11.30.2013

re.CAP: THANKSGIVING 2.0


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Next up Thanksgiving at home, which looked an awful lot like this Thanksgiving last year, and probably the same as many years before. Our table was laden with butter, sugar, cornbread and brined turkey goodness. This year however, the leftovers are not as bountiful…a blessing and a curse? Check out the feasty treats. and stay tuned for a recipe or two.

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Hope everyone had a full and warm holiday. There are many things to be thankful for, and I know I've got a list.
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11.29.2013

re.CAP: THANKSGIVING


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This year I was super lucky and got to indulge in two completely different Thanksgiving dinners, while celebrating with my families. For the first time, I ventured to my boyfriend's house for their early afternoon feast, sitting amongst his big family and munching on their traditional twist on Thanksgiving. Beginning with little bites like cheese and sausage, deviled eggs, bread and tiny meatballs, merging into a first course of lasagna at the table, and following with an onslaught of sides and meat/poultry, it was definitely a cornucopia. Dessert was varied as well (although, we didn’t get to have any because we had to save a little room for a second dinner). Take a look at the delicious offerings, and stay tuned for my family’s smaller Thanksgiving dinner. 
 
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11.25.2013

brunch MUNCH: Skinner's Loft


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This was our first time at Skinner’s Loft for brunch, but not our first time (see here and here). Despite our misgivings, poor first and second impressions, and the cold, we went for a brunch date.

Brunch looked pretty and was decent, but there was something mini about it. I am an eater, and this Sunday morningafternoon, I was hungry. There was no way around it. So once our sweet little pale of bread goodies came to the table, I pounced, eating three of the little biscuits with sweet butter and tiny jam and two of the dense blueberry muffin bites. The mini theme had begun. 

My good friend ordered the steak salad, which looked lovely, but also pretty standard. It came with caramelized onions and meaty Portobello slices and crispy shoestring fries. She opted out of the blue cheese, but reported that the steak was pretty good. This was definitely a good-sized salad, but its size was quite deceiving in terms of the other dishes. ($20)
 
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My friend’s boyfriend ordered the sausage and egg pizzetta. It looked rustic, in that refined kind of way; misshapen dough with a mess of cheese and sauce topped with a pretty fried egg that oozed when he cut it. He said he liked the dough, but the whole time I was trying to figure out how that little thing was enough food for a grown man’s breakfast. The answer evaded me. ($9)

My boyfriend ordered the stuffed french toast which was tempting me since I saw the menu earlier that morning (he is a doll and ordered it under the pretense were sharing both our dishes). The two slices of bread was separated by a thin, barely there layer of mascarpone and some very toasted almonds. It was topped with some grilled peach and sweet blueberry crumble. Like, this was pretty, but there was hardly any flavor. The idea was lovely and luxurious, but the execution felt skimpy and inharmonious. It was just not a lot of food for the price, which resulted in dissatisfaction and the need for more food. Even though it was really two slices of bread and a few flourishes, I could not imagine eating much more of it without being horribly bored. I just wished it were a rounder breakfast (hashbrowns? Some fruit garnish? Something!). ($12)
 
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The dish I chose might have been the most substantial and well rounded as it covered all the bases. It was a chorizo, black bean and potato hash, topped with some fried eggs, avocado and tortilla strips. I loved how everything mixed together in the little skillet, but somehow the green tomatillo sauce was not giving enough flavor to the soft potatoes and chunky bits of chorizo. This was the most robust meal, piling on the proteins and the starch. The tortilla strips added some fun texture, but there was still something missing. It was lacking heat, and a little feeling. ($12)

As much as people say they like the place, I still can’t get behind it. The brunch definitely tasted better than the dinners I have had in the past. Maybe the smaller menu allowed for more focus on each item. The portions were not quite large enough, so I might just hit the diner next time I’m super famished for brunch. 
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11.22.2013

FoodView: Thanksgiving WISHES


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Thanksgiving is upon us, and it feels as though time is both speeding up and slowing down as the day approaches. It’s like every great holiday (or birthday), when childish excitement drags moments to a crawl but also blurs them to nothing. As you all have guessed by now, I am super amped. Like, inexplicably ready to get my thankful feast on, nap, roll over and do it again. I have been preparing for the moment too, alternating between stuffing my face randomly to stretch my belly, and forcing a few more agonizing minutes at the gym (counter productive, I know).

Also, I have been studying all my favorite food outlets, drooling over pictures, taking in trends, and tasting recipes in my dreams. This too has been counter productive, because my family’s Thanksgiving menu is immutable, resistant and impervious to change. Not because we don’t want to try something new, but there is the fear that it would ruin the perfection that we have maintained for many years. On top of it all, what could we possibly cut out to allow table space for a new imposter? That might be the most difficult decision, like ever. So we refuse to make it.

But what about theeeese options....
 
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You know, just cruising through some of the usual blogs and such, upholding my perpetual hunger, and on Refinery29, a fashion, beauty, lifestyle, everything site, I run into two delicious and time friendly recipes from Food52. One is Suspiciously Delicious Cabbage, including caramelized cabbage, ginger and cream, the other Caramelized Butternut Squash Wedges With a Sage Hazelnut Pesto, with a hazelnut ricotta salata pesto that I can’t really eat but sure want to. These two decadent veggie friendly sides would add nice sweet savory elements to our Thanksgiving fest.
 
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And how about The Tart Tart’s Brussels Sprouts with Bacon and Juniper Berries, a mix of good for you things (both Brussels and bacon) and a classic with a twist. Excuse me, but what is not to love about salty bacon with bitter Brussels and a little bit of heat?
 
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We have always stuck to sweet sweet potato casseroles drowned with rum and topped with browned marshmallows for our Thanksgiving, but something deep down inside makes me darkly curious about these Whipped Sweet Potatoes with Coconut and Ginger from Food & Wine. Maybe it is the tropical unsweetened coconut or the spicy ginger, or just another, more savory take on smooth pureed sweet potatoes.
 
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I have never really known any kind of stuffing other than the tried and true spicy corn bread stuffing that emeninates butter and good times (or Stove Top in desperation), so this Prune and Sausage Stuffing from Martha Stewart Living (But I found on The Bitten Word) is quite alluring. White country bread, fatty sausage, sweet prunes and earthy kale, just yum.
 
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And then there is dessert, the category which sees the most shift in my family, from the pumpkin pudding experiments of childhood, to the Minimalist’s Sweet Potato Pie with a coconut graham cracker crust, to faithful standbys like moist pound cake and the super sweet classic pecan pie.

Might I suggest either these Maple Syrup Dumplings or (and) Carrot Rice Pudding from Saveur? I mean, really, maple syrup dumplings—buttery, doughy bits swimming in a sweet and distinct maple syrup sauce, puhlease. I already can predict that the carrot rice pudding will not make an appearance at our Thanksgiving sweets buffet because certain members of my family have a strong aversion to reason raisins, but I am totally down for spicy sweet.

I am dying to try Joy The Baker’s Salted Caramel Cheesecake Pie!!! I repeat, dying! This is the combination daydreams are made of. Enough said.

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You know what I propose? Two Thanksgivings (yeah, I said it, but you all were thinking it)—one with all of our family’s traditional and typical dishes, and another that includes all the delectable treats I have been secretly longing for. What’s on your Thanksgiving menu? Is it oldies but goodies or a merry-go-round of newbies?
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11.20.2013

MangiaMore: CORN chowder


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It is once again soup season. The cold weather always seems to sneak up on us, and the chill gets into our bones (yeah, dramatic, I know, but it is really super cold out there). And what better to warm the soul than a delicious “meal” of soup (meal is in quotes because I can not really ever justify a bowl of soup as a meal, as I have said before). 
 
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But this corn chowder happens to be one of my favorite things. It brings me back to childhood-- the four of us sitting around the table, fighting for the crunchy fat pieces that had been rendered in the deep soup pot. The sweetness of the corn and cream, marries nicely with the meaty fatty pieces, and the crisp freshness of the red pepper, all soaked up by the soft starchy potatoes. This combination always ignites happiness in my belly, and a kind of comfort I do not necessarily want to find in soup.
 
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Check out the recipe and make it soon! It’s delicious, perfect, balanced, and warm (key word)! What are your cold weather, warm meal go-to's? Winter always feels like the longest season so I need your suggestions!
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