A (not so) Secret Admirer

Sometimes people email me asking for some fashion advice and I love it. At one point I thought being a stylist would be awesome but that's easy. Given unlimited resources you're bound to find something worth wearing. The fun for me is when someone asks me to find them say, a dress for an event during the Summer at night. They like pinks and reds, love their legs, aren't a fan of their stomach, won't wear heels, aren't a necklace person, and want to spend $200. That's a challenge and that's where I have fun.

Recently someone asked me to help her find her wedding dress. I couldn't find exactly what she wanted and was a little worried she was going to be disappointed. Instead she was excited and extremely grateful. It was actually really lovely to hear and meant more than I'm sure she realized. And today I came home to a flower delivery from her. I don't think I have to tell anyone how happy it makes a girl to come home to flowers.

And her screaming cat (you'll notice he has both food and water already).





I'm not going to post a picture of the dress because it's hers to debut to the world but I will reveal, she's going to be one gorgeous bride.

Awesome Clothes For Little People (aka children, not midgets)

I love when a line that has so far been restricted to adults branches out into children's clothing. I absolutely don't want kids but you can bet every friend of mine with a future little munchkin is going to have a constant stream of sartorially themed gifts coming their way for any and all occasions. And while I don't have a problem with laying down some cash in the name of fashion (I'm pretty sure that's obvious by now) cute clothes are always made a little sweeter by a price tag that doesn't make the Visa wince.

Enter Forever 21 Girls.

The line is super reasonable, the only thing over $20 that I saw was a pea coat with toggle clasps for $27. The sizes seem to run from 6-14 but labeled as XS-XL.

Tiny Food in Tiny Jars

I'm pretty much the best ever at picking gifts. I have this unique ability to remember an offhand comment from months before and then seek out the exact thing someone wants. It's pretty amazing actually. But I do have one person in my life who really seems to have everything. She's terribly difficult to find a gift for and ended up purchasing the one idea I had for herself earlier this month. I was at a total loss as to what to give her and her family for Christmas this year until I stumbled upon an article online about making little mini pies in shallow half pint canning jars. I loved the idea but didn't really have any need for making dessert pies so I decided to use the idea to make meals that I could then gift to this person who has everything but hates cooking.

I decided I was going to make chicken pot pies, chili and cornbread, quiche, and lasagnas. I used half pint canning jars that are short and squat rather than the traditional half pint ones most people use for jams and such. Because my gift receiver's family has six members I made six of each meal.


I started with the chili because I wanted to be able to freeze it long enough that I could put the cornbread on top without it just sinking to the bottom. I used some of the black beans I had made the other night with onion and green pepper. I also put in a couple diced tomatoes and extra onion.


I cooked that down for a bit while I waited for Craig to bring me a can opener because I apparently lost mine in my move. I fed him pizza and wine though so I think it was an even trade. Once he arrived I was able to add kidney beans. I also added corn and zucchini.


Next thing to go in was some grated cheddar cheese, cumin, salt and garlic powder. After that melted I took the chili off the heat and Craig and I tried it. This is where I have no shame in bragging about how awesome I am at making food because this chili was amazing. Craig wanted to eat more of it but I hadn't made enough so I promised him I would make it again soon.


I put the chili into the jars leaving enough space to top them off with cornbread batter once they had frozen a bit.


Javi was very loud during this project. Because whenever I am in the kitchen it must mean he gets something except he doesn't like any treats or human food with the exception of ice cream so mostly it's just obnoxious and pointless. He is soft and cute though so he's forgiven.


After they had frozen just enough for there to be a "seal" of sorts over the top of the chili I poured the cornbread batter (which I made from a box) on top of the chili and stuck them back into the freezer. Now when they're heated again in the oven the cornbread will bake.




Next I moved onto the chicken pot pies. If you've ever read any of my cooking adventures before you know I don't follow recipes and even though I have never made chicken pot pie I gambled that I could figure it out. Rather than making gravy (which grosses me out to no end) I used cream of mushroom soup as my base. I added peas and corn first.


I sauteed some red potatoes with diced onion, to which I later added carrots. When that was done I tossed it in the bowl along with some celery. I had bought a chicken breast but had totally accidentally bought the wrong thing and there was bone and skin and it was awful so Craig helped me cut the meat off which I then diced and sauteed in a pan. It went in the bowl too along with some salt, pepper and heavy cream.


I had bought refrigerated pie crust to make things easier. I tore pieces off and just pressed them into the jars to form a crust. I did twelve of these because I was making quiche as well. Also that one picture is in my living room because I needed to get my weekly fix of pregnant teenagers on MTV so I moved my crust making station that way.



Next I filled the jars with the filling and made crusts for the top of the pies. To make the tops I just made a lump of dough then sort of pressed it out between my palms. The tops don't fit perfectly which is actually ideal because then you don't have to cut slits or fancy decorative holes in the tops. I also used an egg wash so the crusts would be all flaky and gorgeous when cooked.





Next up were the quiches. I diced up sun dried tomatoes then used the oil from them to saute leeks and crimini mushrooms separately. Then I realized I forgot to buy gruyere for my quiche so I had to improvise. I ended up making a mixture of cottage cheese and gorgonzola along with the veggies, about six eggs (I also used the leftover egg from the egg wash), and some heavy cream. For anyone unfamiliar with leeks, they're a milder veggie in the onion family and they are delicious. They also have a similar structure to onions so you can just slice them and separate the rings.




I wasn't really sure if I should freeze the quiche uncooked and allow it to cook when it would be heated again or if I should cook it and chance the eggs becoming overcooked when it was reheated. So I turned to the internet and the people there said to cook it just until it starts to set then take it out and freeze it. Which seems super logical now that I know it. So I went ahead and did that. Then let them cool before sticking them in the freezer. It was messy.



Now for the lasagna. I love to make this dish. It's so hard to make bad lasagna.

I made a mixture of cottage cheese (this works as a really good substitute for ricotta if you don't have any or are making for people who don't like ricotta as I was), mozzarella, diced red peppers, zucchini, shredded cooked spinach, a couple eggs, salt, and pepper.


I'd bought fresh lasagna noodles because I figured it'd be easiest to cut circles out of to fit the jars. I was planning on using that glass in the photo next to the package of lasagna to cut out the circles but that didn't really work so I used this weird ice cream scoop I have for serving fancy ice cream. If you have just a circle cookie cutter that would work too but I did not.




From there it was a pretty easy routine of putting layers in the jars. I always put sauce down first to keep things from sticking to the bottom of the pan/jar. Next I did a layer of noodle and then filling. Repeat, repeat, repeat. When you get to the top you just put a layer of sauce then sprinkle on some grated mozzarella.






Everything ended up in the freezer for the night and then since it was 1am Javi and I went to bed.



In the morning I made these little labels with instructions on them. I made sure to state that the jars should be put into a cold oven that is then heated rather than a pre-heated oven. That will prevent the jars from being shocked and breaking, although these jars are made for canning so I wouldn't worry about that happening too much.


I gave this gift today since I won't be seeing this person again before Christmas and she loved it. I would like to do this again for myself since I don't usually like to make a whole pan of lasagna or an entire quiche. Living alone means that when I make something like that I eat it for a week or end up throwing it out. If I did this again I would make sure I had a ton of food because once you start it really doesn't take that much longer to fill extra jars whereas making and setting up this whole thing again sort of will take awhile. I started this at about 8pm and worked on it until 1am. Which seems like forever but realistically I made four different meals in that time. In an effort of full disclosure though I did do a lot of multitasking and I definitely thought out how I was going to do this before I started. I grouped the photos together for ease of reading but I worked on the chicken pot pie filling while the chili froze, I baked the quiche while I made the lasagna. I made sure that any dish I had down time with was done earlier so I could work on another then finish the previous one.

But, it was really fun. And now I want to eat quiche. Or chili.

Holiday Gift Guide 2010

I was looking online for some ideas for a few hard to shop for people when I realized, gift guides suck. I don't know who is writing these things but even as a 25 year old woman I cringe at the thought of someone giving their dad a football themed chips and dip set. The guides that are decent either feature sponsored products, which is basically just reading someone's list of ads, or are fantasy lists filled with $2,500 televisions (I'm looking at you Esquire).

Luckily I'm here to save the day.

As I looked through all these horrible gift guides one thing I noticed is they're split up into really silly categories. Just because you're a mom doesn't mean you wouldn't like the same gifts a friend or co-worker may enjoy. Should all moms be destined to receive scented soap for the rest of their lives? And when it comes to children all the lists are about what toy is "hot." I don't care how popular it is I will never be purchasing a Justin Bieber doll.

So this is how I'm doing this. Simply. I've picked out things that for whatever reason seemed like an awesome gift. I'm splitting them up into these categories: ladies, gentlemen, children, and families. I've tried to keep everything reasonably priced although a few too awesome to leave out things that are on the upper end may have made their way in. I've also rounded up all prices to the nearest dollar amount just to make things easier. A lot of these gifts can obviously be given to people of either gender as well.

Let's start with the ladies.

1. If there's one cosmetic women can spend their entire lives trying to find it's the perfect mascara. This set comes with mini versions of ten of Sephora's most wanted mascaras. If you're feeling extra generous you can also include a gift card for the purchase of a full size version of whichever mascara suits this gift receiver best.

Lashstash by Sephora, $40, available here.

2. I've used these face masks for years and love them. There are tons of different formulas but even without knowing a person's skin type you can pick quite a few. Put them in stockings or give a few as a gift.

Face masks by Apivita, $5 for two pouches, available here.

3. If you're out of college you should own a proper wine opener. It's as simple as that. This lovely gadget keeps you from doing the awkward corkscrew wrestle and ending up with cork in your wine. And as someone who once upon a time received one of these for Christmas, I can tell you it is a fantastic gift.

Rabbit Wine Opener, $45, available here.

4. I love scarves but I hate how once you wrap them or knot them they end up super short. For that reason I love this super long and cozy scarf. Actually, that's not the only reason, the price cannot be beat. It comes in four gorgeous colors as well.

Cozy Wrap Scarf by Free People, $28, available here.

5. A lot of us at some point need to make food for children, whether they are ours or someone else's. But none of us really want to eat the kinds of food typically considered child appropriate. This cookbook takes the gourmet recipes of The Silver Spoon and makes them something the entire family will enjoy whether they're big or small.

The Silver Spoon for Children, $20, available here.

6. Gingerbread men are nice but Ninjabread men are better.

Ninjabread Men cookie cutters by Fred and Friends, $8, available here.

7. Interesting jewelry, especially one of a kind or handmade pieces, is something most women can appreciate. This Japanese pop art inspired beaded bracelet is one of those things. The artist has other variations as well.

Beaded Bracelet by Julie Rofman, $110, available here.

8. If you know someone with a baby please save them from years of carrying around something hideous by giving them the gift of an aesthetically pleasing as well as super functional diaper bag.

Diaper Bag by Petunia Pickle Bottom, $169, available here.

9. I'm pretty sure it's a universal tradition to give people we date nicknames. This is especially helpful when dissecting dates with friends. This notepad will both keep you from forgetting that guy's real name as well as keep straight the guy who rides a bike (bicycle) from the guy who rides a bike (motorcycle). All your single ladies will appreciate it.

Rate a Date notepad, $7, available here.

10. There's nothing Winter begs for more than being cozy. This throw will achieve that. Just be careful, this thing is a magnet for everyone who sees it.

Faux Fur Throw by West Elm, $95 until Nov. 22nd, $125 afterward, available here.

Onto the tough ones, the guys.

1. I don't know what the deal is with single guys but none if them own salt and pepper shakers. These ones are masculine enough that he'll use them, yet, prettier than pouring salt into his hand from the box.

Branch Salt and Pepper Shakers by Anthropologie, $14, available here.

2. This is one of my favorite gift ideas for anyone really, a Ticketmaster gift card. I know none of us like the fact that Ticketmaster basically has a monopoly on ticket sales and charges ridiculous fees but, it's also the only way to see a lot of awesome stuff. These can be used for any event Ticketmaster sells tickets to including concerts and sporting events. They come in various increments between $25 and $250. you can purchase them here.

3. I recruited a male friend of mine to get his input on what guys would like for Christmas. One of the things he told me is dress clothes. In his words "No one wants to buy them but we all need them." If you're going to go the clothing route with a man get him something with some actual style. Most guys can do the white or blue shirt thing with a tie that doesn't totally clash but something like this shirt is a step above.

Max Trim Fit Dress Shirt by BOSS Black in Lavender, $95, available here.

4. If you want to make a guy super put together you can throw in a tie as well. Something classic yet updated is an excellent choice. This tie and that shirt are pretty amazing together.

Tie by Burberry, $140, available here.

5. Apparently boys never grow up because the consensus is a gaming system would be an awesome gift. Just not a Wii. I'm told that "there are no good games and it's for kids." I love my Wii but I guess if you can't play Call of Duty on it it's not a cool system. Obviously none of the boys I talked to have played DJ Hero.

6. I have one of these and I can't tell you how often I use it or let other people borrow it. Not because I'm an alcoholic but, it's always when you most need a bottle opener that you don't have one. This is a little less obvious than some big rounded thing sporting a logo hanging from your keys. Also you can tell children you have a castle.

Bottle Key Opener by suckUK, $8, available
here.

7. For those without children who would occasionally like an excuse to leave work.

The Office Kid, $20, available here.

8. There's a series of books called the Crown Journeys Series. Each of these books is written by a well known author and explores a darker side of a city they grew up in or are familiar with. They're fantastically written and incredibly interesting but not for the squeamish. You can find them here.

9. Most guys like beer. Most guys also like to believe they know a lot about beer. Whether that's true or not shouldn't really matter when it comes to this gift because I'm pretty sure it will be appreciated regardless.

Beer of the Month Club, $23 to $33/mo., available here.

10. This little gadget may seem frivolous but actually could be extremely useful in an emergency. Using wind this cell phone charger does just that, charges your phone. It also has a solar panel on the side. Great for camping, festivals, when the power goes out, and being stranded!

K3 solar and wind powered cell charger, $100, find more info and purchase here.

And now for the kids.

1. Anyone who has spent any amount of time with children has likely heard of Melissa and Doug. This company makes absolutely fantastic toys that are durable, practical, creative, and whimsical. While I would recommend nearly anything they make this is one of my favorites. All the toppings are held to the pizza with velcro, which is also how the pieces stay connected in whole pizza form. When it comes to play food these guys know how to do it right.

Pizza Party by Melissa and Doug, $20, available here.

2. This game involves queens, kings, dragons, potions, and knights. It also teaches math skills and is super fun. Even adults will enjoy playing this.

Sleeping Queens game by Gamewright, $11, available here.

3. I'm pretty sure I want one of these for myself. If you want to use the table as a regular table just flip over the top. There's also a storage compartment for things like chalk and erasers.

Chalk Table, $90, available here.

4. Art for children's rooms can be difficult to find. It's easy to swing into too cutesy territory quickly. I love the sweetness of these elephants as well as the lack of overwhelming cheer.

Elephant paintings by Shari Beaubien, $50, this and others available here.

5. Really, what's so wrong with playing with your food?

Mr. and Ms. Foodface plate by Fred and Friends, $18, available here.

6. For a lot of kids a book may not seem like an awesome gift but with these ones they soon will. Two of my most favorite books are Urban Babies Wear Black by Michelle Sinclair and The Princess and the Pea by Lauren Child. Urban Babies is all about babies who live in the city (duh) and is the perfect gift for anyone young enough to still be "reading" board books. And who preferably lives in a city. There are other titles in the series though for those babies who aren't urban dwellers. Lauren Child's The Princess and the Pea is unlike any version of the story you've heard before. In this version being a princess has nothing to do with being delicate and girly. It has to do with being kind and gracious. The story is truly amazing but the artwork alone makes this a worthy purchase. Lauren Child, who also created Charlie and Lola, works with mixed media and creates unbelievable images. I once gave this as a gift but ended up having to go back and purchase a copy for myself.

7. Give this on it's own or throw in some cupcake cups and a sparkly spatula and you've got yourself a gift.

Sewing Basket Apron by Anthropologie, $24, available
here.

8. This gift will only be useful for those of you near an IKEA but it is a great one. IKEA makes a wooden standing easel that they sell for $20.

I'm not joking.

If you can go pick one, or ten, of these up they are a great "looks like you spent way more than you did" gift for the children in your life. One side is white and can have paper either clipped to it or wound through from a roll of butcher paper (also available at IKEA) and the other side has a chalkboard.

9. I'm a huge fan of clothing for kid gifts although I know not everyone is. When I nannied I saw how much stuff the kids got every holiday and I didn't want to be spending money on things that just ended up forgotten about in a month. Some really great companies with awesome children's lines are Anthropologie, Crewcuts, Mini Boden, and Wee People.

10. What kid doesn't need a sled?

Wham-o-Woody Sled, $50, available here.

One way to keep down holiday costs is by giving families you know a shared gift. It can be easy to do homemade treats but this time of the year there's an overload of sweets and most people don't want to eat them themselves or give their children a sugar high while the weather keeps them trapped inside. Here are some less bound for the garbage ideas.

1. A Netflix subscription is a great gift. If the family you're buying for already has a subscription tickets to a movie in an actual theater are equally awesome. Most theaters sell gift cards.

2. When I was younger and babysat I always wanted to give the kids I watched each their very own gift. Unfortunately I was a broke babysitting college kid. An upscale tin of cocoa from Godiva or Crate and Barrel runs about $10. Tie enough peppermint sticks to the top for the family and they've got themselves a Christmas morning treat.

3. Most families with kids can't afford to go out to eat often. The tab rises quickly when you've got five mouths to feed. Yet, a gift certificate to a restaurant for everyone will still cost you less, and be more appreciated, than that same amount spent divided among the members of that family.

4. Crate and Barrel has gorgeous ornaments for amazing prices. Pick however many you feel is appropriate and have them boxed there. It will be extra special if you keep in mind things the family enjoys or their tree color scheme when choosing the ornaments to give.

5. A family membership to the zoo, aquarium, children's museum, or wherever else is a wonderful gift for a family that has younger children.