Hi guys! As you may have noticed, I have decided to remove the “weekly” from the title of this series for the time being, since I’ve been such a flake about regularly posting these bits once per week. I’m hoping I will improve on this as time goes by, but I won’t try to fool you with false adjectives in the meantime!
And now let’s talk about a few things that I love from the past couple weeks. (Oh but first, just a couple crazy bits from the past few days. #1: Holy freakin’ meteor, right?! If, once the amazement wore off, you were left wondering why so many Russians have dashboard cameras, you can read about that here. #2: If noroviruses and the thought of simply being on a vessel in the middle of the ocean with thousands of other people wasn’t enough to make cruises seem rather unappealing, I’d guess that the events that unfolded on the Carnival ship Triumph will probably make you think twice about setting foot on one anytime soon. Those poor people! And then, adding insult to injury, one of the buses transporting the rescued passengers to New Orleans apparently broke down en route. But at least this didn’t happen.)
1. I am a lover of rooibos tea. So the idea of adding it to fudge is kind of amazing.
2. While we’re on the topic of rooibos, I must mention Alanna’s blog, which is one of my new favorites. This lovely drink caught my eye, and before I knew it, I’d been browsing through her posts for the better part of an hour. It’s so nice to happen upon a new food site and quickly feel a connection to the writer, both to the way they write and to the things they choose to make. In the case of Alanna’s blog, that’s things like quinoa, beet, & chickpea burgers and masala chai snickerdoodles. (I’ll say that last one again: MASALA CHAI SNICKERDOODLES. There’s some evidence of my chai obsession kicking around on this space, but nothing to ever let on that snickerdoodles are my all-time favorite cookie. So yeah, snickerdoodles + chai = best thing ever.) Oh wait, so my rooibos lead-in — I almost forgot! She also made her own Irish cream liqueur, 100% from scratch (we’re talking making condensed milk and everything), and mentioned combining it with rooibos tea. I would have never thought to do that in a million years, but now that I’ve heard it, I can totally imagine how delicious it is. [END GIANT CRAZY PARAGRAPH]
3. And now, going back to the topic of cookies. I made these double-chocolate cookies. And then Linda made them with peanut butter chips instead of chocolate. And then I got really excited, because that’s a genius substitution, especially considering how much J LOVES peanut butter + chocolate. I intended to make them for Valentine’s Day, but I’m lazy, so I finally put the batter together last night, and let J have a taste before I stuck it in the fridge. When he got up this morning, one of his first questions was, “can I have some more cookie dough?” I made them this morning and just had a taste, and these things are over-the-top good. If you love the combination of chocolate and peanut butter, you should definitely try these cookies with peanut butter chips. You will not be disappointed!
4. I am already loving Eva’s new side project series. While it’s always great to see delicious foods, it’s also really nice to get a glimpse at the other creative, inspiring things that people are doing. And you can’t not love a globe filled with plants.
5. I want some of this gorgeous hibiscus syrup (and that beautiful cocktail too).
6. I’m also totally lusting after this cocktail, and birch syrup in general.
7. Happy Birthday, Izy! I’m hard pressed to imagine something more delicious than brownie batter frosting.
8. This is a non-food bit, but it’s Star Wars + Legos, you guys.
9. I kind of freaked when Erin of Naturally Ella shared my cauliflower gnocchi on her Facebook page a couple of weeks ago. And then I was pretty much over the moon when she included me in her Lovely Food Sites round-up. Eeee!
10. On a final note, I got a pretty exciting email last week, and it sent me in search of a decent picture of myself. It was a semi-desperate search, since I know that, despite the thousands upon thousands of pictures that fill my computer, there are very few of me. (A problem shared by many of us who prefer to be behind the lens rather than in front of it.) Luckily, my friend Whitney came to the rescue with some pictures she had from last summer, one of which stood out from all the other options. And I thought I’d take the opportunity to share it with all of you first, since it’s a rare glimpse of me at work in my kitchen (a place that hardly ever makes it into the my photos, thanks to terrible lighting).
Although I’m not a big fan of pictures of myself, I have to say that this one perfectly captures the chaos that tends to occur when I’m in the kitchen. On this particular day, we were heading to an outdoor party at a friend’s house later that afternoon. (Actually, not really “later,” more like as soon as I finished the three different food/drink projects I’d decided to undertake for the party and cleaned up after myself, all while already wearing my party dress, sans apron.) Project 1: Homemade vanilla ice cream (evidence peeking in at the bottom left-hand corner of the photo). Project 2: Carbonating and bottling cocktails (bottling in progress). Project 3: A delicious, fresh-baked rhubarb pie (not pictured). Project 3 met an untimely end en route to the party when it slipped off the roof of the car while things were being rearranged inside to make seating easier.
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Oh, what a shame. Love the photo!
Thank you, Mimi! Oh, that poor pie. I watched it fall from the car in what seemed like slow motion. I was very pleased that the dish didn’t break though, and we still had some pie crust remnants to eat! :)
That fudge sounds incredible and oh my goodness, I cannot wait to show my husband that star wars and legos series.
Aren’t they amazing?! And that fudge……I need to make it very soon.
Thanks Carey! That brownie batter frosting will probably be the death of me; now that I know I can make it, I think I’ll be pouring it on EVERYTHING, hehehe. Also, I got those freakin birch tree straws as one of my birthday presents and used them in cocktails for my birthday party yesterday! ahhhhhhh!
I feel like such a mutant (..I think that’s the word I’m looking for) when I say this but I’ve never watched any of the Star Wars (or Lord of the Rings, for that matter) movies. I don’t know what’s wrong with me! But those photos do look pretty epic.
Lovely photo! Who is jealous of your hair? —-> ME. Your bangs look so great! Alas, I have wavy/curly hair, so no bangs for me :’(
ps. If you think THAT is kitchen chaos, omg you should see me when I’m in the kitchen. It’s a war ground, honestly.
pps. I have had the same experience, but with a birthday cake which I was carrying whilst getting out of a car; the cake literally just flipped straight onto the road right outside the house I was taking it to :|
crap, In all that rambling, I forgot to say:
WOOH for the Naturally Ella features!! You totally deserve it (espesh that gnocchi – so. good.), and also I guess WOOH for the exciting mystery email! :D
Hehe, you can probably tell I get really excited about birthday shout-outs! Yay you got the straws!! I just had to reorganize mine yesterday because the box sort of….exploded in one of my kitchen drawers. Rearranging them into glasses made me realize just how many there are, and that I need to have a party so I can use them up! :)
Oh man, the Lord of the Rings movies are epic and entertaining, but the original Star Wars movies are SO GOOD. The effects are pretty old school, so sometimes I wonder if I’d love them as much if I were just seeing them for the first time in the present day. I’d like to think I would. The movies are amazing, and I kind of miss old special effects that were more models than computer animation!
My hair is so straight and un-full that I wish it was curly a lot of the time! I would miss the bangs, though. I rag-roll my hair pretty much every day, so I can pretend I sort of have curly hair.
I was definitely glad that this shot Whitney had was just of me bottling stuff, and not of what it looked like right before that (which was a big bottle of tequila and a giant mason jar of strawberry-rhubarb shrub, plus measuring cups and several bottles of bitters scattered around while we tried to find the perfect one to pair with the drink). Or of the pie making. When flour is involved, things definitely get pretty crazy, to the point where I might be ashamed to show the world. :) And pie/cake disasters like that are so surreal. It happens in slow motion, and then you just stand there thinking, “there must be a way to undo this, because it really canNOT have just happened!”
I am always so paranoid about jinxing exciting things that haven’t actually happened yet, so I was afraid to even hint at the email. (But it’s a feature for Saveur’s Sites We Love series! Squeeeee!!!)
Oh mah GAHD! Freaking out for you !!!!! That’s so major :D WELL DONE, it’s about time!! (totally agree with you on the jinxy paranoia)
Thank you!! Eeeee! (Now I need to actually fill out the questionnaire without writing giant paragraphs where I blab on and on with waaaay too much detail.) :P
That meteor thing really freaked me out. The videos look so apocalyptic! I can’t even deal. You have so many great things to share this week. I’m definitely getting into Naturally Ella; everything about that site is beautiful! And making a succulent terrarium is on my to do list now that I moved from a shady cave-like cubicle to a window seat in my office!! Hooray for natural light alllll day!
That photo of you is gorgeous! I love how candid it is. And the string of lights is super cute. Work it!
Thanks, Brianne. :) Candid pictures usually seem to be the better ones of me, since I have a tendency to make super weird deer-in-headlights faces when I’m actually posing for pictures. Guh! I definitely carried my I-decorate-with-Christmas-lights technique over from my college dorm days. It’s so pretty though! A total pain to replace when they blow, though. Which is why there are currently no pretty lights in my kitchen, and it feels like a darkness pit.
Hi Carey!
1. Your hair looks SO CUTE in that picture! (Trust me, curls are not all they’re cracked up to be. I wish I could have bangs without having to blow-dry them straight and fear humidity. Embrace the straightness!)
2. I can’t thank you enough for all the kind words! I got kinda choked up reading, since I have long admired your writing and photographs. I’m so honored to have my site included among this exalted company. Thank you for thoroughly making my week. :)!
3. I JUST saw that hibiscus syrup on Food Gawker. It looks amazing!
4. After reading this post, I’m now desperately craving a) rhubarb pie (so sad that yours met a tragic end!) b) cauliflower gnocchi (congrats!!!) c) one of the amazing-sounding unique cocktails you mention here (tequila-strawberry-rhubarb?! Yes, please!)
5. SAVEUR?! Awesome and so deserved!!
6. I hope you are having a lovely day!
-Alanna
Thank you, Alanna! :) This might sound silly, but I’m so so glad that you’re honored and not creeped out by my gushing paragraph. (When I was writing it, it just kept getting bigger and bigger, and I was saying to myself, “dude, you better cut this short, before you seem like a big weird stalker.” Hehehe.)
Ooo, also! That strawberry-rhubarb shrub is THE BEST, especially when it goes together with some tequila. 1 part shrub (recipe here) + 1 part tequila + seltzer = perfect summer drink. The crazy mess I made bottling those in the kitchen was definitely worth it, since the end result was well-praised at the party!
Ok, that shrub sounds like it is my destiny! I know I will love it because I’m obsessed with rhubarb, AND I used to drink straight vinegar as a kid. I can’t believe I never knew about this wondrous libation until now. THANK YOU!
Ps. Thanks for not thinking me a freak for choking up at your incredibly kind and decidedly non-stalkeresque paragraph. :)
Oh my gosh, never! I felt the same way when I got the super-sweet mention on Naturally Ella. :)
(Saving all my shrub gushing for your other comment on the shrub post. Shrubs are the best!!)
1 pie tragedy=1 good story. At least.
p.s. I die. look.
I want! Got to get me a bergamot, stat.
I totally think the pie mishap was worth it for the story. Otherwise, we would have just had ice cream and drinks, and a pie I’ve made a bunch of times before. But instead, we had ice cream and drinks and pie remnants AND a great tale to tell!
Thank you Carey! I’m glad you liked my little globe of succulents :)
And I love that picture of you! Your hair is adorable, I like to pull mine back just like that in a hair clamp when I’m cooking haha. And I want to hear about this exciting email! I am, might you say, excited about it. Congrats on whatever it might be, my lovely!
Also, ewwwwwww about the Carnival cruise. I’ve always been afraid of going on cruises because MURDER, but being forced to live in sewage for days on end might is only slightly better than being assaulted and then thrown overboard. So yeah, any chance of me ever going on a cruise has now been reduced to nil.
Thanks, Eva! :) (The email was about being featured on Saveur’s Sites We Love! I totally freaked. I am filling out their questionnaire with far too-detailed answers because I’m excited. I’m going to need to go through with a saner, heavy editorial hand later. Wee!)
Yet another reason to never go on a cruise! Seriously, if you’re on a boat with thousands of people, it only stands to reason that there are probably a couple of crazies and/or sickos on board. And you’re totally trapped, in the middle of the ocean. Has someone made a horror movie that takes place on a cruise ship yet? At least one must exist; it’s just too perfect.
I like your list! And very nice photo [I peeked in the comments and saw what it was for, yeah!].
Thank you, Sarah! I’m trying to keep my excitement in check, but I don’t think it’s working. :)
Lovely photo Carey! You remind me of someone… Anna Paquin? Has anyone ever made that comparison before? I’m going to have devote some serious time to checking out these links once the Internet at my place is back up (omg, most annoying thing ever: we just got home from a mini-trip to find out that our Internet signal went down and won’t be back up until Friday. SUCH an eternity.), but I definitely wanted to say, congratulations!! The shoutout on Naturally Ella is awesome of course, but I’m so so happy to hear about the Saveur feature! Totally deserved. I look forward to seeing it once it’s up!
Oh MAN, no Internet until Friday?? Don’t they know you have a wedding to plan?!? That is seriously an eternity to be without online access in this day and age. I’d go crazy!
You know, I’ve never heard the Anna Paquin comparison before, but I totally see it. Especially in the eye area, since we seem to share the sometimes-wide-, sometimes-squinty-eyed gene. (I’ve heard Zooey Deschanel a lot lately, but I think that’s mostly because of hair color + bangs + blue eyes + girly dresses.)
I am so glad you liked the hibiscus syrup :) I agree with you on Eva’s side project, it’s is truly gorgeous! And congrats on the shout out by Ella, you deserve it.
Thanks, Kankana! That hibiscus syrup was so lovely, I still can’t get over it. :)