A New Design!

When it comes to the design of this blog, I am sorry to say that I am one of those people who is never, ever satisfied with the design. Like my mother repainting a bathroom 103 times before she found just the perfect shade of blue, I am a tweaker and a perfectionist. I want the fonts, colors, layout, and feel to be just right for my readers.

But after almost four years (what?!) of blogging, I have come to a not-so-startling conclusion: I am not a blog designer or coder. Shocking, right? The past few months have been filled to the brim with things in life that need to be planned and accomplished and I am slowly (and a bit reluctantly) learning that I cannot do it all.

And that’s okay! I cannot begin to calculate the hours upon hours I have spent working on the various designs for my blog, hours Googling and watching tutorials on how to code. I was stubborn enough to think that this was time well spent – why pay someone to do the work when I am perfectly capable of doing it myself?

Turns out, I’m not actually that capable, I don’t really enjoy it, and there are plenty of very talented people out there who can do a much better job than me! This space was ready for a refresh and, as I am very happily starting to receive a few photography assignments here and there, I really wanted this space to instantly reflect my personality for my readers. With this in mind and still on a tight budget, I decided to outsource the design of my blog to much more able hands. For an incredibly small cost, I have now freed up those previously frustrating hours to focus on clients, projects, planning, blogging, and life.

So, what do you think?! The lovely team of Designer Blogs is responsible for this beautiful update and I am just so thrilled!  I tweaked a few things (I had to!) to make the layout just perfect and I added a bit of sparkle (because it makes me happy!) with the gold glitter social media icons from Mint 102. I feel relaxed and inspired every time I open my browser and I cannot wait to use those extra hours to actually be able to share my photographs, stories, and recipes!

Project Life 2012 | Week Forty-Four

I'm playing catch-up (again) on Project Life.  Funny thing is, sometimes life can get in the way of actually documenting each week.  But I am trying really hard to keep this going through the end of this year and to complete each week, even those past weeks that still need photos and words.  I absolutely love the results of the project.

Week forty-four was the week Hurrican Sandy hit our region.  I decided to dedicate an entire page to the storm, incorporating my photos of the Upper East Side and some from Mike's co-worker of half of Manhattan without power.

On the following two pages, I documented the strange week that followed, with no subway service, the cancellation of the NYC Marathon, our Halloween, and an anniversary party at our gym.

Thanksgiving Dinner & Dessert Ideas

Thanksgiving - my favorite holiday of the entire year - is this Thursday!  I will not actually be cooking, as Mike and I will be visiting family in South Carolina.  But I figure there might be a few people out there looking for last-minute ideas of delicious things to make and share this Thanksgiving.  Below are some ideas from past posts that just might be exactly what you need! To those who are cooking, good luck and remember to have fun!  And, if all else fails, just be sure to have plenty of wine on-hand.  To those, like me, who are just consuming, remember to thank those who have worked hard to ensure you have a scrumptions meal and lend a hand with the dirty dishes!

If you are having family or friends over for dinner, adding the warm smell of Mulled Apple Cider to your home can be incredibly welcoming.  You can even mull the apple cider the day before and rewarm before guests arrive.  The spices become even more flavorful when they have the chance to sit overnight. 

Roasted Butternut Squash Soup with Cinnamon Crema is a great appetizer for your family and friends.  Make the soup and crema on Tuesday or Wednesday and then just rewarm when you are ready to serve on Thanksgiving.  Like the apple cider, the flavors will just get better!

A big basket of Nana's Oatmeal Rolls are always on my family's Thanksgiving table.  This is another recipe that you can make on Tuesday or Wednesday and then rewarm prior to serving.  They also make perfect little vesels for consuming Thanksgiving leftovers.

Ahh, Bittersweet Chocolate Pecan Pie.  This is my twist on the Southern classic, where the chocolate actually helps make this pie a bit less sweet and a lot more delicious and balanced. Be sure to make the pie crust a few days ahead - you want to give the butter plenty of time to get really cold again, yielding a perfectly flaky crust.

Whether you serve this Bourbon Ice Cream on its own or with a slice of Bittersweet Chocolate Pecan Pie, your tastebuds will be rejocing with some of the best Southern flavors.

Hot Bread Kitchen's Night Market

Last Thursday night, I headed uptown to Harlem for the annual fundraiser at Hot Bread Kitchen.  Not even an incredibly pesky, lingering cold could keep me from enjoying the evening.  My boss introduced me to this amazing organization almost two years ago and I have so loved learning more about their programs, success stories, and impacts in the community.  Hot Bread Kitchen is a bakery (and so much more) that employs immigrant women who might traditionally have difficulty finding work in a new country, or might be chastised for even dreaming of doing so.  These women share and produce the breads of their homelands and childhoods and, in turn, receive culinary training, English classes, and job-placement assistance.

The evening was filled with many supporters, lots of delicious dishes, and a bubbly glass of hard cider.  Perhaps my favorite moment was watching the hands-on demonstration of making m'smen, though not more than eating a piece right off the griddle.  Afterwards there were more treats – cookies from Dorie Greenspan and a tour of the tiny kitchen that now produces all things sweet for her newly launched company, Beurre & Sel.

If you would like to learn more about this organization, FOOD & WINE wrote a great piece, complete with a few recipes, on Hot Bread kitchen a few years ago.  Or you can head straight to the official website.  And if you are in New York City, you are lucky enough to have their breads offered at many retailers and green markets!

Our Halloween

Our Halloween was very quiet.  In a city still trying to get back on her feet after Hurricane Sandy, it hardly felt like a day for celebration.  It was hard to wrap my head around handing out candy when almost the entirety of downtown Manhattan continues to be without power, water, food.

Mike walked home from the office last night, as subways were at a standstill and packed buses were stuck in heavy traffic.  After dinner, I baked a fresh batch of Halloween Monster Cookies and we watched our favorite Halloween specials before calling it a night.  Simple and sweet.