Arabesque POD

the enforcer

Read this fascinating three-part article about hockey, fighting, and Derek Boogaard who died earlier this year. And I'm not just saying that because I've met D.J. King at a bar in Clarendon.

On repeat

Snack on repeat: wasabi peas. Pro column: spicy and amazingly crunchy. If you put too many in your mouth, the wasabi shoots up your nose and clears your sinuses. Con column: contains MSG. Why, wasabi, why?

Song on repeat: It Will Rain by Bruno Mars. This song is a trifecta: it's a slow jam, it's from the latest Twilight movie soundtrack, and Bruno Mars happens to kind of be adorable.

I feel like i should start blogging again POD

Hello, Blog!

It's been almost a year since I've written and yes, I have totally missed you.  

I thought about you today. And thought about what you could look like post-makeover. All strutting around with a new theme, a new direction, if you will.

Any ideas? Ideas:

1. The first-world trials and tribulations of living with a vitamin b12 deficiency (underlying mystery element: is there a tapeworm somehow involved?! Probably not, but what if!)

2. A weekly guide to shopping at the Costco and what to do with 2-pound bags of shredded mozzarella and 2-pound containers of tzatziki yogurt dip. What samples are "in" and what samples are "out"?

3. The Russian Mother's Advice column (advice provided courtesy of my very own Russian mother). Advice topics range from proper fish oil consumption to proper pillow materials, from shoe styles to pregnancy preparedness. Whatever you're doing, you're doing it wrong! Or could be doing it better! From Russia[n mother] with love. 

Just kidding. It's good to see you.

Beach Weekend POD

Make 1,000 lovely things -- Slideshow for my dad's 60th birthday

My dad has turned 60 years old and in his honor, and with my mom's help, I put together a "Life and Times of Papa T" slideshow. I think it had the intended effect -- it made my mom cry and the dog pee on the living room carpet.

Number 76: Meet an alpaca.

This is Snooki. Snooki likes eating, being fed, and getting the food bin stuck on her head.

Victory Ranch Alpacas

French in a flash POD

Sweet Onion and Goat Cheese Tarts with Thyme.

Pick blueberries at your co-worker's farm POD

Hydrangea POD

Send me your photos and I will make them artsy fartsy on my new iMac POD

Greetings from Germany POD

Saturday morning photo shoot POD

Budapest bug POD

Memorial Day Farmer's Market POD

Inaugural Le Creuset Chili POD

At the beginning of the year I had resolved to write more and take more frequent photos and do more cooking.  And look at how well I've done so far.

Last night, in preparation for the snOMG blizzard of 2010, I went to the Whole Foods. The produce isles were picked clean. I was able to snatch for myself the very last yam and also gather the ingredients to make some chili.

Behold, the inaugural chili of my new Le Creuset dutch oven:

This one has:

1. Onions and garlic.
2. Ground beef. I really should have drained the fat after browning, piggy.
3. Tomato paste.
4. Pinto beans. The last kind of canned bean left at the store last night. I had a can of kidney beans in my cupboard, due to expire in about a year, but they were gelatinous when I opened the can today. Gross.
5. Mushrooms. If it were socially acceptable, I would wear sweatpants and flip flops every day. I would also add mushrooms to every meal. On occasion I've also been known to add celery and/or red and yellow bell peppers to my chili.
6. Several splashes of Spaten beer. I couldn't really taste it in the chili.
7. Cilantro. Don't be afraid to use a lot of cilantro.
8. 2-Alarm Chili spices kit. I am not cheating, I just haven't gotten around to investing in bottles of all of the spices. I use: ground chili peppers, red pepper, paprika, cumin/oregano, salt, and some of the superfluous onion/garlic flakes.

Happy snOMG!

Merry Christmas POD

My mom taught me how to make vareniki (you probably know them as pierogies) from scratch. We made a large batch yesterday afternoon.

Merry Christmas!

Thanks, Starbucks!

Starting today, Starbucks is selling French macarons produced by Chateau Blanc. Macarons are a traditional French pastry made of egg whites, almond powder, icing sugar, and sugar (and are not coconut macaroons).

The box looks like this:



The macarons look like this:



You'll get two each of coffee, pistachio, raspberry, chocolate, vanilla, and lemon. Macarons do not tend to last very long, only a couple of days, so I expected these not to be super fresh. The fruity ones -- raspberry and lemon -- were actually very moist and fresh-tasting. The chocolate one was a bit on the dry side and the coffee-flavored one was my least favorite (ironically for Starbucks?). But don't get me wrong. I. Am. Thrilled.

I had afternoon tea with my macarons and out of curiosity, did a Google search of other reviews or articles about this product. Words like "sacrilegious" and "outrageous" are being thrown around all over the Internet. But seriously people, is there a Laduree somewhere around here that I don't know about? For the price and for the accessibility, I am willing to forgive that fact that they do not taste EXACTLY like the ones you would order in a shop in Paris. Theory of the day: Acceptable and decent macarons are better than no macarons at all.

Try them before the 25th!

The ultimate day of Christmas activities

Today was a whirlwind adventure of Christmas fun. Tomorrow is a day of hard-core final exam studying. But today was a day of Christmas fun.

First stop: the White House Christmas tree.



Surely it looks better lit up at night. But I thought twice about braving a cold winter night as I pulled on my under-the-jeans tights to keep warm on this sunny day.

Next stop: get a picture of yourself with your home state Christmas tree.



Here is me with the Maryland tree. What a pair of classy broads.

Next: go to the Willard Intercontinental Hotel and drink a hot toddy in the decorated lobby. Things went awry a little bit at this stage of the activities as I placed my feelings of adventureness ahead of my feelings of "what sounds good". I found myself ordering the Hot Buttered Rum, which was literally heated rum with a slab of butter floating and melting around in it. Note for next time -- go with the spiced apple cider or that peppermint drink, not the drink that Mark Twain supposedly enjoyed, Jesus what is wrong with you?

Pit stop at Teaism for a bento box of delicious Japanese food.

Next: browse the stalls at the downtown holiday market. Buy presents only for yourself. Actually, I only really bought just one thing: a yummy photo print of a farmer's market in Venice (photo taken by this man). I have high hopes for this print and the kitchen of my new apartment.

Keep going!: visit Julia Child's kitchen at the American History museum.



While not particularly a Christmas activity, it was on my must-see list.

Finally: visit the parents and put up and decorate the T family Christmas tree!



The responsibilities fell on Papa T and I this year, and my absolute favorite part was unwrapping each ornament and associating it with a certain memory.



This one my mom bought during the Chinese Year of the Boar, since yours truly has a pig year birthday.



This one I purchased at the Buckingham Palace shop the year I spent New Year's Eve and the two following weeks in London with a college friend.



This one serves as a reminder of the year I was supposed to study abroad in Japan for three weeks and got sick with the flu two days before the flight and was unable to go.



Ah yes, the Irish harp I bought last year when I was living in Ireland by myself and had no Christmas tree, but thank goodness my parents came to town and saved the day and visited me for the holidays.



These I can remember from forever ago. My mom calls them the "GDR ornaments" because, yes, they were made in East Germany way back back in the day.

What are your favorite ornaments (or Christmas activities)?

The end

Dear Lord. Hallelujah. Holy Shit. NaBloPoMo is over. I did it.

This month I . . .

celebrated the twentieth anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall;

made mulled wine;

engaged in a massive paperback swap;

visited some museums;

looked into pig ownership;

got a new job;

read some books;

bought a piece of the University of Maryland; and

began an apartment hunt.

I feel good. I feel accomplished. Ready for the next project. Next year: NaNoWriMo, a month of novel-writing about a Russian girl living in the DC area!