Newman’s Own Vlog

I got a lot accomplished today, but we are reaching the ‘loopy’ portion of the evening so it’s important that my cold-carrying self keep this quick.

Lunch was a dynamic duo, 0% plain Chobani,

with a Justin’s maple almond butter packet.

I say I don’t like almond butter, but really everyone likes Justin’s Nut Butters!

If you want to see what we had for dinner, you’ll need to watch the most embarrassing video on earth –

It’s a shame that my vlog debut had to correspond with what was supposed to be a professional-ish video for a contest, but that’s life.

Disclosure – Flip Cam and Newman’s Own products were provided by the Foodbuzz Tastemaker’s Program.

I Hate Eggs Almost As Much As I Love Them

It’s Friday, Friday, Friday!  The completion of my first week back at school means that weekends mean something once again.

Typical Friday lazies be damned though, I banged out a ton of work after class this afternoon.  That’s what going to the gym in the morning will do…  A classmate and I sat at a coffee shop and studied from 12 until almost 4.

I had to go to Talking Leaves (a local, independent book store) to buy my music textbook, so we sat at the attached cafe and had lunch.

Chicken pesto panini.

This bad boy – I ate 3/4 – wasn’t even the whole sandwich, I shared the other half with Janessa!

Plus a coffee with skim milk.

Adam picked me up and I came home and kept the productivity ball rolling; all of my (many!) assignments for the semester have been entered into Todoist.

Plus I made another gourmet dinner.

Walnut-Breadcrumb Pasta with a Soft Egg, from Cooking Light.  We only made two servings so we basically eyeballed all of the measurements, and we used panko breadcrumbs, but other than that we followed the recipe for a change.  The end results were worth a little obedience.

The soft eggs were perfectly thick and drippy.  They were also a pain in the butt.  We had an impossible time getting them peeled, and all I can say is that it’s a good thing we made a few extra!  We “buy” (I won a year’s worth of free eggs) Eggland’s Best vegetarian-fed eggs and my mother-in-law says the chicken’s low protein diet is what makes our egg shells so hard to peel.

With two perfect clementines for dessert.

These are just so dang good!  (thanks Katie)

Have you found the secret to easy peel eggs?  Please share!

Pizza for Breakfast and Presents for Dinner

I’ve got to cover breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks, so hang in for a longish post.  Thank goodness I don’t do things like work out or leave the house, there’d just be too much to say!

Breakfast (late breakfast) was one of my favorites, Pizza Eggs.

Eggland’s Best scrambled up with turkey pepperoni, sharp cheddar, and marinara sauce.  To die for.

Making it even better, I’ve discovered the best way ever to scramble – leave the yolks set (almost like you are making fried eggs) and scramble just the whites.  Then, at the last minute, scramble in the yolks.  Allowing the components to cook apart for a while takes eggs to a whole ‘nother level!

Lunch covered another favorite technique, my new favorite for tuna salad.

I call this “Last Date Tuna Salad;” my regular recipe – canned tuna, miracle whip, and tons of pickle relish – taken over the edge with the addition of lots and lots of chopped red onion.  Try it, you’ll thank me, just don’t kiss anyone right after lunch!

Aside my salad was a piece of ciabatta bread, toasted and buttered.

It was a smelly tasty lunch.

I had to eat a peppermint stick to slay my breath before the husband came home!

I also nibbled through the last two cookies this afternoon.

Remind me how I haven’t made every last one of Jenna’s recipes yet?

Then came dinner.

My generous parents know we’re too poor for healthy seafood (and I’m too much of a girl for sardines), so they gifted us with “charge some salmon to the credit card one night, and marinade it in the maple dill dressing from your stocking” for Christmas. <– Yes, this was a stocking gift; and yes, they’re a little crazy.

Alongside we roasted up some asparagus,

and mini yellow potatoes.

And then there was snack.  For dessert we sampled a new flavor of Pop Chips.

Think early bedtime thoughts for me please; tomorrow I’m going to try to get up and be a real girl, maybe I’ll even leave the couch house!

NYC: Day 2 and 3

I wish I had been able to blog more in the city because squashing the recaps of these two days together just can’t do them justice.  To say the weekend was fabulous is an understatement; although every trip to the New York is fabulous. 

Saturday and Sunday were spent pretty much exclusively eating and walking.  My two favorite things.  And the walking was through our favorite areas and the eating included some of the best meals I’ve ever tasted.  Fabulous.

Saturday started with a trip to Soho to our favorite brunch spot.

We discovered Freemans on a whim one weekend and it has never disappointed us.  The boys (and my friend Lana who lives in the city and joined us for the day) were duly impressed.

I ordered the Fall Vegetable Hash, which came with two pan-fried eggs and herbed creme fraiche.

This was savory breakfast perfection, I didn’t know that brussels sprouts in the morning could taste so good. 

I knew our next stop required a hungry belly though, so I managed to leave one egg on the plate.

I’ve you’ve ever previously read my blog when I had visitors in the city then you know where we headed next.

Sugar Sweet Sunshine has the best (and cheapest) cupcakes in the city.  They are sweet without being too sweet, spongy and light, gorgeous, and innovative.  Plus the cake is so good that this former frosting-licking-then-tosser devours the entire cupcake, cake and all!

I went with pistachio.

Be still my heart.

Then we hopped on the train and headed to DUMBO.

The neighborhood Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass is one of our favorite areas in the city.

In addition to being gorgeous, you can walk straight from the park to the Brooklyn Bridge for a walk into the city.

Fabulous.

A subway trip later, and we were back in Park Slope.  I know hitting up the same area during a three-day trip to the city is a little silly, but we just love it there so much!  Plus, it was the first time Gordy and Ian got to visit our old ‘hood.

Those photos are from Bierkraft, an exciting little craft beer spot on 5th avenue.

Bierkraft has an area with benches, a tap selection, and then walls and walls of beer coolers for you to peruse.  So I of course ordered an apple cider.

This was the only underwhelming thing I put in my mouth all day (TWSS).  I usually drink Woodchuck ciders and this guy from Harpoon had a slightly lower alcohol content and a much lower flavor punch.  I passed him off halfway through.

We continued the carbo-loading by splitting this bag of chips.

It had been a long time since brunch but I wanted to be hungry for dinner and these spuds fit the bill perfectly.

For dinner we took everyone to Sotto Voce, the best Italian food in Brooklyn.  The wait staff was totally accommodating about seating six without a reservation, nice as hell, and they brought us great bread.

The lighting was a little dim, so these pictures – with lighting engineered by Lana with an i-phone flashlight app – don’t even begin to do the food justice.

I ordered the special and it quickly found its way onto my “Top Five Best Meals Ever” list.

Sacatini pasta stuffed with spinach and gorgonzola in four cheese sauce with walnuts and poached pears.

Holy god.  I am not a good enough writer to adequately describe how amazing this was.  The fresh pasta had a totally unique texture.  The sauce was pure cheese ecstasy.  The poached pears would have been exciting all on their own and then they were perched atop this masterpiece.  I ate about 2/3 and shared the rest and everyone agreed that it was divine.

The rest of the night took us bar-hopping in Williamsburg, but frankly I was just plain too tired for booze so I have no pictures of that.

Sunday morning we slept in late, Ian set off to his train, and Adam, Gordy, and I wandered down to Lexington Avenue in search of brunch.  We had been very excited to try one particular location but I’m glad that it fell through because that disappointment led us to Rare.

Rare is the restaurant attached to the Affinia Shellburne Hotel but don’t let that fool you; it is so not a hotel restaurant.

For starters, they took pride in their complimentary Bloody Marys.

I ordered mine extra spicy and was in horseradish heaven.

Did I say that Saturday’s dinner was a best meal ever?  Because Sunday’s brunch was the best breakfast of all time.  Seriously.

This is how Rare does french toast.  Thick slices of challah, real Vermont maple syrup, and sautéed bananas.

They were ridiculous good.  I ate exactly half, pretty much only stopping because I couldn’t shut up about how good they were and I was starting to annoy the other patrons.

I also took a few bites of Adam’s parmesan and truffle fries.

I wasn’t the only one moaning at the table.

A quick walk to drop Gordy at his train, a stop at Barnes and Nobel for a coffee with skim milk, and we were back on the road.

As you might have divined from yesterday’s post, dinner on the road sort of sucked, but every minute in the city was perfection.

I’ve lived a lot of (neat) places – St. Thomas to Miami to Brooklyn to Buffalo – but the city has felt like home since before I even moved there.  When we vacation my homesickness is always for our studio in Park Slope, even though we now live somewhere new.  After two years away it still feels like home, my true home.

Where is your home, your true home?

End of Vacation, End of 2010

Keeping this quick, I’d like to finish before 2011, thank you!

Yesterday afternoon we took a long walk downtown, admiring the scenery,

And relishing johnny-cake with cheese.

The evening brought a trip to XO with my parents, for a belated anniversary dinner.

So.Much.Good.Food. Adam and I split the crabcake appetizer.

And I stole bites of my parents scallops,

and lobster.

For our main meal the husband and I did some sharing. Bruschetta pizza,

Spicy Thai salad,

Baked goat cheese salad.

For dessert I stole a few bites of Adam’s chocolate peanut butter deal,

but I was mostly saving myself for German chocolate cake.

We ended our vacation today with a final morning run.  About a mile, with some additional walking. I am so freaking proud of us for working out every day we were here!

My dad made me a small fried egg sandwich for breakfast,

I had a final piece of cake,

and then we were off.

We bought chicken pates for flight number 1.

Plus a few handfuls of mint m&ms.

And Chick Fil-A for dinner on flight number 2.

Boo for crappy airport food; I’m ending the year with a tummy ache.

Goodbye 2010!

STT; Wednesday Afternoon – Thursday Afternoon

As predicted, yesterday afternoon was spent on a swim workout. My mom dropped Adam and me off at Morningstar beach for an hour. We had fun, but also got in a good workout. Adam would swim a distance away from me and then I would swim as hard as I could until I reached him. Repeat.

For dinner we refurbished pad thai leftovers.

Stir-fried with extra veggies – okra, carrot, broccoli, celery – and egg.

We also went to see The Fighter. I got in some fruit with apple slices as a movie snack.

And there was German chocolate cake waiting when we got home.

I had a (big) slice with a glass of skim milk.

Yum, good job mom!

For breakfast this morning I mashed a small banana with cinnamon, and spread it on two mini buns with almond butter.

Made quite the tasty little sandwich set.

The wind has been crazy recently so we spent the morning hiking around The Point and watching the waves crash.

I’ve snacked on a bag of cheez-its,

and split a gingerbread Clif bar with Adam.

Now (after this quick stop at school) the whole family is going for a long walk downtown.  The plan tonight is a belated anniversary dinner, and then tomorrow we fly on home.

STT; Merry Christmas – Sunday Afternoon

I hope everyone had happy holidays!  Adam and I have been feeling extremely blessed.  I’m also feeling busy, I hate how brief I have to make these recaps!

Ok, back to Friday afternoon.  Since we had already paid the daily admission fee, Adam and I headed back to Magen’s beach.  He swam, I read a magazine, and we both clapped in delight over these signs –

On the way back, we had to hit up an island institution.

Going to St. Thomas without making a stop at the dairy is practically criminal!  Adam and I split a Bailey’s Delight, made with rum raisin ice cream, egg nog, and brandy.

Then it was time for the final prep for our big Christmas Eve party.  A family friend who knows we usually just have to scrounge on the 24th brought over turkey chilli with kidney beans for dinner.

The rest of the evening’s eats were indeed party food.  I have no pictures from the actual party, but you can assume I ate at least one of everything, and that it was all delicious!

My hot pepper peach cheese ball.

Baked spinach and artichoke dip.

Baked brie topped with cranberries and walnuts.

Dippers.

Pinwheels.

Fixings for mini turkey sandwiches.

Mini bagels with cream cheese and lox.

Frosted shortbread.

Snowballs, macaroons, and 7-layer bars.

We were also fully stocked with booze.  I spent most of my evening carrying around a tray of tequilla shots – it’s a Christmas tradition!  And while I did manage to skip that particular tradition, I got so wasted on orange juice with Goldshlager (don’t knock it ’till you’ve tried it!) that Adam had to pour me into bed.

Christmas morning began the best possible way – with a light workout!  Adam and I ran for about a mile near the beach, then hiked the mile home.  It was a short workout, but considering that we had double hangovers and presents to open, I’m pretty proud of us.

A small glass of egg nog was consumed during stockings,

and then a lovely breakfast before presents.

Sidenote – our family does stockings, breakfast, then presents.  Always.  What was your Christmas morning tradition?

Gingerbread coffee with 2% milk,

a small plate of eggs with red and green pepper and Applegate Farms turkey bacon,

and a 0% Plain Chobani with a slice of coffee cake.

I should have given myself a bigger serving of eggs, I gave away most of my bacon/yogurt/cake.  In spite of our refreshing run, I think my nighttime imbibing had made me a little picky.

Not too picky, however, to turn down a big handful of maple sugar cotton candy(!!).

After present opening (which was plentiful – thank’s mom and dad!) there was lunch.

Apple slices and baby carrots,

and crackers with leftover hot pepper peach and spinach dip.

Plus dessert.

Dinner was consumed at my aunt’s house, with a large group of family and friends.

Plus a slice of garlic bread,

and a slice of delicious yellow cake with blueberry jam and vanilla buttercream.

I helped with the frosting, pulling a recipe from Eat, Live, Run that was to die for.

This morning started with another light workout.  Adam and I walked up and down the beach for 45minutes, then hiked the mill uphill homeward.  I wore my heart rate monitor and was pleasantly surprised that our 1hour, 11minute workout killed 290calories.  It’s nice to know that our sand trudging burned up more than the back of my leg muscles.

Lunch was leftovers. 

Turkey chilli,

 and macaroni and cheese made with swiss cheese, chives, and white truffle flavored oil.

Sidenote – my cousin made the mac and cheese for Christmas dinner and the husband liked it so much he went back for thirds!

I also ate the final serving of Junior Mints,

which helped fuel me up for…. a long nap!

We are at school now, and rest of the day’s agenda is movies, dinner, maybe drinks with friends.  See you soon!

St. Thomas; Tuesday Morning – Thursday Morning

We’re here. We’re here, we’re here, we’re here!  We’re also busy; this will be a quick recap post.

Tuesday morning at the airport, Adam and I did a good job putting together breakfast from our packed snacks.  We split the Orange Cranberry Cliff Bar,

and shared sharp cheddar, baby carrots, and a gingergold apple throughout the morning.

Our flights went well, and on our layover I found a Salsarita’s for lunch.

(Delicious) chips with spicy salsa,

and a chicken burrito with black beans, a little bit of rice, corn salsa, red onions, medium salsa, and shredded cheese.

So tasty and fresh, especially for a plane meal!  I ate about half of everything.

Before we knew it we were in my childhood home.  Being handed homemade toffee,

and finding gifts on our pillows.

I could get used to this!  The husband and I did some wrapping of our own too.

Before we knew it, it was time for dinner.

Spicy chicken with whole-wheat linguine,

mushrooms and broccoli with sesame oil and toasted sesame seeds,

and mandarin oranges.

We ate all squished together in a clump, because someone decided to start a puzzle at the table 😉

For dessert my dad and I opened up these Klick Halva Truffles.

Adam went out (late!) with some of our guy friends from high school, but I stayed home rereading All But My Life, by Gerda Weissmann Klein and laughing at the notes I wrote in the margins while writing a 15page final paper on it.

Wednesday morning was all about dinner leftovers for breakfast.

And 10minutes of strength and stretch moves.  My goal for vacation is to (at minimum) get in a good stretch every day.

For lunch, we headed to Barefoot Buddha, my favorite restaurant.

I split a passionfruit smoothie with the husband,

and a bagel sandwich with my mother.

Yuuuuuuuum.

The rest of the afternoon was spent on errands, including finding a gloriously huge pile of Achie comics (donated to my mom’s library),

and getting all of our wedding rings polished.

Plus testing saved maple sugar cookies from Thanksgiving.

Out of the freezer, still good!

For dinner we headed to Island Time Pub with my aunt and cousins (2sets, one local, one visiting). The lighting was awful, but the dark did mean we got to enjoy these sailboat sail “trees.”

Adam and I split a Caesar salad, with green peppers and mushrooms added.

And a buffalo chicken pizza.

I had these two slices plus a third.

I also had two black and cokes with dinner.

After that I was the designated driver, so even though we were out with friend until almost 1, I stuck to diet coke.

This morning began with a workout. A good workout 🙂 St. Thomas isn’t exactly map-my-run-able and I don’t have a Garmin, so we are focusing on time instead of distance. We had my mom drive us down to the nearby beach so we could run (not that we ran I’m the sand, just near the beach). In the end we ran for 20minutes and walked for 18minutes. Then we slowly walked up the HUGE hill home; I’ll have to take a picture tomorrow. All total, 60monutes of activity, which felt great.

Breakfast was Greek Gods honey Greek yogurt, topped with some blueberries and banana.

I’ve spent the morning running errands with my mom, including a trip to school so I could write this post.

Christmas Eve is tomorrow, what?!?

What’s the best airplane food you’ve ever had? The worst?