Back to the kitchen

I am always looking for new vegetarian dishes. I love knowing a dozen variations of roasted tomatoes (which are now lost on my husband who has developed a tomato sensitivity) and trying a bunch of soft pretzel recipes until I find the best one. I like experimenting with different herbs and different heirloom varieties. Unfortunately, I haven’t done much of the above since graduate school.

Between long hours at work and our evening workout routines, I haven’t spent much (any?) time in the kitchen over the last two years… up until we came back from our honeymoon two weeks ago. These past two weeks, partially inspired by the coming of fall and our switch to morning runs, I’ve cooked and cooked and completely loved it.

Now I help out with dinner, I help out with dishes, I help out with planning our meals for the week. We are heading towards a more equal division of labor in the house. While David has never complained about my lack of help around the house, I think he is really enjoying us doing these things together and also having more time during the evening for his research and schoolwork and reading for pleasure (the new Robert Jordan book came out on Tuesday).

I am excited about finally making the time to explore the two shelves worth of cookbooks in our study, remnants of my graduate school cooking experiences and gifts from friends and family. I am ashamed to admit that I haven’t really had much of a chance to explore them… until now.

I am so excited.

Quick updates

* It snowed for the first time up at work. Not just a couple of inches, more like a foot plus. Miraculously, Boulder only got several days straight of rain, despite snow covering the foothills. Isn’t the affect of altitude on weather fascinating?

* I’ve finished a bunch of books in the last two weeks. More on those as soon as I have the time to write-up reviews and post links to amazon.com.

* David was asked to peer review a prospective journal paper. Very exciting & prestigious.

* I am still deeply buried in projects at work and they are keeping me engaged, challenged, and busy. I am trying not to get too stressed, though I definitely no longer feel even a small fraction of how relaxed I was right after our honeymoon. Oh well. The holidays will be here soon. (Does that mean more or less stress?! I don’t know. At the very least it means less work and more play.)

* The fifth season of Alias has begun. We are officially addicted again. Sharon and Mike have kindly reinitiated our Alias routine at their house. It’s nice to see them again on a regular basis!

p.s. The photo at the right is of iced tea in my blue plastic cup at work… part of my every day routine.

Also, I’ve added more photos from our honeymoon to Flickr — Please check them out!

Fall Activities

We’ve been doing many of the same activities that we did before fall arrived, but I’ve noticed they now feel different to me.

On our run this morning, I felt so cold at first and then slowly I warmed up and felt comfortable. Not overheated or too sweaty as I felt just a few weeks ago. Instead, I was incredibly content. It was just perfect.

Last night, we went on a date to the Boulder bookstore. We headed out (all bundled up!) just after seven and it was pitch black out. (I think it had been dark out for an hour or so by that point.) Lights from the stores cast shadows on Pearl Street. The air was so crisp and chilly. Leaves were scattered across the sidewalk. It was lovely and romantic and felt so fall.

Baked Apples


Fall has arrived in Boulder. The trees on our block are a mix of green, orange, yellow, red and brown colors, the air is crisp and cool, and the sun continues to set earlier and earlier. Autumn is here.

In celebration of fall and the Jewish New Year, last night (after cooking a delicious and romantic Rosh Hashanah dinner) I made one of my favorite fall treats: baked apples. They were fantastic.

I adapted the recipe from the “French Women Don’t Get Fat” cookbook. Presented below is the recipe with pecans, rather than walnuts. Enjoy!

Baked Apples
by Mireille Guiliano

1/3 cup chopped pecans
4 apples
4 teaspoons butter
4 teaspoons sugar mixed with 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons water1. Place the pecans on a baking sheet and toast them in a 250-degree oven for about 5 minutes, until they are fragrant. Set aside.

2. Wash and core the apples. Place them in a baking dish. Combine the butter, sugar-cinnamon mixture, and toasted walnuts.

3. Fill the cavity of each apple with the mixture, dividing it evenly among the apples. Pour the water into the bottom of the baking dish.

4. Bake the apples at 375 degrees for 30 minutes. Serve warm. You can make the dessert more festive by pouring 1 teaspoon of heavy cream over each apple just before serving, garnishing with a sprig of mint for color, or placing an edible flower on the side.

Trust me, you can skip the garnishment. Unless you really have too much time on your hands…


p.s. I really love food photography, in part because it’s actually quite hard to get food to look good. I recommend the following sites for delicious and artistic food photographs:

Jennifer Causey Photography (favorite shots here and here)

Heidi Swanson Photography + Creative with many, many photos at her cooking site 101 Cookbooks (my favorites are here, here, and here)

Honeymoon fun


We had a fantastic time on our honeymoon to Baja California Sur! It was a total blast! The hotel was beautiful, the staff so friendly, the food and drinks both plentiful and delicious, the spa incredibly relaxing, the ocean warm, the town fun, the seaside delightful, the shells diverse, the yoga challenging and calming, and the time with my husband — priceless!