RYE PANZANELLA SALAD

all of the people these days are done with winter and ready for spring. they want pastels and ham and no more snow. they want to run outside (?)

and while i do love a good spring onion and my springtime birthday, i am cozied up here making cookies just begging winter to stay for a few more months because this whole farming off season thing, with eggboy free for impromptu road trips, and the pretty snow everywhere, and all the reason in the world to spend days and days baking is absolutely the best ever.

and it's like, well, if you wanted me to invite you over to eat cookie dough for breakfast in our jammies and then spend the day making a layer cake, why didn't you just say so? then you will know what this winter has been to me. then you will know. 

especially in your butt. (bc actually your girl could use some running outside, if you know what i'm saying.)

the recipe i have for you today is a winter panzanella salad, and just looking at its worried face, i think it knows its brussels sprouts will soon be replaced by tomatoes, its crispy shallots by ramps.

...oh did someone say tomatoes and ramps? well, i guess the changing of the seasons isn't that bad. but for the record, i do plan on wearing my ugg boots and fleece lined pants until someone delivers me a ramp to my doorstep.

my winter eye panzanella salad with brussels sprouts, salami, and dijon vinaigrette (as its birth certificate actually says) is up on betty crocker's site. it should be known that after i took these photos, i sat on my couch with that massive red bowl and a fork, watching made-for-tv christmas movies in total pastrami winter heaven.

-yeh!

FIGHTING OFF THE JANUARIES

ah, yes, the monday of months. 

no gift giving holidays, no swimming pool weather, and it feels just a wee bit early to make a valentine's cake.

sometimes during january it's like what else is there besides new girl and youtube videos of last year's world synchronized skating championships and dumb made up holidays?

...i spent yesterday with waffles. so there's that.

and einstein on the beach is streaming, so there's that too.

oh! and the turkey meatballs from jerusalem. they's good.

(could it be? is this turning into a happy list?)

marzipan balls.

fleece lined things.

my new vintage coffee pot with the colorful chicken on it.

kelsey's take on january.

all this talk of man buns. jason brown's pony tail.

and no, but really, you need to get into synchronized skating. if nothing else, just please watch this.

a blizzard is a comin! so what else is new. these days i believe that the best warmth comes from a risotto pan. minutes and minutes stood at a risotto pan, spoon in one hand, wine in the other, stirring your little bum off until you can stir no longer and you're just so hungee and before you know it you're down to one layer because the heat! there's a blizzard outside??

happy watch-all-the-heath-ledger-movies day!

-yeh!

CHICAGO

eggboy and i are in chicago now, escaping the north dakota cold and seeing my family. it is a crisp -9ºf right now and it's supposed to warm up to zero later today! such excitement, i think i'll shed one sweater layer. 

we spent the weekend in the suburbs with homeland season 3 and a massive stack of cookbooks. we did not surface except to take a salty cheesy trip to eataly with these two and to eat about 12 orders of brunch paella at ba ba reeba. 

my sisters and i, we do this thing where we impersonate al dente noodles. that's what that gif is all about. i dunno how it started, i think it's a variation on the helpless dog pose that we do when we don't want to do something or if pops is taking too many pictures (do you see where i get it from?). my best guess is that stoop is a penne noodle, mia is a bow tie or perhaps udon, and i like to think that if i were a noodle i'd be some sort of hand pulled strand like one you'd find at xi'an. 

i find myself obliterated with excitement to do things that were once a norm. going to a mall, going to the paint your own pottery place, staring at the whole foods cheese counter. even a five minute trip to trader joe's has been a highlight. it feels benjamin buttony and i like it.

anywho. ikea calls, so i am off to "brave" this "bitter cold weather" and i promise not to call anyone a wimp in the process. (but seriously, chicago, grow a pair.)

-yeh! 

A SNOW PICNIC

santa has come, santa has gone, i forgot to put out cookies for him, but he was still good to me. i received big girls gifts like industrial style chairs and cast iron kitchen accessories and a snazzy vintage pyrex pie plate. a lot has changed since the furby/tamagotchi/overhead projector years. 

we celebrated with a roast and lefse and one of my gifts to eggboy: the pleasure of my company while watching lawrence of arabia. it's his favorite movie, but as you may have guessed, my favorite movies are rom coms and made-for-tv christmas movies.

it was actually last christmas when i presented him with a homemade "i will be in the same room as you while you watch lawrence of arabia" coupon, but it has taken us this long to get around to it. and, surprisingly, i was not completely uninterested. peter o'toole was a hunk. and those camels! they brought back such fond memories.

on christmas eve day, the eggfamily and i bundled up real good and headed to the farm for a little snow picnic inspired by asian shaved ice, baobing. we brought all sorts of tasty sweets and plopped them on fluffy mounds of snow before feasting till our brains froze over and wrestling each other to the ground.

it was a balmy 13ºf. really quite lovely.

oh what is that? you want to have your own baobing snow picnic?

here is what you will need:

-clean deep snow

-snow pants or a towel to sit on, fuzzy gloves, other warm apparel

-chopped fruit

-condensed milk

-red bean paste (i made my own from this recipe, it is so easy! but if you don't live in the middle of nowhere, you can just get it at your neighborhood h mart or the equivalent)

-brown sugar syrup (i actually forgot about this part...oops)

other fun toppings: mochi bits, matcha green tea powder, nuts, sesame seeds, candy...

and then all you do is:

1. make a mountain of snow

2. sprinkle on the toppings to your heart's desire

3. enjoy!!!! and then wrestle in the snow and try not to vom.

-yeh!