23 Reasons

23 reasons food is better than love.

I saw this article today and almost about died laughing - I just knew I had to share it with you all. I think everyone can relate to one of the items in this article - at least I can. I think my favorite one is number four:

#4. Giada de Laurentiis’ heaving bosoms lingering over a warm dish of pasta.

Let's be real though. Who doesn't want to see Giada bosoms over a warm dish of pasta? I know the captain would. 

Here are a few more:

#2. You can look at all of the food porn you want without having to clear your browser or use an Incognito Window.

#19. A bag of Funyuns will never judge you if you eat the whole thing in one sitting, unlike those pesky humans who are constantly trying to hold you up to their impossible standards of only eating just one chip.

For more good laughs, check out the full article here! You won't be sorry. You may laugh. You may cry. You won't cry because you are sad. You will cry because you are laughing so hard. Please tell me you know what I am talking about?

PS. I love this article, but let me set you all straight. I love food. Really, really good food. But I must admit, Love > Food.  Wait, did I just throw a greater than sign in there? Wow, I think the GMAT studying is getting to me. Scary!

What's your favorite of the 23 reasons?

Homemade Cranberry Sauce

This is the easiest cranberry sauce to make EVER. Even better, it takes less than five ingredients to make. Now, I know that Thanksgiving is over, but cranberry sauce is something that just says "the holidays" and it can be eaten well into the Christmas season. It goes with ham, it goes with turkey or you can even slather it on a sandwich (you know, with cream cheese and a little turkey - yum!). Now that I think about it, it would even go great with pork. You know how everyone seems to serve applesauce with pork? You can spice it up with this cranberry sauce! Why not, right? Right!

To make this sauce, all you have to do is get a large pot and dump in the cranberries, maple syrup, a little fresh orange juice and orange zest. That's it. Seriously. That's it. Let it come to a boil and then let it do its thing for 15 minutes and you are good to go. Easy easy easy. I must admit though that when I first made this, the maple syrup scent was a little strong. With it smelling so maple syrupy (which I love maple, but in cranberry sauce?), I was a little worried that it would overpower - but when I tried it straight from the pot it was a little tangy, a little sweet, and a little citrus-y. Everything you want in a cranberry sauce. After a night in the fridge to let all the flavors meld, it was just just right. All the flavors seemed to be just perfect and my worry about the overpowering syrup was no longer there. Just don't use pancake syrup here. You know, none of that Aunt Jemima or Eggo stuff here. You want the real stuff here. I know it's a bit pricey, but please don't skimp on this park. You don't want pancake cranberries do you? Well, not that I think about it, that kind of sounds good. But not for this recipe. Just go for the real stuff, okay?

only a few ingredients

a close up on the cranberies!

everything in the pot

cooked and ready for it's chilling session

 

 
 Homemade Cranberry Sauce (The Pioneer Woman)

• 1 bag (12 Oz. Bag)  Fresh Cranberries
• 1 cup Cranberry Juice
• 1 cup Pure Maple Syrup (not Pancake Syrup!)
• 3 Tablespoons Orange Juice
• 1 Tablespoon Orange Zest

Wash bag of cranberries under cool water, then dump into a medium saucepan.

Pour in 1 cup of cranberry juice, 1 cup maple syrup, orange juice and zest.  Stir together and turn heat on high until it reaches a boil. Once it comes to a rolling boil, turn the heat down to medium low and continue cooking over lower heat for about 10-15 minutes, or until the juice is thick. Turn off the heat. Let cool and then let flavors meld over night in the fridge. Serve and enjoy! (Serves about 4-6)

Cranberry sauce is not just for Thanksgiving anymore!

 

Happy Thankgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I hope you are spending this holiday with your family, friends, and loved ones. Oh, and of course having lots of delicious food! This is the best time of year when everyone gets together, makes old family recipes, celebrates that holiday cheer and makes everyone laugh at the dinner table. At least the latter is a must in my family. I will be spending Thanksgiving with my family and the captain and his amazing parents. I couldn't ask for a better day with more amazing people. I am so thankful we can all be together this year. 

Here's my Thanksgiving "tip of fun" of the day - just don't wear a turkey on your head like Monica. That would probably be pretty smelly. P.S. Did all you Friends fans laugh at this one? The little hat on the turkey is the best!

a turkey on the head always makes people laugh.

Here are some other good Friends thanksgiving laughs. If you didn't already know this, I am pretty obsessed with Friends. Well, that might be an understatement. I can watch all ten seasons over and over and over again and die of laughter, no matter how many times I've seen the episode. Best. Show. Ever.

Thanksgiving Pants!

 Thanksgiving Trifle

 ...tastes like feet!

What are you thankful for today?

The Haters Guide to the Williams Sonoma Catalog

How can anyone hate Williams Sonoma? I can never walk by that store and not go in. It's just, well, uhm, impossible.

I must admit though, this article, "The Haters Guide to the Williams Sonoma Catalog" is pretty darn funny. Yes, their stuff is expensive and yes, there stuff is usually pretty ridiculous, but there stuff is stuff you just want to have in your kitchen. That is if you had millions of dollars to spend on random kitchen items. Boy do I wish I could just buy everything in that store. I will just admit it right now - I have a major addiction to cooking and kitchen stores. It's bad. Although, that's probably not a surprise to anyone. Good thing I resist the urge to buy new toys when I walk into Williams Sonoma or stores of the like. Well most of the time that is.

For a good laugh, check out the article below. I think my favorite item is the Chef'n Panini Spatula. Hello, who needs a special panini spatula and knife - can't you just use a regular ol' knife and spatula?

Item #02-2719136 Chef'n Panini Spatula

 

Below is the description from the website:

Williams-Sonoma says: "Wide platform with a slot simplifies slicing then lifting even the largest sandwiches."

Price: $19.95

Notes from Drew: ZOMG THIS SANDWICH IS SO LARGE! I can't possibly lift it using only my hands or a common spatula. If only someone out there would invent a unique tool that would allow me to lift my panini and then transfer it to a plate. I'm not just gonna pick it up myself, like a DOG. There's hot gruyere in that sandwich! It could burn.

By the way, you should know that any kitchen utensil designed specifically for one kind of food or meal is essentially useless: a panini spatula, a fondue pot, a steak tartare fork. Unless you plan on eating raclette four days a week, you don't need any of that shit.

Isn't that hilarious? Well, I laughed. For other great laughs, check out:

The Haters Guide to the Williams Sonoma Catalog!

Where Have You Been Lately?

Hi Readers!

I am soooo sorry I have been MIA for while. You've probably noticed that posts have been rather sparse the past month or two, but I promise I am still around and still cooking. Although, the whole cooking thing has taken a bit of a back burner these days. I've decided to become a crazy lady and apply to go back to school to get my MBA, train for a 5k, try out kickboxing (and loving it!) and remain sane while doing it all. If that's not crazy, then I don't know what is.

I've always wanted to go back to get my masters, but just kept putting it off. I don't know why. Maybe it was the money. Maybe it was because I was scared to go back after being away from school for so long. To tell you the truth, I really don't know. Then one day, it just hit me - you better go back to school before you get married, have kids and have no energy to actually study. That and I also decided to move back home with my parents to save up some extra money to go back to school. It's not as bad as you may think. I am really close with my parents so we get along pretty well - for the most part! All this studying for the GMAT is killing me though and I am not even married yet or do I have children to chase around. Phew. I have a little less than one month to go before the GMAT and am feeling nervous. Okay, VERY nervous. I paid and arm and a leg to take a GMAT prep class through Kaplan and it's helping, but I just hope it boosts my score enough. I know I can do it, it's just scary. I keep thinking - what if I don't get a good score? What if I don't get in? I know that's not the right thing to think, but those two thoughts keep coming to mind. I have learned to tell myself that, "you got this girl" or "don't worry, if you don't get in this time, you will try and try until you do". Either one of those seem to work, depending on the day that is. I must admit though, I could not be doing this without all the love and support from my family and the captain. Well, he's family too, but he's needs to be mentioned separately. He's always dealing with my freak-outs (and calming me down) and the poor guy hasn't even really gotten to see me lately. At least that's what it feels like to me. Everything will be worth it in the end, I just can't thank him and my family enough for being there and being so understanding during this stressful, yet exciting time. I couldn't do this without them!

the hotel where my GMAT class was being held also had free Wall Street Journals. Best pre-class reading!

lunchtime has turned into study time.

Six weeks ago, I decided it would be a good idea to train for a 5K. Why not? Ever since my sister got engaged, I told myself I would lose another 25 or so pounds to get to my goal before I have to stand in front of 150 people. I am already down about 25 (half way there!) and thought I needed to kick up my workouts. I started seeing a personal trainer at work (he's totally free from Kaiser) and has been a great help. Let's all say hi to Joe - hiiiiiii Joe! I don't know if he'll see this or not, but maybe he will. Okay, back to running. I just finished my sixth week and I am up to running 2.25 miles without stopping! Can you believe it? I can and can't. When I was in junior high and high school, I was the overweight girl who was the last one to finish a mile. And by finish, I mean barely finish. I don't even know if I was really running to be honest. Whatever I was doing was hard and I felt like I was dying. That girl is now jumping for joy as I am currently running faster, better and not even really all that winded. It's amazing what you body can do when you really put your mind to it. As Joe says, it's all about mental toughens. I think he's right. Wait no, I know he's right. Good music also helps keep pace too. I think I might start posting my weekly running playlist. We'll see how that goes. Random thought. Sorry. I have two weeks left until I am ready to run a full 5K, but I will be pushing it this week at the local turkey trot to see how I can do. I will push as hard as I can and know that even if I can't make it the whole way, that soon I will be able to. Plus, the captain told me that when I can run a 5k, that he'd run with me. I can't wait until that day. Maybe I'll be able to run faster then him? Ya right. Have you seen that boy run? He's fast!

this was back after week four or five. You should see me after a two mile run. I am a sweater and not afraid to say it.

I read this every time I feel like giving up or not working out.

I also thought it would be a good idea to try something new and take up kickboxing. One of the ladies I work with recommended that that we try it out and I said why not. Let me just say - it's one of the best, full body, heart pumping workouts I've done. Each one-on one session starts with a jump rope warm up (who thought three minutes of that would be harder than running? Not me!) and then it's an intense, non stop 25 minutes of mitt training. You wrap up your hands, put on your gloves and punch and kick your stress and aggression away. Plus, I am a strong believer that my pink boxing gloves make me fight like Bruce Lee. At least that is what my trainer, Chris, says. He awesome (he also used to be a professional fighter!) and really wants you to learn the moves correctly. He really pushes you hard and knows that you can do it. Just when you think you can't kick or punch anymore, your body kicks it into high gear and you get this new wave of energy. It's awesome. This past week, we added in legs and boy oh boy were they sore the next day. I can definitely tell that the added cardio from the kickboxing is really helping with my running too. I just have to remember to not run the day before kickboxing. Sore + sore + more sore = not a good idea. I'll learn someday. Maybe. I signed up for six weeks of Muay Thai mitt training and kickboxing and I can definitely say I am going to sign up for more. I'm hooked! If you are in the Sacramento area and want to try it out (trust me, you do!), check out Knuckles Fitness here. You won't regret it.

see, told you I had pink boxing gloves.

Jump roping is tough, but I power through it. That is if I don't slap myself in the feet with the rope. That hurts.

So now you know what I have been up to. I didn't want you to worry. Have you been worried? I hope so. Kinda. I've been trying to keep up with blogging, but you know how well that has been going.  I thought I would have been able to post at least once a week. but that didn't really work out. Oops. I promise that after December 15th, I will be back into the swing of things.  I have a ton of recipes that I know you are going to love - especially for the holidays! Can you believe they are already here? I can't. Where does the time go? I know this seems strange, especially considering I am only 27, but the years seem to go by faster and faster every year. Scary. What's going to happen when I am 40. I don't even want to think about it.

xoxo,
Christina