Friday Things
1. Truth: The Christmas decorations are still up at my house, and I’ve been turning them on every single day. Tree lit, banister garland lit, nativity lit, mini ceramic tree in bathroom lit, outside lights lit… they’re all on! I like to milk the holidays for as long as possible. So far, so good, but I have a feeling they’ll be coming down this weekend. It was fun while it lasted!
2. Today I was slated to serve jury duty. I was totally prepared to rant about how receiving THREE jury summons in five years seems a tad bit excessive (seriously, it is). As instructed, I logged into the county website yesterday after 4pm, entered my juror number and date to appear, and… BAM! It said I was “hereby NOT REQUIRED to appear”. I got up and did a little dance. It totally felt like being in grade school, sitting with your pajamas on, watching the snow fall outside, and then seeing a school cancellation along the bottom of the television before you go to bed. Sheer delight!
3. I could totally live on Lindt truffles. Turns out, quite a few people in my life know this about me. Between Christmas, Valentine’s Day, my birthday and Easter, I haven’t run out truffles in like two years.
4. I get a lot of questions from readers about what I do with all of the food that I make. The answer is, it depends. Sometimes it gets eaten for dinner (leftovers for lunches!), dessert, frozen, shared with company, made for a get-together, sent with my mom to work, etc. I did want to let you in on one new way that I’ve found to share extra goodies that I have. My grandma volunteers once a month for the local food bank, so she gives me a call a few days before to remind me which day she’s going, and I package up any goodies that I’ve made and drop them off to her she she can give them out when she passes out food. I just thought I’d share, since so many people ask, and I know many of you bake a lot as well – it’s a great way to get some extra goodies out of the house and to make someone’s day in the process! :)
5. I mentioned on the BEB Facebook page that I’m overhauling my magazine subscriptions. I currently receive Real Simple, Cook’s Illustrated, Cook’s Country and Everyday Food, after paring down last year. I’m thinking of adding something along the lines of Women’s Health/Self/Shape and maybe a news magazine. What do you receive? Any good recommendations?
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6. Hockey is back! I think it was the fact that my mom bought me the “All I Want for Christmas is Hockey” t-shirt after seeing me mention here (she’s such a cool mom)… good karma :) I’m excited for the schedule to be announced and for tickets to go on sale… my bank account, not as excited. So much for, “well, at least I didn’t spend a ton of money on tickets this year”. Oh wait. Nevermind.
7. Confession: I feel like the whole food-centered Internet universe has gone crazy for quinoa. I’m totally the goofy-looking girl standing on the other side of the playground watching everyone else play games and not having a clue. I’ve had quinoa before, but… I just don’t get it. Is it because it’s healthy? What am I missing?
8. I finally got around to seeing the Jack Reacher movie, which I was totally pumped about since it was filmed in Pittsburgh. All of the views of the city were amazing, and the movie wasn’t bad. It didn’t quite live up to the other movies we’ve seen in the last few months (Lincoln, Argo and Skyfall), but it was decent… I gave it a B-.
9. Things I’m currently craving: Five Guys. New episodes of Homeland. A really good brownie. A fresh bagel with cream cheese. A new Sherlock Holmes movie.
10. TGIF! Have a roar of a weekend! (If I dressed Einstein up for Halloween, this would totally be his costume! On a related note, how funny was this story?)
Just took the decorations down Friday! So we are no so in the norm either. I see so many trees on the side of the road the day after Christmas! Quinoa is starting to intrigue me. I bought some just today to test it out and see what all the hoopla is. So we will see?
I just wanted to let you know that epicurious.com includes recipes from Self magazine and it seems to me they are almost always poorly rated. I have never been tempted to try one for this reason.
Oh, yeah. My Christmas decorations are still up, too!
Just to let you know, there is a new television show this year called “Elementary”. It is about a guy named Sherlock Holmes and a female counselor by the name of Watson. It is really quite good and may interest you. I was iffy when I watched the first show, but was totally hooked by the second. You are so right about the Lindt truffles.
If you decide to dress up Einstein as a lion, do share a pic! We’d all love to see it! :) Have a great weeked, Michelle!
Love Five Guys and skip over all the quinoa recipes.
Our Christmas decorations are still up too but we haven’t been lighting them. I think I will today. So great you give treats to the food bank. I just wrote about what I do with treats on my blog. Of course my freezer is also stuffed. I’ve never had quinoa and just bought a box to try. I like eating healthy for dinner because it means I don’t have to feel guilty about dessert.
1. I like to leave my decorations up until the 15th, so own it!
2. I am definitely allergic to quinoa so I don’t get it either. I do eat other whole grains like Farro and Wheat Berries.
3. I would like to have my poodle cut that way. Awesome!
4. I love Five Guys
5. Your Chewy Brownies are the best. I like them with some chocolate icing. That should satisfy the brownie craving
I’m so glad someone else has a quinoa allergy – well, I’m not happy for you, but you know what I mean?? Most people think I’m making it up – ugh!
I subscribe to Shape and like it. Some good workout and healthy food ideas.
I agree about quinoa. not a fan. I also get Real Simple, Cook’s Illustrated, and I was getting Everyday Food until they ended it :(
I really like Saveur and Bon Appetit too.
Thank you for making me feel not so alone on the quinoa thing. I’ve tried it, wasn’t a fan, but with all the hoopla, keep thinking maybe I should try it again to get on the bandwagon. Now I know I don’t have to.
And on the Christmas lights, it’s so much work to put everything up, you have to enjoy them for as long as you can. Mine are still up too but will likely be coming down this weekend as well.
That dog/lion story is hilarious! I can’t believe they actually thought it was a lion…my question is if it was the size of a retriever, which would be relatively small,as one woman said then why would it already have a full mane? Just my thoughts I guess.
My dad recently recommended I do the same as you do for your grandma because he said his waistline wasn’t appreciating my baking!
I love to bake, but I really don’t eat many sweets. I live across the street from an excellent pub, and the staff there receives the majority of my leftover baking bounty. Not only do I not pay for very many drinks, but they all pitched in and bought me a pasta maker for Christmas.
On the other hand, it would be a little too easy for me to become an alcoholic.
Our Christmas lights are still up too… as long as the neighbors are still turning theirs on, I’m leaving ours up and on too! They make me happy when I come home at night. :-) Also, a Five Guys burger and fries sounds delicious right now, and so does a bagel with cream cheese (sesame seed, toasted, please!). YUM. And I’m allergic to quinoa, so even though I’d love to try some of the new recipes floating around Pinterest, I can’t. Sad day.
Self magazine is the absolute best! (At least of the non cooking based ones)
I’m with you on the quinoa front. I have no idea what the big deal is about.
I subscribe to Whole Living and Yoga Journal – love both!
Now I’m craving a bagel with cream cheese too! I think I may just grab one for lunch :)
oh yea my Christmas stuff is still up too :) the house looks so sad when you take it down!
So excited hockey is back, I thought the season was done for. The story about the dog is hilarious! I love the people that said they saw a “baby lion”, maybe I just love nature shows but that is not what a baby lion looks like.
On the quinoa subject alone it’s pretty blah so I usually cook it in chicken or beef broth. I actually make your stuffed peppers recipe using ground turkey & quinoa instead of rice. It reminds me of cous cous but healthier & more filling.
OMG! Too funny that you mention Jack Reacher. My husband and I finally got around to seeing it on Monday night. He just posted a review about it on my blog. I think you’ll get a kick out of it. We also rated it a B-
I recently have been called for Jury duty as well… and after hearing the judge speak to us during orientation have a completely different view of Jury duty. I was hoping to hear I didn’t have to show or hoping I could go ahead and be delayed because I’m a breastfeeding mother, I soon changed my mind after listening to this Judge talk! At first I was thinking, this judge is sure on a soapbox, but she made a point to talk to us about how it our right and duty as American citizens.. She stated do you think the members of the armed forces want to go overseas and risk their lives for fellow American’s that aren’t excited to get the chance to serve our communities and utilize our right as citizens… She continued with the solider theme and said that many of us, potential jurors feel that jury duty is inconvenient, but isn’t it also inconvenient to those soldiers to be away from the friends and family serving us?? Yes its kind of a pain to do it, it can be uncomfortable, but it is a blessing that we get the opportunity to do so!
I am so, so, so excited hockey is coming back!! It’s been way too long :) Hope you have a great weekend!
Michelle, I, too, am working on paring down my magazine subscriptions. It’s getting out of control. I’ve decided to simply buy the Annual collection of Cook’s Illustrated and Cook’s Country, bound in a book. It’s so much easier to look through recipes when they are bound. The cost is not bad and takes up less space. My favorite women’s fitness magazine is WOMEN’S HEALTH magazine over others like Shape or Fitness Magazine. Less fluff, more facts. I also crave more of “Homeland” but right now, “Downton Abbey” is my obsession. I hate that I have to wait a year to watch my favorite shows like “Homeland”, “Dexter”, “True Blood”. Definitely a pet peeve!
I would reccomend Women’s Health magazine for your repetoire, my bf bought me a subscription for my birthday and I love it! Tons of useful information. I love your blog and I’m excited for Pens Hockey! I’m from the Pittsburgh area originally so I especially love your blog. :) I haven’t tried quinoa yet but this weekend I’m making a spinach mac and white cheddar cheese quinoa dish, it looks so tasty!
Quinoa really needs some jazzing up or it’s pretty dull. I posted a Butternut Squash Quinoa salad a while ago with golden raisins, candied walnuts, scallions, and a honey vinaigrette. It’s the best way I’ve found to eat it so far. I also want to try Martha Stewart’s Breakfast Quinoa recipe — sounds kind of interesting!
You’re lucky you live on the East Coast where Five Guys is fabulous. The ones opening out here on the West Coast are no where near as good as the one I went to twice in one week when I visited Alexandria, VA. YUM.
Quinoa is healthy and bland so you can do anything to it, but I have yet to find a recipe that I get really excited about. I’ve made several, but none make me happy enought to put them in the make again pile. So if you find one let us know.
i got whole living mag for christmas and so far (ok, 1 issue in) i really like it. i also like cooking light, but don’t subscribe.
*hanging