I heart soup tureens

The irony here, of course, is that I don't really like soup.

This is going to sound gag-worthy, but some of these "new" tureens just look pretty. And I've been envisioning them more as a decorative piece. Honestly, I really don't even entertain or "have people over" as everyone on House Hunters seems to say. Tangent warning: I cannot wait for the day that I am able to say to a realtor, "I don't have much of a social life, so don't worry about the size of the entertaining areas in the homes you find."

This one from Pottery Barn is simple and pretty.

Crate and Barrel went a bit too simple with this one, mostly because it is missing handles.

And Williams Sonoma has a lion's head tureen, and my favorite-- an antique style.

Heart. Heart. Heart.

Would you ever buy a soup tureen?

Good Cookbook

The Beekman 1802 Heirloom Cookbook.

This is in stark contrast to my previous cranky cookbook post.

Another library lend, this book is fantastic! They are artsy, hipster, without being forced. Almost all recipes fit on one page (all the more easier to photcopy or scan), and they have lovely, vivid photography of their farm and farmhouse in upstate new york. What's not to love?

They even have a recipe for Utica green. Be still my heart.

Highly recommend checking out this cookbook for its beautiful photography and down-to-earth instructions and approach. They even have adorable little rooster and crow illustrations. AND they leave a placeholder open for "notes" for each of the recipes. Done.

Wegmans is finally here

Stop all the world now (shout out to Howie Day!).

I am severely delayed in this posting, which is just no good in the blogging world. Excuses excuses. I will say that I was terribly sick for what seemed like 6 weeks, and couldn't do much of anything besides cough and be a general invalid.

In the midst of that, my beloved Wegmans opened their first store in New England. Our plans, as you may remember, were to camp out the night before and get a good place in line. My hacking cough changed our plans and we decided to wake early, and get in line.

With our good fortune, we woke at 3am, and were in Northborough by 4:30ish. The day had arrived.

In honor of New England, corporate Wegmans hired some poor elderly re-enactment souls to play the fife and drum to build excitement with the crowd.

Other than that, it was a mad rush through the door when it opened. I'm happy to report that I was the first customer to order a sandwich from the sub shop! It was so hectic, that I actually had a bit of crowd overload. You could barely walk without getting stuck behind people who were just ogling the aisles and endcaps. N and I did some light grocery shopping (including finding pumpking doughnut holes, hello!) and were out by 8:30am.

Overall review: It's definitely awesome to have one in the general area, but it's not as good as DeWitt Wegs!

Cookbooks

I have a beef with cookbooks that try to be fancy schmancy. Now, I like to make food look and taste good,--don't get me wrong. But it's really disheartening when cookbooks try and intimidate you. Take Miette, for instance.

My first encounter with the store came in San Francisco. Nate and I walked past this adorable bakery shop at the Ferry Building in February. The minute I walked by it my heart melted. There were pastels, and french words, and cake stands, ribbons, glass domed covers and candy jars!



I recently realized that I could satiate my thirst for food porn by lending cookbooks from the library without having to shell out 30 or 40 dollars each time a new one is published. This is what happened with Miette, and I'm really glad that I lent it.

The photography is amazing, and scalloped pages practically beg you to leaf through. But where the book goes wrong is by positioning baking as a difficult, tricky, and exacting science. The truth is, if you can read directions, and follow your instinct, you'll be a pretty darn good baker. This book reads more as an ego-stroke than a "how-to" primer on how to replicate her baked goods.

A few of my "get ova ya-self" moments:
"baking a perfect cake requires using perfect techniques..."
"using the right equipment is crucial..."
"cakes require special care..."
"pating attention to proper temperature is one of the most imporant factors..."
"the mixing steps in each recipe call for a specific attachment"
"add the eggs to your batters slowly and carefully"

Overall Grade: C

If you're looking for a better option, from an equally famous bakery, check out Joanne Chang's Flour cookbook. You won't be disappointed.

People of Conferences Part 3

I have a confession to make. It turns out, I am one of those weird conference people.

Each year, my company attends at least 3 conferences where my good friend, the Nucynta lion, is part of a pharmaceutical company's booth display. I still can't figure out the symbolism of a lion representing a pain drug. And don't even get me started about the rose. What does that even mean? All it conjures for me is that movie Zorro, or salsa or merengue or something Latin like that.

This has turned into a silly little ritual that I do each year; pose with the lion, and get my picture taken. It's like we're conference-friends. Luckily, the union workers that are constructing the booth either don't care or are too busy to find my ritual humorous.

People of Conferences Part 2

This March, my colleague and I were at a conference in National Harbor, Maryland. It's formerly a swamp area near Washington DC, that has subsequently been filled-in and made into a "convention" destination complete with hotels, restaurants, and tree-lined sidewalks. Almost Disney-like.

The indoor convention center has a grand atrium with tons of foliage and water displays. Here, you'll see a few small cafe tables, and a woman (I think), with a RAT TAIL! It appeared that she was a vendor attempting to meet with a physician. Let me remind you, we were attending a large, well-known, medical conference attended by hundreds of doctors.

Photo courtesy of SV's iphone

Do you think she thought her rat tail was part of her "sunday's best" outfit for the conference?

Fall in Boston

This post is dedicated to my Sissy, who lives in hot, humid South Beach. It is definitely feeling like fall here in Boston. I took a short break from work today, and walked to the end of our parking lot to take some pictures of the foliage and Charles River. Enjoy!

People of Conferences Part 1

Welcome to the first in a series of posts that I will devote to the oddballs, creeps, and wackos that I observe and interact with at the various conferences I attend for work. I've toyed with starting a whole separate blog, devoted to this pasttime; akin to the "People of Walmart" or the "People of Public Transit" blogs. I've also consulted with a few lawyer friends about the legal implications and consequences of doing this. I apologize in advance for any vagueness or omission of details, but it is purely to avoid drama.

Part 1

This gem comes to us courtesy of a February conference held in Vancouver, Canada this year. She was an exhibitor directly next to our booth, and thought it was a terrific idea to wear not one, not two, but THREE different styles of leopard print clothing. See how her blouse is kind of low-cut? She inadvertently (or maybe not) flashed a whole row of people. No shame. No shame. I'm still kind of wondering if it was a she or he.

To top it off, on the last day of the conference, she snatched out a magnifying glass (most likely from the folds of her cheetah-wear) and began to dictate notes into a digital voice recorder. Did I mention that she and her publishing company are based in New York City?

Honda how-to

I have a confession: my car turned 5 years old and I had never replaced the cabin air filter. You know, the little thing that cleans the air that you breathe while you're driving. Now mind you, I am pretty on-top of taking care of my car...annual inspection, replace and rotate tires, handwash and wax, wetvac, oil changes...all of it. I'm one of those women who feels enraged that she doesn't understand something car-related and reads the owner manual, googles, and asks her dad for explanations.

So I realized that this was an easy, and cheap thing to do for myself. It was a bit of a test. I walked down to my local AutoZone, looked in their big newsprint catalog to find the exact cabin air filter for my 2006 Honda Accord. Of course I can't tell you if it is an EX, LX, but does that really matter? After slowly and methodically finding the correct filter model number, I triple checked myself, AND tried to blend in and not look like a dumb, lost female.

Here is the beginning of my project. You can see the cabin air filter in the blue box on the seat. I downloaded directions that I found online, and instructions also came in the box. 2 points for me.



On my particular model, the filter was located behind the glove box. I had to disengage the hinge-arm that holds the glove box up. The big black piece in the pic below is the backside of the glovebox. Then I snapped out the gray bracket in the middle of the pic that holds the filter in place.
Here's my "nasty" shot. New filter-LEFT. Old filter-RIGHT. Bad! If you look closely, you can see little stones, and some small leaves and twigs. I'm pretty sure neighbors drove by and saw me taking pictures of these. They must've thought it was something exciting. Gotcha!
All I had to do was slide the new filter into the frame, lock it into place, and then hook the glove box back in. All it cost me was about $12 for the filter. Easy peasy! Try it for yourself.

I heart plants

This post is an ode to my plants. Yes, Miss Bibliophile, you can chuckle right now.

I've accumulated, inhereted, and re-seeded quite a few over the years. Here are a few of my friends that keep me company.

Base-y
I grew this one from seeds this spring,
and I used it in my caprese salad this summer.

Jade-y
I got this as part of my birthday gift from my parents this year.
I've had it on my "plants I want to own" list.

Retro plant stand near the sunlight capital of my apartment.
Aunt Judi gave us this plant stand and it is working out perfectly!
You can also see the Christmas cactus that Amanda gave me,
and a plant from Aunt Judi/Leahy Clinic.

No-name (taking suggestions)
This plant has been with the Romanowski sisters for 8 or 9 years.
It was passed from Sis in dental school and moved with me
from grad school, to Newton, and now to Waltham.
Here you can see the 3rd generation popping up.
The thickest and tallest stalks are the oldest, the medium are the recent growth,
and thin single shoot is the grandbaby!

This sucker is over 2 feet tall!
Spidey
I have 2 of these flanking the tv, along with 2 peace lilys.
I had to ziptie the Spideys to dowels just so they would stand straight.What do you think of my indoor garden?

Kitchenaid Mixer review

I was recently asked my opinion of my Kitchenaid mixer. As I wrote the email and pushed "send" I realized it was quite well written. And hey, who doesn't love to recycle content (she says as if she were at work)?

So, if you're in the market for a stand mixer, read on!

I own the 325 watt, 5 Qt model, (KSM150) Kitchenaid mixer in basic white. It works great and does just what I need; I've never had a dough that it couldn't handle. I do love it, and there really aren't any drawbacks that I've experienced. I've had it for 2 or 3 years now, and probably use it 1-2x/month without any problems.

I know Kitchenaid has some other "professional" models, but I'm rarely one to buy the "top of the line" for my hobbies just to say I have "top of the line" when their basic models are perfect for what I need. There's other brands of course, like Cuisinart and maybe even Breville--but I think that is sacrilegious. KitchenAid is the one and only way to go in my book.

Accessories: my model came with: regular beater, whisk beater, and dough hook; the stainless steel 5qt bowl. The other accessories that are handy for me: the plastic pouring shield (a luxury, not a necessity), and a smaller stainless bowl (again, a luxury, and nice for making frosting and not having to wash the batter bowl immediately!). I also have a fabric cover so that it doesn't get dusty/dirty when not in use (I love its practicality, but it seems like such a grandmotherly thing to have!)

Attachments: I don't have any now, but I've been stalking their pasta-maker attachment. I think they also have a meat grinder, ice cream maker and fruit juicer attachments.

I hope you at least get a chuckle and find this mildly useful.

Zucchini pancakes

I found a wonderful recipe from Ina Garten, the Barefoot Contessa. My mom gave me a huge homegrown zucchini from my Uncle Butch's garden in upstate new york.

These buggers were a bit tricky. First of all, zucchini is really wet. Next time, I need to sweat it out ahead of time. I added a lot more onion than the recipe called for, too, to add some extra zip.

I found out that I need to get the pan really really really hot, to get a nice char crisp on them. I had to throw a few away because they were too mushy, with too much butter/oil.
Who knew you could add too much ?

I ended up eating them with salt, pepper, sour cream, and a side of applesauce. It just felt like the Slavic thing to do. Those eastern europeans know what they're talking about!Do you have any tricks on how to make really crispy pancakes, or how to sweat produce like zucchini or even eggplant?

Grosgrain ribbon belt

Quick sewing project!

As you recall, last November, I bought some sweet goods in NYC during the first annual craft crawl. I'm finally, sheepishly, getting around to using some of those goods. I sat down to make myself a grosgrain belt with the beautiful gray&purple ribbon that I bought.

What do you think?

Before
After

Atlanta

I traveled to Atlanta for the National Conference on Health Communication, Marketing, and Media in early August. My employer paid for the trip, and I earned CEUs towards my health education certification, so it was a win-win. Although, with all of my recent traveling, it admittedly left me more tired than I had anticipated.

While I was there, we were able to have a private viewing of the Georgia Aquarium, which is the largest in the world, and I was also able to sneak off and view the World of Coca-Cola "museum".

My view from the Omni hotel at the CNN center.

Look! Two of my favorite things: mini Coke!
I stopped for lunch at the TacoMac near the CNN center. It's a popular chain in the southeast, and is owned and run by a member of N's stepfather's family.

Look at all of the different Coke products on the menu! I tried diet raspberry coke. Very disappointing; it tasted medicinal. Yuck!I snuck off and managed to check out the "World of Coke."
Look at this cool soda fountain that they recreated!

Proof that my people in the old country love Coke too! It's in my blood!

Final stop was the tasting gallery, where you can taste Coke products from all across the globe.
Delicious and disgusting. I swear I tasted windshield washer fluid and maybe even licorice.
My favorite: diet cherry coke! I can't find it anywhere anymore!
Next onto the Georgia Aquarium, the largest in the world! Very new and beautiful.

Look at these cuties! They're nuzzling!

No more traveling until mid-September when I go to Orlando for another work conference!

Mixology

With the summer days winding down, I've been exploring the world of mixology. My tried and true vodka tonic still holds a place in my heart, but I've been ripping out more and more cocktail recipes from magazines.

With my recent fascination with rhubarb, I was exited to find a rhubarb margarita recipe. Unfortunately, I don't have access to shaved ice, so I figured I'd just make it on the rocks (over ice, instead of frozen.)

The key to this recipe is making a batch of rhubarb simple syrup; equal parts sugar, water, and some chopped up rhubarb. Simmer this for about 10 minutes and you're left with a sweet simple syrup. Strain to remove the leftover pulp. Making the rest of the margarita is easy.

Take your friendly cocktail shaker, add some tequila, triple sec, and rhubarb simple syrup and a couple of ice cubes. Shake until a frost appears on the outside of the shaker, and strain into your glass. Add ice cubes and rim with salt if preferred. Top with a dash of club soda or sparkling water, and you're all set.
This little picture kind of makes me sad because it looks plain (and because I forgot to rim with salt). So I need your help in brainstorming a good garnish for this. I like the idea of adding rhubarb, but those stalks are not the most appealing to look at. Perhaps a slice of orange?

Baking class x2

The weekend directly after Chicago, I went with Miss Bibliophile to two places well known to foodies: Stonewall Kitchen in Maine, and King Arthur Flour in Vermont. We planned it as a weekend extravaganza.

On Saturday at Stonewall, we participated in a demo class with Joanne Chang of Flour fame in Boston.
I received her cookbook for my birthday and was eager to learn how to make her homemade pop-tarts and oreo cookies!

After that we had a short drive over to Vermont to King Arthur Flour.

On Sunday we took a hands-on class called Bread 101. Neither Miss Bibliophile nor I had ever attempted bread, so this was our inauguration into the world of yeast.

Besides having hot flashes and almost passing out, and staring at my bench-neighbors disgustingly flaky and cracked man-toenails, it was a successful class.

And the best part of it meant that we were able to take home our goodies--scones and bread!
Our resident squirrels also enjoyed the baked treats, and requested that I try making a pumpernickel loaf next time.

48 showerless hours in Chicago

I've been traveling quite a bit lately--mostly recreationally and not for work--so I'm not complaining. But it can be tiring, and that why I haven't posted in a while. My early July trip was to Chicago with my friend J. We scheduled a girls weekend in Chicago way back in March. What a huge city! We had a good agenda, and still didn't see the entire city.This is the view from the Hancock Tower on cloudy Saturday morning. We were waiting for Cheescake Factory to open at 10:30am for some brunch and needed to waste some time.

After brunch, we headed north on the L and saw a Cubs game at Wrigley! Fantastic stadium, really family friendly and affordable tickets.

This is the view of Navy pier, from our Architectural tour boat. The skies cleared up a bit for the actual tour. Here, you can see a replica of the ferris wheel built for the Worlds Fair in the 1800s.
We also went to the famous Second City improv theater and caught a show. Very funny. And on Sunday morning, J made a friend in the bathroom. This cockroach is about 3 inches long, and prevented me from taking a shower. The hotel staff came up to the room with a broom and dustpan, but by that time, our friend had vanished.

Overall, Chicago seems like a great city. The only complications to our trip were the delays flying in and out of the city.I'd love to go back, especially if I had family or friends to visit there.