Latest Obsessions

*First Aid Kit-This Old Routine
Swedish sisters making songs that have me wishing
that my sisters and I could sing. Perfect soundtrack for
this time of year.

*Cranberry Vanilla Coffee Cake
From Lottie & Doof. Made this yesterday and
it turned out perfectly. I recommend using fresh
cranberries.


*Learning about Burgundy.
So many things to memorize. Communes, vineyards, producers, vintages...
The bonus of studying wine is that drinking is a form of learning.
Last night we had a 2004 Bruno Colin Les Gravieres, Santenay 1er Cru.
I had forgotten what the vintage was and could not believe it when
the husband told me that it was almost a decade old.  The acidity was
so fresh and still pretty bold.  We're going to get another bottle and
cellar it for a few more years and see what happens.


*Finding some vintage Indian cookbooks
It's another cuisine that I find slightly overwhelming
but LOVE to eat. So I'll be heading to my favorite cookbook
shops in the city and finding a good starter guide.

Total Relaxation

Amid this stressful week of trying to put together an event at work, 

I'm currently enjoying a serene moment.  I'm drinking my

favorite hot chocolate (raw cacao powder and cinnamon) and watching 

the snow fall from my living room.  I've turned on the fairy lights that we have 

hanging around our bookcase and for just a short while-everything will be perfect.

Latest Obsessions

*Wine poached pears
making these tomorrow night

*Aged Leather Candle from Cold Spring Apothecary
One of my favorite places to visit when we go up to Cold Spring.
This candle makes you feel like you're in an old library, surrounded by
leather chairs and ancient books.

*Sherry
El Maestro Sierra is a producer that I'm diggin',
the flavor profile is funky- definitely not for the faint of heart,
what does it for me is the umami quality and the finish that sometimes
reminds me of pancakes and syrup.

*Being able to drink regular cappuccinos again.
Who knew that my caffeine intolerance was all because of
the bcp.  Wish I would have had this informations about 10 years ago.
I would have had a lot less anxiety...

*Dracula
What can I say, I'm a sucker for vampire period pieces, and watching
Jonathan Rhys Meyers seduce women.
I'm sold. (if only it wasn't on NBC.)

*The Grand Budapest Hotel
Cannot wait for this. So many favorite people.

Latest Obsessions

It's been awhile since I've posted. There's been a lot going on
between my best friend's wedding (an actual event, not the movie),
new job starting, 2 person dance parties,  having a friend visit last weekend,
and just keeping up with the house.

It's been a mixture of not having enough time, and also not having too
much to say. It happens.  But I'll jump back into things with some
new obsessions. Feel free to share yours as well- I love finding new things
to be completely and utterly obsessed with.

*This grad speech
Contrary to the header, I don't find this depressing or horrifying at any point.

*No No No Cat
I caught our resident Tomcat doing something similar to this
back in the spring time and it made my day.

*Pumpkin Swirl Brownies via Smitten Kitchen
I'll be making these later today. It's officially time for pumpkin mania.

*Decorating for Halloween today
I love Halloween. To me it has a season similar to Christmas.
Only with a focus on witches, pumpkins, cider, cider doughnuts, and ghosts.
It's the one time of year where I can get the husband to watch scary movies
( and Halloween is Grinch Night) with me.

*Searching for Reykjavik restaurants
I love experiencing other cultures through food, and since we are
going in a few months I figured I'd better start my list of places now.
The city is fairly small so it won't be as intense as my list was for Berlin.

*How I Met Your Mother/ The Mindy Project
diggin' the new seasons.

*Sergio Muffin
I met a dog that reminded me of him- though not as handsome.
Made me miss this little gentleman.

Aurora Borealis

It's no secret that I love my birthday, but I have embraced
the husband's birthday with a similar love and enthusiasm.
So naturally I think about it months before it is even
a light in the distance. I know he questions my sanity when
I bring up birthdays this early- but I love the idea of
doing extravagant things for the man that I love.

The other day I found a deal that was too good to pass up.
4 days and 3 nights in Iceland. The price included flight,
hotel, boat trip to see the Northern Lights, and an upgrade at
the Blue Lagoon.  This for the price of what I saw as 2 normal
flights to Iceland just a few weeks before.  Can't pass these things up.














Credit

My original idea was to keep this as a surprise, but if you know me at
all you will know that I cannot keep secrets.  Especially if they are fun.
So I told the husband that I had a surprise for his birthday planned already,
and that began the guessing game that we usually play with surprises.
Yesterday he managed to guess Iceland as one of the destinations
so, as our rule goes, I had to tell him.
I made it 4 whole days of secret keeping haha- somewhat impressive for me.













Credit

 It might not be as dreamy as a beach in Mexico would be in January
but to (hopefully) see the Northern Lights is an experience that will be just as amazing.
I'm looking forward to eating fermented shark,  drinking whatever is local, and
immersing myself in Icelandic culture for 4 days.
It'll be our own Icelandic Saga.

Greenmarket Finds

This is my 100th post on this little blog!
Time sure does fly.  We're a little over a month away
from our 1st Wedding Anniversary, and I've got my
best friend/life partner's wedding next weekend.
This year surely flew by.

What better way to celebrate 100 posts than to have
the summer harvest colliding with fall!
This is that magical time of year when you can
get cantaloupe and spaghetti squash, concord grapes
and peaches, and cauliflower and tomatoes. Much like Gem,
this is truly, truly outrageous.
















*Pint of fresh pressed cider
*onion
*garlic
*eggplant
*celery
*okra
*spaghetti squash
* 2 cantaloupe
*lettuce
*kale
*cauliflower
*milk (not pictured)
*2 small pieces of tuna (not pictured)
*2 zucchini

Can't wait to make:
Cantaloupe Gazpacho
Turkey Meatballs with Spaghetti Squash
Zucchini Fritters
Grilled Eggplant with Herbed Quinoa
Cauliflower Soup

Latest Obsessions

*Concord Grape Cornmeal Cake
This cake is a quick and easy way to use those great concord grapes
that just showed up at the market. The most time consuming part is seeding them.
But the end result is well worth the trouble.

*Filling my Halloween Pinterest board
I cannot wait to decorate the house and watch scary movies,
while drinking hot cider. I heart Halloween.

*GMO OMG
A documentary about GMO's, which judging by the trailer many
people seem to be totally unaware of what they are. It's so important
to know what we're eating.  Looking forward to watching it.

*The candle light yoga class I took last night
At the time I wanted to walk out after feeling like the class
was not only above my abilities but moving way too fast.
I managed to leave class feeling more peaceful and with a clearer mind
 than I had in awhile,  took a long walk down Houston, up Lafayette and
all the way to the Strand. Finally found the books I had been looking for,
headed home, and laid in bed reading.  It was also the most restful sleep
I've had in awhile. I don't  really want to go back to the class
-but I kinda do...

*Taking Charge of Your Fertility by Toni Weschler, MPH
This is the book I've been looking all over for.  Now don't get
all crazy- we're not trying to have a baby right now.  But this book
is so much more than that-it's about getting to know your body
and your cycle.  Which, after being on the birth control pill for
about a decade is something I am sadly unfamiliar with.
So I'm reading about it,  and it's extremely interesting.

*Andre Heimann's Hungarian Cabbage Strudel
This photo makes my mouth water. Apparently Andre's shop
is in Forest Hills-which isn't too far from Sunnyside!  I feel a
trip is in order. I'll have the real thing then I'll try to replicate it.
German/Austrian/Hungarian food is the BEST in the fall.

*This song from this movie
The husband and I watched the end of Empire Records a few nights
ago and that movie is one big nostalgia trip. It reminds me of being 15,
in all good ways. Now I can't stop listening to this song.  I also added
other favorite songs from other favorite teenage movies.  And even if
no one else cares about the songs I know that Zach Mack and I always will.