Thursday, January 28, 2010

Picture #4: Spring Flowers with Snow Showers


I know, I know - I'm a little obsessed with these ceramic milk bottle vases. But how cute are these cheery yellow flowers against the snowy New York street? ~A

Sunday, January 24, 2010

Picture #3: Best of Summer 2009


This summer I rowed with a team in D.C., and had the chance to race with them at the Canadian Henley. The taxing workout schedule kept me too tired to record it properly, but it was amazing to have the chance to see the river change throughout the day, from sunrise to sunset. And of course, Niagara Falls is pretty incredible! ~A

Recipe #4: Chicken and Sweet Potatoes with Shallots

Our second Real Simple recipe definitely lived up to the promise of being simple AND delicious. The salty pan-fried chicken and shallots is a tasty counterpoint to the creamy sweet potatoes, and though it always takes longer than the advertised 30 minutes (who ARE these speed cooks they base the time on?!), it certainly wasn't hard. A delightful companion to an evening of Mad Men episodes.

MODIFICATIONS: It should probably be clear by now that Heron and I view the given amounts of items like olive oil, salt and pepper as mere starting points - we usually increase them to taste. Definitely ignored the "hearty-healthy" suggestion of only using the sweet potato cooking water to mash and added butter and milk, as well as a tablespoon of brown sugar. We also cut up some baby mushrooms to add to the shallots.

MAKE AGAIN? Absolutely - eating the leftovers for lunch today and it's just as tasty as the night before. Click below for the recipe. ~A

Recipe #3: Creamy Barley with Tomatoes and Greens



This Real Simple recipe is the first of two this week, and I was interested to see if they really are as quick and tasty as advertised. This one was not bad, it's comforting and homey - and makes enough to easily feed a small army. Yay for easy leftovers!

MODIFICATIONS: None, really, though it's likely we exceeded the 2-oz recommendation for the Brie. (CHEESE!!) Also added a bit more barley than asked for to finish out the bag - probably made the cooking more difficult.

MAKE AGAIN? As we feel with all foods, this one could be easily improved with a strong dose of garlic added up front. But I think this could be a nice pasta substitution to feed a large group or provide several meals for a couple. Click below for the recipe. ~A