My mom and I both decided it was a soup weekend. Friday night we had a soup-off. She made Peppery Potato Soup with Sausage. I made Hot and Sour soup. Being that my family is a meat and potatoes kind of family, I lost, BUT that's ok with me because now I get all the Hot and Sour for myself!

The great thing about the potato soup is that it uses no cream and very little butter. We also include the sausage to make the soup a meal. Here is the recipe, it's super easy and really amazing!

Ingredients

• 2 c. potatoes
• 1/2 Med. onion, chopped
• 16 oz chicken brother
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 c. milk
• 1 tsp. dried thyme
• 1/4 tsp. pepper
• salt to taste
• 1/2 lb. sausage (optional)

Directions

Skin most of potatoes and cube them. Put in pot with broth and onion. Cook until potatoes are tender. Reserve 1 c. of potatoes and mash the rest in the pot. Return reserved potatoes to pot and add remaining ingredients. Simmer for 10 min and serve with a sprinkling of cheese.

I have made Hot and Sour soup a few times. For me, it's so much better then chicken noodle soup when you are starting to feel under the weather. It's comforting and the spice clears out the sinuses! Here is my recipe:

Ingredients

• 6 Shitaki mushrooms
• 2 tablespoons EVOO
• 1-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and grated
• 1 tablespoon red chile paste (or more), I use the one that comes in a tube by the mushrooms in the produce department
• 2/3 cup canned bamboo shoots, sliced
• 1-2 chicken breasts, cooked in EVOO and sesame oil and seasoned, finely chopped
• 1/3 cup soy sauce
• 1/4 cup rice vinegar
• 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper (use white pepper, if you have it)
• Pinch of sugar
• 2 quarts chicken stock
• 1 square firm tofu, drained and sliced in 1/4-inch by 1-inch strips
• 1/3 cup bean sprouts
• 3 tablespoons cornstarch mixed with 1/4 cup water (used to thicken the soup)
• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
• Chopped green onions and cilantro leaves, for garnish

Directions

Heat the oil in a large pan over medium-high heat. Add the ginger, chile paste, mushrooms, bamboo shoots, and chicken; cook and stir for 1 minute. Add the soy sauce, vinegar, lime juice, salt, pepper, and sugar. Add the chicken stock, bring the soup to a boil, and simmer for 10 minutes. Add the tofu and bean sprouts and cook for a few minutes.

Dissolve the cornstarch in the water and stir until smooth and pour into soup. Remove the soup from the heat and stir in 1 direction to get a current going, then stop stirring. Slowly pour in the beaten eggs. Garnish with chopped green onions and cilantro.

We Made a couple more but I will add those later! Happy soup eating!!!

I found this "Soda" at Whole Foods the other day and thought I would give it a try. I say "Soda" because it is sold as if it were wine. The flavors are Fine Dry, Crisp White, and Dry Red. I got the Fine Dry, which is supposed to have notes of cherry, apple, and anise. It also had a top that has to be opened with a bottle opener, which I also thought was weird. When I tasted it, I thought for sure it had alcohol in it, so I checked all over the label, and I guess it doesn't. But, its ingredients read: Apple Juice, Sparkling Water, and Fermented Barley Malt, so I suppose that explains the alcohol taste. It isn't something I could drink a lot of, but I really enjoyed it! It's very unique, so if you are a lover of all weird beverages, like myself, give it a try! The 4-pack was about $5.

Rings that are LARGE and in charge!

Everyone knows that large rings are a super-trend right now, but these rings seemed especially cool to me, thought I would share!

The rings that are bent in the middle and meant to be worn over the knuckle are really interesting

All these rings are just crazy cool, I'm usually not a fan of gold rings, but these are amazing. My favorite is the cow :)

I really need a large bow ring. I haven't been able to join the bow headband trend, so I think I could defiantly do bows like this!

Thoughts, Inspirations, Ideas, and DESTRUCTION!

If I have learned anything from being a fashion student, it's that an inspiration journal is your most valuable asset. Don't you ever have this dream where you think about something completely differently then you ever have before, and you have that moment of epiphany... and then you wake up and can't remember? I HATE that feeling; the feeling that I had this great thought and I can't remember it for the life of me.

This is the exact purpose for the journal! Whenever I have an idea for a concept or a specific design, I jot down a note or a quick sketch so that I can come back a reference it later. I even clip images that I find interesting for whatever reason.

Since starting this habit, I have accumulated many sketch books and journals with all kinds of doodles and chicken scratches. Now, whenever I see a cute tablet or journal I think I have to have it! Like I need to collect ANOTHER thing.

However, I was shopping at Urban Outfitters today and saw this journal thats sole purpose is it's destruction. Each page tells you what to do on it. By the end, the book promises to be completely wrecked. It may seem stupid to spend 12.95 on something, just to destroy it, but I thought it was genius.

It's so genius to me because whenever I used to buy a new "pretty" journal, I would be afraid to sketch and write in it because I didn't want it to be messy or make my journal ugly. The thing that I have began to realize, is that their is beauty is the used and abused. It's like a good pair of old holey Vans, their is nothing better; they are broken in and molded to your feet. Wrecking this journal will not only be fun, but it's going to help me find beauty in the journey of an item and not necessarily how aesthetically pleasing it is.

Let the wrecking begin!

Worlds Most Unhealthy and Delicious Chip EVER

While dating my ex-boyfriend, I ate at many restaurants under his dime, which was quiet awesome to a food lover like myself. On one such dining occasion, we tried this chip appetizer at a restaurant called Cap City Diner in Columbus, OH, which is owned by the great Cameron Mitchell. I fell in love with them. Since my relationship's end, I haven't made it back to this restaurant, so I decided to make them myself! I must say that I think mine were just as good, but I might be a little bias...

Anyways, I first laid down a layer of sea salt Kettle chips. I then made a very easy alfredo sauce.

For the sauce:

Melt 1/2 stick butter

Whisk 4oz cream cheese into butter (will melt and make a smooth creamy consistency)

Add about 1/2C. milk and whisk (just add enough to get a thin but not super runny consistency)

Add 3-4oz fresh parmesan cheese (Don't use crapy cheese! The better the cheese, the better the end taste)

Add pepper to taste and whisk

Top the chips with alfredo liberally; you may not need all that the recipe prepares. Then crumble desired amount of blue cheese. I would recommend Maytag blue cheese because that is the brand Cap City uses, and it's amazing.

That's IT!

Bloody Marys Are NOT Just For Brunch!

I could enjoy a good bloody mary anytime of the day, on any given day of the week! Its nice to have a savory drink that doesn't put me into a sugar coma.

I have to admit that I have never made one from scratch....but in my defense, I would want to do it right, that would take a lot of different ingredients! Many ingredients= $$... So give me a break, I'm a poor college student!

Neways... I like to buy a pre-made mix and then make it my own. I usually buy Mr.T brand; they have a few different kinds of bloody mary mix. One I recently discovered that I really like is there Premium version that claims to have a more homemade taste, and I find it to have a fresher taste then other mixes they offer.

I usually add the juice of a couple wedges of lime, worsteshire sauce, A1 steak sauce, and Tabasco... sometimes I add olive or pickle juice.

I like to add the following spices/seasonings: seasoned salt, garlic pepper, cumin, chili pepper, curry powder, pepper, celery seed, cayenne pepper, and red pepper flake

I also take those same spices and mix with my margarita rimming salt, run a lime wedge around the edge to wet it, and then dip it into the rimmer.

Then I shake up my concoction with a shot or 2 of vodka and ice, pour into my favorite glass, and garnish with a lime wedge and olives!

As far as Vodka goes... you can always use the good stuff, but bloody marys have such a strong flavor that you don't really need to. In fact, bloody marys are the perfect drink to have when you are trying to use up the crappy stuff!

Most of all, bloody marys are fun; you can throw anything you want in! Just have fun with it!

First of all, I love me some pizza.... and one of the few things that I miss about living is NY is, of course, the pizza! I don't really trust the pizza of Florida, so I thought I would just make my own!

When I home, on the rare occasion, in the summer, I like to make grilled pizzas on tortillas and cook them on the grill. But alas, I don't have a grill here! So I opted for whole wheat naan instead of a tortilla and cooked my pizza in the oven.

For my toppings, I used: pesto, fresh slices of mozzarella, pepperoni, red onion, hot pepper rings, red pepper flake, garlic pepper, and some parmesan. Then I put it on a cookie sheet and baked it @ 350 degrees for about 12min and broiled it for about 5 min at 400 degrees.... and VIOLA! The whole wheat naan gives the crust a great texture and crunch! It was cheesy, a little spicy, garlicky... and just plain yummmyyy

I still can't wait to make my traditional grilled pizza with home-grown, garden fresh tomatoes.... but this definitely hit the spot!

So, I have all these images of stuff that I have made and thought I would do a series of posts about them. This is an appetizer that I made for my parents 25th wedding anniversary that is based off of a sandwich I had in Cincy. Its a cucumber slice with cream cheese, a little dill, and a piece of salami. They were so good! Though, I try to think of a way to improve everything I make, and try to make changes each time I make something. So, I think that I would put the cream cheese and the dill in the food processor together and bled it just so you dont take a huge bite of raw herb and I think I would broil the salami so that it would be crispy. But other then that, I wouldnt change a thing!

Caramel Macchiato

The most delicious carmel macchiato you will ever have! Made with my french press, Starbucks espresso coffee, vanilla syrup and carmel, and warmed milk made into foam with my coffee frother. Saved me a lot of money making these instead of going to Starbucks!!

A Spot of Tea

I am obsessed with these colors and the feeling these images give. I want to have a sunday afternoon tea party or something! haha

fffound

I have recently been obsessed with ffffound.com! I have a huge collection of images from the website, but I just thought this dress was really kool (yes, I spell cool with a K, get over it)! The site just has such random things that really inspire me.... GO! Check it out!

Fajita Follow-up

Last nights fajitas were so good, I had to try a breakfast version.... so I did the same thing, but used egg instead of chicken..... AMAZING! haha..... I think it was even better, and egg takes so much less time to cook then chicken, so it was even faster... gotta love mexican for breakfast!!!

Fajita Night!

So, I have eaten out waayyy too much this weekend, and decided that I had to cook dinner! I wanted to make something really fast and easy....

I surveyed the fridge and saw that I had thawed out some home grown and frozen corn from my families farm. So, I decided to make an easy corn salsa that was comprised of: corn, cilantro, red onion, green bell pepper, lime juice, chili paste, and of course, salt and pepper. It was better then I had thought it would be, considering my limited amount of ingredients...

So that inspired me to make fajitas! I sauteed some more of the peppers and onion, cooked some chicken and added taco seasoning, threw it in 2 tortillas, added from shredded cheddar cheese, and topped it off with my salsa. It took me about 20 min. to make everything and it was perfect!

I always hate when I try to make something when I feel like I don't have all the ingredients I would normally use, but in this case, I think it was better without tomatoes, sour cream, avocado, or jalapenos....

Sweet Success!

Keep it Local, Keep it Interesting!

So, I just ate at Echo in Hyde Park, and had their goetta. I had never heard of goetta until I moved to Cincinnati for school, and, despite the semi-unappealing looks, I tried it. It's actually really delicious!

For those of you who have no idea what I am talking about, I will explain. Goetta is originally a german food that is comprised of mainly oats and ground meat (pork mostly, sometimes with beef as well) and is served kind of like a hash brown, in a rectangular "patty" shape. I've only seen it served for breakfast, but I'm sure people eat it anytime of the day.

Anyways, this got me thinking about all the new things I have tried since moving to Cincinnati, and all the things I miss most when I am away. The food here is amazing because local restaurants are really supported, giving the city such interesting and delicious gems that you can't find anywhere else.

Some of the places and foods I miss most are:

Fried Pickles and Pretzels with Bier Cheese at the Hofbrauhaus

Fried Pork Roll Vermicelli Noodle Bowl at Cilantro

King Woks Hot and Sour Soup and Chicken Pad Thai

Sitwells Cream Cheese and Cucumber Sandwich (which I can make, but its so good there!)

Bakery goods at Busken

Fried Pickles and Draft Hoegaarden at The Pub

Krishna's Indian Chicken Curry

Frozen Yogurt at Yagoot

Arthur's Boursin Cheese Burger and Fried Cheese

Quiche Muffin at College Hill Coffee Shop

.... Just to name my absolute favorites....

So if you haven't tried some of these things, YOU SHOULD! HaHa. And definitely try local restaurants over chains, it's so much more fun and really helps your cities depth of flava!

And So It Begins...

I have decided to start this blog because I have such a passion for food and fashion (non-intentional rhyme, haha) I am not a writer, or culinary expert, but I am however a soon-to-be fashion professional. I am just looking to provide my thoughts and experiences on fashion and food. I would like to share interesting things I stumble across, thoughts on runway shows, restaurant reviews, recipes, cocktail ideas, and thought on culinary and fashion TV. Hope you enjoy and return every so often to see what I have to share next!