Recovery.

Pardon my delay in discussing my holiday food-related festivities. Let's just say that I've been recovering this whole time. Because I have been.

The day before Christmas I stumbled upon two foil-wrapped packages of homemade pita bread. I ate 3.5 pitas in one sitting with 3-layer hummus and then polished off the end of a block of Havarti cheese with the last sacred pita. Later that night I got Thai food (glass noodles with shrimp and vegetables) and ate the entire portion.

Christmas day was ABSURD, to say the least. For appetizers I had several salmon roll-ups (basically a wrap cut into slices - filled with smoked salmon, cheese spread, red onion, tomato, and arugula), a whole MESS of cheese and crackers (One cheese- Affidelice- was so incredibly smelly I won't soon forget it.), several rice balls (deep fried balls of risotto with goat cheese...sinful) and my favorite - squid stuffed with shrimp and breadcrumbs. For dinner there was lasagna, carrot souffle, herbed potatoes, and pre-buttered bread (like 2 pats per slice ...can you hear my heartbeat?) Dessert was my favorite because I got to enjoy a slice of red velvet cake (I like my desserts ornate, pompous, and with some southern roots), as well as some chocolate tiramisu and chocolate bread pudding. I somehow managed to return to the dessert table an hour after the first round and numbly scarf down some chocolate cake scraps.


On one final Christmas note, I'd like to recommend that everyone go out to a Trader Joes near you and relish in these. You will not be sorry.

Christmas Dinner x 2

Okay. I think I'm ready to talk about it. The last two days have been insane. Christmas Eve went as follows: First I put away a croissant from JP Licks while I waited for Josh to get his hair cut. Then it was off to CT, with a stop for a Boston Market 3-Sides Meal  (dill new potatoes, macaroni and cheese, and stuffing, complete with a side of cornbread). Traffic was ridiculous on Christmas Eve (who would've thought?), and I enjoyed my leisurely meal in the rest stop dining area until I saw a couple changing their baby's diaper on ONE OF THE TABLES. That's fucked up. However, I was pleased by the "dill new potatoes" option, and their macaroni and cheese is sinful as hell, so I left feeling fat and happy. 

We got to my parent's house 2.5 hours later and the food frenzy continued. My mom doesn't go totally bananas for the holidays, but she does a damn good job. Appetizers consisted of a (festive!) cream cheese-pesto-sundried tomato dip with Triscuits and Wheat Thins and a big 'ol bowl of Chex mix (homemade, I might add). Soon enough dinner was served and I filled up my plate with the following: mashed sweet potatoes with pecans, cauliflower gratin, baked ham with a sweet raisin sauce, green bean casserole (you know, the one with the crispy onions... a holiday staple), and crescent rolls. Holy crap, was I stuffed. Well done, Lindsay! I only had one Christmas cookie for dessert. Pathetic, I know. 

The Spencer-Harvey family has a Christmas morning breakfast tradition: bacon, biscuits, and apples (um, sauteed in bacon fat. SO good). It's probably the greatest meal in the world, and it's something that I look forward to every single year. I piled it all on my plate, I put some butter and apple marmalade on the biscuits, and I went to town. Stayed satisfied for approximately 1.5 hours, then started in on clementines and Hershey's kisses. What an outstanding combination! Anyway, we eventually packed everything up and headed back to Boston, leaving behind succulent leftovers and an amazing family. Oh well. We were on our way to an Italian feast of sorts, so I wasn't too depressed.

I'll have you know, traffic coming back was significantly better. We still stopped for a snack on the way. Because, well, you know... we had to pee. And McDonald's fries are soo delicious. Now, I'm aware of the fact that I noted my preference for Boston Market earlier, but a girl's gotta eat! So I did, and a medium fries, medium Diet Coke, and Chipotle BBQ Chicken Snack Wrap (which I felt absurd ordering. Say it aloud. You'll be kinda embarrassed) later, I was satiated. I did some stretching when we got to Josh's parents to prepare for manicotti and salad. Good god. Homemade meatballs, homemade sauce, homemade CREPE style manicotti. Oh, and salad. And Italian bread. With butter. Obviously.  I can't wait to be that woman's daughter-in-law. Everything was amazing, and then dessert came out. I had the option of about six different kinds of Christmas cookies or a chocolate mousse torte... I went for the torte, but Maureen packed me a platterful of cookies before we left, so I'm set on those, too. Oh, and the torte was incredible. The mousse was light in texture but rich in taste, and the crust on the bottom was like a brownie filled with chocolate chips. INSANITY. 

And then we went home. And I sat on the couch. And I didn't move. And it was awesome. 

Thanks, Zesto's!

Remember when snow days meant sledding and hot chocolate and no school? It turns out that when you're 22, snow days mean eating everything in your apartment that you can get your hands on. I'm pretty sure that this is a complete list of yesterday's intake... bowl of angel hair pasta with mushroom and ripe olive sauce, half a bag of cheddar pretzel Combos (ate the first half on Friday), half a pint of Ben & Jerry's Cherry Garcia ice cream (don't remember when I ate the first half... last week?), approximately sixteen handfuls of SmartFood popcorn, and a vegetarian calzone from Zesto's in JP (this place gets a bad rap, and they have forgotten stuff on my subs a bunch of times, but they're nice guys -- and that calzone made my day. Plus, they didn't forget my extra side of sauce. Major points for that). 

I also finally did (most) of the dishes that were taking over my kitchen and watched an excessive amount of Bravo. They FINALLY did a Rachel Zoe Project marathon. I DIE! 

Oh, and the nice man at the liquor store gave me a Grand Marnier-filled chocolate for Christmas. What a doll!

'Tis the season

As of last Thursday I am in NJ to visit my family for the holidays and to...eat. Since I've been here I've demolished roughly half of a marble coffee cake and almost an entire box of Shredded Spoonfuls cereal. I am sorely, sorely missing the grilled portobello sandwich with pesto and mozzarella from Flour-- almost to the point of withdrawl. I wish I were exaggerating the situation BUT I WANT ONE SO BAD.


Since I have been home I have had some old food-favorites brought back into my life as well. My dad made Squid Ink Pasta (Tagliatelle al nero di seppia) with a tomato broth, scallops, shrimp, calamari, and clams. The wonderful photo above was stolen from this gentleman's flickr page, but it looks very similar to what I ate the other night!

Also, I went to Alta Restaurant in NYC last night with my relatives and had some incredible tapas.
What I ordered:
(everything is quite simple. Ignore everything but the words you know.. like I did.)

1. Smoked Eggplant and Lebne Dip with Za'tar, honey, mint, and lemon zest
2. Spaghetti Pepperoncini, Bottarga di Muggine, dried bonito and shrimp oil, and peppercress
   >> Oh my god this was the hit of my entire night. Perfectly greasy pasta with a slightly fishy taste. Ahhh I want 5 more servings of it.
3. Gently Steamed Chanterelles, Summer Corn Fonduta, carmelized onion gastrique
   >> Sweet mushrooms and sweet corn. Mmmm.
4. Sea Scallops, artichoke puree, Yuzu mayonnaise, Salmon caviar
   >> I was delighted to find these seared.

WELL, it's lunch time.