Growing in(to) your twenties
Growing in(to) your twenties

I've talked with several of my friends about how we believe our twenties are a very tumultuous time, and not purely because of the stresses or the responsibilities or the pressures that are so commonly associated with other life stages. It's more that our twenties are proving to be a strange dichotomy of sorts. We constantly jockey between trying to figure out what we want to do and telling ourselves we have plenty of time to figure it out. We can be convinced we're still so young, and the next moment be convinced we are in full blown real-human-being adulthood. We feel pressure to find love and get engaged and have a picture-perfect wedding, but find temporary comfort in reading that statistically, people are getting married and having children older in life than ever before, in many cases due to career aspirations. We've experienced the freedom and independence that college provided, but we're learning that college was another kind of bubble all on its own. We're seeking stability just as often as we're running the other way from it. And we run the gamut of married with kids to going back to grad school and relocating after working for three years to suddenly single after a six year relationship to living for the weekends and struggling to find purpose at work.

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ThoughtsThe Pasticheself improvement, thoughts, twenties, hobbies, entertaining, budget, anxiety Comments
Spicy butternut squash soup with coconut milk and peppered croutons
Spicy butternut squash soup with coconut milk and peppered croutons

I'm constantly searching for cures for the Sunday Scaries. Sundays begin with such promise—slowly, in bed, with coffee, drenched in morning light. But I find they always very quickly morph into day-before-Monday mode and suddenly feel daunting and depressing (dramatic but true). I like Sundays to be filled with just enough productivity to trick me into feeling like it's any other day, and just enough relaxation to slow the clock a little. My favorite solution so far, especially in the cooler weather of fall: cooking laid back low-and-slow meals or low maintenance soups. It's a leisurely way to be productive without the whirlwind feeling of cooking/eating/cleaning/digesting (and repeat) that so often comes along with cooking meals. 

Butternut squash is one of those seasonal foods that is so exciting to see again after so many months of not even thinking about it. It even looks like fall, with its beautiful orangey gold color. And even though it's not a Thai ingredient, it lends itself really well to Thai flavors such as curry, coconut, and chiles.

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FoodThe Pastichebutternut squash, fall, soup, coconut milk, bisque, comfort food, Thai, vegetarian, soup2015, lunch2015, dinner2015 Comments
Kale salad with barley, cranberries, and goat cheese
Kale salad with barley, cranberries, and goat cheese

I’m afraid I may have just corralled all the kale fanatics and scared away all the kale opponents. But please stay. I fancy myself somewhere in the middle—I sort of hate food trends that take over the scene, but I also really do like kale. So I promise this post will be a quiet, under-the-radar cheer for kale. I won’t declare that it’s changed my life or pretend that if you eat this, you'll get all the vitamins and minerals you need in one day in a single salad and that it helps fight off seasonal depression and increases your metabolism.  This salad purely tastes good and travels well, which is why I’m featuring it. It doesn’t hurt that it’s got some supposed nutritional value too—but that’s honestly not the point. 

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FoodThe Pastichemake-ahead, barley, goat cheese, kale, all-purpose dressing, healthy, fall, summer, spring, vegetarian, salad, salad2015, lunch2015Comment
One-pot farro with tomatoes
One-pot farro with tomatoes

I think everyone has a go-to food blog, and mine is unabashedly Smitten Kitchen. I have never made one of Deb's recipes and not loved it. In pursuing my own blog, it was and is one of my goals to always be authentic in every way, and part of that is to only post those recipes I really and truly feel 100% about. I like to follow recipes that are delicious and that are worth it—worth the money, the effort, the time. And being able to serve those dishes to other people is the best part. That's why I love Smitten Kitchen. 

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FoodThe Pastichetomatoes, one-pot, basil, farro, healthy, summer, fall, winter, spring, vegetarian, dinner2015, lunch2015 Comments
Making a charcuterie board
Making a charcuterie board

There are a few man-made sights in this world that are hard to beat. One of those is a crafted charcuterie board. It doesn’t matter whether it’s neat and simple, rustic and hodgepodge, or messy and thrown together, it’s a beautiful sight. It’s probably because a charcuterie board signifies my favorite way to eat food—slowly, in a group, sharing bites (and usually with wine).  I know I’m not the first to profess what is important in a charcuterie plate, but these are a few simple things I like to consider when I’m making one.

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Food, HomeThe Pastichecheese, entertaining, appetizers, charcuterie, party foods Comment
Moroccan shakshuka with yolky eggs
Moroccan shakshuka with yolky eggs

There’s something about Brunch @ Bobby’s that is so stinking mouth-watering and a true feast for the eyes. Bobby Flay, to me, is a chef who demonstrates poise, comfort, and talent. He is so fun to watch because he is smooth, effortless, and creative in the kitchen, and he produces such elevated dishes. I always get inspired to cook when I watch him, and I always feel like I’m learning something new from a trustworthy source, and those two things are what I love most about a cooking show. 

One Sunday morning, I was watching Bobby’s “Marrakech Express Brunch” episode, and he made Moroccan eggs. It looked so good that I had to make it. And that’s incredibly rare—it takes a lot to actually inspire me to go to my least favorite place (the grocery store) on a whim and whip up a dish from a recipe I’ve never made before when I’m already starving—that’s what bagels are for in my life—but this time was different. I was so inspired to recreate the dish, and I am so, so glad I did. 

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FoodThe Pasticheeggs, one-pot, moroccan, tomatoes, fall, winter, spring, shakshuka, brunch2015, moroccan stewed tomatoes Comment
Lemon curd tart and the nostalgia that ensues
Lemon curd tart and the nostalgia that ensues

San Francisco is a city that holds a special place in my heart. I visited for my first time about one week before meeting Jon. I was out there for a work conference, and my mom met me for the second half of the trip to walk and shop and eat our way around the city. Upon recommendation, we went to Tartine bakery, waited in the ridiculously long line, and sat like sardines at the cozy and bustling tiny bakery’s tables. I loved it from the second I walked in. It’s on an unassuming street corner, and the smells coming from within are divine.  Although we’d never been before, something about the way that everyone else was behaving just made us follow suit, unintimidated. 

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FoodThe Pastichelemon, tart, lemon curd, nostalgia, san francisco, Tartine, summer, spring, vegetarian, sweets2015, dessert2015 Comments
The principles I'll teach my kids
The principles I'll teach my kids

Be kind

Be a leader

Be interested

Tell the truth


These came to me after hearing Coach K (Duke University's famed men's basketball coach) speak at a conference I attended for work. He was an incredible speaker. He is honest, he’s humble, he’s experienced, and beyond anything else— he’s motivational. He makes you want to trust him, because he’s authentic. He makes you believe in yourself. He’s a winner, at heart, from within. He’s funny. And man, is his track record impressive. Check out this. 

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ThoughtsThe Pastichelife, family, self improvement, parenting Comments
Cinnamon sugar coffee cake
Cinnamon sugar coffee cake

The best gift I ever received was a book full of all my grandma's baking recipes. She built a collection for me over the course of a few months, writing down for the first time some of her very best recipes that she knows by heart. Others are newspaper clippings or type-written rules passed down from some of her family members. The pages are decorated with little stickers and little notes of advice and tips from her. When I opened it up on Christmas I was blown away by the thoughtfulness, and to say that I cherish it is an understatement. 

My grandma will always be my favorite cook and my favorite baker. She has been making some of her specialities for us since we were very little, and I am so excited to be able to share them with my own kids someday. 

She makes the best coffee cake. It's old fashioned, straight forward, and delicious. It'd be the perfect lazy Labor Day breakfast-in-bed with a good cup of coffee.

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FoodThe Pastichecoffee cake, cinnamon, cake, fall, summer, winter, spring, vegetarian, sweets2015, brunch2015 Comments
DIY fruit stamped cards and lined envelopes
DIY fruit stamped cards and lined envelopes

My mom used to have this big old apothecary cabinet with shoe box sized drawers filled with rubber stamps and different color inks. She’d wrap gifts with brown craft paper and stamp silver and gold stars all over them, and tie it all up with great ribbon and a letter-stamped gift tag.  She was also a perfectionist about it, so I loved watching how perfectly everything would turn out.  One trick she used that I thought was so ingenious was using markers or brushes to get different colored ink onto one stamp.
I used these tactics to make what I think are the most adorable little stationery cards.

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DIYThe Pastichestationery, DIY, stamps, crafts, cards Comment
Mexican street-style dry rub chicken tacos
Mexican street-style dry rub chicken tacos

Taco Tuesday. Tex Mex tacos in flour shells with melty cheese. Fish tacos. Taco Bell. Street tacos with fresh lime and cilantro and slaw. I love it all! And it's hard for me to imagine that street tacos are a relatively new addition to my life compared to the others because they're my favorite way to indulge in Mexican inspired eating. And while I love ordering them out at restaurants or from street stands and food trucks, it's really fun to try them at home with all the best toppings.

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FoodThe Pastichetacos, chicken, Mexican, street tacos, cilantro, dinner, summer, dinner2015Comment