ta da

i took my breather and now it is time to truly embark on this adventure. i'm going to keep this up. i realized today that i think about food all the time. i wake up and i wonder 'will i  just drink coffee this morning, or perhaps i'll make some oatmeal.' i get to work and then i start to daydream about lunch and sometimes even dinner! i wish we had a microwave at the office because then i would be able to bring leftovers, but we make due with what we have. i'm sure it doesn't help (this whole food brain thing) that i read food blogs for about 50% of my day.

i just can't help it. i'm not apologizing for it, its just crazy that it really consumes my brain...its like my tastebuds control what i think about. thats why i started this blog. blog. ha. i know they've been around forever and i am just now joining the band wagon. and maybe i missed it and everyone is doing the next cool thing, but this pace, its good for me. its whatever i make it and i like that. its a little more safe and secure.

i have realized that i have to get better at taking in process pictures. thats what i like most about the other blogs that i read are all the pictures of the process and the process itself, which is also why i love cooking. i'm a process person. i like taking steps, multiple if necessary, to achieve a goal. ! yay process.

okay. this is what i tried tonight!
Garlic Butter Noodles
This was adapted from here

• 7 oz dry thin spaghetti (or egg noodles)
  
• 3 tablespoons of butter
• 1/2 cup of basil, chopped (or mint)
• a huge handful of spinach
  
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons light brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon soy sauce (or Maggi Sauce) i just realized this said 1 teaspoon! i read it as tablespoon
• 1 tablespoon oyster sauce

Preparation

1. in a large pot, bring water to a boil and cook noodles according to the package instructions. drain noodles and wipe pot clean. return pot to medium-high heat and add the butter. once butter sizzles, add garlic. fry for about 1 minute or until fragrant. dont let the garlic burn! (this all happens very fast, so it might be easier to have all of your ingredients preset.)

2. add brown sugar, soy sauce and oyster sauce and stir well. add noodles and toss evenly with sauce. stir in the spinach until it begins to wilt.

3. remove from pan and plate in a large bowl and toss with fresh basil. (i do think this would have been better with mint!)

4. enjoy.

the deal

i've been thinking about this a lot lately. i don't want this space to have just been another idea. so. promise to myself is (after this crazy week at work) that i am going to post once a week. something i make.

cheers.

adventures in the south

stuff done: i went to south carolina for my bf's 10 year reunion. it was quite fun. here's some photos from the trip...

busy bee

i has been awhile since i last did or wrote anything...but i will have you know, i am going to buy a bigger memory card today so i can take more pictures and hopefully someday i'll be able to buy a nice SLR to take more pictures. for the time being, me and my canon powershot are gonna become buddies. and, i'm really looking forward to it.

also. its so interesting to "follow" blogs; let alone food blogs. i think those of us that read them, read the same 7 and jump around to other suggestions from time to time. i say this  b.c i've noticed that theres a trend in what someone ifsattempting to cook, there's always similarities. it makes you really feel like you're involved in a community!

that's all. enjoy the crisping of leaves.
xo

presents

stuff done: i had a friend move to manhattan literally yesterday. he crashed on my couch the night before moving to what i am sure is a kick ass apt on the uws. i would love to someday live on amsterdam or columbus between 69 and 80. its such a cool neighborhood, albeit expensive as all get out but very nice nonetheless.

anyway - i've been having an itch for something sweet. even at work i said, out loud, i want cookies or brownies but the idea of buying them makes my stomach turn. i want to bake something sweet and eat it. so...i decided to bake a house warming gift (which i'm not even going to eat, unless tomorrow he wants to share them) i'm baking thumbprint cookies. with black raspberry jam.

i got the recipe from one of the blogs i read: eat make read. i dig kelly's blog a lot. she has a lot of good recipes and ideas. i want to read the book she posted today, especially if i'm getting into this cooking/stuff blog. the only thing missing is a camera.

i made these cookies for kyle after we talked at length last night about how, when he cooks he googles what he's in the mood for and the filters it through blogs. he browses a bunch of the blogs i frequent, so i thought using a blog i love would do perfect justice to these little guys!

and here's the recipe:
Cookie Dough
based on this recipe from everyday food

Ingredients

• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon lemon extract OR 1/4 teaspoon lemon zest
• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)
• 1 jar of jam

Preparation
1. in a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat butter, sugar, and salt until light and fluffy.

2. add egg yolks, one at a time, scraping the bowl after each addition. reserve egg whites. add vanilla and lemon extract or zest.

3. with mixer on low, add flour; mix just until combined. wrap in plastic; chill until firm, about 1 hour. to make ahead: refrigerate up to 2 weeks, or freeze up to 3 months.

4. preheat oven to 350°. remove chilled dough from refrigerator. using a small scoop, place round of dough on cookie sheet, about 1 inch apart.

5. using the bowl of a 1/4 teaspoon, make an indentation into each cookie.

6. whisk the egg white with 1 teaspoon water and brush each cookie with the wash. (i forgot this step so i did it after i had put the jam in the cookies.)

7. spoon 1/2 teaspoon of your chosen jam into each cookie.

8. bake for 13-15 minutes.

for me, this yeilded 20 LARGE cookies and b.c they were so big, i cooked them for about 20 minutes or so. (they smell, divine! the whole house smells of buttery goodness.)

let's hope he likes them!

delish!

stuff done: i took a really fabulous yoga class last night. it was a really specific class and i decided to give myself a solid intention for the practice for the evening so everything matched up brilliantly. we ended the class with a 3 minute seated meditation, which is not normally how they end a beginner level class and i wept. tears flowed from my eyes for those full three minutes. it was a lovely release.

i then had a hankering for mussels...
so i bought a bag at whole foods and tossed in a big glug of white table wine, a whole roughly chopped shallot, 5 chopped cloves of garlic, a bunch of herbs chopped up, a pinch of saffron and a whole tomato chopped. steamed them for about 15 (if that, i wasnt really watching) it was so yummy. i ate all of them. BY MYSELF. for some reason, i could eat mussels all the time, whenever. they are so good and so easy! (this picture is not what my mussels looked like...i borrowed it from this guy, thanks guy. :) )

on that note, i think i am going to dig out my old canon 35mm and start shooting!

inspiration

stuff read: one of the many blogs i read include this one. and on friday, brian posted a quote...

“one ought, every day at least, to hear a little song, read a good poem, see a fine picture, and if it were possible, to speak a few reasonable words.” – goethe