Author: chefmeetsgirl

he's a culinary institute of america grad in medical school. she's a journalist, who prior to their meeting, used the oven solely for storage.

38 weeks

growing, growing, growing!

it’s hard to believe i’m already 38 weeks pregnant. it seems like these last couple of weeks are lasting longer than the first 30 combined! can’t sleep, can’t walk, can’t get comfortable…. always running to the bathroom! ; ) we are so excited to welcome this little lady into our lives. due date is february 10, but the chef and i would be more than happy to snuggle with her a little earlier than that if she’s up for it. today, my ob told me i’m still going to be pregnant next week. no dilating, not really feeling contractions. the problem is, i’ve run out of shirts (both mine and steven’s) that cover this belly.

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a merry little christmas

in true medical residency fashion, steven was on call christmas eve and christmas day. he had to spend the majority of the morning and late afternoon at the hospital checking on patients — so while he was gone, mochi and i tried out the new dlsr glider he made me for christmas! the video is a little bouncy because it doesn’t lock properly onto my tripod, but it’s an easy fix. he just got called into the hospital before it could be done… and i am impatient. : )

happy holidays!

baked matcha donuts

now that i’ve finished *cough* four *cough* of these, i can take a break before eating a few more to write down the recipe!i’ll be honest: i never ask my husband to make two when he has his nightly cup of matcha,  but i really love baking with it because it gives everything such a fun, natural pop of color. if you’re trying to get on the matcha bandwagon, these donuts are a great way to ease into the new, unique flavor. if you’ve loved matcha for years — well, these should make your breakfast (or lunch, or dinner, or second dinner) even better!

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oh citrus tree, oh citrus tree

we’re all about any excuse to use food in fun, interesting ways… and this year, thanks to some citrus that was probably about to become inedible, we decorated our entire christmas tree for less than $10. last spring, i saw dried fruit slices hanging in a window of one of my favorite shops in baltimore. it looked like stained glass, so pretty! i’ve been waiting for the perfect time to try it out at home.

this was such a simple project. easy to do by yourself and probably even more fun with little ones! plus, the house smelled sooooo good while the slices were drying in the oven!

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christmas cookies: linzer tarts

growing up, i always made sugar cookies for christmas. my mom would put different colored sugar in salt shakers and i’d sprinkle it all over the sugary dough. i loved making them as a kid, but hated eating them. i just don’t like sugar cookies. yuck. now that i’m an adult (i guess i am, anyway. i’m married, own a house and am having a baby??), i can make the christmas cookies of my choosing — and here they are.

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simple tomato canning

we started in may, planted a garden in tiny soil pods by starting with seeds. we cared for them, we watered them, the chef built garden boxes and we planted the seedlings into the ground. then we waited. and nothing happened.

all summer long, nothing. the peppers, eggplants, beets, and tomato plants we started grew and grew and grew, but nothing edible appeared — until fall. late fall. like, it’s almost thanksgiving and we’re still getting four pounds of tomatoes a week. they really are great tomatoes, but we can’t use them fast enough, so: canning.

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babymoon: west coast road trip

the chef and i are on our flight home from what will likely be our last vacation as a family of two. we’re 25 weeks along in this pregnancy and though i might move a little slower than normal, we packed a lot into this trip! we flew into san francisco and spent the last nine days roadtripping up the west coast to seattle, stopping to visit family + friends — and drink all the decaf lattes we could find.

one very pregnant lady, a super patient husband and a convertible mustang; san francisco, berkley, mendocino, the redwood forest, eureka, portland, and seattle; too much food, miles of walking and hours of this american life… all while carrying around about 20 extra pounds!

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currently

sitting in our still-kind-of-new house, living room halfway clean — the half in this picture anyway — and loving all the light that pours in here. because i love this view so much, and because in a couple months i’m sure this place will never be clean again and i will never have time to grab my camera: here’s something to remember it by.

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