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!

Mexican Rice (for lack of a better description) with Pace Picante Sauce. Also: sing it Gwyneth!

In an effort to make myself feel a bit better I ventured out to take in a movie last evening.  I was trying to decide what to see and settled on Country Strong.  It might not have been the best choice but I loved the music.

I have 2 songs by Gwyneth on my iTunes from the movie Duets.  A movie I never saw but I gotta admit – I really like the tone of her voice.  And I’m really digging this song.

I wasn’t cheered up by the movie but spending 2 hours with my new boyfriends Garrett and Tim wasn’t torture either.

I promised to show you my leftover creation the other day didn’t I?  Well – here it is.

I had leftover chicken and wanted something – well – just not Italian was my only thought.  I had planned on chili earlier in the week but changed my mind.

Mexican sounded good.

I put together a spice mix of cumin, chili powder, cayenne, garlic powder, a pinch of cinnamon and some fresh ground pepper.   I tossed some leftover chicken with the spice mix.

I grilled some orange bell pepper and onions and then added the chicken.

Plus 1 can of black beans and 1 bottle of Pace Picante Sauce that I remembered I had from the Foodbuzz Tastemaker Program.  I had planned to use a can of TJ’s Fire Roasted Tomatoes w/Green Chiles but this sounded like a better idea.

I also added a bag of TJ’s frozen brown rice, tossed it together and topped it with cheddar and light sour cream.

   I had a mug full of leftovers for lunch yesterday.In other news - I’m loving eggs lately for some reason.  The other day I made myself a little breakfast sandwich and today made myself a little casserole with an EM on the side.   

Today I’m going to get some sort of workout in and enjoy the snowy scenery.   Hope you’re staying warm where you are!

Things: An update.

My niece Madeleine can read whole books on her own.  She’s five.  She’s brilliant.  She didn’t need that creepy Your Baby Can Read program that they sell via infomercials late night.

She takes after her aunt.  I read in Kindergarten too. :)

My niece Ellie is so funny I think she might grow up to be a stand up comedian.

And Cooper?  She’s just cute.

It’s virtually impossible to participate on conference calls when working from “home”.  You have to basically stay on mute lest barking dogs and people getting ready to go to work having conversations interrupt.

Not their fault – and it’s better than when my dad used to yell from the other room or pick up the phone in the middle of my calls.

I’d give anything to have my dad yell from the other room or pick up in the middle of my call. :(

Speaking of dads – think good thoughts for Dave’s dad.  He’s in the hospital and seems to be doing better but good thoughts never hurt.

Dave thinks he needs his own column.  I think he might be pushing it – but I also think this is a pretty cute picture (from a wedding we went to in October) even if I kind of hate my profile my hair looks kind of flat.

My dog ate the leftover turkey from my sandwich and promptly took a nap.

My mom was mad at Cablevision so she got Verizon FiOS and there are 3000 million channels. I put A Walk to Remember on in the background as I ate lunch and realized that I basically own the soundtrack (yes it’s 99.9% Mandy Moore – SHUT.UP.), and that I always had a bit of a crush on Shane West aka Eli Sammler from Once and Again.

I have pictures of Vermont, our Thanksgiving dinner, Giada’s Balsamic Wings that I made and Jen and I ate while watching the Giants yesterday (what the hell – I watch football now???).   I’ll post them soon but I’m going to drive to NJ tonight to help Dave clean science projects out of his fridge.  

And I’m going to use a GPS to guide me.

SO THERE.

I hope you all had a very Happy Thanksgiving.   Let’s all agree that 2011 will be a much better year shall we?

Fairytales

Things are crazy here in Krissyville.  Work, which was blessedly drama free for a while, now makes General Hospital look like high comedy.   I’m fairly confident things will work out but it’s stress I don’t really need.

Seriously 2010.  You can suck it.   I don’t know what else you want from me.

I’m trying my best to stay on track.  I’m on week 3 of the C25k.  This means I am running for 3 minutes at a time.

I’ve not run for 3 minutes in a really, really long time.   It actually felt pretty good.  We’ll see if I’m still singing that tune tomorrow.

Tomorrow I am going to an event at the convention center.  I’m going to walk there as the weather is back in the 70s here.  Just as I dragged a bin full of turtleneck sweaters into NYC.

It’s Halloween this weekend.  I am heading to NJ on Thursday for trivia and coming back on Friday for the weekend.  I will bring my witches hat I think.  There is a rumor of a haunted hay ride on Saturday.

I don’t want to go.

Let me tell you a story.  Picture it…1984.   If you are too young to picture it keep it to yourself.  :)  

Once upon a time my family went on vacation to Orlando, FL.  We had tons of fun in Disney. Jen was 4.  She stayed with my dad while my mom took Matt and me to the Hollywood Wax Museum.  They had a screen test for commercials.  I, having missed my chance to star in Annie on Broadway, was convinced this was my moment.   We went on a tour first and there was a whole horror section that I refused to go through.  Some jerk who worked there who insisted there was no other way so I ran straight through with my eyes closed.

Then we found out the screen test that was my sole reason for wanting to go to this crappy museum was cancelled because my mom, Matt and me were the only 3 people in the entire place.  My mother sprang into action and argued with the kid at the ticket counter.  

We got our money back.

And then our rental car would not start and we were afraid to go back and ask them to use the phone to call my dad – who couldn’t help much anyway since he was stuck at a hotel with no car and a 4 year old.

And as a result I was never discovered and never became an Academy Award Winner.

Thus ends my sad tale of woe.

There’s also a story about Jen going on Space Mountain at 4 years old but I’ll save that for another time.

In other news, this weekend I went to a wedding.  It was lovely, the food was yummy and I had a date who spent a lot of time staging my food shots.

I seriously have created a monster. ;)  I mean look, he sat there arranging until he got the favor and a rose in this shot. 

   The centerpieces were really beautiful.  I forgot my camera so all pics are taken with my iPhone.  I sat in front of a bowl of caramelized onion foccacia.   I hated it as you might guess.The salad was roasted beets with arugula.  I really liked it.  I’m now a fan of beets as long as you roast them and they don’t come out of a can.Dave and I both had the snapper as an entree.  He declared it “the best snapper he ever had.”  Kudos to Todd English and the W Union Square.They served little sweet treats with the wedding cake which was made by the Cake Boss in Hoboken.  You know how those cakes all look beautiful but you are afraid they don’t taste good?  This one tasted fantastic.

Sorry.  No cake picture. :(

The other day I made a pasta dish with turkey.  I know.  Weird.  I had leftover steamed broccoli and a teriyaki turkey breast.  I chopped it up with some leftover caramelized onions and shallots and tossed it with pappardelle.

Oh.  And some cavatappi too.  I was using up the dregs of my pasta supply.

I added some butter and parmesan.  Twas yummy.

Yesterday, after clearing off my couch (finally!) I made dinner for Dave and me.   The spinach in my fridge had seen better days so I made a little tomato and mozzarella salad.

That’s fresh basil from the plant on my windowsill that I haven’t killed yet.   Go me!

I baked pork chops coated in cornmeal, made potatoes and onions and roasted some asparagus.

Today for lunch I made a mini Boboli with yellow bell peppers and ricotta.   I ate half.

I had to print something out so I headed to Fedex Kinkos whatever it is called.  For $2.05 I got on the computer and used their printer.  Cheaper than a subway ride to my office.  I ran to Barnes & Noble to get a book.  I had a $25.00 gift card from work.

First, The Hunger Games.

Jen and my mom have read all 3 books in the series and loved them.  I’m excited to start it.

Second – due to the promos for Tangled (which I am not ashamed to say I want to see) and the fact that there will be multiple fairytale characters roaming around on Sunday I got this book.

Sidenote: Dave and I went to Ricky’s the other night to buy Mora’s costume.  In addition to having children’s costumes they also have aisles marked “Pimps” and “Hos”.

Really Ricky’s???

I’m intrigued and a bit worried because the foreword is by Gregory Maguire who wrote Wicked.  And I HATED Wicked.  I never even finished it.  I can count on one hand the books I’ve given up on.

I adored the musical however. 

I thought the title was appropriate for this time of year.

Even if I am refusing to go on a haunted hay ride with my boyfriend and his kids.

I would, however, consent to watching The Shining with the lights off.

I am a bundle of contradictions.

All grows up

I have this obsession.  It’s waned a bit in the past few years but I can’t lie. 

I am a tad too invested in the lives of these two….people.

 

 

Their names are Jim and Pam.

I guess you can see that on the magazine cover huh?

Anyway…tonight is the premiere of  Season 7 of The Office and I used to make sure I was home at like 7:30 and wouldn’t answer my phone and fretted whether they’d get together or if Karen would steal Jim away or if Roy would actually cease being a lunkhead.  All worked out ok in the end though.  They got married and had a baby and now I can breathe easy.

So maybe I’ve matured.  Or maybe I’m busier living my life now than worrying about fictional characters.

Either or.

Besides, truth be told I think my new favorite couple is Cam and Mitchell. :)

The point of this post is that instead of being obsessed I will be at trivia tonight looking to win the September tournament.  I haven’t been at all this month and it’ll be good to be back.

As for the exercise and food:

Today I ate the other half of my dinner from last night – the ham & gruyere grilled cheese with caramelized onions I had at The Bluebell Cafe when I met with Maddy.

This morning I went to the gym and did Day 2 of the C25K.  I only have 1 more day to go this week.  I think it’ll be Monday as I am planning a Zumbafest on Saturday and Sunday

Did I just say Zumbafest???.

I brought a salad of Everroast Chicken, spinach, red bell peppers, scallions and goat cheese today.

No pics as I haven’t been bringing my camera along.  Don’t expect any tonight either. The lighting there has never been good. 

To soothe your curiousity I’m having pretzels and a turkey burger. 

In that order.

Have a lovely day.  See you later.

Something Fishy

Last night I did something I don't do often. I looked to Rachael Ray for inspiration.

Often I think her meals are a little too...too. She has some good ideas but I don't always love everything about the dishes she makes. There's often something in the mix that makes me go...eh.

Sorry Rach.

But last night I made fish in parchment paper. Instead of ginger I used the following baked in the oven at 375 for 25 min.:

1 small zucchini - sliced in rounds
1/2 a red bell pepper - sliced in strips
1/2 a yellow bell pepper - sliced in strips
1/2 small onion - sliced thinly
1 clove garlic - minced
fresh basil and parsley
1 lemon - sliced in rounds
Olive oil
S&P

and 2 filets of flounder



Plus some of those potatoes I told you about the other day on the side.



And it was yumm-o.

:)

Oh and PS: Here was my lunch from yesterday - leftover chicken sandwich.

I hereby confess...

That initially I misspelled the title of this post.

Before I ran yesterday - this was my breakfast.



Although I might have eaten 1/2 before my run and 1/2 after.

Then this was my lunch. The last of my pasta salad did not actually fit in this mug and I ate the rest of it out of the plastic container I stored it in.




That plastic container - which I frugally tried to wash in my dishwasher for future use is now in the garbage since the top melted.

I hoard empty take out containers.

I went here for dinner.



I watched the home team not win and it was a shame. :(



I ate this.



Dave ate this. Yeah. He was there too. :)



This morning I made egg sandwiches for breakfast.



I ate this for lunch - cheddar and hummus on a sandwich thin.



But before lunch I ate a bag of Cheez-Its from the vending machine. The bag is in my gross garbage pail or else I'd take a picture.

I love Cheez-Its a lot.

And then I bought these to go with my lunch.



But I restrained myself and only ate a portion of the bag and then taped it up and threw it in my snack drawer.



I'm having salad with chicken for dinner.

The End.

Thursday Update

Here is my lunch (leftover chicken roll)...



my afternoon treat...leftover kiddie sized Carvel chocolate ice cream...




my dog....



and also here are my toes...(if you think they are alien like keep it to yourself).




I'm going to go out for a walk or run - whichever I can manage.

Back with more later.

Late

I have no real excuse. I am working from home today and just haven't gotten here yet.

I've also not got much to share.

Well. OK. I am officially back at my pre-surgery weight. 7ish lbs from goal. :) I went to see M today and I'm going back to tracking my meals by hand just to see what's up. I've been at this weight since the beginning of the year. I'm not exactly unhappy where I am - so that's part of the issue.

Truth be told one of my goals was to weigh less than my brother and I think I'm there now so...

Last night I got hungry. It was really too late to eat but I didn't think I'd be able to fall asleep if I didn't. So I had a little bit of primavera.



And this morning it was back to Old Faithful.



I was supposed to go to an event tonight - but everyone is cancelling. :(

It's 2:12 and I haven't eaten lunch.

Building Bridges

I started the day with some sparkling potatoes. (And much earlier - a slice of quinoa bread w/peanut butter - unpictured. I ate it at like 6:45).



I had a lovely almost 8 mile walk this morning. It is perfect weather. Sunny skies, a bit of a breeze.



I brought my camera and impersonated a tourist along the way. I'm not going to lie. I was jealous of the runners, not because I have this ingrained motivation to run, but because it gets the job done faster. While walking today I reflected on a lot of stuff, one thing being how it's like I'm back at the beginning. When I first started losing weight I walked for literally hours. The length of my workouts were what helped me - not the intensity. I realized it seemed kind of fitting that as I approach my goal I'm kind of back where I started.

Please note: I used my MacBook to post today and one way I can find pictures easily is by modifying them so I had a little fun with iPhoto. All pictures taken with my point & shoot. Not too shabby.

The starting line.



My first milestone, the Williamsburg Bridge. That's it off in the distance.



This is where - if I'm running - I turn around and head back. I mean once I actually reach the bridge - not this spot. The Williamsburg is 1.5 miles from my apartment so it makes a perfect 3 mile run. But I was in it for the distance today and kept forging on.

I passed two more bridges on my travels, the Brooklyn and Manhattan.



At this point I got the urge to cross the Brooklyn Bridge. I've never done that on foot before. I think I would rather have someone along though so I could get a bite to eat in Brooklyn after.

Next time.

At the very end, similar to the time Jen came in and ran with me I ended up down by Trinity Church. Being near Ground Zero still gives me the chills. Black and white seemed fitting for this. I made a right onto Broadway and made my way back home.



I was STARVING. I had my leftover fish sandwich and a tropical drink. I spruced up the leftovers with some baby spinach, caramelized onions (also made this morning - yes. I'm a freak) and a squeeze of lemon.





Well, the glass and garnish was slightly tropical anyway.



I was craving a McDonald's cone but was too lazy to go out again so I settled for an ice pop.



It's ggggggggggrape!

And that's about it for now. Hope you are out enjoying the day! I'm going to clean myself up and get back out there. See you later!