*hey there, it's christa*

A Few of My Favorite Things: Spring Edition

I don't know about you, but I've been ready for Spring since, well, February. Now that everything's back in full bloom (and don't my allergies know it—maybe Zyrtec should be on the list) and the birds are singing away, it's done wonders for my mood—even when I'm inside writing away.

Now in celebration of the season before the sweltering heat wave in Texas officially kicks off, here are a few of my favorite things during this oh-so-sunshiney season.

Bossypants by Tina Fey-Just the cover alone makes me laugh. I mean, c'mon, those big ol' arms are hilarious. Thankfully, what's inside certainly doesn't disappoint either. I've laughed and laughed and laughed some more. Once my chuckling even startled the ladies I was sitting to at Starbucks—bonus!

"America's Next Great Restaurant"-Yeah, I'm a sucker for foodie shows, and I gotta say this one has been really fun to watch as the contestants are competing for their own fast-casual chain in the three cities (Minneapolis, L.A. and NYC). Not only are the judges (Bobby Flay, Curtis Stone, restaurant owner Lorena Garcia and Steve Ells, founder of Chipotle) brutally honest with their critiques in such a constructive way, but I love the stories of the people competing for the title—especially Jamawn Woods, who I'm hoping will win with his soul food concept. Considering how tough the job market is right now, it's great to see people who are already doing well investing in the career of someone who might not have the opportunity otherwise.

Salads!!!! I love that tomatoes, basil, arugula and avocados are tasting downright summer-like, so I've been eating salads like nobody's business. Now I can't wait for some great corn on the cob...mmmm.

Benefit's Foamingly Clean Facial Wash-I'm always on the lookout for a great cleanser that's hydrating and won't irritate my dry skin. Well friends, I've finally found my new favorite. Not only does it smell great (I know, it shouldn't matter, but I can't help it) and really live up to its name in the foamy department, but my face feels squeaky clean and moisturized when I'm done. Plus, the bottle is pure cuteness, which is just another bonus.

The Paris Wife by Paula McLain-I read this while I was in Europe and still find myself thinking about it from time to time. It's basically Ernest Hemingway's story from the perspective of his first wife, Hadley, and my, my, my is it a page-turner! Loved the beautiful descriptions of Paris and getting the behind-the-scenes scoop on not only what motivated Hemingway as a writer but what shaped him as a person as well. In the beginning, he was a romantic and then...

Water for Elephants (the movie)-I don't know about you, but I've seen basically one dud after another at the cineplex in 2011. So after sitting through everything from Arthur to Madea's Big Happy Family, I kept my expectations very, very low for Water for Elephants and ended up just loving it. Not only is Rosie the freckled eared-elephant downright adorable, but I loved the movie's decidedly old-timey feel. Plus for anyone who wondered if Robert Pattinson could do anything but brood, I'm happy to report that he can.

Rosemary Clooney-I don't know why, maybe it's because Lauren Graham mentioned her on an episode of "Gilmore Girls" I was watching. But whatever the reason, Rosemary, along with Ella, Billie and Frank, have basically been my soundtrack to Spring.

Now how about you? What's been rockin' your world this Spring, dear readers?

Oh, the Joys of Bread and Unsalted Butter!

I left most of the picture taking to Will on our recent European adventure (and yes, a slew of photos are TK on Facebook...still sorting through them), but I couldn't resist taking a shot of this particular basket of bread in Paris.

No herbs, no cheese, they just served it with lots of unsalted butter. And really, that's all it needed because it was absolutely light and delicious—especially the crust which had surprisingly good flavor (something I can't say for most bread).

In a word: Mmmm.

 

Adventures in Europe, Part 2: Paris When It Sizzles

Back before Will and I were Mr. + Mrs., we were always introducing each other to a few of our favorite things...namely, the books, music and movies that rocked our respective worlds.

While we already shared many, many favorites in common, there was still a bit of a cinematic learning curve, considering he'd never seen Roman Holiday, and I had never experienced the awesomeness that is The Godfather (apparently, citing all the Godfather references from You've Got Mail didn't count).

So on our third and fifth dates respectively, we knocked those off the list and continued our educational journey by throwing our most-beloved books and music in the mix, too.

And thanks to Will, I'm a now a full-fledged fan of The Replacements, Nick Drake, and yes, even Bob Dylan, and my iPod's so much better for it.

Now I'm sure you're probably wondering what any of that has to do with Paris, but trust me, there's a method to the self-proclaimed Tangent Queen's madness. See, one of the best novels Will ever bought for me was Hemingway's A Moveable Feast, a book that easily ranks in my top five today.

For whatever reason, I'd always been of the opinion that Hemingway was overrated—nothing more than a drunken bore (I guess I was right about one of the two anyway). In fact, I'm pretty sure I was supposed to read The Old Man and the Sea back in high school, but I didn't make it past the first 10 pages. Something about the title, not to mention his prose's oh-so-languid pace, didn't exactly inspire me. Ditto for Ernest's enthusiasm for pine-scented forests and bull fighting in For Whom The Bell Tolls and The Sun Also Rises. Yawn.

But A Moveable Feast, well, that's the proverbial horse of a different color. Not only were Hemingway's observations about people so wry, engaging and at times, laugh-out-loud funny, but his description of his time spent writing (and yes, boozing) in Paris immediately transported you there. Suffice it to say, my desire to visit "The City of Light" increased exponentially after reading.

Sure, I'd always dreamed about strolling down the Champs-Élysées with my madeleine, tiny coffee and a few shopping bags to boot, but after reading A Moveable Feast, I wanted to be wherever Hem, Hadley, F. Scott and Zelda were, too, including the illustrious Shakespeare and Company and the coffee shops and bistros they frequented in Montparnasse. Plus, Notre Dame. Can't miss Notre Dame.

So needless to say, as much as I hated leaving London, I was thrilled to get to Paris. I don't know about you, but it just doesn't seem right that after a mere two hours on the Eurostar from London, you're in PARIS! As crazy as the traffic is here in DFW, two hours of travel sometimes means I've merely made it to the other side of town. Or am an hour away from Austin. Seriously those Brits have it made...

After settling into our seats with our snacks (a café crema + M&Ms=the breakfast of champions), Will had a brilliant idea of how to make two hours fly by—playing Scrabble (and yes, we have not one, but two travel-sized sets). For those keeping score at home, I won the first game, Will won the second, and before long, we were enjoying the gorgeous French countryside where even the graffiti-lined walls still look posh somehow. For all its beauty, I half expected the sky to be pink.

And while the sky wasn't pink, it didn't take long for me to fall in love with Paris's myriad of charms anyway. Not only was our hotel the cutest little home away from home (complete with the tiniest little tiled bathtub known to man and a killer mini-bar with plenty of water con gas—my fave), but all the sights and smells were truly something to behold. Frankly, Hemingway was right on the money...

To properly explore Paris, I'm thinking you just have to go ahead, take the plunge and become a local because really, there's much to experience. But since we only had a short time, we did the best with what we had, meaning they'll be plenty of reasons to come back—soon.

Now, a few random observations about our time in "The City of Light"...

*Apparently, not finishing your plate is the same as saying your food wasn't good. During our first meal at a charming little brasserie in Montparnasse, my eyes were definitely bigger than my stomach. For my starter, I ordered French onion soup because I've always been a fan and thought it would be even better in Paris than, say, Panera. As predicted, it was absolutely marvelous with a ton of gooey Gruyére and toasted, buttery baguette on top, and I finished every irresistable drop. Trouble is, that didn't leave much room for the sole meuniére that I chose for my entree. So even though it was pure buttery bliss (and I'm not even a fish lover normally), I only took a few bites, which inevitably led to my server to raise her eyebrow and ask if I liked it. Funny enough, the same thing happened again with an unfinished omelet at breakfast the next day. I guess if you don't finish, they take it pretty personally. So at subsequnt meals,  I made sure that I finished every bite—especially dessert. Mmmm.

*Eggs, Bacon, Salad? With the exception of the breakfast where I ordered banana pancakes, there was always a side of field greens with homemade vinaigrette next to my breakfast fare. Now don't get me wrong, I always love a good salad; I'm just not used to it with scrambled eggs and bacon. But hey, I guess that's not a bad way to make sure that you get enough greens, right?

*Yep, it's true...Yes, 99.9% of the French—especially the women—dress way better than we do in America, and scarves are an absolute must.

*It's okay to be a tourist, especially when your legs hurt. I'll admit, when I first got to town, I thought the people sitting on the top level of this double-decker tour buses looked silly and touristy. But when you've walked and walked and walked some more, they are an absolute godsend. Plus, even without the headphones, I felt like a got a great view of the city without even trying.

*Eiffel Tower: Cool, but...I don't need to spend half a day waiting to reach the top ever again. If I had one tiny—and I mean miniscule—complaint about my time in the fair Paris, I would've skipped the trip to the top of the Eiffel. Yes, it's one amazing view of the city, but I think I would've been okay just admiring it from afar.

*Shakespeare & Company: Nope, once isn't enough (we went twice).

*The Lourve: Looked great from the outside, but opted out of time with the Mona Lisa to shop and do a bit more exploring instead. Found a killer apron, an adorable new spoonrest for my kitchen, two cute little tees for the cutest niece on the planet, perfume and as a major bonus, stumbled upon the biggest Sephora I've ever been to. Yeah, it even puts the one in NYC to shame...didn't think that was possible.

*And the verdict is...The Barefoot Contessa has always insisted (on several episodes of her show, natch) that it's impossible to have a bad day in Paris, and you know what? She was right. I absolutely loved walking through this amazing city with my hubby by my side, and who knows, maybe our time there will even inspire our future writing, just like it did for Hemingway, Fitzgerald and the list goes on and on...

Adventures in Europe, Part 1: Strolling (Sometimes Running) Through Londontown

It's been one crazy post-vacation week, let me tell ya. If I had my druthers, I would've started blogging way back on Monday morning. But when you've been out of town for almost two weeks, well, you can imagine how crammed my Inbox was.

It was downright terrifying.

Now that I've wrapped up my writing deadlines for the week and answered all those e-mails, I can't wait to start telling you all about our trip.

Truth be told, I still can't believe our holiday—as the Europeans call it—has already come and gone since it's been more than a year in the making. But our time away was absolutely spectacular nonetheless. In fact, my only real complaint is that it just wasn't long enough. I could've spent another week in just Rome alone.

But before we venture to the Eternal City, let's rewind to our first stop, shall we? Good ol' Londontown. As I mentioned in my previous post, London has always had a special place in my heart, and nearly seven years after I last visited (!!!), it's still quite the charmer.

We ended up staying in a neighborhood that I hadn't visited before—Shepherd's Bush—a great change of pace from the tourist-packed Piccadilly Circus area that I've stayed in previously. The hotel we called home for three days, K West Hotel & Spa, was lovely and in walking distance to a slew of great coffee shops (Costa was our favorite) and a monstrosity of a mall known as The Westfield.

Under normal circumstances, I wouldn't even bother mentioning the mall again since we've got one in oh, every 10ish miles in DFW. But The Westfield, well, it's not exactly your standard-issue shopping with Macy's, Claire's and an Auntie Anne's pretzel shop. In fact, I'm thinking it's probably the oh-so-regal cousin of the shops clustered together in Caesar's Place in Vegas.

With its gleaming, marble-esque floors and great lighting that I'm sure Posh and David Beckham would approve of whenever they're in town, The Westfield is all about the high-end—Versace, Vuitton, Vivienne Westwood, basically anyone who advertises in Vogue. I did spot a lone Abercrombie & Fitch, but I'm guessing that its presence is more about the half-naked models in their ads than the totally awesome jeans they sell.

Needless to say, it was great fun to simply window shop since I'm not planning on strutting down a catwalk any time soon. If anything, my favorite stop on The Westfield excursion was the nearby Waitrose. It's no secret that I love a good grocery store (and since it's good enough for Kate Middleton, it's good enough for me, right?), so it was fun slowly strolling down the aisles and not recognizing much of anything.

The candy aisle alone was to-die-for. While I'm sure that Kate has the willpower to walk by without as much as a second thought (she is getting married in front of millions, after all), Will and I couldn't resist the pull of so much imported chocolate. So we chose a couple of Belgium bars that barely made it to the checkout line. In a word: bliss.

The rest of our London adventures were just as fun and low-key as we recovered from the long overnight flight across the pond. Since Will and I have both already seen the changing of the guards, Westminster Abbey and the like, we opted for a less by-the-book approach to exploring the city, namely the Will and Christa way.

First stop? Notting Hill. So off to the Tube we went (minding the gap, naturally)...

Funny enough, I forgot just how fast-paced life is inside those tube stations. Similar to when you're walking the streets of Manhattan, there's no time for dawdling when people are practically running to make it to the platforms on time. So I promptly put my sluggish self in another gear because I saw that if you don't kindly move out of the way, chances are, you'll get run over—even on the escalators.

And given my propensity toward extreme klutziness, I promptly got my cardio on because sprained ankles definitely aren't your friend on vacations. Thank goodness I was wearing my UGGs rather than impractical heels, right?

All that sprinting was totally worth it, though. Notting Hill was as enchanting as ever with its multi-colored flats, charming little parks and sunny, tree-lined streets (yes, there wasn't a cloud in sight, a rarity in London). And while the Portobello Market wasn't in full swing (it was a weekday), we stumbled upon the next best thing—a perfect little bookshop with an owner who couldn't have been sweeter.

Dimly lit and about the size of most people's attics, the store featured a small gathering of new and old literary treasures loosely organized into their respective categories. Fiction, non-fiction, travel, mystery, biography—all genres were represented, and I gotta say, the shop had one of best old book smells, too—something you can't experience when downloading novels to a Kindle.

As we perused the titles, the owner promptly asked us where we were from (I guess our accents didn't exactly scream "local"), what we planned to do in London, etc. And when we said we were searching for some great Thai food for lunch, she certainly delivered. Turns out, there was a pub close by that had incredible Thai cuisine along with the usual fish & chips, shepherd's pie, etc.

When ordering Thai food at a new place, I know that most people's go-to choice is Pad Thai. But I've always been more of a red curry girl myself. I love, love, love how all that spicy flavor is perfectly in balance with the rich coconut milk and all those veggies and chicken (yeah, I'm practically salivating as I'm writing), and the red curry at Churchill Arms definitely didn't disappoint. The red curry and spring rolls were absolutely mouthwatering, and I cleaned my plate in no time.

Later that evening, we ventured over to London's West End where we saw "Wicked," and I'm thrilled to report that Will survived all two and a half hours of Oz goodness without complaining once. :) I won't even say it's because he had a couple of beers along the way...ha ha. Ever since we started dating (and even once we said "I do"), Will's always been great about tolerating my girly choices in entertainment, rom-coms (as long as it's not Legally Blonde), endless seasons of "Gilmore Girls" and more, so I wasn't surprised that he was a good sport about "Wicked," too.

I'd been wanting to see "Wicked" forever and somehow, I seemed to miss it every time it rolled into town, so I'm glad we got to see it somewhere wonderful like London—made for a very fun night on the town. Plus, the songs were catchy, but not annoyingly so—always a winning quality in my book.

For the rest of our short time in fair London, we wandered around Covent Garden (where we noshed on the highly recommended a fish & chips at Rock & Sole Plaice), Oxford Circus and the Tottenham Court Road area. We sipped coffee, read, daydreamed and enjoyed the people watching, which pretty much made for the perfect beginning to our adventure abroad.

Lastly, for the record, no, we didn't buy any of the Will & Kate wedding memorabilia that was everywhere in London, although some of it (like the Will & Kate cookie sheets) were quite comical indeed.

On Thankfulness...

"Thank you, God, for this good life and forgive us if we don't love it enough."—Garrison Keillor

I'll be the first to admit, whenever Garrison starts talking in that oh-so-soothing voice of his about his fictional home in Minnesota's Lake Woebegon, I could probably fall into a sound, sound sleep in a matter of seconds.

But I absolutely love what he said about being thankful, which is particularly apropos considering tomorrow's the big day, no?

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! And here's to being thankful every day of the year—even if turkey, stuffing and a Cowboys VS. Saints game isn't involved.

Ha, ha, ha on the last one, by the way. That was in honor of my Texas family. :)

List #7: 7 Dishes My Thanksgiving Dinner Wouldn't Be Complete Without...

Oy vey! It's been one crazy week here in Tejas.

I'm not sure why I didn't think this through better scheduling-wise, but I think every major writing project on the planet was due this week.

But as of 7:45 last night, it's officially a wrap, and I'm breathing much, much easier.

Now come to think of it, the week was probably a little crazier than normal because I actually took Monday off to meet one of my favorite chefs ...Ina Garten (a.k.a. The Barefoot Contessa).

Now if you're a regular reader of my blog, you already know how much I love her. Not only does she whip up some pretty fantastic recipes with just a few simple ingredients (yeah, don't forget the good vanilla), but I love how much she adores her husband and makes him and her friends these fabulous meals, something I'm equally passionate about.

So as you can imagine, I was pretty darn thrilled, even with a wait of 2+ hours, to say hello. And of course, she was just as sweet as can be, and I left Williams-Sonoma with my signed cookbook positively beaming. Yeah, I know, I'm a giant dork.

Since I'm already in full disclosure mode, I may as well tell you what I can't wait to do, now that all my work is done. See, I have a ginormous stack of magazines in my office (Bon Appetit, Rachael Ray, Martha Stewart, Food Network and Cooking Light, for starters) plus the Williams-Sonoma recipe book they gave me last week, that I'm chomping at the bit to read because I need to finalize our Thanksgiving menu so I can start shopping.

Every year, I flip through all these magazines to get inspiration for what I want to make. After all, cooking the big dinner is one of the things I look forward to all year, and I have fun serving up the classics with the occasional twist.

As you probably gathered from the title, I've got turkey on the brain. So that's why I'm writing about the 7 dishes our Thanksgiving table wouldn't be complete without (in no particular order, 'cause I don't want to play favorites)...

Homemade Biscuits: What can I say? I love my carbs, and biscuits absolutely, positively must make an appearance on our table. While I'm usually a buttermilk girl all the way (last year, I modified the recipe a bit and made the cheesy garlic variety they serve as Red Lobster), I've recently fallen in love with sweet potato biscuits (thank you, Nashville) and have decided to serve those this year. I'm thinking with a little butter and honey drizzled on them, they'll be pure heaven.

Mashed Potatoes, Please? Even though they're a cinch to make, I really only eat mashed potatoes at Thanksgiving, and I'm guessing that's because heavy cream and copious amounts of butter make those gorgeous red potatoes so calorie-laden. But on Turkey Day, they're the perfect indulgence, with or without gravy.

Stuffing Stuffed With Lots of Stuff: Yeah, I like my stuffing chunky with lots and lots of veggies and even a little crumbled sausage, but it can't ever, ever include little pieces of the turkey (that just scares me). While I definitely enjoy a good, old-fashioned herb stuffing, I'm also a fan of southern-style cornbread stuffing, which I'm learning toward making this year. And I don't know about you, but I think stuffing tastes even better as leftovers, so I already can't wait for that.

Barefoot Contessa's Cranberry Sauce: It's a gazillion times better than that congealed mess with the can marks still on it, and yet it's straight from the jar (meaning no messing with cooking any actual cranberries yourself). It's got all these great warm flavors you associate with the holidays along with the cranberries and is quite delicious on toast once you've run out of Thanksgiving leftovers.

Green Bean Casserole: Yeah, I know, I'm not going to win any points for culinary originality here. But I just can't have Thankgiving without the green bean casserole. There's just something about the soup, the green beans and those crunchy onions that make my taste buds happy.

Pumpkin Something: No, that's not the name of my secret recipe. But I am known to switch up the pumpkin dessert I make every year. Case in point: Last year I made a turtle pumpkin pie with caramel and pecans and lots of whipped cream. Yum. Other years, I've gone the traditional pumpkin pie route, while the pumpkin creme tart was dessert du jour a few years back. This year, I'm still on the fence about what I'll make. But unlike last year, I probably won't make two desserts (carrot cake cupcakes with homemade cream cheese icing was dessert #2) because it's going to be just Will and I.

Last, But Certainly Not Least, the Turkey: Last year, I ordered a Greenberg smoked turkey (www.gobblegobble.com) for Will since he's a good ol' Southern boy, and that award-winning bird's from Texas. It's also one of Oprah's faves, so I knew it would be delicious. And Will liked it so much it'll be appearing on this year's table, too.

But I also like a good roasted turkey breast, too, so I always make one of those. Once I made it with a peach rosemary glaze, and that was out of this world. Another year, I went a bit Italian and went heavy on the garlic and oregano. But this year, I'm thinking just some good Thanksgiving-y spices (like sage, thyme, rosemary, etc.) is the way to go, and of course, I'll brine it so it's super juicy, even when I use it to make sandwiches later on.

Ok, now that I've shared my favorites, what are some of your family's Thanksgiving must-haves and why?

 

List #1: My Ten Favorite Restaurants (No Particular Order)

So I tried to get this going yesterday as promised, but Typepad was being finicky and uncooperative, so I thought I'd better try again today instead of wasting too much time trying to get my blog to do what I want. Success! (so far, anyway)...

My friend Lori, the one who got this whole crazy list thing started in the first place, began her 10 days with her favorite restaurants, so why mess with a genius move like that?

In fact, I'm all over it with one minor adjustment. I'm not gonna rank 'em. I know, I know, it's cheating a little, but it's just too hard 'cause they're all soooo good.

And now, with no further adieu...my 10 favorite restaurants:

Dos Caminos (Vegas)—Yep, that's the restaurant in the picture.

Now there's a lot of advice I probably wouldn't take from Jessica Simpson (her choice in men and clothing immediately springs to mind), but I gotta tell ya, there's a reason why she eats at Dos Caminos every time she's in NYC, and that's because it's absolutely scrumptious. Not only do they make their guacamole for you right at the table (and trust me, it'll change your life, I could just have that sans chips and be happy), but their cuisine (try the crunchy shrimp quesadilla, you'll thank me) is just so inventive and tasty. Now I've only been to the Dos Caminos in Vegas (and it's a must, whenever you're there), but I'm guessing the one in Manhattan is just as fab. I must say the last time I was in NYC, I was very, very tempted to eat there, but the hubby wasn't with me, so I couldn't do so in good conscience. What can I say? I loooove the guy.

La Grolla (St. Paul)—Anyone who's read my blog on a frequent basis already knows how much I love Italian food, and La Grolla totally rocks it every time. If you're dieting, this is totally the place you gotta avoid because while you can easily fill up on all the incredible antipasto, you simply gotta save room for their mouthwatering entrees (yeah, their penne alla vodka was my favorite), the dessert cart (yeah, the light as air mascarpone cheesecake changes with the seasons) and a cappuccino because if you don't, you're just missing out.

P.F. Chang's (nationwide)—I know, I know it's a chain, and it's not authentic Chinese takeout, but I absolutely love it anyway. The decor is chic, the lighting low, and everything I've ever ordered is downright yummy. In addition to the lettuce wraps (a virtually guilt-free must), I'm really lovin' the Dali chicken these days. Sure, it's sooo hot that you'll need about seven glasses of water, but it's totally worth suffering for.

Calypso Cafe (Nashville)—After I was hired at CCM Magazine back in 2000, the editor-in-chief, the illustrious April Hefner, had a brilliant idea for my first day of work lunch—Calypso Cafe—and I've been a huge fan ever since. I always order the same thing: a black bean salad with rice, two boija muffins (sweet cornbread with a toasted coconut top) and my drink de jour in Nashville, fruit tea, and I always leave happy. I liked the place so much, in fact, that I ate there at least once a week when I lived in Music City.

Mi Cocina (Dallas)—When Will and I were dating, he always raved about this Tex-Mex establishment, and I gotta say, he wasn't overstating just how good it is. Whenever I'm there I usually go for the cheese enchiladas, and trust me, you don't need any meat when they taste that good. Mmmmm....

Gino's East (Chicago)—It's hard not loving the place where you got engaged, but I'm not gonna lie, the pizza is absolutely, positively worth every minute of that 45-minute wait. As hungry as you are, don't even bother with appetizers because after eating this pizza, you'll be sooo full you'll immediately need a nap. But it'll be the best nap ever because your tummy will be full of all that deep dish love.

Bon Vie (St. Paul)—I'm still dreaming of their perfect omelets with caramelized onions and crispy hashbrowns.

Amerigo's (Nashville)—One word: Tiramisu. Yeah, they don't really do it the traditional way, but the homemade chocolate sauce makes it's worth every empty calorie.

Chick-a-Fila (somewhat nationwide, but mostly in the south)—I'm not usually crazy about fast food, but one of Chick-a-Fila's original chicken sandwiches with lettuce and tomato, waffle fries and lemonade always hits the spot.

Bread and Company (Nashville)—Whenever I had a bad day, Will would bring me their tomato basil soup, cranberry walnut bread and fruit tea, and everything would be okay. And whenever I'm in Nashville, it's an absolute must for lunch.

Honorable Mentions: While they aren't quite Top 10, I still love me some Chipotle (nationwide), Carrabba's (nationwide), Bronte (Nashville), Cossetta's (St. Paul), Gallagher's (Vegas), room service from the Four Seasons hotel on Doheny (Los Angeles), Brio (Dallas), SATCO (Nashville) and Pizzeria Uno (Chicago).

Crashing Aarti's Party

As I confessed in a recent blog entry, I was definitely rooting for Aarti to win the Next Food Network Star title.

And now that she has, I have to say I absolutely, positively love her cooking show, Aarti's Party. It's so much fun that 30 minutes whizzes by like nobody's business.

Now while I definitely love me some Indian food, I'll be honest: I've never actually tried to make any. But with Aartie's decidedly Indian twist on good ol' fashioned American dishes like bread pudding (yum!), sloppy joes and roast chicken, well, I think I'm finally ready to invest in some garam masala and cardamom (which Williams Sonoma now carries...how convenient!) and give it a try!

While I doubt I'll whip up the perfect naan or chicken tikka masala any time soon (I'll leave those to the experts), Aartie definitely makes cooking with Indian spices seem less intimidating. Plus, you gotta love a girl who cooks dinner and dessert for her weekly accountability group. Where can I sign up?

A Long, Long Jaunt Down I-35

Well, I'm officially living in the Lone Star state now, and my, my, my what a crazy journey it's been! I gotta say moving is truly not for the faint of heart.

After finishing up the packing (whew!) and officially saying goodbye to my downtown St. Paul abode, my friend Krista and I (along with Blackjack, Will and I's trusty black Toyota Highlander and Gretta, Krista's bossy but oh-so-helpful GPS) made the sizable trek to the place where everything's supposedly bigger and there's mouthwatering salsa and guacamole around every corner.

And thanks to our 16-hour journey down I-35, I crossed off two more destinations from my list of "States I've Never Been To" (Kansas and Oklahoma, for the record) and enjoyed a steady diet of classic rock (given how many times I heard Boston's "More Than a Feeling," you'd think it was a current pop song) and really bad country music where the lovelorn mourn the loss of their dog, their wives, their sanity etc. etc. 

When I wasn't tracking down the next totally bad song for Krista and I to listen to on our severely limited selection of stations, the people-watching and regular truck stop visits kept us plenty entertained for the duration. Truth be told, for such a long trip, the miles totally whizzed by, and before I knew it, we were finally in my new hometown.

In addition to taking a super fun road-trip with a fabulous friend,  I FINALLY got to see Will after nearly a month...a reunion we celebrated with a downright fabulous meal at Mi Cocina (try the cheese enchiladas there, and they will change your life, I promise) and a late-night showing of Eclipse, the guiltiest of guilty pleasures, I know. 

Since we're still waiting for our stuff from the movers, (don't even get me started on that), I still sort of feel like I'm on some sort of bizarro vacation when I wake up every morning. Dallas doesn't really feel like home yet, but I hope as I start getting our house in order (by the way, I love saying "house" instead of "apartment," I feel all grown up now), it will, y'all.

In the meantime, Will and I are thankful to have a place to stay while we wait (something I'm not very good at). When we moved to St. Paul four years ago, we slept on the floor for a good two weeks. So needless to say, a comfy bed in a lovely air-conditioned abode is definitely a blessing. Well, that and a huge supply of anti-frizz cream for my hair. Since it's humid and about a thousand degrees, my hair definitely looks worse for the wear without a little help from my friends at Aveda.

Lemme just go on the record and say I'm thankful for them, too. And I'm sure anyone who's forced to hang with me would agree.

Book Comment: Lunch In Paris by Elizabeth Bard

When Will first saw the cover for Elizabeth Bard's Lunch in Paris: A Love Story, With Recipes at Barnes & Noble, he immediately knew it was the sort of book I'd love, and guess what? He was absolutely right.

It was one of those thoroughly enjoyable reading experiences that couldn't help but bring a smile to my face with every turn of a page. And for the record, it wasn't just because she served up one mouthwatering description of croissants, cheese and chocolate after the next...

Seen, unlike a lot of memoirs where the author comes across as a little, well, narcissistic and unapproachable, you really felt like Elizabeth was an old friend as she described the ups and downs of being a New Yorker (with a French husband and in-laws to boot) in Paris.

Case in point: Even after a month-long hiatus when reading has, unfortunately, had to take a backseat in favor of more pressing issues like packing, I picked right up where I left off today (and finally finished it off) like I'd never stopped reading in the first place. Whether she was spending the afternoon shopping for fresh ingredients at the market, having a major career crisis or languidly walking through the Louvre, you couldn't help but feel like you were there, too, just one of the many pleasures of the journey.

And if that wasn't enough to entice you to read, as a bonus, all the recipes tucked within the prose sound positively heavenly, too. I mean, c'mon, chocolate cream with créme anglaise, anyone?