Slaw related ...

 Circe has branched out from her love of citrus and found a new vegetable to obsess over.

{circe begging}

{circe leaping}

{circe eating}

Savoy cabbage. Classy pup.


I was being mean here and trying to get a good picture of her patiently waiting for a bite of cabbage and she finally lost it and jumped up and snatched it right out of my hand, nearly taking out a couple of fingers in the process. She is nothing if not enthusiastic.

Purchases - grooming

I lost the $2 drugstore brush I've had for the last decade over New Year's weekend and spent a few weeks attempting to use D's comb before admitting that I was going to have to buy a replacement.

{new brush}

Luckily Fred Segal was having a big sale so I got this brush + the macadamia nut oil for $7.50. And actually the macadamia nut oil is kind of nice on my super dry winter hair. I'm guessing it's a rip off the morrocan oil everyone is obsessed with?

A decent brush - totally worth buying. Even if it is a little boring.

I also picked up some new night moisturizer for my face + skin moisturizer. I have really dry skin but I don't like body lotion. I finally hit a point where the only thing that sounded appealing was straight up oil, and the Burt's Bees baby oil doesn't have any weird ingredients and it doesn't make you smell like a baby. So far I'm loving both of these. The night moisturizer is super thick, so be warned if you aren't into that.

{burt's bees}

I still need to figure out if I'm going to bite the bullet and purchase some eye cream. I just get overwhelmed with the number of options out there.

Asian slaw

We made this twice in two weeks, which is generally a good indication of a pretty awesome recipe. It's nice and light and slightly spicy. The leftovers are particularly good with cold steak, if you happen to have some in the fridge. We did make a trip to the Japanese grocery store for the daikon, but everything else should be easily found at your usual place.

{slaw}

Asian slaw (original recipe from here, serves 6 if it has a starring role in your meal, 8 - 10 if it's part of a bigger spread)

6 cups thinly sliced savoy cabbage (or napa cabbage - I actually prefer napa)
1 cup coarsely grated peeled carrots
1 cup coarsely grated peeled daikon radish
1 large red bell pepper, cut into 2x1/3-inch strips (we cut ours smaller)
1/2 cup chopped fresh mint
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
4 green onions, sliced
7 tablespoons seasoned rice vinegar
2 tablespoons Asian sesame oil
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 serrano chiles, seeded, minced

:: If you have a mandoline (I have this simple one and it works perfectly), this is a great time to bust it out. The julienne blade will make quick work of the carrots and daikon. Everything else is more easily cut by hand.

:: Once you have everything cut, combine the first 7 ingredients in large bowl. If you aren't going to eat the slaw soon, cover the bowl and stick it in the fridge. 

:: Whisk vinegar, sesame oil, vegetable oil, and chiles in medium bowl. Season dressing to taste with salt (I used about 1 teaspoon of fine sea salt, I believe) and pepper. If you're taking the salad to go, just put all your dressing ingredients in a glass jar and shake it up when you get there.

:: Drizzle dressing over salad and toss to coat evenly. Don't use all the dressing right away! The first time we made this, we used all the dressing and it was perfect. The second time we used all the dressing and it ended up a bit overdressed. I would recommend starting out with half the dressing and then adding more to taste. 

If you've never used daikon or napa cabbage before, you might want to do a quick image search so that you know what to look for when you get to the store. Daikon doesn't look like your usual radishes and it has a very different flavor so you wouldn't want to substitute.

Lately

{steep hike}

{oranges, sunlight}

{restocking the freezer}

{misshapen waffles}

{puppies + d}

{curious snowy}

{sorting}

{pudding + work}

{playing}

{sunday happy hour}

{baja taco @ mas malo}

:: notes ::

 A very busy weekend (hiking, cooking, puppies, superbowl party) followed by a much more mellow one. After a fairly hellish work week, I got a full Saturday to myself and it was amazing. I ate an entire batch of tapioca pudding, watched the final disc of Friday Night Lights (so satisfying!), played with paper, and then later ordered myself a giant hamburger for dinner. People always talk about gaining weight when they move in with someone but if I'm stressed and left to my own devices my eating can get out of control. It's far too embarrassing to do the same thing if you have a witness, so I'm forced to exercise some restraint most of the time.

On Sunday we bused it downtown for the Barney's Warehouse sale and accidentally ran into the Grammys - it was a madhouse down there. We booked it over to Mas Malo, which has one of the best happy hours in town, as I believe I've mentioned before. We rolled home full and just slightly tipsy and went to bed early.

Purchases - baby tunic! (gift)

I'm sort of hating this resolution already - I'm behind right now but I don't want to slam you with a million purchase posts all at once. I'll catch up soon.

A sweet little girl tunic for my dear friend Kristin's one year old.

I originally wanted to get her these insanely adorable baby jeans + striped cashmere sweater (look - now they're on sale!), but I managed to restrain myself. Only because she would grow out of it before it was cold enough to wear it again. Let me tell you, having a fancy baby clothing store right near my apartment has made restraint difficult. The kids in there have better clothes than I do and I am not kidding.

Kris and I went to high school together and she's the genius who put together our personal flowers for the wedding, as a gift. I'm always in awe of her talent and I feel so lucky that I still get to see my high school ladies on a regular basis.

Purchases - clutch

The Clare Vivier foldover clutch was on my list and technically this isn't a purchase because it was a very generous gift from D. But since I picked it out I think I should own up to it.

{foldover clutch}

I couldn't make up my mind online, so we ventured across town to Vivier and Bentley where I spent way too much time obsessing over what color to pick. The idea is that I won't buy another clutch for several years, so part of me worries that the neon zipper might have been a silly choice, but I love it so much that I don't think that's the case.

{neon zipper}

I've been using it whenever I need to make a quick run out of the house and don't feel like carrying my beloved giant bag (trying to give my back a rest whenever possible)  - the clutch fits my enormous wallet, my cell phone, my kindle, a small notepad + pen and assorted lip balms. That's pretty much everything I need.

Feast night

{planning}

{ginger + wedding knives}

{potstickers}

We had some people over to celebrate the new season one of the most addictive shows ever. I almost never make asian food* and we may have taken on a little more than we could really handle, but the prep was a lot of fun. We made this slaw (crazy good, it will show up again soon, I think) + these potstickers + these meatballs. Oh, and a drink that was so complicated that it needs its own post and a decent photo to do it justice.


* Isn't it weird what we cook at home vs. only eat out? We are surrounded by some amazing asian food so we take advantage of that, but cooking it at home is oddly intimidating. I need to work on getting over that.

Citrus season

It's late winter in Southern California. 

{full up}

The only time of year when we're so overstocked with oranges that I'm willing to give them up for juicing. 

{juicing}

Currently eating 3 per day. And drinking juice on Sundays. Fingers crossed for a nice long season.