Adult Life: Drinking Glasses

In November of 2013, I turn 30 years old.  You wouldn't know this, though, from the cabinet in our kitchen that holds our drinking glasses.  It looks like it belongs in the kitchen of a bunch of 21 year old guys who just got their first apartment out of college.  It's a mish mash of pint glasses from various bars and events Jesse and I have been to in the last 11 or so years. 

For the most part, I think it's fine.  Pint glasses hold a lot of water, are fairly sturdy, and if they break, it isn't a huge deal (unless it's one of Jesse's beloved ones).  But a few weeks ago, my 90 year old grandmother-in-law came to visit and asked for a glass of water.  Imagine my horror when I had to choose between offering her a Kenny Powers glass or a Albino Rhino Beer glass. 

So I recently headed out to shop around for some reasonably priced glasses.  Jesse and I registered for glasses when we got married but nobody bought them.  Which is fine.  We probably would have broken them by now anyway, and then I'd feel terrible.  Is anybody else extra protective of their registry items?  We actually received a set of fancy-pants, hand-painted, very-thin-glass glasses, but whenever we use them, I end up giving the stink eye to anybody who looks like they're having too much fun while holding one.  Better to grab some without any emotional attachments for day to day use.  I am crazy, by the way.

After some searching, I found these bad boys at Target.  Inexpensive?  Check.  Non-offensive looking?  Check.  Not worth crying over if broken?  Check.

Behold our upgraded glass shelf.  There are still a few of our favorite beer glasses, but the other half is taken over by SENSIBLE ADULT GLASSWARE.  The pint glasses that didn't make the cut have been boxed up in case any siblings o'mine want them for their new apartments.

Are you still rocking pint glasses, frat-house style?  Or have you graduated, like me, to a mostly matching set?  Stay hydrated and stay homey!

Barcelona, Spain: Mercat de Sant Josep de la Boqueria

Mercat de Sant Josep de la Boqueria...whew...that is a mouthful.  Good thing I only have to type it and not say it.  Let's just say that my Spanish is, well, horrendous.

This market was absolutely beautiful.  The colors, smells, and tastes were otherworldly and just a feast for the eyes and stomach.  

Mmmm meat and meat and meat on a stick.

There were baskets and baskets of every nut and legume you could ever imagine:

It's no secret that I am a greens FREAK.  I wanted to grab all of this with one swoop and run for the hills (winery lined hills) but Charlie wouldn't let me.

Some olives...

...and every type of chocolate, truffle, and sweet you can imagine.

LOOK AT THESE MUSHROOMS!!!

 Isn't this so unfair??

 Some fresh eggs...

...and the most beautiful fruit display I've ever seen.

They had dozens of freshly squeezed fruit juices to choose from.  I ordered the mint and pineapple juice.  Why?  I don't know.

Lastly, but certainly not least, every type of candy and shade under the sun.

The market was overwhelmingly beautiful.  The next time I go to Barcelona I am renting an apartment with a kitchen so I can actually cook with all of their beautiful ingredients.  Take notes Chicago.  Stay hungry! 

I Made a Quilt!

One of my goals for the year was to sew a quilt before 2012 was out.  Quilts are so quintessentially cozy and homey that I wanted one, in colors and patterns of my choosing, that I could curl up under and nap with when fall hit.  Well, fall is here and I am finally finished with my quit odyssey.  It took like 9 months.  Mostly because I rarely had patience to do it for more than half-hour increments.  It actually took me forever to find pictures just now because I started this thing SO long ago.

I began by picking out five fabrics that I liked and cutting them into squares using a cutting tool and mat:

I had five one-yards pieces of fabric.  It was enough for a twin sized quilt, but just barely, so if you give this a whirl, get more fabric.  In fact, let's scrap the idea that this is a "Quilt Tutorial" because just about any other article on the web about quilting will be more thorough and informative than this.  This is just me showing you my new quilt.

Once all the fabric was pieced into squares, I laid it all out on the floor and started pinning it into strips. There was no pattern - the squares were lined up randomly, but I had to switch out pieces here and there to make sure that there were no matching squares next to each other.  From there, I sewed each strip together, piece by piece, and then attached all the strips together for the top of the quilt.  At this point, I ran around the house with the beginning of the quilt around my shoulders like an American flag.

After adding the batting and a back piece (just a full sized sheet, cut down), and doing the actual quilting on my sewing machine, my quilt is finally ready for use.  LOVE:

It has some imperfections, for sure.  It's sort of bunchy in a few spots and I have an mismatched corner here and there:

Imperfections and all, I am so pumped that I made this (and learned my lesson early on that I am not meant to be a quilter).  Stay warm and stay homey!

PS - Cats like it, too:

Breakfast in Madrid

Charlie and I just returned from Spain - enjoying one of the most wonderful weeks of our lives.  We just fell in love with Spain - the food, the people, the weather, the history, the food, and oh yeah, the food.  I have lots to catch you up on. 

There were two breakfasts we had in Madrid that straight up changed MY LIFE.  I'm also contemplating starting Weight Watchers tomorrow... so that should tell you something.   

We will start with breakfast number 1:  THE CHURRO.  Charlie and I were strolling down some random street in Madrid, exploring hand in hand like we always do on vacation and BAM.  Churro fragrance to the face.  We tracked down the heavenly smell and entered this standing room only spot and went to town. 

We didn't really know what we were ordering so we observed some locals and got some help from the kind folks behind the counter.

We ordered churros and the churro man (read: Superman) started with our order...

...and then we got this beautiful plate of goodness.  We dove in...but Charlie and I both looked at each other, like Hmmmm I know these are supposed to be outrageously good and the guy is staring at us but these need something to make them WOW...

Well maybe we should have waited, like, a whole SECOND, because the hot chocolate was soon to follow...

Oh DAMN.  See, the churros aren't sweet, they aren't salty, they are crunchy and chewy and once you dip them into the hot chocolate, which is really more like chocolate pudding...your mouth just goes bananas. 

But wait, there's more!  We were so out of our minds excited about the churros, that the guy made us another one...

...but this time, added sugar to it and made it grande. 

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm....

 ...this was about 3 minutes later.  Sad face.

Next, we were strolling through this beautiful little square and then spotted this local enjoying his breakfast.  Whatever he was having, I had to have. Breakfast number two:  Eggs, with chorizo, potatoes and fried peppers at El Madrono.

But to start, some manchego cheese, olive oil, and delicious bread.

This...was...just...OMG...I could cry.

 I need a moment.  The eggs were so fresh, the chorizo perfectly crispy and spicy, and those PEPPERS.  I made the mistake of eating an entire plate (literally...and entire plate) of those peppers and then I had heart burn for like 4 days.  But it was worth it.

Oh yeah, we also had "mama's meatballs."  These were different than traditional Italian meatballs.  They were SUPER tender...my assumption is they didn't use a binder like bread or breadcrumbs.

Thank you Madrid for two awesome breakfasts.  We love you.

Adios.  Stay hungry!

Something Fishy in my Desk...

I work upstairs from my home office.  That means anything related to my job, craft items, photos from college, and most of my other personal items are stored up there.  For some reason, though, once bills that need to be paid are put in my office, they get lost or forgotten about.  Jesse and I needed some functional storage downstairs and I liked the idea of a secretary desk in our bedroom.

I had just gotten Jesse onboard with the idea (he was convinced I would use the desk mostly for placing my clothes on instead of paying bills at) when we were at a consignment store a few towns away and came across this beaut:

Small, but with ample storage.  Dark wood like our bed and nightstands.  Came with a chair.  And 20% off if we paid in cash.  Sold.

Once I got home, I started thinking of a few ways to spruce up this old desk.  Add some color and remove some of the consignmenty feel.  I started with the drawers...

After picking out some colorful fish wrapping paper at Paper Source, I measured it to fit the drawer exactly (a roller cutter meant for sewing made this very easy):

...and glued it in using Paper Mod Podge.  After a few hours of sitting under my heaviest books to keep it flat...

...my new drawer was ready for use!

True Story: the envelope in there from LLBean is addressed to Fred.  I bought him an LLBean dog bed and shipped it in Fred's name since I thought Jesse would think it was funny when he unwrapped it.  Turns out LLBean didn't charge my credit card and just sent Fred an invoice.  I should get on that...

Where do you pay your bills?  Let us know and stay homey!

Crispy Fried Smashed Potatoes with Rosemary and Serrano Chilies

Hola.  I'm writing this while in Spain right now...so I'm a bit distracted but I'll try to keep it together.  

HAM.  CHEESE. SANGRIA.  Damnit. 

Ok for reals...I made these potatoes before we left and the were incredible.  They were crispy, garlicky, rosemary-y, a bit spicy, and pillowy soft in the middle.  Yum.   

The inspiration for this recipe is pretty random.  One of my go to restaurants in Chicago, Quartino, has this white bean spread with rosemary, olive oil, and serrano chilies.  It's the best.  Somehow my weird little brain decided to use these flavors with potatoes.  Success. 

There aren't exact measurements for a rustic dish like this.  So don't stress.  You will, however, need the following ingredients:

Baby Yukon Gold Potatoes (those are my favorite, but any would work) 

Rosemary 

Serrano Chilies 

Fresh Garlic

Garlic Salt  

Olive Oil

Canola Oil 

Start by thinly slicing one to two serrano chillies, roughly chopping a sprig or two of rosemary, and then adding a few large cloves of garlic that have been smashed.  I usually just use the side of my knife to bruise the skin, releasing all of the yummy garlicky goodness.  Finally, drizzle some good olive oil on top to make a "dressing" of sorts.  The oil is just a vehicle to get all of the flavors together and happy.  We're not actually going to dress the potatoes with all of this.

I use baby Yukon gold potatoes for a couple of reasons.  Yukon gold are just creamy and wonderful all by themselves.  They don't dry out like other potatoes (I won't mention names).  Anyway, boil your po-ta-toes for 10-12 minutes or until they are soft when pierced with a fork. 

Ok...now comes the fun part.  These are called smashed potatoes so that's just what we want to do.  Wait until the potatoes cool enough to touch, and smash them down with a plate, or the bottom of a large glass like below:

This is what you'll end up with.  You don't want to smash them all the way down...just enough to level them out.  Don't freak if a couple fall apart.  Those are bonus ones the chef gets. 

Fill a pan (preferably non stick) with about 1/2 an inch of canola oil and let it heat up over medium heat for about 4-5 minutes.  Any light oil will do - since we're frying we don't want to use a heavy oil like olive oil.  Trust. 

Let these do their thing.  You really can't mess with these or they are going to break apart and you're going to send me emails like, OMG Jaisa why would you suggest a recipe that makes me want to throw my entire kitchen out the window?  Just let them sit and fry for about 5-8 minutes on the first side, or until you see golden brown edges forming on the outside.  The second side won't take as long - maybe 2-3 minutes or so.  

Once crispified, take them out and sprinkle with a little bit of garlic salt.  Or garlic powder and salt. Let these drain on paper towels to soak up the excess oil.  Next, gently lay the potatoes in whatever dish you are serving these in, and then scoop out the rosemary, chillies, and garlic that have been resting in the olive oil.  If a little olive oil comes with the herbs and chillies, don't worry.  It's delicious.

Look at all of those golden brown and crunchy edges....DAMN.

Yup....

...so good.

Stay starchy and stay hungry!