What I’m Loving Wednesday 12.19.12

1. Last night I went out with Danielle to deliver samples of the new Red Bull Editions that we tried a couple weeks ago. While out, the bartender made us a little shot with the Bakon Vodka, Zing Zang, and pineapple juice. It was supposed to taste like a pineapple pizza which sounds totally weird, but it was so good. He said the Bakon Vodka is really good in a Bloody Mary.

2. Old Navy’s Compression Capris. I know you guys love your Lululemon gear because it stores fat in unknown places, but I promise these do the same. It looks like I worked out for a month straight when I wear them.

3. This.

4. Boding finally went to Mi Xao with Eric and me. It was weird not going with Danielle! My new favorite menu item is the Chicken Salad: steamed chicken breast, cabbage, carrots, shallots, fresh herbs, and peanuts with a lime dressing. I want to drink the dressing and I’m not joking.

5. Eric said lunch was BYOC: bring your own chopsticks. It was the perfect opportunity for me to give Boding one of his Christmas presents early.

6. I partnered with my new best friend Carly for The Ornament Swap. She decided to go above and beyond with the gift giving. I’ll show you it all soon, but check out the best item in the box: an inflatable dreidel.

I can’t decide which I like more: the dreidel or the boy holding it….hahah I am going to be in so much trouble for sharing this.

6 days until Christmas!

The Weekend Consisted of…

A miniature run in I’On.

Hanukkah with Sean’s family!

The pup included. Love this ball of fur!

But I think I love latkes more. I can’t believe this was my first time having them. SO WORTH the strike.

The usual Mi Xao lunch with Danielle on Saturday. Tom Yum Kung, extra spicy.

Random drinks with Sarah and Moffett at The Shelter. In my gym clothes. I like teetering on the fine line between disgusting and overly confident.

Embracing my inner Mount Pleasant housewife, doing a little Christmas shopping at Target. Ha ha.

Long run of the week with Danielle! She’s training for a half marathon in LA two weeks before mine. Wish her luck!

Celebrating with best friends at Mama Holloway’s annual eggnog drop in.

What did YOU do!?

What I’m Loving Wednesday 10.17.12

1. Dabo Swinney was outside the cafeteria at Blackbaud. I grabbed his bicep.

Just kidding, that’s a cardboard cutout. But I did grab his bicep.

2. Boding knows me too well. In the past 24 hours I have burned myself  3 times on a hot pan/the oven, ran smack dab into a bush, and shut my foot in the car door. I need to slow down.

3. This drink I had at The Macintosh last weekend. The Mex-ital Fizz: Campari, orange juice, elderflower, habanero, prosecco, Espolon rinse. Those bartenders are fantastic but should know by now that I am too clumsy for a martini glass.

4. While looking for decorations in Homegoods, I came across a display of Jewish goodies. Seriously, why was all this on sale?

I regret not buying um, all of it. My favorite part was their version of Candy Land – Kosherland. HA!

5. My breakfast for the past few days has been: 2 Van’s waffles topped with pumpkin puree, pumpkin pie spice, and maple syrup. Try this!

6. Amanda is my most Emoji-savvy friend. Look at her skills!

7. Some things never change.

I can’t stop laughing at that. 25 years later and I’m still posing. Will I be doing this with my cane at 80? You bet.

XO

What I’m Loving Wednesday 9.26.12

I love a lot of things this week! Weeeee!

1. I’m terrible at home decorating. This is the one Cancer trait I don’t possess. Out of curiosity, I took this style quiz to see what my home design personality was. I was not at all surprised by the results.

2. Amanda and I both had last Friday off, so we went to Black Bean Co. and split two wraps. On left: South West Chicken wrap (chicken, black beans, jasmine rice, sweet corn, roasted tomatoes, chipotle sauce, carrots, parmesan cheese, mixed greens). On right: Almost Summer wrap (chicken, mandarin oranges, goat cheese, candied almonds, rice noodles, arugula, raspberry citrus vinaigrette). The Almost Summer is a new fave!

3.  Have you ever noticed that Publix puts the most random assortment of goods on sale? I couldn’t help but make a comical display out of a few of them.

Then I thought, what the heck? I guess I should try making matzo ball soup if this mix is on sale. Into the basket it went! #Jewstina

4. Eating at Ali Baba on Sundays has become a ritual for Boding and me. Before he got to my apartment last Sunday, I posted a sign on my door, proposing our dinner plans.

As the picture shows below, he said yes. I wish Ali Baba was a real person so I could date the heck out of him.

5. Amanda and I have always run a couple times a week, but after 3ish miles, we’re like “Where’s the food?” Suddenly, we’re addicted. We ran 4 miles on Saturday, 5 miles on Sunday, and then Tuesday evening we just kept going…until we hit 6.5 miles.

We were kind of delirious after, unsure if we were hungry, dizzy, going to vom, laugh, cry, or pass out. We were both so excited though. Runner’s high is a real thing y’all. Here we are after our run on Sunday, playing tourists at Waterfront Park.

6. Last but not least, I bought the iPhone 5 on Friday and I love it like my first born (that I don’t even have). I love Siri and telling her what to do, like call me Xteeny because Christina is just too formal for this kind of love.

I’ve downloaded a silly amount of apps already.

 

Take the decorating style quiz, send me a matzo ball soup recipe, and tell me your favorite iPhone apps. Please! :)

Eggplant and Red Pepper Salad/ Gruber Farm CSA Week 2

Hi friends!

I have a funny story for you. On Sunday when I went to Rosh Hashanah at Sean’s house, I made a funny oopsies. One of the guests and I were discussing our love of local produce and the CSAs we were signed up with. I was telling her how much I loved Gruber Farm and blurted out, “I love picking up my box each week. It’s like Christmas every Tuesday!”

I made a Christmas reference at a Jewish event. Derrrrrrrrrr.

As soon as I said it I thought “REALLY? Of all the cool things to compare something to you chose that? Tonight?” The woman probably thought nothing of it, but I laughed in my head thinking how typical that was for me.

Thank heavens my teddy bear challah came out well or else I would have just had to excuse myself from the festivities. After telling the story to another Jewish friend later, he remarked “You should have said it was like Hanukah every week.” Oh, really? Thanks for the tip.

CSA Week 2:

• cantaloupe
• zucchini
• eggplant
• beets (!!)
• red potatoes
• Muscadine grapes
• green beans
• red pepper
• cucumbers
• onion

That cantaloupe was the largest I’ve ever seen. Annabel, who is also signed up with Gruber Farm, asked me, “Do you have a size DDDDD cantaloupe in yours too?” Yep. I did.

Back to business. Before ultimately deciding on the pumpkin challah for Rosh Hashanah, I borrowed a Jewish cookbook from the library called The Hadassah Everyday Cookbook.

This book has so many recipes I’d love to make that I might actually buy it. I’m not kidding, there are recipes for pumpkin bread, asparagus avocado salad, white bean hummus, muhammara, greens and orzo soup, grated beets with toasted hazelnuts, and more. Get excited for lots of these being featured on the blog. The first recipe I made was…

Eggplant and Red Pepper Salad

Ingredients:

• 2 medium eggplants
• 1/4 cup diced red bell pepper
• 1 clove garlic, chopped
• 1 scallion, sliced
• 2 tbsp. olive oil
• 2 tbsp. tahini
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

1. Turn stovetop gas burner to high and place eggplants, one at a time, directly over burner grate, turning occasionally with tongs until all sides are charred and eggplant is soft, about 5 minutes per side. Remove to a baking sheet and let cool completely. Drain juices, remove skin, and place eggplant pulp in the bowl of a food processor. *If you do not have a gas burner at home, you can broil the eggplants (turning them just as you would on the flame) until their skin is blistered and the inside is creamy and soft.
2. Pulse eggplant 10-15 times until well chopped but with a few remaining chunks. Add red pepper, garlic, scallion, oil, tahini, lemon juice, cayenne and salt, pulsing to incorporate all ingredients. Transfer to a bowl, cover and refrigerate until serving.

Two things to note: 1. I omitted the olive oil because I thought it was unnecessary. 2. I pulsed mine a bit more and it turned out like a spread. Regardless, it was very tasty and made for a great veggie burger topping. It would also be so good in a pita with veggies, black beans, and feta. Heck, it’d be good with chips too!

What’s your favorite dip or spread? Hummus? Olive tapenade? Roasted red pepper dip? Black bean dip? Baba ghanoush?

Do you find yourself sticking your foot in your mouth like I did? Shoot, sometimes it’s my whole leg.

Super Hero 5k and My Rosh Hashanah Teddy Bear Challah

Saturday morning, a few of us participated in the Super Hero 5k at the West Ashley Greenway to support Yoga Benefits Kids. I had made a pretty cool “Super Xteeny” shirt, but took it off because it felt like 90 degrees outside…which is why Boding is topless.

Though I didn’t break my PR, my time was 25:58 and Mary Legare and I won the same awards we won in the 2011 Pajama 5k. Mary Legare got 2nd place overall for females, and I got 2nd place in my age group. 2 for 2!

(Please note that is my cell phone in my tank top; I do not have deformed boobies.)

That afternoon, I made a Pumpkin Spicy Teddy Bear Challah. First, let me say this: baking bread is not an easy task. It took a long time, flour got everywhere, my manicure was ruined, and my kitchen was a disaster. But it was so worth it. Using the Pumpkin Challah recipe from The Shiksa’s blog, I shaped the dough into two teddy bears and used M&M's for eyes and buttons.

Did you know? You’ve probably seen braided challah, but for Rosh Hashanah, challah is made into rounds or spirals to symbolize the circle of life and the cycle of a new year.

I made the first teddy bear to bring over to a friend’s house Saturday evening. The Jew Crew was there so I had them judge my first one. Is this not the cutest thing EVER? I named him Elijah Orstein. All night long I kept wanting to say “Holla! For my challah!” but I controlled my urges.

The first teddy bear came out really dense because I did not let the dough rise long enough. Luckily, my second teddy bear that I was making for Rosh Hashanah dinner at Sean’s house came out great. It was soft, cinnamony, sweet, and delicious with drizzled honey. I was so proud I did not disappoint my Jewish family!

Thank you to the Lynches for having me over for another holiday dinner. I’m inspired to make babka next. : )

For which holiday do you enjoy baking/cooking?

What traditional foods do you make?

The Friday Five 09.14.12

1. What I’m Reading: After book club met last night to discuss Dare Me, we decided our next book will be Still Missing by Chevy Stevens.

From Amazon: On the day she was abducted, Annie O’Sullivan, a thirty-two-year-old Realtor, had three goals: sell a house, forget about a recent argument with her mother, and be on time for dinner with her ever-patient boyfriend. The open house is slow, but when her last visitor pulls up in a van as she’s about to leave, Annie thinks it just might be her lucky day after all. Interwoven with the story of the year Annie spent captive in a remote mountain cabin — which unfolds through sessions with her psychiatrist — is a second narrative recounting the nightmare that follows her escape: her struggle to piece her shattered life back together, the ongoing police investigation into the identity of her captor, and the disturbing sense that things are far from over. The truth doesn’t always set you free. Still Missing is a shocking, visceral, brutal, and beautifully crafted debut novel about surviving the unsurvivable — and living to bear witness. 

2. What I’m Eating: My contribution to book club was an Avocado & White Bean Dip with Sriracha.

To make: In a food processor, blend

• 1 avocado, diced
• 1 can of great northern beans, drained and rinsed
• juice of 1 lime
• 1 tbsp. Sriracha
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. freshly ground pepper

We had a great spread at book club last night. Strawberry, Goat Cheese & Basil Bruschetta:

Trader Joe’s spicy Flaxseed Chips & Black Bean Dip:

Pumpkin Spice Muffins:

Can we all please admire how full Hannah poured her glass of wine? It was a long week for everyone.

3. What I’m Listening to:  It’s Time by Imagine Dragons.

4. Recipes I’m Bookmarking:  On Sunday, I’m going to Sean’s house for Rosh Hashanah. (Remember the intern? I went to Seder at his house in the Spring.) To bring with me, I’m making a pumpkin challah and shaping it into a teddy bear! I’m so excited to make this and celebrate with his family. Details to come!

5. GIFs I’m Loving:

WHEN WE’RE OUT AND MY FRIEND SAYS SHE DOESN’T WANT TO DANCE

WHEN A GUY IN AT THE BAR TRIES TO TOUCH ME

WHEN A RANDOM GUY TRIES TO DANCE WITH ME

I hope you all have a wonderful, blessed weekend!