morellobello

Snowmen!!

2011-12-16T09:43:00.000-08:00

Ok, so I will admit just right off the bat : these Christmas cookies are a little (a lot) SandraLeeSemiHomemade-ish. But they are incredibly adorable, and as obviously a once-a-year highly processed indulgence, I think they are a-ok.

Easy as pie, they are all fun and festive and zero mess or hassle. They're totally awesome! You really don't need a recipe, all you do it melt some white chocolate and dip nutter butters in it. Decorate. Repeat. Heck, I don't even recommend that you eat them!

See, I even committed the cardinal sin of chocolate - I put them in the fridge! Then again, white chocolate is considered by many to be the cardinal sin of chocolate, so maybe it's a wash.

All I know is they're adorable and bursting with Christmas Cheer. Maybe you might eat one, it'd taste pretty good with some whiskey-d up egg nog....

Lately

2011-12-14T08:36:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving, last minute, with friends. Macy's parade, coffee, turkey prep (David's handiwork), long walk...

Excellent wine (thanks Morgan!)

Low key, tasty, fun.

gingerbread cookies with Jessica + boatloads of Christmas music, after a bloody mary & a trip to the Lower East Side's infamous jungle of sugar, Economy Candy...

CANDY destined to become little gingerbread men buttons and cookie tree lights.

We had a christmas party! It was very necessary to have a party this year of all years. A bad year calls for a really good party, so I decorated my heart out, as best I could.

Made plenty of food, with reckless disregard for health or moderation.

Those cookies again! They were gleefully devoured, much to my - and I'd venture the cookies as well - great delight.

I would have taken a picture of the vat of velveeta dip on the stove but it was sort of hard to get a good picture with all the people constantly crowding around it/ having velveeta dip fights...David and Stephen I am looking at you.

But all was quickly forgiven. After all, there was plenty velveeta to go around, as is always the case with cheese products at Miranda&David hosted events.

OH! And I made Mai Tais, from SCRATCH! Which means I spent a large portion of the afternoon juicing limes! I'd complain, but this is what underemployment means - and I accept that. Plus they smelled really really good.

I encouraged people to take drink umbrellas. I believe that drink umbrellas are a really essential element of a Good Party. They're so cheap they're almost free, and they are absolutely no work at all to put out. They're INSTANTLY festive and make people happy. They are a must, in my opinion. Lots of partybang for your buck. Umbrellas!

Final Product!

Yummmmmmm

So I messed around a bit with a few different recipes and ended up with these proportions :

Miranda's Mele Kalikimaka Mai Tai!

2 parts Rum
1 part Lime Juice
1/2 part almond syrup (I just put a little bit of almond extract in simple syrup)
1/2 part cointreau
1/4 + part Orange Juice (to taste)

i don't need to tell you that this is a strong drink, as are all properly made tiki drinks, so FILL those cups with lots of crushed up ice. Enjoy!

Fool me once....

2011-10-11T13:11:00.000-07:00

Shame. On. You.

Fool me twice, shame on me. And indeed, I am ashamed, embarrassed, and yesterday when I accidentally purchased this abomination, I was So Hungry.

This deceptively un-friendly product tastes like chunky, sneakily funky, highly processed vanilla pudding in the best of circumstances. The Best of Circumstances Being when you Know and Expect that there is pineapple in it. In the worst of circumstances, you grab this at Duane Reade when you're short on time and you're starving and you run down to grab a healthy bite. You want something quick, desk-edible, cheese-ish, but healthy. "Oh goody goody I'm back at my desk and I'm going to dig in!" you think, returning to the office, spoon procured, seated and ready to eat! "Yum yum big spoonful!" and then it hits....

What are those weird globby yellowish chunks? It doesn't taste right, it's vaguely sweet, not really salty at all, but it wouldn't really hit a sweet tooth. You search for an expiration date, assuming it's a year old or some such.

Then you see it. The miniscule 'with pineapple' scribbled at the bottom of the label taunts you with its tropical smugness, and it's there-ness. I'm pineapple, and I'm here to RUIN YOUR LUNCH. Hahahahahahahahahaahhaha.

As one of many victims of these malicious and frankly sick tubs of dairy product, I move that we pull these from the shelves IMMEDIATELY! WHO IS WITH ME!?

In other news, this pops up when you do a google image search for "Cottage Cheese with Pineapple, Friendship" . So that's pretty funny, and sort of a palate cleanser for you. God knows you need one after pineappled cottage cheese.

The Hurricane Report

2011-08-28T13:49:00.001-07:00

Preparation, Bunkering Down, Aftermath. A Photo Essay.

Friday, 3pm. Raiding the wine room, Morgan trollies through the office, aiding fellow Food & Wine worker bees in their last minute preparations and saving them a trip to the liquor store.

A last minute Saturday morning jaunt/supply run around the East Village leaves us well stocked and prepared to bunker down.

A long night. Many movies. Too many potato chips. Far more Anderson Cooper than is healthy - which is to say any at all. NY1 and the soothing sounds of crazy New Yorkers calling in to complain. Sleep comes around 3am.

9am - Bloomburg has tweeted "The eye of the storm is upon us. The worst of the storm is here. Do not go outside." or some such nonsense. It appears to be simply drizzling. I go back to sleep.

A 12pm walkabout. People begin to trickle out of their buildings, the city awakens, and it is thirsty. Many bars kindly accommodate.

We survived Hurricane Irene (such as it was)! Lucien is open and brunch is on the way! A toast was certainly in order!

Trying to Think of a New Way To Say it

2011-08-12T12:27:00.000-07:00

Summer in the City. What else is there to say?

Great walks. Long meandering, frozen yogurt fueled days.
Plain with rainbow. No compromises or substitutions.

Coffee from Ninth Street keeps one going as well.

If you're hanging out on the Highline,

Chelsea Market, and all the delights therein,

are awfully convenient.

Champagne with friends is another good fueling option.

If you have a rooftop, enjoy the bubbly there. It is so choice, if you have the means, I highly recommend it.

New York City offers a myriad of rewards for the curious wanderer. I have been taking this moment of freedom in my life to walk and absorb the city and I've been rewarded a million times over. These pictures capture a fragment of the fullness of my days lately.

Embrace the underemployment. Such is MirandasMantraàlaMoment. Take a walk.

Eat a Wasabi Pickle on a Stick.

Go to Central Park.

go to Tiffany's...

and let that bright summer sky just blind you.

Why Yelp Is Awesome

2011-08-08T08:13:00.000-07:00

Sure, it's tempting to say that Yelp sucks because in so many ways it does! Dubious business practices, shady synergistic relationships with the 'unbaisedly' reviewed restaurants and bars on their site, generally creating buzz often about formerly awesome places that because of yelp become overcrowded and stupidly busy/impossible to enjoy. It's a morally ambiguous site that ruins once-awesome hangouts. Yes, ok, granted.

HOWEVER, the witticisms, the gems, the WORDS people. Unpublishables have a home at yelp, where aspiring gourmands can anonymously and lightheartedly pontificate about their favorite gustatory joys and gleefully BASH any establishment that dared to give them less-than-stellar service. I've started a little collection of some of my favorite phrases and opinions, and I'd like to share them with you - a little piece of Monday morning candy to take the edge off. I find that these particular starlight mints are best enjoyed out of context, but if you just HAVE to know more about the person/place, let me know and I'll fill you in.

In the meantime, unwrap and enjoy!

Droplets Of Wisdom from Yelp.com

"Let me just first say that I love rum...I'm basically a rum connoisseur."

"Will I be back? Yeah, probably, if you want to hear some good music while creepily grinding up against random girls, there are worse places to do it."

"this place is a toilet."

"As far as cocktails themselves, both were finely made, leaving very sophisticated after taste. This is probably where I see they use most ingredients to create cocktails."

"The best way to have a very New York experience is to live in the city and discover secret places"

Great stuff, huh?

And here you go, a refreshing palate cleanser as seen on my morning stroll this morning. He doesn't need to yelp, he just speaks his mind by wearing a sign on his head ;

Perks Chapter 2!

2011-08-05T18:22:00.000-07:00

This week's score : Taken Cabernet Sauvignon, 2008, Napa Valley
(already opened so we just had to drink it right away tonight)

First impressions? Deep deep bloody purple, it even looks heavy.

Smells awesome - perfume-y, woody, rich. herbal even? Stewed prunes and pine and simmering bing cherries.

Drinking it (immediately and asap) its texture is the most striking thing. Oily, almost chewy and very pleasantly tannic. Spicy finish, it's really winter-y but I'm very into it on this cool-for-New-York-in-August day.

Verdict : YUM!

And now we google it to see if I'd buy it ....

oooo ! It's a $30 bottle. Well yes, I'd buy it. Actually that sounds like a really fair price, it's a delicious, full wine, and very true to the varietal. Ok I'm sounding snobby and gross now so just I guess if you have $30 to spend on a bottle, this is not a bad way to spend it!

In other news, scenes from work!

The beer cart, coming around to 'get rid of all the beer because we have too much' in the booze room. Yes a beer placed on your desk at 5pm is just another perk. I'll take it!

And the way that our mail room looks at 6pm on a Friday night - it becomes a help-yourself prosecco tasting station. Not so pretty but a GREAT idea, no?

and a pretty scene from the walk home! spontaneous sand art in Washington Square Park! Excellent weekend treat.

Freebies. Chapter 1

2011-07-25T16:17:00.000-07:00

Hello friends and loyal readership,

As some of you know I am currently working at a place where the pay is low but there are often decent freebies in the form of food (good) and bottles of wine (better) or even sometimes gin(best).

I am embracing the opportunity to taste lots of crazy and different wines and spirits for free by attempting to take as much of said wine/booze/beer/name-your-freebie as is socially acceptable (still figuring this out, still walking a bit of a line).

So! Today I begin with a bottle of Sawtooth Chardonnay from Idaho! See map below :

I think that what they're going for here is a "this wine must be good because I see Walla Walla and Willamette Valley here on the back" sort of trick. Trying to pull something over on East Coasters/ Midwesterners less familiar with the climate variations out West? Or maybe this little Idaho valley is in fact similar to Walla Walla or Willamette Valley. I don't actually know, the point I am making is that this map sketched me out and made me expect kind of a crappy wine. Also the fact that it sat on the freebie shelf for quite a while and I assume usually that the good stuff disappears fast. (I'm finding that is not really the case though as time goes by - its that social acceptability thing that stops people I think. I'm not letting it stop me!)

ANYWAY, I was pleasantly surprised to find that I actually quite enjoyed this wine! Now call me a child of the 80's but I like rich and creamy Chardonnays, and that's precisely what this was. Deep yellow in color, it even smells rich. That said, there is some lightness in the actual drinking, maybe something a little bit lime zesty? Regardless, there was enough of that zesty tang to make for some perfectly enjoyable sippage on this past Thursday, aka the HOTTEST DAY ON PLANET EARTH.

So for $10, I'd say this is not a bad buy if you happen to be in the mood for a rich and luscious cheapish white! But that's of course just my tongue's opinion so you could hate it. Can't possibly say.

Sad. Captivating. Kind of Beautiful.

2011-07-25T16:03:00.000-07:00

http://www.lastdaysofgourmet.com/

yes I'm still sad about it.

Two Weeks Ago Today...

2011-07-11T12:52:00.000-07:00

...We Moved!! To a de-luxe apartment on the Lower East Side!

By night; cozy and stuff :

With a little morning light!

my "closet", avec Buttercup :

Well, ok so it's a 350 square foot studio with a loft for the bed that doesn't fit and sort of sucky light. But it's on Clinton st, and its cozy and cute with lots of exposed brick, and it's ours ours ours ours ours! Our cats live here, and so do our books and it's home.

I've been exploring the neighborhood a lot, what with being half-employed and all. When I was working, I was walking to work, testing out the nicest routes. I found some decent ones, as you can see. New York might be the prettiest in the morning, with a surprising amount of perfection to be found, if you happen to be looking.

I don't mind the 'graffiti' in our new hood. This Royal Wedding-inspired specimen greets me as I turn off Clinton onto Houston. I believe it to be an unofficial work, but I am speculating here.

Washington Square Park is one of my favorite parts of my new morning commute.

We've been soaking up all this good NYC summer fun, around the hood, and all over!

Fourth of July Fireworks over the Hudson!

Bastille day celebrations in Carroll Gardens!

Lobster Benedict at Clinton St. Baking company (less than a block away!) The 1-2 hour wait isn't so bad when you have the option of going back to bed until your table is ready.

Shake shack in the park (I finished an entire 'shroom Burger!)

Worth the wait :

I finally broke in our kitchen yesterday, and baked a FRESH fresh fresh sour cherry pie completely from scratch.

It was a work of sheer force of will, as our apartment is quite tiny and totally ill-equipped for cooking of any sort. I pitted a million fiesty red jewels of summer,

...and even made the crust from absolute scratch.

By the by, I did completely everything you're not supposed to do with the crust, and it turned out just fine (don't you agree!?) :

so I'm going to share my recipe with you, and it is as follows.

SuperSummerSour Cherry Pie!

3 cups flour
16 oz cream cheese
2 sticks of butter (softened)

Pulverize the cheese and butter in a food processor. Enjoy how pasty and psychedelic it looks.

Slowly add the flour, pulsing between additions. I didn't end up using it all, but just watch for a work-able consistency. Divide into two balls and refrigerate while you make the cherry filling.

1 big thing of sour cherries ( 3-4 pints worth)
2/3 cup sugar
1-2 tblspoons cornstartch
1 lemon (the juice of it, you could throw in the zest too)

Pit the cherries

Pat yourself on the back and take a moment to enjoy their glistening luster! That was a lot of work! Now, put them in a pot with everything else. Gently bring to a boil and immediately turn down to a simmer. Cook until it reduces a little and looks like it will set to your liking when baked. Remove from heat.

Roll out the chilled dough and line a pie pan. Fill the pan with the cherry mixture and top with another rolled out round of dough! Snack on the extras. Save the rest (I had quite a bit left over). Bake at 350 for 45 minutes to an hour. Let it cool for a good hour before serving.

Enjoy yourself a slice of summers' finest! You've earned it - I certainly did!

anniversary

2011-06-15T21:13:00.000-07:00

(us. a fab drawing by moi)

Anniversary Dinner on the Cheap - mussel bisque and stilton walnut crackers courtesy of Ina Garten, Clicquot and red red roses courtesy of one David Kluvers, a lovely salad to round it all out, and a playlist heavy on the cheesy love songs.

making a leisurely shopping list, never a bad way to start a day.

Asparagus, soon to be broiled and proscuitto-hugged.

Stilton and walnuts

On the way to cracker - dom

Whizzed-up stilton, softened with butter, sharpened with pepper.

flour + fat = Dough.

Dough is chilled. sliced, baked.

Luxurious salad of hearts of palm and avocado - more than you could ever eat.

Mussels, tomatoes, white wine, onions, carrots, leeks, heavy cream, half & half. + simmer...

Served!

After 6 years, he knows the true path to my heart - BUBBLES!

There are those who call me....

2011-05-17T20:12:00.000-07:00

....Master...

Because I done GRADUATED to day!

I celebrated with a couple Levain Bakery Cookies IMMEDIATELY following the fab ceremony at the Beacon Theater. YUM YUM

Said cookies - said gooey and gigantic cookies - were quite quickly chased (as quickly as the C train ever is) by a glass of Billecart- Salmon 2000 at the Bubble Lounge. Don't mind if I do!

Cheers!

You can call me Miranda Rake, Food Studies MA.

OR as David and I decided upon over our SCRUMPTIOUS celebration dinner < PAUSE FOR PICTURES >

drool

drool

drool

drool

drool

at Locanda Verde I will also accept the following :

Miranda Rake, NFSPH* MA, NYU, NYC, U.S.A, P.E.**, SSMW***, U.****

Basically I'm the coolest ever and I am a lot like what you might think of as a Princess of the world now so that's neat and you should definitely think of me that way.

* NFSPH : Nutrition, Food Studies, Public Health
** PE : Planet Earth
***SSMW : solar system milky way
**** U : Universe

Final Finals

2011-05-09T10:29:00.000-07:00

I should be writing my final finals - specifically an 8-pager that is due in less than 24 hours. However, if I can't crank out a meesley 8-pager in under 2 hours at this point, what on earth have I gotten out of graduate school really?

Which brings me here, to a rather philosophical place at the end of my time in school - possibly for ever and certainly for the foreseeable time being. Over these past few months I have found myself questioning (especially in the wee small hours) if Food Studies was my proper path, stretching to remember what brought me here in the first place, scrambling for a reassuring remembrance of my love of food. That one elusive thought that would make the vortex of debt into which I slip less like a spinning, tightening, opaquely doom-filled vortex and more like a big hammock of accomplishment, piled high with those fluffy pink clouds that Care Bears live on.

The fluffy pink pile of clouds to fall into came to me in the form of this book :

"Far Flung and Well Fed" is a collection of the food writing of the irreplaceable R.W. Apple, whose writing I found uniquely engrossing before I even realized exactly who he was. I stumbled into his work as a teenager, as a weekly browser of the New York Times Dining section. Over time, I came to know his name merely because when a piece would particularly strike me as special somehow the way that great writing does, it would invariably be his name in the byline.

I have missed the presence of his writing more than I realized. When I happened into this book on Amazon at the beginning of April, I ordered it on a whim - such a whim that it's arrival a week later took me by surprise. I shoved it in my purse for some rebellious non-school reading without a thought and went on my merry way. Later that day as I rode home in the dreary sleepiness of a 6pm subway car, I stood reading the introduction - R.W. Apple's reflections on a life of good food and great times - and my eyes welled up. Whatever assurance I was seeking I somehow found in the beauty of his words, a beauty that I can't bring myself to describe here because I could never do him justice. Buy the book, steal it, check it out, borrow it from me but GIVE IT BACK - do what you have to do, just read it. Your vortex will thank you.

Happy Easter!

2011-04-23T15:37:00.000-07:00

Coffee, pink bubbly, Herbie Nichols pandora, and friends to dye eggs with! Is there a nicer way to spend a drizzly Saturday?

Happy Happy Easter!

life of late

2011-04-14T17:40:00.000-07:00

I turned in the first draft of what essentially is my Masters Thesis last Wednesday, so Thursday the 7th I took myself to Soho to shop and play! It was a lovely mellow day, and the shopping was successful - so many flowery dresses! Peckish, around 4, I decided to stop by Dean & Deluca and pretend I was really really rich and actually buy something there. My wee feast could not have been more dreamy.

Nor could the view. I just stood and snacked and soaked it all in.

We were supposed to go to "Catch Me if you Can" on Broadway that night - I had gotten cheapo tickets through NYU and we were going to have a night on the town together. I just basked in my lovely view and dreamt about where the night would take us.

And then everything changed. From dreamy dreamerific...

To this. A 4:30 am snack eaten after being kicked out of the rehabilitation floor where David and his appendix waited for surgery. Visiting Hours!?!?!?!?! Is this not 2011?? We had been at the ER since 5:30 pm, and he finally got a room at 3:30am. David wouldn't be having surgery until 4pm the next day (ack! can you believe that??) and wouldn't be coming home until Monday night, the 11th. OOF. It was awful, more so for David of course, but it took a toll on us both. Every night at 9pm, I was (rather forcefully and by security people) asked to leave. I (who has a bit of a problem with obeying authority figures who I don't completely love / respect) would just go wait in the lobby. The security officer down there was friendly enough, and it felt good to know that I was just an elevator ride away from the David. I ate from vending machines, guided by excellent advice from a friend to pay absolutely no attention to healthfulness. I ate a bag of Ruffles too (45 cents! apparently and not surprisingly their vending machines are from 1964) but it was long gone by the time I thought to take a picture.

salads from the cafeteria sustained me too, sort of. I scarfed these over the course of the days - when David napped mostly. Sad-looking though they were, he was living on orange Kozy-Shack 'jello' and chick'n broth from little packets so I didn't want to tantalize him by eating actual textured foods before his very eyes.

For day after day, this was my view as I frantically scarfed that $7 hospital salad

And now David's home, on the road to health, and even up for a little stroll around the hood. He's moving slow, but that's ok. It gave us time to notice a new little pizza spot down the street that we would have missed racing by at our usual pace. We sat down, and got a delicious, basil heaped grandma slice

to nibble on in the soft warmth of evening, watching the sun set over park slope. and life is ours again!

L.E.N.T.

2011-03-13T16:21:00.000-07:00

Ack! Just realized we're having a major food-related overhaul here at good old apartment #1D and I haven't blathered to you about it yet. No more!

Around here in kitten heaven*, aka the batcave, aka we don't actually call our apartment any of those things, we've decided to face Lent with gusto this year! We've sworn off meat AND dairy this year, and frankly I'm oddly into it. It's not only a fun and exciting challenge (Can we do it?!) I'm also ALREADY feeling healthier, and we're just 5 days in.

Yes, it's a major change. Yes, I love cheese. No, I don't miss it yet. And here's why. I filled our house (well, over the course of about 4 trips to the grocery store, which is probably the only downside so far) with all kinds of things that we CAN eat and then we go to town on delicious fare as we see fit.

Here's what our fridge is looking like these days :

Although initially I was going to stay away from them, I pretty quickly said screw it and bought some useful (and really shockingly not gross) milk/dairy alternatives, seen here :

(coconut for me, soy for the D)

Maybe the reason I'm having such fun with this is that it's forced me to mix it up, foodwise, in quite a few ways. I had to think outside our usual recipe rut, outside my usual snacking ruts and we've had to rethink where we go out for food AND what we order. It's like playing with your food - MIND playing with it! Totally fun.

I made this granola- the famous Nigella Lawson/David Lebowitz one which I'm pretty sure I told you about before :

And this vegan split pea soup - thick and really filling it totally hits the spot. I know it looks like barf, but I am including a picture anyway. I don't know why.

And - I'm really proud of this because David's bonkers for it - vegan egg salad. I just sort of made it up - a crumbled up loaf of firm tofu, a bunch of vegannaise, some tofutti sour cream and a bunch of mustard and celery. It makes a CRAZY good sandwich, and I actually think it's cheaper than regular egg salad. Uglier, too!

Otherwise, we're keeping lots of nuts and salad stuff around for quick fixes, as well as spaghetti with red sauce, and I'm pretty excited because I've got all the stuff to make THIS, hopefully some night this week. I've got a major sour tooth, so this is one of my favorite snacks, and since I'm foregoing lots of other treats, I sprung for the fancy brand :

Mmmm fermentation!

I feel like we're doing a little moral/physical/mental spring cleaning and it's pretty great. I enjoy feeling really haughty and telling the kittens that I'm not eating any of their little animal friends these days.. to which David says they don't care and would probably eat me if they thought they could get away with it and I should stop talking to our cats. He's probably on to something there, but I feel pretty great so I'm not going to dwell on it.

OH! and here's something else that eases the pain of life without cheese. I highly recommend it for Lent, or any time you choose.

*see Miranda refrain from kitten picture posting. see previous post and about a million others for heart-melting kitten shots.

How I beat the winter blues.

2011-03-04T23:42:00.000-08:00

#1 I throw parties!

Oscar night!

A delicious close up of the star of the night - cream cheese pinwheels. Mix together 2 packs of cream cheese, 1 packet of ranch powder, 2 tBlsps each jalapenos and pimentos, and a can of black olives. Spread that tasty salty, cheesy thing in tortillas. Roll. Slice. Consume.

Girls night!

We like to eat. Savvy ladies that we are, our spread includes many nods to health, like papaya, grapes, celery, carrots, homemade hummus, pickles!

We're also only human. We like our mashed up avocado/kettle chips/Lay's/baguette/lavender honey scented goat cheese (YUM) as much as the next gaggle.

#2 If all those parties don't do it, I recommend the double strength Kitten Cure! It never fails.

Oh Oregon, my Oregon

2011-02-24T15:30:00.000-08:00

Here's the thing. I will always love Oregon; vibrant green, year-round trees! The rocky blue-grey tumultuousness of my beloved coastline. Portland and all of its funky, obsessive, delicious quirks. The sweet, cozy, Shakespearian hippy-ville known as Ashland. Salem, that lovable dump.

That said, I was dealt a bit of disappointment this past weekend. Like the fancy jet-setter I'd like to be, I flew home for the weekend this past Saturday to attend a Food Justice conference being hosted at the University of Oregon of all places! Since in was a)close to home and b) something I could potentially be reimbursed for I thought I may as well attend. Mom and I decided we'd go down to Eugene together just for the night and make a little mother/daughter trip of it!

Now, my mom is terrific, as shown here :

and she and I had an absolutely fabulous little mini-break. We began, as is tradition now, with drinks at Gilt on the way home from the PDX airport. A necessary thing that must always happen immediately upon arrival or else. A Gilt Manhattan (not sure exactly what makes it Gilt-y but she was happy) for her, Bombay Dry martini for me. Up with olives and maybe some French fries wouldn't be a terrible thought either. This all means that I've arrived in Portland and re-entry can commence, that's all, the end, welcome home and thank you very much.It was a lovely start. Home by 1am to fall into bed and snuggle a bit with the kitty - all in all, I was happy to be home, as usual.

Up at the crack of 7am the next morning, with a quick stop for coffee at the Clearing Cafe for coffee and seriously the dream dreamiest scone I've EVER. TASTED. IN. MY. 26. YEARS. ON. PLANET. EARTH. Lemon currant. It was layery-flakishness, with tart little hint of lemon and the occasional subtle little currant. This scone taught me the meaning of the word tender. OOooof I give up. There are no words. You know how 99% of scones are just a disappointment, but you order them anyway because you think "maybe this one will be good" but it just never is. Well this one was better than good and it made me believe in scone-dom once again. I've asked for the recipe and if I get it, I'll pass it along I swear. Unless they say I can only have it if I keep it secret in which case you're on your own.

Moving on. I do go to school you know, I can't just sit around and blog about scones all day. Sheesh.

So Eugene. Well, the trees were blooming, which was a real treat and saving grace. See below.

The conference, quite honestly was largely a disappointment. There were many smart, accomplished, impressive people there on the panels. Unfortunately, there were also sort of vapid-seeming and air-head-ish types who were on the same panels with those smart, intelligent types. The audience was heavy with Eugene hippies and undergraduates who have recently decided it would be cool to go work on a farm and try to not use plastic for a year and think that it'd be pretty radical to drink their water out of mason jars wrapped in socks. These people also thought it would be cool to ask long-winded questions of these incredibly smart panelists and by questions I mean babble on for way too long about some silly little personal-agenda-type issue and then ask a half-assed, simple-minded question that was clearly actually an afterthought and excuse to enjoy the sound of their own voice.

Alright, tirade over. I appreciate you bearing with me. The big news is that because there were so many airheads and hippies, Darra Goldstien- founder and editor of Gastronomica, and keynote speaker at this conference - was not surrounded by people all the time because most of the people there didn't really know/care about the academic discipline of Food Studies so I was able to introduce myself and (sort of, in my dreams) make friends with her. We had a lovely conversation and somewhere 21 year old Miranda is worshiping at my feet. My interaction with this amazing, fascinating, accomplished, inspiring lady seriously made the whole trip worthwhile - if you've never picked up a copy of the journal, do it asap! The readership is actually only 35% academics, so it's really approachable. It's like a really really smart food glossy - the dear departed Gourmet on steroids.

Sunday night, mom and I enjoyed an absolutely lovely dinner at Marche - recommended to me by my friend Mike who works at Podnah's (Portland's finest dining establishment) and who did well by us! Marche was perhaps not the most cutting edge of places, but I enjoyed every last bite, and so did mom. We left full but not too full, very satisfied and happy! We ate...

Beet salad!

Tempura-fried, giantic salt cod fritters! (my second favorite of all time! second only to Toro Bravo's unbeatable mountain of fritterliciousness)

steak frites!

and 4 cheese and black truffle pizza!

Oh, and cocktails of course. Martin Miller martini for me, negroni for mom. We're classic girls, none of this prohibition revival junk for us.

Monday night, after a long day of hippy-dippy panel discussions, a lovely dinner at Dad's with Margaret (who cooked the lovely feast), Grandma Ruth, Marina and Dad of course. Spanish rice, with lobster tails!!!!!! Chorizo, chicken, squishy, clumpy savory rice, heaven.

Grandma Ruth's precious Christmas Peanut Butter Balls. These things are coveted each Christmas by all members of the Rake clan, and Grandma brought her last few to share with us for dessert. A true occasion!!

Chocolate peanut butter utopia, thank you Grandma!

Actually it was a pretty great visit, now that I think about it. The conference was just an excuse for me to go about all the real business of my life - my dear dear dear family.

In light of that, I'll leave you with the coziest feeling in the world - the view from the car as mom drives, OPB on the radio, chugging along towards home, the sun just beginning to set, a delicious dinner at Dad's awaiting me at the end of the journey.

In which I am the hot dog....

2011-02-18T15:46:00.000-08:00

and NYU is the bun, as seen here.

But we belong together!

Apparently not. I was rejected. It made me feel feelings. ick.

So I took a day off and drank an iced mocha for breakfast and felt a little better.

I don't need a PhD to be cool.

Because, in spite of it all

Best Valentine's Day EVER

2011-02-15T22:36:00.001-08:00

So much sushi from the little fish market down the block

+ 1 bottle of Pink Bubbles + 1 bag of chips per person

+ Awesome movie marathon

Going out to dinner (or of the house at all) on Valentines is for the crazies!!!

Hope you all had a dreamy day!

Snapshots of Recent Food-Related Goings On

2011-01-24T21:27:00.000-08:00

Because I start classes this week and I'm too lazy to write a real post.

We hosted a fun, but somewhat small casserole party! I made my first ever Tater Tot Casserole!

It was darn tasty, but it'll probably be my last. It's sort of as gross as it is tasty. Here's something funny about it though. On the Ore-Ida website, tater tot casserole is tagged as vegetarian - observe here. Anyone else see why this is funny? Should I write to them? Or just let it be a funny? Thoughts?

Moving on - the casseroles! It was like -2 or something, so only 6 out of 18 people showed (I'm blaming the weather, although it's also possibly I got really annoying without knowing it and all my friends don't like me.) Anyway, YUM, right?

On a plate! Caitlin made a delicious pineapple bread pudding with cheddar CHEESE on top that tasted like the 1960's. That garbonzo thing is sort of curried with all this wilted arugula and it was a saving grace on a plate loaded up with bad-for-you things.

A little close up of Alissa's lovely roasted onions, just because they're beautiful.

There should really be a picture of some wine because there was plenty of that too.

Lastly, from today, a tub of Smitten Kitchen's Oatmeal cookies that I took to our vet, One Love Animal Hospital, as a thank you. Our beloved Bill has been with them since THURSDAY (so LOOOOONG!) for surgery etc and they have been superfantasticamazingterrific. If you live in Brooklyn, take your pet there! Baking these cookies for them felt like the full realization of the true meaning of what it is to be COOKIE. A dozen little sugary, butter-licious bites of love and gratitude.

a Portland Christmas, a New York New Years

2011-01-01T22:26:00.001-08:00

Christmas consisted of all the traditional fixings and festivities! Dinner at the University club on the 23rd, cozy Christmas eve with mom spent watching Christmas in Connecticut and eating at the always classic Paley's Place. Christmas Morning at Mom's welcomed in as always with a bunch of dear friends and plenty of good food. Dinner at Dad's with the family (and a healthy dose of presents. I was mostly too busy soaking up all the Christmas cheer, so this is the only picture I really have for you of all that - you'll just have to trust me that it was a great time, and that the food was all really delicious.

Marina and I had a little lovely post-Christmas sister day. We mostly spent it eating a delicious, big, soul warming brunch at the fabulous (if a bit heavy) Tasty & Sons in Portland.

We ordered a chocolate doughnut to begin, because that's how sister days go. Dessert First please and thank you.

Here is the burger Marina ordered.

My sister is a Champ and she ate the Whole Dang blue cheese-bacon-rare burger-with Russian-Dressing Thing! Go Marina!

I had this heavy heavy heavy Boudin Blanc omelet with truffle cheeeese.

It was sort of too much, so I was glad I had this radicchio salad to help me through.

Mom and I had a really lovely last-night-in-Portland dinner on the town at Gruner, her new favorite. I have to say - and I hate to put it this way but I really mean it as a compliment - Gruner is a place that really has risen above a lot of the Portland restaurant hangups (crappy, you're-so-lucky-to-be-eating-in-this-restaurant service, etc) and is just a great great place. These were my favorite thing I've eaten in a long time - beet pickled eggs with fresh horseradish!

A cross section, because I'm an obnoxious person who takes pictures for her blog now. Enjoy my downfall in all it's fushia-hued glory.

8 lovely, family and friend-filled days were over much too quickly, but I'll be back soon enough and it was a festivefantastic Christmas.

Plus, one must be in New York for New Years, it's the center of the world after all. Here's what ours was like:

Mike came! He brought Champagne! It pleased me immensely!

He Made Cupcakes!

Mike and I made lots of food, actually.

Inspired by my recent deviled egg experience at Gruner, I made a (surprisingly!) great Emeril Lagasse recipe!

We wore our Party Hats (courtesy of Angie).

We took Prom pictures and Danced!

New Year! A time for reflection, clearly. Pondering our resolutions.

Sometimes, of course, it's good to stop reflecting and just party it up.

Happy New Year! May 2011 bring boatloads of lovely happy times!

Impress Yourself.

2010-12-07T22:35:00.000-08:00

Cheers!

I was supposed to have spent this evening drinking copious amounts of Champagne and prosecco in celebration of the fact that I have finally turned in my application to the Food Studies Doctoral Program! But sadly, winter is here and therefore I have a cold and the only liquids I'm ingesting right now are emergen-c and TheraFlu. Mmmmmmmm.

I have, however, found a way to enjoy these longed for beverages vicariously, thanks to the wonders of YouTube!

This first gem came into my life courtesy of the Star Wars Christmas Special, which David subjected me to last night. STAY AWAY FROM IT - IT IS HORRIBLE AND IT IS TWO HOURS LONG. But this ad is quite worthwhile. In the 1970's, it seems, they really
knew how to sell wine.

I'm pretty sure there's a dissertation here...

And here's one for bubbly, featuring none other than Orson Welles!

And here's a treat from Gallo's early days... (a ring-a-ding-ding)

(p.s. the "here"s in the above three sentences are links to three superduper wine commercials - I don't think you're dumb, I just thought I would clarify as David claimed that it was unclear.)

(pardon my language, as most of you know, I would never say this. However it's sort of funny and quite topical so I just couldn't resist.)

Another festive cocktail!

2010-12-03T17:58:00.000-08:00

I can't get enough of Christmas this year! I mean, I love Christmas, but for some reason this year I feel like Mrs. Claus! I have been playing Christmas music almost non-stop and I have been eating candy canes like they will never come into my life ever again. Tonight, after a long day filled with Dolly Parton's Christmas Album, Emmylou Harris' Christmas Album, "These are the Special Times" with Celine Dion, and of course Elvis, Johnny Mathis, Ella Fitzgerald and plenty of Bing I was really in the mood to hit up a Christmas cocktail party or two. Sadly, David is sick and no one is having one tonight anyway so I had to make my own! That's what Bing would do, or Elvis, or Dolly!

I heated up the old curling iron and gave my new do (short! crazy!) a little ringlet-a-ding-ding and mixed myself my first ever Vodka Stinger!

Oh, a word of warning - don't go google image-searching 'vodka stinger' because here's a taste of what you'll get :

Apparently his/her name is Vodka Stinger. I sort of love it. Anyway, I digress. Inspired by my love of the fabulous Candy Cane Cocktail that I shared with you a few days ago, I started looking around for other things to do with this Creme de Menthe stuff that I now have lying around and lo and behold I bump into the Vodka Stinger.

I first became aquainted with the Stinger family of cocktails about two years ago when David and I made the mistake of watching a Cary Grant movie called "Kiss Them For Me". I love Cary Grant, but this movie really stinks. Its one redeeming quality is that it makes the viewer really want to go out and have a drink - namely a Stinger! All throughout the film, Grant orders Stingers. First he's just ordering them for himself, and by the end he's ordering them by the pitcher, and saying things like "Stingers for everyone!" although, because he's Cary Grant and he's wonderful, it sounds more like "Stingaahhs for everyone!" Turns out, a Stinger is usually made with Brandy and Creme de Menthe (the green kind) and in spite of the fact that David and I spent a wonderfully fun and green-lipped evening sipping Stingers late into the night, it's honestly not a cocktail I would recommend. However, this recent discovery of the Vodka Stinger (and thus rediscovery of Stingers in general) is something worth sharing.

So here's the disclaimer - THIS. DRINK. IS. ULTRA. PEPPERMINTYLICIOUS. You must like peppermint A LOT to like this bevvy. I do, so I love this drink. It's a breeze to make! Just vodka and Creme de Menthe, like so.

I used the white kind because it's what I had around and because it looks way prettier.

Candy Cane rim doesn't hurt.

Equal parts of each! Shake it up!

It sort of tastes like being Mrs. Claus on a ski holiday in the Swiss Alps, if you see what I mean. I highly recommend it. Happy Festive Cocktailing!

Liquid Candy Cane

2010-11-29T23:01:00.001-08:00

and Boozy to Boot!

I found the recipe on Martha Stewart.com - a great place to find cocktail recipes, by the by - and made one last year. Why didn't I make more? I haven't a clue. The Candy Cane is a simple simple simple drink that tastes like this :

And turns out like this - all dressed up for a Christmas music filled, tinsel-y, pine scented cocktail party!

(photo courtesy of MarthaStewart.com but mine looked like that too! until I drank it up of course...)

Her recipe calls for store bought Strawberry Vodka which I find to be frankly shocking. I just infused some vodka that we had in our freezer (cheap cheap cheap bottom shelf stuff left over from a party) and let it sit with some sliced up strawberries for a couple of days. Much more cost-effective, and probably tastier, too. I also didn't have cranberry juice lying around so I just thinned some ginger-orange cranberry sauce left over from Thanksgiving! Yum. You could just use cranberry juice, though, I'm sure it'd still be super delish!

1 shot strawberry vodka
1/2 shot white creme de menthe (or peppermint schnapps)
1 tsp ish cranberry sauce thinned with just a tinge of water

Give it a good shake with lots of ice (I let mine sit with the ice a bit to get a little watered down and nice and icy). Pour into a cocktail glass, ideally with a candy cane-ed rim. Best enjoyed at a fancy Christmas party, or watching a super duper Christmas-y movie like my personal faves "Elf" and "White Christmas".

Counter Culture: Design and the Modern Kitchen at MoMA

2010-11-14T15:28:00.000-08:00

A super cool, inspiring exhibit. Mom was in town, and we spent a good amount of her last day in New York soaking this stuff up. Built around a newly acquired "Frankfurt Kitchen", MoMA ran wild with the general concept of kitchen design in the 20th century and the result is a fun, funny, poignant and whimsical. The kitchen evokes thoughts of home, of holidays, cooking, heat, isolation, all the ups and downs of domesticity, and sensual pleasures of all sorts. The images and design pieces in the show does a lovely job capturing all of these things.
Here are a few of our favorites!

World War II era food posters encourage rationing and gardening. Other neato ones featured rabbits as the perfect war-time meat! Mom really loved the goat/sheep one made out of vegetables - "vegetabull".

.

A captivating photograph by Cindy Sherman. I couldn't take my eyes off it, but I'm not sure why.

Dramatic and somehow so relatable. It looks like a stressful moment, but she's still so glamorous.

For a total contrast, this next one is super sweet and domestic. At one point or another, we all are/have been/will be one or both of the people in this picture.

Crazy cool 3D "Still Life #30" by Tom Wesselmann.

The spread close-up. Mom said she used to eat 'Lite Diet' bread.

The show was educational too. For example, I learned that a toaster can be one sexy appliance.

Ex. A

Ex. B

Note the progression of the toast from ex. a to ex. b. Hot, literally.

Too totally awesome. Have I mentioned I love New York City?

DC!

2010-11-10T20:39:00.000-08:00

This past weekend, David and I got out of town! Already we're off to a good start. DC isn't my favorite place, I'll be honest, it's a little small-feeling for my taste. That said, it has a certain classic elegance that I can appreciate. We were drawn there by a couple of varying forces. Firstly, my dearest dear friends from forever, Cali and Mike, both live in/around DC and I have been meaning to visit them both for a while now. Secondly, there was a very cool sounding conference at the National Museum of American History called "Food for Tomorrow" that I wanted to go to. Finally, there was an Arcimboldo exhibit at the National Gallery and because I'm taking a class on Food in Fine Art right now, I actually know who he is and was pretty excited to see his work.

I arrived in DC Friday night and jumped right into the conference with a very cool kick-off event featuring a sneak peek at the new movie from the boys who made King Corn called Truck Farm. They only showed 45 minutes of it because that's all that is done so far, but it is completely inspiring and whimsical and wonderful.

Cali and her lovely manfriend Dan joined me for both the preview and the tasty tasty cocktails and snacks following. It was just looovely! Then over to Mike's place, where we watched Rocky Horror and stayed up until 6 am talking which sounds like a successful sleepover to me. Brunch the next day, and David's arrival (yay!) and then...

Future of Food Panel!

I took a picture to prove that I really did do serious stuff like listen intently at panels. This panel featured three very different experts ; Amy Bentley, a Professor in my dept at NYU and who spoke about the meaning of meals, Janet Poppendieck who is a Professor of Sociology and has written a book about food in schools, and finally Vickie Kloeris who is the subsystem manager for the International Space Station and Shuttle Food Systems for NASA. Ms. Kloeris' discussion was perhaps the most fascinating to me, because I really know nothing about space food and because space food is AWESOME. A little scary - the current big NASA food project involves figuring out to make a variety of foods that can last 5+ years for the mission to Mars - but really fascinating. In Food Studies, we shun all things processed, freeze dried, vacuum sealed, and certainly irradiated. Space Food, on the other hand, depends on all of these things. Curious? Here's some more about Astronaut Vittles here!

Next! East Coast winemakers tasting with David! Apparently New York follows only California, Oregon and Washington in terms of winemaking, so I've been curious to try some of these local wines. Most everything we tasted was delicious; wines from Boxwood Winery in Virginia, and Sugarloaf Mountain in Maryland most especially, sadly no particular stand outs from New York.

David hadn't eaten all day, so he was quick to find the circulating snackies. Tuna tartare in a cone thing! Yum.

And the best thing at the end of a long day, dinner with friends!

Calzone for David...

Kabocha Gnocchi with gorgonzola cream sauce pour moi! Mmmmmm... so simple and so belly warming.

A full, happy crowd!

The next day, David and I were greeted by a crystal clear sky and blazing fall sunshine. It said "go to Dupont Circle, sit outside, eat brunch, be happy, drink Bloody Marys, linger", so we did just that. A Benedict and a few Bloody Marys later, we made out way to the National Gallery.

We're greeted by a HUGE arcimboldo-inspired sculpture! It was captivating and surprisingly thrilling. I couldn't stop taking pictures of it, and I loved watching everyone stop and stare as they wandered between exhibits. Very cool. Especially after a couple bfast bevvies.

My favorite painting of the show! Four Seasons in One Head - apparently a new acquisition!

And on that cultured and inspiring note, we bid adieu to our Nations' Capital. Ta ta DC, until next time!

David Made Lasagna

2010-10-29T20:09:00.000-07:00

Sure, he's cute. We all know that. But HOLY GUACAMOLE CAN THE BOY COOK!

Behold the Lasagna.

The beast in all its fresh-out-of-the-oven soon-to-be-devastated glory.

And I ate.
And ate.
And drank wine.
And ate some more.

And in a few hours, I will probably have to have a little bit more. I have been out-cooked, and I don't care one bit. I'd happily give away the recipe, but I don't have it. All I've got is the lovely lovely man who cooked this for me and I won't be letting him go anytime soon.

Indian Food. Attempt #2

2010-10-19T16:44:00.000-07:00

Lemon Rice! Cook some rice. Then warm up some butter (mmmm butter!). Add some mustard seeds, turmeric, chile flakes.

Toss with the hot rice.

Finish it with a healthy dose of lemon juice - freshly squeezed of course. There you have it! Lemon Rice! Something I will actually probably make a lot.... it was super duper tasty, and also really really easy. Oh, and super pretty too.

Steaming hot, just-boiled potatoes, radishes, plantains, carrots. Yes, boiled radishes are a thing. They actually taste kind of good...

Hot butter, with some big chunks of garlic, perfuming it. Ready and hot, about to be poured all over those nice hot steamy boiled vegetables!

Swordfish! Turmeric, salt. Waiting for a hot pan...

Final Product!

Indian food. An excursion. An open door. Not my forte. Not a complete failure. Hmmmmmmmmm....

Indian Cuisine. Attempt #1

2010-10-14T21:41:00.000-07:00

My favorite class this semester is easily my Wednesday evening class. It is the class with a million names: Comparative Cuisines, International Cuisine, Indian Cuisine. It is sort of a catch-all name, the idea being that Professors teach their specialty, and we zero in on a culture and cuisine. The 'comparative' part comes from us - our interpretation of the cuisine is inherently a comparative experience because that is of course a way of understanding and a natural instinct. We draw lines of connection and disconnection and thus we see.

My favorite Professor is teaching this favorite class, and he is originally from India so we are diving into the vast and multi-faceted world of Indian cuisine. And of course, because it's grad school, we are also wrestling with the concept of national cuisine and its overall validity/applicability. I love all that crazy theory stuff, where you get to talk in circles and say stuff like 'the thingness of stuff' and nobody laughs (too hard), but sometimes you really just need to remember that you're in food studies and maybe the best way to puzzle this out is to just cook.

Many of the books we've read so far- the memoirs and cookbooks alike - have featured recipes quite prominently although it doesn't always seem that the authors actually intend for the reader to cook them. For example, in Chitrita Banerji's delicate and beautifully warm "Feeding the Gods: Memories of Food and Culture in Bengal" her recipes are a bit cryptic - many of the ingredients are not in English (though the book is clearly written for an American audience) and it can be frustrating.

Because of this, I began my Indian cooking adventure with one of the actual cookbooks, "The Calcutta Kitchen". It is glossy and wordy and very Western-feeling, so I assumed it would be a good starting place. It is difficult to say if I was right or not, as I haven't cooked out of the others yet (that's what I'll be doing all weekend), but I can say that it was a LOT of work! SO. MUCH. CHOPPING. So many vegetables!

Wow. I just kept thinking of older Indian women who spend their days cooking for their families, for their husbands and sons, and how patient they would have to be. The flip side of this is the abundant use of vegetables, which I really liked about all the food I've made so far. Between all of the onions, potatoes, eggplant, sweet potatoes, squash, onion, garlic, spinach and all of the wonderful spices, the food is an absolute multi-vitamin!

This is cauliflower, eggplant, green chiles, and potato that is cooking in a simple sauce of 2 whole onions that have been pureed with mustard seed and cumin.

After this initial stage, you add a ton of tumeric and coriander and end up with a super spicy, giant pot of warm yellow goodness.

Below you see dish #2 - sweet potatoes, squash, eggplant and spinach cooked down with water, fresh ginger, mustard seeds and cumin to create a thick, savory sort of sauce. It was really clean tasting and simple, but in the interest of honesty I wasn't so excited about eating the leftovers (and we had a LOT of those) until I drowned them in Tabasco. Talk about cross-cultural understanding....oops.

This last thing I made was the biggest hit with David and I. It's really simple and so addictive. It's origins lie with the Jewish population in Calcutta (which I didn't even know existed) and it is essentially just good old fried potatoes. First, you boil the little beauties in water spiked with a healthy dose of tumeric and salt. They come out of the water with the prettiest yellow hue, like this;

Then you simmer them in oil for 20 minutes, cranking up the heat at the end to give it a crispy skin that snaps when you bite it. Who doesn't love that? Mmmmmmmmmmm....

We ate all of this yummy experimental goodness on a big pile of brown rice. It was really a good meal for a cool fall night.

Also, I must give a little props to David, for being such a willing test kitchen eater and for being so open to digging into whatever I ended up cooking. Food is a pretty personal thing, and it is a rare person willing to make a total leap of faith about what's for dinner.

To be continued....

For Chelsea

2010-10-08T23:15:00.001-07:00

Bill & Buttercup: A tribute.

Bill & Buttercup bonanza!!!

Because this is what you get when you ask to see pictures of my cats.

Home Food.

2010-09-22T22:20:00.000-07:00

10 days in Portland. This is the story of What I Ate.

Breakfast at Podnah's Pit BBQ. The Best in the Whole Wide World. Seriously. This unassuming plate of buiscuts and sausage gravy is the ONE AND ONLY food that David and I drool over, dream of, long for, would cut off our pinky fingers to get it shipped to us out here in New York. It was the ONE AND ONLY meal out that I just had to have. It was perfection as always.

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Oooooooohhhhhhhh good gracious graaaaaaaaaaavvy!

Mom and I cooked a lot together while I was home, which was just the dreamiest thing. We would sleep in, work out , have coffee at Dragonfly, shop (hi mom!)

and then cook a feast for lovely and various collections of our nearests and dearests! Mild scallop and shrimp curry, fried red plantains courtesy of Kuaku the kool, and of course greens.

Our next feast was delicious salmon and crunchy noodle salad - both Ina Garten recipes, because obviously she is a Goddess - which were lovely. But shown here is our famous, delectable treat of an appetizer... burstingly ripe purple figs....

absolutely jammed with creamy, oh la la luscious French bleu. Oh The Pretties. My Precious Pretties. Try them, you'll love it or your money back.

You already saw a lovely meal shared with my Dad and that side of my family, but here's a little home meal that really can't be beat. (that's my Grandma Ruth- hi Grandma!)

and I'm not just saying that because Dad got this halibut just for me...

And of course when in Portland, one must Coffee.

With dear friends, if possible.

Of course in Portland, one must also Dive Bar. Again, with friends is the recommended way to enjoy said must.

And last, but clearly far from least, my goodbye dinner with mom, mere hours before my red-eye back to the big apple. Homemade gravlax - which tasted a lot better than it looks - inspired by a CSA delivery that was simply teeming with the sweetest dill you could imagine . Cheese. Prosecco. And episode of Poirot. It was so us, and so totally fun. As was the whole lovely, Portland-a-rific visit.

This past Christmas, upon my arrival in Portland I was struck with the somewhat dizzying sensation that Portland was no longer my home, but that New York wasn't exactly home yet either. I was in flux, a no man's land of transition and growth. This visit was a completely different beast. After the usual slight disorientation immediately following my arrival (nothing that one night under Mom's roof couldn't assuage) I felt right at home. And yet, I caught myself saying 'back home' and meaning New York City. I am a girl of two homes now, and I couldn't be happier. Portland, OR and New York City - seriously, what could possibly beat that?

When your Dad turns 60...

2010-09-02T12:31:00.001-07:00

Throw a great party! With a lot of help from Rodney and his superfantastic crew at my favorite restaurant in Portland, the glamorously titled Podnah's Pit BBQ, I was able to plan a little b-day soirée for my Papa's big 6-0 all the way from New York.

September 1st is one of the very few reliably sunny days here in Portland, so I asked to be outside on the lovely little back patio because Dad loves sun and loves to have dinner outside. Of course, yesterday I woke up to the only TRULY reliable weather we ever have in Portland: Rain. Lots of cold, drizzly, grey, rain. UGH. I went through my day, gathering together the finishing touches for the dinner -
creating little bouquets for the tables

baking my Dad's favorite thing, a coconut cream pie

and generally doing my best to ignore the weather whilst begging for a miraculous clearing of the sky.

And miracles happen, you know? Around 5 o'clock the rain stopped and by 5:30 there wasn't a cloud in the sky and it was actually getting hot!

A perfectly lovely evening ensued! Flowers and candles, plus a healthy dose of prosecco set the celebratory tone

a little wedge salad came next - Rodney knows how it's done (plenty of Blue Cheeeeese)

and....Prime rib! This isn't usually on the menu at Podnah's, but I knew Rodney does make them occasionally and so I special-requested it for the Birthday boy! Dad said "this is the best piece of meat I have ever eaten in a restaurant" - truly! Everyone else was silent, until their plates were clean, which is it's own sort of compliment, arguably the best kind.

Full, happy faces! Dad's cousin Linnea, and her daughter Kyra, post-prime rib.

The night was relaxed and casual, but between the weather, Rodney's incredible food, and a dreamy mix of family and friends, the night felt imbued with special kind of birthday magic. Happy Birthday Dad!

a delicious late summer weekend

2010-08-23T15:10:00.000-07:00

A highly refreshing Friday night cocktail at Franny's in Park Slope to welcome the weekend. Mmmm the Spicy Genevieve indeed!

A sticky Saturday on which I reap the rewards of Lucy's overenthusiastic farmers market shopping extravaganza.

My first ever rainy day barbeque. I expected disaster, but was proven wrong. Turns out friends + BBQ - sitting outside = cozy, candle lit, laughter filled, wine soaked fun. Who needs the sun anyway?

Freshly picked, rain-kissed, droplets of summer...

...a little touch of improvement : just add cheese.

A dip I've been making a lot lately : white beans, parsley, lemon juice, supertasty!

A delectable end to a dreamy weekend.

I left my (shinypink) heart at Sahagun....

2010-08-21T11:57:00.000-07:00

...dipped in perfectly tempered Mangaro (which probably means E did the tempering), drenched in hot-micro-foam-whispered chocolate, decorated with rainbows of chalk drawings and Oregonkissed with gianduja.

I would tell you how much the shop and the time I spent there will Elizabeth means to me, but I could never really do it justice.

Or maybe I could, but I'd rather keep a few things to myself.

Sahagun is mostly for everyone, but a small little part of it became mine over the course of the three happy years that I was a piece of it and for now it's going to stay that way.

Farewell Sahagun Chocolate Shop! Long Live Sahagun!

*note* all photos courtesy of Sahagunchocolates.com!! you should go there, poke around, and get yourself some of the best darn chocolates you'll ever put in your mouth.

Lobster Gorge 2010 also known as ...

2010-08-05T23:00:00.000-07:00

...Our Fantastic Trip to Martha's Vineyard.

For our 5 year anniversary, David planned a *surprise!* trip for us! 4 days 3 nights on gloriously WASPfab Martha's Vineyard! We stayed here, and we played on the beach and ate our body weight in seafood, mainly- as you'll see - that king of crustacean kind, the LOBSTER. As a West Coaster, the Lobster represents complete, total, borderline ridiculous luxury. It is something I love to pieces and vividly remember the few times in my life I've eaten it. My first time was perfect and unforgettable- I was 17 years old and my mother and I were meeting her college roommate and her husband for dinner at the boathouse in Central Park. I was full of New York City excitement, high on all its shimmering glamour and I was told to "order anything I wanted, anything at all". My whole lobster came with a bibb and everything, and I felt like a Queen.

But I digress. What I'm saying is lobster is heaven to me, and every bite on this trip seemed to contain lobster, and I was in heaven. Oh, plus we were at the beach. And I was with David. And we were far away from New York. And I drank the fanciest bottle of Champagne I have ever tasted. It was heaven times infinity.

The very first thing we ate after checking in to our hotel was a light snack of this:

It was so tasty, and gone so terribly fast, we decided to be sure and eat at least one a day. We did not fail in this endeavor.

After a little walk, we were ready for more. We steered ourselves to a pub (as much of a pub as there can be on Martha's Vineyard) called Newes From America. I had read some good things on yelp (old reliable, sort of) and it did not let us down, see!

Chowdah:

Lobster Mac and Cheese, the stuff of dreams...

Literally, I couldn't stop thinking about this dish and am now plotting the recipe in my brain every waking minute. I will get it, and then I will share it with you - that is a promise.

After that, we had a nightcap with the youths of the island- blond, rich, possibly inbred, impossibly robust- the girls who inspired most Vampire Weekend songs, and the (wasted) men who love them.

Not quite ready for bed, we helped ourselves to the complimentary port and sat on the porch, talking a bit and basking in the peace of the island. This became a nightly ritual and one of my favorite parts of the trip, right up there with all that lobster.

The next day, after the kind of sleep you can only seem to get in a king bed on squeeky white hotel sheets, we decided to go exploring a bit, and bus over to the other side of the island, to a place called Aquinnah with a killer beach, and cliffs worthy (almost) of Ireland or someplace.

Did you know I love the beach? Did you know David likes to take pictures? The day looked like this:

The essential Lobster-Roll-Of-The-Day. My favorite of the trip.

Happy Lobster Roll Beach face!

And to top it all off, we greeted the sunset with this BEAUTIFUL bottle, a 1995 Krug that Elizabeth gave me for Christmas year before last. I haven't had the guts to pop and drink it until now and I wondered in my heart of hearts if I had built it up a bit too much. I hadn't. It was a sunburst yellow color and tasted to me like exploding lemons, and smelled like my dad's stroganoff- which is to say sour cream and marmite. David got stinky cheese and maybe baguettes. It grew and changed, and eventually I got a side sniff of stinky cheese, but he never got lemons, which was the most dominant taste to me. Not that you care, but if you have a chance to drink this sometime, what I am trying to say is you should do it.

My Personal Heaven.

The next day, we hopped a bus over to a fishing town called Menemsha, which was really- much as I hate to say it about someone's town - completely adorable. There is a little beach, and near sunset when all the day boats come in, people come to the little fish shops and have them steam the lobster of their choosing and walk over to the beach with their lobster and (usually) a bottle of wine and watch the sun drop into the water with their feet buried happily in the sand. We took it all in, wishing we had 4 extra stomachs to fill with all this incredible food.

In the end, we opted for another lobster roll, for consistancy's sake, along with a lovely cup of clam chowder.

Ta Da!

Mmm, this one was definitely the best as far as lobster-freshness is concerned. The mean was Soooo sweet and assertively LOBSTER-ish.

You are what you eat. David channels a lobster.

We may be back in Brooklyn, and we may (mostly) be happy to be home, but a big part of me is stuck back in Martha's Vineyard, and I'm really quite ok with it.

A Summery feast and a Picnicalicious Recipe Classic

2010-07-25T21:53:00.000-07:00

Just for the sake of pure indulgence, allow me to present a recent meal. When the true heat of summer in NYC first set in, I was convinced I wouldn't be eating a real meal again until September.

However, after a week or so of subsisting primarily on Popsicles I had a change of heart. It was time to feast. Driven by the desire achieve that elusive heat wave dream ratio of minimal stove time and maximum satisfaction, we hit the market and gravited immediately toward the shellfish counter. Light, fast, every morsel dripping with lucious umami- is there any more perfect meal? At $2.99/lb, mussels dominated our shopping basket, with some clams and a few precious diver scallops tossed in for good measure and for luxury's sake- always an important consideration in my book.

Oh, and cheese. Plenty of cheese.

And also, cheese.

A butterylicious Chilean Chardonnay (plus an ice cube or two for heat-survival purposes) rounded out our Monday night feast. Every Monday should taste so good!

In other 'it's really flipping hot' related food news, we've been eating outside with friends a lot- picnics, outdoor movies, barbecues, and the like. There is a time of day, usually around sunset, when it is greatly preferable to be sitting outside because while it's 80 with 75% humidity both inside and out, at least outside there is an occasional breeze. Days like this call for cold food. Salads. Specifically Potato Salad. And not just any old grotty potato salad will do. As a food studies student, I find that people seem a little disappointed and even somewhat hurt if I show up to potluck-type gatherings with a bag of chips or some other store bought thingy- and I suppose I really should practice what I preach (cooking at home etc etc.) This potato salad recipe will keep me-- and if you're any sort of partially normal person, it'll work on you, too-- away from the deli counter for good- $1.50/lb macaroni salad be darned!

It looks like this. First the dressing. Mayo...

Don't be shy.

Red onion, fresh dill, scallions, and dill pickles.

Add the pickle juice too, while you're at it. Some mustard for good measure, as well as a a good dose of capers. Stir it up. Mmmmmmmmm...

Potatoes. Boiled up. + a few hard boiled eggs. Mix it up!

Share with friends, make them happy. Preferably outdoors.

The Best Potato Salad On Earth Ever.

2 pounds small Yukon gold potatoes
2 large eggs
Kosher salt
1/2 bunch sliced scallions, white and green parts
2 tablespoons drained capers
2 cups mayonnaise
1/4 cup Dijon mustard
1/4 cup finely chopped dill pickles with 1/4 cup juice, about 2 pickles
1/2 small red onion, chopped
2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1/2 bunch dill, chopped
1/2 lemon, juiced
Freshly ground black pepper
Extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling

Boil the potatoes and eggs. Mix up the dressing. Combine and EAT UP!

Stay cool my lovelies!

Recent Events

2010-07-17T16:09:00.000-07:00

(old magazine page on display at Magnolia)

We just waved farewell to David's parents, who spent this past week visiting us here in our fair city! It was their first trip, and I made the itinerary of a LIFETIME (read: it is possible I will never physically be able to do this again) which can be summed up by the following :

Eat. Walk walk walk. Eat. Drink. walk walk walk. EAT. Walk walk look point walk. Sleep.

repeat. x7.

PHEW! It was a lovely visit but I think it's fair to say we wore each other out!

A pictorial summary:

Tiffanys - all four floors of it - was a must do for the ladies, naturally.

Magnolia is a very good place to have a snack. Further evidence:

Nothing says "we're MEN" like eating cupcakes.

Us ladies have more delicate tastes, like these caviar-topped lobster salad bites we enjoyed during high tea at the Plaza.

Oh, and we stopped at Momofuku Ssam bar, which is basically a must. It was alright I guess....

Oysters - small and perfect. Oceany depths.

Uni in oyster crema. If the oysters were the briny deep, this was sea foam.

Buttermilk panna cotta. Tangy and savory, almost cheese-like. In a dreamy fuji apple dashi with pine nuts.

Chantrelles and pickled quail eggs with shavings of bone marrow- it may look ugly here, but believe me it was anything but.

We also hit up: ABC kitchen, Les Halles, Shake Shack, Chelsea Market, 53rd and 6th, Barrio, JoeDoe, Tom's in Brooklyn, Balthazar, etc etc. And that's just the food. We ate Nathan's on Coney Island, and burgers at the Statue of Liberty. We just about melted in the sun at the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens. We didn't see one single celebrity, in spite of my best efforts. We ate Persian food at David's boss's house. We drove each other nuts and laughed really hard all the time. We shopped, played, walked, walked more, drank and then we really laughed hard.

We had a blast.

I can die now.

2010-06-29T22:04:00.000-07:00

Tonight I had dinner at Aldea on 17th street here in Manhattan. Mom is in town and she and I went to dinner with David and her old college roommate Laura, as well as Laura's husband Larry and Larry's sister Joan. We had a truly fabulous meal, which lasted well into the eleven o'clock hour. Wine, scallops, black truffles, octopus a la plancha, bacalao croquettes and so on and so on.... ending with a lovely we-closed-down-the-restaurant chat with the absolutely dreamy chef, Georges Mendes. Oh, and he's extremely talented/qualified too.

However, the crowning moment of the evening happened as we walked toward the Q train down 17th. We passed a group of 3 people standing around talking.... I did a double take. There, before my eyes was;

Yes, Jeffery Steingarten. Out walking his dog! With a very necessary push from David I went up and rudely interrupted the conversation (well, only sort of rude, it seemed like they were finishing up anyway) and just said " I just wanted to say that I LOVE your books and your writing. You have been a big inspiration for me, and because of you, and a very few other writers like you I am getting a masters in Food Studies right now at NYU." So began the BEST 20 MINUTES OF MY LIFE!!!!!!!!! I have been in awe of him for YEARS- his rigor, his natural and authoritative style. At once self-depreciating, and disarmingly honest, Jeffery Steingarten is one of if not THE very best living food writer.

And there we stood, talking about Delmonicos, about the lunch menu at the Harvard Club in the 1930's and how bland and horrible it was, about contemporary food culture, Marion Nestle, the Cooking Channel-- and by gosh, he seemed like he was honestly enjoying himself! Just talking to someone with such an encyclopedic knowledge and such a true love and true devotion to food; to food history, to cooking, to taste. I am inspired.

This was one of those nights. I didn't have to worry about catching the Q train after that-- I absolutely flew home.

Oh, and by the way, that couple I interrupted that were talking to Jeffrey first, and who had been sitting right next to us all night at Aldea? It was just good old Wylie Dufresne and his new bride.

NYC Food Film Festival

2010-06-26T18:28:00.000-07:00

There is a revolution going on and it's all about ways of learning, showing, tasting. It makes so much sense, such an obvious thing! If you want to teach or show people something about food, shouldn't there be at least an element of something edible involved in the presentation itself? Enter the NYC Food Film Festival, a (literally) delicious event now in its fourth year, whose very tagline sums up this whole idea: "Taste What You See On The Screen"
It is basically a whole weekend of fun Food and Film events, and as you might guess most of the events have been sold out for months. However, I got SUPER lucky yesterday and scored 4 tickets at the last minute to last nights' event "Edible Adventure #001: Smokes, Ears and Ice Cream". Wowza! First of all, the venue. You watch the movies on a beach right on the East River in Long Island City, literally floating on the water as the sunsets, and the movies play on, the Manhattan skyline lights up before your very eyes. Oh, you think Long Island City doesn't sound so hot? Well, take a look at this place:

I won't waste too much time describing the videos, they're short so check them out for yourself! These were my two favorites:

Smokes & Ears (both of which we ate. I learned I do not like pig ears.)

Obsessives: Soda Pop

I am in the best field in the world. Goodness I love food people. and food movies. and food. And New York.

North Market

2010-06-13T21:35:00.000-07:00

For all the time we've spent in Ohio, Mom and I had never really been to Columbus. We always arrived and hit the road towards the middle of the state. This past weekend, we found ourselves with a little extra time. Decidedly a bit the worse for wear, we needed a little lightness, a little time spent nurturing ourselves and each other. So we decided to spend the few hours before we flew our separate ways and poke around the big city a big. A bit of yelp research guided us to North Market, and it was just the thing.

We started our visit at the little coffee stand, a very short americano for me, with crema to rival the best of the best, made clearly with love and heart, and just a touch of barista-snobbery, which you've sort of just got to love, especially when it yields caffine like this.

Mom and I wandered the paradise of good food, heartened by the jovial, milling crowds and local, sustainable ethos that permeated the market. We slowly assembled a lunch, with two Ohio cheeses from Curds and Whey, a lovely little cheese stand manned by a young Ohioan who was way too attractive for his own good. And he fed me cheese samples. Oh my. Next stop was Omega breads, whose focaccia- dotted simply with garlic and rosemary- I found so deliciously addictive. You can watch a video about the baker herself here: http://vimeo.com/5999326. She seems pretty much cool. Lovely.

That tub of green looking things is Leek salad (!) which we picked up along with kielbasa and an ultra-garlicky chicken leg at a Polish food stand, which was also really really tasty. Leek salad is like potato salad, only slices of crunchy, mildly spicy leek instead of potatoes!

Scrumptious as all of this was, never far from our mind as we snacked on cheese and bread was the fact that we knew we HAD to save room for dessert. Arguably the highlight of the entire North Market is Jeni's Ice Creams.

In our initial browse through the Market, we passed the stand and honestly as we read the descriptions it was very difficult not to just go ahead and eat ice cream for lunch! I mean, look at these:

We settled on a modest four scoops: #1 wildberry lavender. #2 was lime cardamom yogurt, juicy with lime and warm with cardamom, this was our hands down favorite. #3 was Thai chile peanut, which, between the peanuts and coconut and chiles was sort of like pad thai ice cream. Scoop #4 was rhubarb rose, which actually tasted like rose wine! All were inspiring and mind blowing- I will be learning to make ice cream this summer, it is decided. Ice cream like this WILL be within my repertoire ASAP because I can't go running to Ohio every time I want ice cream, it just isn't practical.

Mom's expression sums up our experience of Jeni's ice cream.

Nothing a little mother/daughter time can't sooth.

Grandpa Jim

2010-06-06T17:39:00.001-07:00

One of my very favorite people on earth passed away today, or, as I'd rather think of it, moved on to other astral planes. My Grandpa Jim was very, very special to me. He was a man in my life who always made me feel like I was going to take over the world. He loved me unconditionally, and I him. He could be cantakerous at times, with a lot of people, but never with me, and even when he was being a bit mischevious ( and thus driving my mom/grandmother/uncle/etc NUTS) I couldn't seem to help but side with him.

(Grandpa, mom, her brother Steve, David in Ohio in 2008)

An example of a bit of mischief (relatively low-grade, as these things go) a quite fancy cloth napkin from the chic restaurant Revolver. He couldn't believe the cost of the food, so I think this was him getting our moneys worth. And really, not a bad idea.

(resourcefulness at its finest.)

Grandpa was big on the video camera when I was little, and he always liked to keep up with technology (like another dashing fellow I know...) which is really lucky for me, because I can now watch videos of my (obviously adorable) 3 year old self, and the crazy hair my mom had in the early 90's, and most importantly, my amazing grandparents, who treated me like an absolute princess and whose presence every summer was a total treat. My Grandpa Jim and Grandma Becky taught me what a beautiful marriage was, and created another one of my favorite people on earth, my Mom.

Also, importantly, Grandpa Jim taught me to love cheese. If I ever have a sandwich shop, the James. O. Walton special would be a THICK slice of cheddar cheese (with more on the side for snacks), a slice of raw sweet onion, piled between two slices of squishy white bread.

(Amish Cheese. We went to Amish country often when I visited, mostly, I now realize, to load up on cheese!)

I got to see Grandpa Jim quite a bit in the last year or so, and I felt proud that my experiences in New York seemed to bring him so much joy. He was my biggest cheerleader and patron, and there was not a doubt in his mind that David and I were going take over the world. When I told him about Davids job at Starbucks, "He'll be running that place in no time" was his immediate and matter of fact response. In one of my recent visits, as I was leaving, Grandpa found the perfect words for our special closeness- one which I always felt was unique, like we just understood each other, and were always on each others team, but had never really found words for. A secret society of two.

As the car pulled up to take my mom and I to the airport, Grandpa took my hand and said simply "Why are you my favorite?". His clear green eyes were earnest and sweet, they winked at me without actually winking, something he did a lot.

I didn't really tell you all the amazing things there are to tell about James O. Walton of Ohio. I feel so lucky that he took the time during his retirement to write his autobiography, and maybe over time I will tell you about parts of it, but for now, I just wanted to write what was on my mind, sort of a toast I guess. This was really more for me than you, blog-ether. I just want the world to know that a wonderful man left us today, but he lived an enviable life, and he will live always in my heart, right at the center. I hope someday I can build a life and family as full and beautiful as his was.

I love you Grandpa Jim. You're my favorite.

i hope you like avocados.

2010-05-31T16:07:00.000-07:00

because we sure do. whenever people come over, i like to put something delicious out to snack on.

My reasoning is twofold.
a) it's just what a good hostess does.
b) our friends like to drink. it's a good idea to eat if you're drinking.

mmmmmmm....

My favorite thing to make is guacamole because it is DELICIOUS and everyone loves it, everyone can eat it (vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, soy-free, etc) and just one avocado makes enough for about 4 people.

All you do is slice up the avocado, squeeze some (I like a healthy dose) of lemon or lime juice (or both) all over the buttery green deliciousness. Dump some salsa on top (go easy, you can always add more at the end. At this stage less is more.)

Now, take your fork, and go bananas! MASH MASH MASH MASH!

Taste, and enjoy! Eat it on chips, celery sticks, or by the spoonful when no one is looking.

Then tell your boyfriend to stop taking pictures of you because it's making you BONKERS and party the night away!

Update!

2010-05-27T19:05:00.000-07:00

Well, here is the as-promised update! I have successfully given up carbs of all sorts for (as of tomorrow) an ENTIRE WEEK! I'm pretty proud, and it hasn't really been that hard, if you can believe that.

That said, I am not going to do the whole 2 weeks. I feel like I got what I wanted, which is a resetting of the old bodily workings. I feel good in my body again, dropped a few poundages, and I'm going to continue to avoid the old carb family of foods, but I'm going to allow delicious alcoholic bevvies back into my life. It's going to be hot this weekend, I plan to do some park-sitting/picnicing with pink prosecco, and no goofy diet stuff is going to stop me!

Basically, I feel like this week has re-aligned all my insides, and my relationship with food and eating, therefore it was a great success! It forced mindfulness, which I used to be a master of, but lately had been slacking.

Anyway, enough of this. Less regime, more hedonism!

Confession.

2010-05-21T22:02:00.000-07:00

I have gained 8lbs. 10 since my perfect happy place, and 8 since we moved out here. Confirmed today by my trusty new scale.

Ugh. What's a girl to do? Obviously, this cannot be tolerated. So, I thought I'd use you, dear reader, as a sounding board and check-system. I'm no-carbing it(sort of phase one of South Beach), and your job is to keep me honest. I'm not really too worried about it. I like and eat a lot of vegetables anyway, and dessert isn't ever very tempting. Plus, you can still eat good things like CHEESE when low-carbing it up, so that's something. Honestly, and I realize this might ring the alarm bells for some, the hardest thing to give up is drinks.

We don't drink at home much, not regularly anyway, but when we meet friends, it's usually for drinks at the super awesome pub down the street which I love with passion. And though I can still join David and co. there, I will be the weirdo drinking soda water. That's going to be sort of a pain. But small sacrifice for having my body back, and I've been missing it for a few months now.

What's odd is I really don't know how I gained the weight, it just sort of happened. Regardless, I know for a fact that low-carbing it works, and so I am going to stick to it! I'm in CRAZY intense summer classes for the next couple weeks, so its not like I was going to have that much fun anyway...

Well, you didn't really need to know all that, but I thought maybe writing it for all the world to see might make me stick to this for the whole 2 weeks that I hope to. So thanks. I'll still write about fun stuff and food etc. - maybe more than before! Or not...

I considered this regime, but ultimately decided it sounded a little dicey and with this 8lbs and bikini season looming, I couldn't afford to mess around.

AnthBo

2010-05-04T22:35:00.000-07:00

I have owned the Les Halles cookbook since the day it came out. Have I ever once cooked something out of it? No.

Until tonight! After a long day of hard reading (Bourdieu anyone? UGH. But sort of in a good, brain-massaging way. Sort of. I digress. Finals, sorry) I came home, mentally exhausted. But my body was restless.

Moments like these are just made for a good cooking project, and as it happened there lurked in my kitchen 3 open, but barely touched, bottles of red wine. Clearly, this called for Boeuf Bourguignon! And not just any would do, oh no! I wanted to slave away for a while, I wanted exhaustion, anticipation, heat, slicing and searing, maillard reactions!

Clearly a job for my love, the guru, the self-effacing stud-muffiniest : Anthony Bourdian and his fabulous Les Halles cookbook. Most of the recipes in this book call for things that I will likely never go buy, like pigs blood. This one, however, is blessedly simple.

2lbs beef (I bought stewing beef, he calls for shoulder)
6 carrots, chopped in 1 inch pieces
4 onions ( I used 3, it was plenty)sliced thinly
1 bouquet garni
salt and pepper
1 cup decent red wine
1/4 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons flour

1. Get all your ducks in a row. Get the olive oil heating up, almost smoking.

2. MEAT. People like meat. Put salt and pepper on it.

3. Brown the meat. Don't grey it, get it good and maillard-y.

4. Take all the meat out. Drool at it for a sec.

5. Dump the onions into the meaty residue. Let them cook. 15ish minutes. After 10, add a little flour. This will smell very good.

6. Add the wine to deglaze the pan. Bring it to a boil, and simmer briefly.

Are your carrots and bouquet garni ready yet?

7. Add everything to the pan.

8. Add enough water to cover it all. Bring to a boil and then simmer, stirring occasionally, for at least 2 hours.

9. Serve. He says it's better the next day, so tomorrow night we're going to eat it with baguette and wine and cheese and salad and friends! You should too! Mmmmm.

10. Make like me and have a night of it! Put on some Bruce Springsteen and Bangles goodness, and your favorite cute apron, pour yourself a glass of wine and get cooking! AnthBo would.

Minus the apron maybe.

Cooooooookies!

2010-04-26T21:59:00.000-07:00

I am particularly proud of these cookies. I spend a lot of time messing around with recipes trying to make them healthier, and while it's not always a disaster, the results often leave me wishing I'd just left well enough alone. Any doubters just ask David to recount the now infamous Whole Milk Will Probably Work Just As Well As Heavy Cream Carbonara Incident...ahem. Lesson learned.

Well, mostly. When it comes to baked goods, I learned from my mom that lots of times cookies, breads and muffins take well to healthification. This recipe started out as a Martha Stewart Chocolate Chunk Oatmeal Banana Walnut cookie (that's a mouthful). It being Martha, of course, it was chock full of butter and white sugar. With all that otherwise good for you stuff in them, I could just feel the little darlings begging me to tweak them.

First, I always like to replace butter with oil- it usually works just fine and makes the cookies stay moist longer. Easy enough. Then, I decided to substitute honey for the sugar. Actually, I was out of sugar, and had honey, plus, honey is much healthier. But, another neato bonus of using honey is that because it has a more intense sweetness than sugar, you can use less.The recipe originally called for 1 cup of sugar. I got away with 1/2 a cup of honey! Call me crazy, but this stuff really gets me going.

A little googling taught me that to compensate for its liquidity, though, you're supposed to lessen other liquid-y things in recipes when you sub it for sugar. Fingers crossed, I reduced the fat (butter in Martha's case, oil in mine) by half.

And guess what?! It WORKED! These are some killer cookies, if I do say so. Chewy, nutty, wholesome, but super satisfying. And they're not really so bad for you, so you can get away with eating them for breakfast, and cookies for breakfast is never a bad thing.

Martha Miranda Cookies

1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole-wheat flour
1 teaspoon coarse salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup honey
1 egg
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup mashed ripe banana (about 1 large)
1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
8 ounces semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped into 1/4-inch chunks
1/2 cup coarsely chopped walnuts (about 2 ounces), toasted

Mix the oil and honey.
Add the egg and vanilla and mix well.
Mash in the banana.
Add the flour, baking soda and salt.
Add the oats, chocolate, and nuts. Stir.
Bake at 375 for about 10 minutes.

....in progress...

2010-04-24T09:53:00.000-07:00

Sorry I've been away so long! Grad school is really great except for this thing called finals, which are partially to blame for my prolonged absence. That and doubling the size of our household and befriending famous people, but more on that later when I make a real post (which really is in progress. picture issues, but it's on the way, cross my heart).

But in the meantime I just had to post and let you know that this is really worth your while. What food is really about.

All American Monday.

2010-03-22T18:23:00.000-07:00

Oh Yes.

Grilled turkey and cheddar (confession: grilled in olive oil, I can't bring myself to use butter on a Monday night, no matter how kitschy the food gets)

Oh Heck Yes. David and I might be together largely because of our shared love of that glorious thing known as The Deli Salads: both mac and the 'tater variety.

Now we're watching Californication and eating Cheetos. TV, Deli Salads, Frito Lay, and Grilled Cheese. Freedom! Liberty! The American way.

Completely Obsessed

2010-03-17T10:52:00.000-07:00

So this is nothing that I've ever done, but I have a new obsession;

Stupid 10 page paper! If it weren't for you, I could've spent my day on that glorious green monster and really ACCOMPLISHED something! Sheesh.

That is all. I just had to share my adoration. Oh, and this one is cool too;

Special thanks to SeriousEats.com. Are we inspired yet?

Oh Ina.....

2010-03-14T18:50:00.000-07:00

You always know best. I haven't cooked--really cooked-- in so so long. Anyone who knows me at all knows that I love nothing more than a nice meal out, but I can't remember the last time we ate a good, home cooked dinner. Literally can't remember. I've had the itch to cook for a while, but I woke up this morning and decided right away what my reward for putting in a little bit of coffee shop study time-- a little much needed late afternoon kitchen therapy courtesy of Ina Garten.

You know how actors when actors talk about things they admire about their colleagues they're always saying how "generous" so and so is? Well that's what I love about Ina, her food is generous--comforting, abundant, inviting. It makes me want to call up all my friends and tell them to get it while it's hot. And that's surely what dinner is all about.

The recipe is, like all her recipes, at once completely simple, and completely luxurious. It starts like this, with 1lb of mushrooms...

Cook them up... little butter, a little sherry...

Roux-it up, whisk in some milk, and then throw in 12oz of Gruyere and 8oz of cheddar, all the mushrooms and a pound of cavatappi (or macaroni, but that's just not as fun).

Give it a stir and...

into a pan!

Bake it up and enjoy the way your house smells...swell with pride when you get it out of the oven!

EAT. Mmmmmmmmmm...

For my Mom. and then also for David.

2010-03-08T20:07:00.000-08:00

I woke up today with a craving that went a little something like this....

so I got my hands on some of these...

and mixed them up in some of this.

And that made me miss my mom, because she is the Cranberry Queen.

So I made the cookies, and thought of her.

But she's not here. So David ate them.

Which is ok, because it's his BIRTHDAY TODAY!!!!!!!! So instead of homesick cookies, they became birthday cookies, a beautiful thing!

Athos, Porthos, Aravind and....

2010-02-25T20:37:00.000-08:00

D'Artagnan! More perks of being a lucky little intern at Restaurant Business magazine!

D'Artagnan, if you aren't familiar with this FABULOUS company, is a leading purveyor of foie gras, pates, sausages, smoked delicacies, organic game and poultry. A lot of NYC restaurants and gourmet stores carry their products, and though I have drooled over them many times, foie gras is not on my usual shopping list, so I'd never tried their products before. Until now! You see, they invited my editor to their 25th anniversary party this past Monday and unfortunately she was going to be out of town. Dedicated employee that I am, I was quick to offer my party-going services.
Boy, do these people know how to throw a party! They were very accommodating and even let me bring a plus one, which always makes these sort of shindigs 100 times more fun.

First of all, the place. The soiree was held in a stunning event space that is actually built into the Queensboro bridge. Gothic and cavernous, it was decked out and amazing.

Everyone was told to dress in their red and white best, and by jove, everyone complied!

Have you ever bobbed for prunes in Armagnac? I passed on this particular pass time, but it sure looked fun... maybe next time.

Lillet?

I loved seeing Lillet have such a dominant presence here. Personally, I am a bit of a Lillet fanatic, and it's not just because they have those neat looking ads with paintings of tipsy ladies. It's a darn good bevvy. I always have it in the fridge, especially in summer.

I stuck with Lillet Rouge, while David found he had a little preference for the Blanc. Lillet flowed freely all night long.

When Tom Colicchio took the stage, I decided it was time for yet another Lillet...

Speaking of celeb sightings, I totally saw Ming Tsai, but I'm apparently not devoted to you enough to be a creepster who takes pictures of random famous people... Tom C. was sort of different because he's on TV all the time, and he's sort of a ham. I feel like Ming is a little shy. I didn't want to scare him. How about I appease you with some more pictures...
Cassoulet anyone?

White veal stew?

Foie gras? Don't mind if I do!

Cured Mangalica legs, Prosciutto-ish but a deeper, richer flavor. Love those woolly little piggies.

More Lillet? Plus some funny French people? Yes please!

More awesome funny French people!

I sort of wish I could be this girl, have all that great Little Mermaid hair, and the guts to pull that dress off with a belly full of foie gras. Incredible.

Le Pimp?

I sort of loved this next guy, he basically seemed three sheets to the wind and just sort of wandered between the food tables having a taste here and a bite there. Circling, circling back. Drink. Taste. Drink. Drink more. A little more. Swagger. Taste. He was so cool.

When, after hours and hours of liver products and Lillet, David and I started to relate to the aforementioned 3 sheets guy, we decided it was time to call it a night. It was raining out, and really very wintery. But in our slightly clouded, party-warmed souls, it might as well have been June!

Anatomy of a Snow Day

2010-02-15T16:22:00.000-08:00

As two born and raised Portland kids, we know what to do when it starts to snow and they say a blizzard is coming. Run outside and look at it, even if its 2 am! Better yet, walk to the pub and see who else is excited and talk about it with them! Excited! About snow, and going out for drinks at 2am! Point 1 for NYC!

When you wake up the next day, you don't have to go to work because it snowed so much! Ohh, wait, this is New York. Actually, a lot of people have to go to work. But I remedied that by calling in sick. Yep. When life gives you a blizzard, take a Snow Day! We head out in search of breakfast as the blizzard picks up...

Hello, snowy friend!

Just a few blocks and a lot of snow-walking away, we get to the good old Purity Diner! Our first time visiting an all-day breakfast place just 4 blocks away?! What the heck is wrong with us?! Well, all was soon to be set right.

Diner breakfasts are very reassuring. Everybody knows that. Ahhhhhh....

David wasn't that hungry, so he just ordered the "Lumberjack".

Pancakes are better when they're wrapped around ham.

Cloudy-headed and warm-bellied, we wandered back out into the snow, which had continued to cover the world in its chilly blanket. Brrr.

But on the upside, right as we wandered out, David's phone rang and he was told he didn't have to come into work because Starbucks-Starbucks!- was going to close early due to the weather! Whoo hoo! This is the back of his head, so it's hard to see how excited he was, but I'm not generally allowed to photograph him in the face so it'll have to do.

Coffee? A little productivity? Yes please! I love graduate school, where sitting at a coffee shop and reading a really interesting book is called "productivity".

We had a nice view of the "WINTER BLAST", which was super cool. We also had a nice view of a cluster of park slope mafia types. Which was less cool, but sort of funny. Check out this mom-diss that I overheard:

Alpha Mom: Wow hi it's nice to finally meet you!
Scared, new Mom: Hi! This is *insert silly babyname here*!
A.Mom: Awww. How old?
S.Mom: 3 months
A.Mom: Wow, its really brave of you to bring her out in this weather.

BURN!!!!!!

After a pleasant little snow walk, we decided that the sun was heading in that downward direction which meant but one thing. Homeward!To the Couch, to Blankets, to Mad Men, to whisky! To one terrific Snow Day!

Brrrrrrr!

Flushing Field Trip!

2010-02-04T18:00:00.000-08:00

Since David started working at Starbucks, days off together have become few and precious. Today was one of those glorious days, and after a good sleep-in we rallied ourselves and Brennan (our dear P-town friend) towards Flushing and food! Carrie, our super awesome new friend who a)sleeps in as late as we do and b) has a car, not only came along, but offered us a ride too, saving us a good 90 minute subway ride! Amazing!

After a rather lengthy ride, we found ourselves at last in the infamous Flushing! Oh my goodness, we may as well have been in Beijing! It was a total-immersion sort of experience. Every sign was in Chinese, red lanterns hung from anything you can hang something on, and we were the only caucasians in sight, all of which I found at once comforting and dislocating. Oh, and it gave me VERY good feelings about what we were about to eat....

Xi'an Famous Foods is pretty famous in the Yelp circles I move in-digitally speaking of course. Located in the uniquely-titled Golden Mall, Xi'an got its big break with Anthony Bourdain touted its virtues on No Reservations. The little stall had about 3 tables and teeny little stools, and the friendliest proprietor ever. We felt REALLY out of place, but he not only welcomed us, pointing to the picture of Anthony Bourdain shaking his hand, he also started telling us what to order right away; "D1, B2, D4. You like!" We stopped at three to save room for tastes from other stalls, but we could have gladly sat there eating all day long.

These hand pulled rice noodles were served cold and spicy with lots of crunchy bean sprouts and slivers of cucumbers. They were refreshing and hot hot hot! Yuuuum.

Next up, these equally sinus clearing lovelies are the same rice noodles served hot this time with cumin and lamb. Oooo yes.

This "lamb burger" was a must have according to my fellow yelpers. Tasty though it was, I think it's not a must. Very delicious though!

In the aftermath, I used the handy little spoons to slurp up that spicy stuff that was left. Mmm hmm!

Next up, fried pork dumplings, with plenty of chives. We meant to have just one order, but they didn't understand us AT ALL and vice versa so we ended up with two orders. At 12 for $3, it wasn't really a problem, except maybe for our waistlines...

Scallion pancakes. Fried Dough, can you ever go wrong!?!? If I lived closer to this neighborhood, these are the things that would do me in because I would get one every time I walked by. Carrie orders like a pro- 4 steamed buns for $1.25, yes! Fresh Scallion pancakes for $1 a piece? We'll take 4!

The pancakes were almost too hot to handle, but that didn't stop us! Steam billowed out as we ripped into them, and they were crispy on the outside, doughy, scallion heaven.

FULL FACE!

Happy People! Ready to head home...

Perks!

2010-01-24T18:38:00.000-08:00

...of the very most delicious kind!

I had the divine pleasure of starting my day off today in Soho at the International Culinary Center (it's super cool and affiliated with the French Culinary Institute)! Thanks to my internship at Restaurant Business Magazine, I was able to go to the Celebration of Japanese Cuisines lecture series this weekend as am "associate editor" (check that out!). I could only make it to the chef demo this afternoon, but that was more than amazing! This is Josh DeChellis, executive chef of La Fonda Del Sol, which is a fancy Park Ave. restaurant;

He lead a lovely demo, featuring a few interesting Japanese ingredients, and he is not fancy pants at all. I learned a lot-- the way that the nagaimo cream-i-fied when microplaned totally blew my mind-- but the best part was of course tasting!

First, cold, silky somen noodles tossed with uni puree and topped with arare (puffed rice thingys) and a bit of nori (seaweed). It was refreshing and delicately of the ocean, like seafoam maybe- a kiss of the sea.

Secondly, a super complicated process for a beautifully clean finished product. Nagaimo pureed with lovely scallops from Hokkaido, then foamed with a whipped cream cannister. Then the foam is dolloped into simmering dashi to poach. Finally, the little foamy pillows are placed in a bit of Dargeeling-smoked unagi (eel) broth. Somehow, it was perfect. SuperUmami!

Chef DeChellis calls them "Clouds over Kyoto", which he was quick to admit is kind of hokey. Sometimes true sentiment is hokey and cheesy and there's just nothing to be done about it. They were cloud-like, ethereal and very beautiful so I think it's only right they should have a beautiful name.

Phew. All in a days work. Life is tough. Did I mention winter in New York is treating me quite well? Sun, sun, sun, all the time. As though the city weren't already spoiling me enough...

Swingline

2010-01-19T21:26:00.000-08:00

Staples. Everyone should have them, they're super handy. I had none back in August, but slowly over the course of the semester, I seem to have acquired some! This is one of ours, I especially like to break it out when I feel the pinch of the so-called "student budget". I hate that thing.

But I love this thing, and you will too.

Ta da! It's ...

Super Tasty Tuna Pasta

1 big can of tuna
1/2 an onion, chopped
1 can black olives (or any olives you have around, these are kind of optional)
1 anchovy
2 tablespoons of olive oil
cayenne
adobo
parmesean
your favorite pasta

(optional additions; a droplet of truffle oil, sun dried tomato, artichoke hearts, various types of olives, hearts of palm, anything in your fridge that could be deemed even vaguely Mediterranean.)

Warm the olive oil in a pan. Add the onion and anchovy and let the onions sweat and the 'chovy melt. This is a good time to drop pasta in some boiling water.

Open the can,drain the water and sprinkle a good dose of adobo and a good (very good) dose of cayenne right into the can on top of the tuna. If you're adding the droplet of truffle oil, this is the time for it.

When the onions and anchovy are nice and melty, dump the tuna in and give it all a good mix. At this point, I usually add a bit more oil, but it can be your call.

When the sauce is warmed through,add the black olives, kind of breaking them in half as you go. Stir, and add more oil. (I was probably up to about a 1/4 a cup of oil by the time everything was said and done. Obviously if you used tuna packed in oil, use a little less.)

With tongs or something similar, move finished pasta from the boiling water to the sauce pan. Toss everything together and shave lots of parmesean into it. Serve in lovely generous portions and top with more cheese and, you guessed it, another drizzle of olive oil!

2010, off to a promising start!

2010-01-04T22:57:00.000-08:00

A whole new decade! Wow. Pretty wild, huh? I spent the midnight moments at work, but as it happened there was no where else I would rather have been.

I arrived at 11am, ready for a loooong day, dressed in my NYC finest! Preparations for the evening began almost at once, balloons were everywhere!

Marcos, the fantabulous lunchtime Maitre d', was working lunch and also getting ready to be the musical entertainment for the night. He's kind of a powerhouse.

Raffaelle-- known as Raffa-- and Patrick busied themselves in the absence of ANY lunchtime customers, with tying the party balloons to Marcos belt loops without his knowledge. Thought I knew I should object, I have to say it was just a little bit funny to watch Marcos frantically setting up his equipment whilst dragging silver and gold balloons around. Nonetheless, I told Raffa he should probably sit in the corner for a bit and think about what he'd done. Being the only girl in a room full of boys gives you a surprising amount of clout. I try not to let it go to my head. Sort of.

Little by little things came together. Musicians arrived. Check out this guitar;

And the party was going at last!

Everyone was seated by 10:30, at which point the owner, Lumi and I began to toast the occasion, joining the waiters in a little (ok, a LOT) of Prosecco at midnight! Europeans really know how its done, I must say.

Even David joined the fun!

No place I'd rather have been. Throughout the evening, a feeling of complete happiness filled me up, as though I was with a family of sorts. A mis-matched, haphazard group of displaced people who have all come together in the same place at the same time, far from home, to celebrate together.

Some of us took the celebrations very seriously;

Some of us were a bit silly about it;

Some were just happy the dinner rush was over;

The strength and meaning of the connections that have been forged between me and these crazy Euro-goofballs over the past few months hit me like a ton of bricks. I love these people, and I feel so lucky to be a part of their world. This is a special time and I'm happy to be sharing it with them.

May 2010 bring you all the things you hope and more!

2009-12-20T21:33:00.000-08:00

I cannot believe I am going home to Portland tomorrow. Exciting, but strange. In the three short months since I booked my ticket, my whole world has changed. When I booked it, I thought of my flight from New York to Portland as a flight home. Now, I wonder.

Brooklyn gave us a stunning send off this weekend, in case you didn't hear. Rumors of snow swirled around all last week, but the Portland Girl in me was very skeptical...

Of course, the very same Portland Girl also woke up early Saturday morning, the day the snow was supposed to come, and raced to the window to check for snow. Nothing yet, but I opened the blind and cuddled up in bed to watch and wait.

Back in Portland, this would be a failed effort, sure to curse any .002% chance of snow. However, here in the BK, my faith was rewarded by 1pm with flurry after glorious flurry of the most delicate powder I've ever seen.

Just so happens, we had a little Christmas Party planned for Saturday night, so needless to say my excitement turned to absolute unbridled joy. I popped some more of that crazy-tasty gingerbread dough into the fridge and we rushed out into the day. The dusting that greeted us was barely a taste of what was to come...

Christmas shopping anyone?? How about these fabulous 1950's mugs?

David is unconvinced.

Rest assured, presents were indeed purchased, but I must remain mum as to the details, for what should be obvious reasons. As we meandered our way home to get our little home bedecked and bedazzled for our guests, I met the second love of my life.

Gingerbread in the oven, cocktails mixed, my very own Ultimate Christmas List playing on the stereo (and Ultimate doesn't even BEGIN to describe its awesomeness) and White Christmas playing silently on the tv for visual we were beyond ready! Before we knew it, the greatest little Christmas party was underway! Cheers!

After a few hours of eggnog, we went out to check on the accumulation and generally spread cheer outside good old 575, and in doing so discovered a whole new use for oven mits! Oven mits; the new Glittens!

Token snow angel! First of many, as it happened.

After a brief warm up-respite in the apartment, we braved the block up to Prospect Park. With 12 inches on the ground, the six (five of us Portlanders) of us were already pretty blissed out. As we entered Prospect Park, bliss balloned into complete awe.

3am. We have the entire park to ourselves. Hill after rolling hill lay in front of us blanketed in the most pristine white powder. Peace and joy flood my body. I wander away from the others, humbled by the beauty of this world.

But then I missed everyone. And there they were!

Back home, we went our various ways and/or crashed at the apt to sleep that magically deep sleep of people who spent the day playing in the snow.
Fig. 1: Jay

The snow-covered city beckoned once again this morning, and we were off once again!

How do you resist that? Brief stop in DUMBO at David's (YAY!) place of employment for a little peppermint mocha perk-up! The view isn't bad either.

Off to the Christmas capitol of NYC!

Rockefeller was a madhouse, shockingly, so my attempts at cute couple-y pictures felt sort of futile. Next years' Christmas card? Hmmmmmmmmm...

Well, I am going to miss the city this Christmas, it has been very good to me this year. Goodbye New York! Have a Merry Christmas, you have made my season oh so bright.

Invasion of the Gingerbread Men!

2009-12-13T20:50:00.001-08:00

Can you believe it is December 13th, and I haven't baked a single Christmas cookie yet? Well, I personally think that that is just silly. What with this work stuff, final paper writing (8 pages down, 10 or so to go!), and having a wee cold, I've fallen a bit behind on the most important thing-- spreading holiday cheer!!

Not to fear, these little fellows and their snowy friends perked me right up! The perfect way to pass a dreary Sunday night. As a small note, I'd say the perfect positioning of a dragee is an incredibly satisfying occupation. Can one get a job decorating Christmas cookies year round? Something to ponder....

They're here and they want you to eat them!

I love how as you go along, even though you cut them all from the same mold, each and every gingerbread man has a personality all his own. I call these two Fats and Gonzo, for reasons I think are quite apparent...

The one on the left here looks kind of tipsy to me, something about the smile. What about the guy on the right, he has a definite look about him, but I can't put my finger on it. Thoughts?

Oh, and these little beauties taste as good as they look. Here's the magic formula! They're pretty sticky, so make sure to be very free with the flour when you are rolling them out.

GINGERBREAD MEN

1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup molasses
1 egg yolk
2 cups flour
1/2 tsp each of baking soda and baking powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp cloves
1 tsp ginger

Cream together the butter and sugar. Add molasses and egg yolk. Mix well. Add all the dry ingredients, and mix just until it looks like ginger cookie dough. Chill at least 2 hours. Roll it out and cut out any shape that suits you! Bake at 350 for about 5-7 minutes. They bake up REALLY fast, keep your eyes on them. You want them to be nice and soft, right?

DECORATE!! Obsessively, in my case.

I used a simple powdered sugar/milk mixture for the icing and plenty of lovely silver and red dragees. Oh, and by the way, although there are many people who say you can eat them, there are just as many who say it's really not a good idea to do so. I'm in favor of playing it safe and not ingesting the little buggers, but it's your call. As always, this most important thing is to HAVE FUN and BE MERRY! They're Christmas cookies after all!

Liquid Christmas

2009-12-11T22:22:00.000-08:00

This is one schmaltzy cocktail, just like Christmastime is one schmaltzy time of year and just like I can really be one schmaltzy lady....

Here's what you'll need;

And to answer your question, heck no, Swiss Miss isn't a good hot chocolate-- it's Swiss Miss. It is what it is. Just like this drink. The little darling really twinkles my lights, and it doesn't hurt that it takes about 30 seconds to make. In this ridiculously icy weather, there's no better way to warm up. Christmas in a Cup! And anyway, these guys don't judge, they're just happy you're happy! See;

Anyway, this drink should make you feel festive and cozy all at once, I enjoyed mine from the sofa, wrapped up in a blanket as I basked in the glow of my very own Christmas tree. I highly recommend the entire experience.

Happy Christmas everyone!

BIG NEWS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2009-12-07T16:29:00.001-08:00

I love Starbucks now. There's no denying it. Why you ask? Why, Miranda, would you, a Portlander, a Stumptown barista, a general snob about coffee suddenly love Starbucks????!!

BECAUSE THEY EMPLOY MY OTHER HALF NOW THAT'S WHY!!!

As my dear friend Jessica said upon hearing the glad tidings, WOOOOOOOT!

Best Christmas present ever. I drink your latte!

Sometimes I feel very young.....

2009-11-29T20:38:00.000-08:00

Especially when Christmas time is coming and I'm in a city that makes me feel so gloriously small.

It was a gorgeous day today, and we watched the sun fall from a pier in DUMBO, dazzled by our adopted home.

Like they say, the best view of Manhattan is from Brooklyn.

Sometimes, I have to stop everything and embarass myself for a moment of Christmas cheer!

But I am getting ahead of myself. I had much to be thankful for this Thanksgiving, most of all, my Grandfathers health-- he had been not feeling well at all, which meant a whirlwind trip to Ohio the weekend before Thanksgiving, more on that in a later post! My poor and wonderful mother went from Portland to New York to Ohio, back to New York and finally home to Portland again in the space of a long weekend. Phew!

Anyway, I was thankful for the health and happiness of my family, and for all the lovely friends who shared our meal this year-- all NINE of them!

Plates piled high!

Gravy Toast! Vegetarian mushroom meets good old turkey gravy! Yum yum!

Not all of us could wait for dinner...MIKE.

As for David, he cooked arguably the BEST turkey in all of America this Thursday, and everyone pitched in and left us with food for at least a week--yay!

And the aftermath, we bask in the tryptophan glow...

Here's to a sparkly and warm Christmas Season full of , eggnoggy parties and PRESENTS and the Johnny Mathis masterpiece, "Marshmallow World" on repeat and most of all cozy homes filled with family and friends. Cheers!

pregame!

2009-11-25T23:52:00.000-08:00

1 14 lb Free Range Fresh Turkey

2 pans of stuffing, one sausage, one veg.

1 pumpkin pie, tucked away in the fridge.

2 big bags of frozen green beans, 2 cans Campbells cream of mushroom soup. A classic waiting to be recalled.

Home made cranberry sauce, already in its serving dish, tart and zest-packed.

6 lbs yukon golds, 5lbs sweet potatoes, straight from the Union Sq. Market (thanks Jay!)

10 people ready to come fill our apartment with happy holiday noises, hour after glorious hour.

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

A day in the Life of Miranda's New York

2009-11-16T19:27:00.000-08:00

A November day in pictures.

It doesn't matter how tired you are, getting up is pretty easy when the day looks like this outside your bedroom window.

Bye bye little apartment! I'll be back in 12 short hours!

Hello 7th AVE. You're my very own subway stop.

My train will come eventually, though the tunnel can look desolate.

At work, 30 minutes later (give or take). Lexington ave/63rd street. Fancy, for a subway stop. Which isn't saying much.

I call this "work".

But hostessing is the cushiest job ever invented, and it suites me. To call it work is a stretch.

Family meal, is what I see when I walk in, they're awesome. Alex, Arsi and Marcos. They call me honey and it's not creepy and make me special espresso drinks, occasionally spiked with Sambuca (whether I want it or not).

Alex and Tito.

Tito brings me coffee and tea and works harder than anyone I've ever met. Plus, he never fails to smile and ask me how I am when I come to work. Alex is from Albania, like most of the other servers, and is the one who secretly spikes my iced espresso. He's also just a really, really good guy.

I am done at 4pm, and I often like to walk over to Park Ave and work my way down 5th Ave. I always notice something new, today it was the Sherry-Netherland, which makes me think of Eloise.

Snow at Bulgari.

A candle and prayer at St. Patricks for someone I love very much.

New York gets ready for Christmas-- that scaffolding shields the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree...so soon!

Radio City Music Hall just couldn't wait. Typical.

David met me at the Union Square farmers market, and we visit Jay and his shaggy haired coworker at the notorious Pretzel stand!

Crunch crunch free pretzels.

Phew. A long lovely day. A city with so much beauty. Today I needed to look around and let the city carry me.

Treats and a very mellow night

2009-11-01T15:33:00.000-08:00

This is what Halloween looked like for us this year. Plus TONS of little kids-- did I mention that Park Slope is the stroller mafia capitol of New York City? Well, based on my very scientific study conducted yesterday as I wandered the area, I confirm that there are at least 12 children per adult in this 'hood. (Myself included? You be the judge.)
It all started with this!

Plus some of this!

And this.

Then we just got silly. And it all ended with me eating more Rice Krispie than anyone ever has before! Spoooooooooky!

Some people chose to play with the Krispies, as opposed to eating them. That is just soooo immature.

David says "This Guy".

Worlds collide in my little kitchen! And on that note, Happy November!

Thursday Night is Spaghetti Night!

2009-10-29T19:27:00.000-07:00

At least tonight it was! See...

Mmmm, pretty much hit the spot. I'm not going to bother to pass on the recipe, though, because tasty though they were, David and I agree that we're still on the hunt for the Greatest Ever Meatballs. Plus, they were kind of a lot of work and made LOTS of dishes, which always effects the tasty-ness scale. Oh and btw, don't worry, those white blobs are just melty mozzarella!

To commemorate all our hard work-- and to toast our 2nd month in NYC anniversary-- we treated ourselves to a yummy yummy wine that wasn't Chuck Shaw! Nice!

Well, Happy Halloween Everyone! We're having a little party, what are you doing?

Beauty...

2009-10-22T21:41:00.000-07:00

More than I have words for. I think autumn can speak for itself, don't you?

(Okay, a little cheat. This pickle picture deserves a little story-- we got these 5 DELICIOUS 3/4 sour pickles at the farmers market near our apartment for an absolute steal! I was drooling over the pickles and swooning over the samples, the pickle guy saw David behind me reaching for a cigarette and put 2 and 2 together and said "I'll give you five of these babies for a cigarette". Steal! And pretty funny, if you ask me. Not very Park Slope Farmers Market-y (aka. stroller ville).) But I digress...

Ahh, the infamous Union Square Greenmarket. We went to visit D's friend Jay- a "pretzel guy" (it's a thing, apparently), and left with a mountain of edible autumn.

Happy Fall New York!! That's what he says to me with that winning toothy grin!

Just in case you were worried, a sizable hunk of that Garlic Alpine is living in our fridge, getting smaller by the day!

That's Jay. He is our friend.

Heading home.

A tasty vegetable roast- parsnips, potates, herbs and TONS of olive oil. There's not much left...

Happy October everyone!