Happy Valentine’s Day!

Illustration of red hearts.

Here are some cheerful love-related items for your day, whether you have found a valentine or have yet to find (or desire) someone deserving.

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-o- Google Valentine’s Day Doodles -o-

From 2000-2012. Here’s the gallery from Mashable.

Here’s the 2012 doodle:

-o- 10 Best Love Letters of All Time – from The Guardian -o-

Among them: Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s correspondence with her eventual husband, Robert Browning. Here’s the collection.

Interestingly, Elizabeth didn’t show her husband the sonnets she’d written while he was courting her, including “How do I love thee? Let me count the ways” until after the birth of their son in 1849.

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
I love thee to the depth and breadth and height
My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight
For the ends of Being and ideal Grace.
I love thee to the level of everyday’s
Most quiet need, by sun and candle-light.
I love thee freely, as men strive for Right;
I love thee purely, as they turn from Praise.
I love thee with a passion put to use
In my old griefs, and with my childhood’s faith.
I love thee with a love I seemed to lose
With my lost saints, — I love thee with the breath,
Smiles, tears, of all my life! — and, if God choose,
I shall but love thee better after death.

-o- A Brother and Sister Get Married: A love story -o-

A truly unusual story for the day. Comedian John Fugelsang tweeted this story last August, and NPR followed up on the extraordinary circumstances. Fugelsang’s parents were both in a convent, yet their love led them to eventually marry and create a family.

Here’s the piece from NPR.

-o- Valentine’s Day playlist from Mother Jones -o-

The Anti-Valentine’s Day playlist for “Satisfied Singles.” Here’s the playlist, complete with music videos. Enjoy!

-o- Writers choose their favorite love poems -o-

Check out this perfect piece for the day by Paddy Allen: Writers such as Seamus Heaney, Hilary Mantel, Jeanette Winterson and others chose the poems that inspired them, and Carol Ann Duffy wrote a new poem for the selection.

Find The Guardian‘s interactive display here. My favorite is the Donne poem cited by A S Byatt:

Air and Angels

Twice or thrice had I loved thee,
Before I knew thy face or name ;
So in a voice, so in a shapeless flame
Angels affect us oft, and worshipp’d be.
Still when, to where thou wert, I came,
Some lovely glorious nothing did I see.
But since my soul, whose child love is,
Takes limbs of flesh, and else could nothing do,
More subtle than the parent is
Love must not be, but take a body too ;
And therefore what thou wert, and who,
I bid Love ask, and now
That it assume thy body, I allow,
And fix itself in thy lip, eye, and brow.

Whilst thus to ballast love I thought,
And so more steadily to have gone,
With wares which would sink admiration,
I saw I had love’s pinnace overfraught ;
Thy every hair for love to work upon
Is much too much ; some fitter must be sought ;
For, nor in nothing, nor in things
Extreme, and scattering bright, can love inhere ;
Then as an angel face and wings
Of air, not pure as it, yet pure doth wear,
So thy love may be my love’s sphere ;
Just such disparity
As is ‘twixt air’s and angels’ purity,
‘Twixt women’s love, and men’s, will ever be.

What’s your favorite love poem?

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This e.e. cummings poem is one of the poems Brian and I love, together.

i like my body when it is with your
body. It is so quite a new thing.
Muscles better and nerves more.
i like your body. i like what it does,
i like its hows. i like to feel the spine
of your body and its bones, and the trembling
-firm-smooth ness and which I will
again and again and again
kiss, i like kissing this and that of you,
i like, slowly stroking the, shocking fuzz
of your electric fur, and what-is-it comes
over parting flesh…And eyes big love-crumbs,

and possibly i like the thrill
of under me you quite so new

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I wish you all a safe, sweet and happy Valentine’s Day. Even if you don’t like the “holiday,” eat a heart-shaped candy or leave someone a sweet note. Spread love.

Jennifer

A funny thing happened on the way to this Monday… An inspiring story for the would-be published novelist, Nile Gardner’s Top 10 Conservative Movies of the Modern Era

Posted by twomuffinsinanoven

-o- It’s Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day -o-

What’s been happening in the District this weekend? Find some of the events, lectures and discussions that occurred earlier this weekend and are continuing into the week here.
Read ABCNews‘ coverage of the quote controversy (just the newest of, in my opinion, unfortunate conflicts over this new impressive memorial) here.
(photo credit: Rachel Cooper, about.com)
What’s cooking today? Epicurious suggests you regard the day off of work and the weather as reasons to break out the crock pot or the stock pot (and end up with leftovers for the week). Find “Federal Holiday Food Projects” here. I’ve been planning to make vegetable soup all week but will be waiting until Wednesday when I will have turnips and spinach (*see below). Here is a super yummy-looking chicken soup recipe from Foodista.

-o- And the winner is… -o-

(photo credit: The Inquisitr.com)
Check out the full list of Golden Globes nominees and winners; here are red-carpet photos from The Washington Post.

I didn’t get to watch the show, but there are a few categories in which I was interested.

Downton Abbey (Masterpiece) on PBS won the award for Best Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television.
Martin Scorese won the Best Director award for Hugo.
Matt LeBlanc won the award for Best Actor in a Television Series – Comedy or Musical for the Showtime production Episodes. Also nominated? Alec Baldwin from NBC’s 30 Rock and David Duchovny from Showtime’s Californication.

-o- One man’s list of the Top 10 Conservative Films -o-
I find even the idea of listing ”conservative” or “liberal” films a bit absurd (mostly because I think that all forms of art are by nature rather subjective) let alone ranking them not quite by quality but by their representation of certain values. But still, this was fun to read. I recommend you read the whole piece by Nile Gardner of The Telegraph. Well-written and intriguing.

Number one? Chariots of Fire, directed by Hugh Hudson and released in 1981.

Find out why… Here’s the full list!

Read Asawin Suebsaeng‘s article “One Right-Winger’s Terrible List of ‘Top 10 Conservative Movies’” here in Mother Jones.

-o- The best Brunch blog post I’ve ever seen -o-

The White Library’s “Farmhouse Breakfast Brunch Inspiration” post is indeed inspiring, not to mention mouthwatering. On the menu? Quiche, maple bacon, and perfect little French toast triangles.

(photo credit: Sandra of The White Library)

-o- Amanda Hocking, self-published millionaire -o-
Hocking, in need of a few hundred dollars to make ends meet, ending up making over a million dollars self-publishing her novels and selling them online. I found this story riding home on the metro one day and was truly inspired. Not for myself necessarily, but for the several brilliant and creative people I know who have written novels and are truly, seemingly fruitlessly, to share them with the world.

I hope you too enjoy reading Amanda’s story. Here’s the article from The Guardian. And here’s the list of her books for sale on Amazon.com!

While you’re there, check out Underwood by A.M. Henry. I’m reading it now and enjoying it immensely. The author of Underwood is another writer using Amazon.com’s self-publishing options to distribute her book; you can get her book in paperback.

-o- What’s on my menu this week -o-

Schezuan tofu and green bean stir fry. Here’s the recipe from The Huffington Post.
(photo credit: Ken Burris)
Turnip soup from Epicurious.

Looking back at 2011, I’m very excited for 2012

Posted by twomuffinsinanoven

How did I grow last year? And what can I do to maintain my stability and contented state in 2012?

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What happened in 2011?

-o- I earned my Master’s degree in English from George Washington University and loved it (and lived through it…)

-o- Brian and I traveled across the United States with two tents, a minivan, and not much else. We hit over half of the states and visited several cities and national parks. Stay tuned for my trip journal’s appearance on this blog.

-o- I moved out of Washington D.C. (barely) to Silver Spring, Maryland and am settling in to a new neighborhood.

-o- I secured a full-time editorial position in the media industry.

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What do I want to happen in 2012?

It took almost two weeks of the year to solidify my resolutions, but finally, here they are:

-o- I will be a more consistent blogger. -o-

I want to continue my weekly “A funny thing happened…” post and begin another serial type of post, though I haven’t decided on what yet (probably food!) I like Life of Roya’s “Mid-Week Music” postings (see this week’s on Stars here) and may adapt that idea for my purposes.

I expect to launch this new serial type of post on February 1, 2012.

-o- I will make soup stock. -o-

I will start with vegetable and hopefully graduate to lobster. I want to make soup from scratch for several reasons. Among them are: it’s a solid and variable way to add more vegetables to my (and Brian’s) heavy-on-the-bread-and-cheese diet; soup freezes well and therefore can be made in advance and eaten over several weeks or months; making soup from the very beginning, stock and all, will make me feel accomplished!

I have purchased a stockpot and Brian’s mother found me a Dutch oven, so I am good to go!

-o- I will learn to cook different cuts of meat well. -o-

I was raised as a vegetarian, and though I certainly know well and understand the arguments for that type of lifestyle, as I learn more about cooking and food I feel as though whether or not I eat what I cook, I’d like to be able to do it. I will learn to make a tasty and not overcooked steak, a pork chop, and a meatball made from a combination of pork and beef.

-o- I will dress better. -o-

I go back and forth on whether this is a worthy resolution. I do know deep down that I’m not defined by how I dress, but I still have been scratching a recently developed itch for a new, work-worthy wardrobe. Stay tuned for a post on my burgeoning collection.

-o- I will develop and maintain an exercise schedule. -o-

I’ve always been an on-and-off exerciser. I’ll get into phases where going to the gym is paramount: I will go every day and sometimes twice a day. Then something will happen that throws me off for a few days, and the drive is gone.

This year I want to consciously combat this tendency of mine, and the simplest way seems to be to form a strict schedule and keep up with it.

-o- I will make time for reading. -o-

I have always been a reader. “Reading” is one of the first “likes” people who know me would volunteer, if asked. But while getting my Master’s degree I (understandably) stopped reading books for pleasure. This needs to change. I will substitute reading in bed for watching more “30 Rock” at least twice a week.

I asked for The Children’s Book by A.S. Byatt for Christmas. I’m about a third of the way into it (it’s long!) and am completely enamored.

I couldn’t have picked a better starting novel!

-o- I will love my man, my family and my friends better every day. -o-

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Thanks to Ashley of Lifevesting for this post idea! Check out her Year in Review.

New Year’s Eve Dinner – Brie, Asparagus, Curried Chicken Bites, Salmon and Orzo with Olive-Mustard Butter

Posted by twomuffinsinanoven

-o- Brie, Baguette and Strawberries -o-

No explanations needed here. We are on a budget, so we bought Simply Enjoy brand brie from Giant, and found it delicious. With baguette slices toasted into crostini and a few ripe strawberries, we had a very romantic first course for our 2011 New Year’s Eve dinner.

-o- Curried Chicken Bites with Lemon-Dill Yogurt -o-

First, prepare the yogurt so you can cover and chill. Mix 1 cup plain lowfat yogurt, 1 cup finely shredded peeled, seeded cucumber (with as much moisture removed as possible), 1/2 tsp. lemon juice (resist the urge to add more), and 1 tsp. dried dillweed in a small bowl. Cover and keep chilled until it’s time to serve the chicken bites.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 lbs. chicken breasts or tenderloins, cut into 1-in. pieces (*note: you will end up grinding this; I suppose you could buy ground chicken, but the recipe I used for inspiration called for grinding your own and I did like being able to remove most of the fat)
1/4 cup onion, finely minced
1 clove garlic, finely minced
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/3 cup fine, dry breadcrumbs
1 tsp. ground ginger
1/2 tsp. ground cumin
1/2 tsp. curry powder
1/2 tsp. salt (or to taste)
1/2 tsp. ground red pepper (cayenne)
1/4 tsp. ground black pepper

3 tbsps. flour (optional)
2 tsps. vegetable oil
1/4 tsp. paprika

Method:
Add half of the chicken pieces to a food processor bowl. Pulse until pureed. Place in a large mixing bowl; repeat with remaining chicken. Add onion and garlic. Add the egg slowly, stopping when it looks wet enough. Mix together with a wooden spoon or your hands.

Mix together the dry ingredients (breadcrumbs and spices, minus the paprika). Add to chicken mixture. Mix well (I used my hands).

Shape the mixture into 40 (or so) 1-in. balls. If you are cooking them right away, dredge in flour (optional) and place half of the bites in a glass pie dish. Microwave for a few minutes, mixing halfway through. Fry over medium-heat in 1 tsp. vegetable oil and 1/8 tsp. paprika. Repeat with remaining bites.

If you want to freeze them (which I have been doing, because they are rather labor-intensive), skip the flour step and simply coat wax-paper-lined baking sheets with cooking spray. Spread the bites onto the sheets; coat with more spray. Freeze for an hour or so, then transfer to a cooking-spray-lined freezer bag. When you are ready to cook, microwave for a few minutes as directed above, then proceed.

Serve with yogurt.

Inspiration: Spicy Chicken Bites with Cucumber Dip, from the CookingLight Five-Star Recipes: The Best of 10 Years (1996).

-o- Simple Roasted Asparagus -o-

See the recipe for my favorite way to eat asparagus – simply – here. All you really need is good salt, freshly-cracked black pepper and a bit of olive oil.
You can see Brian’s favorite asparagus recipe, Roasted Asparagus with Balsamic Vinegar and Tarragon, here, featured as part of a weekend dinner menu.

Preheat the oven to 425 when you put the water on to boil for the orzo. When you add the to the boiling water, reduce the heat to 400 and add the salmon. Depending on your oven, stove, etc., everything should be finished around the same time!

-o- Roasted Salmon and Orzo with Olive-Parsley Butter -o-
Serves 4

Ingredients:
4 salmon fillets, about 6 oz. each, skinned
8 oz. orzo pasta

*I made double the amount of olive butter and froze half for future use. If you want to do the same, double the amounts below and roll the unused butter into a log and wrap tightly in plastic wrap. Use within a month.
1/4 cup salted butter (1/2 stick), room temperature
6 Kalamata olives, pitted and chopped
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/2 a medium shallot (about 2 tsps.) minced shallot
2 tsps. chopped fresh parsley (or more, to taste)

Method:
Put a pot of salted water on to boil. Cook the orzo according to package directions and return to the pot.

To make the butter, put the butter, olives, mustard, shallot and parsley into a food processor. Process until smooth.

Coat a baking sheet with olive oil. Sprinkle both sides of the salmon fillets with good-quality salt and pepper. Place in the preheated oven and roast for 12-14 minutes, until just done in the center.

Add half of the butter to the orzo, toss well to coat. Place a small dab of the butter on each piece of salmon and garnish with fresh parsley and/or whole olives.

Enjoy!

Inspiration on Epicurious.

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Christmas in Chadds Ford/Kennett Square, PA

Posted by twomuffinsinanoven

All states have beautiful places, and it’s common for people to be attached to “their” parts of the country. I love Kennett Square and Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania. This area is, I think, a magical place to visit. The Brandywine River Museum is a popular destination around Christmastime; in addition to the always-showcased art of N.C. Wyeth, his son Andrew Wyeth and his grandson Jamie Wyeth, among others, there are several seasonal fixtures that are not to be missed.

Around the holidays, Longwood Gardens dresses their trees in thousands of tiny lights, which illuminate the garden in a most unique and unforgettable way. There is a fountain and light show in the open air theater and intricate decorations adorning every structure.

Visiting these places as a child are integral to the intense pleasure I recall feeling around Christmas. But this year for the first time, I became conscious of something I had always known: much of the fond and fierce attachment to places you’ve known and loved is intricately linked with those who were with you when you knew them. My family is there in almost every memory of walking through the greenhouses, singing carols while the fabulous organ trumped all voices, coming upon treehouses and lakes or streams with fish and birds unexpectedly, as though they weren’t where my parents had been leading us.

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-o- The Brandywine River Museum -o-

In the courtyard, local farmers and artisans sell their wares. For years I purchased beeswax ornaments for my grandmothers and begged my parents for flavored honey sticks to suck on… I didn’t really like them, but they were sort of like candy. There is usually a wonderful woman selling hot apple cider to help cut the cold, and though we missed it this year, there is often a vendor selling hot roasted chestnuts. This year, I bought a hand-crafted gold and mother-of-pearl ring from a jeweler out of Paoli-Malvern.

One of the best parts of visiting the museum during the holiday season is the train display. It was PACKED this year and obtaining pictures was tough, but I managed to get the waterfall and the adorable black bear family displays. The longest train this year was touted as having 140 cars, but my family counted 142!

Each year at least four decorated pine trees accompany the Noah’s Ark and “Little Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe” displays crafted out of natural objects like pinecones, burrs and dried flowers.

The art of three generations of Wyeth artists and other brilliant painters, sculptors and illustrators adorn the walls. I enjoy perusing the galleries, but the holiday displays are truly what keep me coming back. Finally, though it is usually too cold to walk along it, I love the Brandywine River upon which the museum sits.

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-o- Longwood Gardens -o-

Even in the wind and rain, walking through the gardens when dressed with lights is a wonderful experience. This year, we made it to the Ballroom in the Conservatory just in time for one of the organ-accompanied caroling sessions. When Pierre DuPont commissioned the building of the organ, it was the largest ever purchased for a private residence. Some of the pipes of the organ are on display; the pipes that produce the deepest notes larger around than a man’s thigh and the ones producing the highest notes thinner than a pencil.

The ballroom:

Each year, the Gardens create a “Christmas Route” through the greenhouses that includes some of the most beautiful trees, flowers, cacti, bonsai and floral creations in the greenhouses. This year the route included a Gingerbread Room, filled with edible trees, a train, and tables filled a scrumptious-looking selection of desserts.

A few of the flowers:

The gardens are lovely in every season. In the summer, there are dozens of varieties of roses in a large stone square. In the spring you can walk among hundreds of thousands of many-hued blossoms and smell the scent of new growth in the are. But I am recommending now that you visit in the winter and see the lights, the imaginative Christmas tree and Poinsettia displays, and smell the gardenias and lilies that perfume the air in the extensive glass-walled conservatories.

And just when I thought the day couldn’t be improved upon, on the way out my parents bought me a cookbook from the gift shop, and it has quickly become one of my favorite Christmas gifts from this year. The New England Soup Factory Cookbook by Marjorie Druker and Clara Silverstein has over 100 soup recipes, and I can’t decide which to try first (and, as it happens, I got an immersion blender from my mother for Christmas!) Check out one of my favorites, Spinach, Feta and Pine Nut Soup, on how2heroes.
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Three yummy salads: Beet and Goat Cheese, Chicken Caesar and Caprese in miniature

Posted by twomuffinsinanoven

For Brian’s birthday, we invited his family and my family to our apartment for a little party. I stressed sooo much over the food but it ended up being delicious! I served three salads at the beginning of the evening. They all went over very well and were relatively easy to prepare. Enjoy!

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-o- Caprese Skewers -o-
serves 10-12

Ingredients:

1 pt. cherry or grape tomatoes (any color)
25-30 fresh basil leaves (I purchased a fresh plant and mined the leaves)
1 lb. boccacini (mozzarella balls)
2 tbsps. extra-virgin olive oil
1 tbsp. balsamic vinegar
sprinkling of kosher salt
sprinkling of freshly cracked black pepper

Method:

Slice the tomatoes in half (I found it easiest to slice them horizontally through the middle). Slice the boccacini in half. Wash as dry the basil leaves. Collect all the ingredients and a bunch of skewers/toothpicks (I used 4 in. toothpicks, but you could also use long wooden skewers and serve the mini salads in tall glasses, or small party toothpicks).

In a pie dish, combine the oil, vinegar, salt and pepper.

You can begin with either a folded basil leaf or a piece of mozzarella, but you want the tomato halves to be last so you can stand the finished product up on a plate. Assemble the skewers, moving them to the oil and balsamic mixture as they are completed, and then to a platter.

Drizzle the remaining dressing over the platter. Either serve immediately or chill for up to two hours, covered.

Finished Product:

Inspiration: Mel’s Kitchen Cafe’s Caprese Skewers

-o- Caesar Salad with Grilled Chicken and Sourdough Croutons -o-
serves 10-12

Ingredients:

2 large chicken breasts
1 1/2 heads Romaine lettuce
1/2 loaf sourdough bread, cubed
3 oz. fresh Parmesan cheese

Your favorite Caesar dressing (or make your own! I didn’t – I used Ken’s Lite Creamy Caesar – but here’s one I considered: I’mTopsyTurvy’s Creamy Caesar Dressing)

Method:

Sprinkle chicken breasts with salt and pepper. Marinate in about 2 tbsps. of Caesar dressing in the fridge for 30 minutes or so.

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350. Toss the sourdough bread cubes with 1 tsp. of olive oil on a baking sheet. Toast in the oven for about 15 minutes or until just hard, tossing occasionally. Remove and set aside.

Wash, dry and chop lettuce. Set aside.

Heat a grill pan or a frying pan over medium-high heat. Coat with cooking spray. Grill the chicken for 6-8 minutes on each side or until done. Let cool and slice.

Just before serving, toss the lettuce with the dressing. Add the croutons and chicken and toss again, gently. Top with shredded or shaved Parmesan.

Serve with more cheese alongside.

Finished Product:

-o- Roasted Beet Salad with Wilted Greens, Hazelnuts and Goat Cheese -o-
serves 4-6

Ingredients:

Salad:
6-8 medium beets, greens attached
3 tbsps. hazelnuts, chopped
2-3 oz. fresh goat cheese, crumbled
3/4 – 1 lb. mixed greens (or baby spinach, or arugula, or whatever you like!)

Dressing:
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 tbsp. Dijon mustard
1 tbsp. minced shallots
1 tbsp. white wine vinegar
1 tbsp. fresh lemon juice
1/4 tsp. salt

Method:

Salad:
About two hours before you want to serve the salad, preheat the oven to 350. Separate the greens from the beets, leaving the top intact; wash the greens and set aside. Wrap the beets loosely in foil with a few drops of oil in each packet. Roast for about an hour until tender and the skins peel away easily when you rub them with your fingers.

When cool enough to handle, peel and chop into bite-sized chunks. Set aside.

Toast the nuts in a pan over medium-high heat for about 5 minutes. Watch carefully; nuts burn easily! Remove and set aside. In the same pan (and with a splash of water, wine or chicken stock if necessary), wilt the beet greens. Let cool slightly.

Toss the young greens with the dressing (method below). Top with the wilted greens, the beets, the crumbled goat cheese and the hazelnuts.

Dressing:
Combine all ingredients in a Mason jar and seal tightly. Shake to combine, taste and adjust if needed. Store in the fridge and shake again before serving.

Note – you may not need all the dressing. Start out with half and add if necessary.

Finished Product:

Inspiration: The Kitchn’s Roasted Beets and Sauteed Greens with Hazelnuts and Goat Cheese

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A funny thing happened on the way to this Monday… “Magic Mushrooms” are back in scientists’ sights, iPhone apps for foodies

Posted by twomuffinsinanoven

-o- Supreme Court to rule on Arizona’s immigration law
Over the objections of Obama’s administration, the U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to decide whether or not Arizona can enforce its immigration reform law.

-o- iPhone Apps for the Foodie
Mashable collected a list of 9 fun iPhone apps for food-lovers. Find the gallery here. My favorite – Eat St. keeps you updated on the location of food trucks in your neighborhood:

-o- “Magic Mushrooms” are back in the lab
It has been almost 40 year since President Nixon termed the former Harvard University psychologist Timothy Leary ”the most dangerous man in America.” His crime? Promoting the use of hallucinogenic substances – such as psilocybin, the main ingredient in the magic mushrooms – for therapeutic benefit. And now, psilocybin is back in view. Check out Bloomberg‘s article here to learn more.

-o- 25 Insights on Becoming a Better Writer
Jocelyn K. Glei collected tips from 25 authors; find them all here at the99percent.com. While I enjoyed reading through it, what I really like is the Hemingway quote Glei grabbed from a 1954 interview published in the Paris Review.
When asked by the interviewer what aspiring writers can do to train themselves, Hemingway answered: “Let’s say that he should go out and hang himself because he finds that writing well is impossibly difficult. Then he should be cut down without mercy and forced by his own self to write as well as he can for the rest of his life. At least he will have the story of the hanging to commence with.”

-o- Holiday Food Festivals
Epicurious compiled a list of food festivals happening across the United States this December. Find it here.

-o- FoodGawker’s all-time most-gawked
If you love food or just food photography, check out this collection of recipes here.

-o- Exciting football weekend!
I wouldn’t dare to pretend I care more about this than I really do, but yesterday was an exciting day to be even a quasi-fan.
Scores:
the Baltimore Ravens beat the Indianapolis Colts, 24-10
the Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Cleveland Browns, 14-3
the Houston Texans beat the Cincinnati Bengals, 20-19
the Philadelphia Eagles beat the Miami Dolphins, 26-10 (Whoo hoo!)
the Jacksonville Jaguars beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 41-14
the New York Jets beat the Kansas City Chiefs, 37-10
the Detroit Lions beat the Minnesota Vikings, 34-28
the Atlanta Falcons beat the Carolina Panthers, 31-23
the New England Patriots beat the Washington Redskins, 34-27
the New Orleans Saints beat the Tennessee Titans, 22-17
the Denver Broncos beat the Chicago Bears, 13-10
the Arizona Cardinals beat the San Francisco 49ers, 21-19
the San Diego Chargers beat the Buffalo Bills, 37-10
the Green Bay Packers beat the Oakland Raiders, 46-16

and in probably the most exciting game yesterday, at least on the East Coast…
the New York Giants beat the Dallas Cowboys 37-34

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

That’s all for today!

Last Christmas, I gave you my heart… and the very next day I had to wait a whole year for it to come again!

Posted by twomuffinsinanoven

And now it’s here! So I thought I’d revisit last year’s memories to get myself in the mood again (because in D.C. is it unseasonably warm).

Last Christmas Eve, Brian and I took our Dinah kitty and our Bean cat to Baltimore to spend Christmas Eve with Brian’s parents, his sisters and their partners. Brian’s sister Renee and her husband Ryan hosted a Christmas Eve dinner (which Renee’s husband’s family also attended) for which Cristin and I roasted several root vegetables and created an extravaganza of winter veggie goodness. Renee roasted a pork shoulder that got raves all around. There were also simple but perfect roasted potatoes of which I’m ashamed to say I likely ate the majority.

After dinner and gifts, Brian and I drove with our incredibly unhappy kitty cats to my parents’ house in the Philadelphia area. The drive was stressful, but in the morning we awoke to stuffed stockings on the feet of our beds and this beautiful display downstairs:

Our kittens were very naughty and wanted most of all to play within the branches of the tree; in their defense, it was the first tree they had ever seen. (This year Brian and I have a tiny little baby tree that I love if only because it’s our first one together.)

A few days later, we traveled to Washington D.C. to spend a few days enjoying the holiday atmosphere there. We saw a fabulous performance of Candide, ate scrumptious food, and walked the National Mall.

We also visited the ICE! How the Grinch Stole Christmas exhibit at the National Harbor. This is part of a Christmas tree made entirely of Christmas-themed marshmallow Peeps:

And this is Brian and I acting out the scene from the story in which the Grinch and Max take the sleigh to Whoville to steal Christmas; in hindsight I wish I had been the Grinch!

This and several other scenes were crafted entirely of ice and took dozens of artisans weeks to craft the two tons of ice into the 15000 square foot exhibit. It was cold, but fun!

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

This year, we are doing things a bit differently. We are having a Christmas dinner Friday evening and then spending Christmas eve with my family in Pennsylvania. There we will probably see a movie that we all tried but couldn’t agree on, eat at a restaurant, and then get in our pajamas and watch Santa Claus Is Coming to Town! narrated by a Clay-mation version of Fred Astaire.

Christmas Day we will eat brunch with my dad’s sisters, brothers, nieces and nephews and then have dinner with Brian’s mother’s sisters, brothers, nieces and nephews.

I am so looking forward this family-filled season and I wish you all a wonderful holiday month!

Ocean of Gifts

Posted by twomuffinsinanoven

I recommend checking out this website for beautiful items that can either be gifted or… worn.

Ocean of Gifts ocean scene600

They have jewelry, clothing, and pretty things for the home such as this “A Little Birdie Told Me So” lamp:

A Little Birdie Told Me So

It’s the most wonderful time of the year – shopping for other people is slightly less guilt-causing than shopping for oneself. Enjoy!

I am thankful for Thanksgiving

Posted by twomuffinsinanoven

There are only two years in my life I have missed Thanksgiving with my family, and this was one of them. The first was in 2007 when I was studying abroad in Madrid, Spain; my group and I went to a restaurant that prepared us a special Thanksgiving-style meal of turkey and mashed potatoes. It tasted nothing like American Thanksgiving dinner, but it was delicious!

This year I attended the Baltimore Bieretz family Thanksgiving dinner, and it was lovely.

The Menu
-o- Bieretz family Artichoke Dip
-o- Mozzarella, oven-dried marinated tomatoes and homemade roasted red peppers with crostini
-o- marinated olives

-o- Roasted Turkey
-o- Grilled Bourbon and Cider- Glazed Ham
-o- Mashed Potatoes with Cream Cheese
-o- Whipped Sweet Potatoes with Coconut-Pecan topping
-o- Roasted baby yams
-o- Assorted Grilled Vegetables with Dijon-Shallot vinaigrette
-o- Boston Lettuce Salad with Cherry Tomatoes and Avocado
-o- Cornbread and Bacon Stuffing
-o- Garlic Bread

-o- Pound cake with Toasted Almonds
-o- Cheesecake
-o- Pumpkin Pie
-o- Apple Tart
-o- Chocolate Chip Cookies
-o- Pumpkin-Cranberry Cookies

a few photos