dust off, rust off

I don’t even want to do the math for how long it’s been since my last post; the amount of cringing that would elicit would leave me in severe physical pain. There have been so many times over the last few [busy] years when I would say, “Once I get through X, I’ll have more time, and I’ll start writing and posting again.” And, of course, I would get through that X, and another X would be on the horizon. For so long, writing and food were at the top of my priority list, and while I’m still cooking up a storm (and sharing my adventures on Instagram, @thejerc), the writing — my first love — stopped being a priority. The sadness over that causes me more pain than that aforementioned cringing.

Two of the biggest Xs on the horizon over the last 18 months were my wedding and my honeymoon. When the wedding ended, I thought, “What did I do with my life before I planned my wedding?” But, fortunately, we had delayed our honeymoon until the Christmas craziness subsided, giving me the opportunity to pour myself into my next project: planning the trip of a lifetime to Italy. Now, after the perfect winter wedding and a gourmand’s dream tour through Venice, Florence/Tuscany and Rome, I’m left thinking, “Now what?”

Advertisement

I love it when a plan[tain] comes together

Sometimes I’m so excited about my food, I refuse to accept it is unphotogenic. That’s pretty much what happened with this creation: a chipotle turkey burger with bacon, caramelized onions and fresh guac on a plantain bun. It’s like when you’re defending a girl you’re dating to your friends who are judgingly flipping through her Facebook pictures — trust me when I say it was way better looking in person.

For such a seemingly complex dish, the most difficult part was not burning the shiz out of my onions like I always seem to do whilst caramelizing. Some people might say I’m not the most patient person… and that also applies to caramelizing onions. For the sake of the dish, I curbed my impatience best I could and focused on the other elements, like this newfound plantain bun.

on Sunday morning

This weekend, we held a surprise retirement party for my dad, who’s retiring early and moving to NC to play golf all day, erryday. In catching up with family friends whom I have not seen in years, I got a lot of questions about whether or not I’m still writing — for work (barely) or in my blog (embarrassingly little). It is one of those things I think about almost on a daily basis, but life has been flying by — more so this year than ever before — and so many things have been pushed aside if they are not of the utmost priority.

this is why I don’t have my own cooking show

Realizing it’s been 10 years since I last posted, I thought I would give you an extra special treat and post a video. Please enjoy “Jess v. The Lobster.”

POM Coconut

POM Wonderful’s new juice blends caught my eye in the market the other day, and because I am obsessed with POM, I didn’t think twice about paying $3 for a tiny bottle.

At this point, I’ve tried all three, and would highly recommend the POM Coconut (“the sporty one” as they call it, I’m assuming for its hydrating powers). The POM Hula (pineapple) and Mango (mango, duh) are good, but a little too sweet for my liking.

cookies & cupcakes combined

Some food porn for your Friday: special birthday cupcakes for my good friend!