If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!

watching: Charmed. It’s cheesy, but I like it.

eating: Elise’s Arroz con Pollo. It reminds me of the Boy, who is in Peru right now.

reading: 1,001 nights in Iraq. A beautiful story about a prisoner of war.

doing: rearranging my apartment. First it was the living room, then the bathroom and my roommate jsut rearranged her room.

photo credit: thms.nl

loving: the weather. So nice out lately.

wearing: tee-shirts and jeans. Been too busy/lazy to put effort into what I wear lately.

Share This

This cute little kit will let you make your own cookbook. It’s got a great binder with dividers, special paper and software to make your recipes look professional. ($60)

Get it at Give Simple 

Share This

Reading: Not Buying It by Judith Levine. it’s such a wonderful concept and I’ve nowed to be more simple this year. It may last until the next big sale at my favorite store.

Watching: Monk. Who can resist Tony Shaloub?

Eating: Brussels Spouts sauteed and glazed with some Maple Syrup. I got the original idea at 101Cookbooks (Heidi wrote the awesome Super Natural Cooking) and one of the other readers suggested the maple syrup. Yum.

Wanting: my perfect Serfontaine skinny jeans to fit.

Loving: my new West Elm Parsons desk. Pics to come.

Share This

Since I’m finally hosting Thanksgiving for more than one person at my house, and the new person is my brother’s new girl, I want to impress. That means I have to cook serious, not just throwing a turkey in the oven and hoping for the best, which is what my brother would normally get.

So, to be sure, I made a menu and I invited some discriminating friends over for dinner. Instead of turkey, I made chicken, but everything else was the same. It all turned out well, minus some bird timing issues. (keep scrolling for photos of the event)

All in all, no complaints were had.

The menu:

Champagne turkey (recipe)

Sweet potato, goat cheese and parmesan galette (recipe)

Cranberry spread (recipe)

Wild mushroom stuffing (recipe)

Mashed potatoes and gravy (I wing this all the time, no recipe needed)

I meant to take photos of the prepared food, except this is as close as I got.

I learned that none of my friends know how to carve a bird.

But we sure do know how to clean our plates.

Share This

Have you seen Waitress? You haven’t? It’s by Adrienne Shelly (she wrote, directed and even played a part in the movie). Tragically, she was murdered earlier this year, before the movie came out. It’s really sad, because the movie is fantastic and she had a great career before her.

Go see the movie, and then donate to Shelly’s foundation, which helps young female directors. Then, bake some of the pies in the movie.

Share This

Biscuits are my favorite thing in the world. I know I say that a lot about food, but biscuits and gravy are one of those things that I could possibly eat for the rest of my life and be happy. That list also includes mashed potatoes and fried rice, BTW. As well as a couple of Viet dishes.

Regardless.

Biscuits. I enjoy the biscuits that restaurants give you. I’ve yet to make biscuits that came out flaky and buttery like KFC or Red Lobster. But a ha! I can!

That is, if I use this Top Secret Copycat recipe. 

Share This

I roast a lot of chickens (see above). Mostly because I’m lazy and they feed me for a very, very long time. If I’m lucky, I find the poultry seasonings from TJ’s, but being TJ’s they don’t always have it. And how do I get the skin all crispy? I have no idea.

Fine Cooking tells me I should be using an initial surge of heat and butter might be just enough seasoning.

Share This

I’ve been on the hunt for a good recipe box. I considered getting this one from the Container Store. It’s very classy looking. But then I spied this oh-so-cute and fun box, with 50 free recipes, from Fred Flare. So it came. I got it and was all excited, until I realized that…I have no recipes. I have two that I added, one for flourless chocolate cake and the other for Thai-Style ground beef. Otherwise…I exist on vague memories of my mother’s cooking.

Is there anyone out there with good recipes? Something tasty?

Share This

Elise over at Simply Recipes posted the wondrous looking salmon stew the other day. I had to try it. It’s a version of a Moqueca, a type of fish stew. It was an amazingly simply recipe, with veggies I always keep around — onions, tomatoes and bell peppers. I imagine you can whip up plenty of variations of this stew with different veggies and fishes.

It did not take long at all to make and true to what Elise said, the stew only got better with age. It’s a light meal that keeps you full for hours.

Find the recipe here .

Share This

I’ve never had Meyer Lemons before, but when I saw them at the Farmer’s Market, I was enthralled. The smelled so rich, not as acidic as normal lemons. I bought a few and brought them home, no idea what to do with them. That’s hte joy of cooking for me. The thrill of finding a new ingredient, a new recipe. You gather all you need together and embark on a tiny adventure, all in your own kitchen. After some web surfing, I found this interesting recipe on Chow.com.

They came out a little more cake-y than I expected, a little dry. I prefer chewy cookies, but then I remembered my Mom’s icebox cookies, and that they were also very cake-y. Regardless, tasty.

You’ll need:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon finely ground black pepper
• 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup whole milk
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 large egg
• 1/4 cup finely grated Meyer lemon zes

Directions:

1. In a medium mixing bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Stir in the black pepper and set aside. In a large mixing bowl, use an electric mixer to cream the butter and sugar together on medium-high speed until they are light and fluffy and resemble wet sand.
2. Beat in the milk and vanilla until incorporated, then add the egg. Mix in the flour mixture and lemon zest until just incorporated.
3. Turn the dough onto a piece of plastic wrap and shape it into a log (approximately 12 inches long and 1 1/2 inches in diameter). Place in refrigerator until firm, at least 1 hour but preferably overnight.
4. When ready to bake the cookies, heat oven to 350°F. Remove cookie log from refrigerator and slice into 1/4-inch-thick rounds. Place on a nonstick cookie sheet and bake until golden brown on the bottom, about 12 minutes.

Share This