Five Things

Celebrating Christmas with your family early means the holiday season really does last a month (like all the retailers want us to believe).  I got wonderful gifts this year from my family under the tree as well as in my stocking.

 My aunt is big on family history, and gave me three vintage cookbooks from our family - from 1923, 1938, and 1943, respectively.  Pretty incredible.

Santa must have heard me admiring my aunt's lemon bags, because two days later I found some in my stocking.  You just pop one on the end of a lemon and the seeds stay-put.  Genius idea!

My brother and his wife got me three incredible cookbooks.  My brother said he picked them (from my wishlist) based on what he would like to eat.  I love that idea!  We both share a love for Mexican food since we ate it almost every week growing up.  I can't wait to break out some of these wonderful recipes.

In New York I was the opposite of a bring-your-lunch-to-work kind of gal.  I didn't just eat out every day, but I actually ordered in delivery every single day.  That's some intense laziness.  Now that I bring my lunch everyday, my new insulated lunch bag will get plenty of use!

A gift in my stocking was actually for Harper.  It's a UVA football rope-thingie dog toy.  Harper is obsessed with it.  Wa hoo wa!

Five Things

Now that we're back on the West Coast, I won't be seeing any more roaring fires for awhile.  My uncle and sister-in-law managed to keep one lit during almost every waking hour, and it was beautiful and comforting.

We spent the night before we left for Indianapolis surrounded by teenage girls and their moms at the Katy Perry concert.  John got me floor seats for my birthday and the show was fun, ridiculous, and wonderfully over-the-top.

Our yearly supply of waffle cookies that we brought back from Indy disappeared in two days.  Sad, but not surprising.

Natalie got me some baking gifts just in time for my Thanksgiving pie-a-thon.  The bird is actually a pie funnel to allow the steam to escape from a pie to keep the top crisp.

I hope everyone is enjoying the fall produce as much as I am.  I stick a pear and apple in my purse every morning to bring to work.

Five Things

John showed how much he missed me when I was in New York by sending me flowers on my first day back in the office.  No, it's not my birthday or anniversary, guys, I just have a good husband.

Next week is Thanksgiving, otherwise known as Christmas-With-My-Family-This-Year, so I've been doing lots of online shopping to be prepared.  Even when the packages aren't for me, I always love coming home to something.

I might break into the Milk Bar cookbook this weekend with an attempt to recreate crack pie!  If it works out, I might even try to get my family addicted to crack pie this Thanksgiving.

Do you do that thing where when you find something you love you buy it in multiple colors?  Well I sure as hell do.  I just bought this skirt in yellow...that I also own in blue and orange.  Next up, green and red?

Our dog is a model.  And in case you were keeping score, yes, that makes her better than your dog.  She is in the cover photo of one calendar and the December gal in another calendar this year.  Our doodle-loving neighbors and I submitted photos of our doodles in the calendar contest and were successful in proving that our pooches are the most beautiful of the bunch!

Five Things

I absolutely adore cider in the fall.  I've been buying big jugs at Whole Foods and heating up mugfuls in the microwave to drink with my breakfast in the morning.

Warm cider is even better underneath a warm blanket - especially a warm heated blanket.  The only problem is that once you get underneath a blanket with a cup of cider, it's hard to unearth yourself and get to work.

John got a Xoom from work, and I've inherited his iPad.  Now I can finally ride on an airplane and look like one of the cool kids.

I never had pistachios growing up, and I never knew what I was missing out on.  John doesn't like most kinds of nuts, but he loves pistachios, so I started keeping them around.  This local brand of pistachios is so unbelievably good.  It's so good that we eat a whole bag in one sitting.  I bought the store out of the Salt and Pepper flavor the last time I was there.  They have yet to restock.

I'm off to New York this weekend, and John is left to his own devices (mainly his xbox).  At least he has Harper to keep him company.  Let's pretend she made this sad face when I told her I was leaving.

Five Things

I hope everyone had a happy Halloween!  I was busy working, but luckily I have nice neighbors to come bring the party to my place - in the form of bloodied witch fingers, of course!  There were doodles in costume too - what could be better?

Flax.  Get on it.  Who knew this healthy seed was actually delicious in oatmeal?

If you like cookbooks as much as I do, then it really is time to get a cookbook stand.  It's next to impossible to keep most cookbooks open to the right page without one, and this is a much better method than weighing down all corners with canned goods.   John's mom gave me this one, and I use it all the time.

Natalie and Mitch brought us Hawaiian Alaea sea salt from their recent trip to Maui.  It's red from red Hawaiian clay called 'Alae.  I'm a sucker for good salt!

Speaking of gifts - this was a birthday gift from Joyce and David to support myCatan obsession.  When they come over, Harper plays with Mochi and Latte under the table, and I get to kick some Catan ass at the table.  It's the perfect relationship!

Five Things

We don't have the heat on in our house yet, but I officially turned off the air conditioning.  The heated blankets remain in storage, but I have been snuggling with the cashmere blanket quite a bit.  I might not be wearing socks to bed yet, but I have pulled out my long pants.  Baby steps into fall, people.

Brussels sprouts are such a great fall vegetable.  We've loved them roasted for awhile now, but I recently discovered how good they taste raw and chopped into a salad.  They are essentially mini cabbages, so it's similar to the cabbage flavor in cole slaw.  Delicious!

If not for the bone cookie cutter, you might think these pumpkin cookies are for humans.  I promise to share the recipe soon for Harper's favorite new biscuits!  We had fun this week making them together.

David Tanis just left his post as chef at Chez Panisse to become a writer for the New York Times dining section.  I'm excited to delve into his cookbook and to read his work at the Times.  From what I hear, the book is full of earthy and flavorful recipes.

I think the real reason everyone was upset about the iPhone 4S not looking different than the iPhone 4 was because we all wanted to show off that we had the new one.  Well, I have the new one, and I have to post about it on my blog or else no one would know.  My new favorite discovery is not Siri but realizing I can watch Grey's Anatomy reruns on Netflix while at the gym.  This is life changing, people.

I wish I could tell you the name of these grapes, I really do.  The vendor at the farmers market said they were "crispin grapes" (or something).  I tried to Google it, and it appears that isn't a real type of grape.  These are my new favorites because they are as crisp as an apple (all week, according to the vendor, but mine didn't last that long) and full of flavor.  No one likes biting into a sad, mushy grape.

Five Things from Paris

I promise this is the last post about Paris, guys.  Since I went into detail about the stores and shopping areas, I figured it would make sense to share what I picked up in all these wonderful places.  I can't, unfortunately, tell you everything I bought in Paris, since most of the items are being handed out as gifts at some point.  I mostly just bought things at random the whole trip - not knowing if we would keep them or if I would give them away.  Then when we got home and unpacked all the goodies I started sorting everything on the top of the dresser.  It seemed like an insane amount of stuff when we were in Paris, but when we got home I wished I had bought more.  More jam.  More tea towels.  More whisks.  You name it.  I guess this loot will have to do until next time.

Above - some fragrant floral green tea from a killer tea shop that I highly recommend.  Tea is huge in Paris (which surprised us both), and Mariage Freres is the tea shop to end all tea shops.  This wonderful loose-leaf tea even comes with some tea bags to fill yourself.  A nice touch.

Orangettes were everywhere in Paris, and this version with milk chocolate was calling to me (as my mom would say).

There was one thing I went to Paris with the intention of buying:  Madeliene pans.  Preferably from E. Dehilleron.  I picked up two, in fact, and I can't wait to try them.  I also bought a big whisk for good measure.

At Shakespeare and Company I was eager to pick up a book as a souvenir.  What better kind of book to buy than a book on French cooking?  I've been dying to get an Elizabeth David cookbook after learning she is one of Alice Waters' favorites.

I fell in love with this modern tea towel that we bought when walking around Marais.  Tea towels are sold all over Paris, but this was the only one I saw with a modern twist.

Five Things - Au Revoir Edition

Au revoir, my dear readers!  We leave our house tomorrow at 5:30 AM to hop on a plane to Paris.  Well, actually a plane to Houston and then a plane to Paris.  Here are five things in anticipation of our trip!

I had to get new sunglasses because clearly I need to look fabulous...and hide the huge bags under my eyes from jet lag.

I'm hoping to do some blogging while I'm there since clearly I will be taking thousands of pictures.  We got an extra compact flash card for the trip to accommodate the large amount of photos of that beautiful city.

A little trip to Sephora is necessary before a European adventure, right?

I spent a few hours creating a very involved Google Map of Paris.  Each color indicates a certain attraction.  Yellow is for museums and big items - Notre Dame, Louvre, etc.  Blue is for chocolate shops.  Pink is for creperies.  Etc.  Etc.  This is how to travel in 2011 people.

And last but not least, I have a huge pile of clothes on the bed ready to be packed tonight.  Wool pencil skirts and thin sweaters will make up my uniform for the trip, I think.

Next time you hear from me I'll be eating baguettes and pastries on the other side of the world!

Five Things

I've been celebrating my birthday all week, and the celebration will continue this weekend as we head to a couple of great dinners.  Yesterday was my actual birthday (29 on the 29th!), and John's mom gave me this great organic dog biscuit cookbook.  Harper is in for a treat soon!  I'll let you know how the pumpkin cookies turn out!

Our new favorite thing to buy at the farmers market are these BBQ pork buns from a stand that sells dim sum.  We just take them home and steam them for 15 minutes, and dinner is ready!  Delish!

I ordered a new pair of glasses from Warby Parker, and they arrived this week.  All of their prescription glasses are $95, and the shipping is free.  They send you 5 pairs for a free home try-on, which helps solve the problem of buying something like glasses online.  Like the whole Toms thing, for every pair you buy, a pair is donated to someone in need.  Works for me!

We've been eating a lot of vegetarian meals lately, so I've been trying to incorporate more beans into our diet.  I've started cooking beans from scratch, which has proven a lot more challenging than I originally anticipated (I keep overcooking them!).  I finally made our first successful meal of beans recently though, so that's progress.  These Rancho Gordo heirloom beans are from a local company, and I can't wait to try them.  Good Mother Stallard - that sounds like a good type of bean, right?

John and I have been preparing like mad for our trip to Paris.  And by "preparing" I mean buying things like new jeans and boots for said trip to Paris.  The important stuff, of course.  Hopefully I can go shopping again this weekend to load up on last minute essentials like cardigans and skirts.

Five Things

Harper had a week-long sleepover last week that thrilled her to no end.  Our neighbors went out of town, so we were taking care of Mochi and Latte for the week, and Harper couldn't have been happier.  Now that the Three Amigos have been separated, since our neighbors came back, Harper has been moping around the house and attempting to drag me to their place on every walk.  Apparently I'm not as much fun as Mochi and Latte to have around.

As a thank you gift for watching the dogs, Joyce and David brought us this huge box of cookies from Hong Kong. My favorites were the panda cookies in back, but the almond biscuits came in a close second.  Now I need to figure out a way to transport Paris pastries back to the U.S. to thank them when they watch Harper!

Last weekend I got to meet one of my heroes: The Alice Waters.  She was at Omnivore Books for a signing, and I couldn't miss the chance to meet her.  I didn't even know she had so many cookbooks - and I already have a lot of hers!  Naturally I needed copies of these previously unknown books of hers.  I got her to sign a few of her amazing cookbooks in her distinctive handwriting, and I walked away giddy.  She was very sweet.

Vintage food mill - score!  Per my request, my mom sent me her old food mill, in the box and everything!  Is that Italian, Mom?  I remember using this together in her kitchen to make homemade tomato sauce out of our garden's tomatoes.  Pretty much what I imagine doing with it again one day!

And last but not least - to my Wedding-Date-For-Life, John.  Weddings are a lot more fun with a wonderful man by your side.