Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

scrambled eggs FTW! sriracha is the only thing that can make terrible eggs passable, and good eggs AMAZING. sometimes, i like to get really daring and throw some ketchup into the mix. i know, i'm a maniac.

i happen to love the little starbucks instant packets. they're a good value for a really decent cup of coffee! plus, they dissolve in cold water so i can make a pretty good iced coffee without needing much more than ice cubes and cream/sugar. i was skeptical before i tried them, and now i always keep a few on hand.

i am SO SICK of these miserable tomatoes everywhere! i live in NJ, the garden state, home of the best tomatoes in the world (totally subjective, i know). so why is it so hard for me to find a decent tomato in my local supermarket???? do i need to grow my own? stalk farmers markets??

i love mine with a bit of ham, but since my husband is a veggie, i just add mine after the fact. here's my super easy, basic recipe:
start with a mirepoix, sweated in olive oil. i love parsnip in it as well! add about 2 tbsp of tomato paste, stir stir stir, dump in your lentils and about 8 cups of veg broth or a water/concentrate mixture (i like "better than bouillion," in the little jar). bring it to a boil, toss in about 2 medium peeled diced potatoes, then lower heat and cook it all down for a solid hour. season with salt, pepper, and fresh parsley. when the lentils have cooked but have not yet burst, i take a potato masher to it and smash it down - breaking down some potatoes and lentils gives it amazing body. it's so good right then, but it's AMAZING the next day when it's gotten all concrete-y and delicious :)

GUH.
donut porn!
i've only been here once, and i bought maybe 4 different ones to sample alongside my husband. it was late in the day so there wasn't much stock left, but i got the lavender, vanilla bean, tres leches, blueberry. ALL were amazing, but for some reason the vanilla bean sticks out in my memory - it had a true, intense vanilla flavor, and it was simply delicious. i typically go for filled donuts, but this one just hit all the right notes. want to eat one NOW!!!

i'd take that bad boy down in one bite.

my husband and i honeymooned in barcelona. it was his first time in europe, and my first time in spain. we walked into a place called xtapela on passeig gracia fully expecting it to be to like any of the tapas places we'd been to in nyc - tiny, overpriced portions of sad potatoes and sad shrimp. with our first taste of pan con tomate, we were proven WRONG! each bite was bursting with flavor - good bread, olive oil that tasted like olives (how novel!), tomatoes that were warm, juicy and sweet... we spent our first afternoon as a married couple drinking rioja and eating everything we could set our greedy little paws on. each dish was more delicious than the last, and 4 years later, we have yet to find a spot locally that competes with the simple deliciousness of anything we tried there.
i'd like to say that my most memorable moment of our time in barcelona was visiting parc guell or watching flamenco in a seedy basement, but honestly, the food is what i remember, and enjoyed, most.

made a crazy delicious vegetarian colcannon tonight. took two recipes and made a mashup which innvolved parsnips, carrots, cabbage, and potatoes - oh, and crazy amounts of butter. mmmmm butter. it's probably the least authentic colcannon in the world, but damn it's tasty.

My husband is totally one of those "Oh, I know I'm not gonna like that" people, and I love nothing more than proving him wrong. There are things he will never, ever enjoy (e.g. raw onions, olives), but more often than not his aversions are due to past poor execution, not true dislike! His mom, although a lovely person, is an awful cook; he's not much of a cook, so until he met me, he really didn't have much basis for comparison. I think mom's "cuisine" might have had more than a little bit to do with his dislike of a lot of foods. I've made it my life's work to break him of his aversions ;)

God help me... I really, really like the Angus burger at Mickey D's. There. I said it.

hello!
on to the username breakdown... "ariel" is my last name, and the 7s are just because i'm a lucky gal.
i'm 30, live in NJ, work in NYC. i am obsessed (OBSESSED, I TELL YOU) with food. my mom is romanian, and a horrible, horrible cook, and my dad's belgian (by way of turkey), and an incredible cook. it should suffice to say that my dad prepared most of our meals. my dad turned me on to sephardic cuisine, and i've spent the past few years exploring my culinary heritage. my dream is to open a restaurant specializing in true sephardic food. it's a bit far fetched, but damn, i love the research :)
i've done a bit of travelling, but i think it's fair to say that NYC has the greatest food scene anywhere. totally elitist, right?
currently, i cook for myself, my husband (who is a vegetarian), and whoever else will eat my food (for the record, i am SO not a vegetarian). i love nothing more than cooking for other people and watching their faces light up with pleasure with that first bite.
i spend an unhealthy amount of time on SE every day, at work, at home... will anyone hire me if i get fired for my SE addiction? anyone??!!!

so sorry about your loss, and your grandma's illness. these things always seem to happen at once, don't they?
i'm also a Crisis Chef - as soon as things get stressful, i start cooking. i find that making elaborate soups is really therapeutic. why not make a big pot of delicious mushroom barley or chicken noodle? soup freezes well, so you can enjoy a little bit now, and save the rest for later on when your appetite returns. there is something really comforting about knowing that there is a good meal in the freezer, any time you need it.
my thoughts are with you and yours... be well, and please don't forget to eat!

use it in your sauce base when making shakshouka! it gives the dish an incredible kick.

a decent basic shakshouka recipe (EVERYONE's got their own version):
http://kosherfood.about.com/od/kosherisraelifood/r/shakshouka.htm

enjoy!