Guatemalan kids who need their teeth pulled (on the Mission Trips he takes; he's not some sort of whack job)

5. The way he tells me the truth about things, even if it's not the answer I necessarily wanted to hear.

6. That he can start up a conversation, with anyone, anywhere, about anything.

7. The way that he looks at my mom, after thirty-plus years of marriage, like he is still so, so in love with her.

8. That he's my biggest cheerleader, and so proud of everything I do. (to the point of embarrassment at times)

9. His awesome waffles. (Even though he used to make us do push ups for them when we were little)

10. His giant, huge heart, and the way that he loves his family and friends.

Happy father's day, dad. I love you.

Catering!

2011-05-26T17:54:00.000-04:00

A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to cater a first communion party for a co-worker of my Dad . (It was Betty's daughter having the First Communion) I took some time off work to get everything ready, and I hit the Jerz to make this stuff:

Crudite! (With ranch dip)

Deviled Eggs with smoked paprika (I seriously will not use regular paprika on these again, the smoked is so good)

Roasted potato salad (an old standby)

Pasta Salad Caprese (tomato, fresh mozzerella and basil, topped with a white balsamic vinegar dressing)

Mini Ham sandwiches! On potato rolls- idea shamelessly stolen from my mom.

Turkey with American! ( I also had roast beef with cheddar and horseradish cream, and cucumber with dill and yogurt)

The hot stuff was roasted cauliflower, and Chicken Marsala, and penne

Fruit Salsa!

Homemade cinnamon sugar tortilla chips to go with fruit salsa

Fruit plate!

Brown Butter Salted Rice Krispie Treats (cut into the shape of crosses)

What the whole setup looked like.

I really had an awesome time doing this- and it was the first one I've done that was for a non-family member, and I think it went really, well! I had some awesome help (my cousins Kate and James) who were rockstars and helped me do everything I needed. I wish my current work schedule allowed me to do more of this kind of events, because it was pretty great.

Ten Things That Are Making Me Happy Right Now

2011-03-21T14:48:00.000-04:00

1. Things are happening in my professional life that I am very VERY happy about. (and thus, have crossed off another item in my 29 in the 29th list) I can't talk about it yet, but expect more talking about this next week)

2. I have wonderful friends (and an awesome sister). With whom I had an amazing night with on Friday night, full of fun, laughter, rosemary garlic fries, tasty drinks, and Drag Queens. My friends are freaking awesome.
3. Music: Adele. Darren Criss. Glee. Sara Barreilles (lather, rinse repeat)

4. The chilli dog at Brewer's Art- I had it on Friday, I'm still thinking about it. So effing good.

5. Going to the Jerz this weekend, where there will be some fun had with some cousins!

6. My friend Andrea, from high school, is coming to Baltimore to visit! (this is super exciting, because she lives halfway accross the world in France) also, we've been friends for over fifteen years. How crazy is that? it's more than half my life!

7. The TV show Glee in general, and specifically, last week's episode where Kurt and Blaine kissed. I've watched this episode a couple of time since, and I can't get over how sweet and perfect and awesome it was. I also really appreciate the show for not punking out and doing a cop out of a kiss- this was a real, actual, passionate kiss between two boys, and nobody apologized afterward, and nobody freaked out. And it was on network tv, at 8pm. Makes me happy to see LGBT representation on TV, especially when it's done that well.

8. I had my first Tutti Fruitti of the season yesterday! I stopped there after the laundromat, and it was great. Now to hit Pitango Gelato!

9. Crisp, clean white sheets and linens.

10. My cousin Kate and my sister Jackie, because while they drive me up a freaking wall sometimes (especially last week) they are fantastic and supportive in the best way. (even when it includes me drinking a bottle of wine on a weeknight)

Ten Things That Are Making Me Happy Right Now

2011-02-15T10:42:00.000-05:00

1. My Theater Company had an awesome event this weekend- we did a staged reading of Steel Magnolias as a fundraiser, and it was an AWESOME event. Lots of fun had, lots of dollars raised! I also got to act- I was Annelle. Plus, my parents came down to see the production, which was excellent.

2. I was a part of the Lobby Day for Same Sex Marriage with Equality Maryland in Annapolis yesterday- It was a good time, an excellent rally, and the news that there are two more yes votes for the bill just made it that much sweeter. Plus, my friends Katie and Lisa made the news!

3. It's Glee Tuesday! (always a reason for celebration) Plus, Julie's going to make it this week, after her moving/work craziness hiatus.

4. I've been accomplishing things on my yearly list! (another entry about that this week)

5. New Music! I've been obsessively listening to The Plain White T's Rhythm of Love (thank you Katie Barth), the music of Charlene Kaye, and am having a re-emergence of Sara Barrielles love. (and the music of Glee. but that's not new)

6. I've been exploring new places in Baltimore recently- and got a chance to go to Joe Squared. If you're Baltimore local and haven't been there- get on it! The risotto is amazing.

7. I've got great friends. Who make me laugh, and understand when I'm down, and are wonderful sounding boards. I don't think I thank them enough- but they are wonderful

8. Pho. I was feeling a sore throat/cold coming on yesterday, and I stopped on my way home to get pho, and it was the Best Call Ever. I am firmly convinced that I would be much sicker right now had I not had any amazing Pho. (plus daytime theraflu that I took this morning)

9. Pretzels dipped in Nutella. Awesome.

10. Am looking forward to this weekend- the plan is going to find some Baltimore Centric things to do!

Year In Review, 2010

2010-12-30T10:54:00.000-05:00

1. What did you do in 2009 that you’d never done before? Went to Japan! It was seriously the highlight of my year- a great time, with a great friend. I can't wait to go back.

2. Did you keep your New Year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year? I did okay with my Yearly list, but I want to complete EVERYTHING on this year's list before I turn thirty.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth? Nope!

4. Did anyone close to you die? I am very lucky to be able to say no.

5. What places did you visit? I visited friends and family in Rhode Island, went to Chincoteague Island in Virginia. I also spent a lot of time driving back and forth to New Jersey.

6. What would you like to have in 2011 that you lacked in 2010? Last year I said: "A better sense of purpose and direction. Some answers for questions I've been asking myself for a long time. " and unfortunately, I have to repeat that. and make it happen this year.

7. What dates from 2009 will remain etched upon your memory, and why? I don't think I have any specific dates burned into my brain, just some good memories throughout the year.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year? Beginning my new Cookbook Blog, I think.

9. What was your biggest failure? Not completing all of my 28 in the 28th list, sitting at home in my apartment much more frequently than I wanted to.
10. Did you suffer illness or injury? let's see.... I fell and jacked up my wrist in Japan, I burned myself pretty badly in November... I think those are the two major ones.
11. What was the best thing you bought? I didn't really make any big purchases this year, but I think the groceries for The Project have been pretty awesome. Oh! My palm Pre is pretty great.
12. Whose behavior merited celebration? My sister! Her first semester in grad school, and she's a straight A student. Woo, for the Super Smarty!
13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed? I try to not get too appalled and depressed at other people's behavior. I can't think of anything right now that I was appalled enough to put on this list. I may come back to it.

14. Where did most of your money go? Rent. Food. Cat expenses. (same as last year!) and some car expenses

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about? Trip to Japan! Week in Chincoteague, Beginning the Cookbook Project!
16. What song do you associate with 2010? This is hard, because the most recent songs are the ones that have been on the brain recently. (namely the Glee cover of Teenage Dream) but I also listened to a lot of Edie Carey (like every year) and The Rescues, and The Weepies.

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
a) happier or sadder? Happier
b) thinner or fatter? Fatter
c) richer or poorer? poorer

18. What do you wish you’d done more of? I wish I'd read more. I knocked about eight books out on vacation, but I am not reading as many books as I would like to.

19. What do you wish you’d done less of? Staying in my apartment when I could be out doing things. there is life outside my apartment!

20. How did you spend Christmas in 2009? With the family, in New Jersey.

21. Did you fall in love in 2009? Nope, not even a little bit.
22. What was your favorite TV program? GLEE.
23. What did you do for your birthday in 2010? I had a wonderful birthday this year- I went to Chincoteague Island, where my mom and aunt and cousin had rented a house, and ate good food, and relaxed. it was winderful

24. What was the best book you read? Hmmmm. I can't think of anything that stood out in a crazy awesome way, but I really liked Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green and David Leviathan

25. What did you want and get? An awesome Cuisinart Food processor! (also awesome kitchen supplies.

26. What did you want and not get? A fancy camera, and an ipad. I don't think they'll be on the menu this year either, but a girl can dream.

27. What was your favorite film of this year? Toy Story 3. and Harry Potter. It's a tie!

28. Did you make some new friends this year? I did!

29.What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
I think a better sense of direction in life would have made it somewhat more excellent and satisfying, but I feel like like i've had a pretty good year.

30. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2009? haaaaaaaaaaaaa.

31. What kept you sane? Good friends, Talking to my cousin Kelly on the phone, and emails with my cousin Kate.

32. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most? Rachel Maddow.

33. What political issue stirred you the most? The striking down of DADT was an awesome end to a fraught political year. Mostly, I've just been annoyed that Democrats couldn't get more done.

34. Who did you miss? I think I missed My little cousin Evan the most- He's growing up so fast, and it's hard that I don't get to see him as often as I'd like. It's better now that we can Skype and I can see his cute face on a regular basis.

35. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2010. You're the only person who can make YOU happy.

Snippets from a wonderful Christmas weekend

2010-12-27T13:31:00.000-05:00

*Waking up on Christmas morning and having biscuts and white gravy with bacon on the side. As my sister said, it was the Best. White Gravy. Ever.

*The little dog that my sister was dogsitting. so tiny! so cute! So well behaved!

*Getting into helpless giggle fits with Helena on the couch. My cousin Dan's girlfriend can give my sister a run for her money on giggle attacks, and at one point, I was lauging so hard my sides hurt. Helena, you're my favorite.

*The framed tea towel that my sister gave me that says "when life gives you lemons, make gin and tonics" Love it! and it's going to look great in my dining room

* How happy my uncle was when he tried the shortbread cookies I made. That, right there, is why I love to bake and cook. He liked them so much that he ate three of them on Christmas morning!

*Everybody liked the ornaments I made for ornament exchange

*Thinking about all the recipes I'm going to make in my new food processor.

The older I get, the more I appreciate the time with my family, above anything else. I had a great time hanging out with them, and talking, and laughing, and generally having fun. It was really hard to leave- I had to bail early on Sunday in order to outrun the snowstorm that dumped 16 inches of snow on them, so I missed the second get together with the cousins I didn't see on christmas. But I hope I'll see them soon, and for now, Skype-ing with my little cousin will have to suffice.

Merry Christmas, everybody!

Ten things that are making me happy right now.

2010-12-22T10:45:00.000-05:00

1 Half a day left of work and then I'm off for four days!

2 Making lemon drops- I can make gummy candy! so neat.

3 All my Christmas shopping done, less one person, who is notoriously hard to shop for.

4. I love when people request I make things that I've made for them- most recently, my dad requesting cheese straws. (yay!) makes me feel good. Especially since he doesn't usually request things. (unlike my mom, who requests crunchies at every opportunity :) )

5 I had a really good hair day this week. (It's not today, but that's okay)

6. Christmas is coming!

7. An awesome drink that my friend Julie created, which is comprised of Whipped cream flavored vodka, Pumpkin liquor, and sheer wonderful.

8. Learning how to make martinis for the first time, and drinking my first martini. (So good! I have been missing out on a great drink)

9. Glee Tuesday. I really like having this weekly tradition of getting together with friends, watching a fun show, and cooking good things for them.

10. Four day weekend deserves another list item, because I'm SO HAPPY about it.

Cooking With My Dad - breakfast burritos

2010-12-11T10:53:00.000-05:00

Ever since the first time I made breakfast burritos for myself, my dad was interested in them. I had made a bunch to freeze and eat for breakfast. He was trying to figure out how best to use them for the Methodist Men bible study that he has once a month. And by best use them, I mean finagle me to make them for him.

And then, I have been making breakfast burritos for my sister, and her stressful grad school life. When she told my Dad that I was making them for her, he called me and said, "hey, when you're home this weekend, you should make some breakfast burritos for me" And because I'm a good daughter, I did.

Ingredients: Onions, cheese, beans, eggs, tortillas, salsa, sausage. (not pictured: butter and milk. I must have forgotten them in the lineup)

Cracked eggs in the bowl before whisking

Sausage Sautéing away

Burritos assembled before rolling.

Burritos are really easy to make- I'm not going to provide a recipe- just put in the stuff you like, roll, and freeze.

Then, when you are ready for breakfast, pull one out, wrap in a paper towel, and microwave for two minutes. Ta-da! breakfast on the run. I make all sorts of versions of these, and they usually average out to less than a dollar a burrito (depending on ingredients) which is much cheaper than getting breakfast out on your way to work. Plus, you know everything that goes in them.

Most awesome kitchen assistant ever. When I made these (and cooked for the whole weekend while I was home), and my Dad did all the dishes that I made. And I will tell you that I created a lot of dishes. I only wish that he would come down to Baltimore and do my dishes all the time.

Val's guide for keeping your cat off your christmas tree.

2010-12-09T19:31:00.001-05:00

Step one: Set up your Christmas tree. Admire it! oooooh, aaaaaaaah, it is delightful! it is pre lit! it is sitting nicely on your little side table, and makes your apartment look nice and Christmas-y.

Step two: go through your Christmas ornaments, and bypass anything that is breakable. (You will be glad about this later)

Step three: Plug in tree, watch cat eyeing lights with glee.

Step four: Admire your decorated tree.

Step five: spray cat who is gnawing on the branches of the tree with water bottle. Cat runs away.

Step six: spray cat who is gnawing on the branches of the tree with water bottle. Cat runs away.
Step seven: spray cat who is gnawing on the branches of the tree with water bottle. Cat runs away.

Step eight: You are about to leave the house! Yay! there is life outside your apartment! (that, or you are going to work) Unplug the tree, as you do not want to come home to electrocuted cat.

Step nine: Return home. Find tree on floor, mangled. Pick up tree, fluff branches, and put ornaments back on. Repeat every time you return to the house.

Step ten: spray cat who is gnawing on the branches of the tree with water bottle. Cat runs away.

Repeat until insanity is firmly set in.

Sometimes I do stupid things (Cinnamon Challenge Edition)

2010-12-08T21:45:00.001-05:00

Many moons ago, I talked my cousin Potter into starting a blog. I had been blogging for awhile, and when he stared his, I was glad, because he's smart and funny, and talked about things that broadened my horizons. (We have very different tastes in music and movies) and when I was talking about doing Holidailies, I was telling him that he should do it, since he hadn't updated his blog in like a year (he corrected me, saying that it was six months). I then gave him a (slightly adapted) pep talk from 30 Rock:

Okay, here’s your pep talk. You’re not a blogger. You’re James Potter, all right? So quit whining, and NUT UP. You’re right. If you can’t do this, you ARE a failure. This conversation was occurring through my cousin Kate (his wife) and she kept saying things like "you should tell him you won't cook him things unless he blogs every day!" Which in turn, made Potter go into "You Can't Threaten Me Withholding Things, Make Me Something First and Then I'll Blog" mode. Potter does not like to be threatened. So then I mentioned that I had cooked an entire dinner that he ate, including cocktails and appetizers, and ... lo! he updated his blog! *

So a thing that you may not know is that I am competitive. I often do not win, but I like things that are a contest, and have a winner, and cheering for someone, and trash talking, and a general spirited competition. It's fun! I especially like the trash talking part.

Before thanksgiving, Kate and Potter and I were talking about the Cinnamon Challenge, something that like the Saltine challenge, stupid people do. The basic premise of the challenge is that you put a teaspoon or a tablespoon of Cinnamon in your mouth at once, and try to swallow it. Somehow, through the trash talking (I... am pretty sure on Kate's part), there was a throwdown to do the cinnamon challenge. And Kate "Volentold" Potter to do it to challenge me (not really, he wanted to do it anyway, he's just as competitive as I am). I made the caveat that I would do it, but not on Thanksgiving, because if I was going to do this, I did not want to get sick on Thanksgiving.

And so in the conversation about updating his blog, Potter mentioned that I hadn't done the cinnamon challenge. So... here you go, Potter:

YOUR TURN

* On the night I made dinner, the cocktails were Rum Punch, and I didn't get a chance to use my best threat: "update your blog or I'll Rum-Punch you in the face!"

Ten things Tuesday: Ten things that are making me happy right now

2010-12-07T11:33:00.000-05:00

1) People who find my website by searching "something to make me happy right now"
I get some unusual search strings, and I've gotten some depressing search queries, but the ones that make me happiest are the ones that are people looking for something to make themselves happy. People! make a list of what makes you happy! You may be surprised at how many things are going your way. I know that the hardest lists that I make are when I'm feeling sad, or depressed, but it always makes me feel better to write out the things that are good that I have going on.

2) Top Chef is back!
I may have had some issues with last season (wanting to punch Angelo in the face was one of them) and I wasn't thrilled with Just Desserts, but this All Star Season looks like it's going to be goooooood. I have my favorites that I'm cheering for, and I hope the ones who I dislike will be dispatched with quickly. Plus: the challenges in the first episode, especially the elimination challenge, was AWESOME.

3) Glee
The last new episode of the fall before the winter hiatus is tonight, and I am really, really looking forward to it. I love Christmas Episodes of things (I am also really looking forward to the Community Claymation episode) and despite that they are singing one of my least favorite Christmas songs, (Baby, It's Cold Outside) I think that the video of the two of them is super cute, and it's awesome that they have two boys singing to each other on primetime tv.

4) Cannoli Donuts
My friends Lisa and Katie were in Rochester for Thanksgiving, and while they were there, they procured a dozen donuts filled with Cannoli insides. They gave one to me last night, and I feel that it is safe to say, I will never be the same again. it was EPIC. I want one right now. It is probably a really, really good thing that they are all the way up in Rochester.

5) I re-arraigned the furniture in my living room, and it is much more cosy.
Initially it started because I wanted to put my Christmas tree up, and just ballooned from there the result: Pictures were hung, (Including a sign that I have been meaning to hang FOREVER) and I am much happier with how my living room looks.

6) My grandmother's coming to visit!
Every year for Christmas, she makes the trek up to New Jersey to spend it with the family, and this year, as part of her trip, she's spending a weekend hanging out with me (and my sister) in Baltimore. I am so glad she's coming- We're going to cook from the cookbook, hang out, and generally have a good time.

7) All the recipes I've made for the project lately have turned out really well.
And now, just saying that, I'm sure I've jinxed myself.

8) Staged Reading of Steel Magnolias!
My theater company is doing a staged reading of Steel Magnolias in February, as a fundraiser, and I am really excited! I'm going to be Annelle. I am also glad that my friends are having a viewing party of the movie... because I've never seen it. I am excited nonetheless (plus, I'm going to make a red velvet armadillo cake for the occasion)

9) My tragic clumsiness turns out to be delicious
So... I was at the farmer's market, and I picked up a container of chevre with cranberries on the bottom, and fumbled, and dropped it on the floor, causing the container to crack. I resigned myself to buying it, and my jaw dropped to the floor when the woman told me that it cost 13 dollars. (I am not so accustomed to buying thirteen dollars worth of cheese... ever) but once the cracked part was dispatched with, it is actually REALLY tasty. I don't know that I would buy it again, but it was definitely a happy accident.

10) Christmas is coming.
This year I'm making edible gifts for most of my family, and I can't wait for them to try them. I will be spending my three day weekend next week putting together the stuff that's going to be in them. Can't Wait!

Holidailies- Hello! I'm Val

2010-12-06T11:57:00.000-05:00

I am going to try to push through the awkwardness that is an about me entry, and just hop in.

Hi! I'm Val.

I am 29 years old, and I live in Baltimore, Maryland. I love to cook, and am currently cooking my way through the Essential New York Times Cookbook, but that blog is seperate from this one, and you can find it here. I am a member of the Iron Crow Theater company, If you're in Baltimroe or the surrounding area (or like to travel!) We have shows coming up in March and June of this year. I don't act very much (or very well) so I'm mostly behind the scenes, but it's a ton of fun. I like chiling out with my cat, hot chocolate on cold mornings, and listening to (roughly) the same 50 songs over and over again.

I thought holidailies would be fun, because I'm not diciplined enough to do NaNoWriMo, I feel like I could definitely do this challenge. Plus, I've never done it before, and I really liked reading the entrie II love my blog! It is awesome. I feel like some of my real life blogging friends should do this too. So: Tim, Katie, Brenda, Katie,.... who am I missing? You guys should all do Holidailies with me. Also: I need more friends in real life who blog. Friends: get on it.

Ok! I promise to try to be less boring than this entry would suggest.

Nostalgia Tastes Delicious

2010-11-25T11:47:00.000-05:00

A question that I've been asked a lot in the last week is "oooooh, what are you making for thanksgiving?" I think most people are asking because I am doing The Project, and since there are a lot of thanksgiving-y recipes (they even have a whole list of them on their facebook page!) they think I'll be cooking up a storm. But alas, I am not. And I'm perfectly fine with that.

If I lived closer to home, I would be helping my mom (and I'll do what I can once I get home to help) but I wouldn't be cooking my own stuff. Because in my family, Thanksgiving is not about new recipes. It's been the same dinner, almost exactly, for the last ten years. Ten years ago was the addition of Corn Pudding, which my mom got from a high school friend of mine's mother. Before that, though I imagine that it had been unchanged for a decade as well.

Turkey, mashed potatoes, regular bread stuffing, rice stuffing, sweet potatoes (mashed), green bean casserole, cauliflower with white sauce, creamed onions, gravy, turnips, corn pudding, pickle and olive tray, cranberry sauce and rolls. Plus a slew of pies for dessert (in case you were wondering, a slew is the technical term for a lot of pies).

It's my favorite holiday for two reasons: the food, and my family. As far as the food goes, If I had to choose a last meal, it would be Thanksgiving dinner. I love the fall flavors, the turkey, the sweet-tartness of the cranberry sauce against the savory mashed potatoes and gravy, the mellow buttery corn pudding, and the herbed breadiness of the stuffing.

I have a great family and we are really close- we get together a bunch of times a year, and we vacation together too. But this is one of those events that everyone is present (well, mostly, depending on the year- this year we have everyone!) , and there is lots of laughter, and joking, and silence at the dinner table until everyone has devoured their first plateful of food.

This year, I'm thankful for my family, my sister moving to Baltimore, my awesome friends, for a fun project to work on, and my bitey cat, who is right now, hissing at the furniture in my parents' house.

Things I Need to Do Before I Leave Baltimore for Thanksgiving

2010-11-19T09:47:00.000-05:00

Yes, I know I could have done this on a piece of paper, but I think having it out in the universe to hold me a little bit more accountable.

Clean My Apartment- it is kind of a mess right now, and I want to have it nice and clean and organized so that when I come back the Sunday after Thanksgiving, I can just relax. Also part of clean my apartment but deserves a bullet:

Clean out my fridge. Seriously. It's gross in there.

Figure out what Project Recipes I'm cooking this weekend. and cook them. (or bake them) Right now it's looking like butternut squash cider soup, overnight madelines, baked mushrooms, Rice, maybe chocolate chip cookies? If any of you have suggestions, I'm open to them.

Make three batches of crunchies to take home to the Jerz. (if I do not do this I... fear for the reaction of several of my cousins)

Go to target and pick up the odds and ends I need.

Call the apartment complex and get them to replace the light bulb in my light fixtures It's been out for awhile, but sheer laziness has been preventing me from calling and just having them do it already.

Clean out my car

Update my ipod with most recent podcasts. I am leaving at five in the morning and am willing to bet my sister will be sleeping for the majority of the trip up there. So, podcasts galore!

Get Earl's stuff ready.

It looks like I've got my work cut out for me, I'll check back on Wednesday with a status update.

29/29th #4

2010-11-17T14:34:00.000-05:00

4) Enter a cooking contest. (a real one. not one at work. With real judges and everything)

Done! I entered the cookie contest that the Baltimore Sun is having.

Thanks to Julie to alerting me to the contest!

Ten things that are making me happy right now

2010-11-08T13:30:00.000-05:00

1) My new project is trucking along! 1,097 more recipes to go!
2) Thanksgiving countdown has begun. Sixteen Days!
3) Averted near panic today when I thought I was scheduled to work the saturday after Thanksgiving. That would have sucked mightily.
4) Hanging out with my sister and Lauren this weekend - Holy Frijoles for drinks and Rocket to Venus for drinks! (Rocket to Venus is my new favorite place. Try the deep fried pickles. And the Bahn Mi)
5) Sunday Night Dinner with Jackie on Monday
6) Having Wednesday off this week (awesome)
7) Planning out the things I'm going to make for The Project while I'm at home.
8) Earl the cat surviving a second story jump off of my apartment balcony, completely unharmed.
9) The Weepies Concert is coming up!
10) 11 days until Harry Potter!

Announcement!

2010-11-01T09:09:00.000-04:00

So I don't imagine that I have a whole lot of readers that don't overlap with those who A) follow me on twitter, or B) are friends with me on Facebook, but for those golden few (and those who didn't see the announcment yesterday because they were being awesome and halloweening) I wanted to tell you about my new project.

I am going to cook all the recipes in The Essential New York Times Cookbook. (and blog about it!)

I'm not setting a timeline (I think it'll probably take me about three years) because the book has over 1,000 recipes. I'm really excited about the whole project!

So head on over and check it out!

Val cooks the NYT

Honeycomb/Crunchies Revisted

2010-10-30T23:32:00.001-04:00

I wrote about crunchies (honeycomb, hokey pokey, whatever you call it) last week. For the last couple of weeks, I've been trying to perfect the recipe. I've made it and it was very close to the ideal, I've made it and it has melted on my kitchen counter, I've made it and it was burnt (which my friend Julie referred to as "toasted" and thought it was just dandy, but I knew wasn't quite right) I've had the bubbles be so big it caused the crunchies to shatter when I got near them to cover with chocolate, but I am here to tell you, I've cracked the code.

And it is delicious.

Completed crunchies

Naked crunchies

More gratuitous crunchie shots

What's in them

Val's crunchie recipe

Hardware:

Fairly large saucepan

foil or parchment paper

whisk

candy thermometer

Software: See above

3/4 cup of Sugar

3 tbs Golden Syrup

1 1/2 tsp of baking soda

Chocolate chips (milk chocolate is classic, semi-sweet is good, but makes a VERY rich sweet)

Procedure:

First, lay the foil/ parchment paper on a heatproof surface. Mix the syrup and the sugar with a fork in the saucepan. Turn the burner on to medium high heat, and cook the sugar until reaches 300 degrees. Do NOT STIR. Swirl the pot around if you feel like you need to mix it, but do not stir. Unless you are really good at determining what 300 degrees is, (if you frequently make candy) Use a candy thermometer to check when the sugar mix is ready. When reaches temp, turn off the heat, put in the baking soda, and stir like crazy until soda is incorporated. Working as fast as you can (the sugar will be doubling or tripling in size, pour out onto your parchment paper or foil. Now walk away from it for 20 minutes. You can take this time to melt your chocolate, either in a double boiler, or in the microwave.

once the honeycomb is cool, break apart, and dip in chocolate to cover. Return to foil, and stick into the fridge to set the chocolate for at least 10 minutes.

Enjoy!

*are you noticing my pictures are more awesome than usual? yes? they are. I took all of these using my Dad's awesome Canon Rebel

TEN THINGS TUESDAY

2010-10-26T11:20:00.000-04:00

TEN THINGS THAT ARE MAKING ME HAPPY RIGHT NOW (caps lock makes it happier)

1. The McRib is coming back to McDonalds. Don't judge me. I love that barbeque sauce covered meat flavored hockey puck. Can't wait to get one!
2. Glee Tuesday: Rocky Horror Edition!
3. Roasting a chicken this weekend, and making chicken stew with dumplings for dinner tonight. Comfort food, like woah.
4. Making my own homemade crunchies. I know I've posted about them before, and I've made them a bunch of times, but the novelty does not wear off. they are awesome. and tasty. and covered in ghiradelli milk chocolate. I'm making some tonight for Glee tuesday, and then I'm bringing my show on the road to make them at home for my family there.
5. Deaching my friend Bianca to crochet tomorrow! I love teaching people to crochet. plus, I'll be able to get in the groove, and start working on some projects soon. (like the blanket I've been putting off working on for... six months.
6. Going home to the Jerz this weekend!
7. Iron Crow's new show is opening soon! Go get your tickets for Apartment 213! (p.s. it's going to be scary. Consider yourself warned)
8. Planning Christmas gift baskets full of deliciousness.
9. Less than a month until Harry Potter.
10. Hyperbole and a Half.

What is making you happy right now?

Reasons I love the fall

2010-10-22T08:57:00.000-04:00

As some people in my life will tell you, I love trees. I love them painted on things, I love them when the change colors, I love them when they are snow covered. So I carved one into a pumpkin. This is not the first time I have carved a tree into a pumpkin, but I think it is the most successful one. It's for a pumpkin decorating contest at work.

I also decorated the back side with an owl. No particular reason. I just like owls.. And they are halloween-y. Although mine is a little cartoony and not scary.

And then there are wonderful things to bake, such as these:

They are a riff on a recipe from 101 cookbooks, Butternut Squash Feta Muffins. I swapped in some rosemary, and added some extra spinach, they are healthy, and delicious. They smell amazing when they are baking, and they taste like fall. Just perfect for the nip in the air (or, since it got down to 30 last night, a little more than a nip)

Flashback to September! Wine Dinner

2010-10-13T22:31:00.000-04:00

So back when I was doing my 28 in the 28th, I had 'have a multiple course dinner paired with wines'. And back on the season premiere night of Glee, I made this dinner. I found my camera cord (woo!) So here is what we drank, and what I made.

Sparkling Chardonnay! I love sparkling white wines, and this one was really good. It was a good combo with the first course:

First course: Parmesan crisps two ways: cracked black pepper and smoked paprika with melon wrapped prosciutto and balsamic vinegar reduction.

With the second course, we had Portuguese Vinho De Mesa Branco, which was light, and nicely dry, and went excellently with the risotto.

The risotto was one of one of the best I've made so far (... if I do say so myself, heh) it was roasted butternut squash risotto with chicken apple sausage and rosemary, and had plenty of cheesy creamy goodness. This time of year, I'm obsessed with butternut squash. I like it even better than pumpkin in savory dishes, it's just slightly sweet, and when it is roasted, the salty, carmelized squash is heavenly.

With dessert, we had this Cabernet Sauvignion which I will admit, I don't remember much about. I had had... quite a bit of wine by this point. It was red, and it was good!

And for dessert, it was a sugary bomb of delicousness. Baked apples, with salted caramel sauce and vanilla ice cream. YUM.

All in all, I think that it was a pretty successful dinner. Thanks to Julie for picking out the wines so awesomely, and for Paul, for coming over and eating it all. Glee Tuesdays for the win!

Making My Own Honeycomb

2010-10-12T06:00:00.002-04:00

One of my favorite candies is the Crunchie. You can only get it in the UK and Europe (and some specialty stores here) so I usually only get them when I am traveling, or when Irish relatives come to visit here. But recently, I've seen recipes for Honeycomb, which is what the inside of a Crunchie is. One was in Oprah Magazine, and then I watched an episode of Nigella where she made it. It was obviously fate. The recipes, they were calling to me. They were saying "Val... you must make our sugary goodness!"

So made sugary goodness I did.

It is only three ingredients. Sugar, Golden syrup, and baking soda. You cook the sugar and syrup in the pot, and then once it gets to the right point, you cut the heat, and whisk in the baking soda like crazy. It gets huge, and you pour it out onto a parchement lined baking sheet.

And it looks like this!

Then you wait the longest fifteen minutes of your life, until it cools, so you can break it apart.

And then you eat!

I dipped some of them in dark chocolate, and some of them in milk, and left some of them plain.

Now I don't have to wait for the Irish to come!

TEN THINGS THAT MAKE ME HAPPY RIGHT NOW

2010-10-11T10:27:00.000-04:00

1) Shortbread cookies, with the tops dipped in chocolate
also they are in acorn shapes, and i dipped the top part in chocolate so it looks like the little acorn hat, and it's very Martha and cute and I am kind of proud of how cute they look. And they taste pretty good, but not as good as the ones at Panera.
2) Coffee.
I realize that coffee makes me happy on a lot of these lists, but it isn't ever any less true. Coffee. Is. Awesome.
3) Planning all of the things I am going to cook this week:
Right now on the list: Navy bean soup, Honeycomb, and penne alla vodka for Glee Tuesday
4) Although it is hot today, Fall weather is coming.
I already have my sweaters out for this week. GET COLDER.
5) I like my new hair color (added bonus: no more terrible roots!)
6) I am thinking up ideas for the baking contest at work (this does not count for my 29/29th list)
There are two categories: best theme (Halloween) and best tasting. Last year I did the white cupcakes, filled with raspberry jam, and they looked like mummies on the outside for the best theme category, and for best tasting, I did my banana cupcakes with peanut butter frosting center, and chocolate ganache on top. (for best tasting) I also piped on things that are scary: "the dentist" "the IRS" "spiders" .
7) Today is National Coming Out Day! Happy day!
8) Am making positive, forward moving choices.
I think for a long time I've been stuck in a rut, and I am now beginning to get out of it. Sometimes the first thing to do is the hardest, and once you do it, it makes everything more manageable. So woo!
9) Glee Tuesday tomorrow!
10) Am going to re-arrange my bedroom tonight. I am feeling the need for change.

Birthday at the Beach

2010-10-08T10:25:00.000-04:00

Portrait of the birthday girl on her 29th birthday

So my original plan for my birthday this year, was to be hanging out with my cousins Kelly and Eric, and their awesome kid Evan, but they couldn't come down to Baltimore, and have re-scheduled their trip for November (which is going to be awesome) So I was somewhat at a loose end, trying to figure out something to do for my birthday, when my mom suggested that I come down to Chincoteague, because she, my Auntie Ange, and cousin Pauline had rented a house for the weekend. Far be it for me to turn down a weekend at the beach, (one of the best beaches ever) So I packed my things and drove down to the beach on Saturday morning, making the best time I've ever made- I was there in less than three hours!

So I got to the house, which was right on main street. put down my stuff, and just relaxed- I think it happens somewhere around Salisbury, on my way down to Chinc, I begin to get happy and then once I'm over the bridge, and onto the Island, it's just... peaceful. We hung out for a while at the house, and then packed up and when to the beach- which was a little windy, but nice. I re-read the end of Mockingjay, because I read it really fast the first time, and drank tea on the beach (which is a very my mom thing to do) and read, and dozed a little, and then, because I am somewhat crazy, went into the ocean with my Auntie Ange. the water wasn't that cold, actually, but it was really rough, so we were just in for a couple of minutes. I was about 2 seconds from getting OWNED by a wave as I was getting out of the water, but managed to stay upright and get out of the water relatively unscathed. Auntie Ange was not so lucky- she took a little tumble and ended up with sand... all over. heh

We went back to the house and changed, and went for a walk downtown, where I managed to procure two blue Ball Jars, which are amazing! I love ball jars, and any kind of canning jars, really- I love the way the look- they are all my drinking and juice glasses, they are my favorite system for storing leftovers, and keeping excess dry goods in. I really like the way that candy looks in a ball jar, or a bunch of nails and screws, or buttons. So. Anyway. the blue ones are pretty rare, and I snagged two of them for three bucks. If i can remember, I'll take a picture of them with my phone to put on here. We hit the bookstore, where I got one of my favorite Babysitter's club books (I sadly, and stupidly, donated all of my BSC collection to the library when I was about 18) and have slowly been re-collecting my favorites. (oddly, most of my favorites are Claudia centric. I think I liked her arty style. And her junk food hidden in her room)

We got back from our walk, hungry, and had guacamole that I made (see bottom of post for recipe)- Guacamole is one of those things that just speaks "chincoteague" to me- I've made it tons of times, Year after year in Chincoteague- whenever I make it and it's not there, it just doesn't seem quite right. So we had the guac, with my aunt's nachos, and the enchiladas that my mom made. It was quite an excellent birthday dinner, and was topped off with some Irish Candy that Pauline brought.

Then on Sunday, we woke up and it was raining, and gross, so we bumbled around the house, and watched a lot of Say Yes to the Dress, which I may or may not have developed a bit of an addiction to. (don't judge. it's good)

We hit a couple of stores, and then went to one of my favorite places on the Island: Woody's Beach BBQ

Auntie ange at woody's

I love this place because it's great bbq, and it's fun. Even though it was cold and rainy out, It was still delicious.

Mom and Pauline ordering

I got the pulled pork sandwich with the onion ring on it, and coleslaw and a side of fries. mmmmm. I wish I could be eating that right now.

And then I had banana pudding with Nilla wafers in it, and all was right with the world.

I had a really good time at the beach- It has been one of my best birthdays- relaxed, and fun. I think it is really a great thing that as I get older, I really have realized that I have a great family- that I enjoy as people, and friends, besides the fact that fate has thrown us together. My mom and Auntie Ange and Pauline are hilarious, and awesome.

Guac Recipe (shamelessly stolen from the ingredients inside a Trader joe's Guac Kit)

Two avocados (make sure they are ripe)

two plum tomatoes seeded and diced

one small onion diced fine

two cloves of garlic diced fine

one jalapeno (seeded and diced fine- if you like things spicier, leave the seeds and ribs in- I prefer my guac to have just a little bite)

1/2 a lime

Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions: in a medium sized bowl, put diced onion, Garlic, and jalapeno and mix with a fork. ad avocado and mash in with fork, but leaving some chunks- you don't want the avocado to be totally smooth. mix in the tomatoes, lime juice, and stir.

Eat with chips.

(this recipe can be very easily doubled or tripled. I would suggest if you have any more than four people eating it, you make a double batch. otherwise people get a little sad at you.

29/29th # 21

2010-10-04T10:14:00.000-04:00

21) Set one weekly excersise goal every week and then meet it. (even if it's small: i.e. 3 days of wii fit a week, two long walks around the ten hills neighborhood, walking up the giant hill in front of my house)

So I'm reviving the Val Gets Fit blog, where I will blog about various fitness things. If you feel so inclined, go ahead and read it, but be advised: it will be me talking about excersise, and possibly eating healthier. Read at your own risk of boredom.

29 in the 29th

2010-10-02T14:00:00.001-04:00

Okay. So I have been thinking a lot, and I think next year, I'm going to transition into a Mighty Life List, as opposed to yearly lists, in an effort to think a little bit longer term about where I want to be and what I want to do with my life. But I couldn't resist coming up with one last yearly list, because this is the big one. The last year before I'm thirty. The last year of my mid to late twenties. Oh, all right, my late twenties. I have purposely made this list a lot more accessible, I want to complete EVERYTHING on it this year.

1) Go see a taping of Wait Wait Don't tell me.

2) Take advantage of a Southwest sale and go somewhere with Julie that we've both never been.

3) Redesign my website. Buy a domain name and move the blog there.

4) Enter a cooking contest. (a real one. not one at work. With real judges and everything)

5) Buy a video camera and make and edit more videos (even if it's just a flipcam)

6) Update my blog at least once a week

7) Plan fun things to do to show Jackie Baltimore, now that she is living here.

8) Go to a resturant for resturant week.

9) Go tubing down the river (I don't know which river. Any river. Preferably with Paul, who suggested this list item)

10) Take more pictures, post more pictures

11) Taste 20 types of beer.

12) Continue my tradition of Top Chef Wednesdays and Glee Tuesdays.

13) Donate money to causes I believe in.

14) Go to NYC for a weekend

15) Go somewhere where there is not much ambient light, and look at the stars.

16) Learn how to identify more constellations than just Orion.

17) Master bread baking (this guy is also going to be baking bread this year, and I want to bake some with him!)

18) Help somone else complete a List item on their list that isn't on my list.

19) Go on a picnic.

20) Figure out what I'm doing with my life professionally.

21) Set one weekly excersise goal every week and then meet it. (even if it's small: i.e. 3 days of wii fit a week, two long walks around the ten hills neighborhood, walking up the giant hill in front of my house)

22) Move to a new apartment when my lease is up, with the following requirements: decent size kitchen. hardwood floors, fun area of Baltimore. (optional but would be nice: washer/dryer combo)

23) Go to one of the City Year Events in DCn (or philly, or NYC, or RI- Just do one event with them)

24) Decorate a cake with fondant.

25) Learn how to can things. Seriously. Making this happen. For real this time.

26) Go to see a drive in movie.

27) Do one social activity that is outside my comfort zone per month

28) Go down to Florida to visit G; make it home to visit my Grandad more often.

29) Go to some kind of food festival. Whether it is barbeuce, or Garlic, or a Pickle festival.

Ten things Tuesday!

2010-09-28T10:33:00.000-04:00

1) It is GLEE Tuesday! Pumpkin chili is made (though it is spicy, for real- I'm glad I bought sour cream). It is now resting in my fridge, waiting for Julie to come over and eat it up.

2) I am knocking off what I think will probably be the last of the 28 in the 28th list that I'll get done this year- Watching Amelie with Julie before GLEE

3) Had a great weekend with Kate and Potter and Jack! There was some good and tasty food made, There was lots of Community watched, and there was quite a bit had to drink. It was great.

4) My car is fixed! I had been driving around with my car being loud for.... awhile, and I think I just kind of kept thinking that it wasn't that bad, and then it also developed a rattle. So I brought it into the shop, and they fixed it, And now it's a completely different car. So awesome. I hadn't realized how terrible it was- now that it is fixed, I feel so much better. Which leads to my next ten thing:

5) Found a great mechanic down the road from me! Friends of mine have a mechanic, Mike Tyre, who is really good, but is all the way up in Timonium, which is a 35 minute drive for me. I looked up mechanics on the Car Talk website, and they had good ratings for the one down the street from me, and the guys treated me really well, and fixed my car super fast. It was great! The guys really remind me of the mechanics at home, at Dom's Getty and Paul's. Sense of humor, give good advice, and are honest.

6) Good new music! Go check out Florence and the Machine. Do it.

7) I had time to read! And I read! Kate lent me Catching Fire and Mockingjay, and after they left on Sunday, I read straight through from 3 until 11, pausing only for dinner and a leftover brownie. it was great- both books, and if you're in the market for something good and engaging to read, I really recommend all of the books in the Hunger Games Trilogy. (I would advise having Mockingjay when you read Catching Fire, because you are going to want to start it right away.) I think I am going to spend some time this weekend re-reading them, because i was reading so fast to find out what happened, I may have missed things.

8) Finalizing my 29/29th list! This is the last one for my 20's, so I want to make sure it is awesome. I also want to accomplish everything on the list this year, so I am going to make it more manageable.

9) Good things are just happening in general. The fog and funk that I've been in lately seem to have lifted, somewhat.

10) I have an awesome family.

Family Weekend!

2010-09-27T12:06:00.000-04:00

So I am still without my camera cord, (and also I didn't take any pictures this weekend) but I'm just going to write about what I cooked this weekend, when my cousins Kate and Potter were visiting, and my sister was hanging out too. The purpose of the weekend was to watch copious hours of the TV show Community, which just came out on DVD, and we all love. (Well, Kate and Potter and I loved it. Jackie hadn't watched it at all. But that would all change....) So I made a weekend's worth of College- themed things. (well, and also tasty things- i don't know if corn chowder and pumpkin pancakes are college themed)

Dinner on Friday Night: (pizza and beer night!)
Roasted butternut squash and chicken apple sausage Pizza. with mozzarella, tomatoes, and chopped rosemary. After it was out of the oven, I drizzled it with some balsamic vinegar reduction.

I also made garlic cheesy bread, in the style like you would get from a Papa John's or Domino's, We washed that down with the beer that Kate and Potter brought.

Saturday Morning:
Pumpkin Pancakes! These were dense and moist pancakes that were pretty good- with lots of nutmeg and cinnamon. (Woo, Fall flavors!)

Saturday Lunch: Corn chowder
My standard corn chowder recipe, this time supplemented with the Prosciutto that I had left over from Glee Tuesday, for some extra porky goodness.

Saturday Dinner:
Sweet potato oven fries- which, got a little on the mush side, but were still very tasty.
Panko and Parmesan chicken fingers, with a variety of dipping sauces- curry ketchup, Siracha, honey mustard, homemade barbecue sauce, and regular ketchup.
Spinach- you know, for being nominally healthy and to cut the protein and carbs that were entering our system.

This was washed down with PAN, an invention of Kate and Potter's college friends, which includes mixing vodka with lemons and sugar, and letting it sit in a pan for a while with ice. mmmmmm, college-y.

Saturday Dessert:
Salted Caramel Brownies with ice cream and Salted Caramel Sauce. I made brownies, and there was a layer of salted caramel sauce in the center. Right before serving, I heated them up, put a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top, and poured some hot caramel sauce over the whole thing. It was the most delicious sugar bomb ever.

Sunday breakfast:
Scrambled eggs with parmesan cheese, and potato hash. salty potatoes, creamy cheesy eggs, some siracha on top. I could have that breakfast every morning.

After that, we headed down to the Baltimore Book Festival, and meandered around for awhile. When we came back to my apartment, Kate and Potter peaced out to drive home, and Jack left too, with the vegetarian chilli I made for her for Sunday dinner, and the breakfast burritos that I had frozen for her.

It was an awesome weekend! I can't wait until they all come back again.

Find your spot

2010-09-23T15:04:00.000-04:00

So there's this website called find your spot that you plug in a ton of different variables for places you could live, and they spit out your top areas to live. My friend Katie did it on her blog, so I'm copycatting and doing mine.

Not a huge suprise, seeing as I love the Northeast, and I've already lived in Rhode Island, but it obviously knows me a little, seeing as it didn't pick anyplace dumb for me to live. (like it picked for Katie to live in Utah. On purpose)

Meanwhile, I have three posts on deck, but I can't find my dag camera cord! this is annoying. Hopefully i'll find it soon and be able to get those up.

Awesome Cobbler of awesomeness.

2010-09-17T13:22:00.000-04:00

There is a new favorite dessert in my life. It's The Pioneer Woman's Cobbler, and I can't stop making it. My friend Bryan first brought it into my life when he came over to my house for pizza and wii night, and it was so good, and simple. After he made it, Tim came over for Lilith fair, and we made it as part of our dinner of awesomeness (also included: roast chicken, and sangria and potatoes) I have made this cobbler a bunch of times since then. I've made it with just blackberries, I've made it with blackberries and raspberries, I've made it with peaches, and I've made it with peaches and blackberries, and it has been awesome every time.

But that's not the best part of this dessert: the best part of this dessert is how stupidly simple it is. It is crazy easy. (as do most things with five ingredients) Five. Ingredients. Even if you add some ice cream on top, that's still the easiest dessert I make. Everyone I've made it for has really liked it, and I can't wait to make it some more. This dessert will probably make an appearance in the cooking I'm doing for my family when they visit over the next two weeks

Sunday Night Dinner: Coconut Pudding

2010-09-15T09:08:00.000-04:00

I had not planned anything for dessert last Sunday night, and when Jackie and I were finished with our soup, we both kind of wanted something sweet. I didn't have time to bake cookies, or do anything intense- We were going to work the box office for Hedwig and the Angry Inch that night. So I rummaged around in my cabinets, and found a box of Trader Joe's Instant Vanilla Pudding, a can of light coconut milk, and some dark chocolate.

I have made the coconut pudding before, in Chincoteague, where I served it with toasted coconut (OMG DELICIOUS) but it is also good in this version, with some chopped dark chocolate sprinkled on top. It is also good with banana. The best thing about this recipe? I almost always have all the ingredients for it- these are all staple items for me.

I've also made this recipe swapping out all of the milk for coconut milk- and I find it doesn't set up as well.

Coconut Pudding

1pkg trader Joe's Instant Vanilla Pudding
1 cup milk
1 cup light coconut milk

some chopped dark chocolate, banana, or toasted coconut for garnish.

Directions: make pudding according to directions in package. After it has the rest in the fridge for five minutes, stir, and pour into individual containers. garnish, and serve. (Try not to eat all of them in one sitting)

Sunday Night Dinner: Moroccan Chickpea Soup

2010-09-14T06:00:00.001-04:00

Cake that I made to celebrate first week of classes! (somewhat self explanatory) Please ignore the crappy piping.

So my sister moved to Baltimore a few weeks ago, and because she's a penniless grad student, and I'm the most awesome sister on the face of the planet, I have instituted Sunday Night Family Dinners. So once a week, I'm going to cook her dinner, and make enough leftovers that she gets to take some home. The first week I made chicken and dumplings, Last week I made turkey chili, and yesterday I made Moroccan chickpea soup. It's a recipe that is easily adopted to be vegan, or vegetarian (if you swap out the chicken broth for veggie broth) and it is hearty and tasty.

I also made her a batch of cous cous, which is one of her favorites, and I will post a recipe for sometime soon.

She's also on a healthy eating kick, so I've been trying to make things that are on the healthier side. If you have any (relatively inexpensive, healthy dishes that make a lot of leftovers, send them on on over!

This recipe is adapted from a Dave Lieberman recipe from Food Network. I've bumped up the spices, and added more tomatoes, but I largely stuck to the recipe for this one.

These are my leftovers. mmm, soup.

Moroccan Chickpea Soup

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for garnish
1 large onion, medium diced
6 to 8 cloves garlic, pressed
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 heaping teaspoon sweet paprika
1 (28 oz.) can chopped tomatoes
3 (15-ounce) cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed well
1 quart vegetable broth or reduced-sodium chicken broth
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
(5-ounce) package pre-washed baby spinach

Directions: in a big pot, turn heat to medium high and add olive oil. Saute onions and garlic until onions are translucent. Add spices and toast for about 2 minutes in the pot, stirring frequently (it is at about this time your house will begin to smell amazing) Then add tomatoes, Chickpeas, broth and salt to taste. Bring to a simmer, and Simmer for 45 minutes. If you feel so inclined, take your potato masher (or immersion blender, or large bottomed glass) and mash up some of the chickpeas to add texture. About 3 minutes before serving, put spinach in, put lid on pot, and let it wilt. before serving, grind a bunch of black pepper in it.

Serve!

(up this week: Curry chicken salad sandwiches, butternut squash soup, and baked apples)

Ten things that are making me happy right now

2010-09-13T11:10:00.000-04:00

1. Eleven days until Kate and Potter get here and we will have Community Weekend. (yes, we are spending an entire weekend watching the first season of Community. We're awesome)

2. Eighteen days until my cousin Kelly, her husband Eric, and their kid, the awesome Evan come to visit (Baltimore for the first time! woot!) If any of you have kid-friendly Baltimore ideas, I'm open to them. They are going to the aquarium, we're hitting Fells' point Festival on Saturday, and probably hitting the Railroad Museum too.

3. Iced Coffee.

4. Weekly dinners with my sister

5. Hedwig got a really great review in Out Loud!

6. Going to teach my friend Bianca to crochet this weekend- it'll be fun! I haven't taught anyone how in awhile.

7. Maintaining my ski jump score in the Wii Fit.

8. Free food at work (always a bonus)

9. Hard boiled eggs. Delicious! I haven't had one forever, I had forgotten how awesome they are.

10. It was a beautiful, crisp fall morning. Makes me happy. I love the fall (even though we're still technically in summer)

What is making you happy right now?

Hedwig and the Angry Inch Cupcakes

2010-09-10T10:09:00.000-04:00

These are the cupcakes I made for our opening night of Hedwig And the Angry Inch I made them with Smitten Kitchen's Yellow Cake base, and the frosting is her Fudge Frosting, which is so good, I will be making it again and again. Before this, I was not a fan of chocolate frosting, really. I liked butter cream, I liked cream cheese frosting, and I was kind of meh about chocolate frosting. (well, except for ganache. I love some ganache)

I whipped this one up, and it's basically a modified buttercream, with unsweetened, melted and cooled chocolate whipped in. it's light, and fluffy, and chocolatey, but not overpoweringly so. I think it would make an excellent foil for a peanut butter based cupcake, or a banana cupcake, or as my grandma suggests, smeared in between two graham crackers. Note to self: buy graham crackers.

Anyway, the crew liked them, I thought the wig was super cute piped on, and I even had enough frosting left over to frost a cake for my sister to celebrate her first week of classes. (and then i ate an inappropriate amount of that cake)

So, anyway, Hedwig is looking for volunteers for front of house. You get a free ticket to the show (a 15-20 dollar value, depending if you're a student or not!) and you get to hang with some cool people, while you hand out programs, and sell t-shirts. If you're interested in volunteering, let me know, because we need them! (plus it's an awesome and fun show, and Joseph and Sarah Lynn and the band are ROCKING IT)

Fake Thanksgiving!

2010-09-07T08:45:00.000-04:00

I love fall. I love leaves crunching under my feet, I love sweater weather, I love all of the fall flavors: apples, pears, braised meats, Turkey, pumpkin... I love them all. This summer has been unbearably hot, and it's only in the last couple of days (and thanks to Hurricane Earl) that we've had a temperature drop in the area. And so when my friend Sarah Lynn invited me to her Fake Thanksgiving party, I thought it was a little crazy, because it was still in the 100's. But who can to turn down free turkey? I cannot. Especially with all of the trimmings.

It was so. good. There was turkey, there was stuffing, and gravy, roasted potatoes, green beans, broccolini, and tofu, There were awesome pumpkin squares, and chocolate muffins (which I didn't try, but have had before and know are awesome) I currently have sent an email harassing Sarah Lynn for several of her recipes. Especially for the gravy.... ooooooh, the gravy. Plus, there was knock-you-on-your-ass sangria, which I need to get the recipe for, from my friend Joseph. If I hadn't been driving, I would have had more then one serving, and things might have gotten crazy up in there! (It's probably a good thing I was driving.)

Plus! it had my crazy, and awesome friends. Who, although at times inappropriate and try to make me blush, are fun, and funny, and who I'd spend any Thanksgiving with, fake or otherwise.

It definitely got me in the mood for fall now too- I want to pull out my sweaters, and start looking up recipes for pie, and and perhaps make some pumpkin scones. I foresee more soups and stews and braised things coming down the pike.

I love the fall.

28 in the 28th- One Month Left

2010-09-02T12:40:00.000-04:00

Ok, with one month left to go, I've identified the seven list items that I think that I can reasonably do in the next month, with explanations of how I'm going to try to get them done. If you want to do any of these things with me, let me know!

3. Go to DC for the day by myself and walk around This may not happen, but I really want to do it, so maybe I'll be able to
6. Learn how to can things (like jam) - Jalepeno Jam, here I come! Next weekend!
17. Go to a museum- I can get into the AVAM for free this weekend, with my Bank of America card, so that's what I'll be doing!
18. Have dinner that is multi-course and paired with wines- Glee Premire night- I'm cooking it, and I'm pairing wines. Paul and Julie- get yourselves ready.
20. Make something beautiful
27. Learn a new card game Someone wants to teach me how to play poker, right?
28. Go see a movie with Subtitiles (or, rent and watch Amelie without falling asleep) I have Netflix instaplay; I have an evening free. This will happen.

PS: I am also still accepting suggestions for next year's list, I've got 23 of the 29 I'm supposed to have, so far.

Ten things

2010-08-25T09:52:00.000-04:00

I haven't been blogging much because I've been having a bit of a hard time, and I didn't want to get all sad/depressing on the blog, but some gentle nudging from a friend reminded me that I hadn't posted in a while, so in that spirit, I am going to do ten things!

1) Jackie moved to Baltimore! Yesterday! And as crazy as she can be, she's also pretty funny. You know, when she's not demanding that I cook her dinner. Plus, Earl will like having a companion during the day.

2) Good friends who make me laugh, and make me feel better, and commiserate. Also: who create awesome drinks that involve Ribena and Vodka.

3) Went to a wedding expo with Katie and Lisa, and it was so fun! I ... ate a lot of cake.

4) The show Covert Affairs. It is awesome. That is all.

5) It is Wednesday, and there are only two more days of work this week, after this one is done.

5) Other people who create birthday lists! (sidenote: I am currently in the planning stages for my 29/in the 29th list. Do you have suggestions? Hit the comments!)

6) Emmy Party this weekend!

7) Earl has been sleeping snuggled up at my feet. The cuteness of that totally makes up for when he's bitey and bad for no reason. (he is also crazy)

8) Disney Sing it. It's awesome, on so many levels, but singing "A Whole New World" with Katie on Thursday was my high point of the week last week.

9) Hedwig is opening soon! Everyone go get your tickets!

10) Making positive moves forward.

What is making you happy right now?

Opening an Etsy Store?

2010-08-13T10:16:00.000-04:00

So I've been thinking about opening an Etsy store. And despite my fear of ending up on Regretsy, I think it could be a cool way to earn some extra bucks and get awesome crocheted-ness out into the world.

I have to do some reasearch, regarding price points, and setup fees, and general advice for on how to get up and running, but the biggest problem I'm having right now is what name to use. History tells us that I'm not great at naming things (see: my hermit crab named... shelly) So I'm throwing it out there to my multitude (read: dozens) of readers. What do you think would be a good name for an Etsy store? Would you buy crocheted food on Etsy? Do you have any advice for starting up an Etsy store?

Inquiring minds want to know! Share with the class!

Pasta with a side of sadness

2010-08-11T10:25:00.000-04:00

Like everyone, I think, I associate certian foods with certian people (no? Is this just me? ...). My sister with Chicken Picatta, My grandmom with navy bean soup, My Auntie Ange with salmon spread (and Ange Dip), Julie with Velveeta dip, Lisa with Spedie Chicken Pizza... the list goes on. Mostly because these are the signature things that these people make, and that for me, the very best version of them I've had is theirs. It forms a taste memory for me, and when I try to make the dish that is "theirs" I always seem to fall short. It is tasty, but it's not quite the same as when they make it. (this could possibly be because I am pretty incapable of making a dish, especially a savory one, without monkeying around with it a little).

There are dishes that remind me of people that I haven't been able to make, because it is too hard- the memory makes me too sad, and when I think about it, I get a lump in my throat, and have to think about something else. Rye bread with butter and a cup of tea. Breaded chicken wings, apple pie. These are all things that remind me of my Nana so much that if I close my eyes, I can almost see her, walking into my parents' house, arms full of chicken wings, ready for the superbowl party. Or sitting at her dining room table, with a steaming hot cup of tea, wating for it to cool so it doesn't scald my mouth, and eating a piece of rye bread that has an almost obscene amount of butter on it. Someday, maybe, I'll be able to make these things, but not any day soon.

I have been thinking about my Auntie Jack a lot lately. I can't believe so much time has passed since she's been gone. I miss so many things about her, her sense of humor, her kindness, and her strength. She, like all of the women in my family, was a great cook. She made lots of great things, but most of what sticks in my head is her orzo salad, her caramel brownies, and her breaded tomato pasta. Her tomato pasta may have in fact come from her Italian husband Ralph, but I always associate it with her. (Just like I associate donuts from a bakery in North Jersey with Ralph)

My friend Lesley came to visit from Frostburg last night, and when I was thinking about what to make, I surveyed my cabinets, and I had all the ingredients for the breaded tomato pasta. I didn't have a recipe to go from, but I stumbled my way through it, breading the tomatoes with panko breadcrumbs, sauteeing them in the pan, and setting the angel hair pasta to boil. I mixed the pasta in with the tomatoes, and served it with salad and bread. It wasn't as good as hers (I didn't think it would be) but it reminded me of her, and it was pretty decent.

Someday I'll try to attempt her caramel brownies.

Auntie Jack's Breaded Tomato Pasta

4 tomatoes, (on the smaller side) Sliced
2 cloves of garlic
A cup and a half of italian style panko breadcrumbs
1/2 cup shredded parmesano reggiano
1 egg
1tbsp milk
salt
Pepper.
Olive oil for the pan
1/2 package angel hair pasta

Procedure: Put water for pasta on to boil.

Take sliced tomatoes, and lay out on paper towels to dry Pat dry. mix egg and milk, put in a bowl. mix cheese and breadcrumbs and salt and pepper, and put in seperate bowl. dip tomato slices in egg and breadcrumbs. Dice garlic, heat up skillet with oil. put garlic in pan, then slices of tomato in (do not overcrowd pan, do in two batches if not enough room). when tomatoes are done, set aside on plate.

Drain pasta, and toss with tomatoes and a little olive oil. I put a little extra grated cheese on here too.

Serve!

I Have a Literary Crush

2010-08-03T11:36:00.000-04:00

I had another post that was rarin' to go today, about caffeine addiciton, that I had already started, but when I was perusing my twitter, saw John Green Tweeted a link to his blog, and said that he was answering questions all day today. And as I read, I knew I was abandoning my coffee soaked screed about the wonder of what happens when you mix ice and coffee and milk and sugar and apply liberally to your central nervous system, to talk about John Green

Whenever I read things John Green has written, something stops me in my tracks. The same goes with a lot of his Vlogbrothers videos. He has such an elegant way of phrasing things, and putting together ideas, that a lot of the time, I just stop and marvel at the craft and beauty of his writing and ideas. Not only in his books, which are uniformly great, but even in things like blog posts, and the one linked above today especially. I was reading, and he was answering a question about symbolism in books, and he said "Reading critically and nonliterally is a huge part of being a person: It is through metaphor and symbolism that we enter into the life of someone else, and begin to ask their big questions as if they were our own."
YES. Wholeheartedly yes. The point of reading, and good writing, is that it forces you to think about your life in a new way and to ask the big questions. This is what I'm thinking when I read the books that have changed my life. This is what I'm doing when I try to write (and largely fail).

He also writes a lot about imagining people complexly, which is something that I am constantly trying to do. No person is all anything, and interactions that you have with others are also a reflection on who you are as much as who they are.

His writing also makes my heart ache with jealously, because I don't have a tenth of the talent that he does, but I'm going to keep trying, because I'm not going to get any better if I don't write.

He also has one of my favorite pieces of advice given ever to a young girl who asked about if she should play dumb because the boy that she liked thought that she was too smart:

"The venn diagram of boys who don’t like smart girls and boys you don’t wanna date is a circle."

and now some John Green quotes that make me happy:

"What is the point of being alive if you don't at least try to do something remarkable?"
— John Green (An Abundance of Katherines)

"Talking to a drunk person was like talking to an extremely happy, severely brain-damaged three-year-old."
— John Green (Paper Towns)

"I don't like reindeer. They seem like regular deer, only more dangerous."
— John Green

"But I lacked the courage and she had a boyfriend and I was gawky and she was gorgeous and I was hopelessly boring and she was endlessly fascinating. So I walked back to my room and collapsed on the bottom bunk, thinking that if people were rain, I was drizzle and she was a hurricane."
— John Green (Looking for Alaska)

"Thomas Edison’s last words were: ‘It’s very beautiful over there.’ I don’t know where there is, but I believe it’s somewhere, and I hope it’s beautiful."
— John Green (Looking for Alaska)

"Imagining the future is a kind of nostalgia. You spend your whole life stuck in the labyrinth, thinking about how you’ll escape it one day, and how awesome it will be, and imagining that future keeps you going, but you never do it. You just use the future to escape the present."
— John Green (Looking for Alaska)

"That's who you really like. The people you can think out loud in front of."
— John Green (An Abundance of Katherines)

"As long as we don't die, this gonna be on hell of a story."
— John Green (Paper Towns)

"You like someone who can't like you back because unrequited love can be survived in a way that once-requited love cannot."
— John Green (Will Grayson, Will Grayson)

"I feel like my life is so scattered right now. Like it's all the small pieces of paper and someone's turned on the fan. But, talking to you makes me feel like the fan's been turned off for a little bit. Like things could actually make sense. You completely unscatter me, and I appreciate that so much."
— John Green (Will Grayson, Will Grayson)

TEN THINGS THAT MAKE ME HAPPY RIGHT NOW

2010-08-02T14:28:00.000-04:00

1) Doing 750words for the month of August (and competing with Julie)

2) Lilith Fair tomorrow!

3) Tim and Val's Day of Fun and Baking on Wednesday!

4) FINALLY beating my sister's ski jump score on wii fit. (I know this means she will camp out at my apartment until she beats my score, but it was AWESOME.)

5) Seeing my tiny cousin this weekend

6) Picking out restaurant week choices, and drooling over the menus

7) Hanging out with friends on Sunday, and watching them hilariously try to do the wii fit. ("AROUND THE WORLD" my arms are sore from the flapping though.

8) my Iced coffee solution I re-jiggered at work. (Hitting the Strong button along with the espresso button. what? are those my eyeballs vibrating?)

9) The Tv Show White Collar. it's funny and interesting, and I may be a little bit obsessed with it.

10) Speaking of obsession, I am now obsessed with origami. officially.

28 in the 28th- 2 months left.

2010-07-31T11:48:00.001-04:00

Okay, I'm headed down the home stretch, and I've got two months to go until I'm 29 (eep!) here's what I've accomplished so far, and what I still need to go. 14 down, 14 left. I can do this!

1 Write a Novel. This looks like it might not happen, sadly. Well, there's always room on next year's list!
~~2. Try one new craft~~   Origami! I can make a flower, and a box, and a waterbomb.
3. Go to DC for the day by myself and walk around
4. Cater a Non Family Event
~~5. Make Homemade christmas gifts~~ Done! Several family members recieved mittens, and snowflakes. I am going to start working on christmas presents earlier this year though. I did not get nearly as much done as I wanted to.
6. Learn how to can things (like jam)
~~7. Take a cooking class-~~ Thanks to a completely awesome birthday present from my friend julie, I am taking a pasta class here in March. I was also able to take a vegetarian cooking class, as well, it rocked!
8. Go camping
~~9. Go to a non House Concert- Show~~    Done! Went to See Corinne Bailey Rae and The Rescues. Plus! am going to see Lilith Fair this week.
~~10. Get a Manicure, Pedicure and Facial~~ Done! I got a Mani, Pedi, Facial with my sister and my cousin Kate, before my cousin Lindy's wedding, which was very excellent. I actually have super long nails right now, and have been debating getting a manicure. I will probably just end up cutting them, though.
11. Go on 12 dates I've not gone on 12, but I still need to make progress on this goal. Serious progress needs to happen on this front.
~~12. Visit a city I've never been to before~~   Done! Toykyo, March 2010
~~13. Learn how to make a recipe by watching my G make it.~~ Done! Pitzelles, June, 2010, Homosassa Florida
~~14. Go to at least one Free Fall Baltimore event~~ Julie reminded me that we went to Fells point fun Festival this year! We ate pit beef, we had deep fried Oreos, we bought crafty things, it was great!
15. Have a Cookie Baking/Decorating Party
~~16. Make a tradition of my own~~ Glee tuesday (which then merged into Top Chef Wednesday, When Glee was over) is a weekly tradition that Paul, Julie and I have formed. We get together, cook some good food, drink some wine, and watch some awesome tv.
17. Go to a museum
18. Have dinner that is multi-course and paired with wines
19. Go to a winery and have a wine tasting
20. Make something beautiful
21. Create ten new cupcake combinations- Five down, five to go.
~~22. Get my camera fixed.~~ DONE!
23. Twelve Random Acts of Kindness for strangers- One down, 11 to go.
~~24. Go for a week without internet (for non work puroposes)~~ Okay, it wasn't quite without internet completly, but I was without my computer when we were on vacation in Virginia, and I had very limited access. So I'm counting it good.
~~25. Do some acting~~ I am in the Iron Crow Theatre Company! And we're doing a night of short plays by Christopher Durang called "In Durang's Shorts" I acted as a Chorus member and Phyllis, in Phyllis and Xenobia
~~26. Go to ten new restaurants in Baltimore~~ Done!
27. Learn a new card game
28. Go see a movie with Subtitiles (or, rent and watch Amelie without falling asleep)

Taste Memory: Coffeemate

2010-07-27T09:54:00.000-04:00

Empty coffee cup of shots of iced espresso.

There is music, that when I listen to it, I am immediately transported back to the time and place that I first listened to it. For example, Tegan and Sara's first CD This Business of Art, puts me right back in my Providence Apartment, taking turns playing video games with Jamie. Catie Curtis reminds me of freshman year of college, Girlyman puts me at Falcon Ridge folk festival, and I have many, many more musical triggers.

But this isn't about music, it's about food. Well, not food exactly, but a food like product. I usually take my coffee black. This habit was learned when I was with the Red Cross, specifically during Hurricane Katrina. I was working in our office, getting volunteers ready for deployment to Louisiana, and was working on average, 14 hour days. We had a lot of coffee around, and while I am not a coffee addict now, I was seriously one then. I would get my cup of black coffee, a pack of peanut butter crackers, and begin my workday. I would have 1 or two more cups of black coffee during the day, while making phone calls, greeting volunteers, and watching the four tvs we had in our office, turned to CNN, Weather Channel, Local news, and (depending on who won that day, either Fox News or MSNBC).

It would hit about 3 or 4pm, when I usually would begin to get a little burnt out, and I couldn't deal with another cup of black coffee. So I would make myself a cup of coffee, dump some sugar in, and some coffeemate creamer. I'd take my cup outside, and take a ten or fifteen minute break, sitting under a tree, and I'd call one of my friends, to hear them talk, and remind myself that there was a world outside my office.

This morning, I went down to get some coffee, and I really didn't feel like black coffee, or hot coffee, So while I was maguyver-ing a solution to my problems, I got two esspresso shots out of the coffee machine, and mixed in coffeemate, and sugar. and when the coffeemate hit the hot coffee, I was immediately back at the Red Cross office, and a wave of nostalgia hit me. I know that a lot of people romanticize their first 'real' jobs, but I really had a great one, even though at times it was epically stressful. I had a great team of co-workers, an awesome boss, and a really supportive environment.

Then I poured the mix over a cup full of ice and drank it down.

In other news: hi. hi. hi. hi. how are you doing? I am good, hi. hi. hi. hi. hi. two shots of espresso drunk in ten minutes? AWESOME. hi. hi.

Ten things

2010-07-26T10:57:00.000-04:00

This week I really need Ten Things. Between work being crazy, a death in the family, and general stress and worry and suckitude, I definitely need some serious good things that I'm happy about. (what? suckitude is a word.)

1) My Tiny cousin turns 2! It's really awesome and exciting, and I can't wait to see him when he's in NJ in August, so I can give him his presents. And take lots of pictures of him.

2) My dad's Birthday is this week too! Happy Birthday, old man.

3) I've been downloading some of the new music from Lilith fair, and I'm really excited to hear new music!

4) Made banana pudding this weekend. love banana pudding. I didn't even eat any yesterday because I know how much better it is when it sits for a day. (look at that! patience! who knew?)

5) Looking forward to the Theatre Company fundraising meeting tonight.

6) Original flavor Sun Chips in the work vending machine. HOLY CRAP this is awesome. for a long time they only had the terrible chese flavored Sun Chips, or the slightly passable french onion Sun Chips. All of these versions are massively inferior to Original Sun Chips

7) I have not mentioned lately how much I love Twitter. I do. I love twitter a lot. Despite that fact that other people think it is dumb.

8) Community DVD Season 1 pre-sale!

9) Burt's Bees Chapstick

10) Popsicles

What is making you happy right now?

Crocheted Food Part Deux

2010-07-21T09:49:00.000-04:00

So my little cousin is turning two at the end of the month. While I have been contemplating how time flies so fast, (because he was just born yesterday) I have also been crocheting things for his kitchen, which his mom tells me he is ALL about lately. (feeding the dog hamburger soup from his hamburger pieces? awesome.) So above is all the things that I've made, and below is a more in depth look at the individual pieces I've been crafting.

A banaba that comes out of the banana skin:

Ribs- (come on, did you NOT think I was going to do ribs?)

also a waffle, because that kid likes waffles:

A slice of watermelon

Apples:

Oranges:

A S'more

Corn on the cob (that also comes out of the green)

And a pb&J sandwich:

I'm sharing them here because he's almost two, and while he's very advanced, I'm sure he doesn't read my blog. I'm going to finish up on a couple more things, and then I'm going to get them shipped off. If you have any suggestions, let me know!

(also, some more in depth photos on the flickr site. Click on a photo to take you there!)

Ten things that are making me happy right now

2010-07-20T10:35:00.001-04:00

1. Renewing my Flickr Pro Account:

Click the picture and you will be magically transported to my flickr page! woot! (be prepared for more pictures on this site.)

2. Had an awesome time on vacation.

3. Won the rib competition (that's going to be a thing that makes me happy for a long while)

4. All the crocheted things I've made for the Tiny Cousin. (pictures coming soon)

5. Going to lilith Fair in two weeks!

6. Working the next two saturdays. which you wouldn't think would be awesome, but i'm looking forward to having comp days off during the week.

7. Perhaps making a second chinc trip this summer?

8. Doing some volunteering soon

9. I feel like Earl's mellowed a little lately (this could be in my head)

10. Due to my Chincoteague vacation, I may have gotten a tiny addiction to TRUtv. just a small one.

What is making you happy right now?

Wonderful Vacation

2010-07-19T12:20:00.000-04:00

I am back from vacation. I kind of would like to be back there right now. Chincoteague is so peaceful. this is the view off the back of the house. Crazy beautiful, right?

Every year my family rents a house on Chincoteague Island (sometimes parts of the family camp, but I prefer a house, with you know, a bed. and air conditioning. it is hot out there) We've rented this house a bunch of times, and I love it. It's gorgeous, has a great big and wonderful kitchen, and a long table for everyone to sit at. I have spent lots of hours in this house- we've rented it a couple of times, and I really, really like it.

I really like the whole island. It is restful, and relaxing, and easy vacation. I can spend time sleeping, and crocheting, and reading. Cooking good things, and hanging out with the family. Not everyone was able to make it this year, and even those that were were not able to be there the whole time, which was a bummer. But I'm glad I had the time with those that did make it there this year. And there's always next year!

I've posted a bit about my rib competition with my uncle: (and other people who want to enter, last year was Potter) and these are my ribs:

And this is my trophy:

The trrophy returns to Baltimore once more, to grace my bookshelves and inspire me to kick ass again next year. I already have ideas marinating for next year's rub and sauce. (and maybe also my rib competition videos)

Just before we chow down on ribs. Chilling with the family. One thing this family has down is eating and drinking. We had a ton of "food coma" moments, usually after eating dinner, and occasionally after lunch (see: Woody's barbecue, Woody's fried chicken, Vientamese resturaunt, The Creamery, and Mr. Whippy)
One of the things that I like is how much cooking we all do while we're there- Appetizer night, Seafood night, Rib competition, and lots of other meals, and snacks (I did not make nearly enough guac this year. Must remedy that next year)

Helena and Auntie Ange feeding the seagulls. Which they continued to do even after Uncle Dave told a story about a friend of his who was feeding seagulls and the seagull bit off the tip of his finger. I was not going to be going anywhere near seagulls after that. They, however, purchased a whole loaf of bread to feed the seagulls with.

It was a great week, and I can't wait until next year.

Tiny peach and peach/blueberry cobbler

2010-06-28T22:50:00.000-04:00

I know it is the latest trend to make pies/ cupcakes/ cobbler in jam jars. But I could not resist.

How cute are these?

SO CUTE.

TEN THINGS THAT MAKE ME HAPPY RIGHT NOW

2010-06-28T09:50:00.000-04:00

1) Participated in birthday weekend happiness for this chick and had an awesome time hanging out and picking crabs for the second time ever. (plus: passionfruit Rita's. The Towson one always has it. the Columbia one? Never. Suck it, Columbia)

2) Crocheted Cupcake!

3) I have a four day week this week, and a four day week next week, and then Vacation!

4) Sending people stuff in the mail is fun.

5) Glee Tuesdays have been replaced with Top Chef Wednesdays, Woo, Top chef wednesday!

6) Wednesday off this week!

7) Grateful that I have A/C, because I have friends and family that don't, ant that sucks for them.

8) Debating making cookies this week. Am kind of in a cookie mood.

9) Creating fun crocheted things. (besides the cupcake above)

10) Official vacation countdown has begun! 13 days! This time two weeks from now I will be contemplating if I want to go to the beach, or for a bike ride, or what to have for lunch.

The most fantastic tomato sauce.

2010-06-26T22:59:00.000-04:00

This tomato sauce. I have been thinking about this tomato sauce a lot. I first made it last week, when I had a dinner guest cancel on me- it was what I was going to make, but when it got to the boiling pasta point, I didn't feel like it, and just made toast and ate it topped on that way. It was so delicious that I was eating it with a spoon from the pot. I am not a huge fan of tomatoes- I don't like them raw at all, and usually prefer them blended into whatever sauce they're in, and masked by basil, and garlic, and made to taste like something entirely else.

This tomato sauce is not like that. It is capital T Tomatoey. It's- grab onto a strand of pasta and coat with the luscious sauce-, silky, chunky, oh my goodness tomato sauce.

I made it again tonight, to see if it was one of those culinary flukes, those "I was so hungry anything would taste delicious" moods, and it wasn't. In fact, it was even better this time, because I had pasta with it, garlic bread on the side, and a nice bottle of merlot, and best of all, my friend Paul came over to eat it with me. The sauce just shimmers in the pan, waiting for you to add the pasta to it. I want to make this sauce over and over. I don't want to make any other tomato sauce, ever. I just want this one.

The beauty of the sauce is in the simplicity. It has four ingredients that I almost always have in my pantry.

It is Marcella Hazan's recipe, but I found it at one of my favorite food blogger's sites- Orangette

2 cups whole, peeled, canned plum tomatoes, chopped, with their juices (about one 28-oz. can)

5 Tbsp. unsalted butter

1 medium yellow onion, peeled and cut in half

Salt, to taste

Combine the tomatoes, their juices, the butter, and the onion halves in a medium saucepan. Add a pinch or two of salt. Place over medium heat and bring to a simmer. Cook, uncovered, at a very slow but steady simmer, adjusting the heat as necessary, for about 45 minutes, or until droplets of fat float free from the tomato. Stir occasionally, mashing any large pieces of tomato with the back of a wooden spoon. Taste and salt as needed.

Discard the onion before tossing the sauce with pasta.

Make this. you won't regret it.

Preparing for the awesome.

2010-06-24T09:53:00.000-04:00

I'm not going to lie, I'm a competitive person. I like to play games, and I like to win. And for the last two years, when I go on vacation with my family at Chincoteague Island, we have a Rib Cookoff competition. The first year, I was victorious. Basking in the glow of my win, I took the tropy home, and reveled in my win for a whole year. Last year brought sadness. I was competing against my uncle, and my cousin Potter, and my uncle pulled out a miraculous win (by a large freaking margin).

Last year's devistating loss meant that I could not rest on my laurels. I could not fly by the seat of my pants and expect to pull out victiory. I need to be more methodical. more calculating.... more awesome.

So I put together my rub, which is based off of Alton Brown's 8 + 3 +1 +1 ratio, and I rubbed up a rack of ribs and let it sit overnight. I made my own tomato-based barbecue sauce, Which is a new tactic that i'm trying this year. (I've never used a tomato based sauce before).

I invited Paul over for dinner, so he could guinea pig the ribs for me, to make sure that they were okay.

I cooked the ribs, low and slow, and in the last half hour, I brushed on the bbq sauce. Then, once they were done, i cut them, and tossed them in a bowl with more sauce.

They were messy, but they were pretty awesome. I need to tweak a little (A little less heat is needed) but they were pretty freaking great.

Watch out, Uncle Dave.... I'm comin' to get ya.

And for dessert, we had oreo cupcakes with cream cheese oreo frosting. MMMMMMMMM

A Decade ago

2010-06-22T09:23:00.001-04:00

When I was in fourth grade, We got these bright yellow folders, that had in large writing, CLASS OF 2000! Scrawled across the front. all sorts of information was tucked into the folder, probably about our promising futures, and our lives that were to be full of success and joy and happiness, because we had the dubious distinction of being in the class of the new millennium.

Ten years ago today, I graduated from high school. Full of nervous anticipation, I boarded the school bus at my high school, (our graduation ceremonies were located at a local college) I was tapping my feet, and trying to concentrate on not falling on my face in front of a couple hundred people (mission: accomplished!) but the whole time I was distracted. I had gotten a phone call earlier in the day from the Director of Emergency Services for the American Red Cross Chapter that I volunteered for, asking me If i wanted to go to North Dakota for three weeks to help out with flood relief. And oh, by the way, the flight leaves tomorrow. I said yes, and was mentally packing during most of the ceremony. It all kind of passed in a blur, and then it was over, and I was on a plane.

When I graduated high school, I had a plan. I was going to volunteer with the Red Cross in the summer, I was going to work at Great Adventure, and in the fall, I was going to start my Americorps year with City Year in Rhode Island. I had direction, and purpose, and I was going to do good things.

I think a lot of people look on their past selves, and kind of smile, and shake their heads, and think about how confused they were. And in some respects, That girl who was 18 and about to grow up pretty fast didn't know what she was doing. But on the other hand, I think of what that 18 year old would think about where my life is now. And I think it would make her sad.

In order to make my 18 year old self less sad at my life, I have realized I need A Plan. A Plan to make things better, and to work on the things that make me unhappy. Part of my inertia, I think, is not really knowing what I want to do, and kind of letting the status quo stand, until i figure it out. Well, nothing is going to change If I don't make some choices, and take some chances. So that's what I'm going to work on this summer.

And like I told Potter, when he wanted to shave his head like a Cue-ball last night, you only live once.

*And Happy Birthday to Andrea, my friend and High School classmate, who had her birthday on our graduation day, which had to have sucked. Joyeux anniversaire ! (I would link to her blog, but she doesn't have one. She should though!)

TEN THINGS THAT ARE MAKING ME HAPPY RIGHT NOW

2010-06-21T09:34:00.000-04:00

1 Baltimore Pride was this weekend! I was there with the Iron Crow crew, handing out postcards for our next production, which is Hedwig and the Angry Inch, (and is going to be SO AWESOME)

2 Had an awesome time hanging out with Bryan, Katie and Paul on Saturday, running errands, shopping, and then seeing Toy Story #. (you should go see Toy Story 3, it's great)

3 Purchased a Potato Ricer, which I have wanted for a long time

4 Got some hair product that does not make my hair look gross

5 Had an all-important IKEA trip, which resulted in a new cutting board (wooden) and a new plastic cutting board for meat (in red)

6 Have begun the countdown in earnest to vacation. Chincoteague, here I come! TWENTY DAYS

7 Was outside all day yesterday in the burning hot sun and did not get sunburn. (I do not know how this happened)

8 Being introduced to new music: my new favorite happy/dance around my apartment song is Ca Plane Pour Moi, by Plastic Bertrand. Check it out! I dare you not to dance around.

9 Firing up the kitchenaid to make some cupcakes this week! Vanilla buttercream and oreo are on the docket

10 Testing my rib recipe this week!

What is making you happy RIGHT NOW?

TEN THINGS THAT MAKE ME HAPPY RIGHT NOW

2010-06-14T12:17:00.000-04:00

1. I am continuing on my smoothie kick. Frozen fruit from trader Joe's, light coconut milk, and yogurt, and you get a little smoothie heaven. I've decided to post my smoothie combos on twitter (because really, what else is twitter for?) so if you are interested in checking that out... there it is.

2. Toy Story 3 comes out this weekend!

3. Baltimore Pride is this weekend! (also, the awesome Iron Crow stickers that we ordered for Pride. Can't wait)

4. Gay Expectations 2: Expect More is Thursday and Friday!

5. The wine tasting I went to at Donna's- So much fun. Both the company, and the wine!

6. New Top Chef starts on Wednesday!

7. The Peanut butter pie at the Desert Cafe in Mount Washinton. I am trying to figure out how to replicate it. OMG awesome.

8. Making iced tea to keep in the fridge. Why have I never done this before? Am I slow? I love unsweetened iced tea! it is so easy to make!

9. Planning for some out of town vistitors that might be coming in the Fall! woo!

10. I don't have to work this weekend and I thought I did! yay!

What is making you happy RIGHT NOW?

28/28th # 9

2010-06-10T08:57:00.000-04:00

On my list of 28 things to do in my 28th year #9 Is to go to one non- house concert show.

I love house concerts. The intimacy of the performer, a few feet away, strumming on their guitar, or playing the piano, makes me happy. It really is the best way to hear music. In the last few years, I have been to seldom few non-house concert shows. In order to get out of the box and enjoy the Life Outside My Apartment, I added go to a non-house concert show. Large concerts have their bonuses too- I never would have been introduced to acts like Girlyman, Lucy Kaplansky, and Richard Shindell if not for Falcon Ridge Folk Festival.

I was all set to make The Rescues show at the Ram's Head in Annapolis my concert,When there was a concert on Twitter by Bthesite to win tickets to Corrine Bailey Rae! I entered the contest, and won (WOOOOOO, winning!) and then I had tickets that friday to see her. I invited Tim (he of trip to Japan awesomeness) So I not only exceeded my goal, I doubled it!

Corrine Bailey Rae was really good- (aside from the venue that had no seating, requiring us to stand up for four hours) I had not listen to much of her latest album, that she was touring on, but I really liked it. She sprinkled in her popular songs from the last album. All in all it was an excellent show.

The Rescues I saw the next week. A supergroup of four singer songwriters that came together to make an awesome band, I am a big fan of theirs. Kyler England, Adrianne, Rob Giles and Gabriel Mann make up the group, and they rocked it. It was my first time being at the Ram's head, and I REALLY liked it- it's a great venue to hear music, plus, there are chairs and food! I will be keeping my eye out for other acts that are going to be there, Due to sheer awesomeness.

Opening for The Rescues was Garrison Starr, who I had heard of, and was a little familar with her music (she comes up on my Edie Carey Pandora playlist) and I thought she was great- I went home and downloaded a bunch of her music from itunes. I love when opening acts are good- it sets the tone for an awesome concert-going experience.

*all pictures taken with my phone.

Ten Things

2010-06-07T09:49:00.001-04:00

Today, I feel like I don't really have ten things that are making me happy RIGHT NOW. I have ten things that make me full of the rage, for certian. Well, if not full of the rage, certianly full of the annoyance. However, that is not the point of TEN THINGS. Ten things is about finding the happy, amidst the crap. Even if the crap is overwhelming. I am going to try to push through and do my ten things.

1 The video that I made, which is the second in the series of videos for the RIB CHALLENGE COOKOFF (I'll do a seperate post with a link to the video, because I can't access Youtube right now

2 Dan and Helena visititng this weekend was fricka awesome!

3 Jack coming down this weekend was fantastic (she gets her own special #, due to awesomeness)

4 GLEE tuesday- it is the Season Finale! Julie is making cheese dinner of epic cheesiness!

5 Fun plans with friends all week long!

6 Is it bad that i'm already looking forward to the weekend on Monday? well if that's wrong, i don't wanna be right.

7 The Scrapple I got at the farmer's market this weekend. I had breakfast for dinner last night.... and maybe tonight.

8 Planning for Chincoteague... drinks category

9 Planning for Chincoteague... Food category

10 Making Rub this week! Various and sundry family members should get ready!

First company in the new apartment! (and Polish Festival)

2010-06-06T20:54:00.003-04:00

These guys came down from New Jersey this weekend to visit Baltimore, and to go to the Polish festival that was over in Patterson Park. My cousin Dan, his girlfriend Helena and my sister Jackie. Jackie came down for hanging out and a meeting that she had to go to for grad school, and Dan and Helena came to go to the Polish festival.

We had lots of fun taking pictures.....

and looking at pottery....

and taking more pictures...

The festival was on the small side, so once we had taken in the sights, eaten some perogi and potato pancakes, (plus the white borscht soup that Helena got that I need the recipe for. omg, so good) oh, and Polish beer! We still had some time, so we headed down to do my favorite thing in the city:

Going to Pitango Gelato, and sitting and enjoying it in Fell's point. I know my family and friends are probably tired of going there, but I never get tired of it. gelato, looking out a the boats on the water, heading over to do some shopping at 10,000 villages and Su Casa... awesome.

Dan and Helena left to go home on Saturday night, and Jackie and I hung out. Then, this morning, We got up and headed over to the farmer's market, where I got some good stuff.

I love having company, and I can't wait until they come back!

Ten Things MAKING ME HAPPY RIGHT NOW- New Apartment Version

2010-06-02T10:24:00.000-04:00

1 The countertops in this place are waaaaaaaaaaay better than the faux marble plastic, ugly ones in the old place
2 SUNLIGHT.
3 The smoke alarm is not hair trigger
4 The bathroom is blue, as opposed to hideous pink.
5 Everything is all organized and in it's place.
6 The fridge is bigger.
7 Earl enjoys the sunlight wayy more! I keep finding him curled up in sunny spots. He didn't have that in the old place.
8 Company coming this weekend!
9 New apartment makes me want to have everyone over to make dinner for them. Friends and family! I will cook dinner for you! Just let me know when you are coming!
10 The new apartment just makes me happy to be there

What is making you happy right now?

Check Out the New Digs!

2010-06-01T09:46:00.000-04:00

I know that it's not the 27th in the 27th anymore, but I like crossing things off lists, and this is something I definitely should have done that year. So I'm retroactively crossing it off. I've only been in this new apartment for three days, and I just feel better in it. I think it has a lot to do with the amount of sunlight that the new place gets:

Living room area

I moved to a new apartment in my same complex, and I had an awesome moving team- my mom, dad, sister Jackie and my friend Meda. There aren't many people who will help you move from a third floor apartment to a third floor apartment, and they've got my back. I had a lot of stuff ready when the got there, (and had already moved some things) but it took the five of us just three hours to move all my stuff.

Looking into the kitchen

In retrospect, it makes the panic and stress I was going through seem kind of pointless.

Dining area

I was able to get everything unpacked on Sunday and Monday morning (SCORE for moving on a three day weekend, that was some great serendipity) and got to relax after I did the remaining cleaning at my old place.

Other Side of the kitchen

Awesome bonus to this kitchen- I heated the oven to 450 to cook my pizza, and the smoke alarm didn't go off! WOOT. That would have never happened in the old apartment. I would have been waving a dishrag in front of the smoke alarm for the duration of the cooking.

Earl enjoying the sunlight

Earl likes the new digs, too, seeing that there is exponentially more sun in the new place. he's already developed his "running around the apartment in a giant circle" loop. Here he sits on the Grandad Chair, soaking in the sun from the sliding glass door.

Another great feature of this apartment is the balcony; my old apartment had one too, but it was not enjoyable to hang out there. This one is- I had my tea on it this morning. (sorry for the no balcony picture)

I'm all ready to have my first houseguests this weekend!

Reason #32074 to love Baltimore

2010-05-31T08:29:00.000-04:00

I love the Sunday Farmer's Market in Baltimore. It's one of my favorite things to do. I like to go really early, before the masses descend, and meander around, with my cup of Zeke's Coffee, and my freshly made donuts from the donut guy, and slowly make my way around, smelling strawberries, trying samples of cheese, and picking out herbs and vegetables, and listening to the musicians that are playing. It has expanded exponentially since I first started going, and now it is in two areas.

If Baltimore people want to know which stands are my favorite, send me an email, because I don't know what the names of most of them are, but I can tell you where they are located.

Today was my first farmer's market of the season, and I did not realize just how much I had missed it. I met my friends Katie, Lisa and Bryan, and we walked around, eating our donuts, and enjoying the beautiful morning. Of the new vendors, Bryan introduced me to the olive oil stand that is new this year, which is SO good. and! if you bring your bottle back, they give you a discount to refill it! Awesome. Also, Pitango Gelato is at the market now, and my epic love of Pitango is timeless.

But easily my new favorite stand is Wheely Good Smoothies. First of all, a Pun-y name is always my favorite. Secondly, they are a smoothie stand, that is powered by bicycle. You pay your dollars, and you get a discount if you pedal yourself. they fill up the blender cup, and put it on the little stand on the back, and you pedal away. And when you're done, you have a delicious smoothie!

I chose the Strawberry Basil with Orange juice, and it seriously rocked. I liked it so much that after the farmer's market, I ran down to Trader Joe's to get the ingredients so that I could make my own smoothies. The basil just makes it taste so fresh and delicious. I tested out making my own with my stick blender, and it totally worked! I forsee a summer of smoothie making. The key that Wheely Good does, that makes the smoothies so awesome, is that they use frozen fruit, so that you don't need to add ice that would water it down. GENIUS.

Ten Things

2010-05-24T12:49:00.000-04:00

1) I got a lot of stuff that I wanted to get packed for moving packed this weekend.
2) This time next week I'll be in my new place! (and be off, because it's Memorial Day!)
3) Forgetting that i have to bake for a work thing on wednesday- but remembering that I have all of the ingredients for compost cookies at my house.
4) Weeding through my stuff is incredably cathartic
5) Going to see The Rescues tomorrow!
6) Friends who update their blogs frequently. and also those that are not so frequent.
7) coffee. Coffee is a reason to rejoice.
8) Lady Gaga Episode of Glee this week (even though Glee Tuesdays is not happening this week, sadly)
9) Awesome people who are helping me move: My mom, my dad, Meda, and possibly my sister.
10) Planning on how I'm going to actually decorate my new place, and the Herb garden I'm going to grow.

TEN THINGS THAT MAKE ME HAPPY RIGHT NOW

2010-05-18T08:41:00.000-04:00

It is a dreary, rainy, gloomy day, and all I want to do is snuggle up under the covers and go home to go to bed. It is tough to come up with ten things today, but I'm going to do my best.

1) The vegetarian cooking class that I took this weekend was awesome, and I have two recipes (for sure) that I am going to make again.

2) Relatedy to 1 (is relatedly a word? eh, probably not)- it was someone else's random act of kindness that I got to take the class. Quite wonderful. I need to work on my random acts of kindness on my list.

3) I've been recipe planning in my head again, which is always fun.

4) Having to think out of the box to make things healthier - I tend not to do this, but when I have to, it is always good.

5) GLEE TUESDAY IS TODAY. besides that fact that I lamely spoiled myself for this episode. I am really looking forward to hanging out with Julie and Paul and also seeing Neil Patrick Harris on Glee.

6) Cooking class on Wednesday! I am learning how to make pasta!

7) My starbucks clear container that I keep ice water in, on my desk. It actually helps to remind me to drink water throughout the day

8) I made vanilla bean fruit salad for work today, with a honey yogurt topping. Honeydew, Pineapple, Strawberry, Blackberries, and kiwi, sat overnight with vanilla bean. Man, it tastes awesome.

9) Today's My Mom's Birthday! Happy Birthday, Mom!

10) I found a SUH-WEET deal at Marshall's for a pasta maker, So I'll be all ready for when I get all these awesome pasta making skillz from my class. I am already thinking of: Pumpkin ravioli in a sage butter sauce, spinach ravioli wih shrimp and cream sauce, making my own linguini with clam sauce. Making my own lasagna from very scratch, The posibilites are limitless!

Florida!

2010-05-12T18:14:00.002-04:00

After a somewhat annoying flight - I had not realized when booking my ticket that we stopped in West Palm Beach. I realize that flying is wonderful, and a a marvel of 20th century invention, but I am not a huge fan of landing. So getting to the airport and realizing that I had to land twice in two hours was not an amusing prospect.

I landed in West Palm Beach, (which was a rocky landing) and then I got on my phone to text message my sister and my cousin Potter, complaining about my own dumbness and airsick-ness. We took off for the second flight, and thankfully it was fast, about forty minutes in the air.

I arrived in Florida bearing compost cookies for G- I had made oatmeal with cranberry and white chocolate, and the traditional compost ones for her to try, and I think she liked them- especially "the ones with the pretzels in them!"

I got settled in, and hung out for a while, then went to bed.

Getting up the next morning, it was early for a Saturday morning for me, (especially without a cat waking me up) but I got up, and we made a grocery list to get the stuff I'd need when I was cooking over the weekend. Off to Walmart, Sweet Bay, and Publix. We did more running around in the morning than I do on most Saturdays, and it was only eleven in the morning! After stashing the groceries, I made dill egg salad for us for lunch, which we had with Beets & Sweets chips.

When I was originally talking to G about coming down, I told her that I wanted to cook for her, which she definitely liked the idea of. I asked her what kind of stuff she liked, and she said "I like everything!" which, while true, I guess, I really wanted to make something special for her. So I asked her what she goes out to order when she goes to a resturaunt, and she said seafood. So I landed on Seafood Risotto. My risotto recipe is directly stolen from my friend Lisa, but seeing as she does not eat seafood, I adapted pretty freely- seafood broth instead of chicken broth, once it was cooked, I folded in crab meat, and shrimp, and peas ( and a ton of parmesan cheese). Alongside we had salads that I put together.

Lynn, Uncle Richard and Aunt Dorie came over for dinner, and we hung out and relaxed on the Lanai (for people not from Florida: this is a sunporch or screened in porch)

The next day we got up and hung out, and ran up to the store to get a newspaper and for G to check her lottery ticket (spoiler: not a winner) and then went back to the house, where I taught her how to use her GPS system. Then I made lunch, which was pasta salad with tuna, dill, mayo, celery, and kidney beans. That salad reminds me of summer dinners, and was good because it is a million degrees in Florida (also, it is MAY, and almost 90 degrees. WHAT IS THAT MESS)

Lynn and Aunt Dorie came over a little while later, and then I began the prep for roasting a chicken. I chopped the herbs, prepped the bird, and cut up the potato and onions on the sides, and then slid that baby into the oven. We spent the rest of the afternoon visiting and smelling the chicken roasting. I steamed asparagus (over steamed, really, they were on the mushy side) and then as the piece de resistance, made hollandaise sauce for it. It was a tough sauce to make, with a lot of patience, and whisking, and a double boiler, and more whisking. But I'm proud to say that sauce was pretty darn tasty, and it didn't break, which was the most awesome part of all. (sidenote: did you know how much butter was in hollandaise sauce? HOLY CRAP)

We finished dinner with cookies- the ones I had brought, the pitzelles that G had already made, and the Reeses bars that G had made before I got there. mmmm.

We spent the rest of the evening hanging out and reading and having an excellent time.

Monday I packed to get ready to go home (packing, AWESOMELY, my own stack of pitzelles, and ball jars with handles that G was giving to me). We made a half batch of pitzelles so that I could document the process for my list and the results were delicious:

and then I made pimento grilled cheese, which was pretty freaking awesome. Potter is right, you can only get really good pimiento cheese in the south. Sigh.

All in all it was a great and low key visit, and good to spend on on one time with my G.

Ten Things that make me happy (visual)

2010-05-10T22:59:00.000-04:00

Going to Florida!

2010-05-07T10:43:00.000-04:00

So I'm going to Florida to visit my G, and while I'm there, I'm going to check off an item on my List (watching my grandma make a recipe)

And then, while I'm there I'm cooking for her all weekend. I'm so excited! So far the menu stands at:

Chicken salad in lettuce cups (lunch saturday)

Seafood risotto (dinner saturday)

Roast chicken and roasted potato salad with asparagus and hollandaise sauce (sunday dinner)

Cuban Sandwiches (sunday lunch)

Plus, I've made two kinds of compost cookies and they are packed in my suitcase (regular and white chocolate/crasin/oatmeal) and I think I'm ready to go!

I'm going to spend the weekend reading, and chrocheting, and cooking and hanging out with my G. it's going to be awesome.

TEN THINGS THAT MAKE ME HAPPY RIGHT NOW

2010-05-03T12:21:00.000-04:00

1) Awesome weekend at home

2) Seeing my Tiny Cousin - who is not so tiny anymore!

3) My new phone (I'm not going to lie. I love shiny new things. It's a Palm Pre.)

4) Dinner with Tammy tonight- Pho and Tutti Fruitti!

5) Frozen Yogurt plans wth D'Paul and Sarah

6) Compost cookie baking tomorrow

7) GLEE TUESDAYS

8) My 17 pocketed bag and how organized I feel when I have it.

9) Evernote ( downloaded it for my phone, it is amazing for my love of lists )

10) Making two versions of Compost cookies this week!

DC fun!

2010-05-02T22:50:00.000-04:00

So my friend Tammy lives in DC, and she has been telling me for a while that in the quest for the best burger in Baltimore, I was missing an out on an awesome DC burger. While I think Baltimore has more than enough contenders for the title, I wanted to go and check out if the burgers of which she spoke were as amazing as she said. So I headed down to DC, which is entirely too close for me to not go down to all the time (seriously! the history! the awesomeness!)

And that is how I found myself at the Good Stuff Eatery

We both got the Toasted Marshmallow shake:

This was amaaaaaaaaaaaazing. Those are actual, toasted marshmallows on top. The shake was vanilla, and sweet, with a smoky flavor. I love smoky things (like the tea at Cafe Zen) but this took the shake up a serious notch or two. It also made me think that maybe I should be adding liquid smoke to my S'Mores treats that I make. Anyway, back to the food:

This is Tammy's basket, helpfully food styled (my pictures did not look nearly as awesome). Ok, the bad first: the fries were... not great (that's as nice as I can be about them) mushy, and tiny pieces, I got the village fries, that had herbs on them, and the herbs were just in a clump in the center. The next time I go, I'll just stick with the burger and shake. The dipping sauces for the fries were AWESOME though, which made me sad that the fries were so bad. They had Old Bay mayo, and Chipolte Mayo, and a couple other varietes. So Good.

Because DC isn't Baltimore, I wasn't following the rules, so I got the President Obama burger, which had blue cheese, onion marmalade, and was epically delicious. Sweet, and savory, and the onion marmalade just kicked it out of the park. Tammy had the regular cheeseburger, which also looked good.

So to walk off the eight million calories we had just ingested, we took a walk, then decided to head over to see the monuments at night:

I never get tired of the monuments (or humming The West Wing theme song when I walk by the White House)

It was a really great night, and I'm looking forward to seeing what other fun DC things that I can explore!

Ten things I'm looking forward to this week

2010-04-26T10:27:00.000-04:00

(Not doing a ten things that are making me happy right now, because there are not ten things that I could put on this list. It is Monday. It is raining. Ugh)

1) GLEE Tuesdays
Is an awesome tradition that is beginning to make dinner and hang out with my friends Paul and Julie. We make good food, drink some wine, and watch Glee. What could be better?

2) Getting burgers with Tammy at Good Stuff Eatery in DC on Wednesday!
We've been trying to get together to do this for months! I'm so excited to go down and try the awesome burgers. and toasted marshmallow milkshake. And hanging out with Tammy!

3) Seeing the family this weekend!
My cousin Kelly and her insanely cute kid are going to be visiting from Rhode Island, and it's been forever since I've seen them. Plus, I haven't been home in a while, and it'll be good to relax.

4) Going to Live Art for the first time!
My cousin Billy does this thing called Live Art at a bar, where he creates art, and people buy it. ( I don't think I'm explaining this very well...) but it's been going on for a few years, and I've never been in town when one was happening, and I'm really excited to go.

5) Menu Planning for when I go down to visit my grandma.
She's goingt to teach me how to make pitzelles, and I'm going to do some awesome cooking for her- Risotto with seafood, roast chicken, cookies, roasted beet salad, curry chicken salad... the possibilites are endless!

6) Wedensday Day off!
I worked Saturday, so my comp day is Wednesday. I am going to spend the day sleeping in, doing laundry, and going down to DC to get burgers with Tammy. Woo, day off!

7) Getting some time to work on crocheting.
Sidenote: if anyone has any ideas for crocheted food items, please let me know! I am always looking for new things to figure out how to do.

8) Working on my Rub recipe for Chincoteague this year.
Things, they are a-changin' ! I will not be defeated again. Victory will be mine. sweet, porky victory will be mine. and it begins, as all good things begin, with homemade barbecue sauce. oh yes.

9) Writing a blog post about the sweet things I've made lately
Including Smitten Kitchen's brown butter salted rice crispie treats, Espresso cake with espresso frosting. and the ten million variations on the Compost cookie. (p.s. I love to make compost cookies)

10) Reasearching some play ideas for Iron Crow's upcoming season.
We had a company meeting last night that was really awesome! I'm so excited about the upcoming shows and awesomeness. (especially the staged reading of And Tango Makes Three that Sarah is doing)