Scarlett O’Hara Syndrome

Hi, I’m Krissy and I suffer from Scarlett O’Hara Syndrome.   I wear hoop dresses made out of curtains, super tight corsets and go around saying “Fiddle dee dee” when someone tells me to do something I don’t want to do.   I steal other people’s boyfriends and marry them immediately – including one that belonged to my sister.

Like Prissy – I don’t know nothin’ ‘bout birthing no babies and could not stomach working at a hospital in wartime.

It’s quite the affliction.

Actually Scarlett and I do have a lot in common - one thing in particular.  We both put off till tomorrow what we don’t want to deal with today.

I’ve been doing that for months now in regards to my weight loss and even at work.  I get things done and haven’t gone far off the tracks but it’s no way to live.  As much as I’m prone to do it – procrastinating completely stresses me out.

How do I procrastinate?  Let me count the ways.

1) My glasses from…2006 got too loose to wear about a year or so ago.   Instead of going to Lens Crafters and having them adjust them I wore some old pairs I had lying around.  After my mom and Jen both told me to never wear the gold wire rim Brooks Brothers pair out of the house again I settled on a different pair that I probably got in 2003 or 4.  When I had my eye exam last year they asked me to read the chart with my glasses.  Apparently that prescription is a little off because I couldn’t read the teeny tiny letters on the bottom.   I finally got new glasses yesterday – as well as getting the 2006 glasses tightened so I can wear them.  Now I will have 2 functional fashionable pairs.

I got a cute pair of tortoise shell Ray Bans with a bit of light blue on the inside.  The interior color is a light blue and the outside is a little lighter tortoise.  This is the closest I can find to what I bought.

I realllllllllllly wanted this pretty dark blue pair from Tory Burch but my newly fixed pair are red and I wanted something more neutral.  I also wanted something that said - “I wear GLASSES.”

Jen will know what I mean by that.

2) I went to the gym a few weeks ago and they stopped me on my way out and told me my membership expires on 2/22.  I couldn’t afford to pay for the renewal till this week so instead of just going and saying “Yeah I’ll catch you on the 15th” if they asked - I AVOIDED GOING ALTOGETHER.   Why?  Because I’m a scaredy cat who thinks that they somehow won’t let me use a treadmill till I pay up.  This morning I not only renewed – I ran – for 20 minutes straight – ending up with about 2.5 miles total.

3) My last haircut was before a wedding I went to in October.  I’ve keep up with the color but not the cut.  I am trying to grow my hair out but really?  When you wear ponytails for 4 weeks straight maybe that’s a sign you should get a haircut.   I finally took care of it at lunch today.  It took all of 40 minutes.

This morning I took a little extra time.  I straightened up and took out all the trash – including the recycling.   I filled the dishwasher and ran it.  I packed breakfast* and lunch for today AND tomorrow as I am going to be in the office and not working from home.   I got dressed in something besides jeans (a skirt even – with high boots!!)  and headed to the office like a real working person.

Sometimes it’s good to deal with tomorrow today. :)

* I opted in for an offer from MyBlogSpark,General Mills and Multigrain Cheerios.  More on that, how it ties into my Biggest Loser obsession and how you can win a prize pack in tomorrow’s post.

Love means never having to say you’re hungry

As part of my job I’ve been able to go to a lot of really really really good restaurants in many different cities.  Living in NYC I have been able to attend events at the NYC Wine and Food Festival for the past two years.   In New York you can pay a lot for your dinner and it can end up being mediocre.  But sometimes you (or your sweet boyfriend) could pay a pretty penny and find every bite worth it.*

Last night was one of those nights.

I didn’t take pictures at all while we were there – mostly because I didn’t want to be ‘that girl’ as my sister is fond of saying.  I wanted to relax and just enjoy every morsel.  And I did.  I really did.

When you arrive at craft you are greeted warmly.  The hostess offers to take your coat to an undisclosed location.  When you meet your dining companion at the bar and he gives you flowers someone else walks by and asks if they can store them in a cold place for you until you are done with dinner.  The smiling bartender pours you a delicious glass of Cabernet Franc (we had the Beatrice et Pascal Lambert, Cuvée Danaé, 2006.  I can’t tell you what all that means except it was light and luscious) which a server carries for you when you move to your table.

We ordered a bottle of the same wine, ate a delicious slice of bread and butter and then ordered our meal.  I started with the Ricotta Cavatelli
& Guanciale.   Have you ever had guanciale?  I know I’ve heard of it but had to Google to make sure it wasn’t something like Scrapple.    I’ve never had scrapple but I’m going to bet guanciale blows it out of the water.

Dave had a salad of Beets and Tarragon.

They serve ‘family style’ so there was plenty for each of us to have a taste.  The cavatelli had a runny egg on top and the yolk made it taste almost buttery.

I had Beef Short Ribs for my entree and Dave had Braised Halibut.  I had short ribs at Fork & Vine the other night and they were really good.

These were ridiculous.

(translation: Ridiculous = amazing.  See also – something I’m going to obsess over and order multiple times – sort of like crab cakes).

On the side we had Duck Risotto (with crispy pieces of duck skin on top) and the creamiest butternut squash puree I ever tasted.   We had three types of ice cream for dessert – caramel (this was the BEST), vanilla bean and chocolate peanut crunch.  Dave had an itty bitty coffee and I had a yummy hot chocolate.

In addition to the most lovely card and the sweetest smelling flowers my true love also gave to me…the leftovers.

 

(which are also taken from you in return for a claim check that you can turn in at the hostess stand upon leaving.    No doggie bags on the table at Tom’s place.)

I just had lunch.

That’s (clockwise) the leftover butternut squash, risotto, cavatelli and short rib.

My love for Tom Colicchio and Top Chef shows no signs of waning after this meal I’ll tell you what.   I want to say hi to him and buy his cookbook and have my friend tell him personally how much she adores his restaurant while tipsy after a 5 course meal.

Oh wait.   That actually happened. :)

However you chose to spend it - whether you were like me a few years ago an hosted a ‘Cupid Can Kiss My Ass' party for all your single friends serving Rachael Ray’s You Won’t Be Single for Long Vodka Cream Pasta (the bitch lies btw) or like the girl in front of me at CVS wearing sweats and buying a pregnancy test or at a delicious dinner with a wonderful person you adore – I hope you had a lovely Valentine’s day.

* I have to say I by far got the better end of the deal.  My Valentine’s gift to Dave included…an Applebee’s gift card. :) It's a long story but...still!

Start your day the chocolate way

One of my dreams in life is to go to Paris and eat pain au chocolat for breakfast everyday.  Not like I can’t get that in NYC but I have this image of me sitting at a little sidewalk cafe eating chocolate for breakfast.

And after that I’d go to Christian Louboutain and buy some shoes.

But that’s another story.

Today – I had chocolate for breakfast because when my boyfriend went to Costco I slyly slipped a box of these in his cart.

I love these things.  Just sweet enough and full of chocolaty chips.

We had a lovely weekend. Friday night we went to Codmother’s for dinner.  I had a cup of clam chowder.

I ordered Shrimp Parmesan and split it in half.  I didn’t finish that half and ate the leftovers for lunch on Saturday AND still have some leftover for lunch today.   I don’t know if the portion sizes are just that enormous but it’s making me feel better about my vow to take home leftovers when I eat out.Dave had a salad and Black Sea Bass with Mushroom Risotto, Spinach and Broccoli.

Saturday I sleep super late (9 am – which is really late for me) and then sat like a lump on the couch watching many episodes of Top Chef while Dave ran around doing errands.  I got up – finally – and did something productive – which was to make dinner for Dave and the kids for Tuesday night – a chicken casserole-y type thing.  I should have taken pictures throughout but I get so caught up in cooking that I totally forget. 

Bad food blogger.  Bad.

I am not a big person for casseroles.  We really didn’t eat many growing up but I gotta say – I think this one came out pretty great.  Here’s what happened.

1) I put a pot on to boil and made about 3/4 a pack of Barilla Mostaccioli per package directions (actually slightly more al dente than usual) and set aside.   I drizzled some olive oil and sautéed some onion and garlic.  Then I browned some boneless skinless chicken breasts (about 2.5 of them) seasoned with a little kosher salt and fresh ground pepper till almost cooked through and then set aside.

2) I made a rue with a little flour and butter then deglazed the pan with some white wine.  I added one can of Cream of Asparagus soup and 2 cans of lowfat milk and another splash of wine and stirred until creamy.

3) I added  some cayenne (about 1/4 teaspoon) and about the same of poultry seasoning.  I also threw in about 2 tablespoons of grated parmesan.   I added some chopped baby spinach and green onions and about 3/4 of a bag of frozen mixed vegetables.  Then I added the chicken back in + the pasta and stirred till everything was coated.   I added some fresh ground pepper as well – no salt as the cheese and the soup have plenty of sodium already.

I put it all in a shallow pan and added about a handful of breadcrumbs and some more freshly grated parmesan on top (about 1 oz).

It tasted sort of like chicken pot pie with pasta.  I felt very Good Housekeeping after I made this. 

Saturday afternoon, Dave and I headed to Long Island to go to dinner with my mom and Jen.   We went to Fork & Vine which was awesome.  It was very difficult to try and pick what I wanted to eat off the menu.  It was dark and hard to take pictures but if you ever find yourself on the North Shore of Long Island you should give it a try.

They have small plates as well as entrees.  Dave and I split a roasted beet salad.  Mom got the baked St Andre’s Cheese which was very brie like.  We also split the Philly Cheesesteak Spring Rolls.

I had Short Ribs over plantain puree with black beans. Jen got Pork Tenderloin.  Dave got Skirt Steak. Mom had Grilled Sole. The only downside of this meal was the goat cheese mashed potatoes I ordered on the side.   I expected creamy goodness.  They were seasoned with chopped tomatoes.  Wrong color, wrong consistency.  To their credit once I inquired about the ingredients and mentioned I didn’t care for them the waitress whisked them away and off the bill.

Dessert was…I mean…I am having trouble forming words.

There was chocolate.

There was peanut butter.

It was all mixed together in something called a Tasty Cake.

I almost licked the plate.

Sunday we had a delicious breakfast made by my mom aka Annie V.  Later she watched Inception while Jen, Dave and I went for about a 35 min walk.  Dave brought his dog – the lovely Genevieve with him and she proved that the snow is melting here in NY based on her condition when we got back.   She wound up in the tub. 

In the meantime Jen heated up some White Chicken Chili and we had that for lunch.

It’s a totally different taste than regular chili but it was really, really good.

        

I’m going to ask Jen to guest post again soon since she has virtually kicked me out of the kitchen at my mom’s.

We helped to clear out some books from the basement and then headed back to NJ to have Thai & Vietnamese food for dinner.   We went to Lemongrass and started with Shrimp Rolls – which are so delicious.  The peanut sauce on the side is perfect.

I had Thai Style Lo Mein.  Half of this is sitting in Dave’s fridge I’m proud to report.

Dave had Pho with brisket.  He loves Pho.  I think he also likes to say Pho.

And that leaves us with today. 

Today when I signed into MSN Messenger there was an article from Glamour where they talked about what ‘his Valentine’s Day gift means’.  Supposedly if your significant other gets you a frying pan you should break up with them.

Being partial to frying pans I wholeheartedly disagree.

I’ve got some work to do today before Dave and I head out for an early dinner.  I’ve tortured him for nearly a year with every culinary reality show known to man and tonight he is taking me to craft.   I’ve been to craftbar and ‘wichcraft and Williams-Sonoma where I asked Tom Colicchio if his hand hurt from signing so many cookbooks but this is the first time I’ll be dining there.

Happy Valentine’s Day.  Tell those you love you love them today.  You should do it every day – but today you have even more of an excuse.

In a little bit I’m going to go pledge my love to this box of beauties.

Knife & Fork Breakfast Sandwich

Today I am taking a bit of a half day.  I have to meet Carrie to give her her invites (almost done!) so I figured I would knock off early.

I think it might do wonders for my disposition.

I realized why I’ve been hibernating for the past two weeks.  It’s so cold and all the pants I have to wear to work need the hems fixed.

Note to self:  Take them to the tailor on Monday.   You might as well get them dry cleaned too.

Anyway – because I know I won’t be tied to the computer till 5 it feels a little like the weekend is here already.  And weekends for me mean eggs for breakfast.

This won’t take long to make if you have a few key ingredients on hand.  What makes this sandwich great however are the ingredients I used.

At least I think so.

 

 

Above you will find what’s left of my loaf of No-Knead bread, what’s left of my Roasted Garlic and Onion Jam, some baby spinach and the best cheddar cheese ever created.

All you need to add is a slice of bacon and an egg.  Cook the egg sunny side up.  The runnier – the better.

For those of you cooking for one or two – or who are watching your weight – let me tell you about bacon.  Dave just bought some turkey bacon and it looked like that fake bacon you buy for kids to play with in their toy kitchen.  And it didn’t have that smoky taste.  Suffice it to say when we went to Costco I helped him purchase 4 packages of the real thing.

It’s only because I care.  :)

I use bacon sparingly.  When I get a package I take it apart, wrap it in wax paper (sort of accordion style – one piece, fold, another piece, fold) so that they don’t stick together and I can take out a slice at a time.   I wrap the final result in foil and freeze.

1-2 minutes in the microwave and the bacon is done.

Warn the bread (it’s hard to fit this bread in the toaster so I put it in the frying pan before I made the egg for a few moments).  Spread with the jam.  Layer on the cheddar and the bacon.  Cover with the egg and garnish with spinach. 

When you assemble the items I have mentioned you have a delicious combination so special you need to savor every bite.  So sit down like a grown up, put a napkin on your lap and take a knife and fork to this bad boy.

  

If you really feel the need have some skim hot chocolate to wash it down.

Pasta with chicken, red pepper and goat cheese

 

My sister keeps a running list of foods I despise and those I adore obsess over.

The former includes such things as:

Rosemary

Raisins

Olives

Rye bread with caraway seeds

(Most) Mushrooms

Any kind of melon

Lemon Pits in my Diet Coke.   Seriously.  I have a really difficult time drinking a Diet Coke if there is an errant lemon pit swimming around in there.

The latter includes most of the things in the title of this post. 

Last night I walked home from work and made a detour to Trader Joe’s because in NYC there is no place else that you can get Dubliner cheese, goat cheese, a dozen eggs, a pack of English muffins, a bag of frozen mixed veggies, baby spinach, a bag of potatoes, an onion, a quart of milk and a tub of sour cream plus a Valentine’s surprise for a little over $20.00.

Things you will need to make this:

1/4 cup diced roasted chicken (you could definitely use rotisserie chicken for this)

1 tablespoon of olive oil

1/4 cup sliced red bell pepper

1/4 cup sliced sweet onion

1 cup fresh baby spinach

a pinch of crushed red pepper

1 oz goat cheese (you could use about 2 tablespoons of crumbles if you have them)

1 cup cooked whole wheat pasta (I used TJ’s whole wheat penne) cooked to package directions – reserve 1/4 cup of pasta water

S&P to taste

Upon arriving home I put a chicken breast in the oven to roast.

This is a skin on, bone in chicken breast.  I drizzled it with olive oil salt and lemon pepper and some sliced onions and garlic.  I roasted it for nearly an hour (covered in foil) at 375, turning up the heat to closer to 400 for the last 15 min.   I used about a quarter of this breast in the pasta.

 I added a little olive oil to a pan and sauteed some onion and peppers.  This was tossed in the pasta with the baby spinach and goat cheese.My cute ceramic nesting measuring cups from Anthropologie include a measure for a pinch.  I guess you could say I used about a quarter of a pinch here.

Sidenote:  It doesn’t look like they have them anymore :(  Here is what they look like.

                                                                  

Sidenote #2:  Going to the website was a mistake.  Now I am obsessed with having these…and one of these…and maybe these too.  And STOP IT with this apron.

I drained the pasta, put it back in the empty pot and added the veggies, spice and about 3/4 of the goat cheese over very low heat to get things all melty.  I added the reserved pasta water to thin the sauce out a little.   I crumbled the remaining goat cheese on top and added a crank or two of pepper.

The result was a simple, filling, slightly tangy, mildly spicy, creamy dish.  I wish I had some left over.