Keep Calm and Carry On: The Diary of Foodie and Gourmet

A few weeks ago, I was fortunate enough to return to my alma mater, Bryn Mawr College, for a really fascinating and fantastic lecture! First, I should back up a bit. Out of the blue, at the beginning of this month, I received a wonderful email from my old academic advisor from college. She and I are were quite close when I was at Bryn Mawr and often socialized. I took a class with her every spring and our academic interests overlap; we both specialized in Modern European history. Not a lot of people, my fellow history majors included, liked Professor S, but I love her. She is so so so nice and really interesting! My four years at Bryn Mawr, I took her 19th Century European history class, 20th Century European history class, History of European Fashion, and Media Revolutions class. I loved them all...but enough about that. I was in chemistry recitation when I was pleasantly surprised to see the email from her. She wanted to check in and see how I was doing, but moreover, she wanted

Recently, I have been craving pizza, but since I am trying to be healthy, I have not been indulging this craving. I was looking online for some cool new recipes and stumbled upon this one. I thought, "hey, this looks delicious and quite healthy!" and you know what? It is exactly that! This delicious casserole is healthier than pizza, but tastes identical. Seriously.  It is also super easy to make! It is a great weeknight dinner or something to make on a weekend that can then be packaged and frozen for later. (That's what I did). Either way, if you and/or your family loves pizza, but you too are trying to eat healthy, I highly recommend this recipe!!! It is really filling and I think you will be very satisfied. Who said healthy food had to taste bland or gross?  Ingredients: - 1.5 cup dry quinoa - 1 medium onion, chopped - 1 pepper, chopped (I chose orange, but you can use any color) - 8 oz sliced mushrooms - 3 tomatoes - 1 package fresh spinach - fresh garl

April is a very special month for my friends. Amongst of my circle of college girlfriends, three of them have their birthday in the same week in April. Since college, we have been having weekend long celebrations and refer to this as "birthday weekend." Unfortunately, since college, we haven't been able to see each other as much as we'd like, so birthday weekend is something we look forward to. This year though, we were unable to celebrate as per usual.  Due to conflicting schedules, it was rather difficult for us to get together this year. How sad! Still, a handful of us met, and we had lots of fun. One of the birthday girls, "E", is currently studying in London. "R",  who works in Washington DC, is the second birthday girl and was due to partake in this get together, but did not appear. "S", our final birthday girl, invited us all to her home in NJ to celebrate. The get together was quite short, but still, we had a lot of fun!

Earlier this month, when I still had what resembled "a life," my best friend "M" and I went to see our favorite movie in 3D. That's right...for a limited time only, one of the greatest films ever made --- Jurassic Park  --- was re-released in theaters...but in 3D! For as long as I can remember, Jurassic Park  has been one of my all time favorite films ever. I have lost track of the number times I have watched it and frankly, I could probably act it out by now. What is it about this film? The fact that it's cloned dinosaurs living on an island off the coast of Costa Rica? The science? The story? The acting? Frankly, I think it is all of the above!  I mean, who could forget when Dr. Sattler and Dr. Grant saw their first dinosaurs after arriving at "Jurassic Park"? The genuine shock and joy...Alan Grant tearing up...Moreover, who could forget the music accompanying that uber dramatic scene?! Or....what about when John Hammond and his guest

Hi All, You may have noticed that I have gone COMPLETELY missing in action. So sorry! April has been completely insane. Lots and lots of exams. Luckily, tomorrow if my last one, then I get to breathe for a bit....that is until finals towards the end of May...Ugh. Just wanted to let you know that I have LOTS to share with you! (9 blog posts on my "to do list") and they will be coming soon!!! Thank you for your support and interest! Have a great one guys! Cheers.

A few weeks ago, I thought I would make something different, but delicious. I hate asparagus, but I enjoy it when it is wrapped in delicious beef! In Japan, this is a pretty common dish and oh so easy to make! Sure, the assembly is a bit of a pain, but it is so worth it in the end! Ingredients: - yakiniku sauce - 1 bunch of asparagus, cleaned - 1 lb thinly sliced beef - PAM Directions: 1. Marinade the beef. At least 1 hour in advance. 2. Gently layout the beef and prepare the roll around asparagus.  3. Prepare and steam the asparagus.  4. Place the asparagus at the end of the beef and roll.  5. Place the rolled asparagus to the side.  6. Heat some PAM in a pan and cook the meat until you get some nice coloring.  This was such a winning dish. It was so delicious. The crunchiness of the asparagus and the flavoring of the beef is a delightful. Seriously, one of the few times I genuinely enjoy eating asparagus! ;D