Put on the Glasses

I saw Julie and Julia .  I love Nora Ephron movies, even if they make my husband roll his eyes at me (sidenote: When Harry Met Sally is hands down my favorite rom com).  After seeing it I needed to make a Julia Child recipe.  I immediately got a copy of Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking from the library (I highly recommend cookbooks from the library). I decided to try two recipes out of the book two nights ago for dinner.  I made gratin dauphinois (scalloped potatoes with milk, cheese and a pinch of garlic) and supremes de volaille aux champignons (chicken breasts with mushrooms and cream).  I was a bit nervous about making them but they both turned out perfectly.  Plus, they were really easy and reasonably priced! I made the gratin first: Here's the recipe, though I recommend picking up the book at the library because Child lists numerous variations to this base recipe: 2 lbs "boiling" potatoes (I used red) 1/2 clove unpeeled garlic 4 tb

My view improved drastically with the addition of few inches of snow and ice today.  Here is my improved view of the fire-escape, covered in snow: I love the sheet of ice flowing off the underside of the stairs!  I also have a great view out the front window:   I don't know if you can tell but he is wearing a Yankees hat.  Excellent winter day.  Definitely a night for cocoa and movies.  

Continuing my post from a couple a days ago, here are some more books that I have read in the last month: The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Díaz This book was incredible.  It is definitely one of the best books I have ever read, which is not surprising since it won the Pulitzer Prize (that is actually why I had put it on my wishlist; one of my methods for finding new books is looking at lists of award recipients).  The book is set in both the Bronx and the Dominican Republic.  It tells the story of Oscar Wao, an unpopular, Dominican nerd, and his family.  The book combines Dominican history and culture with a classic and compelling coming of age story.  While the book is mostly in English, Díaz mixes in Spanish words and phrases regularly.  However, at no point did I feel excluded or isolated.  Instead, this book became the determining factor in my beginning to learn Spanish in my free time.  That is how good it is; it inspired me to do something.  I recommend this

Another month has passed and another pile of books has been read.  I read 8 books in the last month which I think is pretty good.  If I keep this up, I might be able to reach 100 books by the end of the year!  That would be amazing but I am not holding my breath.  Once the weather warms, walking will take a priority over curling up with a book. Like last month, I wanted to give a brief assessment of what I thought of each book in case you might be inclined to read it.  Here goes: The Wordy Shipmates by Sarah Vowell As you might have noticed, last month I read Assassination Vacation by this author.  I liked that book so much that I quickly picked up this book to read.  At first I was disappointed.  It does not have the sarcastic dry humor that I loved so much in her other book.  Plus, it is about the Puritans, a subject I know little about.  However, once I got used to the characters (early 1700s political figures in Puritan New England), I found myself unable to put it down. 

I tried out the Curry Chicken Pot Pie recipe from Alton Brown's new book and it was excellent.  I changed the recipe a bit.  My store was lacking in puff pastry so I just made a batch of homemade biscuits in advance to substitute.    I love biscuits. In order to protect the chicken mixture from burning or drying out in the oven because of the lack of puff pastry, I covered it in tinfoil.  Then I just broke open biscuits and poured the chicken curry mixture on top. It was really good.  A perfect, warm winter meal.

This is going to sound stupid and nerdy but I love looking at my books.  When I am bored I just stare at the shelves and think about the books I've read or books that I still want to read. Last night, I couldn't sleep so I was looking at my bookshelf and I concocted a list of my top living authors.  These are the authors who, if I see a new book of theirs advertised or at a store, I do not hesitate to buy it.  These are also authors who have written more books that I like than books that I didn't like.  That would exclude, for instance, Mark Danielewski who wrote one of my favorite books ( House of Leaves ) but his second book was not so good.  Also, John Kennedy Toole does not make the list because he only wrote one book. Furthermore, I didn't list authors when I have only read one of their books, like Junot Diaz, Joyce Carol Oates or Paulo Coehlo.  Is this a subjective list?  Yes.  Is this a pointless list? Probably but I was amused by it and I thought you might b

For Valentine's Day this year I cooked a dish that reminds me of home like no other.  It's a family recipe that my Mom knows by heart and my Dad gets on special holidays. Spareribs, sauerkraut and dumplings: Here's my plate before I started inhaling it.     Not everyone likes it.  I didn't like it until I was an adult and came across a very similar dish in the Czech Republic.  I craved home-cooked food at the time and I instantly became obsessed with the dish. The tricky part about the recipe is that it wasn't really written down.  My Grandmother, Anita, wrote a copy for my Mom a long time ago but my Mom has since changed parts to simplify the recipe.  This is the recipe that my Mom told me and I adjusted on my own. For the Dumplings: These are the dumpling when they were boiling, as they start to get done, they float to the top of the water. 3 c bread crumbs (about a half of a loaf dried on a tray for a day and broken up in a food processor) 3-4 c grated r

  The first picture of us together taken in the Spring of 2005 in Duluth. Today is the five year anniversary of my first date with Brian.  Yes, we had our first date on Valentine's Day.  We spent the night at my apartment watching Dawn of the Dead and Shaun of the Dead , in true Alicia fashion.  He knew what he was getting into on the first date. I still force the poor guy to watch horror movies against his will. Tomorrow we will have been married 6 months.  We are still happy newlyweds, just starting to get used to being viewed as one unit.    On the big day at the Wynn Las Vegas. I also finally had my name changed on the Roll of Attorneys about a week ago.  This is not my fault.  It actually took that long because Nevada marriage certificates do not state the wife's intended name.  So, I had to change my name by Order on Application.  It was slow process going through the court system but I can now officially practice law under my married name.  Hooray! What are we

  Look at those chocolate chip cookies.  They are perfect.  I swear, Brian is a better cook than me.   I must find a way to best him!  Ideas? P.S. He used Alton Brown's recipe for Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies , a variation on the classic Toll House recipe.   P.P.S. Brian even weighed each cookie scoop to make sure that the cookies were identical.  Sigh.

Leela is becoming a normal desk accessory for me.

Every day I look at Craigslist and peruse the "free" page under the "for sale" category.  Usually there is the normal stuff that I don't want like mattresses or tube televisions.  Sometimes there are funny posts like this one advertising free snow.  Every so often there is a gem nearby.   A couple of weeks ago I got lucky.  Someone posted that they had left a bag of books outside for free.  It was only a block away!  I immediately marched to the address and snagged some great books: I have wanted to read that Bruce Campbell autobiography for years.  The books were all in great condition.  The ones I didn't want, like the old Photoshop books, I donated to the local library for their free cart . If you haven't looked at Craigslist's free page I definitely recommend it.  It is fun to read and sometimes you might actually get something you want.

This past weekend, since any hint of a diet had vanished with Brian's quesadillas and burgers, I finally made Tres Leches cake.  The cake acquired it's name, which means three milks, from it's use of condensed milk, evaporated milk and half & half. If you are lactose intolerant, I apologize; this cake isn't for you. I used (big shocker here) Alton Brown's recipe .  It turned out perfectly or at least I think it did.  I had never actually had it before.  I put off making it for so long because Alton's recipe instructs you to use a stand mixer, an appliance I only acquired last fall.  Above you can see the cake batter as I was mixing it.  Alton called for a 9x13 metal cake pan.  I didn't have one so I substituted 2 8 inch round cake pans.  It was a perfect fit.  My favorite part of the recipe was pouring the milk mixture onto the cake and watching it soak in: It tasted exactly like white cake dunked in milk, which is surprisingly delicious.  If y

I am going to try out a new kind of post.  Periodically I will post a summary of things in my life, like music, movies and projects, that I am interested in right now.  I was inspired to do this by Brian's summary posts , Lyza Danger Gardner's blog and by the sidebar that I had on my old webpage that I called "Things I am Obsessed with Right Now." I miss that sidebar. Music on my Current Playlist: Ghostwriter by RJD2 American Music by the Violent Femmes Lovegame by Lady Gaga Machine by Regina Spektor Uprising by Muse Movies Watched Lately: When Harry Met Sally  I will never get tired of this movie.  I have watched it too many times to count and I often quote it ("You're right, you're right, I know you're right").  I actually made chicken paprikash solely because Harry says, "Waiter, there is too much pepper on my paprikash."  Yes, I am that sad. Beer Wars Watched this on Netflix Instant Watch.  It was worth the time if you l

I changed the look of my blog today.  Are you excited?  I am. Here is a screenshot of what the old blog looked like (please ignore the little beige box; I was hovering over my bookmark): Here is what the new page looks like (I'm putting a picture up for Facebook readers and posterity): I love the new color scheme and clean look.  I hope you like it too!  Let me know what you think and if you have any suggestions for how I can make it even better.

Just wanted to post a quick update. I have not run out of things to say. Instead of blogging, I have been wasting my time planning a website redesign. I hope to roll out a new design sometime this week. You will hear more from me then!