I just got home from a lovely evening spent catching up with a friend I lost touch with a few years back. We chatted over a nice dinner and had a few cups of coffee. In retrospect I have no idea why or how we lost touch in the first place. But that's neither here nor there. We made plans to go to Columbus together on Sunday (weather permitting) and I'm really excited!! Be sure to stop by CCH on Monday to see all of our Columbus adventure goodness. I'm almost certain I'll have plenty of pictures and amusing stories to go along with them.
Before we get to todays featured section I have a few things to touch base on.....
BEHOLD! The last pizza and beer I will have in a long while........
Why is it the last?
Well for starters I've vowed not to drink the entire month of January. Alcohol that is. (If I didn't drink liquid for an entire month I'd surly die lol) This isn't a new years resolution of mine or anything of that nature, I just know my body needs a break. The months of November and December held a lot of holiday parties, and a lot of celebrations amongst friends and family which of course means quite a bit of free alcohol lol. I'm not a heavy drinker by any means, and it's not as if I've gone over board. My body just isn't equipped to handle it.
Not to mention my cautionary new years eve tequila experience has completely turned me off to the smell of anything close to alcohol lol. But I digress....
As far as the pizza is concerned, I'm just done eating like crap. Ever since I moved back from Florida I've been on a vacation from my regular diet.....a six month hiatus if you would lol. After being off my regular schedule for so long my body is craving raw vegetables and fruit smoothies again. I'm not necessarily going on 'a diet' I'm just reverting back to my regular daily diet, which most definitely doesn't consist of pizza and beer. My body feels it's best when it's being pumped with healthy food and when I'm exercising on a regular basis.
So goooooodbye to pizza for a while and so long to alcohol for this month!!!!!
Next month I'm definitely putting red wine back into my diet.
I can't resist a nice tall glass of red wine with my dark chocolate :)
I like to call this next little segment "Lessons I've learned so you don't have to."
I didn't put much though into this segment.
But it sounds like fun.
So I think I'll just wing it lol.
1. When taking a pan/baking sheet out of the oven always make sure that whatever you're using to remove it (oven mit, towel, rag, etc.) is COMPLETELY dry.
You need to be sure that the entire cloth is 100% dry. If it is even the least bit damp without you knowing, you will burn yourself. Water is a heat conductor to the max. I learned my lesson the hard way last month. I burned the shit out of the palm of my hand on a cast iron skillet that I was pulling out of a 500 degree oven. The folded up towel I was using appeared to be dry when I picked it up, but what I didn't know was that it was damp on the inside. When I grabbed the skillet the heat went straight to my hand and well.....
Just be careful.
2. Salt makes things taste exactly like what they are. If you don't add enough salt, you will never be a good cook.
In culinary school I would add a pinch of salt to an entire pot of soup and call it a day. Then the chef would taste my soup and say it needed more salt. Then I'd add another pinch. The chef would tell me to add more. Then I'd add a grain more. Then the chef would taste it, get aggravated, and tell me to add more than I think I needed. And so on and so forth.
Everyone is afraid of salt. Don't be. Unless you're adding obscene amounts of salt to a dish to the point where that's all you're tasting, then you're totally fine. Salt makes you taste things exactly the way they are. You cannot properly taste your food unless it's properly seasoned. Plain and simple. Do not be afraid of salt. Which sort of brings me to my next point......
3. Don't be an asshole at restaurants and season your food before you've even tasted it.
Prior to my experience in the restaurant industry I would always season my food before I even tasted it. I would do this not only at restaurants but when I was cooking at home as well. Don't get me wrong I encourage you to season when you're cooking at home, but please continuously taste your dish so you don't over season or screw up the balance of the flavors.
I hate when I go out to eat with friends and they immediately salt and pepper their food. Then they complain about how salty the food is. Well no shit you just over seasoned it yourself. I watched you. What do you think the chefs are for? In most cases (unless you're eating at Applebees or some fast food place...which I really really hope none of you are) the chefs have already seasoned your food to perfection. That is their job. They are trained to do so. Don't ruin their work by assuming that your food needs extra flavors, and then complaining to the servers. Who do you think you are? Jacques Pepin? I think not.
Never assume.
4. Life isn't fair, but you have the power to turn any situation into a funny one.
When I was younger, I never liked to admit it but I was a very "Woe is me" type of gal. I always took things too seriously. Especially myself. If I fell out of bed in the morning, if all of the hot water was gone by the time I had to take a shower, if the coffee pot wouldn't work, etc. I completely let it ruin my day. Which is utterly ridiculous in retrospect. The sad thing is I know way too many people that are like that.
The moment I decided to laugh, and I mean truly laugh, at everything that really made me mad was when I started to really have an enjoyable life. If you're close to me now then you know I'm goofy, I dance, hum, skip, leap, make up songs about random objects, trip, fall, make inappropriate jokes, run into things, have really odd things happen to me, and no matter what I'm usually laughing. I turn almost everything in my life into a joke. Why? Because life doesn't need to be serious.
If you laugh at everything that makes you mad, even if you don't want to, eventually you will think it is hilarious instead of angering. For example: I slipped and fell on my way out to my car the other day (surprise surprise lol). Jenna two years ago would've cussed (Well...I did cuss...but I always do so that's neither here nor there lol) screamed, been angry, allowed it to ruin her day, etc. But the Jenna today just laid there for a second, wondered if anyone was looking, laughed aloud at how ridiculous she looked laying in the middle of the road, got up and went to her car.
Remember: energies attract like energies. If you're shooting off negative vibes then negative things will most likely come your way. If you're shooting off positive vibes then positive things will be coming at you. Laughing= positive. Being mad= negative. When I changed my anger to laughter my life really changed. If you have the power to chose your emotions then why would you ever chose a negative one?
5. When it comes to food indulging is a must, but not every single day.
Let me start off by saying: you should never deprive yourself of your favorite foods, because when you slip up you will slip up HARD. It's fine to have a bowl of ice cream every once in a while, but if you cut it out cold turkey there is a possibility you will eat an entire tub in the future lol. I'm sure most of you know what I'm talking about.
That being said... don't indulge every single day. These past six months have been one giant indulgence on my part. Why? I lived in Florida for six months with minimal friends, and a lot of time on my hands. All I did was exercise, obsess about calories, freak out about food, read exercise magazines, and worry about how I looked. So when I moved back to Ohio in July I went, for lack of a better term, balls to the wall lol. I threw caution to the wind, ate everything I'd been depriving myself, drank with my friends, stopped exercising, etc. All be cause "I deserved it" and because "My body looks awesome! It can take it" Yeah sure you deserved it Jen, and your body was rockin...but six months of indulging straight did your body absolutely no good.
Indulging is necessary.....but not every day.
6. Don't text/facebook message ANYONE when you're drunk.
(I'm sure this goes without saying, but I think it's funny so I'll say it anyhow)
Especially to ask someone if they want to get naked. They have no idea that you're merely looking for a good laugh with your friends. They don't understand your humor. They will think you're a hoochie. Other people will find out. No one will know you were joking. Although in retrospect......it was pretty funny lol. It still is. And I make no apologies for making myself laugh.
I hope you enjoyed this segment I like to call "Lessons I've learned so you don't have to." I quite enjoyed it. Perhaps I will do it more often!
All of this talking sure did make me tired.....
It could also be the fact that I'm in my jammies, laying in bed, and it's one o' clock in the morning lol. In less than six hours I have to be awake, with my work out gear on, and in the car so I can exercise with a friend of mine before our shift at nine thirty. How I allowed myself to stay up this late is beyond me. But the deed has been done lol. It's safe to say that it's time for this curly head to go to bed!
I hope each and every one of you have a splendid day.
Do your best to stay positive no matter what!
xoxoxo- JB
Let us begin....
[[Todays music]]
(1) ELLA MAE BOWEN - HOLDING OUT FOR A HERO
Amen sister...
(2) FLORENCE AND THE MACHINE – SHAKE IT OUT
(3) OH LAND – WHITE NIGHTS
[[Today’s restaurant]]
THE BRINDLE ROOM – NYC
[[Today's kitchen gadgets]]
STAR WARS DARTH VADER BAKING TRAY
(2) KUHN RIKON MASTER CAN AND BOTTLE OPENERS
[[Todays food news]]
(1) THREE HUNDRED AND SIXTY FIVE POUNDS OF CAVIAR FOUND IN RUSSIAN HOSPITAL MORGUE
“Even people who think caviar is to die for might lose their appetite when it's stored in a hospital morgue. But that's where St. Petersburg police found a huge stash of the delicacy this week – 175 kilograms (385 pounds) stored in the refrigerated space where cadavers are kept.
A morgue employee and a businessman were arrested after the Wednesday discovery, but police said Friday the matter is still being investigated and it is unclear if the men will be charged. The arrested men said the caviar, or salted fish eggs, was to be a treat for hospital employees at a New Year's party.
Most of the red caviar was from salmon, but 38 kilograms (84 pounds) of the stash was black caviar from sturgeon, an endangered fish. Amid heavy restrictions on sturgeon fishing, black caviar is increasingly produced and sold illegally.
In the run-up to New Year's, one of Russia's most lavishly festive holidays, police have made a series of other seizures of caviar. A day after the morgue discovery, St. Petersburg police said they seized an additional 100 kilograms (220 pounds) intended for illegal sale at local markets.”
(2) BUTTERBALL TURKEY RAID: FACTORY FARM HIT BY COUNTY SHERIFFS AFTER UNDERCOVER VIDEO REVEALS CRUELTY
“County sheriffs in North Carolina raided a Butterball turkey raising facility this morning to investigate claims of animal cruelty, after the animal rights group Mercy For Animals released a video depicting what they are calling serious animal abuse.
If that's the case, there could be trouble ahead for more than a few employees. The video shows multiple turkey handlers kicking, throwing and dragging birds around the Butterball farm. It also features images of sad-looking turkeys marred by disfiguring, likely painful, ulcers and sores, not to mention missing feathers. It's by no means inconceivable that the location in the video might face the kind of repercussions that egg producer Sparboe Farms felt at the hands of McDonald's and Target after its own history of animal cruelty was revealed.
The timing of the release date seems a little strange. Mercy For Animals might have had a bigger impact if they'd circulated the video in advance of the Thanksgiving and Christmas turkey buying seasons. That might have encouraged customers to move away from factory farmed turkeys in favor of pricier -- but often more humanely raised -- heritage turkeys. But better late than never.
Here's the undercover video. A warning: the following depicts animal cruelty, so some images may be disturbing, especially to young viewers.”
:: A related video- still quite graphic::
[[Today’s random]]
(1) MY FAVORITE SOMEECARDS
Let's not pretend we haven't said/thought these things before....
(2) COFFEE JERKS
Unlike these polite women from what I'm guessing is the 40s/50s, my loving response would be "how about you make your own coffee asshole." But that's just me....
Jenna is the name blogging about food appears to be my game. Self declared funny gal, and budding chef-to-be. I prepare food for a living at @olivedive . Click the 'About Me' tab to learn more!
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