Monthly Archives: May 2012

A Cure Like None Other

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I had a bit of a morning at the hospital today. I spent a couple of hours feeling like a human push-pin and left the premises a little bruised and battered.

After returning home and catching my breath, I jetted off to the treadmill...fingers crossed I was just one workout away from a good mood. 40 minutes of lackluster jogging later, I decided to set off in a another direction: the oven.

Armed with hot pads and every girl’s best sources of comfort (butter, brown sugar and vanilla extract) my mother and I took on Giada’s Apricot Oat Bars. Seeing how the recipe isn’t mine and is ready-and-waiting here, I feel a wee bit guilty copying it word for word.

So instead, I offer you pictures, a few tips, and hearty encouragement to put this recipe at the top of your to-do list!

Our cast.

If there is one thing I have learned from my mother in the kitchen it is this: use the best ingredients. Anything with Sarabeth’s logo striped across its front qualifies and must be procured immediately.

What else qualifies?

This.

If you’ve ever found yourself wondering what even the smallest piece of heaven might taste like…this is for you.

I highly recommend you use twice as many of these as the recipe calls for. We did and the results are divine.

Wholesome, wholesome, wholesome goodness. Especially when mixed with butter and sugar. I promise.

During the 34 minutes of oven-time, occupy yourself here,

By the time you timer dings, half the brie (along with most of your dignity) will be missing.

But then the bars are out wafting their glorious freshly-baked scents about your kitchen and your nose and eyes are quite happy to convince your stomach that its ready to eat again.

Enjoy!

My Go-To

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Today is my rest day from the gym. If I had it my way, I might not take one. You see, I love the gym. The energy, the people, copying moves I see trainers giving their clients…it’s addicting.

But my body, well it rather enjoys its rest days. So after years of being a gym rat (and multiple stress fractures), we’ve reached a compromise. 6 days on and 1 day completely and utterly off. Some weeks it’s more if my muscles are screaming or my back is aching but never, ever, ever do I rob myself of that 1.

Why? Aside from the fact that the trainers are sick of me, I’ve run out of workout sequences, and all my sports bras are dirty, it’s necessary. You can read more about the benefits of rest here, but the basic gist is this, “When it follows difficult bouts of work, rest lets your body adapt to the work and improve. A day off every seven to 14 days restocks glycogen stores, builds strength, and reduces fatigue. Without recovery, adaptation may occur short-term, but ultimately it will fail.” (source)

And it’s true. The day after rest I strut into the gym feeling like a new woman. Like the treadmill doesn’t stand a chance and even this workout is a breeze…

as the many signs of wear and tear reveal, it is not. But that’s besides the point, really.

I spent some time this morning…as I was lingering over my cup of coffee rather than darting off to work out…thinking about what keeps me motivated. The first half of this post might’ve made it seem as though it’s incredibly easy for me, and I am sorry if I let that go on too long because I have my fair share of lazy, sluggish, groggy days where I want to grab the potato chips and velcro myself to the couch.

But you know what a fool-proof method is for combating those days?

Cute exercise clothes. I know it sounds petty but I’m serious! If I have to walk into the gym looking like a homeless person, I am far less motivated to go and work hard.

So on this rest day, I ventured here,

My happy place. Or, as those far less obsessed prefer, Lululemon.

With racks of bright tanks, adorable zip-ups, and a gift card from one very generous boyfriend, it didn’t take long for my arms to fill up.

As I twisted, turned, and twirled in each option I started daydreaming…”This would be perfect for yoga…or I need something like this for morning runs….” and that was it. I was ready and excited for my next exercise venture.

But lulu is expensive and my bank account wants me to stay away so again, I compromise. Yesterday, for a measly $9.99 I picked this baby up at Target. And I’m as excited about it as I am for that long-sleeve pink tank I ended up buying from the last picture!

Anyone else have any tricks? Do tell!

Super Simple Salmon

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If you thought my last recipe was simple… you are in for a treat today.

This is simpler.

The key to grilling perfect salmon is to first start with perfect salmon, i.e. a glistening hunk of Wild Sockeye Salmon. It’s the only way to get that beautiful color or taste that perfect, ohsoflaky bite.

Bonus? It’s.so.much.better.for.you.

Farm raised salmon has more dioxins and chemicals than wild…except “more” is playing it a bit coy, really. It’s not just moderately higher in farmed, it’s 11 times higher. Why? Because farm-raised salmon are grown in densely packed pens and fed “fish meal”, where the majority of chemicals (like PCB) originate. Wild salmon, however, go on eating the same business they’ve always eaten, making them the naturally superior choice. Some studies even show that wild salmon has noticeably higher levels of those omega 3 fatty acids we’re all scrambling to constantly catch up on.

Sockeye isn’t the only wild salmon breed so don’t fret if you don’t see it! Look as well for chum, coho, chinooks and pinks (pinks are mostly for canning) and avoid Atlantic Salmon. “Atlantic” is just another word for “farmed” in this case. Want more info? Read here, here, or here.

And now that we’re properly educated… on to the eating portion of this post! Upon garnering one of these for your lovely self,

begin coating it with as much freshly chopped garlic as you fancy. This family loves their garlic, so ours looked as follows.

Promptly wash those fishy hands and grab your closest bag of brown sugar.

Then, we layer!

Don’t be afraid to pack it on. The majority melts and drizzles right off, leaving you with a most delicate and crunchy glaze.

I forgot to mention this… (apologies) but a couple of hours ago you should have started soaking your ceder-planks. You can find them at Home Depot for cheap or William Sonoma for considerably more; grab just enough to rest your fish on over your grill.

Once your coals are stoked and ready (ready = super hot in this case), place your wood and fish right on the grill!

Then you’ll close the lid (with the air-holes ever-so-slightly cracked) and let the fish smoke for a bit. The humidity from the wood keeps the fish tender and moist while the heat allows the sugar to caramelize and glaze the top with the garlic.

Ours was a solid 1.75 pounds and took all of 15 agonizing minutes, which were passed by dancing about the grill waiting for my next fish-photo op.

And then, there she is!

All ready for your dainty little fingers to fork right into your mouth!

 

Enjoy!

Feels Like a Holiday

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I adore holiday traditions. Somehow the anticipation of doing the same things every single year sucks me in far more than any promise of something new and foreign.

Growing up, this weekend was spent cheering on my mother in the neighborhood Ham & Eggs Tennis Tournament from rafts in the kiddie pool. Popsicles, barbeques, watermelon wedges, and falling asleep snuggled under beach towels color my earliest memories of Labor Day.

Tennis elbow eventually got to mom. We outgrew the kiddie pool. And the chances of dozing off on a plastic pool-chair are now slim-to-none. While the slow disappearance of traditions would normally incite panic and sadness…the spirit of the weekend remains the same.

Family.

Friday night we donned our preppiest duds and headed out to the country club for some golfing. Sadly, these were my best shots of the night (wink-wink, pun intended).

Because upon wielding a club, be it a driver or a pitching-wedge, scenes quickly changed from this,

to this.

My poor, poor father battling the elements to recover each stranded Titlest XL.

Many years from now…this is how I will picture my father. Ten paces ahead of me, “walking with a purpose” down a lush fairway.

The rest of the weekend has been spent gathered around my mother’s ever-impressive array of food.

I’m trying to remember a time in which 5 o’clock arrived in this house without a similar looking antipasto platter…but I’m coming up short. We are a family that loves cheese. And olives. And grapes…shall I chalk it up to food in general?

And as the women snacked, regaling grandma with tales of graduation, dad manned the Weber.

Pork tenderloin marinated soy sauce, fresh garlic, sugar, cayenne, vinegar, and onion, all wrapped in…wait for it… bacon. Sigh. Delicious.

Coupled with all the best summer veggies marinated in Italian dressing.

I hope everyone is having an equally delicious and relaxing weekend! Please remember to give thanks to the men and women serving this country that make weekends of leisure so possible.

Leon, My King

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You knew it was coming, didn’t you? All previous music posts led here really, to Kings of Leon.

I know everyone knows them, but what if…just this once…we revel in their glory together? You know, instead of doing that thing where I try introducing you to an obscure band that sounds almost like them?

I think I’d like that. I hope you do too.

(source)

The band is manned by three brothers,  Caleb (lead vocals, rhythm guitar), Nathan (drums, percussion, back-up vocals) and Jared Followill (bass guitar, back-up vocals) and one cousin, Matthew Followill (lead guitar, back-up vocals).

It’s practical mythology, their story. The brothers were sons of a traveling preacher who bumped and bounced from one Southern Pentecostal church to another. Secular music was banned and the fear of God heavily instilled…up until 1997, when divorce changed everything. The Preacher left his wife and the Church while the kids fell into the wily ways of illicit substances and Led Zepplin tunes. Soon after, they moved to Nashville and were introduced to the music of the Rolling Stones and Johnny Cash. By 2000, ripe with new (to them) rock influences, Kings of Leon was born.

Their earliest work is a Southern Rock and Blues blend but the past five albums shows them expanding into a more alternative and arena rock sound. Albums one and two passed largely unnoticed by U.S. charts and the third, Because of the Times, gained only the slightest ground. That all changed in 2008 with the release of, Only by the Night, where we got the now over-played “Sex on Fire“, “Use Somebody“, and a personal favorite…

I’ll be honest. I’m as guilty as any radio station for over-playing each of those. I still do it. In fact, I’m doing it right this second. I can’t be stopped. Something tells me you can’t either.

2010 saw the release of their fifth and most recent album, Come Around Sundown…for which I may or may not have had a month-long countdown on my calendar set-up…

(buy here!)

KoL took a fair amount of heat with this album. Naysayers moaned about it being too polished. Too refined. Utterly inauthentic. In the same way Cold War Kids got flack for becoming a “U2 prototype” with their last collection, it was after this that Pitchfork dubbed them “Y’all 2″.

Admittedly, they were in a difficult position. After Only by the Night and the onslaught of maddening fame, Caleb called their work “a piece of shit”, they refused an invite to guest on Glee and then (vulgarly) insulted their fan base. Spurning commercialism isn’t necessarily bad in rock…in fact, it often results in reckless and unbridled creativity. But if you’re going to damn the music that made you famous, you have to come up with a brilliant replacement.

That doesn’t happen here. Hence the criticism.

Don’t get me wrong…there’s plenty tracks I frequent and I’ll link them below, begging and grovelling that you give them a listen because they’re absolutely worth it.

I like “Y’all 2″. Arena rock doesn’t bother me–just because something is catchy doesn’t meant its kitsch–and honestly, when did sounding like Bono become such a bad thing?

In my opinion, getting bigger isn’t an issue, at least not here. Rather, this album stands as testimony that the band thrives on their newer sound.

For instance, “The Face”, needs a stadium’s worth of sweaty people swaying lighters and singing along in the night.

Plus, it’s only fair to recognize that what made up their original glory–their ability to blend and tweak their sound–is as profound as ever.  The fiddle-spiked “Back Down South” hints of their Southern Rock roots. “Mary” almost flippantly toys with doo-wop, and the restless funk-tune “Pony Up” is surprisingly reminiscent of the Talking Heads.

But my favorite part? Caleb’s voice. It’s a perpetually slinky, boozy, backwoods beauty. Turn it on and I could listen forever. It ambles in all the gruff and sexy ways a rockstar’s should, drawing you in and captivating you…quite possibly for forever.

Try not to swoon,

Broccoli Slaw

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Let’s eat, shall we?

It’s a bit pretentious to call this is a recipe. It’s not. Really, it’s an assembly line of one delicious ingredient after another. It starts with broccoli slaw and beef Ramen and ends with shoving as many forkfuls as you can manage into your mouth.

So, let’s begin.

Here are the friends this party calls for.

From the left: sugar, salt (which, in fact, is not part of this recipe and is instead just photobombing), sliced almonds, 1 package of broccoli slaw, 1 beef-flavored Top Ramen, sunflower kernels, green onions, and apple cider vinegar.

Any vinegar is welcome. If you have a particular affinity for white or rice-wine, or you simply have something else on hand, don’t let me stop you!

Since this will prove the hardest part of this “recipe”, we’ll swiftly get it out-of-the-way.

Turn this,

into this.

Whew! It’s over and we can move right along to that assembly line.

Promptly throw the package of broccoli slaw and those onions into your favorite backyard barbecue bowl.

Next…

add a package of broken-apart Top Ramen noodles. This is the only arena in which I’ll recommend you buy Top Ramen, and since we’re all looking for an excuse to buy it anyway, I urge you to take advantage of this moment.

Then we want a half cup of both sunflower kernels and sliced almonds.

Do not get these out before you’re ready to mix them in. You’ll eat the whole half cup and be left with a crunch-less slaw.

I speak from experience.

Which brings us here, where it’s all mingling and looking all kinds of wonderful.

I can hear my mother’s voice in the back of my head begging me to scoot the bowl away from the edge. It’s an annoyance I’ve (unintentionally) inflicted for the past 22 years and as this photo demonstrates… it doesn’t seem to be stopping anytime soon. Sincerest apologies, mom!

But I digress.

Let’s make some dressing!

Whisk together 1/2 cup sugar, 1/2 cup oil (I used olive but vegetable works equally well), 1/3 cup vinegar, and the beef-flavored seasoning packet from our Ramen noodles.

What? That looks totally unappetizing and you don’t want to dump it all over your beautifully crisp vegetables and nuts? I can’t actually disagree, it’s not an attractive sauce. But…well…you’re wrong and I promise I’m right so just get on with it!

Whisk until it’s a bit airy, like an emulsion, then start pouring.

It’s a big bowl and we want to be fair so start off trying to spread it around as evenly as possible.

Quickly get impatient and dump the dressing on, fervently swearing all the while to toss it properly once its all together.

And voilà! One quick mix later and you’re ready…to wrap it up and put it in the refrigerator for a couple of hours (or as long as you last). The flavors need to fall in love and get married and you’ll be thankful if you let them.

During this interim, walk past the fridge and stare at the tupperware longingly. This does absolutely nothing for the dish but it sure helps build the proper amount of anticipation.

Then finally, enjoy! I’m serving mine with steamed Cajun shrimp and fruit salad but it’s a generally perfect backyard barbecue accompaniment…though it also does quite well with a fist and a fork right out of the container in front of the TV on a hot afternoon.

Again, I speak from experience.

It’s cool, crisp, and delightfully refreshing. Give it a try!

Oh Hello

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Remember me? I remember you!
I’ve got all sorts of goodies to tell you about. Unfortunately, I’m a bit occupied with this today…

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It’s bound to take some time, but just because I’m ripping my hair out in boredom doesn’t mean you must!

My instagram (follow me @ m_vain) has been a busy beaver this week and I thought you might like to take a gander.

My driving conditions this morning…that conveniently fit my mood after saying far too many “goodbyes” yesterday.

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A gut-busting and delicious family meal enjoyed in open air at a Winston-Salem favorite, 6th & Vine.

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A few very proud moments spent in an excruciatingly hot black cap and gown.

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My whole life in the back of my car.

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If you don’t have Instagram, you should probably get it. If you do, show me your shots!

Feeling Guilty.

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I’ve been a bad blogger haven’t I? I lure you in a few weeks ago, regal you with stories and hummus how-to’s and then suddenly… poof! My schedule is thrown off and I go rogue on you.

It’s all a bit naughty, so I promise this will be my last absentee weekend. I graduate Monday morning and have already dreamed up some delectable posts for when I get a spare moment to breathe or blog.

We’ll talk about crafting the perfect cheese platter…

We’ll shop for oh-so-perfect gifts together…

(God willing) we might even be able to discuss the magical 658 pages of this book I’m working on…

(go pick up a copy, it’s truly a gem, and you’ve got plenty time before I spoil all the best parts!)

But truly, thanks for your patience. I’ve worked four [long] years to enjoy this celebration and want to do so properly, don’t take that the wrong way…I look forward to spending time with you all as well, just next week.

If anyone is looking for some extra internet reading this weekend while I’m away…

For music : http://www.resonantpassage.net/

For food and fitness: http://www.peanutbutterrunner.com/

For celeb stalking (we all do it) : http://cattsadler.tumblr.com/ or http://iam.beyonce.com/

For feeling intelligent and sharing in an undying passion of mine : http://vanityfair.tumblr.com/

Happy weekend all! I hope yours is as celebratory as mine! If not, remember… life is what you make it! Go buy a bottle of Prosecco, a wedge of Brie and indulge!

Over.Whelm.Ed.

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It’s been a crazy day around this house. I live with four unbelievably fun girls and we’re being joined by hoards of siblings, parents, grandparents, neighbors, mailmen, pets, random passer-byes (you get the picture) this weekend for graduation festivities.

Which means we each need to pack, the house needs to be scrubbed, and all the extra linens deserve a good washing before the first guest crosses our threshold.

What’s getting me through the day?

Aside from a few many handfuls of homemade granola,

there has also been a constant stream of music accompanying me in the bathroom with my Scrubbing Bubbles, Clorox Wipes and bleach…and I thought you might like to take a listen!

An all-time, irreplaceable favorite by the all-time, irreplaceable U2.

My favorite Black Keys song (I hope it’s yours as well).

I love this song. I’ll always love it. I accidentally forgot about it but my younger sister has served her purpose today and kindly reminded me of it.

I dare you not to sing and dance to this one. No seriously, I dare you because I am just about certain that it can’t be done.

Any other recommendations? I’ve got another full day of cleaning and packing staring at me tomorrow…

Rejuvenate

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I already told you about my glorious weekend here, but to recap: sun, sand, wind, late nights, cocktails, junk food. They were all contributors to the fun of the trip, but they also left me feeling, and looking, a bit… haggard… by the time we returned yesterday.

Luckily for me (and maybe for you!) I have a pretty fool-proof method for bouncing back quickly.

For someone who loves her exercise schedule, a few days away always makes me feel sluggish. Normally, I advocate for exercising while vacationing but with 7 girls in 1 hotel room… a minimalist approach to packing was necessary and the tennis shoes were sadly left at home.

So after I pulled into my driveway around 5 yesterday, I dumped my suitcase, and darted here,

My yoga studio. After 4 days of late nights and poor eating / drinking habits… nothing sounded worse than running. But yoga? A place that could loosen up my car-stiffened joints and make me feel loads better about myself, well that sounded just about perfect.

So I went. And it was amazing. Our teacher always says “Even if all you do is show up and lay on your mat, you still did yoga”. While I did a little more than hibernate in child’s pose, it certainly wasn’t a practice to be proud of. But I went, I tried, and that was enough for me!

I came home, lingered in a hot shower for what felt like forever (sloughing off my sand-chapped skin and sandy hair), emerged and immediately grabbed two favorite products from my make-up cabinet.

The first is Alba Botanica Deep Sea Facial Mask. I love this product. A couple of times a week, when I feel like I need something to really liven up my skin, I slop this on post-shower. By the time I finish drying off, moisturizing and trying to do something with my hair… the recommended 10 minutes are up and I feel like a new woman.

You know that glorious feeling you get when you whisk some Burt’s Bees chapstick on dry lips? This feels similar… but all over your face. Amazingly, amazingly refreshing.Your pores will be forever indebted to you.

Next is Moroccan Oil Hair Treatment. I can’t speak of any other product I use as highly as this. It genuinely transforms your hair, making it perfect for the first day back after traveling. After showering, I brush out my locks, coat my wet tresses with 3 pumps of this, throw it all up in a bun, and let the healing begin. After twenty minutes I take my hair down to dry and the difference is already obvious; smoother, shinier, and much softer.

Today I’m focusing on filling up with whole, fresh foods (of which I had none this weekend).

And lots and lots of this.

I chose this title, “rejuvenate”, for a reason. That’s what this combination does! The sleepless nights and long days are already starting to lose their grip!

Anyone else have any tricks?