Whirlwind Weekend

I miss the Bay Area constantly. I miss my family and friends, I miss hanging out for a random movie, going out for coffee and drinks. It's so hard to live 300 miles away from the people you care about most. This particular weekend was one of my best friend's birthdays who also happens to be a bridesmaid. I love her dearly and it always seems I can't make it near her birthday to the Bay. So this time we decided to surprise her and made the long semi-impromptu drive up on Friday night. It was a long haul but worth it. Saturday morning I wake up to see my mom, always such a comforting feeling. We decide to make cookies for the birthday party and pancakes for breakfast. After a nice large coffee I get to making the cookies. One funny thing about my mom is that she's an incredible baker but absolutely can not stick to a recipe. She adds her own flair to everything she bakes. This time what started as a simple chocolate chip cookie ended up to be a sugar cookie with chocolate chips, then walnuts and almonds then mocha chips. We also used half white half wheat flour and half white half brown sugar. Whew! It was fun and delicious but as always an adventure. Then I proceeded to make pancakes, for which we substituted soy milk instead of real milk, and added frozen blueberries. I like making pancakes. They feel so fancy when they're truly the simplest breakfast you can make homemade. As I wrapped up the pancakes my fiance proceeds to tell me he wants eggs...great. So I make two eggs over easy and fry up some potatoes and pork roast my mom had made the night before. He thoroughly enjoyed. YAY!

We went off to the party where I got to see friends I had seen two weeks prior and some I hadn't seen in 5+ years. So great to see the transition in these years of your life where everyone changes drastically in short periods of time. Friends from your childhood are an honor to maintain. They know you from your braces days and have seen you grow. It's harder and harder to maintain friendships from afar but they are worth it. My friend Ildi and I even had a little cry together at the party since she was completely surprised we showed up. That's what made the trip worth it.

Later that night we went to Paulina Flay's house (aka Karen) who attempted to throw her first dinner party. After the 3rd couple left before dinner due to unpredictable circumstances, Karen served a fabulous potato-leek soup. It was garnished with chives and a slice of lemon and was a soup lovers dream. The next course included seared steak and mashed potatoes all drizzled in a red wine sauce. To die for. :) The meal was accompanied by champagne and wine from Napa. (Castello di Amorosa!)

The next morning We all woke and went to breakfast. I don't know if you know Hobee's but it's a favorite of ours. I personally love the Santa Cruz scramble or salmon scramble, both amazing. Unfortunately Krisztian isn't so much into Hobee's so we venture to a new brunch spot. This place was certainly for senior citizens and quite the down-home country cooking. I was shocked they had Egg Beaters to be honest. It was probably some of the best hash browns I've had though, extremely crunchy, just how I like them.Afterward Karen and I went to our favorite mall while Krisztian studied and Sean tended to his virtual farm. I was thrilled to look for wedding jewelry. Nordstrom was sadly a bust and so was Swarovsky. To my delight Macy's was stocked with sparkly rhinestones. We found the perfect earrings for my dress and a bracelet to match. I will not be disclosing information since I want as much surprise for Krisztian as possible. I was however very ecstatic. Once returning from the mall we found the boys partaking in the Wii. I have attempted Wii once before which lasted maybe 30 seconds and I haven't played many video games since Nintendo. The boys kept egging me on to try the sports games and I finally gave in. An hour later we had wake-boarded, shot basketballs and thrown Frisbees. Karen proved to be a Frisbee shark while Sean conquered at basketball and Krisztian killed the waves in wake-boarding. I am happy to report I enjoyed playing and we have already planned a follow up competition. haha

To end our weekend trip we had dinner at a new sushi place where Karen was feeling adventurous. She had her first glass of sake, that she absolutely hated, and we introduced them to mochi (dough covered ice cream). All in all a successful sushi experience. We then hit the road and 5 hours later crash landed in bed. And now it's Monday...

The New Condo Party/Bride's Dilemma

Last night one of my colleagues invited me to her recently purchased condo. It's a great building with lots of charm and in a fantastic central location. There is literally a mall, Whole Foods and tons of restaurants within walking distance. Lucky girl. She has great style too. Her condo is painted with gray neutrals, lots of tile and very simple yet cozy. She blends high end furniture with indistinct IKEA pieces that looks very rich and carefully thought out. She welcomed me with some Pinot Grigio, warm brie with crackers, grapes, vegetables and hummus. The perfect start to a casual evening. Later on she served a crunchy and fresh homemade Greek salad paired with a  cheese tart from Trader Joe's. To top it off she brought out ripe strawberries and large pieces of Toblerone chocolate. I give her an A+ as a hostess.

Some developments on the wedding side of things as well. One of our great friends was able to give us the name of a Hungarian priest at a nearby church. I'm very excited to talk to him and see if he'd be willing to officiate our ceremony on location.

And for my other control freak/detail oriented friends I keep getting notices from theknot.com about their wedding supply sales. It is a huge amount of things that probably don't matter but that I care about for whatever reason. Things like personalized water bottles and napkins, bubbles, paper parasols, tshirts that say Bride and even more if you can imagine. I keep adding a million things to my cart then realizing it's not a good idea to purchase without looking at the big picture. Plus I'm anal about online shopping and require free shipping. There are of course minimum purchase amounts you must have before getting that free shipping. Then there's the extra 20% off if you buy a certain amount, and on and on. It can drive a girl/bride nuts.

I truly wish I could work with an unlimited budget so I could have the little things no one would notice but me but need to be realistic. How do you balance the fact this is your one big day to you shouldn't go bankrupt for one day?

I LOVE Bread

Sometimes I get sad knowing bread is not the best thing to eat in massive quantities. I adore bread. From my grandma's crescents to wheat toast and especially warm french bread or dinner rolls. Dipping it in balsamic and olive oil or spreading it with butter makes such a delicious salty treat. Of course garlic bread is a winner and those bread sticks at Olive Garden (don't knock it, haha). Anyway you make it I enjoy it. Watching what you eat really makes you think about your bread intake. I have had to compromise by incorporating double fiber choices and 100 calorie Orowheat flat rounds. No matter, it's what you put on the bread that makes it tasty. Here's to bread!

Humble Evening

I got to drive myself home today since Krisztian and I were on opposite schedules. I ran to the mall after work to get Krisztian's ring cleaned and the warranty signed. Man is it sparkly! I then ran into some store for a few choice birthday presents. I absolutely love H&M and Forever 21 for their cute jewelry that is super inexpensive. It's such a nice pick me up. After my slight detour home I had to fend for myself on dinner. I decided to make chicken quesadillas with sauteed onion, jalapenos and a avocado/tomato "relish" if you will. It was simple but satisfying. I truly love being inventive and having cuisine options for dinner. It makes it fun! So yesterday I was Mexican and today who knows!

Football and Awards Weekend

Do you ever have those weekends where you have more things to do than you have time for? That was our weekend. From taking the car in, to getting a wedding band cleaned that hasn't even been worn yet to getting passport photos it seems we had to do it all. It was a great feeling to have everything accomplished though, an un-lazy weekend. On top of that we had some fun too. Krisztian took me to Daphne's for lunch on Saturday where we had lamb gyros and tzatziki sauce with fire feta fries and salad. Then we indulged in Pinkberry's new flavors, coconut and passion fruit. YUM! On Sunday I made my extravagant breakfast which for me consists of eggs, toasted bread, tomatoes, avocado, turkey bacon, usually taco sauce and a bit of cheese. It was delightful. For Krisztian I made (or rather assembled) toast with garlic cream cheese, smoked salmon, red onions and an eggs over easy. I also made hot chocolate with a dash of amaretto in it. :) For dinner I marinated and prepared steak (Worcestershire, teriyaki, salt & pepper, hot sauce and red wine) and roasted an acorn squash then topped it with honey and cinnamon. I also tried roasting corn in the oven after prepping it with a little butter, chili powder and pepper. Finally I made the sinfully easy crescent rolls from Pillsbury, sometimes you have to make it easy on yourself.

The wedding plans of the weekend included two great DJ finds that we have no time to make appointments with. We have been searching for a Hungarian DJ, since they're so plentiful, and finally found one that has a girlfriend who can speak Hungarian and has offered to translate. The other I found on Here Comes the Guide, a must use resource by the way, and saw a company we've worked with before here at the studio as a top rated vendor. After asking some colleagues they come highly recommended. I'm thoroughly happy to at least have two in the running now. I did learn a lot more about Excel this weekend while watching the Jets vs. Patriots game and the Emmy's.

Monday has arrived but I'm optimistic about this week, things are looking good, I feel rested and we have lots of great produce and fish to work with for our dinners. Have a great week!

Ode to Sauce

I'd just like to make a little entry on one of the things I love most in food; sauce. I love trying new cuts of steak and fresh crunchy vegetables but sauce really makes a difference. I didn't realize I needed sauce so much until I started to date Cristian. He hardly eats anything without drenching it in ketchup, BBQ sauce, Cholula or sweet and sour. Just think about it. Tacos are too dry without a great taco sauce, gravy makes everything taste good,  Chinese is nothing without tangerine or sweet and sour or teriyaki, what are eggs Benedict without Hollandaise and red wine reduction sounds as good as it tastes. So if you have a great sauce you'd like to share please post the recipe in the comments section so we can try it out. :)

Yay for sauce!

Mediocre Meal

My colleague runs into my office yesterday, who also happens to be engaged, and asks me to open a link to Style Me Pretty (a bride's must read blog). Up pops a gorgeous pair of ivory slingbacks encrusted with jewels in the most fabulous way. I'm in awe and envy. (Shoes were/are my original and ongoing obsession.) She informs me she just purchased the shoes for her wedding and wants to buy Louboutin's but thinks they would be a better investment in a color other than ivory. I have to agree. Coincidentally this same woman also sent out her adorable save the dates the day before which consisted of a cardboard square with beach themed pop-outs! I love it! So I'm feeling behind and like I need to get back on track. I start looking for DJs, still our #1 concern, and find a company we work with for team building exercises here at the studio. I ask my colleagues if they enjoy working with them and receive a unanimous YES! I'm immediately thrilled and send Cristian the link. One step closer.

Cristian informs me at 4:45pm he can leave anytime and I jump for joy that I can be home while it's still light out. We hop in the truck to brave the traffic and head home. Once home I knew I had chicken already seasoned ready to bake. Unfortunately I had one of those days where I really wanted something I couldn't make at home right then, wonton soup. So I proceed to sear the chicken in margarine (my nod to Paulina Flay) and then bake the breasts. In the meantime Cristian requested mashed potatoes and mac n cheese (yes again, ha) so I began working on those. Now, I love cheese and pasta so that always works for me but surprisingly I am not the biggest potato fan. Before you get upset and confused, let me explain. I feel potatoes are bland. They take some effort to make them really tasty and flavorful. In this case I used my secret method of cream cheese and sour cream to really make the potatoes fluffy and creamy. I also almost always add real garlic. While this sounds tasty I was still not "feeling it". I proceeded to eat the mac n cheese and took bites of chicken and mashed potatoes but was sorely disappointed I didn't quench my craving. At least Cristian liked it. :)

The Easy Way Out

Cristian surprised me in truck for our commute home with a HUGE plate of food. It was Tonight Show's catering from Bristol Farms. This leaves me with not much food for thought, literally, so have a great Thursday!

The When it Rains it Pours Day

Today was one of those days where you start off thinking it will be fine then the domino effect happens. First, we go to pick up Cristian's truck at the dealer and they charge us a fee we don't believe we're supposed to pay. The manager doesn't budge so ouch there. Then going to yoga I have an interruption, a camera crew on the loose, that makes me late for class. The class ends a little late so I'm late to my next meeting, which I had double booked! So I scarf down a bite to eat in between meetings (by the way next day grilled vegetables are amazing in a wrap with a little cheese and taco sauce). Later on I have another meeting which runs long so I miss the night class at the gym I wanted to attend then I'm stuck running, which is still good cardio, ha! Finally Cristian gets off late and we go up to the parking garage to the newly fixed truck. The alarm starts going off and the truck won't start because the remote won't work. AHHH! The alarm goes off a number of times and after trying everything imaginable Cristian suggests we go to the store to buy a battery. I remind him to lock up and surprise that turned off the alarm. grrr.

SO we're headed home and finally ready to make dinner. I had pork chops marinating for about two days now in my own marinade of apple cider vinegar, brown sugar, cayenne pepper powder, garlic, honey, cinnamon and ginger powder. The meat was perfectly juicy, slightly sweet and didn't even need a sauce, the marinade created a brown caramelized effect. I accompanied it with my own version of coleslaw. With the cabbage and carrots I added my soy mayo, spicy mustard, peppercinis, red onion, salt and pepper. It was tangy and flavorful. Finally I created my half-homemade mac n cheese. I use the kraft package but add sour cream, garlic and garlic powder to liven it up. All in all not bad. AND I even had left overs to make a sort of pulled pork sandwich with coleslaw, looking forward to that for lunch.

After wrapping up dinner Cristian and I were working on homework til midnight. I'm so exhausted. We still didn't figure out what the professor wanted. I'm beginning to DESPISE Excel. More later...

Difficult Times

I know I'm not usually poting twice a day but yesterday's death of Patrick Swayze required a reaction. I have to be honest in my childhood I used to think about Madonna, Michael Jackson and others as our generation icons. Yes U2 is still touring (thank goodness) but when mega stars in their mere 50s are passing away it's heartbreaking. I feel time is ticking away and it helps you remember even the invincible are really not. For each wedding I've been to this year I've attended a funeral. As I'm planning my wedding I can't help but think of that "circle of life" to quote the Lion King. We're getting older each day, don't forget to enjoy it. Don't forget who you care about. And lastly don't forget about God.

No time and time again

Cristian's new post working at Conan O'Brien has been quite an adventure. While he has great stories and is thrilled to work there sometimes our days are so long I want to sleep on the ride home. Last night was one of those nights. With Dave Matthews in studio my fiance was busy until 7:30pm, my normal departure time being 5:30. I went to the gym twice yesterday and watched Monday night football as I waited for him. By the way, WOW Patriots! Unfortunately we didn't arrive home until half past 8 which was by then a late start for dinner. We ended up with leftover fajitas and I came to one conclusion. I like the feeling of eating up stuff in the fridge. It means I'm not wasteful and it was worth the effort of making more than enough in the first place. Might I add that flank steak is almost more flavorful the second day!

After the quick reheat and eat, Cristian started studying and I proceeded to attempt to help. Unfortunately I feel I am sort of good at many things, but not great at most. The topic last night, Excel. I thought I knew Excel pretty well. No. There are so many more functions and commands I had never heard of. In the end we created an amortization chart and figured out monthly payments for a $58K purchase, fun huh?!

A good thing about working out and homework is that it really prevents me from having my token glass of wine at night. I enjoy the feeling of unwinding but with very recent stressful circumstances I had come a little too accustomed. Last night I imbibed sparkling pomegranate water which was refreshing and fantastic.


One thing that lifted my spirits this morning on the way to work was Cristian asking what our weekend plans were. I  told him I hadn't made any but suggested either Big Bear or the OC Fair (nothing like corn dogs and roasted corn!) Instead he asked if we could do (wait for it)... wedding stuff! I was so excited. Thank goodness for amazing fiances. :)

Eating Apart/Cooking Together

Friday night we were invited to a baby shower at the Smokehouse in Burbank and I forgot Cristian had never eaten there before. It's good food but their garlic cheese bread is AMAZING. Cristian was in love at first bite. :) Leading up to the shower I still had not purchased a gift. Luckily coworkers of mine were in the same boat so we went to shop and have lunch. We went to Lucy's 51 in Burbank, mostly a bar but they had a menu besides chicken strips. We reluctantly order our sandwich (vegetable) with sweet potato fires, a total vice of mine. The sandwich came and was delicious. We all ate until we were stuffed to the brim.

Then Saturday I went to my first Creative Arts Emmy's (go Sound!). It was at LA Live and was a beautiful set. Two of our nominees won so the day was that much sweeter. It's always intimidating yet exhilarating to be surrounded by so much talent. We networked away in the lobby between awards. The ball was at the convention center across the way where the Moroccan themed room was exquisite. We sat down to purple, green and orange decor with fabulous flowers. (Of course I take note on things like place setting thinking of the wedding to come.) The china was gold rimmed and the glassware matched. The flatware was gold, a first for me, but went very well together. The food was actually really good. A salad with candied walnuts, braised short ribs and fried mac and cheese and our favorite a dark chocolate mint lollipop. mmm We danced the night away having a grand time.

Sunday I spent the day with Cristian and of course Bobby Flay's "Throwdown" was on which always makes us hungry. The challenge was fajitas so we decided to take it on. After a quick grocery run the two of us worked side by side in the kitchen. I made salsa and an avocado salad (there weren't any ripe enough for guacamole) and he made the flank steak and grilled veggies. We make quite a cooking pair  if I do say so myself and we always have fun. Probably my favorite part was that Cristian made me a cheese try (my MAJOR vice) where we tried an Irish smoked Gouda, a sweet white cheddar and Machego cheese. TO pair with them he added seedless, red grapes, dried cranberries and figs. SO good. :) He sure does spoil me.

Late Night Quick Fix

So it's back to work on a Tuesday and I'm already exhausted. A long fun weekend doesn't exactly support rest and sleep. Oh well. After our journey home in the car for an hour plus, I looked at what was in the fridge and realized it was a hodgepodge. So in true Kristi fashion, I threw it all together! Beginning with whole wheat pasta I chopped up some asparagus, purple onions, home grown peppers, peas and broccoli (sorry to disappoint, they were frozen). Later I added turkey sweet sausage and seasoned my own tomato sauce. Once cooked it was all combined and turned out surprisingly well.

This past weekend I was in Williams Sonoma with MOH Karen and it makes me so inspired. All the cool gadgets, pots, pans, electric appliances and OH the books! Once I returned home I HAD to add to the registry. I looked at all the fun Kitchen Aid mixers and picked the perfect one. Added some casserole dishes and my new favorite, Kate Spade flatware. Soon I'll get to use all this amazing stuff and I assume it will make me and even more creative home chef. Woohooo.

By the way, anyone out there watch Top Chef? Yay for Vegas! And yay for our amazing troops.

Weekend in the Bay

This weekend I made the trip to the Bay Area. It was one of the trips where I had to split up a limited amount of time with lots of people. I always feel guilty when I can only spare a breakfast or coffee but sometimes I am out of options. I love going to my Mom's now because it's just her and three bedrooms. It's quiet and very homey. Of course these days my favorite thing there is my wedding dress. I love to stare at it. Yes, I avoided trying it on (this time) but I did spend ample time appreciating it. I honestly can not wait to get married. It was only three days but I truly missed Cristian. I was around a lot of couples and I was wishing he was there.

Now there were some GREAT meals I enjoyed as well. First, my grandma (Nagy Mama) made pasta with cabbage, and it was quite good. There were also her homemade kifli (crescent rolls) with korozot (paprika cream cheese spread). Then I headed to my friend Charlotte's (Charstie) house where I was treated to grilled chicken with delicious mushroom sauce, caramelized Brussels sprouts (mmm) followed up with strawberries and whipped cream. I mean seriously! WOW! (Thanks Tim!) At my BFF/MOH's house, Karen prepared herb pasta from scratch with a fantastic Bolognese meat sauce. I felt like I was on a foodie vacation, and all of the meals were prepared by friends and family! On Sunday Karen also served an Almond Scented White Cake with Raspberries that when paired with tea or coffee was simply heavenly. That girl can bake! Monday my Mom was creating picnic/BBQ fare for a Labor Day party. I got to be the taste tester. She made whole wheat chocolate chip cookies that had a cake like texture and melted in your mouth. Then she made pasta salad with penne and cous cous. She included vegetable from her own garden that were crunchy and fresh. Great job MOM! Finally, one of the meals I was treated to was with Denise. We went to Village Bistro in Santana Row. We have champagne with peach puree to start and she savored scrambled egg bruschetta while I devoured Dungeness crab eggs Benedict. For thos of you who know me well, eggs and I are not best friends, however, this was delectable. I might have had my eyes opened a bit further in the egg realm. Never know where I can go from here!

PS. Congratulations on a beautiful wedding Eleanor and Gandhi de Paz. I was so happy to be there for you.

The Long Work Day Solution

Yesterday was our last August day ever being "single". Crazy! It was also the first day the fiance and I were able to commute together. It's much more relaxing to have someone you love in the car when you have to drive 2+ hours round trip. Of course this means we leave the house at 7:15am and arrive home at 8pm. A little late to think about a delicious and complicated meal. So tonight I'll be making two pizza halves, one will be sweet Italian sausage with shallots and white garlic sauce, and the other will be grilled chicken, BBQ sauce, red onions and maybe grilled corn. mmm Preparation is of course the key. I have the chicken thawing and the dough ready to go. Hopefully there will be enough ingredients left to make an easy wrap for lunch.

As for wedding update, still trying to lock down a Hungarian pastor. And GOOD LUCK finding a bilingual DJ fluent in Hungarian...ha! I did browse through some Italy catalogues we got this weekend at the expo. Finding more resources now for hotels, attractions and restaurants. As everyday passes I'm looking more forward to August 2010.