Birthday Boy

This weekend, I helped my darling fiance celebrate his last birthday as an unmarried man! On Friday night, we enjoyed happy hour drinks and $0.75 sliders at the American Sector, then hung out with our friends Steph and Brandon at our house.
On Saturday, we attended Hogs for a Cause and ate lots of Barbecue while helping to support pediatric brain cancer research. I had pulled pork macaroni, boudin balls, brisket sliders, and a salted fudge brownie. Stephanie and Brandon gave him a confederate flag belt buckle/beer opener for his birthday. I'm sure the people in Maine will love it. :P

What a beautiful day for a BBQ!

That night, we went to the LPO and saw Sir James Galway. Sir James Galway was awesome- incredibly talented, very Irish, and really quite adorable. I told my darling fiance that I want to take him home and keep him in a shoe box under my bed. (For the record, I also feel this way about Danny Devito.)

Wearing the Derby hat I gave him for Valentine's Day and sporting a seriously cute beard

Sunday was my darling fiance's 31st birthday. Of course, I chose to celebrate this momentous occasion with lots of food. In the morning, I made him eggs with black truffle butter, and for dinner I bought a pheasant from Rare Cuts for him to cook on the grill. The pheasant turned out really well- I butterflied it, rubbed it with honey and olive oil, and then he weighed it down on the grill with several cast iron skillets and cooked it for 30 minutes, turning it every 10 minutes (then every 5 minutes for the last 10, so it would be even). I served it with a side salad and mashed celery root with cranberry wensleydale cheese.
Dessert was a double peanut butter iced cake with chocolate ganache. It was a hit. :)
Hopefully, we'll have at least as much fun next year for my darling fiance's first birhtday as a married man! :)

I almost forgot!!

The most random thing about my bachelorette party is that when we picked our car up from the Ritz, I saw Shaquille O'Neal! So cool!
(Also, I'm wearing 2 inch heels in this picture.)

Happy Camper

I'm going camping for the first time ever this weekend! (In fact, I'm blogging when I should be loading up the car.) I'm actually fairly terrified of sleeping with nothing between the great outdoors and myself but soft tent walls, but I guess there's no time like the present to conquer my fears. Also, I love hiking so I'm looking forward to doing some of that. The best part of going out into the wilderness this weekend is that the wilderness is going to be a lot cleaner than my apartment. The charm has struck again! My entire bathroom is being ripped out and replaced because the tub (and a concrete slab that was inexplicably poured below it to level out the floor) has apparently been sinking through the rotten wood below it. Our handyman has expressed wonder that I didn't fall through the ceiling and die. Awesome.
So anyway. Camping is probably less scary than bathing in my house.
Wish me luck!

Peril

I am a nail biter. I don't bite my nails every day (more like once a month), but my habit is still pretty awful. In my case, I am fully capable of growing my nails out, but once they are long and pretty- they are in imminent peril. Sometimes I bite them out of boredom or nervousness, but what usually happens is that one nail will inevitably break. Of course, it will break when I have no access to a nail file or clippers, and I'll bite it to make it as smooth as I can for the time being. But once I bite that nail, I want to bite all of my other nails too so that they'll be "even." This of course leads to a downward spiral ending with me having gross nubs for fingernails.
Right now, my nails are nice and long and I'd really like to break the cycle. I think I might try to get a manicure today if I have time.
I'm kind of busy today because I'm getting a "trial" wedding updo after work. Today's gross weather is horrendous for hair- cold, rainy, and windy, which is perfect because if my updo can withstand this weather, it can withstand anything! I am also attending Tulane's Med Prom, so my hair and I will be out and about. Other plans this weekend are to run a few miles (I'm tapering since my marathon is in 9 days! Eek!), go to the Vietnamese New Year's Celebration in New Orleans East, and get croissants with Steph and Sarah on Sunday. Should be fun!

Does anyone have any good tips on how I can stop biting my nails?

Christmas Spirits

This weekend was SO busy! After the Christmas party on Friday (which went swimmingly), I attended an afternoon wedding on Saturday, the first of two family Christmases on Sunday (which involved a 3.5 hour drive each way), and a latkes party at Sarah and Jon's house on Mon. The holiday season is clearly in full swing! As for the rest of the season, I'll be seeing my friends Bonnie and Gabe (who now live in Sacramento) on Thurs. (and having a Reveillon dinner at Upperline- Yum!), spending time with my family (and eating Christmas dinner #2!) over the actual holiday, and seeing my friend Kristi (now living in San Francisco) the Monday after Christmas!
I promise I'll put up a few pictures from my Christmas party soon (my Mom sent me a fabulous homemade ugly Christmas sweater!) but to tide you over, I thought I'd post the drink recipes from our party.
The first year we threw a Christmas party, I made a list of the alcohol and mixers I thought we should buy for the party- basic stuff like wine, beer, rum, vodka, orange juice, and Coke. My darling fiance read my list, declared that screw drivers and rum and cokes were off the list due to this being a "Christmas party rather than a frat party" and sat down and came up with a list of fun holiday cocktails to make during the party. He even printed up a drink menu for our guests!
Since then, fancy drinks and a printed drink menu have been a big part of our Christmas party. Much like my food menu, the drink menu has evolved over the years- we keep the things that everyone loves and rotate out the drinks that didn't go over very well (this painful candy cane martini from our first party springs to mind- it went the way of the gougeres I made that everyone mistook for biscuits). Regardless of the drinks we decide to make, I think my darling fiance does a great job as a bartender every year, and I think that this year all the drinks were very good.
The classics that we've kept year after year are the Poinsettia Cocktails (my absolute favorite), Peppermint Patty shots (tasty and not overly alcoholic), Brandied Port (the gentlemen always love this one), and Brandy Milk Punch (a New Orleans classic).

Poinsettia

3 ounces cranberry juice, chilled
3 ounces champagne, chilled
1 ounce triple sec

Pour into a fluted champagne glass, stir, and serve.


Peppermint Patty

1/2 oz. crème de cacao
1/2 oz. peppermint schnapps
1 oz. cream

Stir with ice , strain into shot glass

Brandied Port

2 ounces ruby port
1 ounce brandy
Dash fresh-squeezed lemon juice (optional)

Shake well with ice and strain into chilled cocktail glass; garnish with twist of lemon or orange peel.

Brandy Milk Punch

1 ½ ounces brandy
1 ounce simple syrup
½ bar spoon high quality vanilla extract
A couple ounces of Half-and-half
Cubed ice
Grated nutmeg

Pour brandy, simple syrup, vanilla extract and half-and-half into a pint glass. Add ice to a shaker and shake the concoction until well mixed and frothy. Add cubed ice to a rocks glass and, using astrainer, pour the mixture into it. Top with a bit of grated nutmeg.

The new drinks we tried this year were the Cherry Gin Sling (this one seemed to be the least popular, but I enjoyed it), the Rosemary Salty Dog (the Rosemary provided a delicious aroma and made this drink very Christmas-y), and the Elf in a Blender (which tasted like a really delicious strawberry daiquiri).

Cherry Gin Sling

2 ounces gin
1 ounce cherry brandy
4 ounces club soda
grenadine or Pom Cherry Pomegranate juice (optional)

Pour gin and brandy in serving glass over crushed ice. Top up with club soda and garnish with
maraschino cherries. You can also add a splash of grenadine or juice for a little added sweetness and color.

Rosemary Salty Dog

1 grapefruit wedge
Kosher salt
One 1-inch piece of rosemary sprig, plus 1 sprig for garnish
1/2 teaspoon sugar
2 ounces fresh red grapefruit juice
1 1/2 ounces gin
Ice

Moisten the outer rim of a martini glass with the grapefruit wedge and coat lightly
with salt. In a cocktail shaker, muddle the 1-inch rosemary sprig with the sugar. Add
the grapefruit juice, gin and ice and shake vigorously. Strain into the martini glass and
garnish with the rosemary sprig.

Elf in a Blender

3 pounds strawberries, hulled and coarsely chopped
2/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons citrus vodka
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
Ice
1/3 cup chilled Riesling

In a bowl, toss the strawberries with the sugar and let stand, stirring occasionally, until
the strawberries release their juices, about 10 minutes.
In a blender, combine half each of the strawberries and their juices, the vodka, wine, and
lime juice with 1 cup of ice and puree. Pour into a pitcher. Repeat with the remaining
strawberries and juices, vodka and lime juice and 1 more cup of ice. Fill 10 tall
glasses halfway with ice. Pour the cocktail into the glasses, top each with about 1/2
tablespoon of Riesling and serve.

What's your favorite holiday libation?

Getting Medieval

The Louisiana Renaissance Festival on Sunday was a lot of fun! We at roasted turkey legs, scotch eggs, and Shepard's pie. We saw a skeleton puppet named Ded Bob do stand up, a wench show, a falconry show, a joust (which seemed to have taken a great deal of it's inspiration from WWE, and a juggling duel that involved the losing juggler rolling across a stage covered in mouse traps. The funniest thing about the festival was that there are apparently people (who own VERY elaborate costumes) who go to fair after fair, year after year. We definitely heard how Ded Bob was better when he was a strolling attraction who started out at the Texas Ren Fest, and met a guy who had seen the wench show "hundreds of times." I didn't wear a costume (just my sweet new old man hat), but my darling fiance wore a kilt, and my friends Sarah and Jon dressed up like a king and queen. I took lots of pictures, of course. Here are a few of my favorites.

Everyone watching the falconry show

Queen Sarah speaks softly but carries a big...hammer

King Jon would like to Axe you a question. :P

Scotland Forever!

My darling fiance's costume earned him lots of compliments!

Newsies, Merlin, and Braveheart?

Braveheart with Queen Sarah and King Jon (and Merlin)

Jousting!

Seasons

I love how we're sitting on the edge between seasons this week. This past weekend I was basking in the sun on the beach in Ft. Walton, Fl (thanks to my friend Steph's lovely parents who let us use their condo!) and this weekend the plan is to go to my friend Jon's family farm and have a bonfire and make s'mores. Love it!
I'm also enjoying welcoming fall food back into my house. Currently there is an acorn squash and a bunch of fresh brussels sprouts sitting in my fridge, waiting to be devoured. Yum!
I found myself sending my mom a bunch of meatless dinner ideas today and thought I'd share the list here because it is a good one. (And in true flexitarian style (p.s. I actually hate the word flexitarian), I am also planning a post on roast chicken- just as soon as I roast one during daylight hours so I can take decent pictures of the process.)
But anyway, if anyone is looking for a little meatless inspiration, I hope my list will be helpful. Note: This list is, for the most part, decidedly non-vegan (I love me some eggs and cheese).

Lentils and brown rice:
Cook dried lentils according to package directions. I like to season them with garlic, onion, chopped tomatoes, salt and pepper, and Worcestershire sauce. I serve them alongside stewed okra and tomatoes (basically, you cook frozen okra with a can of stewed tomatoes) and cornbread.

Tex-mex rice bowls:
Black beans and brown rice topped with any of the following: cilantro, lime juice, salsa, chopped tomato, sauteed onions and garlic, mushrooms (sauteed or fresh), chopped green onions, avocado, cheese, or sour cream.

Black beans and saffron rice:
Saffron rice comes in packages at the grocery store, and is bright yellow and darn tasty. Top this combination with black olives, green onions, and chopped tomatoes or salsa.

BBQ bean bowls:
Black (or red) beans and brown rice topped with BBQ sauce, green onions, and mushrooms.

White beans and Kale:
This is my favorite winter meal. White beans sauteed with hot sauce, lemon juice, onion, garlic, Kale and topped with lemon zest, and Parmesan; served atop brown rice.

Roasted tomatoes, onions and white beans:
Toss a pack or two of cherry tomatoes (or any other small tomato or halved roma tomatoes) and some roughly chopped onion with olive oil, salt and pepper and roast at 400 for 30 minutes. Pour tomatoes and all their juices over a bowl full of warmed white beans. Add some basil (fresh is best but I also like to get the squeeze bottle of chopped basil at the grocery instead of having to use dried basil) and mix everything up. Serve this over toast- it's beans a la king!
.
Other quick bean ideas:
Garbanzo beans stir fried with Kale, lemon juice, and lemon zest.
Baked beans on top of a microwaved or roasted sweet potato.
Baked beans on cheese toast (preferably whole wheat) with chopped tomatoes.
White beans mixed with diced green chilies, cayenne, and cumin make white chili. Top with cheese.
Black beans, salsa, and cheese in a whole wheat or blue corn tortilla.

Veggie Enchiladas:
Roast some chopped squash, mushrooms, and zucchini (and really whatever veggies you like- experiment!) at 400 for 30 minutes. Place cooked veggies inside whole wheat tortillas, along with some shredded cheese, and plain yogurt (or sour cream) mixed with salsa- be careful not to overfill! Roll the tortillas up (I find that 4 tortillas worth is plenty for 2 people), and top with enchilada sauce (you can get this in a can at the grocery store on the mexican food isle) and more shredded cheese. bake at 350 for 20 minutes.

Kale, Eggs, and Potatoes:
I chop up red potatoes and toss them with olive oil, salt, pepper, and thyme- them roast them for 30-45 minutes at 400. While that's going on, I simmer Kale in about a cup of water with garlic and onion, lemon juice, a little hot sauce, and lots of black pepper (this takes 15-30 minutes, just check occasionally to make sure the kale is done). I serve the Kale with a fried egg on top and the potatoes with ketchup mixed with hot sauce for dipping.

Kale Spaghetti:
Cook the Kale like you do above, then toss it with some cooked spaghetti and Parmesan or goat cheese. You can top this with a poached egg too. Poaching eggs is really easy. You add a splash or two of vinegar (you won't taste it, I promise) and a little salt to a small pot of water and bring it just to a boil, meanwhile, crack an egg into a small bowl (this is really important. You can't just crack the egg into the water or it will break). When the water is just boiling, turn down the heat, gently slide the egg into the water, then cook for 3 and a half minutes. Remove it with a slotted spoon to let the water drain off before you put it on your food.

Baked Eggs in tomatoes:
Hollow out a couple of tomatoes and throw away the tops. season inside the tomatoes with salt and pepper, then sprinkle in a little cheese (goat cheese is awesome here- but you can use any cheese or any sort of spices you like really, just don't add too much b/c you want room for an egg inside the tomato). Crack and egg on top, being careful not to spill it. Bake at 400 for 30 minutes or until the egg has set. Serve with toast or a side salad.

Scrambled egg tacos:
Fill either whole wheat or blue corn tortillas with scrambled eggs, salsa, and shredded cheese. Devour. :)

Scrambled eggs and portobello mushrooms:
Brush portobello mushroom caps (2 or 3 per person) with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and broil for 10 minutes, turning them over after 5 minutes. In the meantime, scramble 2 eggs per person. Put eggs on top of the mushrooms. You can add toppings like goat cheese or veggies to this too, but it's surprisingly good plain.

Veggie omelets:
My favorite omelet in the world contains, fresh spinach, fresh chopped tomatoes, and feta cheese. So fresh and delicious.

Tomato soup and grilled cheese. It doesn't get any easier.

Something to Write About

Inspiration strikes!
I am having some members of my sorority alumni club over for dinner (and a board meeting) next week and I intend to feed them. I looked at Smitten Kitchen for some menu ideas and I think I'll make cranberry walnut chicken salad (minus the celery and with basil instead of taragon, because BLEH) on croissants, with a green side salad, and blondies for dessert. I think I may also make the Israeli salad with pita chips for dipping as a starter, but I haven't decided yet. The burning question is: what should I put in the blondies?
Some of my blondie ideas are chopped dried figs (presoaked in bourbon) + almonds, white chocolate + raspberries, butterscotch chips + chocolate chips....

So please, help me decide! A) Should I make the Israeli salad or not? and B) What should I put in my blondies?

A lot to catch up on

Sorry I haven't written in so long! I've been a busy busy girl!
On the vegetables front, I have to say that I have completely fallen off of the 5 a day wagon. I had good intentions but at the end of the day, I just don't like snacking on raw veggies in the afternoon, and weekend spontaneity and rigid resolutions don't mix. So let's just file this under "reasons Shelly can never be a vegetarian" and not speak of it again.
As for fitness, I tried two new things last week. On Tuesday I took a spinning class and since there weren't that many people at the Pilates studio on Wed. (due to St. Patrick's Day, I'm sure), our class got to do a half mat/half reformer machine class. Both spinning and Pilates reformers were intense. I actually ended up having a good bit of pain in my left hip (from the reformer, I think) so I think I will be skipping Pilates this week. I'm doing well with my running and feel 100% prepared for the Crescent City Classic because I ran 6 miles last weekend. This weekend I ran 4 and walked an additional 1.5 on Friday with my running buddy Margee, then ran 5 and walked an additional mile with my friend Gretchen on Sunday. I am really proud of Gretchen because I talked her into signing up for the classic and she did great during our run yesterday!
Socially, I have been out and about more often than not. Last weekend I went to the St. Patrick's Day Parade and my friend Sarah R's birthday party on Saturday and to a bridal show at Ralph's on the Park on Sunday. The bridal show was very nice and, unsurprisingly, my favorite vendor was the man giving out samples of Champagne. I got to try Dom Perignon, Veuve Clicquot Rose, and Ruinart, which is really really good!
On Monday, my wedding dress came in, so I used my lunch hour to go pick it up. So exciting!! (And I'll get to wear it in just under 13 months- wee!) I also went to my friend Sarah T's house for an early St. Patrick's Day potluck dinner full of green food. (I brought sprite and lime sherbet floats for dessert.)
On Thursday, I attended a cocktails and canapes event at the Bourbon House.
On Friday, we went to the Hi Ho Lounge and saw both Debauche the Russian Mafia Band, and Slow Burn Burlesque. I'd never seen a burlesque show before, but I really enjoyed it.
On Saturdaym my darling fiance and I went to the local French/English bilingual school's Fete Francaise and then to a fundraiser for the Southern Rep Theater that featured music from Kermit Ruffins and Trombone Shorty, lots of really good food (including a whole roast pig filled with jambalaya) and a silent auction. I bid on and won a necklace from Symmetry Jewelers (the same jewelers who made my engagement ring). It's really pretty- a crescent moon and stars formed into a silver circle.
On Sunday, I ran with Gretchen, then tried to go to Hancock Fabrics with my friend Sarah L, but the store was closed due to a parade in Metairie. So we got ice cream instead. After that I volunteered at the Poydras Home (I called bingo- it was so much fun!), then got our groceries for the week. We ended the weekend by grilling salmon, chicken sausage, bbq chicken (the latter two meats are for us to eat this week), a halved artichoke, and roasted garlic bread. It was a great dinner!
Tonight I have bookclub and tomorrow I have a board meeting for my Theta Alum club.
And I am officially tired from just typing all this!!
BUT I still have some really great stuff to talk about- I just think I'll put it in a separate post because this one is getting long!
Check back soon!

Great Day

I ran 5K this afternoon! I have been more than ready to get back into the swing of things and I'm finally feeling well enough to do it! I'm also running three miles with my marathon running friends on Sunday to help encourage them. I'm really looking forward to that. Running puts me in such a good mood! Of course I'm pooped now, which is kind of lousy- I remember when I thought 5K was too short for a short run. Oh well, I'll get my stamina back!
Other upcoming highlights include dinner at Coquette with my darling fiance tonight, brunch at the Ruby Slipper followed by a trip to the art museum to see the Disney Exhibit tomorrow, and Alvin Ailey at the ballet tomorrow night. We also went to the LPO's performance of Pictures at an Exhibition last night. It was beautiful!
On the vegetable front, things have been going really well. I've been averaging 6 servings of veggies and 2 of fruit a day (and never fewer than 5 servings of veggies). My biggest observation is that I am eating a huge volume of food! My second observation is that I hate carrot juice. Haha!
This week my darling fiance and I have gone through a bag of spinach, a bunch of kale, 2 sweet potatoes (topped with Amy's Organic Veggie Chili-yum!!) and a plastic box of salad. We've also nearly finished off a small raw veggie tray. We've also eaten a lot of other assorted veggies (we grilled burgers and had kabobs with tomato, squash, and zucchini one night, for example) and frozen veggies. As for fruit, we've gone through 3 blood oranges, most of a bag of apple slices (plus about a quarter of a bag of apple slices from last week), 2 frozen bananas, and a lot of frozen blackberries and cherries. (I've eaten most of the fruit.)
Things that have worked really well include the green monsters, the sweet potatoes with vegetarian chili (it's also low salt, which is a big plus), the grocery store salad bar, and of course the kale. :) I got a little tired of the salad by the end of the week because the frisee made it kind of bitter. The veggie tray has been as good as veggies can be as an afternoon snack (I dipped the carrots in cashew butter one day and was a huge fan), but I don't know if it's going to stick as a habit. I do like my greek yogurt ranch dip though.
So anyway, so far, so good!
Health wise, the other healthy thing I did this week was order a swimsuit. I'm going to start swimming at the gym with my running buddy Margee (who's training for a sprint tri, not to mention running in the Mardi Gras Marathon on Sunday- she's awesome!) and I needed a suit that would stay on a little better than my standard bikinis. Fortunately, Margee sent me a site that sells swimsuits at a pretty nice discount. I ordered this speedo in Navy. I think that it's pretty cute, actually. Hopefully it fits because I don't want to deal with sending it back and getting a different size. Some of the suits are hilariously garish- like this one, this one, and this one. (I kinda like the wonder woman suit though....)
I used to swim (recreationally) all the time when I was growing up because we had a huge pool, so I'm eager to get back in the habit!
Okay, I need to go walk the dogs, dry my hair, and pick out something to wear for tonight. Have a great weekend!

Having a Ball

I will technically be going to three balls this Mardi Gras Season. The first, on Friday, is not actually associated with a krewe. It is the Cripple Creek Theater's Masked Mardi Gras Ball. They are also performing Ubu Roi. So I get to dress up, wear a mask, have wine and cheese and enjoy a play all in one evening! :)
Next weekend I have two balls. I'm going to Arthurians again, and I'm also going to the Bacchus ball this year. Arthurians is Friday and Bacchus is Sunday. I am going to feel seriously awful on Monday! Fortunately (or unfortunately) I am going to take Monday off instead of Fat Tuesday (an office holiday)- because I have to fly to Houston for work on Mardi Gras day! (I still think this is an injustice, although I am bending it to my advantage.)
The other big event for New Orleans coming up is, obviously, the Superbowl. I'm not sure what I'm going to do on Sunday night. I don't have TV in the apartment, and I've only watched one game this year (I may not be a fan of football, but at least I'm not a fair-weather fan either!) but I think I would like to watch the game on Sunday. I don't want to go downtown though. I may go watch it in Metairie with my friend Steph and her game watching group. We'll see. I'm also going to go to the Barkus parade on Sunday afternoon. I think I'll be leaving my dogs at home though- they are a handful around other doggies.
Prior to the Masked Ball tomorrow, I am going to check out Calcasieu because I want to have our rehearsal dinner there. I don't have a lot planned for Saturday, but I do want to go to Magazine St. to find a Valentine's gift for my darling fiance. This could be dangerous b/c I am really good at finding things for myself on Magazine St. :)

Wedding Stuff

It's been almost a month since I got engaged and people have started asking me how my wedding planning is going. My answer is, slowly. In all fairness, we've kind of narrowed the date down to March or April of 2011, so there is plenty of time. On Saturday we're going to look at two potential venues, which I am looking forward to. I want to be able to imagine details of what everything will be like, but I find that to be pretty difficult when I haven't even seen the places where I'm thinking about having the wedding and reception.
Other progress:
We've "envisioned our event," as the knot would say. Basically this means that we have agreed that it will be inside, during the evening, and that the wedding and reception will be in the same place. We favor cocktails and appetizers over a sit down meal.
I know what I don't want in a dress- I am basically going for the opposite of the poofy princess dress. I'd love something fitted and maybe even short. That's all I know- I haven't done much else beyond dismiss the majority of wedding dresses on the internet as entirely too poofy, and wonder aloud if the Jcrew dresses would look good on someone other than Keira Knightly's clone. (I particularly like the second dress I've linked but I don't think it's designed for someone with boobs.)
I have a vague image of white flowers with dark green leaves in mint julep cups.
Oh and I've added a bunch of wedding blogs to my google reader. That totally counts as progress, right?

Other events coming up include my Theta Alumni Club's wine and cheese party tonight (I've made Smitten Kitchen's cheesecake brownies, and urge you to do the same because they are amazing), and a night out on the town tomorrow. We are planning to go to the GAPSA (graduate and professional student association) mixer which gets all the grad students (and their dates) at the various colleges in town together for free drinks; and then we're going to the Marigny to listen to Debauche- The Russian Mafia Band. We keep tossing around the idea of asking them to play at our wedding, but we're worried that they're a little too non-traditional. :) And on Monday my office is having their annual Thanksgiving Potluck which I really enjoy. The food is always really good. I'm making Macaroni and Cheese (also from Smitten Kitchen).

Restaurants I Love in Houston

I have to travel to Houston for work this week. I dislike the long hours I work when I travel for business, but I do enjoy having an excuse to eat out. Some of my favorite places near the office are Sushi Jin, Nit Noi, and Bistro Provence. I will also probably get room service for dinner one night of the trip. Getting room service always makes me feel pampered. The other upside of staying in a hotel is that I will have access to cable. I don't have TV at home (by choice), and it's a nice novelty when I get to watch it.
It kind of stinks that I have to travel for work though because I am going to miss my darling fiance (new bloggy nickname, ahoy!). He's actually leaving town to go to NYC with his Mom for the weekend (lucky boy!) just as I get back in town.
Because of this, we actually exchanged anniversary presents this past weekend (our 3 year anniversary is technically on Halloween) and he got me a Wine Maker! My cabernet-shiraz blend is currently fermenting away in the corner of my kitchen- and I am eager to see how it turns out. It's definitely a good gift for the wine loving chemist in your life. :)
Other notable events this weekend were my friend Sarah's Halloween Party on Friday (very fun), the Houston Ballet on Saturday (very good, except for the last Twyla Tharp piece that featured costumes that were distractingly ugly.), and The Race for the Cure on Sunday (I ran with Steph- it was her first race and she did great).
I also used Pumpkin in several new recipes this weekend. First, I made pumpkin dip, which I served in a hollowed out pie pumpkin at Sarah's party. Dippers were apple slices, cinnamon graham crackers, and caramel/vanilla marshmallows. The biggest change I made to this recipe was to dramatically increase the amount of cinnamon called for (I think tripled it at least).
When I woke up the next morning, I made Pumpkin Spice Whole Wheat Pancakes by adding cinnamon (I have no idea how much, let's just say several good shakes) and about 1/4 a can of pumpkin to a half portion of this recipe (to make 4-6 medium sized pancakes)- then thinning the batter to the standard pancake batter consistency with a little water.
Finally, on Sunday, I used the remained 1/4 cup of pumpkin in an easy pulled chicken crock pot dish. I sliced 2 chicken breasts, then added 1/4 can of pumpkin, 1 can of black beans, 1 cup of chopped onion, a few generous shakes of tabasco sauce, and about 2 cups of salsa to my crock pot. I cooked the chicken on high for 3.5 hours, then took the meat out of the pot, shredded it, and stirred it up in the sauce. I expected this to taste very southwestern, but it actually just made a nice brown gravy with beans and chicken in it. I served it on tortillas with cheese and plain greek yogurt, but I think that my darling fiance will be eating the leftovers with bread during the week (in part because we are almost out of tortillas). The best thing about this recipe is that it made a ton of food. So far we each had 2 tortillas worth last night, and I had another for lunch today. I'd say there are at least 3 or 4 servings left. I think you could also add diced tomatoes and chicken broth and make a decent tortilla soup with the shredded chicken. I'll definitely be making this again!

The Great Pumpkin

This week has been very pumpkin-y. On Sunday, I carved pumpkins with Sarah, Jonathan, and our friend Georgia. This is my pumkin, which I named Zohan Homer after Sarah's cat Zoe (who would have been Zohan, had she been a boy) and my cat Homer. I brought home a bunch of pumpkin seeds and baked them with cayenne, cinnamon, sugar, and salt. I liked the flavor profile but it wasn't strong enough. Also, the pumkin seeds were nice and crispy straight out of the oven, but as they cooled, they got less crispy and harder to enjoy. I think that the seasoning mixture would be good on popcorn though. (Too bad I don't care for popcorn!)
On Monday, I opened up a can of pumpkin and mixed half of it with skim milk, garlic, vermouth, and shriracha (sounds strange, but makes a great sauce). I ended up mixing the sauce with some quinoa. I served it inside half a microwaved heirloom squash (I was going to roast it but I couldn't cut through the raw squash!), topped with strips of roasted red pepper and goat cheese (with the rest of the grilled Italian turkey sausage on the side). It was really good.
I ended up dipping a grilled cheese sandwich in the leftover pumpkin sauce for lunch the next day.
As for the rest of the canned pumpkin- I used 1/4 of the can in some oats for breakfast, along with brown sugar and pumpkin pie spice. This was delicious and tasted exactly like pie, but it didn't fill me up as much as I would have liked. I usually put almond or peanut butter in my oatmeal as well, so I think I needed a little more protein in this breakfast.
I remedied the hunger situation the next morning by making a pumpkin smoothie with 6oz of vanilla greek yogurt, 1/4 can of pumpkin, a banana, some milk, ground flax seeds, and some pumpkin pie spice. This was tasty and filling, but it didn't really taste like pie. Maybe I needed more pumpkin and spice.
Is anyone surprised that I'm not orange at this point? :)
Finally, after all this fall food, the weather seemed to get the hint to cool back down. It's been really depressing to have temperatures in the low 90's all week, given that it's the middle of October! It is supposed to be cool and sunny for the next week though, so I am really looking forward to the runs I have coming up. I have a 10 miler to look forward to this weekend so wish me luck!
Other things taking place this weekend include drinks at the new Sazerac bar in the Roosevelt hotel tonight, shopping at Macy's for charity tomorrow, and seeing Yo-Yo Ma play on Sunday!! I am really excited about Yo-Yo Ma!
I also plan to make a Lime Tart on Sunday b/c someone brought a giant bag of limes to work today- I grabbed several! (But I'll bring the tart to work, so it all evens out.)

Bookworm

My bookclub meeting/ Tea party last night was a lot of fun. Everyone liked the food I made, and Sarah had a really good list of discussion questions about the book. Now that it's over and done with, I'm going to go ahead and review the book (before I forget that I meant to).
The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie is a murder mystery that features Flavia, an 11year old girl, as the narrator and main character. Flavia lives in an old English manor house and has to solve the mystery of a stranger she finds dying in her cucumber patch. Armed with her love of Chemistry and her trusty bike, Gladys, she is able to solve the mystery, acquit her father (who was arrested for the murder) and save the day. I really enjoyed this book and found it to be a quick, and generally light-hearted read. Flavia is a very compelling protagonist- the book club decided that she was equal parts Harriet the Spy, Scout from To Kill a Mockingbird, and Angela Lansbury. She is precocious, opinionated, and appealingly bratty. I have to admit that she reminded me a great deal of myself at age 11. This book is written for adults but would also be suitable for older children and teenager. A bonus is that there are supposed to be more Flavia books in the works!
Since I hosted this month's book club meeting, I got to pick the book for next month. I chose Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil because I recently watched the movie and really enjoyed it. We all also thought that the voodoo element to the story would be appropriate for October, especially since our next meeting is going to be close to Halloween. I went on a bit of a shopping spree today and bought not only that book, but also The Wide Sargasso Sea (another one I was considering for next month) and Anathem (which I've been meaning to read but don't know if I would subject my non-sci fi nerd friends to). I love books. :)
Also, I did make it to the black light party this weekend, although I didn't stay very long. Here is a picture of me with my dear boyfriend for your entertainment. We're glowing!

LPO

Holy Cow, it's Thursday again! When did that happen?
I had an unintentionally busy weekend last weekend- when I all I wanted to do was stay in and hide from the world. Work was crazy last week (and has been pretty busy this week as well, hence the lack of blogging) and I just wanted to chill. However, it was my dear boyfriend's golden weekend (a weekend that is guaranteed to be free of work during his rotation schedule) and so we ended up going out on Friday and Saturday. All was not lost though, I did manage to eat takeout pizza from Slice (goat cheese, spinach, roasted garlic, and basil- so good!), run 7 miles (the furthest I've ever run!) and watch both Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil and Swingers.
On Tuesday, I joined the Tulane gym. I have a family membership with the dear boyfriend now which lasts a semester and costs what a month at the JCC costs. I don't love the Tulane gym (because I feel weird around all the college students), but I can afford to join both a gym and a yoga studio this way. Next week I plan to start shopping around for a yoga studio, which should be lots of fun!
Tonight I'm going to see the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra. Their Season Opener tonight is Romeo Meets Rachmaninoff. It should be lovely.
This weekend is also going to be very busy. Friday night my friend Sarah is having a Rosh Hashanah party. I am attempting to make a honey cake. I found the recipe on Smitten Kitchen. If you haven't checked out her blog, do so- the recipes are great! I made her roasted tomatoes and cipollini on Sunday night (using some of the divine garlic bread from Whole Foods that I am currently obsessed with) and it was amazingly good.
Saturday my friend Graham is having a black light themed birthday party. My costume for the party is a white t-shirt worn over a hot pink bikini top from American Apparel, black leggings, neon green leg warmers, and a white pair of those really obnoxious Kanye glasses. It should be hillarious! I also plan to run 8 miles on Saturday morning- wish me luck!!
Sunday I plan to run 2 miles in City Park with Steph. Other than that I plan to spend the rest of the day getting ready for Monday because I am hosting the first meeting of our new book club. We read The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie and I am serving a high tea because the book is set in England. I really enjoyed reading this book and I can't wait to talk about it. (After the meeting I'll post a book review.) I also get to pick the next book we read, so I have to brainstorm for that as well.

My menu for Monday is as follows:

Tomato Basil Soup
Cucumber, Ham, and Chicken Salad Sandwhiches

Scones
Raspberry Chocolate Tart

A Selection of Decaffinated Teas
Punch (Sprite + White Grape Peach Juice=my favorite!)

I'm very excited for all this baking! I actually went out and bought a tart pan and a springform cake pan on Friday.
Okay, now that I'm all caught up, I'll wrap this up with a promise to post more frequently. Hopefully I'll have a goofy picture or two from this weekend's black light party for the entertainment of my dear readers.

Happy Hour

I'm going to happy hour at the New Orleans Museum of Art (NOMA) for their Culture Collision event. I wish I was going to be in town on Saturday morning (you'll recall I'm going out of town for a surprise party on Friday) because their yoga in the sculpture garden event on Saturday looks really cool. I hope they repeat it!

Looking Forward

I have a lot of things to look forward to in the next few weeks. This coming weekend, I have a haircut, and then a Coolinary dinner at The Pelican Club on Friday.
On Saturday, a group of us are going to Monroe, La to our friend Jon's family's farm. We're going to swim, barbecue, ride 4 wheelers (and maybe horses), and do some serious relaxing.
The next weekend I am attending a secret event for a family member who shall remain nameless, then running in the Crescent Connection Road Race on Sunday. It's 4 miles across the Crescent City Connection Bridge, which spans the Mississippi River and connects New Orleans to the West Bank. This will likely be the last time I race in my current running shoes b/c they are getting pretty old.
Finally, my friends and I are starting a book club! Our first book is going to be "The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie." I plan to post my thoughts on all of the books I read for the club, so feel free to follow along and let me know what you think of the books!

Workin' For The Weekend

I am really looking forward to my long weekend!
Tonight I am supposed to run in the Greekfest 5K race. I say "supposed to" because the weather forecast for the entire weekend is currently pretty grim. If it is pouring, I'm not going to run. I will go hang out with my girlfriends instead b/c I don't want to make them wait for me in the rain while I run (and I don't want to deal with getting too wet and miserable either).
I hope we will get at least a little sunshine because the festival is outdoors all weekend and I am looking forward to the awesome food as well as the run. I hope I don't have to miss it!
Saturday it's supposed to be even more rainy than today, but I will probably be finding something to do with my friend Sarah. Both of our dear boyfriends are studying for their Board Exams so we want to get out of the house and out of their hair!
I am looking forward to Yoga on Sunday. I was talking to my Pilates/Yoga instructor and he said that if I remind him on Sunday, he'll include a bunch of fun balance poses. I'm also supposed to hang out by my friend's pool on Sunday, so we'll see whether or not the weather lets that happen.
My plans for Monday include hanging out with my friend Xiujuan and later drafting an itinerary for my trip to Maine!! I also need to get some shoes to hike in- suggestions from my outdoorsy friends are welcome in the comments. :) Since we're spending two days in Bar Harbor, I expect to spend a good bit of that time checking out Acadia National Park. There are only 2 weeks left until we go on vacation! I am so excited!!