Monthly Archives: October 2012

Easy Halloweeny

I’m just not a fan of Halloween. I say it every year. I think it’s the pressure of finding a costume, spending money, being creative, and overpaying for drinks. And I don’t really like to dress up. But, this year, Kiley and I actually planned our costumes ahead of time. I was still shopping the day of the Halloween party, but that will never change.

Given our recent obsession with Hunger Games, we got creative with DIY costumes of Katniss Everdeen, Effie Trinket, and – despite Tom’s protests – Peeta Mellark. (I mean, he looks JUST like him.)

“May the odds be ever in your favor!”

It was one of the easiest costumes I’ve had and didn’t involve me spending much money to throw it together. The only things I actually purchased were new pants and boots, which I could potentially wear again, so no big loss. Plus, I was much more comfortable than those girls in high heels and no clothes.

Peeta & Katniss

Katniss: black t-shirt, green pants, black windbreaker, and lace-up boots (Target: $35). For accessories: Bow & arrow (directions below), mockingjay pin, red rope ($1 at dollar store). Makeup: red lipstick “cut” above the eye, brown eye shadow “dirt” on the rest of the face.

Peeta: black t-shirt, green pants, black windbreaker, and lace-up boots. Accessories: plastic dagger (Rickys: $3). Makeup: brown eye shadow “dirt”.

Effie Trinket

Effie: pink dress (H&M: $50) with stuffed shoulders, yellow shirt cut into a scarf (H&M: $5). Accessories: pink hair chalk, hair flower. Makeup: green eye liner, pink eye shadow, light lipstick, and fake eyelashes (not pictured).

I couldn’t find a bow and arrow anywhere, so I used a silver sharpie to color wooden skewers from the dollar store. I then drew the ends and cut them out, taping them to the wooden skewers. For the case, I used a Pringles can wrapped in tinfoil and added some string. I put some styrofoam on the bottom to keep the arrows secure. I didn’t have a bow when I went to the party, but someone INSISTED I have one and made me a bow in about 5 minutes with a wire hanger wrapped in tinfoil and ribbon as the string. Very DIY.

Believe it or not, Kiley actually had a little bird pin which I used as my mockingjay. It’s still on my jacket.

I wanted to have Tom carry a loaf of bread in his backpack, but he wouldn’t do it. Oh well…

At the party, it seemed every girl knew exactly who we were. Only a few boys had read the books… But, I have to admit we had friends that were pretty creative. Although Mario, Luigi & Co. is a little cliche, they decided to be Mario Kart, karts with balloons and all. I’m not completely sure if any of the balloons made it to the bar.

Mario Kart

And finally, the one part of Halloween that I do love, is baking festive desserts. So, I leave you with Graveyard Brownies, courtesy of my sister. The recipe is too simple – boxed brownies (I used 2 boxes for thicker brownies), with chocolate icing and crushed Oreos on top for the dirt. To add gravestones, use extra icing in a Ziploc to pipe RIP onto Vienna fingers. And voila! If you can find them, add candy corn pumpkins – it seems Hoboken was all out.

Graveyard Brownies

Fall Spaghetti Squash with Brown Sugar and Parmesan

FYI: Facts about CHEESE!

1 Reply

I previously posted my recipe for Homemade Baked Mac n Cheese, made up of my favorite ingredients, pasta and cheese. I also raved about one of my new favorite NYC spots that serves only grilled cheese.

Cheesy. Image courtesy of Cornell University.

But I often wondered at what point does my beloved cheese go bad? Cheese gets expensive (I had to turn down a ball of Buratta because it was selling for $10!). And some cheese is made from mold, so if it gets moldy, does that matter? Even cream cheese looks ok past the expiration date, so should I throw it out?

As a result of my unimportant burning questions, I did some research. I came across a little reference guide courtesy of the Mayo Clinic, which is helpful for the kitchen rule book!

So here’s the scoop!

Soft cheeses (e.g. cottage cheese, cream cheese) should be thrown out when they begin to grow mold. The mold can send “root threads” throughout the cheese and harmful bacteria can grow along with the mold. The same goes for any kind of cheese that’s shredded, crumbled or sliced. To be safe, abide by the expiration date on these.

Semisoft cheeses (e.g. Cheddar, Colby, Swiss) aren’t as much as a risk as mold can’t penetrate very far with this consistency. Therefore, you can cut away the moldy part and eat the rest of the cheese. Cut off at least one inch around and below the moldy spot. Be sure to keep the knife out of the mold itself so that it doesn’t contaminate other parts of the cheese.

However, not all molds pose a risk, as some types of mold are used to make cheeses like Brie and Camembert. These molds are safe to eat but mold that’s not part of the manufacturing process is a problem. For advice about handling specific types of cheese, consult the chart.

You can also check out the Mayo Clinic’s guide for what’s safe and which require you to cut your losses.

But as always, when in doubt, throw it out!

And now you can say you learned something from this blog…

My Double Life

2 Replies

This past weekend I took the train home to my parents’ house. The two hour train conveniently starts in Hoboken and ends in Hackettstown, so my new favorite pun is that I literally moved to the other side of the tracks. (Cue hysterical laughter.)

Going “home” to my parents (still not sure where that word should refer to) is always relaxing because it’s easy to go out to dinner, watch tv, sleep late, and wake up to birds chirping without feeling the obligation to be active and busy every second (although I never can sit still). I love that I come from the country, even though I love city living. My real goal for the weekend was to go our local farm to get the BEST apple cider and some pumpkins, just like old times. My hometown is filled with nostalgia.

In the city, I see sights like a man in a pink bunny costume walking through the crowd on Broadway. No one gave him a second glance. I didn’t notice the film crew until a block later which just goes to show, everything is considered normal. NYC doesn’t even need extras, we all play the part of “disinterested passerby” flawlessly.

View from the City

In the country, everyone at the restaurant on Friday was staring out the window because the road crew was out late at night putting reflectors in the street. This was big news.

View from the Country

Having made the transition to the city and coming home time to time, I’ve learned to appreciate both. Eventually, I’ll have to choose, and I know where my roots are. Right now, I love where I came from and where I’m at.

Oh yeah, and I got my cider, pumpkins, and spaghetti squash!

Pumpkin Molasses Cookies with Pumpkin Cream Cheese Icing

What a Weekend!

2 Replies

This past weekend was busy busy busy. On Friday, I had a very New York City-ish night out in the Lower East Side. After work, I met Tom at a bar that my sister had suggested, called No Fun. Despite its name, it was a very laid back (and pretty reasonably priced) bar that was very Village-esque.

The many grilled cheeses at Little Muenster

However, FINDING the bar was absolutely no fun. Thanks to Apple Maps which is a horrible replacement for Google in a city where I rely on public transportation, I guessed my way through the subways and ended up in a part of town that I’m not familiar with. My phone died by the time I got out of the subway station so I had to do the old fashion “stop in a convenience store and ask for directions.” The guy behind the counter ended up using HIS smartphone to find the bar for me (which was 2 blocks away). Damn I hate when the streets aren’t numbered and I can’t see the Empire State Building.

After the bar, we met my sister and went a few doors down to Little Muenster. It’s a gourmet grilled cheese shop which is truly the ultimate comfort food.

Little Muenster #4 – Asiago and Butternut Squash Grilled Cheese

I had the #4, Asiago, parmesan, butternut squash, and sage brown butter with muenster – of course paired with a small tomato soup. Even with full knowledge of the calories I was wolfing down, I wanted another one when I finished. AMAZING stop if you’re ever in the area! This is one of those places you bookmark for your city to-do list.

Gourmet Grilled Cheese – yum!

Then, we headed over to the EastVille Comedy Club, a small basement club with some pretty decent comedians some of which are features on Comedy Central, HBO, and late night shows. (If you’re subscribed to the email list, you get tickets for free!) Most of the comedians were great (sorry, women comedians just are not funny) and it was a perfect Friday for when you just don’t feel like going bar hopping.

On the walk home, we ended the night very Manhattanish, actually running into a film crew in Washington Park. We assumed it was an NYU production but one of the guys that was re-routing us said it’s for a new show on ABC next fall. Hm, I’ll look out for that one!

Saturday was just a day of rest – uh ok, and shopping – for me because on Sunday I finally completed my first half marathon! It was the hardest thing I’ve ever done physically, but the Sandy Hook Half Marathon was definitely a great one for beginners. I’m still completely beat from it but it’s one more thing to check off my life list. And, I’m even more prepared for Tough Mudder – 3 weeks!