C Is For Cookie

I made cookies last night. I don't enjoy making cookies because hovering around the oven while watching the minutes isn't my idea of a good time. I like cakes. Cakes you throw in the oven and come back to find them all cooked after you've done some laundry or got some good couch time in.

My husband, however, LOVES cookies. Chocolate chip cookies, to be exact. Last weekend we were talking about cookies and he had a mock tantrum about me never, ever making cookies lol Poor, sad hubs.

To rectify this egregiousness, I made cookies. Chocolate chip cookies.

I prefer mine with pecans in them, but Il Duce wouldn't allow it. "You want pecans in your cookies, you make a separate batch"... Hmph! He's lucky he can still walk hehehe!

Do you guys like your chocolate chip cookies straight up or with nuts?

Roasted Tomato And Bread Soup

I recently discovered this recipe for roasted tomato and bread soup, and I've made it A LOT. I started making double batches just to have some in the fridge almost constantly hehe And because grilled cheese sandwiches go hand in hand with tomato soup, I made my first grilled cheese! It only took seven years living here to make it! Still haven't had a s'more though...

Shake Shack

The poor hubs had never been to Shake Shack, so when he took the day off on Monday, we thought it'd be a perfect place to have lunch. 

See the little burger between the hot dog and the double bacon cheeseburger? That one's mine. The hubs ordered enough for an army, but he finished it all! Very impressive, and slightly frightening hehe!

I've always liked their burgers because of the pillowy potato bun they use. It's almost difficult to get a burger wrong, but when you get it this right, it's the stuff dreams are made of. They need to open a branch in our town, please. Or not. Maybe it's best they not.

But really, they should.

They're known for their frozen custards, affectionally known as concrete, that are just delicious. The consistency is much like a very thick gelato or turkish ice cream... Mmmmm gorgeous.

Oh Shake Shack, I do love you so. And the hubs would like you to be his mistress. Which I'm totally okay with.

(They're not paying me to say these things... although if they wanted to, they can pay me in burgers. Because I can be bought with food.)

Fried Eggs And Peanut Butter

I asked the hubs if he wanted something to eat. He asked if I'd make a fried egg sandwich. With peanut butter. I thought he was trying to be funny. He was not.

Me: "Seriously?"
Hubs: "Yeah! It's good!"
Me: "Uhhh... okaaaaay... So, umm, do I put peanut butter on one side or both?"
Hubs: "Just one side."
Me: "Yeah. Because both would just be disgusting."

Insert eye roll.

Apparently his family likes to eat this. We've been together over seven years and I've never known him to do this. Suddenly it's a family tradition. What. Also, he informed me that I'd made the egg wrongly. Umm, he ordered wrongly. You want it sunny side up, you say sunny side up. Duh. Do you know how difficult it would've been to fit FOUR eggs sunny side up on bread??? He'd have to eat it between two pieces of naan hehehe

I watched him eat it. I kept laughing and taking pictures because I couldn't believe someone would willingly eat that. I mean, I'm Chinese, so admittedly, I eat a lot of weird shit. But eggs + peanut butter = no. Jellyfish? Always yes.

Lazy Sunday

We had grand plans for this weekend but it ended up being a lot of running errands and lazing around. Not that we're complaining :) I took a little stroll around the backyard this afternoon... I'm trying to take in all the foliage while it's still there. And enjoy the crunch of the leaves under my feet before the hubs tries out his new leaf blower. I haven't seen it, but I'm guessing it's pretty mahoosive.

Also, I think we need patio furniture.

And while I'm snapping pictures around the house, I love these stools in my kitchen. Years ago if you'd told me I'd have yellow anything in my house, I'd have had you committed and called you naughty names. But I just can't get enough of the brilliant pop of colour!

And the house smells pretty amazing right now. We were supposed to have dinner with friends, but a couple of them were still stuck in Boston so we called it off, and I made beef stew that'll get eaten with some mashed potatoes. It's still simmering so I haven't added the carrots, but oh my grief, it smells yummo!

How was your weekend?

Hello Brooklyn

Oh I love me some Brooklyn. When we returned from Australia and Singapore in May, I found out that Vampire Weekend were playing in Brooklyn, so I immediately booked those tickets and we figured we'd make a weekend of it. Little did I know, that gig was going to be their very first giant arena gig, so I'm doubly thrilled that we were there for it! 

We stayed at NU Hotel, where we stayed the last time. Love that area, plus it's only down the street from the arena. Can you imagine taking a subway after a gig in Brooklyn? Neither can I. We had Vietnamese for dinner... bahn mi and chicken noodles, and lots of yummy iced coffee to wake us up.

We had two opening acts to get through before VW... Sky Ferreira (my first thought was very talented but she seemed high as a kite and apparently, I'm right because she was arrested for drug possession two days prior) and Solange (amazing voice and stage presence... and the closest I'll ever get to Jay-Z *sob* I love you Jay-Z!).

The gig itself was amazing. AMAZING. The tightest set they've played of the many times I've seen them. Oh, and when I was waiting for the gig to start, I was posting pics to Instagram and it turns out Jess was in the crowd and saw my posts! She asked if I wanted to meet, and I replied "Of course!". We chatted for a while and then scurried back to our seats!

If anyone's interested, here's the set list:
Cousins / White Sky / Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa / Diane Young / Unbelievers / Holiday / Step / Horchata / Everlasting Arms / Finger Back / California English / A-Punk / Ladies of Cambridge / Ya Hey / Don't Lie / Song 2 (Cover of a Blur song) / Campus / Oxford Comma / Giving Up The Gun / Obvious Bicycle | Encore | Hannah Hunt / One (Blake's Got A New Face) / Walcott

The rest of our stay in Brooklyn mainly revolved around food. Then again what else do we ever do when we're in the city!? The hubs finally found a bottle of Cream-Nut at Stinky. I can't tell you how many shops we've been to and how long we've been searching for this stupid peanut butter. It better be bloody amazing.

And then the hubs got it in his head that we had to find chocolate chip cookies, so we got some at Caputo's Bake Shop. They're more crunchy than I think he likes, but he enjoyed them all the same. What's not to like about chocolate?! I got a couple of cookies with jam in the middle and I loved those. And we stumbled upon Brooklyn Farmacy but unfortunately we were on our way to lunch, so no room for an ice cream float. Sadface.

But we weren't sad too long because I took the hubs to Henry Public and our minds were blown. It's super old timey and very adorable. I had my very first deviled egg ever, and I have to say I LOVE them. I ordered what they're known for... a turkey leg sandwich. It's prepared like a pulled pork sandwich, and served with the best fries ever. The hubs had an egg sandwich that looked absolutely gorgeous but I wouldn't know if it was because the dude breathed it in, and half my sandwich in the time it took me to finish the other half. Hmph.

Ahh Brooklyn :)

And for dinner that night we went to Buttermilk Channel. I'd been with my sisters before and loved the food, so I thought I had to bring the hubs. We had a relatively short wait (they don't take reservations) and they sat us outside, which was really nice because it was a beautiful evening. I had a rib eye, he had the chicken and waffles, and we split an ice cream float with coffee soda. So freaking good.

And before we left, I took the hubs to Van Horn, a little place run by a dude from North Carolina, and they're known for their sandwiches. I had the fried chicken sandwich, and the hubs had a full country breakfast. And half my sandwich. I'm a cheap date, what can I say! Haha!

Then home we went. Ah New York, I love you muchly, but my feet hurt greatly. Plus I fell sick while I was there so that was unpleasant. Still, I can't wait till our next visit :)

Life According To Instagram

Quite a bit of sewing going on, mostly because I just love spending time in my new sewing space! Everything has a place and it's just SO much easier to do anything with clear surfaces. Definitely don't miss having to shift things to make those clear surfaces so I could sew or cut fabric!

I seem to be obsessed with flying geese and HSTs lately. Do you guys go through phases too? Tell me you do so I feel marginally better, thanks.

I've been enjoying cooking with gas again :) I forget how much quicker it is, and I don't have to be super gentle with my pots and pans lest I crack the stove top.

Also enjoying having so many good places to eat nearby. Our newest favourite is the Korean place a few minutes down the street. And then we found out a Korean BBQ is opening up nearby very soon... YAY!

And we've been making these banana peanut butter smoothies... so flipping good! We'd gone to Pinkberry and the hubs had one and fell in love with the combination. I figured we could recreate it at home, and so we did! With some honey added in for good measure. It's an especially brilliant thing to have when I'm driving to work and I can drink my brekkie hehe!

Mostly, we're just enjoying our new home. I feel good here, like it's a good fit. I wake up and I smile because I realise again that we're in our new home. And our second sofa FINALLY arrived. Bloody ten weeks to arrive, but well worth the wait! It's incredibly comfy, and enormous. I mean look at my leg stumps when I sit in the sofa! I've already accidentally on purpose fallen asleep on the sofa... so so good. Looking forward to many more accidental naps in the future!

And yes, I'm in jammies all bloody day long and I will not apologise for it :)

Beef With Snow Peas

I made this last night because moving apparently makes me want to try new recipes. It's like when I have exams and suddenly the entire house is spotless. I'm shockingly good at distracting myself with stupid things when I need to focus.

But a stupid thing, this is not. Oh my grief. The hubs couldn't get enough. Literally. He went back for more but there wasn't any -- At every meal, I make enough for him, myself and his lunch at work the next day. He was a sad lil puppy. Then he got more rice, and added butter and cinnamon. Umm. What?! So gross. He insists it's yummy. I insist my Chinese ancestors are rolling in their graves.

Anyway, if you'd like to make Beef with Snow Peas, click here. I did make a few changes...

- I used sugar snap peas instead of snow peas. I just prefer them.
- I believe I used a chuck instead of flank. Because it was on sale. That's how I roll.
- I cut the soy sauce even though I used the low sodium kind... probably used about a third of a cup instead.
- I grated the ginger instead of just mincing it.

That's me, ignoring instructions since 1977 :)

Life According To Instagram

Here's what's going on in my neck of the woods...

Lots of sewing and binding and then more sewing and more binding. I think I sew just to bind. Oh how I love binding. I could become a professional binder if there were such a thing. Did I just start a new business? I think I've had too much coffee...

- Pretty flowers :)

- My sister's friend's baby with the quilt I made. You may recognise it as Vertigo from Modern Baby! And also, HOW CUTE IS SHE?! Want to bite!

- Binding... so much stripey binding... Yum :) The hubs looked in the cookie jar thinking I'd baked him cookies... he was dismayed to find binding. Hah.

- Iced coffee. Which has been necessary this past week. First it was freezing cold, then it got boiling hot. New England weather. Yay. 

FOOD. My favourite. 

- My go-to salad of chicken sausage on sweet butter lettuce, zucchini and avocados. 

- We tried a sandwich place that had good reviews. Food was fantastic, service... not so much. 

- Bowl of cherries. Yes, please. 

- And just for fun, we had German pancakes for lunch over the weekend. (I always wondered if mine is more deflated because I use fat free milk. Anyone?)

And as always, there's cats. Izzy found a new box and made it her new BFF. Matilda is auditioning for the Broadway version of The Princess and the Pea. And also staring into space.

Australia: Part Four

More pictures from Australia :)

That's the corner of where we stayed. We were right by the Botanical Gardens where they had the Anzac Day celebrations (I wasn't going to wake up for the 6am gathering so you're just going to have to imagine it...), and that's basically like Australia's version of Memorial Day.

One morning the hubs went for a run around The Tan and kind of lost his way, so his half hour run became an hour and a half hehehe Silly goose.

How awesome are those glasses??? Want!

Chapel Street is another one of my favourite parts of Melbourne. We went to many second hand shops and I wanted to bring sooooo many things home! Beautiful mid-century furniture, bits of decor... heaven! My cousin ended up buying a small child's chair that she's going to attempt to restore. Parts of Chapel Street are kind of posh, and she kept muttering, "Great... I'm going to be walking down Chapel Street carrying a bloody chair..." Hehehe!

Also, those eye things are creepy as hell. So creepy that it's awesome.

Mrs Parma's.

Chicken Parmigiana.

If you're in Melbourne, those two things have to happen. Capisce? Don't even argue. Just do it.

St. Ali Coffee Roasters for brekkie... beautiful food, yummy coffee. Hilarious decor. 

Really hilarious decor. They've hung paintings from an artist and I kept laughing at how the lightbulb happened to censor the artist's self-portrait lol!