Is it just my late nite shopping addiction talking, or should I buy these IMMEDIATELY?!



Why yes, they do have the stupidest name ever, but I am dying of lust here people!

Current Mood: hungry for shoes

So, as I've been getting more and more into cooking, I hope/expect to have regular food porn updates of what I'm eating these days!

Last night, I made:

* Pureed cauliflower with butter and cream (just like mashed potatoes, only fluffier!)
* Roasted shiitake and red onions with rosemary and truffle oil


To make the cauliflower, first I steamed a head of chopped cauliflower for about 10 minutes until very soft. Then, I threw it piping hot into the food processor with half a stick of butter and about 1/2 a cup of half & half. I added some salt and pepper to taste and blended it until it was a little chunky. So delicious!


At the same time, I roasted the veggies, which is also incredibly simple to make. I chopped up the mushrooms and onions into long slices and drizzled them with olive oil, dried rosemary, coarse sea salt, and freshly ground pepper. Then I sprayed white truffle oil (I got a bottle of olive/truffle oil blend for $3 at the grocery store!) onto it and put it in the oven at 425 for about 15 minutes, turning the veggies once. Easy!

The leftover veggies will be combined with some fresh handmade pasta, chicken sausage, parsley, and olive oil for another meal.

In addition to cooking some delicious food, I also had excellent meals when my parents visited this weekend!


Prosciutto, dried fig, dried cherry, and frisee salad / Margherita pizza

Today, Culinary School Co-worker brought me a homemade pan au chocolate that is to die for, so basically I'm in foodie heaven right about now.

Next up on the To Cook queue: Lemon-Garlic Lamb Chops with Mint Yogurt Sauce.

Current Mood: hungry

While I was in Baltimore, I got to ogle Famous Sister's adorably round cat. She has a teensy head and a big fat sausage body; my favorite kind of animal!

So naturally, I had to stalk her with my camera while she tried to hide behind some plants.







We also went to this incredible vintage furniture store where shit was so cheap that I nearly had a heart attack and immediately started plotting how I could rent a van and drive some of this shit home.

For example:





That vintage drink holder/record player/radio was $189. $189!!! Not to be all OMG things are SOOO much pricier in New York about it, but OMG THINGS ARE SO MUCH PRICIER IN NEW YORK! That baby would go for easily four times as much here, if not more.

Also featured at that store was a vintage cocktail bar & matching bar stools so lovely I could have cried.

While at my sister's house, I also stared wistfully at her beautifully kept bought-from-craigslist-and-ebay mid-century modern decor and thought about how I couldn't even think of buying vintage furniture here for paralyzing fear about bed bugs.

Ahh home lust. I really do want to own something someday, but mostly for the decoration opportunities.

Current Mood: tired

Despite an incredibly harrowing return trip back to NYC, I am safe and sound!

I've had some pretty freaking incredible food over the past few weeks, and I thought y'all might like to share in at least the visuals of these culinary delights.

Food porn includes another trip to 11 Madison Park with Tae, Thanksgiving dinner, a beautiful dinner with sisters at an Afghan restaurant, and dinner at Atwater in Baltimore. Click any for bigger.


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In other exciting food news, I woke up at the ass crack of dawn on Friday to drag my ass to Macy's for some super bargain cookware. I got two beautiful Calphalon pans after sale price and coupons for $40, which is pretty damn exciting!

I also plan to ask for some cookware and kitchen gadgets for xmas, including a nice stainless steel saute pan, an immersion blender, a really nice knife, and a cast iron skillet. Here's to not eating out!

Current Mood: hungry

It's sisters' (and sisters' pets) weekend in Baltimore!

We're having a nice time and eating awesome food, but damn it'll be nice to sleep in my own bed again.