About Amanda
I’m a disgruntled LIRR commuter by morning, real estate journalist by day, insomniac by night, and cancer butt-kicker for life.
Where To Find Me
The 31st Day of Christmas – For Auld Lang Syne
Published December 31, 2011 | I can’t believe 2011 is nearly over. It seems like only yesterday we were sitting in my best friends’ living room watching Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve and waiting to see if Y2K would make the world blow up. Even worse, I remember when Prince’s (the artist formerly known as the Artist Formerly Known as Prince?) “1999″ was so far into the future.
Overall, 2011 was a decent year.
- Although January saw our car Zephyr’s first accident, it was repaired to even better condition that when Lexcie and I first purchased it. We traveled to many places in that car, including New England and down the East Coast to Virginia to see my friends Chris and Nicole get married. We then traveled to West Virginia, a state I’ve never been to before. I wish I knew how many miles we put on the car this year. Over 3,000, at least.
- Our travels also took us to Great Britain, Scotland, and Wales for 10 days in October, the first time I’ve ever been to Europe. It was a fantastic trip.
- I was promoted to an editorial position at my job.
- Healthwise, I reached my sixth year of being cancer free – each day is a celebration! But additional celebrating at the I’m Too Young for This! Cancer Foundation‘s (i[2]y) OMG Summit in NYC in April sent me in for a battery of tests after I discovered I had a strange reaction to drinking alcohol (so my memories of the booze cruise weren’t exactly as fun as everyone else’s). After eight months or so, arrows are pointing to a potential gallbladder issue, but I don’t find out until January 2. My body really needs to give me a break!
- I met a whole bunch of new friends this year, particularly through i[2]y, my lymphoma support group on Facebook, Long Island Tweetup, and 140ConfLI.
- I accomplished plenty of items from my 101 in 1,001 list.
Asian-spiration
Published February 1, 2011 | As Lexcie helped himself to a heap of some Mandarin cole slaw I made yesterday, he commented how I’ve been cooking a lot more Asian-inspired foods lately. He thinks it’s particularly funny because I’m Italian. But it’s true. I’ve been on an Asian food kick ever since we visited Taiwan last year, which was quite the gastronomic adventure (see Day Two, which includes jellyfish, sea cucumber, shark fin, and quail eggs, among other culinary delights). Even the new restaurants I’ve visited as part of my 101 in 1001 challenge have been overwhelmingly Asian in nature (next stop: the new Koreatown food court).
I even just purchased a Taiwanese cook book I found on Amazon.com, which is going to be quite an adventure, since I’ve never used half the ingredients the recipes call for, like sweet potato powder.
In the meantime, I’ve been playing with my own Asian-inspired recipes with foods I normally have on hand. A few of you have asked for the recipes, so here they are. Continue reading
The Ultimate Trick-Or-Treat Strategy Guide
Published October 30, 2010 | 
1. Be very cute, very creative, or very scary – These three net you the most bonus candy. Whether you like it or not, the candy givers do play favorites when they give out candy, slipping an extra Milky Way or Skittles to someone who looks like he put effort into his costume. Just wearing black clothes and some blood on your face doesn’t cut it. Need some creative costume ideas? Try the Costume Idea Zone. Continue reading
Beer Bread
Published August 31, 2010 | So, now I have nine two-liter soda bottles of Miller Lite I need to use – and I don’t drink beer. If you want to know why I have so much beer, see my previous post.
My first attempt to use the beer was Susan’s Beyond Easy Beer Bread. And it was indeed easy! From bowl to piping hot loaf, it only took an hour. I modified the recipe to make four different flavors. The result:
- Top left: Onion (added a packet of Lipton’s Recipe Secret Onion – but if you do this, nix the salt in Susan’s recipe)
- Bottom left: Cranberry (added lots and lots of Ocean Spray Craisins and replaced Susan’s granulated sugar with brown sugar)
- Top right: Italian (added dried parsley, oregano, powdered garlic, and fresh Parmesan cheese)
- Bottom left: Spicy (added curry and cinnamon – I ran out of flour, so that’s why it’s smaller and denser. It has the consistency of pumpkin bread)
So each bottle of beer will make approximately five loaves. I’m going to try all different types of flavoring. Next, I think I’ll try cinnamon and raisin, again replacing the granulated sugar with brown sugar. It’s a tradition for Mom and I to have a slice of toasted cinnamon raisin bread and a cup of coffee on the first day of school (the Wednesday after Labor Day on Long Island). Even though I’m no longer in school, we still have our bread and coffee!
Chocolate-Covered Bacon!
Published July 3, 2010 | I ate all sorts of strange things on my trip to Taiwan earlier this year – sea cucumber, shark fin, jellyfish, stinky tofu – so eating chocolate-covered bacon seemed, well, somewhat normal. My friend Sarah’s blog mentioned the curious snack (but with caramel), so I hit Google looking for the perfect recipe. I decided to try my hands at Michael Symon’s Chocolate Covered Bacon with Almonds.
Armed with a pound of Oscar Meyer Bacon, a bag of Hershey’s semi-sweet chocolate chips, and some slivered almonds, I made quite a mess of the kitchen tonight.
I laid most of the bacon across cooling racks before putting them in the oven, so the fat dripped off of them and they stayed flat. The ones that were laid directly on the baking sheet curled too much and it was hard to coat them with chocolate. While the bacon was cooking in the oven, I melted the chocolate in a double boiler (or in my case, a sauce pan inside a sauce pan). I read to add a little vegetable oil to thin the chocolate a little bit, otherwise the chocolate would overpower the bacon. Of course, I added my own secret ingredient – pepper, madam? Lexcie hand-chopped the almonds, but it would have been much easier had we purchased slivered almonds.
Nice and crispy – you don’t now how difficult it was not to eat a slice of bacon before it hit the chocolate! The chocolate was the perfectly smooth and covered the bacon evenly – I just had to make sure to let the excess chocolate drip off the bacon. I then laid it on a piece of parchment paper (another commenter said not to put it on metal or the chocolate would crack off). Thirty minutes in the fridge, and voilà! A crispy, chocolaty, perfect-blend-of-sweet-and-salty snack. It’s delicious! I will definitely make this again, and may try using maple-flavored bacon next time.
“Chocolate is sacred – you just defiled my church. I still love you, but respect you a little less. I can’t wrap my head around this.” – Deena Baikowitz