Over the holidays, Sadie and I went to Frenchtown with our Chi O faves and made sure to go to Elizabeth Gilbert’s inspired store and eatery for Sunday brunch. I must say that the trip was a success. I thoroughly enjoyed shopping at Two Buttons while waiting to be seated at the Lovin’ Oven. After 45 minutes and the purchase of a signed copy of “Home on the Range”, we sat down to a satisfying meal. I was completely satisfied with their interpretation of sausage gravy and biscuits. They put the sausage gravy over a bed of garlic sauteed kale with a sweet potato biscuit on the side. On the way out, I noticed that they got a write up for the Best Thing I Ever Ate on the Food network for their chocolate caramel tarte. I guess I know what I will have to try next time! Check this place out next time you are in the area. There is usually a bit of a wait, but it’s well worth it. I even found some inspiration for a new display case at the bakery.
Category: Food
Goals for 2014
Last year I had a laundry list of goals in several different categories, and I think I did a pretty good job of achieving a lot of them. This year, however, I’m going to make a little simpler, and have a shorter list. Here goes:
1. Replace my morning mocha with tea. My office has a Flavia machine (similar to a Keurig), that I typically use once or twice daily to make myself a mocha (on this machine it’s really 1/3 hot chocolate and 2/3 coffee). I like that this is a free beverage option (rather than making regular Starbucks runs as with previous jobs), but I think tea would be a better alternative. I’m not ruling out the occasional fancy coffee drink, but making it more occasional is the goal.
2. Reduce my sugar intake on a regular basis. I know, I know, this is very vague, but it basically means I’m going to make an effort to curb my sweet tooth. Nothing bothers me more than when someone says, “you know, I’m not much for dessert, I’ve never really had a sweet tooth.” No one asked you, go sit in the corner. I typically only want sweet food, so my goal here is to stick to a less sweet routine, because I think it will make me crave sweet less often. Just like the mocha thing, I’m trying to break some habits.
3. Follow the stock market regularly. I find the stock market pretty fascinating and intimidating, and I check various stocks from time to time. This year I pick a few stocks I’m interested in, and I’m trying to check them on Yahoo Finance everyday. I’ve been very interested in the athletic apparel recently because I think Lululemon is in the process of taking a big hit from more cost friendly competitors like Athleta (part of the Gap group) and Under Armour. I want to watch that play out, so I’m following all of them, plus Nike and Adidas (it’s a two for one since they own Reebok), and Pepsi for good measure. I never felt too comfortable with finance class in business school, but with all the case studies we did, I learned it’s kind of fun to follow a few companies and watch their progress. Speaking of which, can we talk about Lulu’s December:
4. Be Better, Faster, Stronger. No specific fitness goals this year in terms of races I want to run or times I was to get. I just want to continue to be committed to my regular workouts, and continue to improve. I was going through a slower running phase last fall, so I’m hoping to snap out of that and pick up the pace. Plus I think if I put a little more effort/consistency into my weight workouts I could up my weights a little, and get stronger. And Pilates as much as possible, because I love it! When you’re stressed for time it’s hard to push the envelope at the gym, so hopefully I can make some time for that.
5. Blog more regularly. I went from blogging very regularly when Carrie and I started the blog, to being very sporadic this year, so hopefully I will find a new rhythm in the 2014! (and maybe Carrie will too, wink, wink, nudge, nudge)
Are you sticking to the typical resolutions this year, or did you pick something that’s more out of the box?
Thanksgiving Recap!
I need to apologize off the bat for not taking any pictures. I have a lot of excuses, but at the end of the day, I really just forgot. So in lieu of my own photos, here’s a list of the odds and ends I baked last week with links to the recipes:
Pumpkin Bread: First time trying this specific recipe. It turned out great! Perfect flavor and not too sweet (btw, I subbed the ginger for pumpkin pie spice so it was a pretty standard pumpkin flavor), plus I added walnuts for a little crunch! Not to brag, but my dad did say he preferred it over my mom’s cranberry nut bread. Just sayin…
Chocolate Cake: This is the traditional birthday cake recipe. We had a few birthdays to celebrate from the past few weeks so we turned the Wednesday dinner before Thanksgiving into a little birthday dinner. I probably make this recipe at least 4 times a year, I wonder why (you can do the math).
Ricotta Cookies: These are quickly becoming a family favorite. They are soft and vanilla, with a colorful icing. I’ll probably be making another batch in the next few weeks.
Double Chocolate Cheesecake Cookies: I pinned these a while ago from one of my favorite blogs. They were easy to make and very tasty. I was a little sloppy with the drizzle icing, but it tasted good!
Almond Biscotti: A standard for my holiday baking. They aren’t an ooey gooey crowd pleaser, but it’s the perfect evening snack with your tea when you have a big meal in the afternoon, or mid afternoon snack with your coffee during your holiday shopping.
Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bars: These are a crowd pleaser every time, and are a must have during our family’s Thanksgiving. Easy and delicious!
Pumpkin Spice Rice Krispie Treats: I know I just made these a couple weeks ago, but my mom had some extra marshmallows that she wanted me to use up. So I made them again, and guess what, they were still delicious!
Gingersnaps: I made these for my mom to use in her molasses gingersnap ice cream. I know it sounds weird, but it’s awesome! These gingersnaps are the perfect flavor and texture, spicy and crunchy!
Energy Balls: I don’t think I’ve blogged about these yet but I’ve made them a few times. They’re a quick no-bake snack that is pretty healthy. I make a bunch and stick them in the freezer, and they mysteriously disappear rather rapidly in my house…
Pumpkin Cheesecake: I’ve made this before in individual ramekins, but this was the first time in 9 inch cake form. It turned out great with the exception of the crust. I tried to sub gingersnap crumbs for graham cracker crumbs in the crust recipe, and it turned out a little too tough. I think the gingersnap crumbs were too fine, so when I packed them down they turned into a very solid crust. Other than that though, it was the perfect dessert for our New York Post-Thanksgiving Chanukah latke fest!
This list is not counting the savory things I made fore the main event! At the end of the week I didn’t understand why I was so tired, but after writing out this list, I sort of get it.
What did you bake this Thanksgiving?
Sadie Dishes 