Other things from this week... 2.28.14

I'll have one cabin, please.

Music Video of the Week:



Articles we loved:
Dance Marathon | This Recording I've Discovered the Internet's Most Internet Sentence, and Your an Idiot if You Disagree | New Republic How much my novel cost me | Medium Fifty Shades of Late Capitalism | The Baffler Life In Pictures: St. Vincent | Vulture Pre-Racial: Justice Clarence Thomas says blacks didn’t think about race in the 1950s South | Slate Chronicles of the Veil by Laila Lalami | Los Angeles Review of Books Spike Lee on gentrification | NYMag
Have a great weekend!!

WCW: Amy Poehler

Amy Poehler is one of those amazing people who gets more beautiful the more you listen to her. Parks and Recreation has become one of my favorite shows of all time! Check out her awesome website, Smart Girls at the Party, dedicated to life tips for young ladies. Even though it's meant for tweens and teens, I may or may not peruse the articles and learn new things.

MM: Sweet Potato, Chickpea, Spinach Curry

Today I have decided the best way through a pescatarian Lent will require a ton of spices. For real, I need to stock up and replace meat flavors with ~world spices~. Plenty of indian, ethiopian, and thai food coming up for me.

This dish was a perfect, slightly intermediate and nearly vegan pantry meal. Normally my pantry is ready to make some kind of simple weekday meal, but this time my resources are unusually abundant. I got my green grocer box (Note: if you're in the DMV, check it out-- it's so worth it!) for the first time this new year; and my $24 Trader Joe's haul supplied me with a ton of dried and canned goods. I wanted to get creative! That said, I still had to make a lot of substitutions and omissions. 

I didn't have harissa, or cardamom, or green chiles. Ground spices replaced some of their whole versions. Oh, and I also didn't have coconut milk. But this was my proudest moment! So I had a big carton of heavy cream, so I used that. BUT THEN I saw that you could add almond butter, and I had that! It was the perfect substitute-- it tastes different than coconut milk, but tasted delicious in it's own way. Coming in second place for best substitution is the Huy Fong Foods Chili Garlic Sauce for the harissa. My curry was super spicy and delicious! I was so proud I couldn't believe it, you guys. One day soon I will make another curry and hopefully I'll have all of the ingredients on hand. I will definitely attempt this recipe again! Try it here.

Juliana Romano

Visit her site.

via booooooom

Other things from this week... 2.21.2014

Song of the week:



I am in love with this song by Black City Lights. If you like it, check out the rest of their album on Bandcamp.

Articles we loved:

A letter from one dad to Michael Sam's dad: Learn to accept your gay son like I did | Outsports
Apocalypse, New Jersey: A Dispatch From America's Most Desperate Town | Rolling Stone
T-Pain Slams Homophobia in Hip-Hop and R&B for Six Straight Minutes | Gawker
Black Larry King (Isn't Any Of Those Things) | The Awl
Frank Gehry Is Still the World's Worst Living Architect | Gizmodo
Jasper Johns: ‘Regrets belong to everybody, don’t they?’ | FT Magazine

Note:

Since the Corcoran Gallery and College of Art is close to both Layla's and my hearts, I am sad to see it go. It has been in my life since high school, when I used to both browse the museum and attend portfolio days with my photos. However, I am excited about the free admission! Go forth and prosper in this new chapter, Corcoran. You can read about it here.

Woman Crush Wednesday: Lupita Nyong'o

“Step by Step, Fresh Prince of Bel Air, Hangin’ With Mr. Cooper, Full House—I watched a lot of sitcoms, as you can tell.”

Read her interview in NYMag.

Paul Octavious

 

MM: Black Bean Soup

Happy Presidents' Day! I hope you all are spending your day catching up on everything you've been putting off. My weekend was busier than expected, so I haven't gotten a chance to grocery shop. This black bean soup is perfect because I happened to have all of the ingredients on hand. Note: I am learning that "quick soaking" dried beans is not the best option. Though the flavors were totally on point, my beans were crunchy. Alas! It was like a black bean chili. Next time I'll use canned. Find the recipe here.

Gravity's Edge

Morris Louis, Delta Theta, 1961

Saturday was snowy and gray, thus the perfect day to spend in art museums after brunch. Contrasting the overcast sky, the Hirshhorn is currently showing a colorful exhibit titled "Gravity's Edge" that I highly recommend.* The focus of the exhibit lies in a form of abstract expressionism, known as color field painting. Some of the artists featured were Helen Frankenthaler, Sam Francis, and Morris Louis. This exhibit was fun, and discovering how fantastic it is to have a resource like WikiPaintings out there. Check out some color field paintings below!

* The other exhibit in the Hirshhorn, "Damage Control: Art and Destruction Since 1950", is really awesome and you should also check it out. It's running through the end of May.

Happy Valentine's Day!

This is all I need today.

Everyone should stay in for Valentine's Day. I've realized I haven't been out for V-Day dinner with my boyfriend the entire time we've been dating. Staying in and cooking together is so much better than waiting for your table at an overbooked, overpriced restaurant. Make steak! Or lobster! Or risotto! Or get some oysters.

This year, we are making steak and lobster for dinner and getting a fantastic brunch at the Blue Duck Tavern in the morning. Fall in love over eggs, everyone.

If you need inspiration, check out this sexy fritatta or this sumptuous lobster salad, both from Luxirare. Now all you need is a movie and some wine.

xoxo

Snow, snow, snow, SNOW

Rooftops in the Snow (snow effect), 1878, Gustave Caillebotte

I mingle with my peers or no one, and since I have no peers, I mingle with no one.

New Orleans has always seemed like a weird, misty, haunted city to me, and ever since the slew of TV shows and movies (AHS: Coven, True Detective, Rampart) I have been increasingly interested in it. When I booked my flight, I really didn't know what to expect. All I had seen were apartments on Craigslist (I tend to daydream) and said TV shows.

The Inaugural (and Lazy) Meatless Monday

I am completely exhausted. This morning I woke up very early to fly back home from an amazing vacation in New Orleans. On top of that I decided to be Wonder Woman and go to work on time as well. I was surprisingly productive at work considering, so I'm a satisfied tired. 

After all vacations, I need to eat something simple because I go out to eat for every meal and sadly I don't order salads. It's all so delicious, but it's also just an unsustainable diet-- that's why it's vacation! Needless to say, I wanted a low-maintenance and (somewhat) healthy meal my first night at home.

New Orleans reminded me that Mardi Gras is right around the corner (March 4) and the Catholic in me remembers that Lent is also (March 5). I like the challenge of it, so this year I will be pescatarian for 40 days and 40 nights. When I first thought of vegetarian meals, my mind went to bread-based dinners, like pizza and pasta. Historically I have used Lent in a productive way-- almost always related to weight loss-- so eating a bunch of carb-based meals every night is not something I'm trying to do.

But I'm tired, you guys. So I made Kraft Mac & Cheese and classed it up with a simple arugula salad with my favorite dressing as of late. It has lemon, olive oil, dijon mustard, a clove of garlic, and salt & pepper. There's no exact recipe, but you MUST make it. It'll change your life. Next week I promise I'll make something super fab like Indian or something!