Kelly B.com

Mostly I have to eat food my children are willing to eat, so unfortunately I've had to tone down the spice considerably otherwise I tend to have to make multiple meals and...no.  Who has time for that?  This past month however I've found myself incredibly enchanted with Kimchi since my mother made me some after some gentle inquiry.  I've literally found myself eating it with anything and everything.  I think it's a delight but my husband won't touch it.  It totally reeks, but it's fermented spicy cabbage, of course it smells funky.  And on the bright side, the active live cultures in it are good for you and since it's meatless I don't need to concern myself with cholesterol issues.  I'm on a mission to make kimchi cool.  Those folks who really pushed Greek Yogurt were pretty successful, right?  Maybe if we talk kimchi up enough it'll be pushed up the cool kids list with pomegranate juice and acai berries.   Since I'm tired of buttered ...

House is coming along. I wish I could tell you I finally had counters but, ya know you get used to whatever you have and I hardly mind the cement board and the wood planks we've been using in the meantime. There's no more visible pink on the first floor. Can I tell you how momentous that is? How much more normal our kitchen looks, even with no tiles on the floor and a ton of junk on top of the cabinetry. This might be how normal people live. I was reading this article that Nia Vardalos wrote about Mother's Day after finally becoming a mother this year and it nearly broke my heart because although I'm never that person who would ever ever ever assume someone is pregnant without like, a written documentation of the fact and like 3 sonograms I can understand how women have a build in competition. To be the thinnest. To be the most fertile. To be the smartest. To be the most successful...and it's just true of people from all walks of life. Whether you're a celeb...

House, how's the HOUSE, Kelly? That's what our families are always asking. If you're tired of house talk, turn away. Our water closet on the first floor has been though an awful lot. That poor little room. When we first bought the house it had a shower stall and a toilet. Seeing the obvious problem with going to the potty and having to rinse your hands in a shower stall we pulled that shower out and placed it on the 2nd floor (for now) and were living okay with a vanity in it's place. However, like with a lot of things in the house the water closet still needs work and so this past Sunday it got gutted. The toilet and vanity are now in my kitchen (my poor kitchen) and Trevor's been working on fixing the wall there to be more sound proof. It's one of the very few walls through which we can hear our tenants. Otherwise the house is so massive that I can't even tell when they're home. I covered up the pink paint (yay!) and we've bought new tile...

I have officially created a cookie snob. I finally made those cookies from the Toll House dough from the refrigerator section of and my husband doesn't like them. (It's snowing, nice warm cookies are a fun treat.) And he doesn't like them. It just figures! I've now cultivated in him a taste for real butter and real vanilla extract and and all the warm deliciousness that it implies. (This is clearly why he blames me for making him fat.) I don't really like them either but I'm just saying...people are not supposed to know the difference, right? But he totally knows! On a side note I think I've given up on Holiday Shopping. Am I really done? Not so much. But I'm over it. lol I like the holidays, and I like lame holiday music, and I even like Egg Nog but it's not really the same. I miss Amanda and cooking strange random recipes with her. I miss Kim not being literally attached to the baby all the time and buying me gifts that have absolutely n...

Here's a random but funny neurotic tidbit about me. I don't typically buy pre -made cookie dough, but it was on sale a few weeks ago PLUS (because I'm an old lady) I had a coupon, so it was like $1 for a package I actually bought it. I wouldn't ever buy it for full price but for some reason when something is $1 I fall right off my high horse and I buy it. My morals can calm the heck down when something is only $1. Stranger, yet? I have not yet baked it. It's just sitting in the freezer like some lonely ugly girl sitting on the sidelines of a high school dance. You'd think "hey it's Christmas time, people love cookies" but I would never pawn off pre -packaged cookie dough as CHRISTMAS cookies. That's where I draw the line. Holiday food must be made from scratch or you may as well just not eat it at all. Some random Tuesday, sure. Break out the Toll House Brand package full of hydrogenated fat and preservatives, who cares? Clearly I feel ...

I have a weakness for food on sale. As an example, bananas. I don't even really EAT bananas but I buy them. I also don't eat peanut butter but I buy it. I have every intention of giving those jars to food shelters. (So at least that's semi-forgivable) But with bananas I buy them with the intention of eating them and then I realize I don't really like eating them unless they are sliced and floating around in my cereal. Sweet not-as-healthy-for-you cereal at that. I'm fond of Golden Grahams. Honey Bunches of Oats. Something sorta sweet but no marshmallows. I can't get behind dried up marshmallows. Anyway...bananas turn an ugly shade of black and fruit flies invade my home. And only then do I think "hey, maybe I should do something about this." I made a banana cheesecake, 20something banana bread muffins and only after hours of the oven cranking away was I free of those putrid bananas. Mind you, I like banana desserts a lot but the sense of obl...

Happy Anniversary, Trevor! How did we celebrate? I had a mild panic attack about my work and not being at work and kind of wishing I had more time. UGH. But you don't live your life, look back and wish you sat in your cubicle longer. You wish you spent your free time constructively and with people whom you love. So I did. I spent a lot of time with my husband. I made him a three course meal totally from scratch. Mind you, he seemed confused his Vietnamese wife made him such a convincing Chicken Tikka Masala and seemed genuinely convinced I used some kind of prefab mix. For our anniversary? Ugh, yeah...that's not my style. I also had this weird desire to make mashed cauliflower. It seems like a forgotten vegetable that no one ever buys or thinks about. I liked it okay. You won't ever mistake it's flavor profile for mashed potatoes. It can't ever whip up as beautifully as mashed pototoes, okay? But it's nice if you just take it at face value as being cau...

Sooo , I only just broke open the box of my pressure cooker and used it. I got this pressure cooker as a bridal shower gift about this exact same time LAST YEAR. This clearly just goes to show that I did not deserve to receive so many gifts because I might be 80 years old by the time I break into everything I was gifted and use it. Mind you, I'm grateful for everything, I just might not live to use it all. And this was one of the things I genuinely wanted to have because I was curious how it'd work. In fact it's pretty rad. It's like a crock pot, only without all that pesky waiting time of slowly cooking all day. I do however have to admit that I was intimidated by using it. I've seen a lot of cartoons in my youth where it blows up and expels its contents all over the room. I'm sure a lot of other people tend to feel the same way; I've never seen anyone actually use one on any cooking show, my mother's never used one and my friends never make any...

I'm suddenly full of this bubbling righteousness that makes me want to post. So I kind of noticed I haven't done a restaurant review in like, seven or eight months. I promise I've eaten out in that time, okay? I just keep forgetting to write about it because usually eating out is followed promptly with a lazy food-induced coma. And comatose people? Not very good bloggers. Plaza Azteca recently opened up in Manchester (CT, not UK) and it has inhabited what used to be a Macaroni Grill. It's a Mexican restaurant and although it does not in the slightest bit compare to my beloved Sarapes. But it's a heck of a lot more attractive looking since Sarapes is a prime example of hole-in-the-wall. You wouldn't be embarassed of bring a date to P.A. because it's big, spacious, and re-designed to look Southwestern-like with dark wood type decor and Santa Fe paint color. It's also pretty cheap. Even eating dinner there, most menu items are $10 or less. I do howe...

Okay, okay, okay... I know I've already previously complained about these tupperware-like parties. I know it, but I still went to another one. None too surprisingly Kim invited me because she might be the only person I know who's moderately interested in these things, and since I'm lonely I figure it's a good excuse to not drown in sad anti-social feelings. This time? Pampered Chef . Which is slightly over priced cookware and cooking accessories. I'm not saying it's bad stuff, in fact it seems quite nice. I just happen to not need anything because I already got gifted or have already bought everything I felt was important to have for a kitchen. And if I'm going to spend money on myself on product that pretty much never goes on sale, I'd much rather just save my pennies up and get some Le Creuset . But pretty much everything else goes on sale. If you wait it out you can usually even get a small discount on the coveted Kitchenaid Stand Mixer on thos...

On a decidedly different note I'm really happy about my new coffee related toys. My old fashion-y italiano espresso maker is pretty cool. I'm most intrigued by how the heat and pressure forces the water upwards through the grinds whereas every other coffee maker works with the water dripping downward. My french press is pretty awesome too. I might forgo my "normal" coffee maker once I get the swing of things. The hot water to grind ratio is a bit off still and I'm not entirely sure about the ideal temperature of water to use. However...thanks to a method I stumbled upon when reading about my favorite (Vietnamese Iced Coffee) I found something of great interest to me. Cold brewed Iced Coffee . Now I've tried the double brew method of simply using twice as much coffee grind to the typical amount of liquid you'd use for normal hot coffee. The results are almost always disastrously bitter and need a ton of sugar and cream to balance it out. However, I...

Today is a scorcher here in Connecticut. Trevor and I saw Wall-E today at the movies and it was really sweet. I'm sure I'm not the first one to gush over Pixar movies being really good but...it was great and if you can manage to pull together some dough for really overpriced movie tickets it's well worth your time. Even though there is minimal dialogue the story is actually quite strong and heartwarming. Even though I have annoying moaned and groaned about the fact that I'm done with invitations I have only just finished doing my last wave of invitations since my mom's been bugging me about a few more. I hate it when a few more becomes a few more on top of that becomes...30 more. But I'm pretty much out of invitations anyway so even if some obscure family members make their way out of the woodwork, I'm sorry to say that the good invites have already been sent out. Liza's sent out the shower invites already. Since I very literally have like 4 fem...

Happy Almost Easter! We are spending tomorrow in Massachusetts with Trevor's family. I have been preemptively volunteered to bring dessert by Trevor. So yesterday I went to the store, picked up a few supplies and got to work because it's always good to be prepared. Usually I wait until the night before to start baking, but I had an unusual craving for Almond Cake and the best recipe I could dig up was for an Almond Pound Cake. Having never made this rich in flavor, yet light in texture cake before I read like 80 thousand reviews and almost all of them said that the cake tastes better 1-2 days after baking when all the flavors meld and develop. Who am I to argue with that? And the fact is I haven't posted a recipe in ages so here goes... Almond Pound Cake 2 Sticks of butter (at room temperature) 2 3/4 cups Sugar 1 cup Sour Cream 6 Eggs 2 tbs Almond Extract 1 tbs Vanilla Extract 3 cups All-Purpose Flour 1/2 tsp Baking Soda Preheat oven to 325 F. Cream together butter...

I've been feeling like I'm just eeking through the work week but not quite getting anywhere. Sadly I haven't had a ton of energy for cooking...until NOW. This morning I started off my day trying to replicate the Onigiris that Trevor & I enjoyed during our time in Japan. They're literally considered rice balls , but the ones we liked were formed into a triangle shape, filled with something typically salty, and wrapped on the outside with nori . We got them at convenience stores, much like one would find donuts at your local 7-11 but significantly less unhealthy for you. Apparently they are a staple of typical Japanese Bento Box-lunches because they are portable and self contained, much like how we view sandwiches. The ones we got were typically wrapped all the way around with seaweed, but they aren't quite as pretty as a result. I was partial to the ones with teriyaki seaweed on the inside, and Trevor to the ones with tuna fish. We ate them in the morni...

7 months until the wedding! I'm partially excited and partially freaked out that I haven't done anywhere near enough. First and foremost though...we've got to get skinny. Not like I've been eating deep fried twinkies or anything, but after a decadent holiday period I'm ready to start going back to my usual routine of fruit as snacks and cereal for lunch. I got a new cell phone to replace my horrible Razr , which was my first Motorola phone ever and I have to say that I was totally let down by it and I'll probably never buy another one again. The battery just couldn't hold a charge and if your phone is dead 80% of the time you just won't be able to use it regardless of how many bells and whistles it comes with. This time I got the new Samsung Juke , mp3 phone. I have to say that I'm surprisingly happy with it so far. The overall shape is odd, with the switchblade like mechanism it takes a good amount of getting used to because you have to turn i...

Happy Almost Christmas. I spent my day baking, which is pretty normal for me anyway, but I typically don't bake more than one thing but having Christmas on the horizon I decided to go all out. I made a cheesecake, since I still have some remnants of cheesecake desire from my prior visit to The Cheesecake Factory. I just made a plain one because I couldn't decide on a flavored one and I'd hate to make an already rich dessert even richer. And I made biscotti for my mom because she loves it. I made butter shortcake cookies because I have a soft spot for that buttery richness. And in a final moment I decided I also wanted some peanut butter oatmeal cookies. I don't even like peanut butter, but when mixed with other things, as long as I don't have that mouth full of goo feeling I don't find it half bad. Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies 1/2 cup butter softened 1/2 cup sugar 1/2 cup brown sugar 1/2 cup peanut butter 1 egg 1 tsp vanilla 3/4 cup of flour 1/4 tsp salt 1...

Whew...it's stormy out there. I was let out of work early today because of the snow, only to spend an hour driving about 15 miles back home. I'd complain more, but clearly I got home safe and sound and no harm was done. lol I'm spending tomorrow with the folks because they also have the day off, plus they have an SUV so we can ever so slightly more easily get around town. Nothing against my Mazda, but it's not exactly made for snow. And since Trevor and mine mutual present is in stock at the store we bought it at I'll need my dad's help to pick it up. We talked about it and decided to share the expense of a "big ticket" present in lieu of buying one another small presents. I know it kind of goes against our whole saving-money-for-our-wedding thing, but I'll be excited to have a fancy present. I'm actually a little sad I have to take time off from work because I've been swamped, but if I don't use my time it'll go away forever. ...

So somewhat against my better instincts I went out yesterday evening with Kim and the girls. Not that I don't think all the girls are fun because I think they're a very nice and outgoing bunch; I just didn't have a terribly good feeling about going out...call it a gut feeling. I'll start by saying that I'll keep this as un-gossipy as possible because otherwise it would take forever to recount. Ryan got in a car accident that same evening and Kim was a bit miffed at him so she wasn't starting on a terrible positive note. Anya was mad at some guy about something (I forgot his name, but I do remember her screaming on her cell phone about how much she hated him). For a while everyone was lost. Martha and Kim had to fetch Martha's credit card from The Salty Dog because she forgot to close out her tab. They then were not re-let into Fat Cat's because it was so late and they weren't letting in any new patrons so they hung out outside for a while freez...

I'm surprised that as I get older things I never thought I'd like I eventually change my mind about. For example I have recently decided that I like Perrier Mineral water. I haven't ever liked mineral water before because it's always had a weird aftertaste but I gave it a go and actually find it to be very refreshing. Growing up my dad used to make me lemonade or limeade (depending on what we had on hand) but instead of water he'd use seltzer water so it had great fizz. And I've spent literally most of my life avoiding apples because it's given me a bad itchy reaction but suddenly I've been very apt to slicing one open into 8 slices and snacking on it with Trevor after dinner. Now, as a continuation of my last post, fried rice is a perennial favorite. Even the pickiest of eaters will usually be more than happy to have some of my fried rice. Trevor in particular seems very fond of it when either I or my mother whip some up for him. Since I learn fro...

I got my cousin Suong her bridesmaid gown via mail and it's soooo adorable. I'm probably more excited about it than she is. It's so chic and simple, though I worry a little that in spite of the fact I got her a double zero petite (yes, they make such a size) that it's probably going to be a tad roomy for her. Emily and Nini are down with getting their dresses too. The lone standout right now is Kim. Not like I think she's intentionally holding out out of spite; she's having a bit of a tough stretch right now having maxed out her credit cards and having some car issues so bridesmaid dress isn't high on her priority list. I guess if she ends up paying full price for a bridesmaids gown in the same color as the other girls that's no big deal to me but I'd much rather her simply buy it now since I've gone through so much trolling around the internet for good prices. And I finally met up with Amanda this past week! We had dinner at TGIFridays...