goldilocks

so i got my hairlighted. the image i wanted to show you was me, sitting in my black robe, with a vanity fair in one hand and vidal sassoon coffee in the other, hair all tinfoiled up, legs crossed and looking oh so grown up. but since vidal wouldnt appriciate a flash going off and i would have been a big dork if i asked someone to take a picture of me, here is what i could get on my own:



also - the OC obsession grows! ryan and taylor are SO going to get it on! and summer was betrayed by che and kicked out of brown. bummer.



and last but not least, i learned what happens when you bake but dont measure:

too little flour:




enough flour, too much heat:


just right!

glowing brides and ferry rides

so here are some pics i took this weekend. they pretty much sum it up:



I have way too many sara close-ups from this weekend:)



this was up there as a favorite. kind up sums up ALL of our relationships with becca - kidding my darling! hehe.



allie was luminous. the ceremony was touching. if i was a crier, i would have been bawling. (when josh started tearing up during our vows, i actually had to hold back laughing at him. heart of stone, people)

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i got a bunch of great allie faces. i wonder what she was saying that made sara laugh so hard...



this is hands down my fav pic from the weekend. i love this couple.



group sing at the bar. i believe the song of choice here was by journey.

i laughed (a lot), had an cat attack, and boxed a friend of 20 years. def a weekend to remember.

in the kitchen with dinah

this weekend was perfect for trying new recipes. football on saturday prompted me to make smittenkitchen's stuffed mushrooms (so good that i ate them all a few hours before people arrived - josh helped!). i also used the stuffing for the mushrooms to make crostinis, which were ok, but not stellar. the bread needed to be softer. in that vein, i made bruscetta (but that is old hat).

i also BAKED for the first time in a while. another smittenkitchen recipe - chocolate stout cake. but as i am without bund(t-t-t-t-t-t-) pan, i made cupcakes and brownie-esque squares with a mocha ganache (see picture). i also made the barefoot contessa brownies, which came out REALLY good. they haven't invented the words in english to describe them. they almost made me want to ressurect the holiday party...:)

i also finished the fat fallacy - a book about how french people eat and why we are fat and they are not. a few things i took away from the book: 1 - eat slowly and put the fork down between bites. 2 - do not snack in between meals. 3 - it is ok to eat bad for you foods in moderation. they are better than eating ok for you foods in excess. 3 - do not eat foods where chemicals are the ingredients. i am going to try really hard on that one. it is how i ate growing up (freshly made indian food all the time). no more mac and cheese powder sacks! i will try and put this into practice and see how it goes. it is all sound advice and the author was very down to earth - not like the why french women aren't fat author. she is kind of snotty.

ok here is the guinness cake with mocha ganache and a few coffee beans for decoration:)

squeal!

i never watched 90210 or melrose place or any soap operas when i was younger; we were simply not allowed to watch "trash". i never went through that teen drama phase.

until the OC. josephine and i started watching it when it premiered, and although she stayed impervious, for the most part, i got sucked in very quickly. we would both watch and yell things at the TV and laugh at how crazy the plotlines were. people at work watched and it was always fun to scream about how nuts everything was and who kissed who and who is gay and who shot who and how cute so and so is. but then the show turned to crap and even i stopped watching. i hated marissa, the plotline revolved around her and her stupid problems and she was painfully thin to watch (yes, i know a lof of us were thin at 18, but really...) it was a soap at its worst.

so when the marissa free season started up, i tuned in a again and am LOVING it. back are realistic plotline, back are developing characters, back is the witty dialogue and one liners, back is the superb acting by melinda clarke and kelly rowan (too bad they will never get an emmy nod). back are my girlish squeals when someone shows up with no shirt on, back are my gasps of disbelief, and back are the friday morning giggles with co-workers about what happened the night before. i was actually giddy when telling josh that ryan and summer are SO going to get it on and that sandy's new work friend is totally evil and how cute the nose tap was after ryan fake-kissed taylor to prove to her french husband's lawyer that she was unfaithful (becca, there are entire scenes in french now:) )

josh refused to watch this "trash" but i can't stay away. i have this intense crush on one of the major characters (almost to the point of ridiculousness) and it is only getting worse. i am wrapped up in summer and seth's dealing with how she changed after going off to brown. and i am actually liking the julie/kaitlin plotline that is unfolding. quality TV in a nighttime soap? reliving my teen years through the magic of TV? maybe a little of both.

is it next thursday yet?

high horse

i was VERY releived when my bus broke down this morning. i was already running late (josh was supposed to take out the garbage, but didnt, and although he cleaned up the kitchen after dinner last night, he left a few choice areas alone and i had to attend to them with my fingernails - oh and it's been a year and he still thinks we have a disposal (read: i had to clean the drain out). granted he had the worst day of work EVER yesterday and had to leave this morning for work at 5:45, so although i was peeved, i really don't blame him for anything and was upset for all of 3 seconds), so when the driver took a too sharp turn onto mt auburn street and the cables came off the wires and the bus shut down, i looked at the time with a groan. my frustration, however, quickly melted away to something else...

until that point, i was lost in my new yorker, with the bus' AC unit blowing a cool wind directly on me. but as soon as the bus lost power, the breeze stopped and the most unpleasant odor wafted over me. is that coming from outside? nope - it was coming from the exremely dirty old man next to me and his three garbage bags full of bottles. i tried to breathe as little as possible and looked around for the slightest inclination that any one other than me was noticing this pungent ordor that smelled like the recycling center after a frat party, layered with the hint of "fridge after tahira and i left milk in it over winter break freshman year". when the bus driver told everyone to get off and get on the next bus, i couldn't have gotten out faster. fresh air never smelled so good.

does this make me a bad person? maybe. i did feel a little guilty about being so repulsed by the smell. i don't exactly smell like morning dew all the time, and who am i to judge this man's life and what he does and does not have? he should be able to ride the bus, just like anyone else who can afford the fare. if he has the right to ride it, do i have the right to make sure we are far apart?

gnocchi - finally

so i have been talking about making it for weeks, and today i finally sat down and actually did it. and it came out quite well! a little dense - so i may have to play with the ratios and kneading time. i also added a couple of handfuls of parmesan, which gave it a salty kick. that part is a keeper.

oh, and i got a pasta rack! doesn't it look pretty:)
























the last week or so has been like spring - 65 sunny, with a slight breeze. one morning, i stepped outside, breathed in the air and thanked the lord winter was behind us and summer was on its way. then i remebered it was november. well, i wanted to enjoy as much of it as i could, so instead of taking the T all the way to the pru, where we were meeting josh's cousin for dinner on saturday night, i suggested we get off at park and walk. here are some of the pics i took.

you eat with your eyes first

so i have been cooking up a storm lately. crab and ricotta mancotti on sunday, eggplant parm on tuesday, pumpkin ravioli and a funky salad on wednesday, pumpkin soup today (i roasted a leftover carving pumkin and had to get rid of it all somhow...)

the manicotti was stuffed with a ricotta, crab, parmesan and egg mixture. it was all very easy and so so bad for you.

i made a bechmel sauce that called for milk, but i had some cream i needed to use, so i was like, why not? why not indeed - the dish at the end probably has about 1000 calories... per bite.

it was good, but extemely heavy. next time, i will follow the actual recipe and use milk and serve as more of a side instead of the main course.
i also might use jumbo shells - the manicotti was too fragile.









i took a pic of the eggplant, but it looked more like breaded mush and not very appetizing (even plated with some herb tossed pasta and fresh tomatoes spinkled with the last of my basil plant). so we move on to the..

funky salad! i saw this recipe on barefoot contessa on my day off and since i am having an torrid love affair with red onions, i tried it was very pleased. this will be served at every dinner party i throw until josh rebels. the onions were roasted (not broiled!) in a baslamic vin/EVOO mix and i made the vinergarette from scrath (i need to get a mini whisk for my dressings, the big one is too cumbersome). with some shallots it was oniony goodness with that vinegar bite.

not much else is going on. work is super slow, but should pick up soon. started going to the gym again (by which i mean, wednesday...) but i like this going at lunch thing - it works out well, esp when work is slow.

we are having dinner with josh's cousin (whom i have yet to meet) on saturday and i am very excited. we have been emailing about some things and she seems very nice.

some guy hit on me at harvard today. i was very rude:

him: hey sorry i bumped into you.
me: it's ok
him: its really crowded here. all these people.
me: no problem
him: sorry i bumped into you.
me: it's fine really.
him: my name is avi
me: that's nice.
him: you are beautiful
me: yup.

he looked about 20, dressed like he was 30, had the beard of a 14 year old and smelled like beer, it was 5:30. ugh. although josh was right - if he hits on you and is ugly, its annoying. if he hits on you and it cute, its a compliment. well, i embrace the double standard - as long as it is cute...

how far is too far?

i don't mean australia...

i saw the borat movie last night with josh. i didn't know much about the character (as i never had HBO and am not an YouTube enthusiast) but knew i liked Ali G and the character in the NASCAR movie with Will Ferrel and was feeling pretty good about the movie and the people who made it.

As mentioed before, I don't like surprises, so I read everything there was to read about the movie (aka, the EW review and the Times review...) and knew that many lines were crossed and that the ignorance of people is astounding and stupifying at times. shock-comedy is something i do enjoy, as demonstrated when i saw (and laughed at) jackass: number 2 a while back. so i looked forward to being entertained and maybe even a little educated.

and i DID enjoy the movie last night. there were scenes that were incredibly funny, sarah barton cohen's timing is fantastic and he can certainly keep a straight face. he is able to get a reaction that works for this type of comedy very well, but there were times when i was just not laughing.

does the fact that cohen is jewish excuse him from saying horrible, horrible things about jewish people? people were using the whole dave chappelle would not be funny if he weren't black arguement for this, and i understand that. but his mocking is based on things that he sees - its a caricature, almost. cohen's insults are not based on anything. the fact that he thought the cutest old jewish couple EVER who owned a bed and breakfast changed their shape and became cockroaches is one of them. i do understand that he is mocking people who think this way and bringing other people's own racist views into light as he talks to them in this character's body. but there IS a line. and he defintely crossed it, several times. i am not sure if this makes him brave, brilliant or just a boor.

if anyone else has seen this - let me know what you thought.

rme

i am rolling my eyes at myself. i like fergie's new single. i like the willy wonka video, despite the cake fight. i just downloaded the song. i am a pop music whore.

sigh.

seperated at birth?

so, i first suspected it when i saw dodgeball. it was then confirmed when i saw the cameo in anchorman. the mustache, the firey eyes, the hair color. does this look like someone in particular to you all?

for your viewing pleasure

the halloween party! i went as girls gone wild (again) and looked rather cute, if i do say so myself. and i think i just did:)


and here is the fettucine i made all from scratch! the most unhealthy meal ever (i halved the recipe but still used a cup and a half of cream and a three fourths of a stick of butter and a cup or so of parmesan), but it's ok for once in a while... i was so scared to try the pasta cutting side of it, that i limited myself to ravioli and lasagna noodles for the last three years. but now i am ALL about the cut pasta. spagetti? no problem! angel hair - give me a few minutes! i am on a roll babe! this weekend, i am tackling gnocchi. i ordered james beard's pasta book - hopefully i will be an expert by the holidays.