Back to normal blogging! Hooray!

It was a tough day back at work today after having the week off. But I pulled through it. Probably because I had an idea brewing for dinner all day. The most ultimate comfort food:

MAC AND CHEESE

I’ve seen other people jazz up their  macaroni and cheese with broccoli, so I decided to give it a spin with some kale and chickpeas. The result? Pretty magical.

Take another look at all its beauty right here and now.

My friends, I wholeheartedly recommend this.

You know what else I recommend? Napping. Oh – and reading.

Here’s to a beautiful Monday night!

What happened to blogging Saturday and Sunday? A very special birthday party happened – that’s what. With a little food before, during and after.

There was French toast in the late morning on Saturday….

… and leftover turkey sandwiches in the afternoon.

… photo tutorials in the early evening when the sun was setting…

… and pre-party excitement in early evening.

… cupcakes started the birthday party of the century…

And then the night goes a little something like this:

I am greeted by Matt with his full-on birthday face loving the heck out out of his girlfriend Erica, the co-hostess.

I see one of the best friends of my life, Eric, who I haven’t seen in over a year, and gush for the rest of the evening about how much I miss him.

We pose for friendship and love.

….We dance in honor of friendship and love.

….And we pose again in honor of friendship and love (seriously, how many pictures are THERE??)

I see an old friend Sasha with his new lady friend Skylar, who took the majority of these pictures. I quickly discover that she is a doll.

Matt and Bill decide to get fish tattoos on their shoulders and Old Bay canisters on their hands so they can “spice things up” like this:

Matt proceeds to use this pose in every photograph he can. Exhibit A:

Exhibit B:

Exhibit C (half-hearted by the end of the night):

Later, Dante and Bill try out Maria’s cupcake sandwich invention.

And they are quite pleased.

So pleased that Bill would like to steal Dante’s hair for a minute.

But instead he decides to take a cute picture with me.

Suddenly, the room erupts in Bruce Springsteen for several minutes.

… but no one is hurt.

Not even during this metal moment:

Or the fake knife fight that took place just breaths away from me.

Or when I attempted sitting on a tall stool at the end of the night.

Thank goodness for H20 in plastic cups. Am I right or am I right?

I love my friends, and you know what? I love my life and sharing it with you.

Thanks, Matt and Erica for throwing a party (and inviting me). And thanks Matt for turning 25 and being my age-buddy.          

Yesterday we spent the bulk of the day doing some Black Friday shopping. We decided to start the day with some breakfast – and I had a much needed coffee + muesli. I haven’t had this dish from Corner Bakery in a while (it used to be one of my favorites when I worked in DC and had a Corner Bakery right across the street).

Love muesli. Love it with all my being. If you ever go to Corner Bakery, I recommend you buy this. You will not be disappointed, I promise.

Shopping was pretty intense, though not as packed as years past. I got a couple little things – something for my grandma (which I think she’ll love) and also a bunch of things for myself. My biggest purchase, however, was my first pair of Chuck Taylors. I’ll post a picture soon but for now – they look like these. I am totally stoked.

Bill bought a sweatshirt for $12 and despite his emo facade, he was quite happy about advertising it.

Around 2 p.m.-ish, we decided lunch was in order and went to Starter’s in Bethlehem, PA. This is a really cool area where lots of shops and restaurants are developing. I decided to live on the edge and order a gyro. I haven’t had a good gyro in months, and this one hit the spot.

Inside the gyro:

After lunch, we all came home and I crashed out for several hours. I was exhausted from staying up late the night before and then waking up early + the shopping. I don’t know why, but I have been super tired lately, and I’ve been getting 8 hours of sleep each night. Gosh, I hope I don’t have mono. (eek).

Around 8-ish, we got together with friends Fitz and Maria for Maria’s birthday. Her mom made these fantastic cupcakes.

Maria was turning 24, but we didn’t have a number “4″ so she used footballs instead.

Happy Birthday, Maria! I’m so glad we’re friends! Also so glad it was your birthday!

Maria’s very Polish mother offered me a pumpkin roll, and I couldn’t refuse her accent, so I had that and half a cupcake. Muy delicious.

And Maria did the cutest thing ever – something I’ve actually never seen before (yes, I lived a sheltered life), and made a cupcake sandwich. Um, ingenious.

After cupcakes and slight singing, we decided to hit up The Bookstore Speakeasy in Bethlehem. This place is super cool. It’s in a basement crowded with people, flowing drinks and happy people. And around midnight, a group of three guys came in and played ragtime. I quickly fell in love with the old man (which you will see through my close-ups in this video).

It was a great night! Happy Birthday again, Maria!

Next to laying around all day, making this sweet potato casserole was my biggest accomplishment.

Can you tell I was quite proud? Making this involved using a ricer. And this ricer was at least 50 years old.

Now that’s something I’ve never used before. And it’s pretty much the coolest invention ever. Check out what it produces:

I was totally in my element. It felt good to be helping out with the meal. (Mom says I need to post more pictures of myself on the blog – so here’s another cooking shot.)

Today’s Thanksgiving meal was absolutely perfect. Bill’s mom is a fantastic cook. Plus it was her birthday, so we were not only celebrating her cooking talents – but also her life in general.

The table was beautifully set, and we sat down around 3:30 p.m., which I have decided is the perfect time for holiday meals. I saved up my appetite for this one.

Now comes the goods. We started off with southwestern corn chowder.

And then other fantastic dishes were placed on the table. To my left, the most beautiful of foods: cranberries.

Low-fat corn bread made with applesauce. Can I say again how much I love Bill’s mom for cooking the way she does?

Bill’s dad carved the turkey at the stove, and I absolutely love this photo.

And then it was brought to the table and looked something like this. Hands down, best stuffing I’ve ever eaten. Bill’s mom got the recipe from Tyler Florence, and it involved sourdough bread, carrots, celery, turkey sausage and – get this – roasted chestnuts. AMAZING.

My sweet potato casserole. It turned out pretty well, and I didn’t have to use whole milk or an entire stick of butter. Yay!

My plate, in all its Thanksgiving glory. SO DELICIOUS. My belly is still hugging me from this meal.

And then there was my favorite part. PIE!!! I quickly turned into a big ball of apple pie after this.

Bill and I both had very happy stomaches after dinner. So happy that not shortly after this picture, we all passed out on the couch. A good day indeed with some people I love most.

So what am I thankful for today?

I am thankful for the people in my life. My family, Bill, his family, my friends. The people in my life make up so much of who I am and how I love. I am thankful for the people I see regularly, and I am thankful for the people I see once in a while. I am thankful for every person who has shaped my life in someway or another.

I am thankful for YOU. Because if you read this, then YOU mean something to me. And I must mean enough to you if you’re willing to put up with my ramblings on food.

Now I’m going to sap off to sleep.

(HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO BILL’S MOM CAROL!)

If my Thanksgiving break has lacked anything, it certainly isn’t wine.

… or good, delicious and filling food.

Last night Bill decided to make Orangette’s Chana Masala. His parents had never had homemade chana masala, so it was perfect for Thanksgiving eve.

My job responsibilities included photographing everything and mixing spices. Bill started by chopping one onion.

Then it was time to sauté the onion in a little olive oil. We doesn’t use as much oil as the recipe calls for – and I think it’s best that way.

This dish calls for a ton of spices – some you may have and some you may not. I had the pleasure of mixing these together.

Here is all my hard work. Phew, I was breaking a sweat.

You add that mix and some garlic to the onion and cook it up. This is one of the best parts of the process because the room starts to smell like an Indian restaurant, and you decide you never want to leave it.

I’m not super keen on tomatoes, but this next part is also one of my favorites. I love seeing how red the pan can get.

Is there anything more beautiful than this?

Oh wait – this. Yes, this is more beautiful. Chickpeas give any dish an instant charm.

Then you add some greek yogurt for thickness and texture.

And you set a beautiful table with nice place mats and dishware (again, not something I did – I was completely lazy during the cooking of this meal, and it was nice).

I admired the way the naan was ripped apart.

Especially considering it once looked like this. Crazy.

A beautiful meal with beautiful people. Thanks for all your hard work, Bill.

(Afterward we went to the Casino, and I won $11! Wee!)

Happy Turkey Day!

Welcome to the Worker Bee series – a weekly feature that will highlight food bloggers who are also full-time working professionals.

There are many days where I feel like I can’t fit it in, so I look to other bloggers for inspiration and guidance. This series is a way to see what some of our favorite bloggers do for a living along with how they incorporate healthy living!

This week’s Worker Bee is Elisabeth from Jogger’s Life!

5) Can you provide readers with any tips on how to balance healthy living and working? What are some tricks you’ve picked up along the way?

-Remove yourself from the typical rounds of office-inspired junk. Move the candy bowl from your reach, or change the route that you take to the kitchen to refill your water bottle. If you tell your coworkers “no” enough times, they’ll eventually stop asking.

-Walk around the building/office/parking lot during breaks. In addition to circling the parking lot on my breaks, I have also been known to schedule an occasional date with the stairs in my building. Sometimes it feels good to just move around a little, and some extra stairs can give me an extra boost of energy after staring at the computer screen for hours!

-Pack a balanced lunch, and keep healthy snacks on hand. I always keep a selection of lunch and snack options in my desk drawer for when I’m in a pitch. I also have a “secret” candy stash–because we all need a Tootsie Pop from time to time!

-Keep a dedicated water bottle at work. Before I started leaving a water bottle at work, I tended to forget to bring water on a daily basis, or I couldn’t find a cup to refill (which is not uncommon in my small company). With a water bottle in my office all the time, I can just refill it and have it on hand every day. Since many of us often mistake thirst for hunger, hydration is key!

6) Where do you see yourself in 10 years? I am planning my wedding for next year (!!), so in 10 years, I will be married and hopefully have a couple of kids. By that time, I hope to also be working in the field of holistic nutrition, and helping others learn to eat intuitively and lead a healthy, balanced lifestyle! I also plan to continue blogging and freelance writing, which I hope will lead me to more writing opportunities in the future.

Over the break I am working on four books for “customers.” This is one of the first times I’ve ever made books for people I haven’t met – so it’s been an challenging and worthwhile experience.

Yesterday was dedicated to  making books for Hil. She requested a book both for herself and for her mother (for a Christmas gift).

Hil was interested in a hardcover journal with a signature stitch. I have made a few of these before. They are pretty time intensive because of the page stitching. You can see that more in detail here:

Her mother’s favorite colors are purple, pink and cream. I found this paper in the store, and it felt like the right fit. I knew I wanted to add a few other details too, but at first I wasn’t exactly sure how I’d do it. I added this pink strip to the front after I finished up, and I liked the way it looked so I went with it. (I love how random the creative process can be sometimes).

The inside looks like this. I mixed white and cream paper.

I used book cloth on the spine. 1) Because I like the way it looks and 2) It makes the book a little sturdier. It’s pretty much my new favorite material. Feel free to buy it for me in bulk for Christmas

I used a similar approach for Hil’s journal. She said she liked earthtones, and she also liked the book I made for Kelly (with the swirls). Ironically, they had the same paper that I used for Kelly in the store – but with more greens, browns and golds. It was pretty perfect.

Same stitch, and I used gold sheets on the inside.

I thought about adding more detail to the front, but there is so much going on with this paper already that I didn’t want to distract. It looks good on its own, in my opinion.

I am pretty happy with the way these books turned out, and I hope Hil is happy too.

Expect to see a few more books on the blog in the next couple days!

If you would like a book made for you or a friend, feel free to contact me at onalobsterplacemat AT gmail DOT com. You can view samples of my work here or here.

First of all – Happy Birthday to Bill’s dad, Bill! Hooray! (PS: I may be “drogging.” It’s debatable).

I had a very productive day. It started with some brain food – instant oatmeal.

I haven’t had instant oatmeal in a long time, and it was nice for a change. So much less work, and pretty tasty too. I paired it with some black coffee which was much needed.

I love Bill’s parent’s German mugs. I don’t know what they say but I imagine it is a happy message. I should probably just ask, right?

I spent the afternoon surrounded by crafts.

Now this was much needed. There are books I’ve been wanting to make for so long. Five hours later, this is what happened:

I will write up a separate review of these soon. Just wanted to give you a sneak peak now.

During the afternoon, this also happened:

There’s nothing like eating while you work. There’s also nothing like eating tabouleh.

After five hours of bookmaking, I took a slight nap and then we went out for Bill’s dad’s birthday. We went down the road to a place called Pacifico. Pretty swanky inside.

We sat at the bar and got drinks and tapas. I ordered two of these:

We ordered a whole table-full of food:

I had  a delicious caesar salad, which was much more filling than expected:

And some steamed dumplings.

Other various foods were ordered too – but the pictures were blurry, and I’m getting sleepy. So I’ll conclude by saying – Happy Birthday to Bill!

This whole day blogging thing is hard – I’m out!

So I thought I’d take a few days off blogging. Then I decided that maybe I should blog once a day – mostly for my mom, so she can see what I’m up to on my Thanksgiving break with Bill’s family

We left around 3 p.m. today for Philly – and it was Scone’s first big trip in the car. I don’t think you can tell by these pictures, but he was pretty pumped up about it.

The trip started off a bit bumpy – Scone had a few accidents within the first 15 minutes But that’s OK. He was totally nervous.

Traffic wasn’t great, but we had a good time in the car. We got to Philly area around 7:30-ish, and Bill’s mom had prepared a nice little meal. She brought out this plate of appetizers – a Rachel Ray recipe – pears and arugula wrapped in proscuitto.

The combination may sound strange, but it was really delicious.

Scone made himself right at home. You’d think he’d lived here for a couple months or something.

And I made myself right at home too.

Dinner was simple and delicious. Crab cakes with french fries. I ate mine with ketchup, of course.

Over dinner we discussed how impressive Bill’s parents’ sea salt container is:

And for dessert, I treated myself to a giant piece of chocolate biscotti. So.freaking.good.yum.

Now it’s time for more relaxing. Sweet dreams, blog land.

… and kicking! I’m on Thanksgiving break, so blogging will be a bit sporadic.

See you soon. Congratulations to all the bloggers who ran the Philadelphia Half Marathon this weekend!