Rant/Rave: Really? Really?

Really? How much do I need to say about this?

Location: Old Town Pasadena, usually a stylish place...

Offense: Yes, that is t-shirt. with a winged sword. that is BEDAZZLED IN BLACK SPARKLES.

Lord. Have. Mercy.

Or rather, LHM as I like to say.

xoxo

preppy hipster

As mentioned previously, this semester of grad school has warranted the purchase of readers.

My mom got me this adorable pair for my birthday:

Yes, they are super hipster. 

But yes, they are Kate Spade, who I adore, obvi.

They are just generally lovely.

xoxo

where oh where...is the fair?

So, I am way behind in posting this post.  It's from my trip to Arkansassy.

it is about our trip to the State Fair. Yes state fairs are over by late-October...

In the past three years I have gone to three different state's fairs.  

It's always nice to do a bit of sampling and comparison of these things.

So what did Arkansas, my home away from home, have to offer?

Well clearly, what kind of fair would it be if there wasn't a plethora of fried food:

Unfortunately due to the excessive amounts of margaritas and mexican food, Jake and I were too full (shocking I know) to sample any. Weak sauce I know.

We did check out the animals:

Here are some cows... they are really big, like kind of scary large

Here are some pigs! I love pigs! 

This one was just chilling outside of his cage, you know, no reason to fence the piggy in...

Oh, and then we went inside to the craft building 

because I love crafts, but also because it was cold

Here were two prize winning cakes, look at that girl scout! Represent! 

And the burger, very impressive

And then there were the giant pumpkins! 

Though, even with my great love of this gourd, these ones weren't so pretty.

So many canned things. It basically looks like one of the closets at Mema's

Last but not least, Jake and I had to ride a ride, right?

So we chose the ferris wheel.  There were actually two, we obvi choose the bigger one.

Our view, so pretty!

Overall, it was a solid fair experience, even with the lack of fried food consumption, 

but my heart will thank me for that.

xoxo

easy does it stinky

I was craving a good ol' frenchy sandwich with dijon, brie, apples and ham.  

I had turkey instead of ham but no big.  

The only problem came from the brie - I got one that was bit more stinky than I prefer so my sandwich had a good kick to it, but still tasty.

ps. life is rough right now, final two weeks of the semester...

xoxo

birthday #24

Last week it was my birthday. Yes only number 24. 

I was home in LA for the Thanksgiving holiday so I got to spend the time with my friends and family. It was fabulous and of course, filled with food. 

Mom and I spent the day together eating and shopping (two things we do quite well surprise surprise)

(Mom loves taking pictures of her daughters with topiaries, ridiculous)

We went to Mi Piace for lunch, one of my favorite Californian/Italian restaurants before hitting up the stores in Old Town Pasadena.

We had the calamari to start. So delicious.

Then I had the Rigatoni con Salsiccia which was also fabulous - rigatoni with sausage, sun-dried tomatoes, and broccoli. There was one baby penne, adorable. 

For my 'cake' we stopped by dots cupcakes and picked up some minis!

We tried the fleur de sel chocolate, chocolate and vanilla, double chocolate, dulce de leche, sweet potato, and heath bar. All so good but the fleur de sel was our favorite. 

Don't worry, we didn't eat them all at once!

That night, I met up with my besties and headed over to Bottega Louie.

An absolutely amazing, yet affordable restaurant in DTLA.

We had french fries and bruschetta to start. 

Then I had the short ribs over polenta, which melts in your mouth.

For dessert we shared the grand macaroon and tiramisu.

Then we headed to the parlour room to meet up with more friends for an easy night out.

Overall it was an absolutely delightful day! 

Thanks to everyone who wished me well and made me smile.

xoxo

Rant/Rave: Fall Fashion

A couple of weeks ago, it was a wonderfully crisp fall day. Ashbash and I walked into the office to notice we were matching from the waist down. 

Though the lighting is off her tights were a dark grey. I was rocking brown tights with grey leg warmers. Yup, of the knitted variety. And of course, we were both wearing awesome brown boots.

Love the fall. 

xoxo

so much food: round 2

thanksgiving. I think my favorite holiday though it is kind of a push with easter...

But seriously thanksgiving is awesome in every way - friends, family, and food. 

The three best words really. 

We had peeps over in LA this year. I was in charge of dressing and dessert.  

For dessert I wanted to do something different but still fully fall-ish.  So I came up with an Apple and Pear Galette with a Rosemary Pecan Crumb.  

Oh what's a galette? Just a free form pie. AKA lets you get away with a bit of mess.

This one would have three parts: crust, filling, and crumb topping.

Crust

Ingredients:

1 cup of flour, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon sugar, 1 stick of butter, 3 Tablespoons water

plus: 1/4 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary, 1/8 cup chopped pecans, dash of cinnamon 

1. Combine dry ingredients in a food processor 

2. Cube the cold butter and add it in

3. With the processor on, add in water, slowly until it just comes together.

4. roll out and refrigerate until ready to use.

Crumb Topping 

Ingredients:

1/4 cup oats, 1/4 cup flour, 1/4 cup brown sugar, 1/4 cup chopped pecans, 1/2 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary, 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/8 teaspoon sea salt, 2 Tablespoon butter, cubed

Mix it all together with a pastry cutter

Filling

Ingredients:

2 apples, 2 pears, juice of half a lemon, 1 Tablespoon flour, 2 Tablespoon brown sugar

Slice up the fruit and mix all together

Putting it together

When ready: roll out dough. 

Pour filling in middle. Fold up edges around, crimping together. 

There should be about an inch of fold all around. 

Pour crumb on top

Bake in a 425 degree oven for 15-20 minutes until golden brown and delicious. 

---

As for the dressing, I went with the good old chestnut dressing that is had every year in my house. See the GF Chestnut recipe from round 1 of so much food. This time I just used a loaf of ciabatta. 

And then we ate...

so much food. I'm still full. I think I will be until christmas.

xoxo