Not the only one

Small highlight of my day. there’s another kindred spirit out there named sarahbeth and actually not far away, in the Bronx. She makes jam and today I saw her line for the first time at Fairway. Pretty stoked to try this strawberry rhubarb jam.

I'm actually a little surprised that I've never googled this before. I want to go visit her kitchen some day...put it on the list : )

www.sarabeth.com

A Strong Affinity for Quiche

My favorite way to use up the food about to expire in my fridge is to make a quiche. Over the past years I’ve developed a great love for the dish - it’s delicious, it’s hard to mess up, and it contains the vegetables I always have in my fridge and am never using up quite fast enough.

There are a few key secrets, but once you have those down, you really can’t screw this one up.

• Use frozen deep pie crust – while there is a lesson in fortitude learned from making your own crust, the frozen ones are pretty fantastic and pretty cheap. So as my old boss always said 'why waste time reinventing the wheel?'
• Pre-bake the crust. Poke holes with a fork in the dough, then 10 minutes on 450F will do the trick.
• Make a simple custard – as I learned from Julia Child’s guidelines, the proportions are 1 large egg and milk to add up to a half cup. For the standard size crust I use, generally 1.5 cups of custard. Whisked with a touch of S&P.
• Sweat your Veggies – use whatever vegetables you love (or are getting a bit mature in your fridge..) and sweat them before putting the baking. Olive oil, S&P in a sauté pan.
• Assembly – cheese first, veggies next, more cheese (if you’re into that) then custard. Don’t fill to the top, it will rise a bit.
• Bake at 375F on a top rack in your oven for about 30 minutes, until firm and golden on top.

Tonight I just finished making one with green peppers, onions, garlic, champagne and parmesan cheese and garlic salsa. I really did not know how the flavors would combine, but it came out beautifully! I especially like the kick the salsa added the otherwise very savory taste – definitely a nice touch I will use again the next time.

Side note: you'll find a lot of recipes tell you that you need a lot of fats when the truth is you don't. You don't need butter, nor do you need cream. While they taste great, so does custard from eggs with skim milk. There are a million other ways to make it more delicious without adding more fat.

It's today

My mum has asked me what I do to pass the time and I’ve found there’s very little I know to share. Obviously running; it’s one of the few things I fight to keep in my weekly routine. Other than that…ummm? I work, but not crazy hours like some. I read, but not that avidly. I spend time with my friends, but doing what? Well, that’s hard to describe. I try to blog, but that’s once a week during a good phase. I see movies, but only once in awhile. I love to cook, but again, only on occasion do I put a lot of effort into my cooking. Well shoot, I don’t really know what I do and that truth scares me… a large quantity.

I’ve heard it said before that how you spend your days is how you live your life. While it at surface may seem apparent, think about it. Do you do the things that you want to be known for? Does the way you spend your time reflect the person you want to be? I’m really not sure.

quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger

I hate bull but sometimes I catch myself spewing it anyhow. Literally I’ll be sitting here writing up a post thinking I have this great idea, this unique perspective, and then I will read what’s on the screen and be disgusted with myself. It’s full of things I don’t actually know to be true, generalizations and probably a few offensive remarks as well.

I’m not one to press the Publish button immediately, but at the same time, I think I could be slower to the draw. Our generation in so many facets has lost its filter; free speech has picked up a distinct stench of entitlement. Yes, I think our opinions and perspectives are invaluable, but I think there’s more. So much to learn, so many ways our education is not complete. What would happen if I read through this a couple times/ thought over this a couple times before I actually put it out there? Well I might be called slow, but at least I’d have a better chance at being wise. Maybe.

As I finished writing this, the source popped into my head -- Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters: Let every person be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger. James 1:19.

JaNEWary

I love the feeling of new beginnings in January. I never really considered myself to be a New Year Resolution kind of person, but this year, I’m particularly in the mindset and am quite enjoying it. There is something so satisfying about setting goals and attaining them. Not just long term; I enjoy making a list of things to get done this week and actually crossing them all off. I think that has a lot to do with the fact that I make endless To Do lists at work and never have the time to get to each item – if it can’t be done at work, do it on your own time and just smile to yourself. There is no shame in that.

My goals for this year:

• Keep writing – write more, write better. I love to write; why the hiatus?
• Become more financially responsible. First step - pay off my cc debt.
• Compete in a race – full marathon ideally, but a half at minimum.
• Experiment in cross training – I know I love to run, but I think I need something else to compliment it.
• Study and do well on the GMAT.
• Find a church and go regularly, whatever that means with my schedule.
• Volunteer my time to a cause outside of work.

I continue to surprise myself. I generally think of goals as more broad life changes (Exhibit A: my resolutions from last year) but as I forced myself to start writing it down very concrete items came to mind. Now that I read them over, I wouldn’t change them; these are things I really want to do, want to accomplish, think will lead me in the path I want to follow. Will keep you posted as I work toward crossing these off my list. Honestly, this looks like a good recipe for success in 2011 for Sarabeth.

As an aside: I hope you enjoy the serious corniness of the entry title. When I thought of it, it was too wonderfully goofy to pass up.

Christmas Lights by Coldplay

Beautiful

You can only have it once

There is nothing like seeing a movie for the first time - a really funny movie, a suspenseful movie, a love story. There is something about not knowing. Only one time to you get to hear this story and not know how it ends up, only one time you get to hear that joke and be surprised by its hilarity, only one time that you can't seem to put the pieces together to figure out how to perpetrator is. I will argue to end that there truly is nothing like it.

I myself am crazy about movies so of course I'd take it there first, but the same is true in daily life. There are only so many moments when you're not sure if you're going to beat your goal time, if that guy wants to kiss you as much as you do him, if you're going to close the deal that's been in the works for what feels like eternity, if your loved one is going to make it or not.

I crave these moments. I want to stand in the midst of them and bask in the beauty.

But yet, every time in this moment that I can never recover it seems I cannot wait for it to pass. I want to know what it will look like on the other side - do they end up together? Does he end up locked up or roaming the streets again? Am I going to have to start all over? Am I going to have to wait for my broken heart to mend?

I'm not really sure what the moral of this story is besides that I'm writing it down so that I don't forget to recognize these firsts. Stop. Smile to myself and remember that moment of mystery. Sure, it may have felt like it was tearing me apart, but it was only for a season. Revel in the fleeting ignorance because you won't have it for long.