My first recipe..

Yes, I often throw together whatever leftovers I have in my fridge to create a meal, but this is the first time that I sat down and planned what to buy ahead of time, based on flavors, and then set out to concoct a new recipe. Success! This is also the first food pic that I've taken myself and posted. First, I roasted eggplant, shiitakes, butternut squash and onion with olive oil and garlic. While that was cooking, I made some brown rice and thawed pesto from the end of the summer. Tossed everything together, topped with some parmesan, and can I just tell you that it was amazing?? I have to credit the roasting process though, it's so easy and yummy that you really can't go wrong. And summer pesto also helps.

Valentine's Day

Soo, January is over, (kind of crazy) and now that Feb is approaching I found this gift guide for Vday. And I LOVE Vday. I can never understand why people are so cynical about it, yes it's a made up holiday, but what's not to love about a day to celebrate love?? I'm totally of the mindset that Valentine's Day doesn't have to be strictly romantic either, my mom used to make nice dinners and give us little presents, and now I like to take it as an opportunity to eat sweets and tell people how much they mean to me. So, peep the gift guide whether you have a sweetie or just a lot of sweetie people in your life. I think this heart necklace is kind of amazing.

Park City, Utah for Sundance

I went out to Park City for Sundance with my company this week, and I can't tell you how beautiful it was. Huge mountains, snow everywhere, and lodges with icicles hanging from their roofs. My pictures don't capture what is was like in person, but these are from my hotel window. 

Quaint center of town. 

The company rented a huge house that a bunch of people stayed in, super pretty and lodge-y. And no, I didn't get to see any movies unfortunately. I was too busy eating, drinking and working. So, still good times.

Gangs of New York

I finally got around to watching this this weekend, and I know, I know, I should have watched it like ten years ago, because it's SO good! Really liked it. And hello, where is Cameron Diaz these days? She did such a great job! She did Being John Malkovich and this, and then decided to relegate herself to dumb romantic comedies for the rest of the decade. My Netflix disc also had a special from the Discovery Channel on the real gangs of New York, which was really interesting to watch after seeing the movie. Now I want to go down to the five points area and peep the nice park and expensive housing that's there..

Congee

I started to come down with yet another cold last night, so today I made this brown rice congee recipe with ginger and garlic to help boost immunity. It's good on a sick day, because it's nourishing and easy to throw together, but you do have to cook it for 2-3 hrs. Congee is essentially rice boiled down into a porridge consistency, popular in Asian cuisine.

Martin Luther King Jr.

I know I'm a little late here, but I just saw/read this and wanted to share.
"In this photograph, Coretta is upset with her husband, who had been attacked the night before by a disturbed white racist but had not defended himself. Though the police urged King to press charges, he refused. 'The system we live under creates people such as this youth,' he said. 'I’m not interested in pressing charges. I’m interested in changing the kind of system that produces such men.'"

You're my tenderoni

I know Chromeo isn't new to the scene, but I just want to emphasize that I love him.

Happy Friday y'all

CQ

floating heads recommended this movie, and I really liked it! (which says something bc I haven't been liking anything lately). It's Roman Coppola's directorial debut, and has a purposefully zany vibe, based around the filming of a sci fi 60's movie in Italy. The style is great. And I loved loved the computer's voice and accent -- "wake up Dragonfly"..worth watching just to hear.

Shakedown Street

One of my favorite Grateful Dead songs, with a beat that I would describe as "funky".

Beet, Chard and Barley Salad

At my new job there's no microwave, soo instead of rotating between soups and wraps for lunch, I'm now relegated to wraps. When it comes to wraps, I like to stuff them with complex grains and vegetables, which this recipe effectively achieves. I used red beets instead of golden, and while I was tempted to skip the feta, it definitely brings the salad together. It's a little heavy on onions so I might scale back the next time I make it. Recipe.

Best Flickr page

Check out superbomba's genius photostream on Flickr.

Marshmallow willpower

Oh, The Temptation from Steve V on Vimeo.
How funny is this video? Teaching the lesson of willpower to these kids is almost painful to watch. The New Yorker talks about the study.

"Polite Umbrella"

Peep this "polite umbrella", perfect for better maneuvering!

Hush the non-believers

No, this isn't a post about Charlie (but if you didn't see him two years ago watch here). This is a post about a cake. More specifically, a cake made out of vegetables. I found this recipe over the summer, and it's made with beets, zucchini, carrots, walnuts and raisins. The frosting is goat cheese, cream cheese and maple syrup. Now, as someone who likes to eat a LOT of whatever it is I'm making, this cake seemed perfect for its low sugar and high veggie content. However, I couldn't make this cake for anyone other than myself in good conscience, because not many are interested in a cake made out of vegetables. So, last weekend, it was finally my birthday, which meant cake of my choosing, and of course, I chose vegetables. Everyone had reservations (including my mom who made it), but...it was so good!! Everyone loved it, including those who aren't of the vegetable cake eating variety. There were barely leftovers and I will totally make it for birthdays to come.

Winter

The prettiness of winter hasn't worn off yet, and I'm loving these pictures (via sandrajunto and lollo). January is so crisp, clean, and reliably cold. I like it's sure-handed-ness.

Wet and bald

Haha, look at these birds. "They were among 50 eagles which dove into the back of an uncovered dump truck full of fish guts and became too wet to fly away."

Male sexual harrassment

This picture cracks me up!!

Joe Sacco

This is his latest work, and I wanted to plug it because I really like what his books offer. They're graphic novels focusing on the conflict in the Middle East and Eastern Europe. He visits these areas as a journalist and then draws his experiences, which makes the story accessible in ways that conventional journalism doesn't allow for. It's really an interesting way to learn about the conflicts he covers, and Joe Sacco is pretty much the pioneer in this area of graphic storytelling. I recommend checking out Palestine.

Climbin on board

This is my anthem right now, such a good beat!! I'm considering dancing to it as I walk into my new job tomorrow...

Gifties

I got some great things for Christmas this year! Some highlights include a delicious black tea sampler from Adagio (I'm sipping the yunnan jig as I type this), black arm warmers from Etsy, How to Cook Everything by Mark Bittman (yay! I can't wait to cook everything!), and Raising the Bar, written by Gary Erickson the owner of Clif Bar, Inc. -- my parents visited his vineyard in Northern CA and picked up this book, they gave it to me with a bottle of his wine and a box of bars, definitely one of my favorite gifts! The best gifts are the unexpected thoughtful ones, which my mom seems to always get right.

Stowe

My family took a ski trip up to Stowe, VT between Christmas and New Years and it was quite an adventure! There was a ton of snow, which made driving a little tricky...we actually ended up getting in a small crash in my mom's car. Everybody was okay, but we flew into a field and mowed down a street sign in the process. It could've been much worse, I credit my dad with some quick steering.

And I actually did a bit of skiing this year! Obvi it was on the bunny hill, but still fun. I picked it back up pretty quickly and took a lesson, which helped. The mountain was beautiful! And it was so nice to spend nine days with my family. I miss them already.

2010.

I think New Year's resolutions are great. It's an opportunity to set goals, reflect on where you are, where you're going, and what you'd like to change. And while I tend to do this anyway (some may say over-do, ahem Mom), the beginning of a new year is a great excuse. In 2010 I plan to focus on being more spiritual and physically active, with first steps being a steadier meditation and yoga practice. I'm also starting the year with a new job and going back to school, and I hope to really challenge myself in these new facets of my life. I also hope to cook more, spend more time with friends, and...possibly move to Brooklyn, but no promises Dina.. :)

Holiday Baking

I baked three desserts over the holidays this year, and they all turned out pretty yummy. For Christmas I made an orange-walnut-olive oil cake, and ginger molasses chocolate cookies, and for New Years, a sweet ricotta pudding with roasted grapes. It was decided that the New Years dessert needed another little something, my mom suggested a drizzle of maple syrup. BUT, still good, and I would recommend all three recipes.