Old Blog, New Tricks

I'm changing things up again. I recently got tired of the title of this blog, and I've also been annoyed by having two blogs. That's just silly. So from now on, I'm going to be using my travel blog, gabriellestravels.blogspot.com, as my only blog.

But you're not traveling!!! you say.

Why no, I'm not. But my friend from work convinced me that I can expand the meaning of "Gabrielle's Travels" to be travels through life...clever, eh? And it makes things a lot easier too. I exported all of the posts from this blog to that blog, and now everything is combined into one big happy blog. So however you follow this blog or whatever you use to remind you to read it, change the address to gabriellestravels.blogspot.com instead. And thanks for reading! :)

Homemade Granola

Today, thank heavens, was not one of those days (like yesterday) when it is so bitterly cold that the moment you step outside in your five layers of clothing, you feel like you're wearing nothing at all. (Coldest temperatures in NYC in years?...) No, today temperatures climbed into the balmy high 30s. Nevertheless, it snowed all morning, big fluffy flakes, the kind that make you want to do nothing but look out the window all day. And turn on the oven, watch Oprah, and bake something.

Which is exactly what I did.

Granola 
(Adapted from Mark Bittman's recipe in The Food Matters Cookbook)

Makes about 9 cups
Time: 30 minutes

• 5 cups rolled oats (not quick-cooking or instant)
• 1 cup each of chopped almonds, chopped walnuts, and sunflower seeds
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• Dash salt
• 3/4 cup lavender earl grey-infused honey
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup raisins
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• 1. Heat the oven to 350˚F. In a large bowl, combine the oats, nuts and seeds, spice, sweetner, and extract; sprinkle with a little pinch of salt. Toss well to thoroughly distribute the ingredients. Spread the mixture on a rimmed baking sheet and bake for 30 minutes or longer (I did 35), stirring occasionally. The granola should brown evenly; the darker it gets without burning, the crunchier it will be. 
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• 2. Remove the pan from the oven and add the raisins. Cool in the pan on a wire rack, stirring now and then, until the granola reaches room temperature. Serve, or store in a sealed container at room temperature for up to a week.
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Lavender Earl Grey-Infused Honey

I love honey; who doesn't? I was crazy about those honey straws you find at natural food stores when I was a kid, and I even bought little jars of chestnut honey and strawberry honey made at the base of Mt. Etna when I was in Sicily. But I'd never actually attempted to alter honey or add anything to it, until I saw this recipe from the Alice's Tea Cup cookbook, that just looked too simple and too delicious not to try.  

Lavender Earl Grey-Infused Honey

        1 heaping teaspoon Lavender Earl Grey tea leaves

        1 cup honey

1. Steep the tea leaves in 1/4 cup boiling-hot water for 3 minutes. Strain the tea.

2. In a small mixing bowl, combine the honey and 2 tablespoons of the tea, and stir until well mixed.

3. Store, covered, in the refrigerator until ready to use - it will keep for about 2 weeks.

Voilà, fancy shmancy honey! Instead of using a mixing bowl, I combined the tea and honey in a tupperware container so that I could just snap on the lid and put it in the fridge. The taste of the tea in the honey was very mild but still distinguishable. Coming tomorrow (hopefully) - granola made with this honey!

Turkey Chili and Whole Grain Flatbread

Last night for dinner I made Turkey Chili from the Alice's Tea Cup Cookbook, along with the Easy Whole Grain Flatbread from Mark Bittman's Food Matters Cookbook. I wish my food photography were better - I hope these pictures actually make the food look as delicious as it was! The chili was very hearty and perfect for another cold winter night, and was delicious today as leftovers. The bread, unfortunately, disappeared within minutes, so no leftovers, but it was so easy that I'll probably make it again soon. Click on the links below each photo for the recipes!

Recipe for Easy Whole Grain Flatbread

Recipe for Turkey Chili

Baby Hats, part 2

Last November I knitted these baby hats for our friends' twin babies, Miles and Madeline, who were born in December 2009. They were premies, so the hats didn't fit when they were born, but now that they're a year old they fit perfectly. Now if only they didn't like to take them off their heads the second after you put them on!...

Hearty Spinach and Chickpea Soup

Made this for dinner a few nights ago, very easy and healthy, and the perfect soup for a coooold winter night!

Recipe for Hearty Spinach and Chickpea Soup

Alice's Tea Cup cookbook

My latest present to myself...get ready for yummy food pictures, soon to come!

Mini Lemon Scones

I made these last week and they were delicious!

Mini Lemon Scone Bites with Lemon Glaze

For the scones:

• 2 c. flour
• 1/4 c. sugar
• 1 t. baking powder
• 1 t. baking soda
• 1/2 c. butter, cut into small pieces
• 2 t. freshly grated lemon zest
• 1/4 c. freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1/4 c. milk

1. In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder and baking soda. Cut the butter pieces into flour until crumbly.

2. Stir the lemon zest into the mixing bowl. Combine the lemon juice and milk andimmediately pour into the mixing bowl. Stir until combined and work dough into a ball. Knead 8-10 times. Let dough rest in the refrigerator for at least 15 minutes.

3. On a well floured surface, roll out dough until it is about a 1/2″ thick. With a knife, cut the dough into small triangles. Or, using a shot glass or clean medicine cup, cut the dough into small circles. Place on a cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 12-15 minutes, until lightly golden brown on top. Remove to a wire rack and cool completely.

For the Lemon Glaze:

• 1 c. powdered sugar
• 2 t. freshly grated lemon zest
• 1/4 c. freshly squeezed lemon juice (more or less depending on consistency)

1. In a small bowl, combine powdered sugar and lemon zest. Slowly add just enough lemon juice until you reach the desired consistency for a glaze. (I just squeezed my lemon directly into the bowl and added more as needed. I used almost a whole lemon (roughly 1/4 c. lemon juice) to get the right consistency.)

2. Spoon glaze over the cooled mini scones and let dry. Enjoy!

Josh Groban at the Apple Store

Very randomly my parents and I went to see Josh Groban perform at the Apple store last night. It was actually a really good concert, even though I'm not a particularly big fan. The theater in the Apple store is a very small space so it was an intimate concert, and Josh Groban was actually really good at relating to the audience. He sang a few songs from his new album, and he sounded great. I particularly enjoyed the last one because it was in Italian!

Happy First Night of Hanukkah!

Christmas Backdrops

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 Christmas 2009 - TA 3

Christmas 2010 - Cupcake shop

New Yorker cover

Chaos and Classicism at the Guggenheim

Today my dad and I went to see Chaos and Classicism: Art in France, Italy, and Germany, 1918-1936 at the Guggenheim Museum. Exhibited mostly in the spiraling halls of the Guggenheim, it presented art from three European countries in the time between the two World Wars. While artists were recovering from the  trauma of World War I, they looked to classical ideals and reinvented them in an attempt to re-establish order amidst chaos. However, as fascist regimes took power in Italy and Germany, art fell more and more under the control of the dictatorships, and artists were limited to presenting only fascist propaganda and political ideals by the time the mid-1930s rolled around, bringing with it the start of World War II.

Some images from the exhibit:

Picasso - combines classical Roman ideals and visual elements

Balthus - seemingly a happy street seen, but at closer glance, everyone looks slightly tense and permanently frozen. Very disconcerting scene.

This one, from the last room of the exhibit called "The Dark Side of Classicism," encompasses all of Hitler's master race ideals, and actually hung in his living room. *Shudder.*

The exhibit is on view until January 9th - check it out if you can! You also get a free audioguide at the Guggenheim which I thought contributed a lot to the exhibit. Click here to go to the really cool exhibition website.

Old School Subway Car Sighting

Yesterday I was waiting on the uptown platform of the Broadway-Lafayette station when this very old subway pulled into the station on the downtown side. Everyone took out their cell phones and tried to photograph it before it left. I couldn't get great pictures but you can get the idea. It was so cool! The seats looked like they were leather or pleather, or some kind of cushioned material that wasn't just hard plastic. There were normal passengers on it, but I'm still not entirely sure it wasn't a special train ride. Either way, I've never seen anything like it in my 22 years of subway riding!

Christmas Can-Can

This is worth taking 3 minutes to watch. Trust me.

Thanksgiving

This classy little card was found at each place at my aunt and uncle's Thanksgiving table...perhaps it can start to give you a sense of our own little version of a crazy family gathering.

Please note that the smiley face is holding a glass of red wine.

Parade Preview

Thanksgiving Disasters, via NYTimes.com

Your Thanksgiving won't be as bad as the guy who fought someone in the process of robbing his car on the Upper West Side...I promise.

http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/11/22/its-thanksgiving-were-doomed/

Get Your Thanksgiving Pants Ready!

Why be uncomfortable on a holiday that revolves around food?

Harry Potter Cast Learns to Speak American

So glad I grew up in the Harry Potter generation.

Movie Trailers - Movies Blog