Dear Julia,

I watched the movie Julie & Julia for the second time this weekend. (Sorry but my dad thought it was pretty boring). I don't think it is. It makes me really happy to spend an hour or so watching people who clearly love food and love to cook. I was all jealous and daydreaming about someone calling me from The Food Network someday.

Hopefully by then my parents will actually have The Food Network again.

Stupid Cablevision.

But anyway this was not the point of my letter.

The point is today when I got back to NYC I made a quick stop to the grocery store and I had this overwhelming impulse to make some some sort of beef stew. It was cold and blustery - the perfect day for such a thing.

Then I got to thinking - maybe I should be ambitious. Maybe I should make your Boeuf Bourguignon. Maybe I could say "Boeuf Bourguignon" to the guy at the meat counter like Julie said it in the movie.

But then I came home, looked up the recipe online and said "Screw that. I'm going with the super easy version."

Plus Morton Williams barely has a deli counter let alone a butcher.

Je suis désolée,
Krissy

And merci beaucoup Mark Bittman. Your version is not only simple - it's simply de-licious.

I have much love for his book How To Cook Everything. Next to my Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook - I think it's the most user friendly and simple cookbook around.



This post reminds me that I need to use my SLR much more often. I love that camera so, so much it's not normal.

I started with about a pound of beef.



Browned it per Mark's instructions.



Took it out and started on the onions.



While they browned I got the stock ready (I used 2 cups of stock and a half cup red wine shown here with the potatoes and garlic I added later).



I added flour to the onions....



Then the stock and spices. They did not have fresh thyme at the store so I improvised with Italian Seasoning since it has thyme in it. Plus a fresh bay leaf. I need to add another one I think. It's not as potent as dried.




After 30 min or so of simmering I added the carrots...



and the taters....



Then let it sit on low heat for about an hour and a half.

And while I waited I ate this...leftover artichoke dip and pita chips from NYE.



Which I got rid of afterwards because I don't need the temptation. :)

Back to the stew. At the very last minute I added the garlic and peas.



and parsley...



Served with red wine like a grown up.



Really. It was fantastic - if I do say so myself.

Roast Beast

Random fact: My niece Ellie looks very much like Cindy Lou Hoo.

And we had Roast Beef for dinner last night.

My dad is home now and felt well enough to carve the 'roast beast'. For a moment everything seemed nice and normal.

We get more news this week. Please send every good vibe you possibly can. We need any sort of good news around here.

SERIOUSLY.

Speaking of needing good news - I did not get it at M's today at weigh in. I'm officially up 2 lbs since my lowest a few months ago. 2 lbs is nothing. 2 lbs will be gone soon. I wasn't even disappointed because you can just add that to the list of crap being thrown at me these days.

Did I say I was going to be thinking positively???

Anyway - here's the rundown on what I've eaten since yesterday.


Roast Beef - cooked to perfection!



Roasted asparagus - YUM!



Some wine...(the wrong 'kind' but I don't care!)



My plate + a little extra potatoes afterwards (like a spoonful)



I also had a homemade truffle and a half after dinner (not pictured!)

I did not eat breakfast today (BAD KRISSY!). I did Level 1 of The Shred before I left LI. I had a snack of pretzels and hummus after weigh in...





...and leftover pizza for lunch.



I only ate the slice with broccoli though. I guess one good thing is that even when I feel like I am entitled - I'm not overeating.

I did however have a Dark Reese's after lunch. For medicinal purposes.



CLEARLY. :)

It's a red meat bonanza for me again today - I'm making (a modified) Mark Bittman's beef stew for dinner. Stay tuned for that!

Also - please head on over to see Allison @ Green Dog Wine for an awesome EO giveaway!!

Later!!

Friday, Saturday & Sunday

I'm here - just dealing with all the horrific curveballs life seems to be throwing my way these days.

I'm still staying as on track as I can though - so there's that.

Friday I played NYC tourist with my friends Kay and Jesse. We did a blitz of midtown Manhattan.

I ate a PB sandwich.



We went to Central Park, Times Square and Rock Center saw the tree. We walked through Macy's and took the subway. Jesse got yelled at by a homeless man. It was awesome. :)





Can you tell how much I like these people? I ventured into tourist hell for them!! :)

We wound up at Duke's down near Union Square for lunch.



I had a burger and I'm not going to apologize about it.

After lunch we ventured to the West Village. We walked 10 miles in all that day!!!

Friday night admist snow and lots of restaurants being closed on New Years Day we went out to dinner to Totonno's.

We had some wine.



I had 1.5 slices of pizza.



Kay had a canolli.



I had ice cream.



Saturday I went to the gym and ran two miles. Saturday was also a champagne brunch at my friend Carrie's in Queens. She put out quite a lovely spread.




Salad



Streusel muffins



Banana bread



Cheddar and chive scones (I had 2!)



Proscuitto and melon



There was also a delicious tomato fritatta but I guess I didn't take a pic. :(

My yummy plate. :)



And also 2 yummy breakfast cocktails. I opted for Screwdrivers over Mimosas. :)



I drove back to LI and had dinner. My mom made breaded chicken in tomato sauce over rice.



It was so delicious I had leftovers for lunch today (minus rice) but that was after I had a toasted cheese sandwich for breakfast. I also walked/ran on the treadmill while watching an episode of The Office this morning.





We (my mom, Jen and I) took down the tree and put away all the decorations from Christmas. After that I had had a little snack.



And now I'm waiting for dinner.

I weigh in tomorrow. I'm hoping I maintained. I'm pretty confident that I did. I'm working half a day and then telecommuting for the rest of the day. I'm all stocked up on healthy foods so this week I should be right back on track.

Cross your fingers please. I really need all the luck I can get.

2010

One of the most important lessons I've learned in the last year is that much of how your life plays out is by your own choice. By choosing to be happy instead of miserable, by choosing to live healthily instead of eating yourself into oblivion. This year I'm choosing to believe the best will happen even when facing the worst. It's probably one of the hardest things I'll ever have to do but I really don't think I have any other choice.

Also just need to officially say that I have amazing friends who urged me to do just that last night and for them I am forever thankful.


Last night was just what I needed. It didn't completely take my mind off things - nothing really can but it was a good night.

I started off with some PB on whole wheat.



Then I went to TJs for some stuff for NYE. Then I ran up to Zumba with Cortney.

Ben killed us and then I ran home and had a toast with American cheese and tater tots.




Cause I'm apparently five.

Later I hads some pretzels and hummus.






I had about 6 people over for a pre-party before we headed out to a cozy Irish bar for a low key evening. Here's the spread (Pictures taken after we pretty much ate everything! Sorry!!)

We've got pigs in a blanket, chips and salsa, artichoke dip with carrots and pretzels, and tomato basil flatbread. And champagne in Waterford glasses 'cause I'm classy like that. :)



Yes I'm single and have a full set of Millennium toasting flutes. Shut up.

A close up of the flat bread...



And the chips and salsa.



Riveting I know.

Then there's dessert some leftover Christmas cookies.



Then we went out and some people did this...




And at midnight of course there was this.



Happy New Year everyone. A happy and HEALTHY new year to every one of you.