• dress alterations
• find a seamstress
• find shoes
• pick out accessories
• decide on make-up
• get wedding party gifts
• get parent gifts
• select a hair style
• test a spray tan
• track down the two attending couples who still haven’t sent us their menu selections

And this doesn’t include the myriad things that I am waiting on the resort for like booking the rehearsal dinner, selecting the location for the ceremony and reception, picking out flowers. All this and starting a new job on top of it!! Honestly, I can suddenly understand why some women loose it altogether in the months leading up to their wedding. It’s enough to give a girl an anxiety attack! So, if I snap at you in the coming weeks, I’m sure you’ll understand, right?

SPF

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However, one friend, Miss Kitty, immediately pinpointed the biggest problem we had encountered in giving up the contraption: popcorn. “I don’t think I’d be able to live without it,” she said. And rightly so. It was the one thing I couldn’t live without either. However, we stopped eating microwave popcorn after the whole TBHQ affair, so I’d already been working on an alternative method.

It didn’t take me too long because Dad had always made popcorn on the stovetop and smuggled it into the moves with us. I also remembered there was a dedicated popcorn pot because of the dents and dings the kernels leave in the metal. Therefore, choose an old pot that you don’t mind losing or pick-up a cheap model at the grocery store.

I’ll admit it took me a few tries to get it right. The first time around, I ended up with more raw kernels than popped. The next few times, I burned it pretty badly. But then I found a recipe by Alton Brown that suggested ditching the pot’s lid and replacing it with a piece of vented aluminum foil. That, I believe, is the key to perfect stovepopped popcorn. It lets out just the right amount of steam, keeps in the right amount of heat and gets it done fast. here’s how you do it:

Ingredients

1/2 cup popcorn kernels

3 tablespoons vegetable or light olive oil

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon Penzey’s granulated garlic

Directions

Combine oil, salt & garlic in pan. Add kernels and toss to coat. Cover the top of the pan tightly with aluminum foil, then use a knife to poke ten slits into the  foil. Heat over medium-high heat for about 5 minutes, gently shaking the pan the entire time. You’ll know it’s done when the popcorn stops popping. Let it rest for a minute, then shake the entire thing to distribute the spices

Of course, if you have a microwave or just think this all sounds like too much work, you can use Joy Manning’s method as shared via twitter yesterday:

“Popcorn kernels + paper sack + 2 minutes in microwave = popcorn without artificial flavors or TBHQ. It’s really that simple.”

Whatever way you choose, there’s no reason you can’t enjoy a tasty, chemical-free snack.

Enjoy!

SPF

SPF

The following establishments will participate in the inaugural year:

CoffeeHouses

• Cafe Cret
• Small Oven Bakery at Tutti Frutti

Bars

• Bike Stop
• City Tap House – $2 local beers, 5-7pm
• Fergie’s Pub
• Knock Restaurant & Bar — 1/2-price apps, including gourmet wings, sliders + flatbreads
• Tabu — $5 open bar, 9-10pm
• Tavern on Camac
• Westbury
• Woody’s – $5 Effen vodka, all nite long
• Uncle’s
• XIX at Hyatt Bellevue

I don’t know about you, but I’ve had a rough week and a cocktail from one of these generous local establishments would hit the spot right now. Plus, since part of the proceeds go to charity, I can feel a little less guilty about getting my drink on.

Cheers!

SPF

Little did I know that ‘Indulge,’ folks, is not the word. Tutti Frutti features fabulous, live, active-culture frozen yogurt in a stock of over 50 rotating flavors (ten at a time) from classics like vanilla & chocolate to the more outrageous options like lychee, papya and birthday cake (a fellow VIP said “All that’s missing is the candles”). The original tutti frutti flavor is reminsicent of greek-style yogurt, but my fav was tarot, that’s right, tarot, like the root. It kind of reminded me of a Wendy’s frosty.

The froyo is self-serve and once dispensed can be combined with your choice of an array of toppings. The shop offers everything including nuts, cookies, cereals, candies, fruit – you name it, they’ve probably got it. Choose as many or as few as you like. Your total will be just 49 cents an ounce, regardless of what those ounces contain!

I’d like to tell you that I kept it healthy and stuck to the yogurt. But that would be a lie.

Tucked in the back of Tutti Frutti, though, I discovered the darker side of indulgence: Small Oven Bakery, which specializes in delicious choux pastry. The small pastry counter is lined with over-sized cream puffs of light, airy pastry, individually piped to order with vanilla, chocolate or strawberry cream. If you’ve never had choux pastry, you must go to Tutti Frutti now and try some. It reminded me a bit of a French cruller, but bulging with luscious creamy goodness. I liked the chocolate best (yes, I had one of each), but Jim was a fan of the traditional vanilla.

Honestly, my mouth is watering just thinking about the yummy cream puffs and froyo. While I felt it necessary to work-out every day that week to make-up for it, indulging in Tutti Frutti’s delights was totally worth it.

SPF

I typically have a bottle of something lying around, but when I looked in the pantry, the only thing there was limoncello. “Great,” I thought, “WTF am I going to do with that?”

A quick google search revealed I could do quite a lot with it. I started with a lemonade/limoncello mix, which was ok, but a little sweet for my taste. I moved on to another blend that added cranberry juice to the mix. This was better, but still a bit on the syrupy side. Adding lime juice to that one seemed to help, but for the next round, I cut out the lemonade and the desperate housewife was born.

Ingredients

limoncello

cranberry juice (or cranberry juice cocktail & lime juice)

ice

Directions

Fill a tall glass with ice. Add two shots of limoncello, top with cranberry juice until nearly full. Stir … and sip slowly! The limoncello has such a mild taste, it’s easy to forget what a strong punch it packs!

Cheers!

SPF

I noticed in the last several months that my wok was no long cooking as evenly or cleaning as easily. There were suddenly hot spots where pieces of garlic or onion would stick and burn, exactly what the wok is supposed to prevent!

As luck would have it, I received a brand new Pyra wok in a lovely goodie bag I got at Ikea last month (thanks, Jennifer!) as part of preview of their new fall merchandise, which btw, is not to be missed! It was less than 48 hours before I put my new wok to use and I’m pretty impressed

The nonstick coating is light-years ahead of my old model and makes it possible to really crank up the flame, which is key to wok cookery. The wood-insulated, pan-style handle makes it much easier to maneuver, too. So far, I used it to make my perfect new potatoes, spring veggie saute as well as several others and each has turned out perfectly. What’s even more impressive is the super low price of just $4.99! Who knew you could get such quality cookware at such a good value.

SPF

I can see the appeal. There’s definitely a finality to it. But I don’t think I could do it …

Photo courtesy of Wedding Guru.

A) I spent buku bucks on my dress, at least in my world. That’s a lot of money to muck-up in a swamp or throw paint on or drag through the dessert or whatever.

2) My grandmother really wants me to wear it at the home-based reception we plan to have one we return. (That is provided I can fit into it again after all the guacamole and margaritas I plan on having in Mexico.)

C) I can’t help feeling like there is someone out there who could benefit from it. Am I crazy to think another, possibly less-fortunate girl might one day want to wear my dress too? Ok, so maybe I can’t make a fortune on ebay, but what about donating it to charity that does that kind of thing?

What I can’t stand is the idea of my dress growing old and whithering away in the back of my closet. I don’t know if I’ll ever have a daughter, but if I do, I’m not foisting my dress on her, so what’s the point in keeping it? What do you say? Is trashing the dress sentimental or just self-indulgent?

SPF

For her version, Meritage executive chef Anne Coll uses organic free-range chicken from a Mennonite farm in Ohio. She begins with a brine, followed by a marinate in sesame, garlic, ginger and onion. The bird is then fried twice and covered in a tangy, sweet, slightly spicy sauce.

The result is a fried chicken that is juicy, but not greasy and while it’s soaked in saucy goodness, somehow maintains a perfect crunch. The restaurant is currently running a KFC special on Thursdays nights: 5 to 6 pieces of Korean fried chicken along with traditional cold sides, including slaw, sesame spinach and
pickled vegetable, as well as a bottle of Sapporo (Japanese beer). It’s perfect for two, but this special deal only lasts until the end of the summer so get some soon!

SPF