Today is March 21st, and I'm Not Sure How that Happened...

It seems as though my muse has up and left me! Is that fair? No! I feel like I'm complaining all the time, that I have nothing new to talk about, etc.
I could've written an adorable St. Patrick's Day post about what a cute green outfit I had on, and where I went, and how I made rainbow cupcakes with gold coins on top, but really…that would be a lie. I spent from 10 a.m. to 12:15 a.m. on St. Patty's Day- WORKING. I had a green ribbon in my hair, and I was so busy I didn't have a chance to eat anything, much less cook anything.
I feel like I still haven't found my "groove" yet- not with blogging, but with work and school.
I'm not abandoning this blog, I promise. I just need to find my groove again. Wish me luck!

Some Cuteness to Brighten Up Your Week

She's grabbing my mom's finger and licking her- not biting!

This sweet little girl is coming home with us on the 27th! We're naming her Nigella, after Nigella Lawson, the author of this cookbook (and many more, but I use this one constantly- doesn't the title just make you want to bake?!) How to Be a Domestic Goddess: Baking and the Art of Comfort Cooking. We're going to call her Gelly or Gella, because, well, we can. And it rhymes with Jeeves, who is our other cat.

This is Jeeves. He likes to sleep in uncomfortable positions.

I can't wait until the day I can bring a little puppy home some day…I have a huge thing for Corgis!

Maybe in part to this video…
By the way, I just want you to know that I am a huge advocate for adopting pets- please don't buy a cat or dog when there is another one already looking for a good home! Jeeves was found at a construction site and Nigella was found by herself wandering around in a field :(
Do you have any adorable pets that I can drool over?
xoxo, Kate

My Super-Double-Secret Cold Remedy

It's Sunday night, and I'm watching my newly-reactivated Netflix-Wii-TV combo (in case you're interested, I just started the first season of Downton Abbey, watched several episodes of SNL: the 2000's,  and am currently on Episode 11 of My Boys: Season 1).  Yesterday, I was on day 4 of feeling like death warmed over- sore throat, stuffy nose, tickly cough, migraine, no energy, etc. I haven't gotten this sick since I can't remember when, so I knew it was time to break out my special ginger tea. I got the recipe from Sara Moulton Cooks at Home -one of my fave cookbooks by the way, but I've changed it a bit over the years. And because I had run out of both DayQuil and NyQuil, I turned to Pinterest and combined a DIY PM Cold Remedy recipe with my Ginger Tea, and OH MAN. OH MAN.
I am better. Overnight. I am not joking.
And because I love you all, I am sharing this insane recipe.

Kate's Insane Tonic  (as soon as I think of a better name, I'll fix it)

5 Cups Water
1 3-inch piece of Ginger, peeled and chopped (How To Peel Ginger-The Easy Way)
1 Cinnamon Stick, snapped in half
3  whole Cloves

Place all ingredients in a saucepan, cover, and bring to a boil. Take off the heat, and let it steep for 10 minutes.
Pour a mugfull, add some honey or pure maple syrup, a healthy squeeze of fresh lemon juice, and a sprinkle of cayenne pepper. Stir!
Drink and be well! You can also drink this over ice if you are so inclined.

I did NOT strain this but you definitely can!

The P.M. Version adds a finger or two of scotch, brandy, whiskey, or rum. It helps you sleep, sweat it all out, and gets rid of a headache! If you're going to bed right after drinking this, wear long sleeve pjs and socks. Trust me.
Disclaimer: Do not give this to children, unless you are one of those parents who is okay with giving their children alcohol, and then in which case, give on!

In other non-sick-related news, my friends Matt and Lauren got engaged last night!

And of course their cutie puppy, Ralphy!

So cute!!

And SO Gorgeous!

And it's Shmeeg's dad's Birthday today- We celebrated with dinner last night and let me just say, for a man who supposedly doesn't like celebrating, well…you see for yourself.

Happy Birthday Donnie!

xoxo, Kate

An Incredibly Busy Two Weeks "Off"

Hi there! You all know I'm very intelligent, right? So intelligent that I decided to start school and new-job training in the same week. And then of course, I got sick. Boo. Ugh. Yikes. Etc. I had 8 training shifts and then have to complete 3 exams (I've completed 2) to be considered a "real" employee. Tomorrow morning I'm going in for my last test, and I also have a phone appointment with my mentor at my new university.  So I decided to take some time off and focus on work and school, but I'm back now! Have I mentioned that I feel like poo? I've been sucking down a mixture of honey, lemon, and cinnamon, drinking tons of herbal tea, and spooning up hot chicken broth. Does anyone have any good suggestions for a sore-throated, stuffy-nosed, head-achy Kate? Because I would most definitely appreciate any and all suggestions! Thanks everyone- hope to be back soon.

xoxo, Kate

"Dear Young Ladies Who Love Chris Brown"- Words on Wednesdays

I decided to start a new theme for Wednesdays- instead of them being WordLESS, they're going to be articles that I find to be particularly well-written that week while browsing about the web (I tried to fit as many "W's" as I could in that sentence!) This one comes after this Sunday's Grammy awards and Chris Brown's performance. Please read this article and share with everyone you know, and then click on the link afterwards to see the actual tweets.  It is well worth your time, I promise.

Dear Young Ladies Who Love Chris Brown So Much They Would Let Him Beat Them

25 Horrifying Reactions to Chris Brown's Performance at the Grammy's


xoxo, Kate

Not my love story, but a good one, at that.

Today's post is lurve themed because of the big pink and red holiday tomorrow. I'm not a huge fan of Valentines Day, which is probably why Shmeegs and I are going to the Museum of Science tomorrow. 

Have you guys seen Love Actually? It's one of my faves, and even though its Holiday themed, I think it's perfect to watch at Valentines too. For those of you that don't know, the movie follows eight different British couples, conveniently made out of many of my favorite actors! My favorite love story out of all of them is "Jamie and Aurelia," i.e. Colin Firth and Lucia Moniz. P.S. if you haven't seen it and don't want to know the ending to their love story, watch it and then come back to this post, ok?

At the beginning of the story, Jamie finds out his girlfriend is cheating on him with his brother. Awkward. So, naturally, he goes to his rustic, gorgeous house in France to recover and work on a book he's writing. His housekeeper hires Aurelia to clean and cook for him while he's there. There is a small issue of the language barrier between Portuguese Aurelia and English Jamie, as shown here:

Jamie: Er... Would you like the last, uh…(cookie) ? 

Aurelia: [in Portuguese] Thank you very much, but no. 
Jamie: No? 
Aurelia: [in Portuguese] If you saw my sister, you'd understand why. 
Jamie: That's all right, more for me. 
Aurelia: [in Portuguese] Just don't go eating it all yourself, you're getting chubbier every day. 
Jamie: I'm very lucky, I've got one of those constitutions where I never put on weight.   

Every time they talk, they actually are answering each other, but they don't realize it. *Sigh* When       
Jamie finally leaves to go back to London, they say one of my mostest favoritest lines in a movie EVER. 
Jamie: [in English] It's my favorite time of day, driving you. 
Aurelia: [in Portuguese] It's the saddest part of my day, leaving you.
And then there are scenes of him going to a language school and learning Portuguese…and then it's Christmas Eve, and as soon as he gets to his relatives house, he says he has to go, and runs off to the airport. Do yourself a favor and watch the link below. It'll get you all warm and fuzzy on the inside. 
Jamie's Proposal to Aurelia 

Look at his face!

[in Portuguese]

Jamie: Beautiful Aurelia, I've come here with a view of asking you to marriage me. I know I seems an insane person - because I hardly knows you - but sometimes things are so transparency, they don't need evidential proof. And I will inhabit here, or you can inhabit with me in England. Of course I don't expecting you to be as foolish as me, and of course I prediction you say 'no', but's it's Christmas and I just wanted to…check"
Aurelia: Thank you. That will be nice. Yes is being my answer. Easy question.
Jamie: You learned English? 
Aurelia: Just in cases. 

Makes me tear up every time. Do you have a favorite movie love story? 

xoxo (and Happy Valentine's Day!), Kate 

Are you sick of looking at my hands? Let's have some cake instead.

I am. That's for sure. So let's sit down and have some yummy lemon cake and some tea. What's that? You don't you have any lemon cake? I have a fantastic recipe that you can have. 
      Shmeegs requested it for his birthday in December. By the way, Shmeegs is my boyfriend. He also goes by Handsome, Sweetie, Smelly, and Miguel. When he started working for a pool company a couple years ago, I came up with "Miguel my Little Pool Boy." My vision of a hot exotic man in a Speedo fanning me with palm fronds and fetching me fruity drinks has not come to fruition, but I live in hope. Anyway, Miguel degenerated to Shmeegs, with I suppose is a Jewish/Mexican mixture of Shlomo and Miguel. And Shmeegs requested a real lemon, tart lemon, birthday cake. 
     I used The Barefoot Contessa's yogurt lemon cake recipe, but made a few changes. I used organic vanilla whole-milk yogurt instead of plain, and I think that was for the better. The finished cake was pleasantly yogurty but I think using plain would've been too much. I also subbed ½ cup of the plain flour for whole wheat flour, and instead of vegetable oil I used high-quality olive oil. You bake the cake and then make a lemon syrup to brush over the cake, and then make a lemon glaze to pour over that. YUM! I served vanilla ice cream and a simple crushed raspberry sauce on the side (just frozen raspberries defrosted in the microwave with some sugar and then crushed with the back of a spoon). 

Preheat your oven to 350- this bad boy is gone- TODAY we're getting double ovens!

Sift the flour, baking powder, and salt into a bowl.

Lemon zest, sugar, yogurt, vanilla, and eggs.

Whisk whisk whisk!

Add dry ingredients to the wet

I wanted to eat it all.

Before baking.

My lemons!

Finished! 

With some Brigham's Ice Cream and crushed raspberries on the side

That's all that was left!

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (I used ½ cup of whole wheat)
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 cup plain whole-milk yogurt (I used organic vanilla)
• 1 1/3 cups sugar, divided
• 3 extra-large eggs
• 2 teaspoons grated lemon zest (2 lemons)
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil (I used olive oil)
• 1/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

For the glaze:

• 1 cup confectioners' sugar
• 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease an 8 1/2 by 4 1/4 by 2 1/2-inch loaf pan. Line the bottom with parchment paper. Grease and flour the pan.

Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt into 1 bowl. In another bowl, whisk together the yogurt, 1 cup sugar, the eggs, lemon zest, and vanilla. Slowly whisk the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. With a rubber spatula, fold the vegetable oil into the batter, making sure it's all incorporated. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for about 50 minutes, or until a cake tester placed in the center of the loaf comes out clean.

Meanwhile, cook the 1/3 cup lemon juice and remaining 1/3 cup sugar in a small pan until the sugar dissolves and the mixture is clear. Set aside.

When the cake is done, allow it to cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Carefully place on a baking rack over a sheet pan. While the cake is still warm, pour the lemon-sugar mixture over the cake and allow it to soak in. Cool.

For the glaze, combine the confectioners' sugar and lemon juice and pour over the cake.


xoxo, Kate