Archive for the ‘going-ons’ Category

So here I am. After all these years of dreaming and pining and living vicariously through friends, I’m finally taking a vacation exclusively in NYC. I’ve only been here 7 hours and already have had one of the best burgers (if not THE best) in my life and that’s just the beginning of this great food adventure. I plan to visit some fantastic museums and sites while I’m here of course, but let’s be honest, the food will be my focus. Walking, and lots (and lots) of eating.

This is also my first Thanksgiving I won’t be cooking since …well… I can’t even remember. Maybe 2003? Knowing I won’t be lifting a finger to cook tomorrow is bizarre and totally amazing. I’ll be spending the morning seeing the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade (in the flesh!!) and then having Thanksgiving dinner in Chinatown.

Feel free to follow along on my Flickr album!

Oof. I know it’s been ages since I updated but I have been knocked off my feet by the worst cold I have had in years. Fever, chills, ear aches, the whole 9 yards. My diet has mainly been what you see above – lots of tea and dry toast (plus Mad Men marathons). My two year anniversary of blogging happened a few days ago and I couldn’t even make anything to celebrate it (although trust me I will do something extra special to make up for it). I’m heading home in a few days for an Arcade Fire concert and to spend some time with my family so hopefully I’ll be up to snuff by then and cook a few fabulous things while I’m home. Til then, I shall retreat back to my Dayquil and Don Draper.

It’s time for… Oscar Oscar!

This year I’ve gone all out. I mulled over the idea of throwing an Oscar party and finally decided to go ahead and do it when I found this recipe for Popcorn-Raisinet Cookies I just about died over. Me being me, I had to embrace my old nickname of The Hostess with the Mostest and really have fun with the menu. The fact that the majority of my guests tonight will be my coworkers (aka great cooks but also junk food indulgers) made it extra fun. I wanted to theme everything served around a Best Picture nominee and here’s what I came up with:

I confess –  this post was written (and made) a week in advance, with the knowledge of where I would be yesterday. That place was sunny Orlando, FL, where I spent the day squealing and fangirling my heart out at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. I have no shame in saying I am a huge Harry Potter geek, but nothing compared to my sister V. So for her 30th birthday my other sister D and I surprised V with an all-expense covered trip to Orlando to visit the coolest attraction I’ve ever been to. This was a surprise 8 months in the making and we were so happy we could just combust. To celebrate, the weekend prior I decided to whip up one of the most mentioned treats in the HP universe: pumpkin pasties (that’s past-ees not paste-ees).

Pasties are a traditionally English baked good usually savory filled with meat and vegetables. Sort of like a high-end Hot Pocket. I ate them quite often while I studied abroad there (they were cheap, everywhere, and filling) and always have a special place in my heart. Since the pasties in HP are often sold on the Hogwarts Express with candy and other treats, we can assume J.K. Rowling’s would be sweet, not savory. So think of these as pumpkin handpies: buttery crust, sweet pumpkin filling, and lots of good spices. Just magical.

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Talk about a year of change for me. Going through the last 12 months of posts felt bizarre. I can’t believe how ancient some posts felt only to find out they were only 8 months old. My life in Colorado seems like it happened eons ago, as does everything I cooked there. My life is much different now than it was last December 31st (for the better) and I’m very interested to see what 2011 brings. I definitely didn’t follow up on my pie crust resolution of last year (whoops) and have yet to make any resolutions for the coming year. Everything that comes to mind is sort of opposite what you should do: cook more red meat (eat healthier), try more whiskey varieties (cut down on drinking), bake more cookies (lose weight). We’ll see what happens…

Here are my top 10 favorite posts (in no order), whether it be recipes I loved, the photos, triumphs over failure, or a combination of all of the above.

Happy 2011, everyone!

grandma esther’s chicken noodle soup

I love making my grandmother’s recipes and this was definitely my favorite so far. Plus it was like two posts in one with the added step of making your own chicken stock. Yum.

spaghetti and meatballs

I’m a huge sucker for pasta with tomato sauce (#1 comfort food), so anytime I get to make my own from scratch plus bake up some kickass meatballs (made with bison meat no less) definitely makes the top 10.

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