3 on Thursday

I hope everyone is loving 2014 so far.  This is my first full week back in the office in quite a while so I'm still getting my bearings.  Without any holidays to look forward to for a while, the winter no longer means fun; it means cold.  I'm keeping myself mentally warm by remembering all the fun we've had so far this winter so please enjoy this New Years themed "3 on Thursday."

Background from Paddy Maguire's, which was decorated to make me feel like I was inside a Christmas tree.

1. When you don't have speakers, just stick your iPhone in a cup.  I was skeptical, but it really works and kept the party going on New Years Eve.
2. Cheers to 2014!
3. After a party at my apartment, we migrated to a karaoke bar in K-Town.  It was my first time at Gogopa, and although the elevator ride is a little scary, it was a great new find.  It's cheaper than most places and is BYOB.  The rooms are equipped with bottle openers, cork screws, and tambourines so you're guaranteed a good time.  And they gave us free candy when we left.  

Inspiration Station: Friends with Benefits

One of my New Years Resolutions was to revive this monthly feature...so here we go!

The Dish: A take on street meat.  There is a string of scenes where Mila Kunis' character is trying to convince JT's character to move to NYC by showing him all the amazing things about the city, ranging from a great view to a flash mob.  It is during this time that Mila Kunis cements herself into every man's fantasy as the ultimate cool girl.  She doesn't mind rolling on the ground in her business casual attire and she has no qualms about eating a greasy, messy gyro from a Halal cart.  The character disappears and everyone watching the movie seemed to believe that Mila herself is an easy going gal who can curse like a sailor and doesn't care about calories.  In real life, no one could maintain that figure on a regular diet of street meat and the scene is merely acting.  But I don't want to completely shatter the image so here's a recipe for a healthy street meat inspired meal at home so you can eat a dirty and delicious sandwich, just like those easy going girls.

I started with this recipe, but omitted the allspice because I didn't have it.  I piled the chicken into some flatbread and topped it with chopped tomato, cucumber, and Greek yogurt with feta mixed in.  If you eat it in the flatbread, I recommend wrapping the whole thing in tin foil.  That will help you avoid the mess, plus you'll really get the street meat feel.  Or ditch the flatbread altogether and get after it like a burrito bowl.

The Doodads:

1. As Mila Kunis' character gets dressed after her romp in the sheets with JT (so jelly), she pulls her tshirt down over a lacy bra.  I remembered thinking this type of undergarment, while sexy in a prudish way, would probably be impractical.  It doesn't seem to offer much support but dang does it look cute.  This camilla lace bralette from Urban Outfitters is lined so you don't feel like you're walking around naked while still giving off that girlishly seductive vibe.
2. Just before she's unceremoniously dumped by Bryan Greenberg's character, Mila runs out to get coffee for the two of them on the street corner.  I've always thought that some of the best coffee in NYC is from the street vendors and I love when they still use the iconic Greek-style cups.  You can get your own ceramic version at Uncommon Goods to last forever.
3. Throughout the movie the Jamie character (Mila) wears a lightning bolt necklace and Dylan (Justin Timberlake) has a lightning bolt tattoo.  Follow the trend yourself by donning some lightning of your own; this time, as a double finger ring.
4. In an effort to cheer Jamie up, Dylan performs all of Kris Kross' "Jump."  I couldn't think of anything but the backwards overalls those boys wore in the 1992 music video.  Not sure that I could pull them off in 2014 but overalls are attempting a comeback.  Somehow they don't look terrible when they're styled like this.  

Book Review: Let's Explore Diabetes with Owls

Though David Sedaris touches on his childhood in this collection of essays, those anecdotes don't become the focus of this book as they did in the last collection of his I read, "Me Talk Pretty One Day".  This time, he pulls from his early adulthood and - my favorite - sprinkles in some rants spoken in a different, exaggerated, offensive voice, like that of the ignorant Obama protester.

My only critique of Sedaris is that some of his stories digress into another story he is reminded of that makes you forget what the original story was.  But the digression is a fun little trip so it's hard to be too bothered by it.

3 out of 5 stars.

Monday Reads

1. Where my girls at?!  Flavorwire looks at 20 women who shaped our culture in 2013.
2. A solar charger may seem like one of those things no one really needs, but after being stranded with no power for six days during Hurricane Sandy, something like this is starting to look pretty good.
3. What would the New Year be without some resolutions?  It may be easier to keep those commitments to getting healthy when you see how something as simple as walking six miles per week may help your memory.
4. I was actually in Colorado when it became the first state to offer marijuana legally with no catch (no, I did not partake).  Do you think it's possible to create a market around weed that is safe and mirrors the alcohol industry?

Crème Fraîche Pasta

The first time I had crème fraîche was while I was living in France.  Actually, that's the only time I have ever had it because they don't really make it here in the US.  Sure, restaurants dollop some cream over berries and say it's crème fraîche, but it's not the same.  In France, the texture is thicker than heavy cream but thinner than sour cream and tastes buttery.  It comes in a carton like you often see for chicken stock and when I had it, my French mom served it with pasta.  She placed a heaping spoonful of capellini pasta on each of our plates and then passed around the crème fraîche and a plate of smoked salmon so we could each add however much we liked.  It was delicious and impossible for me to recreate when I came back to the US.  Until now.

Whole Foods sells tubs of crème fraîche.  If it sits out of the fridge for a few minutes and you stir it up to thin it out a bit, it is just like what I remember from France.  Since I was going to the yucky grocery store across the street to pick up last minute ingredients to finish off the dish, I wasn't going to buy their [not fresh] smoked salmon.  Instead I picked up some mushrooms and shallots to sauté and used some leftover basil to finish off the dish.  The crème fraîche just adds a thin coat to the pasta so it's not overindulgent like a cream sauce but has a little more substance and flavor than butter or oil.  If you can find, I recommend giving crème fraîche the opportunity to prove itself here on American soil.

I served my pasta with chicken that I cut nugget size, seasoned with red pepper flakes, garlic powder, and paprika, and cooked in oil.  When they're this size, it only takes four minutes to cook the nuggets til they're perfectly juicy.

Ringing in 2014

I know I must be getting older because I no longer care about going to an all-inclusive rager for New Years Eve.  Don't get me wrong, I still love the excuse to get hammered in a party dress, but I don't need to spend $150 to do so with strangers.  That's what we call maturity.

This year, I hosted a party at my apartment that migrated to a karaoke bar shortly after the ball dropped.  We still got wild, but on our own terms.  And my #1 term was that this party would be easy to pull together considering I was just getting back from a week-long ski trip with the fam.  The best way to make sure a party comes together with little effort is to take some help from the store.  More than half the food was homemade but I supplemented the spread with cheese wafers from my hometown's Byrd Cookie Company as well as 5-layer Mexican dip, mini chicken pot pies, sea salt brownies, and doughnut holes from Trader Joe's.  

Now for the stuff I made myself:  

First, I whipped up a cocktail because a signature drink always sets the party mood.  I mixed vodka with grapefruit soda and then added frozen blueberries.  The blueberries kept the drink cold without watering it down and also added some crazy color.  

Because New York has gotten quite chilly (I finally broke out the puffy coat), I thought everyone would love for the first thing they see as they walk in from the cold to be warm soup.  I bought tomato bisque from Trader Joe's but then made it my own by adding fresh basil and a homemade cheesy crouton.  For the crouton, I had the bakery counter slice up a baguette for me and then I just topped it with shredded gruyere and stuck it in the oven until it was nice and toasty.  The toppings took as much time to prepare as it took for the soup to warm (about 5 minutes).  

Next, I took a cue from my Mom.  My mother has thrown plenty of parties and no one ever leaves disappointed.  One of the ways she ensures such a result is by serving baked salami.  Mix brown sugar and mustard (dijon or whole grain) - there are no proportions, just mix it til it tastes right.  Pierce a salami (Oscar Mayer, Hebrew National) and then spoon the sauce over the top, reserving some, and bake in a 325 oven for 30-45 minutes.  Baste midway through with more sauce.  When it's done. slice it and then quarter each slice.  You don't even get your hands dirty and every piece will be gone by the end of the party.  My Mom made this every time my Daddy had poker night and now my brother makes it for his cigar club so in a world of mini quiches, this app is definitely dude-approved.

Caprese skewers have become a big hit over the last few years (I make them all the time), but I would like to recommend miniaturizing another Italian salad, prosciutto and melon.  Just crumple up some prosciutto and skewer it on a toothpick with a cube of cantaloupe.  This one was also gone by the end of the party, I think because it's so refreshing.

When I saw a sale on phyllo cups at the grocery store, I bought three packages.  They take no time to thaw and if you pick an easy filling, the entire appetizer will be complete in five minutes.  I stuck a piece of brie inside each cup and placed them in the oven for a couple minutes - just until the brie melted.  When they came out of the oven, I topped each one with a candied walnut.  It looks much fancier than it is.  

You know what else will make anything look fancy?  Caviar.  Caviar and champagne go hand in hand when you're rich and famous.  Since it was New Years, I knew there would be champagne so I seized the opportunity to pretend I was one such rich and famous person and got some caviar.  Robin Leach would be so proud...until he learned I bought the cheap caviar instead of the good stuff.  How bougie.  Anyway, I found blinis (mini savory pancakes) at the grocery store that required nothing more than three minutes in the oven and topped those with a little crème fraîche and the caviar and I had a lovely, festive appetizer.  The hardest part about that dish was opening the caviar jar. 

Champagne wishes and caviar dreams to all of you in 2014!

3 on Thursday

As you can tell by the lack of posts, I took a nice lil break over the holidays.  My office was closed starting 12/24 and I decided to totally check out.  My much needed break started with a family ski trip (the background of today's post is the plane ride from Colorado) and ended with a wonderful New Years Eve celebration.  My 2014 is off to a great start and I wish you all the best in the year ahead!

1. I love theme parties and one that I can usually count on is the Ugly Christmas Sweater Party.  I primarily love it because it's nice to go out when comfort is the main motivation behind your outfit choice rather than looking hot 'n sexy.  This year, I got to wear an elf's hat - you can't tell, but there are some fab pointy ears on that thing.
2. I recently went to 3x1 for jeans.  This store makes amazing custom jeans and while I didn't go the bespoke route, I did get to customize the buttons on my pair.  Somehow I feel like my jeans fit better because I was able to see the workshop and the wall of raw denim right in the middle of the store.
3. Albert gets a shout out for an amazing gift.  I'm not much of a hint dropper but even if I was, with most boys it's just in one ear and out the other.  Not this guy.  He picked up on the fact that my favorite brands are Kate Spade and C Wonder.  And that I was disappointed in not finding the iPad case I wanted on Black Friday.  And that I love monogramming.  And cooking.  It was a thoughtful gift that could not have made me happier.