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Decor

DIY Mason Jar Hanging Herb Planter

May 2, 2014

Last summer I planted my very first herb garden, and let me tell you: not having to run to the supermarket and spend five bucks on a teeny-tiny container of mint or rosemary or thyme every time you need a sprig (or even just a single leaf) is the best. But even if you're an apartment-dweller with no nearby grass or yard or outdoor space to plant in, no fear: you too can have fresh herbs at your fingertips.

Once again: mason jar to the rescue. This DIY takes about three minutes...and is the most satisfying project ever. (It's also a fun project to get kids involved with; you should cut the twine, but they can do pretty much everything else.)

Entertaining

Fresh Mint Lemonade

April 24, 2014

When I first moved to LA, I found an apartment right off of the Sunset Strip and a job at an upscale-ish pizza place called Cheebo (the phonetic spelling of the Italian word for "food"). It wasn't too bad of a job - the food was pretty reasonably priced and lunchtime-focused, which meant that tips were only okay, but I liked my coworkers and really liked the staff meal that we got at the end of every shift. The part of it that I hated was when my manager asked me to work the brunch shift, because the brunch shift involved fresh-squeezed orange juice…and you know what's a major pain to make?

Fresh-squeezed orange juice. If you have never done this, let me tell you: you have no idea how many pieces of fruit it takes to make your teeny, tiny four-dollar glass of Vitamin C.

I think working at Cheebo gave me a bit of juice-making PTSD, because never since have I been enamored of the idea of fresh-squeezing my own anythings…but pregnancy does weird stuff, like make you all of a sudden need fresh lemonade RIGHT NOW.

Decor

Trays Every Which Way

April 17, 2014

I have an "actual" home office, you know. Or…I did have an actual home office. Now I have a nursery-in-progress, and a corner of my attic where the desk that used to sit in that room is now wedged underneath a coat rack that also used to sit in that room.

But it doesn't matter: I don't love working at desks, anyway, and on a day to day basis my dining room table functions as my primary workspace. The only problem with this: the dining room table is right there smack in the middle of our house, clearly viewable from both the kitchen and the living room…and mess makes me crazy. And yet work yields mess (papers, pens, random to-do lists, et cetera).

What to do?

ENTREES

Easy, Awesome Brisket With Vegetables

April 16, 2014

Course #2 of our Passover Dinner (the first I've ever made on my own) was yet another dish that's brand-new to me: brisket. But I was excited to add my aunt Debbie's recipe to my repertoire, because I have a big thing for inexpensive cuts of meat that you cook on low heat for ever and ever: I think they're just incredibly flavorful and delicious, and love how virtually unscrewupable they are. I also love the fact that you start them in the morning and then basically forget about them all day long, and then poof: dinner is ready, and you barely did a thing.

This dish easily serves 4-6, and makes for some seriously good leftovers (try putting the meat between slices of white bread the next day, oh my god yum). You can also try making this in your slow-cooker; just remember that you'll need about 8 hours of cooking if you do it that way.

(Click here for Course #1, Matzoh Ball Soup)

SIDESSALADS

Easy Matzoh Ball Soup

April 14, 2014

My Family Cookbook

I know: Passover isn't until this week. But we had Passover dinner on Saturday, because that's when Mom was free to come up, and Saturday afternoon is a much easier time to cook multi-course meals (apparently shifting the start date of Passover to accommodate busy family schedules is becoming a thing).

Usually we go to my aunt Debbie's house for Passover: she's a cookbook editor and food writer, and so her dinners are kind of next-level in terms of prettiness/preparedness/general impressiveness/et cetera. This is the first time I've ever attempted to make a Passover dinner on my own, so I have to say: I was a little nervous. Especially about the matzoh ball soup: Debbie's soup (which uses my aunt June's matzoh ball recipe) is one of my favorite meals on the planet, but I've never made it myself just because it seems like one of those recipes that everyone's all "Oh my god, it's so eaaaasy" about, and then it's…impossible.

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