This past Wednesday, June 5, I had the pleasure of attending a preview party at Williams-Sonoma for this year’s Dîner en Blanc in Philly.
The main focus was the table decorating contest with the themes of Paris and the 25th Anniversary of Dîner en Blanc. Surrounded by Blanc-ers in white and delicious snacks from Garces Catering, DiBruno Brothers, and McCrossen’s Tavern, and beats by DJ Bruce, everyone who came was able admire the table creations and vote on their favorite.
Let’s face it, the traditional idea of taking lunch to work is boring (well, at least here in the U.S.). It usually involves a sandwich or some leftovers from last night’s dinner, and after a while it can get boring to even think about.
For me, I usually end up having no idea what I want to take for lunch, and if I don’t grab something I end up eating Jimmy Johns, or something from the food court in my building (which actually isn’t bad).
Last week, I came across a site that has awakened my excitement for making my own lunches again. Makiko Itoh of JustBento has wonderful guidelines and tips for getting into the bento-style (the Japanese way) of making lunches. The main differences to regular packed lunch is the focus on healthy food that can be eaten at room temperature, is packed compactly to avoid a messy lunch, and a great presentation. Some people like to get really creative and make charaben, a way of making your lunch into characters.
Wouldn’t you love a lunch that looked like this? Photo: Justbento.com
I thought I was going to make it through this winter without getting sick, but unfortunately it wasn’t meant to be. On Thursday, I woke up with a scratchy throat, which – despite my best efforts – developed into a sore throat, headache, and stuffy nose by Saturday.
When I get sick, I’m pretty strict about the foods I won’t eat. While these may not be official recommendations you’ll hear from a doctor (if you choose to go to one), I have found that my recovery time is a lot quicker when I avoid these types of foods: dairy products (because they make you more phlegmy, i.e. help you produce more snot), anything with sugar (sugar feeds the cold), greasy foods, and I limit the amount of fruit I eat.
Nothing more comforting than homemade turkey soup.
This restricted diet doesn’t mean you shouldn’t eat anything though, and I find that soups are the best way to go because they let you pack a lot nutrients into one meal. Not to mention the heat helps soothe sore throats a lot. I combine this dish with regular doses of airborne and a lot of mint tea when I’m sick. Continue reading
Some dishes I make because I come across them in cookbooks or online while I’m searching for ways to cook a certain ingredient. Other dishes are made upon request, and this was one of them. A few weeks ago, the boyfriend mentioned that he wanted chicken pot pie, something I have never made before.
It would have been easy to just go to the freezer isle and buy one (I actually think that’s what he meant at first), but what would be the fun of that? So this past week, I decided to try my hand at this comforting dish. Some searching led me to this recipe over on Simply Scratch. I love her three rules for making chicken pot pie and will always follow them.
Rule No. 1: They have to be in individual portions.
Rule No. 2: No “cream of chicken soup” can be used, what-so-ever.
Rule No. 3: There has to be plenty of crust. So much crust you won’t notice that there isn’t a bottom one.
The crust isn’t perfect, but it was nice and flakey.
Here is my take on her recipe. I’ve added a few more spices and cook the potatoes differently. Continue reading
You know those days when you know at least one ingredient you want to use for a meal, but aren’t at all intrigued by dishes you usually make with it? That is exactly what happened to me yesterday, and is what led me to make this dish.
The ingredient in question was ground lamb. Now, lamb is one of my favorite meats, but I was not at all excited by the thought of burgers (we already ate some this week), meatballs, or a bolognese sauce, or anything to do with pasta really.
Lamb and sweet potato Shepherd’s Pie.
Enter the wonderful Google, where I came across a site that listed five recipes to make with ground lamb. As I scrolled down, Shepherd’s Pie jumped out at me, and I thought that is it! A perfect dish to make on a cold winter’s night. Continue reading
One of my goals for this year is to write more letters, and I have found wonderful tools to help me keep this goal.
Back in November, I joined the Letter Writers Association (LWA) and what Kathy and Donovan have created is just amazing. They give you the opportunity to connect with penpals, send mail by pigeon or pneumatic post (at some point, I plan on trying both), and much more.
There are also letter requests that MLL collects and sends to a person in need of some love.
And about a month ago I discovered More Love Letters (MLL), an organization dedicated to spreading more love in the world by leaving letters for strangers. Just last week, I left an anonymous letter in the elevator of an office building, and the next day I saw a tweet from the person that picked it up. It was such an awesome feeling to know that I put a smile on someone’s face. Continue reading
I love crab cakes and they’re my preferred method of eating crab. While eating a whole crab can be fun, sometimes it’s just too much work and somehow I always end up crunching on a piece of shell, which isn’t so fun.
Crab cakes also remind me of the summers I used to join my cousins down the shore. Every year, they would rent a house in Avalon, NJ and at some point crab cakes always made it onto my plate, contributing to fond memories I have of spending weeks at the beach.
Did you know that the consumption of crab cakes dates back quite a few centuries? According to Food Timeline, the “practice of making minced meat cakes/patties (seafood/landfood) is ancient. Minces mixed with bread/ spices/ fillers came about for two reasons: taste and economy.” But, crab cakes weren’t known as crab cakes until sometime in the 20th century. Continue reading
