Monday, February 28, 2011

Fat Tuesday is Next Week!

Honestly, I should be ashamed. My foodie life has been a bit in shambles lately. Danielle and I haven’t been to check out any new restaurants (although we did revisit A Single Pebble, simply for the love of Peking duck, and were not disappointed). I haven’t even done that much cooking, and I miss it. I do have plans to make chicken and shrimp jambalaya sometime soon in celebration of Mardi Gras. I wish I had the guts to try and make homemade beignets, but in all honestly, deep fry in my very small kitchen seems like a terrible idea. Sigh. I’ve had a hankering to bake something yummy, but have been unable to decide what I want. Cookies? Bread? Muffins? I can’t decide – suggestions are appreciated.

Of course, I am in no way saying that foodie-ness (no, that’s not a real word, but it works) had completely left my life. I continue to work at my internship twice a week, which is going really well. I am learning a lot, and I know the experience is really valuable. I can’t wait to be done with school – I am sooo close – and start applying for jobs actually in the field. In the meantime, I’ll have to make do with blogging!

Monday, February 14, 2011

Happy Heart Day

No, I’m not dead – just incredibly busy. Let me give you a quick rundown of a typical week for me these days:

Monday—Internship at EatingWell (yes, you read that right!) from 10-4. Then straight to a Weight Watchers meeting until 6:00 (yes, you read that right too). Then I usually have to pick up the dog at doggie daycare, and its 7:00 by the time I get home. Eat, watch the new episode of How I Met Your Mother, and then crash.

Tuesday—Work from 7 until 3:30 (and work has been nuts lately), then my creative writing workshop at school. Again, its 7:00 by the time I get home.

Wednesday—Work again, then usually a meeting with my thesis advisor. Last week I work overtime (until 8pm!!) Wednesday and Thursday. I try to fit in a quick walk with the dog in the evening, as long as it is not too dark out or snowing too hard. And it basically is snowing every single day up here right now.

Thursday is pretty much the same as Wednesday, and I often babysit Thursday or Friday evening.

Friday –Work until noon, then the internship until 5:00.

Saturday—regular work day, plus any errands – grocery shopping, etc.

Sunday is my only day off. Last week I had to reschedule a haircut four times before it finally got done (you can probably see why). Clearly, blogging has taken a back seat in my life this past month or so. But not to fear – I am starting to get a routine figured out and hope to be more consistent again.

So, what’s been happening in my foodie world these days? Honestly, not too much – another reason for the lack of posts, I suppose. Danielle and I checked out Church and Main a few weeks ago, and that was awesome. We sat at the bar because the wait for a table was extensive – even on a Wednesday evening! The bartender was very friendly and energetic though, and we had a nice time. Danielle had a hot buttered rum that was to die for (I seriously think one might accidentally kill themselves with these). I started with a grilled pear salad, and it was really good – the pears had a really unique smoky, almost meaty flavor that was unlike anything I’d ever tasted, but it was yummy. Then for my entrée, I had lobster mac and cheese. Can you blame me? Soooo good. Ever since Boston and dinner at the Union Oyster House, Danielle and I have been on a bit of a seafood kick. It is just sooo good, and usually pretty good for you, and somehow always tastes better out at a restaurant than when prepared at home. Finally, I ordered profiteroles to take home for dessert, topped with a creamy vanilla marscapone. Over all, a very satisfying meal.

Cooking-wise, I do not have anything too exciting to report. I tried a recipe out of the recent issue of Everyday with Rachael Ray and was disappointed – not the recipe’s fault; I just didn’t care for the flavors. It came from a feature on meatless meals (very popular in the food world these days) – Portobello Mushrooms with Au Poivre sauce. Eh. I made my mom’s rice pudding over the weekend, a longtime favorite of mine, but I swapped in brown rice for white. I was pretty happy with the results.

I think I have mentioned the CSA I belong to, with Pete’s Greens. Well, they had a terrible fire last month and lost tons of produce and machinery. It’s been all over the news up here as the community comes together to fundraise for them. I’ve already pledged the rest of my credits to go towards a spring share.

Nothing else happening these days, at least right at the moment. I’ll check in again soon – and not two months from now.