Month: January 2013

I have been meaning to make this post for over a week now! I have been a regular gadabout for the last week or so and I haven’t had time to sit down and write this out.

If your part of the planet has been hit by extremely cold temps, then this is a post for you. In my area of NY, last week we experienced very cold temps with wind chills as low as -29 below. This spicy soup and boozy hot cocoa should warm you right up.

About a week or two ago, my body was attempting to get sick. To fight the yuck, I used my neti pot like crazy and I whipped up this soup because I wanted to sweat out how rotten I felt. If you decide to make this soup, be careful! It’s extremely spicy!

Super duper spicy soup
3 cups of vegetable broth
4 ounces of smoked tofu, cut in to small cubes
5-6 (Or more!) garlic cloves, peeled and thinly sliced
1 heaping spoonful (Or more if you like things super spicy, like I do!!) of sambal oelek
A bunch of green onions, chopped
A splash of lemon juice
1 can of coconut milk
Sriracha (for the swirl)

In a pot, bring the vegetable broth to a boil. While the broth is coming to a boil, chop the tofu and onions and peel and slice the garlic. After the broth has come to a boil, reduce to simmer and add the tofu, onions, and garlic. Next, stir in the sambal oelek and the lemon juice. Cover and let simmer for about ten minutes. Finally, stir in the coconut milk. Serve immediately with a swirl of Sriracha.

For Christmas this year, my best friend bought me some hot chocolate mix from Lake Champlain Chocolates that is just fantastic. Besides being delicious, this mix is also vegan! Because I am constantly trying to curb my dairy consumption, I tend to shy away from traditional hot chocolate mixes because they usually contain milk. Instead, I use almond milk and make hot chocolate from scratch. With this mix, hot chocolate easier!

I knew that I wanted to ramp up this particular batch by adding a little booze. I prepared the hot chocolate per the instructions on the container and threw in a couple of maraschino cherries in the glass. Next, I added splashes of Frangelico, Godiva Chocolate Liqueur, and Chambord. Very tasty and it warmed me up in a jiff!

I hope you are all braving this winter weather and if it’s not winter where you are, keep these recipes in mind for a day where you need to warm up!

 

What a busy week! Here’s Sunday’s Small, Good Things:

I made a point this week to do more socializing and I certainly lived up to that point!

I was finally able to get out and do some thrifting for the first time in what felt like forever.  Later on in this post, check out the new pillows I got while I was out and about!

I have slowly but surely organizing our dressing room/bedroom suite, including organizing out closet. It’s been quite the task, but it’s with pleasure that I can finally say our bedroom is pretty much where I want it.

The nightstand, topped with various second hand treasures.  The lamp is one of a pair.  I need to have my dad put a plug on the other one.  I finally had Mark pick up a multi-plug  outlet adapter so I could plug in the lamp, the phone, and the alarm clock.  It will be nice having a lamp again because the overhead light makes the lighting too bright for me to read in bed when Mark is sleeping.

I put up these lantern lights to add some warmth to the room.  The chair was given to us by our former neighbors when they were moving out.  It’s where my small and very sentimental, collection of teddy bears (plus one sock monkey) hang out on top of my meditation cushion.

Not the greatest photo, but here are the two, new, patchwork pillows I picked up on Saturday.  The quilt on the bed was a wedding gift from a dear friend and the afghan on the end of the bed was made by my Gram as a way to use left over yarn.

Hanging out in the kitchen, listening to music with Mark while we cook is probably one of my favorite things ever and that’s just what we did on Saturday night.

Taking a nap with four out of six cats and waking up with three of the four cats sleeping somewhere on you is nice too.

And last but not least, Watson being a total cuddlebug all weekend.

I hope you all found some small, good things in your week and if you want to play along, please do and link back to me so I can see what you’ve shared.

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This week was kind of stressful on a personal level, so I was really looking forward to hanging out with my best friend in Burlington, VT for her belated birthday shenanigans. This edition of Sunday’s Small, Good Things is made up of some of things we did Saturday into Sunday.

The cinnamon swirl bread at Great Harvest Bread Company was just warm, delicious, and perfect. Yum!

/Switchback Beer you have been my favorite beer for quite a few years now. I am so happy you are now available in NY, but I still enjoy drinking you in VT as well.

Dancing for three hours to 80’s songs during Retronome. I love to dance and it’s been far too long since I went out for a good butt wiggling.

To the nice man who bought our breakfast this morning, thank you.

The ferry ride was wild on the way over and I was a little scared. The ride was wild today too, but I decided to crank up Steely Dan and focus on the pretty blue sky and the rocking of the boat to calm me.

If you would like to play along for Sunday’s Small, Good Things, please do! Just link back to me so I can see your list!

I was so busy on Sunday cleaning and reordering the house from the holiday neglect, that I completely forgot to update Sunday’s Small, Good Things.

Here they are:

Gruyere stuffed mushrooms. I made up this recipe yesterday and I will make it again and blog about it.

My new hair cut! I cut off almost 8.5 inches. I have really heavy, thick hair, so this cut is really freeing.

Cranberry wine and shortbread goes very well together.

Earl Grey Tea

I will try to be on time for this next Sunday. Wanna play along? Please do and link back to me 🙂

Beginning today, on this first Sunday of the new year, I have decided to launch a new feature, Sunday’s Small, Good Things.  This feature, with the name a nod to Raymond Carver, will be the things that have been good in my life this week.  All to often I find myself mired in my mess, forgetting to take stock of the good things that are going on in my life.  I invite all of you to participate and link back to the blog.  I would love to see your list of small, good things.

Here’s mine:

• Candlelit showers.  Seriously, this might be my saving grace this winter.  Since adopting this practice this week, I have noticed a serious change in my mood.  I have been using a “Balsam and Pine” candle from Yankee Candle.  This combined with my body wash (see below) makes me feel like I am showering in the middle of the forest.

• Grass shower gel from Lush.  I got this as a Christmas gift from my best friend.  I am hooked.  I will be buying the large bottle when I am done with what I have now.

• My vintage, but new to me, fuzzy red bathrobe.  It looks like I skinned a Muppet and made a fur coat out of it.  I really need to take a photo to show you all.

• Organizing and purging.  I have done a lot of these activities this weekend and I am far from done.  However, I feel so good and energized by what I have accomplished.

• Bob’s Burgers is a new episode tonight.  Yay!

So there you have it.  The first Sunday’s Small, Good Things.  Please feel free to play along!