Outfit Torture

It never fails. It happens at least once a year, every year. I will torture myself. I have a tendency to create the perfect outfit in my head. Without knowing any of the clothing pieces exist in any store. Sounds odd, doesn't it? Welcome to my world.

Last year, I foresaw a cool outfit idea to wear out on my birthday. It consisted of a black flowy dress and a 3/4 length sleeve, heather gray hoodie. I made up the hoodie in my mind. The dress I already owned.

I tormented myself and probably a few others around me searching high and low for a hoodie that I didn't know existed or not because I made it up in my head.

After week or two of looking, I finally got smart or wait, let me give real credit to where it's due: Cowboy and I were randomly in Target and he pointed to the little boy's section where lo and behold there was a rack of hoodies for boys, in heather gray. It was perfect. And cheap. Holla! It worked like a dream and I'll tell you, its one of my favorite pieces in my closet.

This year before I had New Year's eve plans, I thought the perfect outfit would be a multi-colored sequin straight fitting dress. Never seen one before. I've seen the dress in solid sequins, like black, silver or gold. I've even seen a horizontal striped version. But rainbow sequins - no.

I did it again. Created an outfit in my head that only exists in my head.

Until Monday night...I have no shame, I watch The Hills. I will take it farther and disclose that I watch The Hills After Party. It's some serious funny stuff that after party. This past Monday was The Hills Finale and of course, I tuned in for the pre-show special. How MTV of me. And of course, Lauren would show up in my dream outfit. I was screaming and shouting at the TV. Damn you, damn you. Then I found it today online.



Won't anyone loan me $1,000? Or if you know a knock off similar, it'd be happily appreciated.

A Huge Thank You

I know I've been sounding a lot like Debbie Downer's wet blanket lately but thank you so much for all the comments, advice and support! You have no idea how appreciated it is to hear (read) a voice that understands. Thanks!

I owe another huge shout out thank you to Lil Brownie. Last week, while I was working it up in Spring, TX she sent me an e-gift certificate to Target. It was the best surprise that I was totally not expecting. We know exactly what I'm going to get with it and I cannot wait. Thanks, lady! I can't wait to hit up Chi-town and meet up with you one day!!

And thanks to Bev - who nearly tried to kill me, I'm just kidding, girl. I love you. Bev sent me some home made fudge for my birthday. The fudge had some nuts in it and she didn't know that it was all nuts that I'm allergic to or avoid because honestly I have no idea which nut it is that gets to me. Cowboy raves about it each time he takes in a piece. That was another unexpected wonderful surprise that I loved!

Trying

It’s official. We got the news last night. Cowboy’s younger brother is planning on visiting us during Christmas. I’m not scared to admit that I was heartbroken and felt defeated.

I broke the news to my mom this morning. She was WTF'ing allover the place. I just fell silent.

I feel defeated because we agreed that Thanksgiving was his family and Christmas was mine. We didn’t sign a pact but I feel like his end of the bargain is not right. Its not my fault that this younger brother pulled a no show on Thanksgiving. Younger brother gets to come visit us any other day of the year – he lives two hours away. Cowboy and I’ve seen him more times than my mom. Cowboy has only met my mom once. She doesn’t live two hours away and she’s coming to visit us. Not us and a 16 year old boy. True, it’s Christmas and I should just lighten up.

Part of me wants to book a hotel now for my mom and I. I don’t think you understand – our living room is going to look like shit. Both Cowboy and younger brother are going to camp out in it while my mom and I take over our bedroom. Have you seen boys camped out in a room before? Its not pretty, its not orderly, it smells. Our living room is where our Christmas tree and most of our Christmas decorations are. I had to tell Cowboy this morning to tell his brother that he cannot bring his television up here. I refuse to see the wires and that set up. I think they can do two days without video games. But then what do we do with a 16 year old?

My mom made the comment that I should go buy a case of wine right now so we can have fun while holed up in the bedroom. She’s funny like that, but she’s also right like that. We both know me. Once the younger brother is here, I will keep my lips sealed and not say anything just to keep the peace. And since they are taking over the common area, I probably won’t fight for it and just let it be. Right now, I just want to cry,

I’m going to try and enjoy Christmas and the family that will be with us.

What I Wore When I was Starving

I wore a strapless dress from Express, yellow cardi from Madewell and the red clutch from Target.

Struggling...

How do I associate myself or marry into a family that is just so wiggidy, wiggidy, wiggidy, wiggidy whack?

Menu Planning: Christmas Edition

I’ve decided to cook a beef fillet for the main course and star of our Christmas day lunch and dinner.

A couple years ago, Real Simple had a spread on different ways to cook a beef roast fillet. I scoured the internet and Real Simple’s site for what seemed like forever and an hour. Finally, voila!

I plan to have this and a good amount of sides – mostly a crusty bread, some yummy spreads and lighter sides like salads or something. The plan is that everyone can just put together their own. If you want a beef sandwich – go for it. Or if you want just the beef and the sides, that’s there, too. Easy Peazy.

I’m not trying to slave away in the kitchen while my mom is visiting but still want homemade stuff. We usually spend the afternoon at the movies, so it’s a great way to have a meal that’s just come and get whenever. You know me, this is the first stage in my menu planning and is a work in progress or internet surfing. Shoot, we could be eating turkey day of like the rest of folks.

For breakfast, I’m making a pesto onion, shallot and egg tart. I don't know the official name for it. It’s so yum. I’ve been making it ever since I was in high school. My mom goes over the moon for it. I’m a mother pleaser – what can I say?!

For dessert, I’m going to try my best to re-create Gravitas’ butterscotch bread pudding. This bread pudding is out of this world of yum. I’ve never made a bread pudding before, so let’s keep our fingers crossed. I plan to serve it with my new vice: Haagen Daz’ Honey Vanilla ice cream. It is major.

Pesto Onion & Shallot Egg Tart (or quiche).
One small yellow onion sliced thin
One shallot sliced thin
3 eggs
One pie crust ready made (I usually just get the one that’s already in the tin. So easy.)
Pesto
Butter

Step one – melt just enough butter to coat a pan, add onion and shallots. Cook until soft and translucent.
Step two – beat/whisk your eggs.
Step three – cover the bottom of your pie crust with the pesto. Just spoon it on and spread it out.
Step four – pour your onions and shallots into the crust.
Step five – pour eggs on top.
Step six – bake in a 400 degree over until eggs are set. Done.

High School Drop Out

As promised, here is the crazy story of how Cowboy’s younger brother no longer is in school. And for the record, I’m a huge advocate for attending school. No matter how many days, I skipped out, myself – I still think you need to be enrolled. Skipping is one thing. Dropping out is a whole other story.

We have Cowboy, Cowboy’s mom and Cowboy’s younger brother who is sixteen. It used to be that Cowboy and his younger brother would talk all the time but that was before he turned sixteen. You know of the trips that younger brother would take to come up here and have a video gaming marathon with Cowboy. They are close, especially given the fact that their older brothers are well into their thirties so growing up, it was just those two in the house.

A couple months ago about two weeks went by and Cowboy hadn’t heard anything from younger brother. He wasn’t worried and excused it as the boy is sixteen and off doing much cooler things with his friends and such. Then one day, Cowboy was on the phone with his mom and she casually said something about how younger brother was home. It was during the school hour. Cowboy questioned it and asked if younger brother was sick. Oh no, didn’t he know? Younger brother dropped out of school, like two weeks ago.

Let’s just say, Cowboy was livid. He was more livid that he found out two weeks later. Now, it doesn’t bother him at all. Me? Not so much.

I get livid thinking about it. I’m livid typing it out. Let me break it down for you. When I was in school, the only people that dropped out of school were pregnant girls and the extremely delinquent. That makes sense to me. Younger brother is neither. Younger brother dropped out of school because, and I quote, he saw an opportunity to make more money at his part time job if he went full time. His part time job is assisting a AC/Heating maintenance company. Doogie Howser, he’s not.

It gets better. I don’t know if I told you that Cowboy was home-schooled, so he didn’t go to high school. His older brothers both dropped out themselves. Younger brother has no historical evidence to keep his butt in school basically. Which to me, is the reason you should stay in school. I nearly cried when I found out the news. It really bothered me.

How can I say this, without sounding like a straight up snob? The older brothers, the ones that dropped out, well one of them is struggling all the time. Cowboy sends him money every month to help him and his three kids and wife out with bills, etc. They live without a lot of stuff and it kills me. That, right there, should be the reason to stay in school. That should be the reason to think, hey, I don’t want to live like that. That should also be what Cowboy tells him. Its not.

I don’t know how to explain it but its like this drop out news affected the family for about two days and then done. Now, they act like its nothing. What can be done? He dropped out, its not like he can go back. Uh, yes, he can! I’m not liking any of Cowboy’s family for the way this is handled. I complain to my mom about it more often than not. She’s seen how the older brother lives. It breaks her heart. It breaks mine. We blame Cowboy’s mom for allowing it to happen. We blame Cowboy and his brothers for not being more interested. It's like they advocate the situation.

Because get this – oh I hope you are sitting down and ready for your mouth to drop – you know I told you that when Cowboy has a day off, he gets online and plays War of Worldcraft with his brothers? One works from home; the other is the one that Cowboy helps out financially – so he is pretty much always home, so during the day, they play. All day. I’ve gotten over it because Cowboy stops when I get home.

Well, here comes the jaw dropper – they got all excited that now, younger brother can join in, too! YES. YES. All excited. Because now, its like a brotherhood band on that damn game all day long and they are so excited that the family is all involved and playing with each other – you know, while The View is on and normal people are either at work or in school?? That pissed me off.

I can’t even talk to Cowboy about it because then I sound like some hoity toity who went to school or some anti-brother bonding bitch. You know. So I have no sympathy for that younger brother when it comes to anything about him and/or not having holiday plans or a place to go. I’m sorry, I’m straight up cold that way.

Then on the drive back to Dallas from our Houston trip, Cowboy was speaking to younger brother about some speeding ticket younger brother got. When he hung up, I stated: it should be a law that if you drop out of school, you cannot get your drivers license. Cowboy looked at me like I was straight up crazy. Oh, yeah. I got his crazy.

When it comes to younger brother, you don’t want to talk to me, I’m 100% not supporting anything he does. Also, we haven’t seen him since he dropped out. He needs to know that once he sees me, he is in for a lecture that will at least last an hour. No joke. Because if it comes down to it, I will drive his ass back to that school and help re-enroll him. I will not and shall not advocate this. I’ll forge a doctors note for you to skip, but like I said, that’s a different story.

Lasagna Time

It is freezing cold and there is no better time to eat something warm for the tummy. I made lasagna last night. I've never been a big fan of lasagna. Growing up, my mom would make the worst lasagna. Ever. I hated lasagna night. It's just not her forte. But my brother on the other hand, would beg for it. I don't know what kind of crazy tastebuds he had. I always always thought her lasagna was too dry and she never used enough cheese in my opinion.

My brother would beg so much for it - my mom would make two in one go. That meant lasagna for at least three days and then another lasagna in the freezer - just waiting. That one was the worst. Not only was it dry and lacking enough cheese, now it would taste like a leftover meal from the freezer. My mom has no idea I do not like her lasagna.

To this day, she offers it up like its a prize winning dish. Blame my brother. Every time she tells me how my brother calls her up and begs for the lasagna, I hold back a laugh. I seriously need to ask him what it is he likes about mom's lasagna.

I developed an aversion to lasagna - until one day, Cowboy asked for it. Oh, lord.
I need to remember to keep him away from my mom's version before he becomes a begger. But, back then I found a recipe, made it and it was gosh darn good. I wish I kept the recipe because every lasagna since then has been like my mom's, dry and lacking enough cheese. Even Cowboy admits.

I think it's because after said greater than mom's lasagna, I told Cowboy about how my mom makes the worst lasagna. Actually, I think I've told everyone but my mom. Oy. Well, I was parading the fact that I made a great lasagna and then boom! no more for me. Until last night...

Lasagna
1 pound of lean ground beef (I used 96/4)
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1 pinch of red pepper flakes
Salt and pepper to taste
1/2 sweet yellow onion, diced
5 cloves garlic, minced
1 (15 ounce) container ricotta cheese (I used non fat)
2 eggs
1 tbsp fresh basil, chopped
1/2 cup of Parmesan cheese
9 lasagna noodles, cooked per instructions
2 cups mozzarella cheese, shredded
4 cups of marinara sauce (homemade or store bought)
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a skillet over medium heat, cook ground beef, making sure to break it up into crumbles. Add the onions, garlic powder, dried basil, dried oregano and salt & pepper to taste. Once the meat is brown and the onion is tender, add the garlic and cook for 60 seconds, stirring frequently. Remove from heat and drain any grease.

In a large bowl, add ricotta, eggs, 1/4 cup of Parmesan cheese, fresh chopped basil, salt & pepper to taste. Combine until mixed thoroughly. Meanwhile, cook the lasagna noodles per instructions then drain.

Layer a 9 x 13 inch baking pan with just enough sauce to cover the bottom of the pan. Lay three lasagna noodles in the pan. Spread some of the ricotta mixture on the noodles, then spoon some of the ground beef mixture on top and sprinkle with a bit of mozzarella, spoon some sauce over the cheese; repeat layering. Finish with a layer of noodles and remaining sauce. Sprinkle with mozzarella cheese and remaining 1/4 cup of Parmesan cheese. Bake covered in a preheated oven at 375 degrees for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake for 15 minutes. Enjoy.

The recipe is from For the Love of Cooking.

Snooze, You Lose, Right?

So...my mom is coming to visit over the holiday. She's arriving here in Dallas, Christmas Eve and then will leave the Saturday after Christmas. There may be more to that story - which I will share soon as I get the go ahead.

Moving on...Before the holidays even came around, Cowboy and I discussed how his family would come visit us for Thanksgiving and my mom would come on Christmas. Well, my mom is holding up to her end of it. His family didn't, not so much.

Did I tell you guys about this? I don't think I did. Here's the breakdown: Cowboy's mother and brother were supposed to drive up here, they live in Tyler - so it's about a 2 hour drive. Well, Cowboy's mom decided that she wanted to spend the holiday with her parents in Waco. I didn't blame her. Her parents are much much older than my grandparents. With this decision, it was assumed that Cowboy's younger brother would go as well. He decided not to and he is sixteen and just dropped out of school (OMG - I have to tell you guys that one, too!!) so he can make his own decisions, thank you very much.

In the weeks leading up to Thanksgiving, younger brother never expressed any interest in coming to Dallas until a couple days prior. He asked if he could come up and bring a girl with him. Cowboy told him straight up no. To the girl. Cowboy didn't want any funny business happening on his watch. The night before Thanksgiving, younger brother called and said that he was going to spend the night out with a friend and then drive up to Dallas in the morning.

When noon hit and there was no younger brother (and he wasn't answering his cell phone) we got our answer. So we thought. About 30 minutes before we sat down to eat, younger brother calls and asks if he can still come and bring a different friend with him - this one, a boy. I had several problems with it from the get go. Cowboy had to think it out. It boiled down to this trip looked like an excuse for younger brother to get to Dallas and do some partying or escape with his friends. We are not down with that. Cowboy felt badly and told him no. To the friend. We got another answer, younger brother wouldn’t come up then. See, yeah, doesn’t it look like he was just using us to get a trip to Dallas with his buddies? Seriously, the boy is sixteen years old - what could you possibly do? On a holiday! And I am not about having other people's kids at my house. You never know what's going to happen.

That said. You snooze, you lose.

My mom booked her ticket and she is definitely coming here for Christmas. We live in a one bedroom/ den, 980 square foot apartment. The den has three walls; so it is open. When we have overnight guests, we set them up in our living room and their bags in our den. To boil it down for you guys, we can only have one guest comfortably. It doesn’t mean I'm not open to more, it's just that you have to know, you'll be sharing space with other people. I don’t think it would be a problem if a bunch of my girlfriends spend the night or if a bunch of people crashed to avoid driving home after a night of drinking. For a planned visit for my mom, not so much, you know. She's my parent. I'm not crowding her in there with anyone not related to her. Especially a sixteen year old boy! Cowboy doesn't get it.

So, back to the younger brother: Cowboy's mom is spending Christmas with her husband's family (their step-dad) so younger brother is again making his own choice and not doing it. I can write an entire post about the crazy but I'm trying to be understanding. I will say this, at sixteen, my ass did whatever my parents wanted me to do. But then again, I was in school like you’re supposed to be (but we will get to that, I promise, later) Younger brother asked Cowboy if he could come up for Christmas. Cowboy said yes. Can you believe? I nearly hit him. WTF.

Cowboy's argument is that its family and what's the big deal? He and his brother can sleep in the living room and my mom and I can take our bedroom. True. But my mom is an early riser (like mother, like daughter) and where I can step over a bunch of sleeping boys in our living room, she cannot. And can I mention how my mom would so not put up with their crazy video gaming all day long? Oh heck no. And they'll take over the living room - our common space. So whenever my mom would like to relax and enjoy TV or be in the living room - she can't. She'll be imprisoned to our bedroom because the boys will either be sleeping off their gaming marathon from the night before or they will be gaming. I know this.

I'm sorry but that boy had his chance and he blew it. I'm not compromising my mom's comfort and vacation for this. She planned a vacation to visit us, not bunk with a sixteen year old. So, we talked about it. Cowboy is going to tell younger brother that he can come up this weekend (just, great) and explain to him that my mom will be here and things wont be the same, if he were to come on Christmas. Buuuuuuuuuuut, Cowboy is not discouraging him from coming Christmas because, get this - he just cannot fathom the idea of telling his brother no and having him be all alone on Christmas, so if he still wants to come up on Christmas, he can. WTF.

Internets - how in the world is he not seeing it? What else can I do here?
In my opinion, younger brother doesn’t have to be alone - he can be normal and go be with his mom, but what say do I have? Any advice will be gladly taken in the comments.

The Gift o' Land o' Lakes

I searched up and down the internets for a cranberry and orange cookie recipe. There are plenty out there but none that fit my fancy. Finally, I landed on a what looked like a good hit. Land O' Lakes' website is full of good looking recipes. I'm not a picky butter person. I do prefer Challenge butter but my grocery store either like to have it some of the time or when they do have it, it's about $4 a package. Land O' Lakes is always in stock.

I baked these today and tomorrow I'm packing them up and giving them out to my office peeps.

I went from this.



To this.



With this recipe.

CRANBERRY ORANGE COOKIES

Orange Sugar Ingredients:

1/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon freshly grated orange peel


Cookie Ingredients:

1 cup sugar
3/4 cup LAND O LAKES® Butter, softened
1 egg
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup sweetened dried cranberries, chopped
1/2 cup chopped macadamia nuts
1 tablespoon freshly grated orange peel


Heat oven to 350°F. Combine all orange sugar ingredients in small bowl; stir until well mixed. Set aside.

Combine 1 cup sugar, butter and egg in large bowl; beat at medium speed until creamy. Reduce speed to low; add flour, baking powder and baking soda. Beat until well mixed. Add all remaining ingredients. Continue beating just until mixed.

Shape dough into 1-inch balls; roll balls in orange sugar. Place 2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheets. Flatten with bottom of glass to 1 1/2-inch circles.

Bake for 7 to 11 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. (DO NOT OVERBAKE.) Cool 1 minute; remove from cookie sheets.

**Please note there is salt in my ingredients picture and none listed in the actual recipe. When I was pulling out all the ingredients, I assumed salt was one of them. I don't think I've ever baked a recipe that didn't include salt.

**And I omitted the nuts.

What He Wore on My Birthday

He styled and wore it all on his own ;) I added the scarf, just to see what it would look like. As predicted, it was way too much for his style.

Button down: Armani Exchange
Black sweater vest: Express
Black driver's cap: Banana Republic
Camel jacket: Van Heuson
Scarf: Golightly's!

LOL

Living in my house right now is very comical. It’d make for a good reality show*. I kid you not.

We have a box that I refuse to open and am trying very hard to forget about. Yes, it's small and I totally know what store it came from because the box is that telling.

A boyfriend where if I look him in the eye long enough all I want to ask is, WTF, Did we have a problem in Houston?

Our new neighbors are British documentary film makers. Hello! Accent and funny British sayings. They are so foreignly flirty. Which leads to me having way too long of conversations outside our doors.

White chocolate anywhere and everywhere in my kitchen. Because once again I could not master melting chocolate and doing something good of it. For you new peeps – every year I attempt to make something involving melted chocolate as an ingredient and every year the chocolate wins. I may need to buck down and claim this is just something I cannot do.

There are plastic bag pom-poms everywhere.

The funniest of all funny – Cowboy and I have a running prank on each other. During Halloween I acquired a plastic fake cockroach from somewhere or the other. The thing looks very very real. One day, I placed it in his catch-all, where he keeps his keys, loose change, watches and stuff. The yelp you heard through our apartment when he found it was priceless. Well he decided to pack it into my Las Vegas suitcase – oh yes, he got me back. Now, we go back and forth figuring out new ways to spook each other with it. The latest and greatest comes from Cowboy. He rigged the roach with clear fishing line, connected it to the pantry door and attached a tack at the bottom of it. When you open the door, you can either hear the tack across the tile (like teeny tiny pitter patter of insect feet), see the roach scatter out from its hiding place or both. That stunt nearly gave me a heart attack. We hate roaches. It’s been there for awhile now and let me tell you it was darn funny when the maintenance man had to come in and adjust the water heater thingy, which is located in our pantry. Oh, it was funny.

*speaking of reality shows, anyone catch Real Housewives last night? Oh, how I cried but seriously, Lauri is/was my favorite. Boo.

LIAR!!

Remember when I told you guys that I would never, ever run a marathon? Or a half marathon? That I had no desire to. That those things were for crazy people?

Meet Golightly. One of the crazies.

Running a half marathon in May.

I'm looking at it this way, I have five months to train (because seriously, I've only ran once since the trot and holiday sugar treats like to say hello to my butt like they want to make out with it, drunkedly) or five months to bail out. Knowing me, I'll be training. The upside is, its just in time to put back on a bathing suit, so all that training will do me good.

Seriously, 13.5 miles, WTF.

Is That for Me?

The birthday trip was fun. I think that’s all I can really say about it, just fun.

We drove down to Houston Friday night and I mean I drove down to Houston while my boyfriend slept his “night” since he worked the night before. We stopped in The Woodlands to meet his friend – who is a girl. I never met her before. They knew each other from back in day when they both lived in Beaumont apparently partying it up every other night. She has calmed down since then. She and her boyfriend both met up with us at Chili’s. I have to tell you guys, for someone who doesn’t particularly like Chili’s, that was my third time eating there last week. Oh, yeah. Cowboy’s friend was fun – she was cute and funny and very tall. Apparently I got the approval from her later that night via text.

Saturday I woke up early to shop – little did I know the mall closest to our hotel hadn’t started their holiday shopping hours just yet. While Cowboy was at drill – I ate a long brunch solo (in the hotel’s restaurant) and then went and shopped. Geez – I really would like to know if I didn’t watch the news, would I really think the economy was doing badly? There was a million people out there shopping!! I was seriously getting trampled on, pushed and whatnot. It was gruesome.

I don’t mind long lines at store check outs but what I do mind is when another person does. Seriously – you know what time of year it is, right? You know you are in a mall. I don’t get it when I’m standing there and there is always some complaining shopper.

So I spent the day by myself. Which I will admit wasn’t that much fun. Actually, it was kind of sad at some points in the day, mostly when I was eating and snacking solo and when I came back to the hotel and wait for Cowboy.

And this is where it gets almost interesting…so Cowboy’s bag was open and he had his shoes in there. I thought I’d be the nice girlfriend and take them out of the bag for him. You know, so his shoes wouldn’t be touching all his clothes in the bag. When I did – I noticed a gift packed in the bag, so then I put the shoes back in the bag, so at least he didn’t think that I saw what I saw. Know what I mean?

Buuuuuuuuuuut here’s the kicker – I didn’t get such gift! The biggest mystery of my life right now, today, is what the F? Because that same gift is still in his bag. Yeah, I looked.

My birthday dinner was A – to the awesome. We enjoyed a long 5-course dinner from Gravitas – oh it was so freaking delicious, I didn’t know what to do afterwards – we were all in a food coma. Then that was that. I slept in the next day, caught up on season two of Heroes (yeah, I’m nerd like that) and then we drove back to Dallas.

Now, the true drama at hand, is that damn present!?!

Gift Wrapping

Just a view of what some of our gifts are looking like once wrapped and topped with my Target bag pom poms. They are too much fun to make. I made about ten while watching Grey's Anatomy. I'll spare you guys, my usual piss and moan regarding Denny - but, seriously? When are they going to stop this mess?

Last Night I Baked

Last year Gourmet magazine had a feature article showcasing these trio of cookies. Of course the picture was enough to make you just want them. But I wanted to make them. I thought what a cool gift they would make. I don't know what stopped me. Today in my inbox was this week's Epicurious Weekly Recipe email. And there they were again, taunting me. I did a quick pantry inventory in my head and said to myself, if we don't do this tonight, they will never get done.

I got 'em done.

I went from this.



To these.



Recipe can be found here (and the original taunting picture)




This weekend, I will meet for the first time the woman that kept in touch with me all through Cowboy's Iraq deployment. She's the one that sent out Wal-Mart sale emails and coordinated get togethers. Not living in Houston I was never able to participate and I never met her. She's also the one that spread the news of when and where and when the unit was returning from Iraq. I'm looking forward to meeting her this weekend and think that these cookies will be a good thank you gesture for keeping me in the loop during that time.

Hello, Lover

We are off for H-town! Whoo hoo. I cannot wait. I think this is the first time I’ve taken a trip on my birthday. Yes. It is. While Houston is not some exotic locale, but I bet to some it could be, I’m taking the weekend enjoying it. That means shopping and eating, eating and shopping, mostly eating then shopping.

That Galleria does me in each and every time. Is it just me or does it get bigger and bigger each year? There are two Macy*s. Dos! And yes you would think that means one is different from the other…ha ha ha. They are exactly the same. Last year I found a great dress for a wedding I was going to at the older Macy*s but they didn’t have my size. A long half hour walk later, voila, newer Macy*s, dress in my size. That’s what I’m talking about. Some of the merch is different and the newer one is well, newer but all in all – same store. And Macy*s is my favorite department store so double the fun for me. My fun at the Galleria does not stop there. The biggest Zara, The Limited and Banana Republic I’ve ever been to exist there too. Yeah and I thought Dallas was good on the shops. It cannot compare to Houston.

And that’s just the mainstream stuff because my most favorite shop in the state has to be Kuhl Linscomb. I can spend hours in there and another two hours in their four house shops behind it. I’m telling you, if you like housewares or knick knacks or fun gifts, this is the place to be. I plan on getting all my Christmas presents for my friends here this year. But I plan to eat more than shop, so here’s a list of my favorite Houston eateries.

17 @ Alden House Hotel



I specifically went here to eat for their $17 multiple course lunch and it blew my mind. The duck confit salad was foodgasmic! The décor and the food were fabulous. If I lived in Houston or was from Houston, I’d get married at the Alden House. Its that kind of modern cute kinda place.

Since most of my reasoning for being in Houston used to be because of my job with the jeweler – I did a lot of my eating in the Galleria. One of their biggest stores is located in the mall. The lesson I learned is that a lot of good food places exist in a lot of malls – not just Galleria.

The Daily Grill
I’ve been twice, once to the one in Houston and the other time in Austin. Austin was so-so. Houston was a huge step up. I had a grilled cheese sandwich with tomato soup for dipping.

Kona Grill
The lesson learned here is that Kona’s menu differs from each of their locations. As I am a huge hamburger fan and think their Kona Burger is to die – they do not offer it everywhere. This Kona didn’t offer the burger but that lead me to my second other fave: their hoisin double cut pork chop dinner. It’s no longer on their online menu. See? That’s how they roll. You see it and then you don’t. What up, Kona? You’re a chain restaurant, don’t you know?

This next one may make you think I’m crazy because these exist everywhere but Houston’s location has it down 110% - Nordstrom’s Café.
The first time I ate here was after an interview way back in 2002. Oh yeah, I entertained the idea of living it up in Houston way back in the day when all I wanted to do was get the F our of San Antonio. But that was then. When I first ate here, we had a delish basket of pomme frites and calamari. That’s not what made it special – what did it for me was whatever creamy greenish sauce came with. It was heaven.
Sadly, the next time I ate here which was last year, the calamari no longer existed on the menu. (ok let’s just say, no longer carrying an item on the menu to me is like when a cosmetic company discontinues a product or color. You with me?) That trip I had to settle for a turkey sandwich with fries. But happy day! The fries still came with the creamy greenish sauce. Word. But I did miss the calamari.

Beyond this list, I’ve eaten at many other Houston jaunts – some I cannot remember the name, like a super cute brunch spot and some were places like Arcodoro. Other people love that place, I just don’t get it. It wasn’t that great or maybe its because the President of our company (the jeweler) was sitting next to me on one side (and he generally scared the crap out of me) and on the other side, sat a famous watchmaker who only speaks Swedish, French or Portuguese. I was probably too nervous to enjoy dinner.

And the crème de la crème. The heavyweight champion. My ultimate most favorite and fun place to be in Houston. GRAVITAS. Just look at it – go on, look.



The place is just so me. There is a chalkboard wall that boasts their menu and daily specials. There is a sidebar where a spinning deejay spins all sorts of tunes while you wait for your table or you can chill there for the night. The back patio is too cute. And to top it off, what I’m loving in restaurants lately – an open kitchen. You can see all the action! Just so you have an idea – here’s the menu.
I already know what I’m eating: the grilled asparagus salad and risotto, dessert will have to be chosen that night.

There you have it, my eating tour of Houston. Where I don’t really particularly care for Houston, as in to live there, I’ll come down any day or night to help out the economy by shopping and eating my heart out!

Wishing

I wish it was Thanksgiving again today. I'm missing all the delicious foods.

How to?

The other night Cowboy and I attended a good friend of mine’s open house for her newly launched business. My friend is a great hostess – every detail was thought of and planned out perfectly from décor to bar/food to her guests. It was the perfect mix of guests. There were older people that knew her since before her college days; there were her sorority sisters; neighbors; old coworkers and all sorts of people that attended.

Her party and the house are arranged in a linear set up minus walls. If you are at the farthest point of her house which is the dining nook you can see through to the kitchen, through the dining room and into her living room. Most of my time was spent in the nook – that’s where the bar was. She’s so in it that she had a bartender for the night. From there, I could see Cowboy socializing away!

I was so proud of him. Let me tell you – he knew no one at this party. He had accidentally met the hostess when we bumped into them at a restaurant way before he went to Iraq. So he went in only knowing me and her, if you can say that. Some people cannot deal with that sort of thing – going into a party and not knowing anyone but your date. Some would say its so boring. I don’t mind it. I look at it as a chance to get out and meet new people and have fun. No one knows you? Who cares! Grab a drink or three and get to know them. There is no excuse in my book for not having a great time at a party because you didn’t know anyone there.

Cowboy was on a roll on his own. We would occasionally run into each other and spend time together while at the party but it wasn’t necessary for us to be glued at the hip. That works for me. It gives me a chance to have a really girly conversation without worrying about boring him and I’m sure vice versa. Well, now I know. vice versa.

At one point in the night, I made my way to Cowboy and he was chatting it up with a guy who was new to the city from Chicago. I stayed in the conversation long enough to get the basics and then asked if my man and Chicago newbie needed a new drink, then left. Oh and yes, I’m that girl, too. I like to make sure my man has a drink on hand if I’m going to the bar and why not ask the man in conversation, too? I left them alone after that.

After the party back in the car, Cowboy looked a little down in the dumps. Did he not have a good time at my friend’s kick ass party? No way, he had fun, it’s just that uhm, hmm, how could he put this without sounding gay? He really wanted Chicago’s number. ?!?! And he felt that Chicago wanted to ask him for his, too.

Aww. He had a mini-bromance.

Cowboy told me about they talked of all sorts of things, Cowboy told me that Chicago and he had a lot in common. Chicago even said he found it hard to make friends because he lives out of the city. They spoke of rock wall climbing (Cowboy’s new obsession. I feel how Tori Spelling felt when all Dean would talk about was the scuba diving. I kid you not, that’s exactly how it is in our apartment. Just replace scuba with rock wall climbing.) and bars. They talked of movies and video games. Chicago asked for restaurant recommendations. They hit it off. But then came the end of the night and where do guys leave conversations like that? Poor Cowboy. Oh, well.

There have been plenty of times that has happened to me – mostly with me and guys at bars. You have a great time and conversation and when its over no one makes the move to obtain a phone number. You just move on, no?

We made it home safely and just when I thought the conversation was over – he asked me if it would be too much to ask my friend, the hostess for Chicago’s number. Seriously? I guess he fell hard. I don’t even know how to start to ask her that question.

What would you do?

Love & Olive Oil

Ooh I just found this food blog and am loving it. Yesterday I stumbled upon it and I have no idea how but I'm sure happy I did. And so was Cowboy. Dinner was Turkey Picatta. Dinner was yum yums. It was quick and easy to do so we could have a sit down meal before he trotted off to work. For sides, we had potatoes au gratin (from the box) and green beans (from the can). Like I said, quick and easy.

The recipe does come from Alton Brown,

Ingredients-
1 whole turkey breast, approximately 1 1/2 to 2 pounds
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons olive oil
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons finely chopped shallots
1/2 cup white wine
1/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 tablespoons freshly chopped parsley leaves

Directions
Preheat oven to 200 degrees F.

Cut the turkey breast crosswise into 1/2-inch pieces. Place pieces of turkey, 1 at a time, between 2 pieces of plastic wrap. Squirt the meat lightly with water and squirt the top of the plastic wrap as well. Pound to no less than 1/8 inch thickness.

Season both sides of meat with salt and pepper and then dredge in flour. Shake off the excess flour. Set aside.

In a large saute pan over medium to medium high heat, heat olive oil and 4 tablespoons butter. Once hot, but not yet smoking, brown turkey scaloppine quickly, about 1 minute on each side, and remove to an ovenproof platter. Place in oven to keep warm.

Reduce the heat to low and add the shallots to the pan. Saute for 1 to 2 minutes or until they begin to turn translucent. Add wine and lemon juice to the pan and simmer until slightly reduced, about 2 minutes. Add remaining 2 tablespoons butter and whisk to combine. Season with salt and pepper, to taste, if necessary. Pour sauce over turkey, sprinkle with parsley, and serve immediately.

ENJOY :)

What I Wore Yesterday

Excuse the boxes - we're in the middle of wrapping and shipping out presents to be sent to Phoenix. Our living room looks like the elves workshop. Seriously. Tonight, while Cowboy is at work, I'm cleaning it up. It's been three days and I think I've done a great job by letting the messes stay around. I'm the type that cleans up right when I'm finished, even if I know I have more to do the next day. I see no reason in keeping all the clutter about. I don't mind going back into drawers and cabinets to pull out the tools again. Cowboy is the opposite. He sees it as we should keep all the supplies out until everything is wrapped and ready to be shipped. Even if it takes three days? Oy.

Anyways - I'm wearing dark green velvet pants, a purple and white stripe turtleneck (from The Limited and Bitten by SJP) and a small black jacket (from Target).

Wrapping Project

I saw this idea and knew this would be included in every gift I wrap. I did one and Cowboy fell in love. I ended up making a lot. Now, I'm thinking of making a wreath out of the poms. And yes, it bothered me that we had to go to the store without my canvas bags and leave with plastic ones. All for the cause, my dears.

You can learn how, too, here via Creature Comforts - my new daily obsession.

Leftovers on Top of Leftovers

I love Thanksgiving food, I’m not fond of its aftermath: leftovers. I can do leftovers any other day of the year, up to one day left over of foods. For some odd reason, Thanksgiving food does not taste good to me, day after. Unless, it’s the Green Bean Casserole, now, that always taste good left over – especially in the mornings for breakfast.

This year, we were left with a lot of leftovers. See, I don’t cut recipes in half because I suck at math. Most of the recipes I found were made for the holiday feast feeding 8 or more folks. We hosted four people plus us, so that’s six and we still had enough to do the whole shebang over again.

Friday, I pulled out all the leftover Tupperwares from the fridge to see what I had on my hands. There was the chipotle whipped sweet potatoes, orange-cranberry sauce and of course turkey. Hmmm, risotto?(!)

I rarely make up recipes on my own – I think it has to do with my poor math skills again and fear of coming up with something yucky. But it was Friday and what else did I have to do? Papa Johns is across the street, so why not experiment?

6 cups of chicken stock
2 cups of sweet mashed potatoes
4 tablespoons of butter
1 tablespoon of chopped herbs (sage, thyme, rosemary, basil)
1 small onion minced or chopped
2 tablespoons of olive oil
2 cups of Arborio rice (risotto)
1 cup of dry white wine (this was also a leftover for us)
1 ½ cups of shredded cooked turkey
1 cup of cranberry sauce
1 ½ cups of parmesan cheese
Salt and pepper
And a ton of arm muscle, here we go:

Whip together sweet potatoes and chicken stock in a large saucepan until boiling over medium heat and then bring down to a simmer. Keep this simmering, the rest of the way.
Meanwhile melt butter in a small saucepan with herbs over medium heat until butter is browned. Cover and set aside.
In a large frying pan or if you have one, a risotto pan heat up olive oil and add onions. Cook on medium high heat until onions are translucent. Then add rice, cook until rice is translucent. Add wine and stir until wine is absorbed.
Now, here comes the fun and hardworking part of the game.
Add 1/4 a cup of your sweet potato/chicken stock mix that is simmering to the rice. Stir until liquid is absorbed.
Repeat.
Repeat.
Repeat.
You get it, repeat until half the stock is gone. Add turkey. Stir. (yes, your arm will hurt) Back to the stock – keep adding ¼ a cup of stock to your rice mixture and STIR that puppy.
Repeat.
Repeat.
Add in cranberry sauce to your rice and stir that sucker. You may have some stock left over – keep going until you run out of stock. This point, you’re looking at 40 minutes into it and can add salt and pepper to taste. Stir and stir. Now taste it. If the rice is still hard – you need more stock or you can do water or you can do more wine. Whatevs your fancy.
At final stage add cheese and you guessed it, stir. The dish should be creamy and yummy looking at this point and you are almost finished…

I serve mine in warm bowls, it works without as well but I like to be semi fancy and love a warm bowl in my lap on the couch (yeah that’s how we eat risotto in our house). Pile risotto in bowls. Now for the best part ever, if I do say so…remember that herb butter we melted? Drizzle it on top of your risotto servings.

Oh YUMMY. Mama liked. So did Papa if we want to keep that analogy and include Cowboy. And I can eat risotto leftovers for days!