Pumpkin flavored deliciousness!

A beautiful, crisp fall morning definitely calls for something pumpkin flavored for breakfast! Although this is not new pumpkin flavored deliciousness in my house, this is certainly a staple for the hungover fall mornings:

At $14.95 a tin, it's pricey, but delicious enough to rationalize purchasing. You can also score a bunch when they are on sale at the end of pumpkin flavored season. These mixes have a pretty long shelf life. Just add some maple syrup, your favorite home brew cup 'o Joe, and the Sunday New York Times and you've got yourself a terrifically easy fall flavored breakfast. 

10 Things

Ok, I suck at updating this thing. BUT in the spirit of October (month 10), I am hereby pledging to do 10 things by October 31. These aren't exactly groundbreaking or all that cool, but things that could use some attention. Here they are - in no particular order:

• Update this blog more frequently than I have been.
• Go apple picking (one of the best New England fall activities). 
• Make something new and delicious that's pumpkin flavored. 
• Carve a pumpkin better than the one I helped carve a few years ago (see photo above). 
• Catch up with friends (this is long overdue...I'm looking at you KT!). 
• Try a new restaurant. 
• Make up my own infused vodka flavor. 
• Buy a new pair of boots (this is always an impossible task. Am I right ladies, or am I right?)
• Perform a random act of kindness. 
• Do nothing for an entire day. 

And there you have it. I'm hoping by October 1, I'll be a changed blog author, with lots of posts for you to read. Hopefully, I can at least blog about the stuff I've accomplished. It's good to have goals, right?

While I was out...

So...it turns out owning a home is time consuming. Like, VERY time consuming. There is a never ending "To Do" list, a yard that needs taking care of, stuff breaking, and my goal to have an organic vegetable garden to supply fresh produce. So know that in my absence, I haven't been slacking.

In fact, I've been working on sprouting seeds, researching, digging, tilling, and planting stuff in hopes for a bountiful harvest this summer. Fingers crossed!  So far, it's looking good:

These are my first crop of seedings, which are now pretty good size plants. I've got summer squash, straight neck squash, basil, and two kinds of lettuce in the shot above. I'm pretty darn proud of it, too! All the seeds I used are certified organic, and so are the soil and peat pots they're planted in. Not bad for the girl who managed to kill more than her share of plants in her lifetime, right?

Will Travel For Food

One of my favorite things about traveling is finding new, great places to eat. Recently, I returned from the land of oranges and stone crab - Florida! I spent about a week in Sarasota, FL and had some seriously good eats! Despite the unseasonable temperatures - one of the coldest winters on record for the Sarasota area - I still gorged away on the local seafood and shellfish, and even managed to cook a few meals while visiting. 

Superbowl Sunday - America's favorite pig out excuse

I'm not a big football fan, but I look forward to the Superbowl every year. Not for the commercials or the sheer luck of picking the winning square, but for the sheer fact that this unofficial holiday always features some of the BEST pig out food around. The game, the commercials, even the booze is secondary to the food. It is the only time of year I find it perfectly acceptable to eat Cheetos.

This year, The Boyfriend and I are going to a friend's house to gorge ourselves and watch football. Lucky for us our friend is a FANTASTIC cook! She's got everything covered in the kitchen, so I don't need to bring anything...but if I was to bring something, I'd bring these delicious tartlets (that I brought to their house for a dinner party a few weeks back). They are a big hit and look impressive while being extremely simple to prepare.

Adapted from Barefoot Contessa's Tomato & Goat Cheese Tarts recipe found in Barefoot Contessa: Back to Basics:
(sidenote: I'm not the biggest fan of goat cheese, so I usually assemble the 2nd puff pastry sheet omitting the goat cheese and tomato to make it a little different.)

- 1 package puff pastry, defrosted
- Olive oil
- 2 large Vidalia (sweet) onions, sliced thin
- 2 garlic cloves, cut into thin slivers
- 3 tablespoons sherry
- 2 teaspoons minced thyme leaves
- 5 tablespoons, plus more for drizzling, Parmesan cheese
- 1 4 oz herbed goat cheese
- 1/4 of a package of shredded mozzarella cheese
- 1 large tomato, cut into 1/4 inch thick slices
- 3 or 4 julienned basil leaves
- Salt & pepper

This yields two tarts and can feed about 6 people, depending on how generous you cut the slices. 

1. Unfold puff pastry sheets onto a lightly floured surface and roll into a square/rectangle that accommodates your baking sheet (I use a 10 x 15 in. cookie sheet). Place it onto a parchment sheet and stick it in the fridge until you're ready to use. Preheat oven to 425.

2. Heat about 3 tablespoons of olive oil in a large skillet on medium heat. Add onions and garlic and saute until the onions start to wilt and there is almost no moisture left. Salt and pepper to taste. Add the sherry , thyme and continue to cook for about 10 more minutes until the onions start to brown. (Be patient, don't turn up the heat or you will burn the garlic and it will make the whole thing taste bitter and burnt.) Remove from heat.

3. Get your puff pastry out of the fridge. Using a sharp knife, score a boarder around the perimeter - this will act as your crust. Then, get a fork and poke the interior of the dough, staying away from the border.   Sprinkle some parmesan inside the border. Add half of your onion mixture (remember to stay inside the border) and crumble as much goat cheese as you like on top of the onion mixture. Sprinkle some more Parmesan and mozzarella cheese. Add your tomato slices and brush them lightly with olive oil. This will prevent the tomato from burning. Add a pinch of salt and pepper. Sprinkle some basil on top of everything.

4. Place onto the cookie sheet and bake for 20 to 25 minutes. Tart should be golden brown when done.

5. Remove from oven and let cool for a few minutes. Use a pizza cutter to cut into square pieces and serve warm.

Should you suffer a food coma and/or hangover on Monday like I probably will, I suggest: an egg & cheese on a hard roll, pink Focus Vitamin Water, and 2 Tylenol. Follow with coffee as necessary.

Happy Superbowl!

What Grinds My Gears - On the road

I've decided I'd like to have a regular post about stuff that Grinds My Gears (any other Family Guy fans out there?) or otherwise, really pisses me off gets me angry/annoyed. You know, life's infuriating way of getting under your skin. 

Like anyone, sometimes, I lose my temper. On average, at least once a day. More often than not, this happens in the car. 

But you have to understand I commute in seriously congested rush hour traffic to and from my job every day.  At least, that's when it happens most. When did everyone get to be in such a hurry going places? Recently, in a feeble attempt to curb my road rage, I've started to listen to NPR on my way home from work. It helps... for a while. That is until I have to slam on my breaks because some idiot decided they absolutely HAVE to get in front of me right this very second or the world will surely end.  Congratulations, fellow driver. You are now exactly one car length in front of me, and all you had to do to achieve this feat was almost kill me. 

I'm generally a happy person, and honestly I've got a lot going for me compared to other craziness in this world. It's just that I have a low idiotic threshold. I can't help it. I'm pretty sure I was born that way. I know I'm not alone, which provides some comfort. I have friends who also cannot stand it when people misuse words to sounds smarter, or lack common courtesy like holding the door open for the person walking in the building behind you. But if you really want me to get angry, don't give me a "thank you wave" after I let you into traffic. It is by far, one of the rudest things you can do on the roadway. It bothers me so much that sometimes I wish I was some super secret undercover Rules of the Road cop, and could instantly flip on lights and sirens of my stealth undercover vehicle and take away your license. Just. Like. That. Silly? Sure. Impossible? Certainly. But, it would make me feel a heck of a lot better. 

So, what grinds your gears?

In the land of make believe

Like a majority of young women in my demographic I read and enjoy celebrity gossip Web sites. Having lunch at my desk is like having lunch at a celeb frequented restaurant like The Ivy...except the food is not as good and the celebs and paps are on my computer screen. While they stress about how to stay relevant in popular culture, I am stressing about making a deadline for work. Tomato, tomato, right?

But recently, I confess I haven't been spending my lunch hour with Perez or Harvey and the TMZ gang. Instead, I've been doing a little shopping...in the land of make believe. I've been picking out clothes, shoes, bags and stuff for my place without abandon. As a matter of fact, today alone my online cart at J.Crew was well over $400. Crate & Barrel: $3,500. Bloomingdales? $4,000...and that was on bags alone. I'm one well dressed and well decorated young lady! That is until when the screen asks for me to enter my payment information and I change my item count to "0." I'm sure that in a few day's time, I could rack up enough points on a credit card to redeem them for my own island in Dubai. But sometimes, it's just fun to pretend. 

Fine wines and cheap beer

Did you ever notice some of the best conversations happen over a few drinks? Or that conversation seems to flow easier with every sip from your glass? I can't even count the number of times that has happened to me. Usually some of the best things start out like this, so why not name my blog after it? 

They say (they being the blog authorities) a successful blog focuses on a specific topic. Being the scatter brained in a good way type person, there is just no way for me to focus on one thing. I can't pick just one topic to be committed to...plus I've never been all that much of a rule follower anyhow. Instead, I'm going to try and focus on some of the things I love most in life: food, wine and cooking. After all, most of the interesting things I've got to talk about have at least one of those three things going on simultaneously. Throw in a rag-tag cast of characters bunch of interesting folks like my friends, and I promise you that at the very least you'll be entertained.


I know what you're thinking: great, another wannabe foodie blog. And while yes, I have a tendency to lean toward the finer things in life, I also consider a satisfying meal to be a box of mac n' cheese or bread and butter. Seriously, my friends and I lived off something we called "$5 dinner" in college for longer than I'd care to admit. So PBRs or fine Pinots, as long as I can enjoy it with some friends, alls well.


Hope you enjoy reading as much as I'll enjoy writing.