No Explanation Required.

(But if you want one you can find it here.)

Best. Day. Ever.

The Dangers of Kugel

I made a noodle kugel last night.

I am still thinking about it at 2:26 pm, a full 19 hours later. I am counting the hours until I can go home and eat some more kugel. This cannot be healthy.

Nor can eating it straight from the pan, hastily trying to smooth the edges before your roommate gets home so no one can judge you for the sheer volume of what you ate, be healthy.

Noodle kugel, for those of you not in the know, is a traditionally Jewish sweet casserole made with egg noodles. My grandmother always made hers with canned fruit, which I never liked, but you can also use dried fruit or fruit nectar. Picture below: This is not a picture of the kugel I made, because then I would be forced to show you how much of it I ate and I don't want my readers to judge me.

*image from Google*

Up until last year, I didn't think I liked kugel all that much, having primarily been exposed to the canned fruit version of my youth. But then I attended a Shabbat dinner at a friend's house and was gifted the recipe of the best. Kugel. I have ever had. Sorry Grandma.

Recipe below -- it actually comes from allrecipes.com, but I made a few changes, namely replacing the cornflake/butter topping with Vanilla Almond Special K and a dash of cinnamon. Enjoy!

Apricot Noodle Kugel

Ingredients

• 1 (8 ounce) package wide egg noodles
• 1/4 cup butter, softened
• 1 (3 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
• 3 eggs, beaten
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup apricot nectar
• 1 cup milk
• 1/2 cup golden raisins (optional)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a 9x9 inch baking pan.
2. Bring a large saucepan of lightly salted water to a boil. Stir in egg noodles, and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente; drain.
3. In a medium bowl, thoroughly mix egg noodles with 1/4 cup butter, cream cheese, eggs, 1/2 cup sugar, and vanilla. Stir in apricot nectar and milk. Mix in raisins. Transfer to the prepared baking pan.
4. In a separate medium bowl, mix cornflake crumbs, 1/2 cup butter, 1/4 cup sugar, remaining vanilla, and cinnamon. Spread over the egg noodle mixture.
5. Bake 45 minutes in the preheated oven, until bubbly and lightly browned.

Sweet Mail Surprises

I love getting sweet surprises in the mail. Yesterday came with two!

Steve's non-valentine's day gift:




(Thanks to the lovely people at Cupcake Mountain and Etsy for it!)

And this V-Day surprise from my dad:

(and a new Photoshop trick learned today - how to use the line tool!)

Wisdom Teeth Diet

West Wing in the background. Ready, set, giggle. (Not giggling from the painkillers. From the Jello.)

Whoops

So remember last post when I apologized for my prolonged absence and vowed to myself to do better? Whoops.

I really am going to try to do better, though. For a number of reasons, namely:

a) I got my wisdom teeth out today, and there's only so many NCIS episodes a girl can watch with ice packs strapped to her face, yunno? I'm going to have some down time this weekend to kick my butt into blogging gear.

b) Momma b and Poppa b called me the other day to discuss birthday gifts (because yes, the little b just turned 26) and I think I might ask for help purchasing a new computer. My Dell (circa 2007) is still chugging along, despite its aforementioned fall down a flight of concrete stops, but it can be very slow and freezes often. It's not terribly conducive to blogging, and it can't handle Photoshop (not to mention the fall damaged its memory card drive, so it's difficult to upload pictures anyway.) I'd never be able to save enough money on my ownfor a new computer (I think I might get an Apple and make the switch once and for all) so I might ask for a contribution to the 'little-b-needs-a-new-computer fund.' Nothing crazy, of course - just whatever they would spend on a regular gift.

c) speaking of saving, I'm going to try to save up for a new camera. I've never had an SLR before, but I find that my Powershot just can't do what I want it to do most of the time. Sometimes I see the most gorgeous things when I'm out in DC -- at the farmer's market, in the parks, not to mention the fact that I live in one of the most architechturally beautiful cities in the US (though of course I'm biased) -- and I can't translate that beauty to the photos. Stay tuned for my first forays into photography and photoshop.

d) I'm going to try to do more post-work activities and explore the city more. I work very long hours and can't write about it here (more on that later) so sometimes I get frustrated blogging - do you guys really want to hear about the 3 hours I have to myself each night where I come home, throw my clothes on the floor, cook dinner, watch tv, and go to bed? Because that's my Monday-Friday right there. But it's not terribly fulfilling to live that way, and I've vowed to try to do more with my free time, even if there isn't a ton of it. To start, I'm going to try photography (see above), plus Steve has been slowly teaching me to play the guitar. I also haven't posted enough about my cooking, so prepare to hear more about that.

e) Another skill that I want to develop is web design and HTML/CSS. I know a tiny bit about it, but I would love to get better at it -- for both personal and professional reasons. So if you see constant changes on the site --some ugly, some (hopefully) not, just know that it's a work in progress and I'm learning.

Although that's a pretty big list to stick to, I can hopefully achieve some of it. Let's find out! (and if not, I fear a NaBloPoMo is in my future to really get me going...)

xoxo,

little b

Back in Action

Hello friends! After an extended absence, I have returned.

I didn't mean for it to turn into an extended absence. At most, I expected it to last a month (I had to go to New York for work for almost all of October.) And then, my computer had an unfortunate run-in with a flight of stairs and I lost the ability to upload photos (though thankfully, not the computer itself.) And then work got busy and it was Thanksgiving and then I felt like I had nothing interesting to share with you all, especially without pictures, and now it's almost Christmas.

Which brings us to today. After reading this article about how more and more kids are writing to Santa for basic needs instead of toys this year, I decided to participate in Toys for Tots.

(Truthfully, I first called the New York City Post Office to see if I could participate in Operation Letter to Santa. I certainly meet the height requirements for elves. But alas, it was not in the cards this year.)

So I toted in a bag of toys to work this morning, feeling pretty jolly. I also had some champagne for Miri, who is celebrating her recent engagement. And then on the Metro, my friend Tess texted me to let me know that she had gotten the job that I had recommended her for. I was overwhelmed with holiday spirit and cheer and wearing my new red coat and then as I was crossing C Street it hit me:

Today, I am Jewish Santa.

Happy holidays from the little b!

An Important Safety Message from the Little B

Friends, if I can impart one piece of cooking knowledge from my novice repertoire, let it be this: Always keep your kitchen knives sharp.

If you don't, picture the scene: You may be planning to make yourself a magnificent feast of espinicas con garbanzos on your second full night home after a long trip. You may be planning an evening of Spanish food, red wine, and catching up on past episodes of Mad Men for yourself. There you'll be in your tiny kitchen, happily slicing bread with the serrated knife that your mother got you at Home Goods and probably cost less than the bread itself, when it will (because it isn't sharp) snag on the crusty bread, jump, and slice your left index finger through the fingernail and to depths that you weren't sure existed in your left index finger. And then you will feel faint and bleed and call your boyfriend in near-hysterics because you are certain, certain, that you will have to spend the rest of the night at GW Hospital awaiting stitches. You are alone in your apartment and you may die of sepsis.

(You won't.)

However! Espinicas con garbanzos will forever be tainted for you. Especially because they turn out to be not so delicious and certainly not worth nearly losing an appendage over.

This has been an important safety message from the Little B. The above story is fiction* and any resemblance it has to real life is purely coincidental.

* It's not fiction. My finger hurts.
** No, seriously, don't use dull knives.