Isn’t it amazing how terrible 2016 was? There were so many things that just melted our brains from Brexit to Trump, police brutality to Aleppo, devastating natural disasters to Orlando & more. Congratulations on making it to 2017, but I regret to inform you that it’s not looking up all that much. Okay, forget the whole negative introduction because we can’t fight bollocks with hatred & pessimism. Let’s start this new year at Tiffany Bee on a more positive note: how I convince people to hang out with me i.e. if you feed them, they will come. Last year, I made poké for my friends & they loved it. This year, I’m finally sharing my recipe. For those of you out of the trendy food loop, poké is a Hawaiian dish consisting of seasoned raw fish that is complemented by a variety of accoutrements including rice or vegetables. It is an incredibly fresh & healthy dish, depending on its seasoning & accoutrements. If made in the comforts of your own home, it is easily more affordable & tastier than a restaurant. California’s been sprouting poké restaurants everywhere, you’d think they weren’t in a drought. Bad pun, I’m sorry Cali, forgive me. While it’s raining poké in Cali, Boston has only grown one poké restaurant & FFS it’s not even in Boston Proper, it’s in Somerville. That’s okay though, because where Boston is slacking, I GOT YOU COVERED WITH THIS RECIPE SO SCROLL DOWN, LOOK @ MAH PICS, & CLICK ON THE RECIPE LINK 2 FALLINLURVE.
Travel
So, I’m the worst & I really thought I’d be able to edit all of those photos from my trip to Thailand & Vietnam last summer during winter break. I got some of it done, just not all of it. I’m ashamed, but I had other priorities such as allowing Civilization V to ruin my life with my friends. Just one more turn, right? Well, that’s over with. I’m back in Boston, which means it’s about high time I get my act together. Despite having a -9000 presence in the blogosphere this past month, I still got to team up with Vegas.com to make a pizza that was inspired by one of their many hotels. I immediately thought of Paris, only because I really have no idea how I would have time to spray paint neon butterflies & mushrooms to put on a pizza for the Wynn. Since the hotel capitalizes on Parisian culture–or at least what they think is–you’ll easily find French Onion soup & quiche on their menus. This is awkward; I forgot how to blog so I’m just going to cut to the chase: I made a pizza that tastes like the lovechild of a mushroom quiche & French Onion soup. Here’s the part where I make you click a link to stay on my page longer to see my photos. Also, don’t forget to check out resorts in Vegas if you want to spend Spring Break soaking in the heat, day drinking, & pool party life. Wait, that actually sounds really nice right now considering my feet are frozen right now.
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YOU GUYS, it’s pumpkin season again aka my favorite season. Summer? Pft, too hot & also bugs. Spring? The melting snow becomes black mush & it’s gross. The blooming cherry blossoms hang out for like 2 weeks & then they die. Also, bugs are back with vengeance. My point is that it’s pumpkin season – the most important season because pumpkins????. Look, there are a lot of pressing issues in the world, so I’m going to make it clear that I’m being facetious, but I must emphasize with hyperbole how much I love pumpkin season.
This Tea Time Thursdays will not be with a pumpkin tea because it’s embarrassing that the time before my last TTT was on pumpkin tea, so…here’s my attempt to mix it up. But just so you know, DAVIDsTEA has 4 new pumpkin teas. Yep. Get PUMPED y’all! Okay let’s actually talk about what’s in my picture right now.
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Wow, you guys, I actually forgot how to blog for a good minute there; it’s been so long since I’ve posted an edible recipe. Last Monday, I received my box of soap goodies from Bramble Berry, which got me so excited to make cold process soap for the first time. Melt & pour soap is really easy to do & I love the instant gratification of using your soap a few hours after you’ve made it, but since I’m a control freak, I need to have power over what goes into my soap. I don’t like the cheap feel of soap leaving your skin dry–something you can get from low quality melt & pours–so I just sucked it up & bought the Beginner’s Cold Process Soap Kit. I’ve made 2 bars of soap so far, so in 4-6 weeks–it takes at least 4 weeks for soap to cure–I’ll finally have my belated birthday giveaway! I guess it’s way too late to even call it a belated birthday giveaway, I’ll just call it my summer giveaway or something. Anyway, more details on that when the soap finishes curing.
Before I get too carried away with soap, let’s talk about my new edible recipe, which features a mix of oyster mushrooms & crimini, kale, cashews, & of course, creamy polenta. Don’t mind the flattened look of the polenta–took a picture of this when the polenta was at its least creamy aka the next day, heated up–this recipe will produce a very creamy bowl of polenta, which you can top off with your choice of mushrooms, greens, & nuts. It makes a really quick & easy vegetarian dinner & if you’re still hungry, you can grill some other veggies like asparagus or squash or any protein (tofu, fish, etc) of your choice!
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This Ma Belle Vie is a little different from others because I’m combining it with Georgina’s A Day in the Life Linkup. Well, to be honest, it’s really not that different. I captured photos from morning until night, however I couldn’t exactly document what happened after we returned to the hotel because that Hand Grenade knocked me out. I hadn’t felt that horrible in a long time, so lesson learned: don’t take on an entire Hand Grenade if you can barely handle more than 5 shots of hard liquor.
On February 19th, Josh attended the 56th Annual Convention of the International Studies held in New Orleans & flew me out for our 2 Year Anniversary. It was my first time in Louisiana & also my first time in New Orleans aka The Big Easy. This city has experienced a lot of tragedy & hardship in 2005 when Hurricane Katrina drowned 80% of the city, due to a major engineering mishap: the levees designed to protect the city against major hurricanes failed. Thousands of people were displaced, lost their homes, lives, businesses, & many were trapped in their own homes when the waters rushed in. Since then, the city has slowly, but surely recuperated. Tourism is very much alive & Mardi Gras is still a much celebrated event. Our trip to NOLA was a week after Mardi Gras, so most of the city still looked like the day after a frat party, but I chose not to photograph the trash. I don’t want to depict the city’s disheveled appearance, hoping to highlight the wonderful mixing of various cultures, food, & architecture. New Orleans is appropriately named America’s most unique city & while it might be a far cry from Paris, Amsterdam, London, or Bern, it is still such a worthy visit. There is no other city in all of the US like it & the culture & food is phenomenal. It’s a perfect blend of Southern comfort, Caribbean & Spanish flavors, & most notably, French influence. NOLA is a pescetarian’s dream come true: seafood for days. It’s also a great hub for meat eaters & veggie lovers alike.