Doughnuts And Coffee; Weekend Wrap-Up

coffee, coffee

So, you know how we’re obsessed with coffee?  Like, problematically obsessed?  I might like it as much as Diet Coke.  This post is going to include a coffee brewer review.  Adam, who drinks at least two cups a day, prefers his hot.  I get iced 95% of the time, but when I’m home I’ll drink it hot if it’s fresh.  Long story short – even though I mostly stick with cold-brew in my French press, we do in fact need a more traditional brewing option in the house.  So when iCoffee offered to send me an Opus Single-Serve Brewer to review, I said “yes!”

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Please note – this product was sent to me free of charge to review.  I was not provided with further compensation for this post.  All opinions are my own.

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According to the company, the iCoffee system uses steam to help create a nice, smooth, non-bitter flavor.  A patent-pending SpinBrew needle spins, steams and stirs the coffee inside of the single-serve cup, creating a mini-French Press effect that cannot be achieved by other brewers.

The Opus has a “Dial-a-Brew” control which allows you to customize strength and taste by choosing any brew size between 4 and 12 ounces in half-ounce increments.  It can brew 10 ounces in less than 60 seconds, so it’s nice and quick.  The drip tray is magnetic, so it can pull out to accommodate my tall go-cup.

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They sent me a few cups to get me started.  Adam had one of the Marley Coffees and loved it.

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The Opus is cool because it is compatible with all k-type cups, including K-Cup, RealCup, OneCup and all private label cups (unlike the Keurig system that only uses K-cups).  That said, I find single use cups to be insanely wasteful, the reason I accepted the brewer to review is because it is compatible with a reusable iCup.

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I have made a few cups that way with the coffee we already had at home (marshmallow flavored!) and it’s all worked out quite well.  I could see how the cup could have the propensity to break but replacements are only $12.95.

In short – we are fans!  We would rate the system 4.5+ out of 5 and plan on giving it a permanent spot on our countertop.

copycat Chipotle bowls

Another thing we’re obsessed with?  Loaded rice bowls from Chipotle.  After making (multiple!) weekly Chipotle runs for the past several months it was time for us to finally make our own at home.

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So many layers of flavor!  Including:

  • jasmine rice with chopped cilantro and lime juice stirred in
  • sautéed mushroom, onion, and green pepper
  • corn sautéed with chopped jalopeño
  • black beans reheated with cilantro and lime juice
  • chicken that was marinated with lime juice, sugar, and green tomatillo salsa
  • shredded cheese, light sour cream, and homemade guacamole

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So darn good!

And round two the next night – topped with green Tabasco – was just as good, maybe even better.

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Plus we split a Warlock.

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And a Mokaccino TCHO bar that we brought home from Blue Bottle in San Francisco.

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Roasty good.

coffee and doughnuts

On Sunday we did a bit of a walking brunch around Chelsea in Manhattan.  Stumptown Coffee –> Doughnut Plant –> Blue Bottle Coffee –> Doughnuttery.  It was great fun!

We shared cold brew and an espresso at Stumptown.

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It was my first time at the Ace Hotel, which is stunning.

Then made our way to Doughnut Plant.

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We shared a hazelnut chocolate doughseed which was only ok.

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And I got a Tres Leches filled caked doughnut that was amazing.

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Best doughnut I’ve eaten all year.  The filling was definitely reminiscent of Tres Leches and the doughnut had a great, crisp crust.   I’ve been wanting to go get this flavor since last summer and it did not disappoint.

Doughnuttery ended up not appealing to us, but we did enjoy another cold brew from Blue Bottle.

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I told you we have a coffee problem!

city living

We may not have gotten Doughnuttery, but it brought us into Chelsea Market which we loved the crap out of.

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It was gorgeous (Christmas decorations!),

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and there were so many tasty things that we want to try.

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We’ll be back.

Instead we headed uptown to Xi’an Famous Foods for hand-pulled noodles.

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Flipping yum!  I went with the vegetarian spicy noodles and they rocked my socks off.  The chew was out of control.

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Meanwhile Adam was positively swooning over his pork bowl.

Then we went to Rockefeller Center and stared at the tree.

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I ♥ New York!

The Girl In Sonoma {San Francisco}

Our last two days were spent enjoying the beauty of California wine country.  And eating.  So much eating!  We were trying to pack in as much fun as possible on our last full day and we went a little crazy ordering food.  We definitely didn’t finish everything shown, but we did eat quite a lot.

We started Friday with coffee,

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and fruit and bread.

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We split a Satsuma, an unpictured banana, and a rosemary roll from ACME Bread Company.

We saved the sourdough roll for an amazing lunch of bread, cheese, and chocolate.

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Plus earl grey panna cotta for dessert.

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We had the Cowgirl Creamery Mount Tam fresh from the source because we were there for a history lesson and cheese tasting.

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Best tour of the trip!

After cheese, it was time for wine, with a tasting at Matanzas Creek.

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The grounds were gorgeous and the wine was de-lish!  We liked it so much we even bought a few bottles to bring to Thanksgiving.

Next up was beer (and more cheese!) at Lagunitas Brewing Company.  Brown Shugga was my favorite, unsurprisingly.

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They had pretzels out for palate cleansing between tastes,

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but we also got a big plate of cheesy nachos.

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This was the point in the day where I was getting a little too full!

But we forged ahead with a trip to Bouchon Bakery for a butterscotch éclair.

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And finally settled in at The Girl and the Fig for an outstanding dinner.

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Those light green olives were shockingly good.

I had to get a lavender mojito, it was made with Cruzan rum!

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We started with a cheese plate with apple, house-made fig cake, spiced nuts and baguette.

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We choose a P’tit Basque sheep’s milk, Bohemian Creamery’s The Bomb goat’s milk, and a Bleeting Heart Moolicious Blue.  Because we had to fit cheese into every single meal that day.

Adam and I shared for dinner.  Local mushroom raviolo with sunchoke purée, truffle pesto, local mushrooms, and chicories.

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And the house-smoked trout sandwich with farm egg salad, caper aioli, pickled red onion and dill.

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Both were absolutely amazing.  The sauce under the pasta and the pickled red onions on the trout totally made the dishes.

We got an after-dinner drink with Firelit coffee liquor and Sailor Jerry rum.

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And had dessert that was my favorite dish of the entire trip.  Chocolate and salted fig caramel trifle with cocoa nibs and Italian meringue.

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Adam was amazed by the nibs and I was obsessed with the marshmallowy meringue.  Plus we came home with a jar of their salted fig caramel.

We had such a wonderful dinner at The Girl and the Fig that we ended up going back for brunch on Saturday!  We met up with a medical school friend who is doing his residency in Fresno and he said The Girl was his favorite Sonoma spot.

Fig Fashioned.

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Mussels and frites for the table, which I was totally brave about and ended up loving.

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And the best grilled cheese sandwich of my life.

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We left completely stuffed; the three of us were barely able to get coffee, hours later.

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Our flight was a red-eye and it didn’t leave until after 10 pm so we were able to spend the whole day catching up.  Our friend chose to spend his one day off for the week with us so we were thrilled to make the most of it.

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A perfect end to a perfect vacation!

The Slanted Woods {San Francisco}

Wednesday morning we stopped at Peet’s for an eggnog iced coffee to go with my Ferry Building farmer’s market pear.

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Then we made our way over the bridge through the pouring rain,

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and up to Muir Woods for a stunningly beautiful hike.

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We bought trusty $4 ponchos to get us through the 4+ miles in the downpour, but I wasn’t able to take many pictures.

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Mostly we just got shots of Adam and me being goofballs.

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We got completely soaked but still had a wonderful time.

Afterwards we went back to the hotel to dry off before our late lunch at Coqueta, a Spanish tapas place that knocked our socks off.

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My cocktail – cream sherry, Luxardo amaretto, sherry vinegar, Manchego, and golden raisins – was one of the best I’ve ever had.

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We split a variety of small plates, all of which we enjoyed greatly.

Huevos Nacional – deviled eggs filled with spring pea, smoked pimenton alioli, on pickled saffron potatoes and olive oil poached bonito.

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Housemade potato chips with shaved Manchego and vermouth vinegar salsa.  A play on bagels and lox of smoked salmon, queso fresco, and truffle honey.

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Wild and cultivated mushrooms with garlic, chili, and sherry.

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And Catalan-style vineyard greens with a caper-raisin puree, raisins, pine nuts, and garlic.  <– my favorite dish of the day

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For dessert we did caramel popcorn with Manchego cheesecakes that were amazing caramel lollipops with a liquid cheese filling.

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And churros with drinking chocolate and a mixed berry powder for dipping.

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Every last bite of this meal was inventive, fresh, and freaking delicious.

After more walking,

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a stop at Humphry Slocombe for fluffernutter ice cream with butterscotch sauce, (<– Adam got ice cream almost every day)

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and a New Orleans style coffee from Blue Bottle,

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we were ready to drink our dinner at 21st Amendment Brewery.

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21st Amendment brews Hell or High Watermelon, one of my top favorite beers, so we were excited to taste our way through their menu.

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We shared Hell or High Watermelon, Vina, Framboise Forte D’or, Belgian Chocolate Stout, and a yummy honey meade from a guest brewery.

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Also, a giant plate of fried cheese curds.

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Ridiculous!  And we were completely sober by the time we finished the 4 mile trek back to the hotel.

Thursday morning I fueled up with a praline chestnut latte and a local apple.

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Plus a great rose macaron that we picked up along the way.

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But the super steep hills still totally kicked my butt.

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We were supposed to spend the morning in Golden Gate Park but unfortunately the crazy rain scared us away.  We ended up eating our way through Japantown.

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And actually even getting some Whole Foods hot bar while we hid and tried to keep dry.

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Thankfully our afternoon plans were an indoor tour/tasting at Anchor Brewery.

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We had a great time and definitely recommend it.

The rain cleared up in the afternoon while we spent some time in Chinatown.

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And Boba Guys served us the best bubble teas of the year.

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My almond milk coffee with boba and housemade almond jelly was delicious.

Then we were back to the Market Building where we couldn’t resist a final Vietnamese iced coffee from Out the Door.

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An ironic choice considering our dinner reservations.

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The Slanted Door has been on my list for years and it did not disappoint.

Piña colada – El Dorado 3 year white rum, house coconut cream, fresh pressed pineapple juice, pineapple gum, and lime.

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Adam got a truly fabulous steak and I did three veggie options for my meal.  Fried kabocha squash – palm sugar & lime caramel sauce, thai basil.

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A green papaya salad –  pickled carrot, rau ram, crispy shallot, roasted peanut – that was my favorite dish of the day.

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And the Catalan Farm spicy broccoli – braised tofu, lion’s mane mushroom.  The spongy mushrooms were so cool!

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We did another round of churros for dessert.

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As well as a brown butter cake trifle with huckleberries, lemon curd, and hibiscus meringue.

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The meringues were as tasty as they were gorgeous.  A great way to end our fourth day!

San Francisco Recap, Day 1 & 2

If you follow me on instagram you’ve already figured this out, but {surprise!} I’ve been in San Francisco for the past week.  Adam had the last two weeks of November for vacation again this year so I took the time off as well.  We spent week 1 on the West coast and now we are headed off to Ohio for Thanksgiving family time.  So far it’s been great!

I have a ton to share from SF – we basically walked and ate all day, every day – so I’m going to try to keep myself from being too wordy, but I’ll still need to split this up into three posts…

We had non-stop flights each way which was awesome.  Monday we flew out around noon so we had a little time at home in the morning and then with the time change a full afternoon of vacation. Plus there was free television and movies on the plane which was basically the most exciting thing ever.

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Plane food.  Coffee, plus a white cheddar and pumpkin butter sandwich and tasty pretzel sticks.

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The time flew by and before we knew it we were struggling up super steep hills on our way to dinner.

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We had a late reservation so we stopped for bubble tea first.  Brown sugar ice milk with egg pudding and grass jelly.  Apparently I love egg pudding.  And grass jelly.

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And we got to keep our cool bottles.

Dinner was Waterbar, a sustainable seafood spot right near the Bay Bridge.

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I got a cocktail with Buffalo Trace bourbon, Heering cherry liqueur, Benedictine, and orange zest.

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We split a leek and parsnip soup with smoked trout that was very yummy (I had lots of good trout this trip).

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And for dinner I did pan-roasted sablefish – caught in Fort Bragg, CA – with globe artichokes, butterball potato, grapefruit, nicoise olives, and chervil.

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I adored the artichokes, but sadly didn’t like my fish at all.  This was the only meal that I didn’t love on the trip.  My food was practically floating in a watery sauce and I hate that.  Adam, on the other hand, thought my dish was great and basically licked his plate clean.  He enjoyed his ono with uni butter so much that I still definitely consider the meal a win.

And we did have brown sugar brioche bread pudding, with butterscotch pecan ice cream, for a fabulous dessert.

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’twas a great first night.

Tuesday morning we headed out for a run in the neighborhood around our hotel.  We ended up happening on the Palace of Fine Arts.  It was beyond gorgeous.

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I am so glad we got to see it.

We had a beautiful morning exploring Fisherman’s Wharf.

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Including a stop for a fresh bowl of crab chowder.

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We took the ferry for a tour of Alcatraz.

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Then we spent the afternoon at the Ferry Building Marketplace.

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We loved it there and went back almost every subsequent day.  I was crazy jealous of people buying fancy mushrooms.

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We shared a greens 2 juice from Pressed.

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An iced coffee with milk and sugar from Blue Bottle.

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And a Duck Yeah sundae – vanilla ice cream on duck fat pecan pie – from Humphry Slocombe.

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I thought the ice cream was great, but not as good as Ample Hills.  Adam looooooved it.

We also hit up Slanted Door’s Out the Door for Vietnamese iced coffee and buns.

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Chicken bun for me.

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We had dinner reservations at SD later in the week and this first taste got us very amped up.

We spent the rest of the afternoon walking around the piers and staring at the sea lions.

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Snacks included salt water taffy,

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chunks torn off a loaf of sourdough from Boudin,

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and a very lackluster drinking chocolate from Ghiradelli.

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The chocolate was literally the only dish that didn’t knock our socks off all week, a pretty good track record if you ask me.

We were exhausted from walking around all day so we did Mexican take-out and hotel room cable tv for dinner.

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Mushroom nachos for me.

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It was a great first two days!!

Wednesday and Thursday coming tomorrow…

Halloween Weekend Wrap-Up

Did everyone have a spooky weekend?  Or at least eat lots of candy?  I didn’t dress up this year and I didn’t manage to eat a single piece of candy, boo!  The whole weekend was pretty lame, frankly.  Saturday I spent hours holed up with a friend working on some continuing education credits.  And Sunday Adam and I were both a bit under the weather so we took advantage of the time change to catch some extra z’s.

Here were a few fun things…

Hallow’s Eats

Breakfast was on theme.  Coffee with chocolate soy milk, an apple, and a Clif Monster Chocolate Mint Z Bar.

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The bar was so good, I need to find more of this flavor.

Dinner too.  A tasty bowl of leftovers.

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Pasta with roasted broccoli, browned mushrooms, rock cheddar, fancy evoo, and turkey bacon (my new favorite kind, from Wellshire).

And I may not have eaten candy, but I did go to Snow Days for shaved ice.

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Roasted black sesame ice with mochi and sweetened condensed milk.  It was amazing.  The ice is sliced into sheets rather than crushed and the texture is totally unique.

Say Cheese

When I was done with my work on Saturday, Adam and I drove up to Port Jeff for a dinner date at C’est Cheese.  We shared a beer sampler.

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And a cheese plate.

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Plus the Spanish Salad.

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Field greens / Manchego / orange slices / red onion / black olives / honey tarragon vinaigrette.

Burgers With Bear

We did Sunday brunch at Bare Burger.  I got the Western – turkey burger, no bun, with turkey bacon instead of pork and maple horseradish mustard subbed for smokehouse sauce.

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With giant bowls of froyo for dessert.

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Dinner was Chipotle but I’ve promised to stop blogging about that!

Raw Review

Finally, a product review.  I was sent a free sample of Maui Brand Raws Turbinado and Whites Crystallized Natural Cane Sugar.

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I received these products free of charge but I was not provided with any additional compensation for this post.  All opinions are my own.

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Available on Amazon and in some stores, their sugar cane is grown and processed on the Hawaiian island of Maui.  The sugars are non-GMO and vegan (<– not all granulated sugar is vegan).

I tried the sugars (which come in convenient 10 calorie to-go packages) in iced coffee,

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and chocolate chip cookies,

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and was quite pleased with their functional properties compared with regular sugar.  I’m a fan.

Best Pizza Ever; Weekly Wrap-Up

Happy Halloween!

Things were busy, busy, busy, busy this week at work.  <– if you don’t read that in the voice of the magician from “Frosty the Snowman” then you didn’t have a childhood and you need to go rent the movie immediately!

As I’ve mentioned, my clinic is transferring over to an electronic medical record system at the end of this year.  The nutrition department needs a new charting form (built from scratch) to accommodate our specific patient population, but since I am the entire department things have been pretty hectic.  Plus we are in the middle of planning a big event and I randomly had a bunch of newly diabetic patients this week.

Additionally, I do some consulting work on the side reviewing nutrition educations and I had a big batch of articles to get through this week.  I really enjoy the work – did you know that I did some editing/reviewing for a famous Caribbean author as a child? – but it can be hard to get motivated to get myself back into work mode once I’m home and changed into Adam’s sweatpants at the end of the day.  Snacks help.

My meals were all totes amaze this week and/but you will see quite a bit of repetition…

breakfast

Vega Peanut Butter Cup Bar and an orchard apple.

breakfast

Iced coffee with chocolate soy milk and an apple.

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Orchard apples and espresso with milk and sugar.

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The energy shot in the middle was a sample from my Urth Box and it was a giant nope.

lunch

Yogurt bowl.  It’s funny, at least once a week someone will comment about how good my yogurt lunch looks.

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Dannon Pumpkin Pie Greek with fresh blackberries and TJ’s Pumpkin O’s.  Plus a candy corn salt water taffy.

Take-2.

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With TJ’s pumpkin Greek and Pop Rocks.

Dark Chocolate Mint bar from Zing.

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This was all I had time to eat on Thursday but it kept me full all afternoon.  Thanks, 10 grams of protein.

snack time

Lindt’s “Hello My Name Is” bars are pretty much my favorite.  Cookies and Cream!

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An “Apple Pie A la Mode” = honeycrisp apple cider + RumChata + Goldschläger.

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Locally-made yogurt.

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Trying to bribe myself into doing my freelance work, I … stole some of Adam’s Cheetos (we both are a little bit insane about themed foods),

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Ate licorice bears,

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And dipped a big, sliced apple into butterscotch peanut butter.

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The apple dippers beat out my other snacks in nutrition and flavor.

dinner

We made Rachael Ray’s Pasta with Pumpkin and Sausage using this fun pasta as our base.

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We tend to rarely repeat recipes but this is one we’ve made several years in a row now (back in the day!).

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So good.  I subbed TJ’s soy chorizo for sausage and fat-free half and half for cream but otherwise followed the recipe.

Round 2.

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I made a big bowl of leftover pumpkin pasta and leftover white cheddar macaroni with spinach, topped with chunky cranberry apple sauce that one of my nutrition co-workers made for me.

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Adam was not willing to put fruit on his pasta, but my bowl was delicious.

Pizza Night!

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Ugh.  These came out so flipping yummy and neither Adam or I could shut up about it.  We loaded them with ridiculous toppings and they probably ended up being far more caloric than delivery but they were also the best pizzas we’ve ever eaten.  We used a ball of dough from Trader Joe’s and it split perfectly into two nicely sized pizzas.

Traditional – marinara sauce / low-fat shredded mozzarella / sautéed green pepper rings / tons and tons of mushrooms browned in butter.

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Plus, slightly less traditional.

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Oh yes, you know I went there!  The best pizza I’ve ever eaten ever including the amazing, giant slices of Buffalo chicken from Zetti’s – pumpkin puree / low-fat shredded mozzarella / TJ’s Pacific Rock cheddar / onions sautéed with liquid smoke and smoked brown sugar / tons of crumbled turkey bacon.

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Plus we had sautéed kale on the side, with liquid smoke, maple syrup, and more bacon.

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For nutrition.

We also shared a Warlock.

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Best of the season!  There wasn’t actually much pumpkin flavor, this was just a really delicious stout.

Round 2.

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Leftover pizza.

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Kale chips with truffle salt and roasted broccoli with bbq.

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The pizza was just as swoon-worthy eaten cold.  How do I get more, immediately?  And we ate this while watching “Nightmare Before Christmas” so I was pretty much exploding with excitement.  <– picture strange, giddy laughter and me singing along with my mouth stuffed full of pizza.

What was on the best pizza you’ve ever eaten?

Books And Bites; Five Favorites From The Week

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{1} Coffee

I made a fantasmic batch of cold brew this week.  Brooklyn Roasting Company Iris Espresso brewed with pumpkin spice and vanilla bean paste.  Two notes – 1. Go read all of the coffee descriptions on BRC immediately; you’ll drool all over your keyboard.  2. I am adding vanilla bean paste to all of my coffees from here on out.

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Served over ice with Almond Breeze Hint of Honey.  <– I’m a fan.

{2} Chocolate

Dark Chocolate Mint from NibMor.

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Did y’all know that NibMore lives right up the road from me in Great Neck?  I’m excited that this tasty bar is local.

{3} Oatmeal for lunch

I know that these overnight oats look a little rough, but the flavor was perfect.  In the morning before work I stirred together 1/3 cup pumpkin puree, 1/4 cup oats, 3/4 cup almond milk, and 1 Tbsp chia seeds.  The mixture thickened up nicely by lunchtime.

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The blob on top is butterscotch peanut butter.  <– Ahh-mazing!  Adam and I are obsessed.

Another day, another (oat)meal.

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Veggie and fruit leather, a SweeTango apple, and *new* Quaker Caramel Apple Oats.

{4} A great, Greek, green dinner

Leftovers.

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I was worried about the phyllo dough, but my Greek Tofu Pie reheated just fine.

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Plus leftover green beans sautéed with garlic aioli mustard sauce and sliced almonds.

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We had a rough week health wise – one night Adam had a fever and I had a migraine and we sat on the floor and ate chips and aspirin for dinner – so having leftovers available was great.

Worth mentioning too – My leftovers from Max in Williamsburg.

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The pasta and sauces are all made in-house and they are out of control.

{5} A new favorite novel

The Center of Winter by Marya Hornbacher.  I haven’t actually gotten all that far into this book yet – partially because I’ve needed to nap on the train and mostly because the writing is so beautiful that I go back to the beginning of the page and reread when I hit the end of most of the pages.

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Hornbacher is one of my favorite authors and her first book, a memoir focusing on her eating disorder, shaped the way I think about literature.  <– I am planning on blogging about that in more detail next week.

Her first novel has been truly one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever read.  I wanted to share a short {meta!} passage to give you guys a taste –

All the seasons here in the north move toward their own end, except winter, which moves towards its center and sits there to see how long you can take it.  Spring twitches impatiently in its seat like a child wanting to go outside, straining toward summer, and summer, all lush and showy, tumbles headlong toward the decay of fall.  Fall comes and goes so fast it takes the breath away, arriving in brocades of red and gold and whipping them off in only a few weeks, leaving a landscape ascetic, stunned with loss.

Outside, in the soft blue-gray dark, the snow fell.  A child sat at the kitchen table and pretended her father had not died, because you were there.  As long as you were there, she did not need to be afraid, or go outside, and so she was not afraid, of cold or anything else.  Death did not kill her off but merely left her maimed, like a shot animal that startles at the noise more than the pain and scrambles even faster through the underbrush, wide-eyed and sweating at the flanks, not pausing for the ripped and useless leg it now drags behind it as it runs.  The animal has three legs left.  Terror makes that enough.

Have you read any of Hornbacher’s work yet?

It’s All Greek To Me! – Greek Tofu Pie

As promised, the killer dish from yesterday’s dinner.

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This recipe requires you to dirty your food processor and deal with phyllo dough, but I promise it’s worth it.  We couldn’t believe how well this all came together!

Greek Tofu Pie, serves 4 – 6

  • 1 Tbsp and 2 tsp evoo
  • 3 cups frozen spinach
  • 10 oz sliced mushrooms
  • 1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 2 tsp dried oregano
  • 1/2 a large lemon, juiced
  • 16 oz silken tofu, drained
  • 6 oz feta cheese
  • 4 oz sharp white cheddar
  • 3 Tbsp butter, melted
  • 8 sheets phyllo dough, thawed
  1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
  2. Warm 1 Tbsp evoo in a large pan over medium-high heat.  Sauté mushrooms, spinach, and sun-dried tomatoes for 10 minutes, until the mushrooms have softened and the spinach has fully thawed.  Stir in salt, oregano, and lemon juice and remove pan from heat.
  3. Use a food processor to combine the tofu, feta, and cheddar.  Add cooked veggies and process until the mixture is homogenous.
  4. In a small bowl, stir together melted butter and 2 tsp evoo.  Set up phyllo dough according to the package directions.
  5. Use a pastry brush to wet the bottom and sides of a 9-inch pie dish with the butter mixture.  Brushing on the butter between layers, place 4 slices of phyllo dough into the bottom and up the sides of the pie dish.  Spread the filling into the pie dish, smoothing the top so it’s level.  Top with remaining layers of phyllo dough, continuing to brush butter between the layers.  Use kitchen shears to trim off the excess phyllo dough that is hanging outside the edge of the pie dish.
  6. Bake for 30 – 40 minutes.  The filling is safe to eat raw, but the longer it cooks the firmer it gets.  Cook for 30 minutes then check regularly and pull out of the oven as soon as the phyllo dough threatens to burn (you want it to get a light tan; pull from the oven as soon as any dark brown spots appear).
  7. Allow pie to cool and set for at least 20 minutes before slicing and serving.

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