Any food blogger worth their salt has already written about the new movie, Julie & Julia.
I love Nora Ephron’s movies dearly. So when I went to see Julie & Julia, I expected nothing short of perfection. I had such high expectations, in fact, I was willing to put aside my opinion about French food.
What I’m about to say is food-blogger suicide, so brace yourself: I can’t handle French food. It’s too much butter and cream and eggs for my uncultured American palate. Any time I eat French food, I usually follow it with a handful of Tums.
Continue reading 'The Daily V Review: Julie & Julia'»
I’d like to begin this post with a quick music lesson:
Brian Epstein managed The Beatles throughout the early ’60s, and is often credited as “The Fifth Beatle.” He was responsible for the behind-the-scenes work that made the band successful.
The same can be said for your freezer. You can think of your freezer as the “Fifth Beatle” of pie crust. Can pie crust exist without your freezer? Of course. But it won’t be nearly as good.
When it comes to pie crust, let this be your mantra: Move quickly, and keep the ingredients cold. If you remember that, everything else will fall into place.
Let’s get started!
Continue reading 'All we are saying, is give crust a chance!'»
When you see Cookie Monster endorsing anything besides cookies, it must be pretty awesome. So, when I saw this billboard along Highway 1 in California, I should have known that I was in for a treat:
A couple weeks ago, I had the opportunity to visit the Monterey area, for a wedding. The drive to Carmel along Highway 1 was mostly farm land. If you’re from the midwest, farm land isn’t too thrilling. Usually, this is what we get:
But the farm land along Highway 1 was like nothing I’ve ever seen before:
Continue reading 'Travelling 2,000 miles to cure my fear of artichokes'»
Some people take themselves way too seriously. I know because I am one of them. And I always thought I was in good company with Martha Stewart.
I mean come on… how can someone who has a laundry room this perfect have a sense of humor?
But au contraire! In an effort to show the world that she knows how to laugh at herself, Martha Stewart has created “Whatever, Martha!” on the Fine Living Network.
Continue reading 'The Daily V Review: “Whatever, Martha!”'»
Do you know how to make a sandwich? Do you have a giant knife? Can you re-arrange your freezer?
If you answered “yes” to these questions, then congratulations! You are officially qualified to make Ice Cream Cake.
For the longest time, I thought ice cream cake was a speciality best left to the pros at Oberweis. But you see, when it comes to baking, I walk a fine line between arrogance and fortitude. So, for the sake of my ego (and my Mother-In-Law’s birthday), I decided to give ice cream cake a shot.
Continue reading 'The ice cream headache was totally worth it.'»
I have a multitude of personality flaws, but there is one in particular that has been plaguing me since childhood: I get a sick pleasure out of proving people wrong. Everything from spelling errors, to driving directions, to movie trivia. If I’m not right, it bugs me.
So when I heard people say that Costco’s prices weren’t much better than a regular grocery store, I had to find out for myself. During my most recent shopping trip, I wrote down the prices of some items that I buy regularly.
I would like to start this post with a few disclaimers:
1) I do not enjoy making spreadsheets. But for the sake of this project, I was willing to open Excel on my home computer. If you’d like to see the entire spreadsheet, including unit prices for each item, just leave me a note and I’ll e-mail it to you.
2) I do not work for Costco. (Although, when I was standing in front of the cereal aisle with a pad of paper and a pencil, a few people did ask me…)
So, without further ado, here it is – the true difference between Costco prices and Jewel prices.
Continue reading 'I want the truth! You can’t handle the truth!'»
If you could grade how people spend their summers, I would get an F.
You know those people who get an A+ in summer : catching fireflies, sitting on the porch at dusk, going to the beach, wearing flip-flops, etc. I regard these folks with equal parts bewilderment and jealousy. I truly don’t understand what they love about summer, yet I wish I could enjoy it like they do.
The reason I fail summer so miserably is because I don’t particularly like it. Don’t get me wrong, I love things associated with summer – long sunny days, fresh vegetables, etc. But the reality of summer (for me, at least) is more like this:
- sit in a freezing cold office
- burn myself with the seatbelt in my 100-degree car
- go jogging on the lakefront and dodge slow-moving tourists
- get an ice cream cone at Oberweis, only to have it look like this 5 minutes later:
Continue reading 'Summer is just Autumn’s opening act'»
I have a confession, which you might find a little strange: I have never eaten a hot dog outside of the Chicago metropolitan area.
In order to qualify as Chicago-style, a hot dog must include:
- A poppy seed bun
- Yellow mustard
- Chopped white onion
- Neon green relish
- Sport peppers
- Tomato wedges
- A dash of celery salt
So, in honor of the little bubble I grew up in, here it is – the best hot dog on Chicago’s Northwest Side:
Continue reading 'Where’s the Beef? Apparently, it’s on Nagle Ave.'»
When you’re my age, it’s not uncommon to spend most of your summer weekends at weddings.
While most people are scrutinizing the bride and her dress, I usually direct my attention to the cake – or whatever is being served for dessert.
And if you’ve ever been to a wedding, you know that wedding cake is… well, it’s a gamble. You never quite know how it’s going to taste, and whether the filling is real fruit, or that dreaded fruit-flavored gel.
I spent the last two weekends at weddings – both of which had creative alternatives to your typical wedding cake. Check it out:
Continue reading 'I’m only here for the cake!'»
When it comes to baking (and music), sometimes I feel like I was born a generation too late.
If you click through my iPod, you might assume that it belongs to a 50-year-old man. It’s full of relics such as The Police, Squeeze, and the Rolling Stones.
As for baking: Most girls my age are under the impression that baking involves going to the store and buying box mix. As a result, I only have a handfull of friends who understand why spending three hours in the kitchen is my idea of a perfect Saturday afternoon.
Enter Katie Lee Joel.
Continue reading 'Just Peachy!'»
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