The Blog Lives!

Well, kind of.

I did not forget about my lovely blog. Every time I look at it I get a little sad that I just let it fade into oblivion.

But I don't intend to let it go to waste!

I stopped posting mostly because it just became no fun to have to go through so many photos and edit them all.  I also don't prepare new dishes often enough to keep my blog as updated as I intended. So moving forward I plan to use a lot fewer images when I do update, and reduce my recipe posts to a minimum of once per month.  This way I can continue to add new content without feeling pressured to have a new recipe every week.

This means there may be more posts like this one; simply informational updates to remind you all I'm still alive. Since nobody likes a post with no pictures, I'll be sure to throw in at least one with every update. Fair?

And for anybody who may randomly read this blog and not know me in real life, here's an update about me.

Since you last heard from me I have gotten engaged and am preparing to relocate to Israel very soon! It goes without saying that I'm a bit stressed trying to figure out how to arrange a wedding when no matter where I choose to host it, 50% of the guests I would like to attend live in another country.  While also trying to manage a move to another country and generally figure out my life.  So you should probably anticipate a number of wedding/immigration related posts in the next 6 months.

These are, of course, wonderful problems to have. And so generally, life is good.

Here is a picture of me, my fiancé, Guy, and my family dog Rascal for the added fluff factor:

Sauteed Mushrooms in White Wine

Sorry for taking so long to get this post out.  I finally got a real job (I know, sad) and I'm taking a course, so things got a little crazy. 

But anyway, these mushrooms are super yum delish.  I made them for thanksgiving dinner and they were a big hit. Then Guy and I made them another night for dinner and not only were they just as good, they were also really quick and easy to throw together.  Yay for foods that can be an easy addition to a weeknight meal, but also work for a special holiday dinner!

Plus, don't they just look so scrumptious? mmmmm

As with most things I post, this can be modified for your personal tastes.  Change up the herbs if there is something else you like better, leave out the butter if you want it to be a little lighter, use chicken broth in place of wine if you don't want alcohol.  Maybe try it once according to the recipe and then mix it up for your own tastes. And as always, have fun!

Nelly's Vegetable Soup

I wasn't home much while Guy's parents were visiting.  But I still wanted to take advantage of having Guy's mom (Nelly) around to make at least one of her yummy soups.  She claims that she likes making soups because she's lazy and they are so easy to make; throw everything in a pot, boil, and eat.  So when we were finally in Davis for about a day we decided to make one of our favorites, vegetable soup.

This is not the kind of vegetable soup most of us are familiar with.  First off there are NO tomatoes, which I love about this soup, because most of today's veggie soups just taste like some version of V8. Gross.  And second, she uses some veggies you probably never even considered using in a soup when browsing in the produce isle.

Like most soups this is really just an "everything but the kitchen sink" situation.  Whatever you like or have on hand is fine.  We couldn't find pumpkin this time, so we just used sweet potato. No big deal.  Just try to get a nice variety of yummy veggies and you will be sure to have a terrific soup.  Same goes with the measurements.  It doesn't really matter if you use three carrots or five, a small celery root or a big one, it's all about what works for you.  I give some amounts just to keep people from having a nervous breakdown, but really, this is very forgiving... go crazy!

Read on for more pictures and the "recipe"

Pups and Such

Over the past three weeks, while you were all being treated to new recipes, I was traveling all around northern California with Guy and his parents.  We had a lot of fun, saw many beautiful places, and ate a ton of delicious food. During our travels we also came across a multitude of adorable pups and other fluffy things! The best part was seeing the different outfits people dressed their pups in for winter.  Here are some of the pastry and fluffy highlights of the trip:

The first pastry stop on our trip, Cafe Madeleine in San Francisco

A quick stop at Kara's Cupcakes in Ghirardelli Square was a must (I've tried about 4 other cupcake shops and this is my favorite so far)

And I stocked up on goodies from Bouchon Bakery in Napa... I had to try as much as I could!



Now... on to the fluffle puffs: