So, I just wanted to share with you all the wonderful news that I've discovered the secret to making awesome homemade pasta sauce! I know, you can hardly contain your excitement right? Ok...are you ready for it? The secret to the best, most delicious, better-than-Ragu pasta sauce is....brown sugar! I know! It's insane, right? Who would've thunk to put brown sugar in pasta sauce? Well, I guess I did, and that makes me and my pasta sauce awesome. It really adds a depth of flavor and just a touch of sweetness, which makes the sauce taste so much richer. So, here's what you do - saute a cup each of chopped onion and bell pepper, and two cups of sliced mushrooms in olive oil. Add a teaspoon of minced garlic, and crushed red pepper to taste. Add red wine (once around the pan is enough) and cook the alcohol off. Add a 28oz can of crushed tomatoes, salt and black pepper to taste, whatever herbs you want (I usually only add oregano and parsley), and let it simmer for 15 minutes. Stir in about 1 teaspoon of brown sugar, continue cooking for 5 or so minutes. Then, just before serving, stir in about a quarter cup of the pasta water (the starch helps the sauce stick to pasta). Done! Deelish! Try it - you can thank me later.
Seriously though, as of late I've been trying to come up with different takes on meals that we eat regularly. Like fish. Ugh. I'm getting so tired of fish. I mean, I love it and I do enjoy eating it every week, but it gets hard to think of new ways to prepare it. So, on Monday we had cod wrapped with a slice proscuitto, drizzled with olive oil and topped with a sprinkle of crushed red pepper. We bought proscuitto to make chicken cordon bleu, but I'm guessing you could probably wrap the fish with bacon and it would still be good. Yum. Although it would have been better if I cooked it in the skillet instead of in the oven - the proscuitto wasn't crispy enough. But still, a slightly different take on boring ol' fish.
Another new dish that will probably go into semi-regular rotation was the stuffed pork tenderloin I made on Sunday. When we buy pork, we usually buy the pre-marinated tenderloins and just roast or grill them. This time, we got plain tenderloin, I butterflied it and pounded it thin, filled it with a stuffing of chopped apple, craisins and walnuts, tied it up and roasted it. Holy cow, was it good! It really wasn't as difficult as I thought it would be, and it's probably fancy enough to serve for a nice dinner party.
One dish that I actually made from a recipe was a Moroccan chickpea stew. It was soooooo tasty, and I didn't miss eating meat at all. It would be pretty good with some diced chicken breast added in, but it was fantastic just as it was. And it was nice to not eat meat for once, not to mention it was a super cheap meal to make.
Anyways, I guess the moral of this blog post is that trying new things in the kitchen doesn't have to be hard, and you might be pleasantly surprised!
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
What an occasion!
In an effort to avoid the massive crowds making their way into DC for Obama's Inauguration today, I'm working from home. There's absolutely no way in hell you would find me anywhere near DC today - they're expecting up to 5 million people to arrive in the city for the festivities. Ugh. Sounds miserable to me. But, of course, the TV is on and I'm half-watching the Inauguration coverage in-between snippets of work. It really is incredible. Every square inch of the National Mall is covered with bodies. I have NEVER seen so many people together in one place, most of them united because of one man. It's awe-inspiring that a country that is usually so divided can come together so peacefully for a common cause. Amazing. What an incredible moment in history.
Monday, December 29, 2008
Christmas 2008
Yes, I know you've all been waiting with bated breath to hear all about our holidays, and I'm sorry I've been so slack. There's just so much to write that thinking about it makes me break out in a cold sweat. But, for you folks, that's something I'll just have to endure.
I'll try to make this as short and sweet as possible. We'll see how successful that is.
Tuesday before Christmas
We arrived in Chicago at about 8am, and were immediately hit with a few inches of snow. It was fun! When we left DC, the temperature had been fluctuating between upper-60's and mid to low-40's, so the cold and the snow helped to remind us that it is indeed winter. After picking up the rental car and heading home (Oswego, IL) to freshen up, we headed back towards Chicago to meet up with Jessie and Joci, and Jeremy's friend Nikki and her husband Corey. We drove around the city for a while, hopelessly looking for somewhere that was still serving brunch. At 3pm. On a Thursday. Not only did we not find anywhere for brunch, but we also did not find a single restaurant that was open for lunch. Seriously?! Finally we gave up and just headed to Starbucks for snack, and then it was off to get creative and paint some pottery. Yep - 5 adults decided the best way for us to spend our afternoon was painting pottery. As lame as that sounds, it was actually a lot of fun - we brought a couple bottles of wine and spent a few hours getting our creative juices flowing. Afterwards, we headed to Cafe Ba Ba Reeba for tapas and sangria, where I once again enjoyed a dish of grilled octopus (not calamari, octopus). Delicioso!
Ha! Look how miserably I failed at keeping it "short and sweet"!
Christmas Eve
Nothing. Jeremy and I ate lunch at Portillo's, went home to digest and finished wrapping gifts.
Christmas
Everyone woke up early to open gifts. Ok, maybe not that early, more like 9am. We all got spoiled rotten - THANK YOU!! It was completely unnecessary, but still very much appreciated. After gifts, we all got ready and headed to Jeremy's Uncle Jeff and Leny's house in Chicago for Christmas dinner. The food was wonderful, and it was great to catch up with all Jeremy's extended family who we hadn't seen in 2 years.
Friday after Christmas
Jeremy and I went to see Blue Man Group, which Jeremy had been trying to get me to see since we started dating. The premise of the show is based on how outsiders (in this case, blue aliens) might view and try to understand humans. I don't know...it's kind of weird. Jeremy had insisted that we sit up close in the "poncho" section - the first 4 rows of the theater, where everyone is given a plastic poncho to wear. I was a little apprehensive, but Jeremy insisted that the front rows were the best place to sit. All was well, until about halfway through the show when (CAUTION: Spoilers ahead!!) they shot some stinky goop out into the audience. Wow...gee thanks, boys. We didn't get too much of the goopy crap on us, but it was enough to gross me out and make me just wish the show was over. Anywho, goopy stuff aside, the show was ok. Definitely not my favorite, but entertaining nonetheless.
After Blue Man Group, we headed to Quartino where we were meeting up with the fam and Nikki and Corey for dinner. The food was wonderful, and we all got stinking drunk on chianti and some sweet-like-syrup orange after-dinner liqueur. Afterwards, Jeremy, Jessie, Nikki, Corey and I all headed over to Pop's for Champagne for more drinks (like we really needed it). After 2 bottles of champagne (at least I think it was two), we decided to head over to the Redhead Piano Bar for MORE drinks. Alas, I was deemed too intoxicated to get in (although I vehemently believe that my stumbling was a direct result of wearing 3.5 inch heels and trying to walk down an icey and snowy path), which one would think might deter us from continuing on, but instead we simply walked across the street to yet another bar. We sat down, complaining about the Redhead and their strict door policies, when the the guy sitting next to us chimed in with "Oh, I own that place!". What?! The owner of the bar we had just been rejected from was sitting next to us. His reason for not spending time at his own bar - he wasn't dressed according to their dress code. Ha! We had one drink there (at least I think it was only one), then decided to call it a night. I woke up at 7am the next morning, still wearing my clothes. It was a fun night.
Saturday
We had a slooooow day, being that we were all nursing hangovers. Then it was off to Jeremy's favorite Chicago-style pizza place, Lou Malnati's for dinner.
Sunday
Up at 5am to fly home. We had an exhausting but awesome time! Yay Chicago!
New Year's Eve
Nothing. Seriously, nothing. I made a dinner of sirloin steak, panko crusted crabcakes with roasted red pepper aioli, twice-baked potatoes and green beans tossed with chives and stone ground mustard. It was delicious. We drank a bottle of wine, and were sound asleep by 11pm. I woke up at 12:30 to the Pussycat Dolls performing at the New Years special on TV.
Yeap, we're just that cool.
And that's it. We're both back to the daily grind, laying low after a busy year and hopeful that 2009 will be as awesome as everyone wants it to be.
I'll try to make this as short and sweet as possible. We'll see how successful that is.
Tuesday before Christmas
We arrived in Chicago at about 8am, and were immediately hit with a few inches of snow. It was fun! When we left DC, the temperature had been fluctuating between upper-60's and mid to low-40's, so the cold and the snow helped to remind us that it is indeed winter. After picking up the rental car and heading home (Oswego, IL) to freshen up, we headed back towards Chicago to meet up with Jessie and Joci, and Jeremy's friend Nikki and her husband Corey. We drove around the city for a while, hopelessly looking for somewhere that was still serving brunch. At 3pm. On a Thursday. Not only did we not find anywhere for brunch, but we also did not find a single restaurant that was open for lunch. Seriously?! Finally we gave up and just headed to Starbucks for snack, and then it was off to get creative and paint some pottery. Yep - 5 adults decided the best way for us to spend our afternoon was painting pottery. As lame as that sounds, it was actually a lot of fun - we brought a couple bottles of wine and spent a few hours getting our creative juices flowing. Afterwards, we headed to Cafe Ba Ba Reeba for tapas and sangria, where I once again enjoyed a dish of grilled octopus (not calamari, octopus). Delicioso!
Ha! Look how miserably I failed at keeping it "short and sweet"!
Christmas Eve
Nothing. Jeremy and I ate lunch at Portillo's, went home to digest and finished wrapping gifts.
Christmas
Everyone woke up early to open gifts. Ok, maybe not that early, more like 9am. We all got spoiled rotten - THANK YOU!! It was completely unnecessary, but still very much appreciated. After gifts, we all got ready and headed to Jeremy's Uncle Jeff and Leny's house in Chicago for Christmas dinner. The food was wonderful, and it was great to catch up with all Jeremy's extended family who we hadn't seen in 2 years.
Friday after Christmas
Jeremy and I went to see Blue Man Group, which Jeremy had been trying to get me to see since we started dating. The premise of the show is based on how outsiders (in this case, blue aliens) might view and try to understand humans. I don't know...it's kind of weird. Jeremy had insisted that we sit up close in the "poncho" section - the first 4 rows of the theater, where everyone is given a plastic poncho to wear. I was a little apprehensive, but Jeremy insisted that the front rows were the best place to sit. All was well, until about halfway through the show when (CAUTION: Spoilers ahead!!) they shot some stinky goop out into the audience. Wow...gee thanks, boys. We didn't get too much of the goopy crap on us, but it was enough to gross me out and make me just wish the show was over. Anywho, goopy stuff aside, the show was ok. Definitely not my favorite, but entertaining nonetheless.
After Blue Man Group, we headed to Quartino where we were meeting up with the fam and Nikki and Corey for dinner. The food was wonderful, and we all got stinking drunk on chianti and some sweet-like-syrup orange after-dinner liqueur. Afterwards, Jeremy, Jessie, Nikki, Corey and I all headed over to Pop's for Champagne for more drinks (like we really needed it). After 2 bottles of champagne (at least I think it was two), we decided to head over to the Redhead Piano Bar for MORE drinks. Alas, I was deemed too intoxicated to get in (although I vehemently believe that my stumbling was a direct result of wearing 3.5 inch heels and trying to walk down an icey and snowy path), which one would think might deter us from continuing on, but instead we simply walked across the street to yet another bar. We sat down, complaining about the Redhead and their strict door policies, when the the guy sitting next to us chimed in with "Oh, I own that place!". What?! The owner of the bar we had just been rejected from was sitting next to us. His reason for not spending time at his own bar - he wasn't dressed according to their dress code. Ha! We had one drink there (at least I think it was only one), then decided to call it a night. I woke up at 7am the next morning, still wearing my clothes. It was a fun night.
Saturday
We had a slooooow day, being that we were all nursing hangovers. Then it was off to Jeremy's favorite Chicago-style pizza place, Lou Malnati's for dinner.
Sunday
Up at 5am to fly home. We had an exhausting but awesome time! Yay Chicago!
New Year's Eve
Nothing. Seriously, nothing. I made a dinner of sirloin steak, panko crusted crabcakes with roasted red pepper aioli, twice-baked potatoes and green beans tossed with chives and stone ground mustard. It was delicious. We drank a bottle of wine, and were sound asleep by 11pm. I woke up at 12:30 to the Pussycat Dolls performing at the New Years special on TV.
Yeap, we're just that cool.
And that's it. We're both back to the daily grind, laying low after a busy year and hopeful that 2009 will be as awesome as everyone wants it to be.
 |
| Christmas 2008 |
Monday, December 22, 2008
Merry Christmas to all...
And to all, wish me luck as I head to the freaking freezing city of Chicago. Seriously. It's 1 degree Fahrenheit at the moment. What the heck??!
Seriously though, I hope that everyone has a fantastic Christmas and gets to spend much needed time with loved ones. I love you all, and I miss everyone bunches. I'll be thinking of you on Christmas morning.
Lots and lots of love and Christmas hugs!
Bec xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
PS - I've decided that this video of Nat King Cole should be the dictionary definition of "suave".
Seriously though, I hope that everyone has a fantastic Christmas and gets to spend much needed time with loved ones. I love you all, and I miss everyone bunches. I'll be thinking of you on Christmas morning.
Lots and lots of love and Christmas hugs!
Bec xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
PS - I've decided that this video of Nat King Cole should be the dictionary definition of "suave".
Friday, December 19, 2008
2008 in photographs
I stumbled across a link to Boston.com's Big Picture section, which is currently running a 3 part series of photographs called "2008 in Photographs". The pictures are absolutely incredible - beautiful, chilling, breathtaking, inspiring. I think it's incredible that, with all the crap that's been going on in the US this year (namely the election and the economic slump), I had absolutely no idea what was going on in the rest of the world. Seriously. And I'm sure that there are many, many other's who are the same. We're so wrapped up in what's happening here, we have no clue as to what the rest of the world is going through. And, apparently, I've missed a lot. Here are my favorites...I'll put a link to the rest of the photos at the bottom.
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
New hair
Look!! After growing my hair to probably the longest it's been since I was 5, I've cut it all off to probably the shortest it's been since I had that bad short haircut when I was 13. Woohoo!!
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Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Is it Christmas yet?
Seriously, is it? We've been bombarded with tinsel and bells and little plastic Santa's for so long, I'm beginning to think that maybe Christmas just passed us all by while we were busy looking for the perfect gifts. It's been almost 2 months since decorations first started to appear, and I really wish that Christmas would just hurry up and arrive already. I'm ready to stuff my face full of turkey and then sit around, moaning about how I might explode. I'm ready to sit around on Christmas morning, listen to Nat King Cole, and hand out gifts in my pajamas. I'm ready to sit at a giant table, drinking wine and trying to comprehend just one of the 36 different stories that are being told at the same time. I really am dreaming of a white Christmas...and it looks like we might be in luck for that this year. And I really can't wait to hang out with family - as much as I love my husband, it does get a little lonely sometimes with just the two of us, and it will be wonderful to spend time with everyone.
In preparation for the holidays, Jeremy and I have been laying low for the last few weeks. Last Saturday we headed over to a friends house to drink some wine, eat some Christmas cookies and play some games. It was a fun night! We played a round of Cranium, and I discovered that I do NOT know the theme song to James Bond. In fact, I didn't even know that it really had a theme song - I thought it was just some random song and then he shoots at that tunnel thingy and blood comes down...I thought THAT was the theme song. So I failed miserably at Cranium's instructions to hum the theme to James Bond - I ended up humming the theme to Get Smart instead. Oh well. At least I could spell hippopotamus and broccoli. If I ever play Cranium with any of you, be sure to deflect all the yellow spelling questions to me - I'm pretty much the queen of the yellow cards.
And that's about all we've been up to. We've just been hanging around, saving our pennies for our trip back to Chicago next week. Jeremy's sick at the moment, which means that I most likely will be sick right on Christmas day. Thanks, honey.
Oh, and speaking of Christmas...I've just finished reading an article that helps to put things in a little perspective at a time when so many people are caught up with the whole "spend, spend, SPEND" at Christmas time mentality. Enjoy!
Stuff is not Salvation
Oh, and I almost forgot...I don't think I had ever seen or heard this gem from David Bowie and Bing Crosby before. It's beautiful, and I love it!!
In preparation for the holidays, Jeremy and I have been laying low for the last few weeks. Last Saturday we headed over to a friends house to drink some wine, eat some Christmas cookies and play some games. It was a fun night! We played a round of Cranium, and I discovered that I do NOT know the theme song to James Bond. In fact, I didn't even know that it really had a theme song - I thought it was just some random song and then he shoots at that tunnel thingy and blood comes down...I thought THAT was the theme song. So I failed miserably at Cranium's instructions to hum the theme to James Bond - I ended up humming the theme to Get Smart instead. Oh well. At least I could spell hippopotamus and broccoli. If I ever play Cranium with any of you, be sure to deflect all the yellow spelling questions to me - I'm pretty much the queen of the yellow cards.
And that's about all we've been up to. We've just been hanging around, saving our pennies for our trip back to Chicago next week. Jeremy's sick at the moment, which means that I most likely will be sick right on Christmas day. Thanks, honey.
Oh, and speaking of Christmas...I've just finished reading an article that helps to put things in a little perspective at a time when so many people are caught up with the whole "spend, spend, SPEND" at Christmas time mentality. Enjoy!
Stuff is not Salvation
Oh, and I almost forgot...I don't think I had ever seen or heard this gem from David Bowie and Bing Crosby before. It's beautiful, and I love it!!
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