Thursday, February 10, 2011
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
soup season
Three recipes are calling to me right now, and all of them are soups. Perhaps I can feel it in my bones that the weather is about to nosedive, or perhaps I'm getting a cold - hopefully neither. Maybe if they sound good to you, too, then I can verify that their appeal has nothing to do with the weather or my general health!
1) Black Bean and Pumpkin Soup, from Smitten Kitchen. I wasn't all that into it until she started raving about it so much, and after reading through the entire post, it's all I can think about. I'm also a sucker for anything pumpkin, as you know.
2) Mushroom and Farro Soup, also from SK. Tim would never forgive me for this one, but it looks super flavorful and nourishing.
2) Garlic Soup - from 101 Cookbooks, which calls for 10-15 cloves of garlic. Good thing I already have a boyfriend.
I'll give you guys reviews as soon as I get around to making them. Anyone want to come over for taste tests?
1) Black Bean and Pumpkin Soup, from Smitten Kitchen. I wasn't all that into it until she started raving about it so much, and after reading through the entire post, it's all I can think about. I'm also a sucker for anything pumpkin, as you know.
2) Mushroom and Farro Soup, also from SK. Tim would never forgive me for this one, but it looks super flavorful and nourishing.
2) Garlic Soup - from 101 Cookbooks, which calls for 10-15 cloves of garlic. Good thing I already have a boyfriend.
I'll give you guys reviews as soon as I get around to making them. Anyone want to come over for taste tests?
Monday, January 31, 2011
zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance
Sara has been raving about the benefits of meditation for months now, and I think I'd like to go on a meditation retreat sometime - maybe this summer. After the month I've had, I'm so ready for a mental break - and places like Spirit Rock and Tassajara offer discounts for people under 25!
I've tried meditating before - briefly - and had a pretty rough time. My butt hurt. My back hurt. My nose itched. I couldn't concentrate on not concentrating. I kept thinking about things, like what I was going to get from the grocery store, and what my plans were for the weekend. And that was only a 30 minute session!
But from what I understand, these meditation centers offer a very Bay Area-influenced experience (i.e., the food served is very tasty, made from local, organic, sustainable, vegetarian ingredients). And especially after reading a recent article in the Times about how meditation may change the brain:
Reading: Cat's Cradle
Listening: Magnetic Man, Getting Nowhere
I've tried meditating before - briefly - and had a pretty rough time. My butt hurt. My back hurt. My nose itched. I couldn't concentrate on not concentrating. I kept thinking about things, like what I was going to get from the grocery store, and what my plans were for the weekend. And that was only a 30 minute session!
But from what I understand, these meditation centers offer a very Bay Area-influenced experience (i.e., the food served is very tasty, made from local, organic, sustainable, vegetarian ingredients). And especially after reading a recent article in the Times about how meditation may change the brain:
M.R.I. brain scans taken before and after the participants’ meditation regimen found increased gray matter in the hippocampus, an area important for learning and memory. The images also showed a reduction of gray matter in the amygdala, a region connected to anxiety and stress. A control group that did not practice meditation showed no such changes.Pretty compelling stuff, hmm? So, who's with me?
Reading: Cat's Cradle
Listening: Magnetic Man, Getting Nowhere
the saddest story ever told
I am not a happy camper.
As you may already know, I've had my eye on a Vince leather jacket for about a year and a half. It fits perfectly, has the butteriest leather, and feels delicious when I put it on. I went to visit it so often that the Vince salesperson at Bloomingdales even came to recognize me. But at the end of the day, I couldn't part with the thousand (!!!) dollars that the leather jacket costs.
Oh hello, lover.But ever since Rachel got on her eBay kick, making tons of money selling everything from Forever 21 to Tory Burch, I've had my eye on eBay scoping for a good deal. And I found one.
The perfect size! The perfect color! The seller had a 98% approval rating, over the course of 170 sales. And much to my shock and awe, I won it for $400, which is over 60% off if you consider San Francisco sales tax.
I paid on PayPal moments after winning the auction, and waited with mounting anticipation for the package to arrive in the mail.
And I waited...
And I waited...
And the estimated arrival date came and went. I've contacted the seller twice with no response. Finally, last week I escalated the issue to eBay, who will give me my money back if the seller doesn't address the issue within 7 days.
I don't think there's a lesson here, but I hope you share in my gloom. I guess the deal *was* too good to be true.
So the search continues...
Reading: Cat's Cradle
Listening: Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Maps (Cosmonaut Gretchen Remix)
lions, tigers, feathers, oh my...
Do we think feather earrings look A) edgy or B) trashy? I'm talking about this kind:
Not the Ke$ha kind:
Not the Ke$ha kind:
I hope you guys go with option A. I just bought a pair...
Sunday, December 5, 2010
bad words were said
Two things have inspired me to get back in the kitchen: Top Chef All Stars, which began on December 1st, and an interest in macrobiotics I picked up from one of Tim's new hippie housemates. She lent me a book called The Hip Chick's Guide to Macrobiotics, which I skimmed through as she went to meet with her chi healer.
I haven't been able to go on a decent grocery run in a while, so Chinese takeout and eggs and toast have been featured as recurring dinner entrees lately... not ideal. Even though it was pouring rain today, I braved the elements to head to Real Foods and stock up on staples.
First up: an interesting macrobiotic recipe I made for dinner (and will be eating for the next week), polenta with broccoli and pumpkin sauce. An odd combination of flavors, but felt very clean and healthy and comforting at the same time. Perfect for a rainy Sunday.
Then I decided to get ambitious: bacon and cashew caramel corn from Bon Appetit, which I was hoping to bring to work to woo my coworkers.
Looks pretty good, hmm? Well, while making the caramel (which was supposed to boil on high for a full 13 minutes), I noticed the sauce was turning brown after only about 5 minutes. I turned to the computer to double check the timing, and before I knew it, the smoke detector was going wild, my caramel was burning, and all was lost. I was torn between waving at the smoke detector with a pillow and saving the sauce, and didn't manage to do either successfully. Bad words were said.
It's probably for the best, though - I don't know if bacon cashew caramel corn really vibes with my new macrobiotic kick.
The Holiday Ball was this weekend, and I have only two pictures to show for it. I'll have to do a fuller post later, when I can steal from Rachel's photo collection.
Reading: nothing! Finished Liar's Poker a few days ago. Any recommendations?
I haven't been able to go on a decent grocery run in a while, so Chinese takeout and eggs and toast have been featured as recurring dinner entrees lately... not ideal. Even though it was pouring rain today, I braved the elements to head to Real Foods and stock up on staples.
First up: an interesting macrobiotic recipe I made for dinner (and will be eating for the next week), polenta with broccoli and pumpkin sauce. An odd combination of flavors, but felt very clean and healthy and comforting at the same time. Perfect for a rainy Sunday.
Then I decided to get ambitious: bacon and cashew caramel corn from Bon Appetit, which I was hoping to bring to work to woo my coworkers.
Looks pretty good, hmm? Well, while making the caramel (which was supposed to boil on high for a full 13 minutes), I noticed the sauce was turning brown after only about 5 minutes. I turned to the computer to double check the timing, and before I knew it, the smoke detector was going wild, my caramel was burning, and all was lost. I was torn between waving at the smoke detector with a pillow and saving the sauce, and didn't manage to do either successfully. Bad words were said.
It's probably for the best, though - I don't know if bacon cashew caramel corn really vibes with my new macrobiotic kick.
The Holiday Ball was this weekend, and I have only two pictures to show for it. I'll have to do a fuller post later, when I can steal from Rachel's photo collection.
Reading: nothing! Finished Liar's Poker a few days ago. Any recommendations?
Saturday, November 27, 2010
snacks on snacks
New blog title, new layout, new post. The excitement never ends!
Last Thanksgiving, I managed to document the end-to-end creation of a pumpkin pie, complete with pumpkin roasting. This year, I didn't quite have the time to roast a pumpkin, so Libby's was called in as a substitute. I made two pies, called (in Gap-isms) the "LY Pie" (last year pie, aka Heidi Swanson's Spice-Kissed Pumpkin Pie made with coconut milk) and the "TY Pie" (this year pie, aka Bobby Flay's Throwdown pie with a graham cracker crust). I also didn't manage to take ANY pictures, so these "inspiration photos" will have to do until I can steal some from Rachel's blog.
They were both pretty good, but not my best work ever. LY Pie's crust wasn't baked thoroughly, and I don't think there was enough sugar in the pie to offset the coconutiness. Too coconutty. And TY Pie's crust wasn't baked enough either, though it definitely had the better filling. The addition of heavy cream helps in that regard.
But I blame these shortcomings entirely on my oven. While making the TY Pie, butter in the crust melted and dripped through the edges of the tart pan and onto the bottom of the oven, where it started smoking like crazy. I had a smoke-filled apartment within seconds. Did my smoke detector go off? Yes, about two hours later, after I had already aired out the whole apartment but was working on baking the second pie at a higher oven temperature. I wonder if it's more sensitive to heat than smoke? Either way, it's a little disconcerting.
This year's Friendsgiving was a runaway success. We had 90% of the crew from last year, minus Julie (who is now visiting a boy in London) plus some new friendly faces. I'd also say that the food overall was somehow impossibly BETTER than last year. The turkey was perfect (thanks Tenley!), and all the sides truly hit the spot. And after watching both Home Alone and Love, Actually, I now feel totally in the holiday spirit.
And how could I not, especially after participating in Black Friday?? Total insanity! Gap was running a 50% Off The Whole Store event until 10AM (when I arrived), and it looked like a tornado had swept through the flagship store. There were clothes everywhere, people trying things on in the aisles, and an hour-long line that wrapped around the entire first floor. Insanity. The best part, though, was that at this flagship store, by 11AM, we had already generated as much retail volume as the store did last year for the whole day! Go get 'em, Gap!
In other news...
I felt the need to document some of the successful recipes I've created in the past few weeks, at the very least so I can refer back to them later.
Homemade Oreos, courtesy of Smitten Kitchen, which my boyfriend deemed "the best cookies I've ever made"
Spiced Pumpkin, Lentil, and Goat Cheese Salad (courtesy of Bon Appetit) - a lovely vegetarian complete meal, quite tasty. I substituted butternut squash for pumpkin, and used balsamic vinegar instead of red wine vinegar. Would anyone like to get me some cayenne pepper for Christmas?
Turkey Pesto Meatballs (c/o Bon Appetit) - brought these to a potluck last week... well, hang on. I met up with Tim and some friends before heading to the potluck, but the meatballs got devoured before we actually made it there. They're that good. I used a 50/50 turkey/beef ratio, and Newman's Own Tomato Pesto Sauce. The best part? From grocery store to table, this meal was complete in an hour.
Happy cooking!
Reading: Liar's Poker, Michael Lewis
Listening: Glee's cover of Teenage Dream
Last Thanksgiving, I managed to document the end-to-end creation of a pumpkin pie, complete with pumpkin roasting. This year, I didn't quite have the time to roast a pumpkin, so Libby's was called in as a substitute. I made two pies, called (in Gap-isms) the "LY Pie" (last year pie, aka Heidi Swanson's Spice-Kissed Pumpkin Pie made with coconut milk) and the "TY Pie" (this year pie, aka Bobby Flay's Throwdown pie with a graham cracker crust). I also didn't manage to take ANY pictures, so these "inspiration photos" will have to do until I can steal some from Rachel's blog.
They were both pretty good, but not my best work ever. LY Pie's crust wasn't baked thoroughly, and I don't think there was enough sugar in the pie to offset the coconutiness. Too coconutty. And TY Pie's crust wasn't baked enough either, though it definitely had the better filling. The addition of heavy cream helps in that regard.
But I blame these shortcomings entirely on my oven. While making the TY Pie, butter in the crust melted and dripped through the edges of the tart pan and onto the bottom of the oven, where it started smoking like crazy. I had a smoke-filled apartment within seconds. Did my smoke detector go off? Yes, about two hours later, after I had already aired out the whole apartment but was working on baking the second pie at a higher oven temperature. I wonder if it's more sensitive to heat than smoke? Either way, it's a little disconcerting.
This year's Friendsgiving was a runaway success. We had 90% of the crew from last year, minus Julie (who is now visiting a boy in London) plus some new friendly faces. I'd also say that the food overall was somehow impossibly BETTER than last year. The turkey was perfect (thanks Tenley!), and all the sides truly hit the spot. And after watching both Home Alone and Love, Actually, I now feel totally in the holiday spirit.
And how could I not, especially after participating in Black Friday?? Total insanity! Gap was running a 50% Off The Whole Store event until 10AM (when I arrived), and it looked like a tornado had swept through the flagship store. There were clothes everywhere, people trying things on in the aisles, and an hour-long line that wrapped around the entire first floor. Insanity. The best part, though, was that at this flagship store, by 11AM, we had already generated as much retail volume as the store did last year for the whole day! Go get 'em, Gap!
In other news...
I felt the need to document some of the successful recipes I've created in the past few weeks, at the very least so I can refer back to them later.
Homemade Oreos, courtesy of Smitten Kitchen, which my boyfriend deemed "the best cookies I've ever made"
Spiced Pumpkin, Lentil, and Goat Cheese Salad (courtesy of Bon Appetit) - a lovely vegetarian complete meal, quite tasty. I substituted butternut squash for pumpkin, and used balsamic vinegar instead of red wine vinegar. Would anyone like to get me some cayenne pepper for Christmas?
Turkey Pesto Meatballs (c/o Bon Appetit) - brought these to a potluck last week... well, hang on. I met up with Tim and some friends before heading to the potluck, but the meatballs got devoured before we actually made it there. They're that good. I used a 50/50 turkey/beef ratio, and Newman's Own Tomato Pesto Sauce. The best part? From grocery store to table, this meal was complete in an hour.
Happy cooking!
Reading: Liar's Poker, Michael Lewis
Listening: Glee's cover of Teenage Dream
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