Reading

The past month has flittered by without me so much as realizing it was gone. Here we are, in early December, with Bing Crosby ringing holiday cheer out of my computer speakers.

Although I have not had the opportunity to do a ton of cooking this month, I have been doing a lot of eating AND a lot of reading. The eating part is significantly less unique than the reading part, which is something I rarely have the time to do. It started on my Hawaiian vacation with two of the world's greatest and most precious (to me) people, Julie and Ryan. Being the perfect vacation, and the perfect vacationing couples, each of us had a handful of books we were excited to read on the beach and by the pool. As previously stated, I am usually not a big reader, so I limited my books to two. Love Walked In by Marisa de los Santos, and The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffner and Annie Barrows. I thoroughly enjoyed each of these books, surprising myself with the speed at which I finished them. Each book was made even more enjoyable with the addition of a strawberry mint spritzer - fresh strawberry puree, fresh mint leaves, sparkling water, and a hint of some other flavoring I could not distinguish.

Where eating is concerned, my meals have ranged from fresh caught local Hawaiian fish, seared perfectly just for me and served either in corn tortillas or on a bed of sauteed vegetables to whole Maryland crabs that poked through my skin as I tried to crack them open, spurring on tears and me questioning whether or not I really wanted to work that hard for my food. (I did.) It also included a nice, heavy, home-made Italian meal made by me and my Mom, who is not Italian at all but we still had fun going through her old cookbooks and coming up with the most fattening post-Thanksgiving menu we could. For the curious, it involved prosciutto, fontina, lots of butter and cream, and fresh sage leaves.

In a nutshell, I think that sums up my November. Now to come up with some great recipes for the annual Christmas Chill.

Harvest Party

In honor of the turning of the leaves (yes, even here in San Diego our leaves turn!) Glenn and I threw a Harvest Party a few weeks ago. I made two soups: Cheddar Corn Chowder and the Ultimate Beef Stew. I call it the "ultimate" beef stew because that is what the actual title was, thank you Tyler Florence for your cute smile and naming everything "ultimate". And it was delicious, so that helps. Mary made a stew that might have been the hit of the evening - Mulligatawny - Indian curry soup with chicken.

I had corn chowder coming out of my ears for the next week and eventually had to throw out a few bowlfuls, burned the blueberry muffins (both times), and Glenn mixed The Perfect Storm all evening - a cocktail a good friend of ours created for a recent Finer Things Club meeting. The best part of the night, however, was getting together with friends and sharing a simple, comforting bowl of soup, a glass of oaky chardonnay, and many laughs. I have missed these moments - long time friends coming together, new connections being made between friends of friends, and laughter echoing throughout our patio and home. This is the reason I cook, the reason I love to entertain, and what I was created for.

** I made this silly flyer and e-mailed it to everyone to save paper and money - made on a Mac. :)**

Kristin Loves...

1. Groupon

My best friend Julie told me about Groupon, before it was available in San Diego. She found all sorts of fun places to go to in Boston and explained how these "group coupons" work. Groupon is fairly new to San Diego, but so far I have purchased a handful of lovely options for 50% off or more! Today's deal, which has been my favorite so far, is for afternoon tea at Tea Upon Chatsworth, which is one of my favorite San Diego tea shops. I bought one, and am thinking about buying another. Who doesn't love high tea?

2. Bangs and fall pins

Although bangs tend to make me look like a 5 year old, I don't really mind. Ever since Stuff White People Like mocked girls with bangs, I have decided it was just the thing for me. Seriously, though, how fun are they? And fall pins with feathers in them make bangs even more exciting.

3. Vacation. Need I say more?

Heaven

For the last month, all I have craved is a Bread and Cie croissant and a cappucino, made fresh just for me. I imagined myself sitting, ever so cooly, in the cute Hillcrest cafe reading an awesome magazine or of-the-moment book. I would, of course, be wearing something just trendy enough and every gay man that walked by would compliment the way I chose to spend my Saturday afternoon.

The reality of Saturday's to-do lists often interfere with my imaginary afternoon snacks, as the laundry, grocery store, and dirty dishes pile up in front of me. Not this Saturday, though. I found an excuse to run an errand in Hillcrest, and spent an hour with these three good friends. My own little piece of heaven.

Out Sick

I have been out sick for what seems like eternity, but in reality has only been a week. Finally back among the land of the living, I am prepared to share with you what I have been eating in my illness:

matzo ball soup

mish mash soup

chicken noodle soup

scrambled eggs with toast

Yes, folks, it really has been an exciting week. More fun stories soon!

~Kristin

Gourmet Closes it's Doors

I am honestly in shock. I can only imagine how the staff of Gourmet feels. They are closing their doors. Cleaning out their desks. Done for good.

Thank you, Gourmet, and their awesome Editor-in-Chief Ruth Reichl for helping encourage my deep love for food and wine, as well as helping me create some of the most fun meals I have had.

No Winner...

Well, unfortunately there was no winner in my contest so I guess I'll just keep the $5 and buy myself an iced tea later today. Here were the CORRECT answers:

1. Pineapple (duh - if you had guessed that one wrong, we would need to have some words)

2. Shrimp Tempura roll (sushi is an acceptable answer I guess.)

3. Carne Asada (Kimberly, I am particularly disappointed in you for not knowing this. You need to move back because apparently you have forgotten everything.)

4. Pad Thai