It's the Holiday Season

The Mister and I are about to embark on a lovely little 12 hour drive tomorrow to spend Christmas with family in Michigan. In preparation, I've had to squeeze a lot of holiday rush into the last few days! We finished shopping over the weekend and today I had to wrap, sticker, and cleverly pack a box of gifts that would fit into an already too small rental car. I also spent the last two days in the kitchen. A few of you might find a sneaky package resembling something like this in your mailbox soon. :-)

On Monday I had a few failed experiments, that included peppermint meringues that weren't swirled enough (I eventually threw them out, but it was not a total waste of time; I learned Martha Stewart's recipes are deceiving, and that I'll use another next time) and a late night batch of caramels that turned out like rock candy. FAIL. So yesterday I was determined to make up for it. Chocolate pretzels were dipped, a new batch of caramels was perfected, sliced and wrapped, christmas chocolates were created, cut out cookies were cut, baked, and decorated for the Mister's office, and somehow in between all that, I even managed to wrap everything up and get it off to the post office. Whew! I'm a little bit exhausted.

So excuse me today while I throw in a few more loads of laundry, clean the apartment for visitors upon our return, run last minute errands, and then pass out for a nap on the couch. I'm hoping dinner tonight will consist of some form of take-out as well, since my brain hasn't been functioning very well on a non-stop diet of sugar. Happy Holidays from my Brooklyn kitchen to yours!

Big Chill Recap and Sneaky News

Last weekend in Michigan was far too short. Every minute was scheduled to the max! We arrived safe and sound with no flight delays (a miracle in itself given how late we got to the airport; 6:15 for a 6:50 flight!!) and made it to Ann Arbor by 9:30pm. Of course, we got some Jimmy John's delivery for a late dinner. :-) Then Friday morning I was up and at em early. Breakfast tea was had, a visit to the store and bank were made, and then children arrived that needed many, many hugs. I couldn't stay for long though, as I had a lunch date! Kristal and I dined just like the good old days at Sadaku. I even managed to stretch my stomach enough to fit both a shrimp bento box and a spicy tuna roll in! Post lunch there was a haircut with my favorite stylist at Salon Vox, followed by coffee and catching up with the lovely Stephanie. Then I had to hurry home to visit with more kids before they left for the evening to Toledo. After that the Mister was just about at wits end with no computer, so we headed back into town to grab some dinner with Mike and Sarah (woo supper club mini reunion). I was really wanting to try Frita Batidos, Eve Aronoff''s new restaurant, which had just opened. Sarah of course, was game. It was a good thing too, because this meal was FANASTIC. Literally everything we tried was awesome (and we pretty much had the whole menu), despite Mike not being a fan of the citrusy churros. I have seriously no complaints though. From chorizo fritos to sour orange batidos, and from tamarind hot wings to twice-fried plantains, everything was tasty. I'll let some snapshots do the talking!

Post dinner we headed to my brother and sister in law's house for some games. Somehow what was supposed to be a pretty casual night, turned into us not leaving until after 2am! Not ideal for another 'up and at em early' Saturday morning. But I made due. Because I couldn't be late for breakfast with both Kristal and Stephanie at 9am! It was great catching up twice, but I feel a little silly not having taken a single picture with either of my two ladies! After a quick breakfast I headed back to my in-laws to shower & get ready, because it was nearly time to leave for the game! The mister and I met up with Stephanie's mister at a tailgate for an hour or so, and then it was into the big house. What fun! We entered the stadium near the tunnel to get the full marching band experience. Then once seated, even I was surprised how good our seats were. Thanks Gorski!! We were only about 4 rows up from the entire Michigan football team, just left of center ice. It made for good people watching, since everyone seemed to be snapping a million pictures of Shoelace (Denard Robinson). Once the game started, it was even more excellent fun. Not too cold, just the right fan atmosphere, and oh so fun to have that many people in one place breaking a Guinness world record. I'm really glad we traveled back to MI for it.

Go Blue!

Hockey in the Big House

Proudly displaying our Maize and Blue

A great Michigan victory, followed by fireworks!

After the game the Mister and I grabbed a quick dinner at Jerusalem Gardens (my cravings were fierce, falafel places in Brooklyn that I've tried so far are just NOT the same), before I headed off to grab a glass of wine with my college gals Kara and Jamie who were in town for the game. A few hours of catching up ensued, and then I had the Mister pick me up and take me to the Gorski house, where games, drinking, and general nonsense occurred until 4 am! A long day indeed. 

Finally Sunday there was a bit of sleeping in, followed by a really tasty breakfast at my in-laws. I got plenty more hugs from my niece and nephew and all was well in the world. At least, until it came time for our flight at 5pm, which had been slowly getting more and more delayed all day due to the giant snowstorm overnight. We eventually made it to the airport around 9:30pm, only to be delayed a few more hours before we finally got on a plane bound for New York around 2am. Arriving back home to our lonely kitties at 4am was a little less than ideal, but I'm thankful we made it back at all! Getting stuck in an airport overnight is just about my worst nightmare. Given the breakdown, I think you can tell that it was a fun weekend, that just flew by too quickly.
I spent the rest of this week catching up on sleep, and (for the sneaky news part) preparing for a pretty important interview today. Yeah, you heard that right, Interview. I've been keeping hush hush about all things job search related, since it hasn't been so easy to find the type of job I had back at U of M. But since my interview went so well today (all 3+ hours of it!) and I'm already scheduled for a second after the new year, I felt it was time to share. No major reveal of potential employer or details yet, but keep your fingers crossed this pans out. I think it would be a really fun opportunity to learn some new stuff, and I'm excited about the job location being right in Brooklyn (woo small commute). Now that my interview is over, I'll be spending the next few days soaking up all things Holiday in New York before it's back to the mitten for Christmas. I've got plans to check out the shop windows along Fifth Avenue, see the train exhibit at Grand Central Station, finish up my Christmas shopping and bake another batch of cookies for the Mister to take to work. Oh yeah, and finish my Christmas cards and get them mailed out somewhere in all of that too. Whew, deep breath. Happy Holidays!

Heading out

We're leaving the Big Apple for the weekend, and heading to freezing cold MI for the should-be fabulous Big Chill. I'm excited for hockey (I miss our season tickets) and catching up with friends from afar. I'm also hoping for heavy doses of time spent with my niece and nephew, as it's been far too long since I've snuggled them and laughed at their silly antics. Hopefully I'll be back on Monday with a full report. Until then, stay warm, since I might not be in Michigan's predicted daily highs of only 12 degrees F. Brrrrrrrr.

Homemade cinnamon rolls

I got inspired by the internets to make some homemade cinnamon rolls recently. The recipe I saw was for eggnog rolls, but since I think eggnog is pretty foul, I went traditional:

Super Fun Cinnamon Rolls

1 3/4 cup skim milk

1/4 cup canola or vegetable oil

1/2 cup sugar

2 pkts active dry yeast

3/4 tsp baking soda

5 cups all purpose flour

2 Tbsp butter, melted

1/4 cup sugar

LOTS of ground cinnamon

For the Icing:

5 Tbsp melted butter

2 cups powdered sugar

1 tsp vanilla

~4 Tbsp hot water

1) In a large pot, combine the milk, oil and 1/2 cup sugar. Heat over low heat until the mixture is very warm, but not hot (~100-110 F). Remove from the heat. Sprinkle the yeast atop the milk mixture and let sit for ~5 minutes. Stir to combine.
2) In the same pot, stir in four cups of the flour with a rubber spatula until wet and dry ingredients are well-combined. Sprinkle the baking soda atop the dough, along with the remaining one cup of flour. Dump the contents of the bowl onto a lightly floured surface, and knead the dough by hand until it is soft, smooth and stretchy. (This is the super fun part!)
3) Transfer the dough ball to a clean, lightly-oiled bowl. Cover with a towel and let sit for an hour, or until the dough doubles in size.
4) Pre-heat oven to 350 F.
5) Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured surface again, and press by hand into a rectangle (about 15x6 inches).
6) Brush dough with the melted butter. Mix the remaining sugar and ground cinnamon together, and sprinkle that generously on the dough. Roll the dough into a log lengthwise, pinching the same together to hold it closed. Cut the log in 1/2, and then in 1/2 again, cutting about four 2 inch pieces out of each section. You should end up with 16 rolls total.
7) Lightly butter two 9" round cake pans. Place the pieces into the cake pans, about an inch apart. Bake for 16-20 minutes, until the rolls are light golden and puffed up. Cool just slightly on a wire rack.
8) Meanwhile, prepare the icing in a mixing bowl by beating together the butter and powdered sugar, adding the vanilla and water to combine in smooth texture. Spoon over the warm rolls and enjoy immediately!

Rolling out the dough

Sprinkle and roll

Pre-baked rolls

Post-baked rolls

Frosted and ready to enjoy

It's Christmas Time

In the city! It really is so much fun to explore this time of year. No snow yet, but tonight the Mister and I had a lovely evening checking out Rockafeller Plaza, the Union Square Holiday Market (where we ran into Top Chef Rick Bayless and I chickened out saying Hello) and window shopping till our invisible wallets were empty. It's pretty magical, this city of ours.

Today was Epic

I'll let images explain why:

Baking cookies with the holiday lights on, watching the Sound of Music while opening brown paper packages tied up in strings, and simmering Julia Child's French onion soup on the stove. I'm one happy lady (who's just a wee bit obsessed with the Instagram app in case you couldn't tell).

Obligatory Crazy Cat Lady Post

I very rarely post things like this, but today my panties are all up in a bunch. About cat food of all things! I've been feeding our two monsters Iams for basically all of their lives. They've rarely had problems, and frankly, they not only get clean bills of health from the vet, but the vet often comments on how soft they are or how young they seem. So far good, you know? Anyway, today I stopped by a pet store to get some Iams, and they were out. Upon questioning, no less than two store clerks informed me that Iams has had multiple recalls over the last few months. It was out of stock for that reason. Of course, me being, well, me, I went into crazy person mode. I bought whatever brand the clerk told me to get, threw out the old food, sanitized every cat eating vessel in sight, and now that I've been home for a few hours, I've been researching the internets. Turns out, Iams? Not so great. Recalls because of potentially deadly salmonella outbreaks in the factory? Also, not so great. Eating the tainted food seems to produce side effects galore, most of which my monsters have displayed very recently, and I've been ignoring. Awesome, I've been slowly poisoning my cats!
After said research this afternoon though, I think now I'm pretty well informed about what should go into kitty food and what brands people in the know are recommending. Since most of my usual readers couldn't care less than a subway rat's ass about cat food reviews, I'll spare you the details. For now, I'll just be buying a couple of good brands that are expensive within reason, and testing them out on the monsters. Hopefully this little experiment makes them feel better and I notice a difference in their behavior, because I've had quite the afternoon crying in their fur telling them I'm sorry for trying to kill them...