The Holidays - Merry or Scary?

Happy Holidays to you. We all hear about how stressful the holidays are and how it is nearly impossible to stick to any regimented diet plan during this time of year.


Frankly, I think that's a cop out. I enjoy good food ALL year round. There's no need for me to hoard food in my belly as if I'm going into a long hibernation.


Yes, I am more likely to bake during this time of year. But, honestly, I can avoid the butter drenched, likely to be too decadent for me not to get ill morsels of heaven by remembering how awful I will feel when I'm done with them.


This holiday my gift to myself is to wake up feeling like a normal person the morning after a holiday meal is served.


So, you must be wondering what the heck is on our menu and what the heck I will be consuming this year. Luckily, our family's Christmas Eve tradition is to have dinner at my Mama's house and we serve the same thing (more or less) yearly.


We'll be serving:
Freshly Cooked and Cracked Dungeons Crab
Prime Rib Roast
Sweet Potato Casserole
Roasted Veggies
Rolls
Pomegranate Salad
English Trifle
Fudge
Mexican Wedding Cookies
Apple Tart
Pear Tart


Of this, I will be pleasurably consuming any of the following safe items:

Freshly Cooked and Cracked Dugeness Crab

Prime Rib Roast 

Sweet Potato Casserole

Roasted Veggies

Pomegranate Salad

Pear Tart

Why won't I whine and cry about the things I can't eat? Because look at what I CAN eat. Recipes will soon follow.

Happy Holidays and chin up! Focus on what you can control. 

Pumpkin Dream Turns to Nightmare

Does anyone else watch food network? Have you seen that show “The Best Thing I Ever Ate”? If I were on that show I know exactly what I would talk about.
In 2006, my sister and I took our first journey that was just the two of us. We went to New York City, and then took the train up to Boston. New York is awesome, but I am more of a Boston girl. As absurd as this sounds, I had better Italian food in The North End than I had in parts of Italy. Is that sacrilege? 


The North End is a glutinous (oh, delicious pasta!) heaven of goodness. Needless to say, it only lives in my dreams. I am haunted with memories of my first cannoli, my second cannoli, and (ALRIGHT ALREADY) maybe even my third cannoli. I had some of the best pizza of my life there as well.

Hungry yet?

Those were all well and good, but they pale in comparison to THE infamous meal my sister and I had. We waited in a line that went down the block and around the corner. For an hour and a half minimum. We could smell tomatoes, garlic, sage, onions, and some mysterious goodness. The gumbiling of our stomachs created a symphony with the others in line. Thankfully, the proprietors took pity upon us. Wait staff offered water and passed freshly baked bread with marinara sauce. We became friends with the people who would be sitting half a foot away from us in one of the twelve other seats in the restaurant.

It felt as if we were in on some secret ritual. Did we need to learn a secret handshake?
The place? Giacomo's in Boston.

The meal? Calamari friti (fried calamari) and pumpkin tortellini.

If this doesn't sound exciting to you, you CLEARLY have not been to Giacomo's. I’m going to gloss over the calamari this time, but know it was spicy and perfect. That pumpkin tortellini – the crown jewel of that meal - that is the stuff dreams are made of. I'm salavating thinking about it.

I've been trying to get the recipe right and just can't. I guess I don't have that Italian magic pulsing through my veins.

I used fresh pumpkin, canned pumpkin, etc. I had one note worthy awful nightmare of making this - I added too much wine (that was more floral than I thought it would be in the sauce) and YUCK! Sometimes in life things are just better when they're made at a restaurant.

Instead of deleting this post completely, I've decided to post it anyway. This is my closest approximation/adaptation of the pumpkin tortellini that haunts my dreams. 


Bonus: This is a bit more figure friendly than the recipe that is on the Food network website. Besides, they don’t give you the details on the filling for the tortellini anyway. Sneaky.

This is “Pumpkin and Sage Pasta”

Adventures in Portland

This past weekend I had a six year reunion with a friend of mine from high school. We were bad about keeping in touch, but it was not intentional. We both just did our own thing. Now that we only live two hours away from each other, it was time to catch up.

Not only is she a great human being, she's a foodie and nature lover just like me. It was fun rediscovering why we were friends in the first place. She is, after all, the person who got me addicted to sushi. I am forever indebted to her. She was also my first visitor when we started college a million years ago. 

She and her lovely boyfriend gave me a tour of Portland, which I have never done as an adult. I have a ton of family in and around Portland, but when I've visited the focus has been on family. Not on food and cocktails. What a treat that city is.

Vegetarian Day

I try hard to mix up what I eat. One way that I do this, and ensure I eat in a more sustainable and healthy manner, is to designate one or more days a week that I go vegetarian.

I’m on track with breakfast and lunch, now it’s dinnertime. I want something warm and delicious, so I’m making a warm lentil salad and steaming an artichoke to go with it. Yum.

Warm Lentil Salad

Familiar Flavors

Believe it or not, I had not had Cheeseburger Macaroni prior to my first year of college. My dad loves the stuff, but my mama was far from a fan of it and she was queen of the kitchen in our house.

It. Was. So. Easy. I was flabbergasted that something so simple could produce a meal that was decent. It had a certain homey appeal, and I appreciated it when I had been studying for 9 hours straight, and wanted to eat something more substantial than cereal and coffee. It was my easy, in a pinch “real” meal.

If you haven’t noticed, I eat both gluten and dairy free. As I’ve grown older, I’ve tried to avoid eating as many processed foods as well. For me to feel my best, I need to make my own food and know what’s going into my body.

This is not want I want the focus of this blog to be, I’d rather it be about great food period. I will say this though; with adopting this way of eating I have experienced huge improvements in my personal health. The only downside to this is that I lost the convenience of the in a pinch meals from my youth.

I’m not the type to wallow in self-pity. About a year ago I was dying for some good old Cheeseburger Macaroni, so I set out to make some. I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I do – it tastes just how I remember it but it is so much better for me.

This is not out of a box Cheeseburger Macaroni:

Why didn't I think of this before?

Its Fall. I love Fall. Fall means apples. I'm kind of strange when it comes to apples.

I generally love anything apple. Except pie and cobbler. I know, it doesn't make sense. I love: apple butter, apple cider, apple juice, apple sauce, baked apples, and pork chops with apple sauce. Hmm... now there's an idea for another post.

So this freaking amazing idea I had was for the easiest baked apple I've ever made.

The "why didn't I think of this before?" Baked Apple:

Dinner for One

Oh, dinner for one. What an absolute delight to cook for just me. I know what I like. I don't have to cater to anyone's desires but my own.

Tonight I want something warm, fragrant with herbs, and easy to make. I have a bottle of red wine open from the weekend that deserves a plate of food to accompany it.

How about spinach and arugula salad with shallots and hazelnuts topped with a lemony chicken breast rubbed down with Herbs de Provence. I may also nosh on the leftover roasted veggies I made last night.

First things first: what the heck is a shallot?

A shallot is a kind of onion. I find it milder, sweeter and slightly garlic infused. In my kitchen, it's a twofer. You know, a two for one. In this case, garlic and onion. Who doesn't love that?

Shallot, honey and balsamic vinaigrette:

Life is Delicious

lecker - (adj) - delicious, tasty, yummy, scrumptious.

Life is delicious. Well, I should say I think my life is delicious. No pressure for yours to be delicious if you prefer for it to be exciting, hilarious, Zen, or whatever you like. I just hope it's not fierce. I feel that that is an overly used phrase. Then again, go ahead. Live a fierce life. Do what makes you happy.

The point of this blog is just that. Doing what makes me happy. I hope that you find this blog to feature a life full of flavor and unexpected discoveries.

Here is a little about me: I am an unemployed young female with a penchant for European culture, good food, interesting beverages, and entertaining. I moved from San Francisco to Eugene in hopes of figuring out my next move in life. My hope is this space guides me towards what my next step will be.

Will I continue to plan events? Will I go to a culinary program in hopes of opening a cafe of my own? What the heck is my next move? I’m not sure yet.

What I do know is this: cooking is my escape. I am good at this. I enjoy it.

My promise to you is to share my tips, tricks, and favorite recipes.

Feel free to join me. Let your life be lecker too.