Julia Child!

I don't know if you guys know, but I fell in love with Julia Child after watching the movie Julie and Julia. I know, I know, I'm a little behind the times, but after watching that movie I discovered my love for cooking (even more so) and through that, my love for Julia herself.

So I went on ebay and spent way too much on a 1977 copy of her Mastering the Art of French Cooking and last night made my very first Julia meal. I must say, it turned out rather well! I have never in my life tasted something as good as the cream sauce I made, but then again, butter, cream and white wine? What should I have expected? Haha


First we have the Supremes Volailles A Blanc, or chicken breast with cream sauce. It was pretty much to die for. I purposely try not to think about how much butter I used, but, I can't eat all that much anyway, so, what the heck. But this cream sauce was delicious. The white wine was what really did it for me. And I LOVE the poaching of the chicken in the butter beforehand. Brilliant.


Second, I made buttered peas. Petit pois, if we're being French. I don't like peas very much, and I'm pretty sure I overcooked them, but they had a great flavor. They were not the highlight, but, I did have eaters that don't eat peas LOVE them. Since my stomach is tiny now, I don't waste space on things that I don't absolutely love. I think if I had realized that they would cook as fast as they did, albeit they were frozen, I would have paid more attention to their doneness.


And of course, the sauce vinaigrette for the salad. YUM! I love vinaigrette, and this one was delicious. Champagne wine vinegar (I opted for the classy stuff as opposed to regular ole' red wine, but she said to choose to your liking) with salt, pepper, dry mustard and herbs de provence. Tangy, savory, great stuff.

Now, I am going to put on some sweats and enjoy my Saturday off! I am going to wash Thursday's episode of Flash Forward, do some laundry and clean up a bit... perhaps read some Frankenstein.

Domestic goddess fatty post

Okay guys, it's time we were all honest with each other. There's no denying it. We love food. Me, in particular. I love it, there's no holding back. So, since I'm bored at work ... (thank you, Lord, for that, I would rather be bored than running around right now) and have to be here for a few more hours, why not write a post on my favorite delicious foods (including Dominican delicacies) and drool a little bit. How's THAT for fun!

First on the list is my greatest weakness: the kipe. Also spelled 'quipe', this deliciousness is a dish that started off in the Middle East and some of my ancestors (as well as many other Dominicans' ancestors) who immigrated to the DR brought it with them. If you are of Lebanese decendants (which a lot of us Dominicans are) you may know them as kibbi, or fried kibbi.

That's right, fried.



Basically a 'kipe' is traditionally eaten is a picadera or a finger-food. Sometimes (if you're lucky!) you can find a little stand or colmado near the beach that sells gigantic ones and you can snack on it all the way to the shore. YUM! What's in it, you ask? A kipe is a bulgur wheat and ground beef dumpling, so to speak, stuffed with more ground beef and various herbs. It can either be rolled into the traditional shape (seen above) and deep fried, or placed in a casserole dish and baked. Seriously, favorite thing ever. The recipe can be found here. (As a tip, it's best to refrigerate or freeze them before frying them! Helps keep them together)

Second is the one food I could never live without. Not kidding. You could take anything away from me except this and I would be fine. What is it?

CHEESE.


Blue cheese, white cheese, yellow cheese, cream cheese, solid cheese. ANY KIND. With a nice glass of wine, (preferably red) it is all I need for a happy palate and a happy belly. Am I right? Yessuh!



Mmmm... my favorites are the following:

Feta
Gouda
Manchego
Muenster
Colby Jack
Cheddar
Pepper Jack
Provolone
Anejo
Blanco
Fresco
Bleu
Asiago
Ricotta
Caprino
Fontina
Gorgonzola
Mascarpone
Mozzarella
Romano
Parmegiano
Brie
Camembert
Neufchatel
Roquefort

And many many more. YUM!

another day, another dollar

and by that i don't mean i'm earning another dollar (which, i suppose i am), i mean that's probably what's in my bank account right now. but you know what, i make the decision to spend the money, and we have a working savings account, so, there's no way i'm going to live off microwavable hamburger helper. i know that probably doesn't make any sense, but, cut me some slack, it's 8am, and i got three hours of sleep.

actually, i have twenty-two dollars until tomorrow, thank you, and a nice little lump in savings, so, go back to not judging me, please.

this morning i had all intentions of waking up at 6, doing my yoga, attempting a second poaching of egg and making my snacks/lunch for the day. however, at two this morning i still found myself tossing and turning and completely wide awake. i then proceeded to call lauren from my cell phone (mind you, lauren lives across the hall) and made her come tell me a bedtime story. it worked mildly, but i still had to force myself majorly to get to sleep. so, needless to say, i woke up at 6:45, brushed my teeth and so on, had a piece of wheat toast with low fat laughing cow cheese and packed my snacks for the day. for anyone curious as to what i get to eat now, i will tell you!

mid-morning snack (i have to eat six times a day, which, boy, lemme tell ya, way improves your metabolism)
1/2 apple (no skin)
sugar free, fat free jello

mid-afternoon snack
5 crackers (honestly, i don't know if i'm supposed to have crackers, but i eat them anyway)
2 tbs hummus

pleeenttyyy of water.

i haven't yet decided what to do about lunch.

on another note, laura of trialbycupcakes sent me the sketch of our wedding map! it's fantastic!!! i'm madly in love with it. it was the black and white pencil sketch, but, still, i freaking love it. i won't post it because i want it to be a surprise to everyone in their mailboxes with the invitations! =) yayyy.

*yawn* off to the real world, now.

personal finance virginity

so, i've learned quite a bit about personal finance in the last couple of years. when you don't have very much money, you want to take that tiny bit of money and turn it into a lot, right? right. well, since i've had a checking account, i've always had a savings account, but, unfortunately, i've never been one to put much into savings, and i've never really earned much from this alleged savings. however, since robert and i got engaged, we've both been putting back a little money each month into a small credit union savings account. well, thanks to fellow savvy blog lady, mrs. newlywed, i have discovered the word of ING savings accounts. yeah, yeah, don't get political and preachy on my blog, guys, because, i did my research and robert and i decided that it was better to move our savings there. which is quite exciting. i also bought 'mutual funds for dummies' *don't judge me* and plan on making that my next personal assignment.

on a completely different note, i have been looking for some clothes for robert on ebay, because, really, let's be honest, that's the best place to find exactly what you want, in the correct size, and at not full price. besides, my love is very picky about clothes, so, why am i going to spend $60 on a pair of pants that he will not wear?

today, lauren and i had lunch at red lobster cause we've both been way craving fish for some reason. i love fish, and especially now that i can have 'semi sold' food. i ordered blackened tilapia with a baked potato (not that i expected to even get to touch it) and i forgot about the damn cheddar biscuits. so, of course, i made an attempt to eat one. i also forgot about the salad. what is this, america? why can't you just eat one plate of food at a time, and not fourteen? sheesh. either feed me the salad, or feed me the fish. however, i purposely "forgot" that i can't eat lettuce yet, mostly because i have been doing fine with it, but technically it's supposed to be too fibrous to digest right now. but, to make a long story short, i ate half the salad and a fattygreasycheesybutsofreakinggood biscuit, and was too full to eat anything else. so, i packed it up, and it's waiting for me for dinner!

i don't know if any of you reading this (if anyone reads this?) knows that i love to cook. i love it. i could spend all day cooking a seven course meal, and despite the pains in my legs and the heels of my feet, i would love every minute of it. so, of course, i decided to look for a blackened tilapia recipe on my all time favorite recipe website, allrecipes.com. i chuckled to myself when i found one called 'blackened tilapia with secret hobo spices'. okay, i thought, hobo spices. is that some sort of cultural thing? something culinary i've never heard of? no, sir! the person that posted the recipe actually found it in the pocket of a sleeping hobo beside some railroad tracks. well, we'll test his flavors and see if he's got potential.




alsooo... *drumroll* .. here is a picture of two of the sherbet glasses in the beautiful amazing gorgeous set of navy blue depression glass. i went and put a deposit on them today and they will be mine all mine next month! and by mine all mine i mean mine and robert's.

lastly, but definitely not least important, i am now in love with the bravo show 'flipping out' hysterical. kelsey, if you ever read this, this man is you in ten years.