A Couple Odds & Ends

Posted by ilana

Dec 22

A few weeks ago I ran into a friend and she asked me how I liked the cheeses Kirios surprised me with for our semiversary. I’ve been meaning to report back, and appreciated the nudge! So I’ll give you a few follow-up tidbits to a couple of posts, and then I’ll let you know about the cheeses.

Holiday Parties – Remember when I told you that my office hadn’t even sent anything out about a holiday party yet? Last Thursday, an email was sent out gauging interest in a potluck for today – the Thursday before Christmas. Now, I’m actually leaving the office at noon to go to the doctor. But let me tell you, other than me, there are probably 3 people from our department who are here today. Unsurprisingly, a follow-up email went out saying there wasn’t enough interest to have a potluck. The original email also said we’ll be having a “New Year’s luncheon” in the second or third week of January. Yea… our manager totally forgot to have someone plan a holiday party. Epic office fail.

Meat Pizza – Apparently, completely distraught over the lack of lamb bacon from my trip to Koshermart, Kirios called the store the following day to see if it was now in stock. And it was! He was planning to surprise my brother, sister-in-law, and me with it last Wednesday, but when he had a 4pm meeting scheduled, he knew he wouldn’t have time to pick some up when he got home from work. So I took my sibs back out to Koshermart, and we were all able to enjoy a lamb bacon pizza in the end afterall. And I froze the beef fry strips so Kirios and I can enjoy them another time 🙂

Now the cheeses – overall, I’ve been enjoying all of the cheeses Kirios brought me. I’m sad that they’re mostly eaten by now, but also excited to go back out and buy more cheeses. I guess I’m hooked now!

The fontina was the “least scary” cheese. I’ve had it before, afterall, I studied inItaly! It’s salty and melts well, it’s easy to grate, and I especially like having it with pasta.

The comte, like the fontina, was relatively mild. It’s less salty than the fontina and has a nuttier flavor, in part due to its thick rind. I especially enjoy the comte in sandwiches.

The creamy toscano with espresso delighted Kirios and I both. It’s an incredibly flavorful cheese, that I would eat anywhere, anytime.  My only complaint is that the espresso shavings on the outside of the cheese get messy. But they do add to the flavor, Kirios is especially fond of pieces that include the espresso itself. It’s definitely a cheese I’ll be purchasing again. And since he liked it so much too, Kirios will complain less about the fact that I’m rebuying instead of trying something new 😛

The Spanish cheese tapas sampler with iberico, cabra al vino, and manchego was a nice snack to have with crackers and a bottle of wine. And it’s easy to serve, since the cheese is pre-sliced into wedges. While the first two cheeses tasted pretty similar to me, I do think the wine in the rind distinguished the cabra al vino. And the manchego had a fruitier taste than the other two. All three go nicely together.

Finally, there was the semi-scary looking wild blueberry vanilla chevre. Despite being a soft cheese, it’s not bad at all. I do like goat cheese, and get it on dishes at restaurants from time to time. But I’m still a bit at a loss as to what to do with it at home. This particular goat cheese tastes like yogurt with a thicker consistency.  I wouldn’t eat it at the same time as my other cheeses, since it’s sweet instead of salty. I think it would be really great on a bagel. (Although admittedly I haven’t bought any.) I’ve had it on toast as a morning snack, and when my brother and sister-in-law were visiting, they topped some homemade blueberry muffins with it. Overall, a nice cheese… but I still can’t help but think of cheese as a savory snack.

As for the other surprises, I’m almost out of chai powder, and we have yet to try the mulling spices, but are still looking forward to doing so this winter!

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Filed under: Food, Holidays, Parties, Trying New Things

Don’t Kill the Dinner Guests

Posted by ilana

Dec 22

Dinner party etiquette can be extremely complicated, and while I don’t typically host formal events requiring the use of a confusingly high number of scary utensils, there’s one rule I try to live by: don’t kill the dinner guests. I learned from my mother, when inviting someone for the first time; always ask if they have any food allergies. What about other food restrictions, medical, self-imposed, and the ever pleasant ridiculously picky eaters? Depending on the type of event and the number of people you’re cooking for, it can get tricky.

When you’re not serving a meal, it’s typically pretty easy to provide a variety of snacks that can keep everyone happy. And individuals with more difficult restrictions are generally accustomed to asking in advance, bringing something along they can eat, or at the very least, showing up with a full stomach. But when it comes to a home cooked dinner, I have a lot of sympathy for people with dietary restrictions. After all, I keep kosher and I have Crohn’s Disease. I think choosing to keep kosher is similar to choosing a vegetarian or vegan lifestyle. I have certain traditions, beliefs, etc, and while others may not share them, I want them to respect them. And while my disease is well-controlled through medication and for the most part, it won’t hurt me to eat anything in moderation, there have been times when that’s not the case, and my diet is incredibly restricted. I may not go into anaphylactic shock, but trust me, Crohn’s flairs aren’t pretty, and can lead to severe malnutrition, dehydration, and a need for serious drugs, hospitalization, or even surgery.

Generally, by asking people if they have allergies, they’ll volunteer any other pertinent dietary information. But at the same time, it’s not as wishy-washy as asking people if they have any likes or dislikes. If someone doesn’t like the texture of mushrooms – will eat them if they’re mixed all together, but pick them out if they’re big enough pieces, tough toenails! (I know – what a ridiculous phrase. My boss says it all of the time and I couldn’t resist.)

So this brings me to the Friday night Shabbat dinner party I hosted last week. My brother was visiting from Seattle, although his wife had to leave for New York Friday morning. Kirios was busy with his company’s holiday party. But I was taking the day off to spend time with my brother, and wanted to ensure that our evening was filled with good food and good company. I invited our first cousin who lives in the area, as well as her roommate who is also a friend of mine. I invited a childhood friend who lives in the area, and hadn’t seen my brother for a decade, and with his boyfriend. 6 people, no problem. There were a couple of allergies in the group – tree nuts, fish, sesame, and cocoa. As depressing as being allergic to chocolate sounds, this didn’t seem like a menu-planning challenge at all. In honor of my brother and cousin, and I decided to make our Grandma Magda’s Hungarian Stuffed Cabbage – a real patschke recipe that I had never tried myself (Yiddish for a production), but a wonderfully heavy and distinctive meal for a winter’s night.

Then all hell broke loose. And by that, I mean my brother casually asked if he could invite his fraternity brother who lived in the area over for dinner. I can seat 8 at my table, and cooking for seven or eight isn’t really any more work than cooking for six, so I naturally agreed. In fact, I had recently seen this guy at an event, which he attended with a lady friend. So I told my brother to go ahead and invite his girlfriend as well. They both graciously accepted our dinner invitation. “Ask about allergies,” I instructed my brother. Turns out the girlfriend is a diabetic who eats no carbs (including rice) and is allergic to soy. GREAT.

That’s when I started to panic. I realized it would be easy enough to keep some of the stuffed cabbage separate for her, without any rice mixed into the beef, and without any sugar in the sauce. The Hungarian version of this recipe is sour, and only includes a spoonful of sugar anyway (unlike the Polish, who make it sweet with raisins). Obviously I was planning to make challah for Shabbat, which she wouldn’t be able to eat. But I was determined to plan the rest of our menu to include her dietary restrictions. In the end, my brother and I settled on making a butternut and acorn squash soup, and roasted broccoli, onions, and mushrooms to accompany the cabbage. We were told she could eat fruit, nuts, and chocolate for dessert. Since nuts and chocolate were already on the allergy list, we had been planning to make an apple crisp. For our diabetic guest, we took some of the sliced apples, doused them in cinnamon, and baked them for her.

In the end, the stuffed cabbage and the rest of the food came out well. No one went hungry, and as far as we know, no one got sick from our food. I’d consider that a successful Shabbat!

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Filed under: Food, Health, Holidays, Parties

Meat Pizza

Posted by ilana

Dec 13

One of the main principles of keeping kosher is not to “cook a calf in its mother’s milk.” Simply put – don’t eat meat and dairy in the same meal. This is a tenant of kashrut that my parents brought me up to follow, and is pretty much second nature to me. I don’t make chicken parmigiana, I eat hamburgers instead of cheese burgers, and I frequently substitute butter for parve margarine. So when I was planning to cook Shabbat dinner for Kirios a month or two after we started dating, and he requested a meat pizza, I was taken aback.  Let me be clear – Kirios understood that I don’t mix meat and dairy, he requested a meat pizza without any cheese. But I refused immediately. It seemed absurd.

For me, pizza is by nature a dairy meal – bread, sauce, and cheese, plus any veggie toppings if I so desired. For Kirios though, his ideal pizza was inherently meat. Pepperoni, sausage, chicken… you name it; he loves it on his pizza. Sure, his pizza usually includes cheese as well, but he was willing to live without it for the night, declaring meat paramount. His argument seemed perfectly rational and logical – kosher meat, sauce, bread, and any veggies we choose. Why not? Still, it seemed so foreign and unnatural to me. “We still can’t do it. All of my pizza pans are dairy, I won’t cook meat on them,” I declared. I thought I had won, but my stubborn boyfriend persisted – he bought me a brand new pizza pan to be used for meat, instead of dairy. “This won’t be the only time I want to eat a homemade meat pizza with you,” he said confidently.

For that first meat pizza, I didn’t have time to make a special trip to the Kosher store, so I purchased kosher beef salami and turkey slices from the regular supermarket to top our pizza. It was a big success – Kirios’ point was valid: meat, sauce and bread; what’s not to like? I thought of it like a veggie burger – not a replacement for a hamburger, but a valid entrée in its own right. I wasn’t exactly ready to abandon cheese pizzas, but mixing things up with a meat pizza every once in a while didn’t sound like a bad idea either.

Kirios and I have made several homemade pizzas since. I’ve made special trips to the kosher store and we’ve experimented with different meat toppings: hard salami, turkey fry strips, beef fry strips, and spicy sausages. We even made a cheese pizza with Morningstar fake bacon (which features ridiculous neon coloring). One day we bought kosher lamb bacon, which triumphantly declared the best kosher substitute for regular pig bacon – although we had that top a salad instead of a pizza.

My family was especially interested in hearing about our meat pizzas – for them, like me, the idea of pizza with meat seemed unnatural to them. But they were also fascinated by the idea – understanding that it was a different but delicious pizza formula. Kirios and I will be making another meat pizza for dinner tomorrow night, to share with my brother and sister-in-law who are coming to visit. Unfortunately there was no lamb bacon at the Kosher store this week, but we’ll be topping our pizza with fresh veggies and basil, beef fry strips, and chorizo sausage.

Personally, meat pizza is more than a good story and a good meal to me. It’s representative of how Kirios and I have shaped our relationship. He is respectful of my traditions and observances, and I understand that he has differing views and preferences. We weren’t raised the same way, and it can be challenging, but it also keeps things interesting. And when we include each other and share our favorite things, our culture, and our traditions, it makes them even better. Anyone else hungry for Greek food now?

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Filed under: Food, Relationships, Trying New Things

Holiday Parties

Posted by ilana

Dec 12

During my last trip to the supermarket, I replenished my supply of olive oil and bought a box of Hannukah candles. Kirios’ parents put up their Christmas tree and lights (I’m still waiting for them to bake their Greek cookies though!) Although I’m not quite sure what happened to fall, it’s official: the holiday season is here.

As a young professional, the holiday season usually implies two things – holiday parties and empty offices. Every company celebrates the holidays a little differently – some host classy formal affairs, others challenge their employees to drink to the point of being ridiculous without jeopardizing your job.

When you work for a quasi-federal/severely in debt institution such as the Postal Service, however, holiday celebrations are typically limited to pay-your-way affairs. Two years ago, my manager brought in donuts and hosted a small gift exchange before our department went out to a nice restaurant for lunch. I supplied 50 homemade latkes to represent the festival of lights. It was a nice time, and my supervisor voluntarily covered lunch for his employees.

Last year, my department opted for a swanky lunch at an Italian restaurant along with a Postal Trivia activity. It too was a nice affair, but it set me back $35. My fellow young professionals (there were 3 of us under 30…) bemoaned the cost of a meal we didn’t get to choose, and discussed passing up on the party. But alas, when someone 3 levels above you in the corporate food chain invites you to a luncheon, non-attendance doesn’t seem to be a viable option.

And this year? Well, my manager has been so swamped and things around the Postal Service have been so depressing, no one’s even mentioned a holiday party. Sigh.

In contrast, Kirios’ office party is usually a fancy event with a nice dinner and an open bar. Employees are sent home with a token gift (last year it was Ralph Lauren drinking glasses) and participate in a white elephant gift exchange. The owners purchase all of the gifts, last year’s most coveted prize was an iPad. Kirios didn’t win it, but he did walk away with a netbook, and his coworker sitting next to us went home with $300 cash. Not too shabby. Unfortunately, Kirios will be attending his office party stag this year, since my brother is coming to visit. Although it’s not a great loss, I can’t help but feel disappointed that I don’t get to pretend for an evening that I work someplace that likes to celebrate and treat its employees to a night out.

I guess for this year, I’ll be enjoying holiday parties with friends, homemade treats, and other holiday rituals. And of course an empty office for the next couple of weeks 😉

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Filed under: Events, Holidays, Parties

Things that Frustrate me and Make me Sad

Posted by ilana

Dec 1

I’m not going to gripe about being on hold with BestBuy for two hours or the fact that Starbucks charges an extra 60 cents for soy milk today. It’s time to talk about the things that really make me sick to my stomach, keep folks awake with worry, and bring out existentialist crises. Today, a long-time friend of mine lost her mother to a battle with non-smokers’ lung cancer. In itself, this is terrible and depressing. But to make matters worse, another friend of mine lost her mother to the same disease less than four months ago.

My mother called to tell me the news, and after a while our conversation drifted. My mom started talking about some other family friends who have been having a rough time. A little older than my parents, both husband and wife have been struggling with serious health problems. As my mother detailed medications, surgeries, and worrisome coughs, I suddenly told her to stop. “Enough for today.” My mother frequently brings up subjects I don’t care to discuss – Mothers never stop embarrassing you. I tell her to change the subject or I’ll get off the phone, and she gets upset, saying it’s unfair for me to control the conversation like that. But today, she didn’t object, she just obliged. She too knew the feeling – enough is enough.

I’m 24 years old, and I am not ready to lose my parents. I’m also not ready for my friends to lose their parents. I’m not sure if anyone is ever actually ready for that. I know it happens, I have friends who lost their parents when they were young. Maybe too young to really remember them. But my first memory of a parent’s friend dying is when I was in 12th grade. My friend was away from home for her first year of college, and her mother found her father – he had complained of a headache the night before, but no one knew he had a brain tumor until he was gone. It scared me. Since then, there have been more losses – some sudden, some with prolonged suffering. They don’t get easier. Each one is a painful reminder of how fragile life is.

I know that death is part of life. And until it’s our time, we must live on. But tonight, I’d like to publicly declare that non-smoker’s lung cancer, common in younger women, makes me frustrated. And when one of my friends loses a parent, it really makes me sad.

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Filed under: Health, Relationships

Thanksgiving with the In-Laws

Posted by ilana

Nov 28

I love Thanksgiving – it’s a wonderful long weekend filled with family, good old friends, and a lot of great food. Starting when my older brother first went off for college, the weekend became something more, it became homecoming. There was anticipation of his return, and the return of our other friends his age. It wasn’t long until our friends my year and I left Pittsburghand dispersed to various universities as well. But on Thanksgiving, just about everyone returned. Wednesday night we’d all meet up at our favorite coffee shop and talk for hours. Thursday, Thanksgiving itself, was usually reserved for our immediate family, sometimes hosting another family too. Friday morning our friends host the best brunch of the year, and we hardly have time to digest before my mom hosts her big Shabbat dinner featuring Moroccan tagine. Saturday is for synagogue, leftovers, and the movies. And then all of the cool kids go out for a drink or two at the least lame bar in walking distance from everyone’s houses. If I leavePittsburghearly enough on Sunday morning, I can beat all of the traffic and get back to Maryland in time for a late lunch and relaxing afternoon.

This year, however, my parents were invited to a wedding in Miami the Sunday after Thanksgiving. And since I have an aunt and uncle nearby in Ft. Lauderdale, my parents figured it was the perfect opportunity to spend Thanksgiving with them. Much to my friends’ dismay, I decided that spending the long weekend in my parents’ empty house without them would make me sad, so I would skip going to Pittsburgh. Since my brother was spending Thanksgiving in Chicago with his in-laws, I decided to stay local. I planned to have a restful break with Kirios, and his parents invited me over for the Thanksgiving meal.

I left work early on Wednesday, and when I got back to my apartment to cook. Even though Kirios’ parents were hosting me for Thanksgiving, I really wanted to make a few of my favorite dishes from Thanksgiving at home, so that I could enjoy them throughout the weekend. I cooked cornbread; brussel sprouts with garlic and bread crumbs (I know it’s weird, but I LOVE brussel sprouts); sweet potato soufflé with a corn flake, raisin, and pecan topping; and cranberries with pineapple, mandarin oranges, and pecans. Before Kirios could make it over to share in a dinner of sides, I did become a bit overcome with homesickness. But once he arrived and we started eating, I felt much better… minus the fact that I under cooked the cornbread to the point of it being inedible. Sigh.

Thursday morning I turned on the Macy’s Parade, relaxed, and took turns speaking with all of my family members. I stopped at the store to pick up flowers for Kirios’ mother, and headed over to their house at three. First, I should mention that despite being excellent cooks and having spent the past few decades in the United States, Kirios’ parents don’t usually cook Thanksgiving dinner. Last year, they went out for dim sum instead. And second, Kirios’ family does not like turkey. In fact, Kirios told me if I cooked one, he wouldn’t have any. (Not that I believe he wouldn’t have tasted it, but he certainly doesn’t prefer it.) So with me around for the holiday, they decided to cook a Thanksgiving feast, and roast a kosher chicken.

Kirios surprised me by baking cornbread, since mine was such a disappointment. His cornbread was dairy, since he didn’t know my mom’s trick – replace the milk with apple juice or cider. So I was promptly instructed to dig in on the treat prior to beginning our meat meal. When it came to the main event, in addition to the roasted chicken, our main course included salad, cranberries with fresh fruits, potatoes, Swiss chard from the family garden, homemade bread and hummus, zucchini with fried egg, and a stuffing inspired chicken risotto.

After dinner, Kirios anxiously noted the time, and we drank hot apple cider and talked until enough time elapsed that I was ready to enjoy dairy desserts. Usually somewhat skeptical about the rules of kashrut, they were especially considerate on Thursday, reminding Kirios its better to digest dinner first anyway. I was already pretty full, but dessert was worth the wait – Kirios’ father made a trio of desserts; an apple berry tart, an apple pumpkin pecan pie (say that three times fast), and a pumpkin pecan pie with a different crust. Delicious.

Kirios and I spent the rest of the day relaxing in front of the television, indulging in the traditional post-Thanksgiving meal food coma. We did have tea and fruit much later in the evening. But I don’t think there was any more room in my stomach after that. At the end of the day, even without the turkey, I was feeling pretty thankful.

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Filed under: Food, Holidays

Saying Hello or the Duck and Cover

Posted by ilana

Nov 21

Because I have Crohn’s Disease, I’m on a medication called Remicade which I take intravenously. Every 5-6 weeks I spend an afternoon at the Doctor’s office, sleeping in a reclining chair while medicine drips into me. Last Friday I had an infusion, and as I was waking up from my nap, the PA who administers the infusion suggested I check who was in the chair at the other end of the room. Three big chairs down from me was a former teammate of mine from Team Challenge, the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation’s Half Marathon Training/Fundraising Program. The PA knew that we were friendly through our involvement in the program, and she was amused that we had been in the same room for so long without recognizing each other. (I was asleep, a valid excuse!) I hadn’t seen my teammate since we had returned from our race in Vegas last December, and I was happy to catch up with her. She told me that she had finished graduate school, started a new job, and was preparing for this year’s race.

The next night, Kirios and I went out with my friend/coworker and another coworker happened to walk into the same bar as us, right behind us. Neither of us are friends with him, but we know him fairly well, so we said hello to him and remarked on the coincidence. By the time he finished saying hi back, he was already up the stairs on a different floor from us.

Why is saying hello to an acquaintance so easy with some people and so painfully awkward with others? It happens all of the time – you’re on the metro, at an event, or even at the supermarket and you spot someone you know. In my experience, one of three things generally happens:

  1. You say hello. You smile and ask them how they are. You inquire about their family/significant other/mutual friends you also haven’t been in touch with, or you reminisce about the class you took together or the crazy party you saw them at last. Five to ten minutes later you part ways feeling satisfied that you ran into someone who you never see. You might even send the other party an email or Facebook post the next day saying it was nice running into him or her. In extreme cases, you might even make plans to intentionally see this person in the future.
  2. You say hello. You smile and ask them how they are, or vice versa. Maybe there’s an awkward hug. (Ever notice how these always happen at the bar, but are way less likely on the train or at the supermarket?!?) And by the time the other party says “I’m good,” you’re both making your way to the next person, place, or conversation. You generally feel nothing. Occasionally, you’re dissatisfied – you think you deserve more than 30 seconds of the other person’s time, or there’s sadness over a relationship that was once meaningful and is now reduced to hi and bye. But chances are this person doesn’t mean a whole lot to you now, even and if they do, you both clearly had other, more attractive reasons for being where you were than catching up with each other.
  3. You duck and cover. Maybe you’re at the mall and you can’t bear the thought of anyone seeing you buying Spanx for that upcoming wedding, so you suddenly decide to stop and bury your face in a clearance rack you had no desire to browse. Or you’re at dinner with friends and spot a guy you went on one and only one truly awful date with – you lift your menu up high and slouch lower in your booth. As long as you don’t make eye contact, there’s no obligation to go there…

Most of us ladies have grabbed a friend by the arm and run away from creepers at the bar, but the practice isn’t limited to creepers. I’d like to tell you that I always say hello. After all, a few nice words can go a long way, and what’s the worst that could happen? But I’ll admit it – I’m definitely a flip-flopper on this issue, depending on the person and the situation.

I do frequently say hi. I ran into my old boss at the mall last year; I walked up to him and said hi, I introduced him to Kirios and he introduced his wife to us. We talked for five minutes and then continued our shopping. Monday morning my boss sent an email gushing about how touched he was that we went up to him, and how lovely it was to meet Kirios. I thought all of the fuss in the message was overkill, but was glad to have made his day.

But there are also plenty of times I back off and lay low. I haven’t seen him for at least five years, and we weren’t close then. I probably wouldn’t have recognized her if she didn’t Facebook friend me after that one party. Or my glasses prescription is out of date and I’m only 96% positive that’s the person who I think it is. I’ll say hi if someone is with other people I’m friendly with, or if we make direct eye contact, but if it’s just me and him or her on the train, I’ll keep reading my paper. Go ahead and call me callous or a coward. Pretend you don’t do it too. I know you do. The duck and cover is here to stay.

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Too Cool for School… and Happy Hour?

Posted by ilana

Nov 18

Yesterday there was a large fundraising happy hour for a local Jewish organization, targeted at young professionals. It sounded like a fun time and a cool group, and there were over 100 people “attending” according to Facebook. So after weeks of being confined to my apartment and my office, with the occasional movie night with Kirios, I thought it would be fun to attend.

The day before, I made plans with a good friend to meet up after work and go together. But when I got to work yesterday, things were a bit more hectic than I had anticipated. I spent the whole day running around and rushing to prepare a briefing for the Postmaster General to use when he met with a Senator. (You’ve got to love DC jobs!) I usually leave the office around four (don’t hate me) and am home by five. I was planning to go home to change and grab something to eat before arriving casually late at the happy hour which started at 6 back in the city. But by the time I left my office and got to the metro, it was already a quarter to five. It was cold outside, and my commute involves a 15 minute walk from the metro. I knew that if I went home, it would be pretty darn hard to convince myself to go out again.

So I called up my friend to get her read on the situation. She had similar feelings. It sounded like fun, but it was so far to get to from our suburban homes. My other good friend who was planning to come cancelled out due to a last minute meeting. And let’s also not forget that there was a cover for the event. At the end of our call, my friend changed her tune and decided we should go. “Don’t go home; just hide out in a book store for a while or something.” I agreed. We had spent so much time talking each other out of it, when it sounded like fun and we should have been talking each other into it.

So I took the train over to the stop closest to the bar, and I popped into a Panera’s. I treated myself to a sandwich for dinner, and I opened up a novel I had recently started. Time passed slowly. It was dark and chilly and reading was making me sleepy. I wished I was at home in warm pajamas with a cup of tea. But finally, it was time to meet my friend at the bar.

The event was a big production. There were raffle tickets, sign up sheets, and tables to visit to learn about the prizes. They had set out snacks, and the crowd was growing quickly. We scoped out the prize table and entered a few raffles with the tickets that were included with our cover charge, and then we head over to the bar to grab some beer. And then we chatted. We caught up with each other and talked for a long time. She and I bumped into some acquaintances and said a few his with big smiles, every now and then. And we did spend a few minutes catching up with a good friend of mine from back in college, but for the most part, we stuck to ourselves.

The interesting part is that we’re both pretty extroverted people. My friend regularly plans programming for young professionals, bringing together a combination of friends and meeting new people. And I also love to bring friends together for a good time, hosting parties or going out for dinner or dancing. But these days I prefer to hang out on my own terms, rather than attending established events. I’m usually up for meeting new people and making new friends, but I suppose I don’t go too far out of my way to do it anymore. I guess because I’m in a relationship, I no longer feel pressured to “get myself out there” so I can meet “Mr. Right.” But I think that’s only part of the puzzle. After all, my friend is single, and she felt the same way last night.

Part of me feels like I’m an upperclassman again. This time, an upperclassman in young professional-ism. In my first year out of school and working in DC, I was like a freshman; I established a core group of friends pretty quickly – folks from college and other times in my life, along with a few new people we picked up at some early social events. We went everywhere. If there was a party, an event, even free food, we were there. I’m now in my third year of “real life,” and I’ve noticed that I’m not the only one of my “freshman friends” who’s been skipping out on happy hours and the like. There’s something nice about coming home, cooking myself dinner, and catching some TV after a day in the office. And as for being at a bar with hundreds of potential friends… well, there’s always the weekend!

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Filed under: Events

Semiversary Surprises!

Posted by ilana

Nov 15

Yesterday evening, I came home to my apartment to find a bouquet of flowers – pink roses and little lilies (lilies are my favorite), resting in my blender on the center of my dining room table. I called Kirios immediately, and told him how delighted I was with the semiversary surprise.

[I guess I should mention that the first time Kirios brought me flowers; neither my roommate nor I owned a vase. There were too many to fit in a regular drinking glass, so my roommate and I set them up nicely in her blender. We took pictures and thought it was hilarious, and Kirios never let me live it down. But whenever I tried to buy a vase, he would stop me – probably because it gave him an excuse not to buy me flowers – “You don’t even have a vase to put them in!” But news of my multi-purpose blender spread, and come time for my birthday last winter my brother and sister-in-law sent me a beautiful red and yellow glass vase. It’s quite pretty, and it makes for a lovely decoration, but the diameter of its opening is about the same size as a quarter. When Kirios bought me one rose, it was the perfect vessel. But for a whole bouquet, it just doesn’t cut it.]

Back to my phone call with Kirios – who was getting impatient waiting for me to return from work and find the flowers… I thanked him profusely and he told me sweet things and it was nice and I was super happy. And then he asked if I had checked my cabinets yet. So I walked into the kitchen and opened my cabinet to find a container of chai tea powder staring back at me. I gave up drinking coffee a couple of years ago since it was too harsh on my stomach, but I’m constantly drinking tea. When Kirios and I go out to coffee shops, we usually split soy chai lattes. From time to time we’ve purchased the powder or syrup to make our own chais as a special treat. In addition to the chail, I found a container of mulling spices. I had never heard of mulling spices, but I was excited from reading the description – orange rind, cloves, cinnamon, and other delightful spices. Kirios told me that we would warm up wine with it and drink it this winter – what a wonderful treat!

I left the kitchen and went back to the futon. I asked Kirios about his day and we talked about what we were going to do for dinner, etc. After a few more minutes, he asked me if I had opened the refrigerator since coming home, and said he strongly suggested I look in my little cheese drawer. In addition to the package of cheese curds and sun-dried tomato basil cheddar we brought back from Wisconsin, my drawer was filled to the brim with new purchases! Kirios had definitely gone on a Trader Joe’s shopping spree. There were packages of fontina, comte, creamy toscano with espresso, a spanish cheese tapas sampler with iberico, cabra al vino, and manchego, and wild blueberry vanilla chevre. A combination of cheeses that I feel comfortable eating, and those to push my palette. I’m particularly concerned about the goat cheese. I eat goat cheese when it’s a small component of a salad or a pizza without any problem, but I haven’t been a fan of softer cheeses in general, and it looks so weird and purple in the package! I do know why Kirios chose that particular goat cheese to try though – blueberries are my absolute favorite fruit and he’s already surprised me with them before. Anyways, I’ll be sure to report back on how it goes when I try them!

I apologize for writing an entire post about presents from my boyfriend, although I’ve already confessed that we’re that mushy-gushy couple. But his thoughtful surprises made me happy and left me wanting to gush. That, paired with leftovers from our duck dinner, and a weekly family skype date with my parents in Pittsburgh and brother and sister-in-law in Seattle, made for a great start to my week!

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Filed under: Food, Relationships

Pluck a Duck!

Posted by ilana

Nov 14

After months of anticipation, Kirios and I finally celebrated our second semiversary. (aka we’ve been together for a year and a half) The eighteen month mark was actually last Tuesday, but for many months we’ve discussed roasting a kosher duckling and cooking a feast to mark the occasion.

Cooking duck has become a somewhat sacred ritual in my family. For many many years we’ve cooked a peking duck feast with our family friends in Pittsburgh. Other than our two families, the only way to be invited to this oft-spoke of feast is to marry in. Since “the children” are now grown up (my friend from the other family now has 3 kids of her own!), it has been more difficult to gather each year for this meal. Since Kirios won’t be earning an invitation just yet anyway, we decided that cooking a (non-peking) duck together would be a wonderful treat to celebrate.

The 3.75 lb. duck was purchased from Shalom’s Kosher Mart in Silver Spring a week before our trip to Wisconsin. At $7.99/lb. I was glad to use a $20 for $10 Groupon I purchased months ago. On Thursday morning, I moved the duck from my freezer to my fridge to begin the thawing process. Friday morning I scoured the aisles of the Bethesda Row Giant gathering the rest of the groceries needed to prepare our feast. And Friday afternoon I unwrapped our baby bird, rinsed her off, and spent an hour plucking feathers to clean her up. (the kosher butchers never de-pluck poultry well!) She spent all night uncovered in the fridge, drying out so her skin would crisp in the oven. I rotated the duck every few hours (while I was awake) to make sure both sides aired out.

I was very relieved to be feeling better after my never-ending head cold; however Kirios, who had been feeling better for a few days before me, took a turn for the worse. This meant another antisocial weekend for us, staying indoors and watching multiple movies. But the duck was defrosting, so the meal must go on!

After much deliberation, we decided to make duck à l’orange, a classic French recipe. Kirios picked out a couple of recipes for the dish online, and I decided to combine them with the prep and roasting techniques we use for our peking ducks. So Saturday at 11:30 I brought to boil a stock pot full of water with a quarter cup or so of honey to boil. I dipped the duck into it, making sure the whole bird was immersed, and then removed it from the water. This helps break down the fat under the skin, and is one of a few techniques used for making the bird less greasy. (Some people prefer to slit the skin so it drips out while roasting… but I followed my Mom’s recommendation.) I patted the duck dry with paper towels, and set her to dry out in the fridge for another 4 hours, rotating it every hour.

By 3:30, Kirios had arrived, and I preheated the oven. Since Kirios was under the weather, he tried to maintain involvement in the cooking process from a distance. Since he loves to take pictures, he was more than happy to watch from the other side of his camera lens. I rubbed crushed black pepper, cumin, and coriander on the outside and inside of the duck. I then placed sprigs of fresh thyme and marjoram into the cavity, along with wedges of half a small onion and half an orange. The duck cooked like this for just over two hours, lowering and raising the oven temperature, and with Kirios occasionally flipping the bird over from its back to its breast.

While the duck roasted in the oven, we began preparing the orange sauce. For this we made syrup out of sugar, freshly squeezed orange juice, red wine vinegar, Cointreau (previously unopened, but purchased for my father’s bar mitzvah 40+ years ago) and orange zest. We combined the syrup with the duck drippings (and a bit of chicken stock to get the right volume) and a tablespoon of flour to thicken it up.

Kirios carved the duck, and before we knew it, we were enjoying our much anticipated feast. The duck was well cooked, and the sweet orange sauce complemented the rich duck flavor really well. While we both enjoyed the meal a lot, I think Kirios also enjoyed watching me eat. I was just so happy to be eating one of my absolute favorite things, and I was very proud to have successfully made the duck on my own.

I should also mention that I spent the rest of my morning and afternoon preparing side dishes. Along with the duck, we had a fresh salad, cauliflower sautéed in olive oil with garlic and breadcrumbs, and couscous with pine nuts. These were all fine dishes, but they were unnecessary – we were there for the headliner! And then there was a pumpkin pie for dessert. My mother convinced me to wait a while after dinner, allowing ourselves time to digest, and to make a dairy pie instead of a parve one. In the end, Kirios and I had small slices of pie as a snack while the duck was roasting, and I was way to full to think about dessert after dinner. Kirios has a second small piece of pie later in the night. Like the sides, the homemade pie was lovely to have, but for me, it was still all about the duck.

Now all of this blogging is making me hungry – leftovers for dinner tonight! 🙂

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Filed under: Food, Trying New Things
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