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

I have always had a soft spot for biscuits. I love the flaky, golden brown outside and fluffy butter soft inside. Just thinking about a nice freshly baked biscuit is making my mouth water! This past weekend, I attempted to make "Bacon, Cheddar, and Chive Biscuits." I thought, why not add a bit of pizazz to a delicious classic.  I first baked these beauties last week, since they are meant to complement a chicken pot pie recipe my mother showed me. In this chicken pot pie variation, instead of using a pie crust, the top of the chicken mixture was covered with these yummy biscuits! I am delighted to report that both the chicken mixture AND the biscuits were a massive success! Sadly, I was not paying attention, when I made the chicken filling, so I neglected to take photographs. Sorry! Next time I make this delicious dish, I'll be sure to snap photos so I can share. Until then, I WILL share the biscuit recipe, since I did photograph that. These biscuits can be pr...

Recently, I started watching “The Great British Bake Off” on youtube. I’ve known about this show for some time, but for some reason, never watched it! My curiosity finally got the better of me and I watched episodes on youtube. From the moment the contestants started baking their “tray bake”, I was hooked. I am always impressed with the contestants on cooking shows because I know that I could never do that. I love to bake and I love to cook, but I hate being pressured, like in these challenges. For these contestants to cope AND produce delicious treats… I have much respect. On one episode of the Great British Bake-off that I watched, the contestants were charged with making a meringue dessert. I’m not a huge meringue lover, like my mother, but for some reason, I too felt compelled to bake a meringue. For weeks, all I could think about was meringues and found myself researching different recipes! My meringue obsession finally came to a halt last week, when I was charged, by...

This September marks the new season of NT Live performances. For those who may not recall, NT Live is this amazing organization that screens British theater performances across the globe via cinemas. I am an avid NT Live fan and try to buy tickets, whenever I can. In past posts, I have written about “Frankenstein”, “ Coriolanus ”, “King Lear”, and “War Horse” --- all seen at NYU’s very own Skirball auditorium. I am delighted to report that in the coming months, I will have more NT Live performances to talk about! This season, I have purchased tickets to: “Medea”, “A Streetcar Named Desire”, “Frankenstein” (again), and “Treasure Island.” I recently just received an email about a new addition to the NT Live line up and am contemplating purchasing tickets. For the first time ever, NT Live will be broadcasting a Broadway play, in this case, "Of Mice and Men" by John Steinbeck. Stay tuned for those posts!

Monday (9/8/14) marked the opening of the 2014~2015 NT Live season and NT Live certainly kicked things off with a bang. That evening, my mother and I watched a modern production of the infamous Greek tragedy, “ Medea .” Words cannot truly convey how phenomenal this production of “Medea” was and I was left speechless. Here’s a bit of background on the play (taken from Wikipedia): Medea is an ancient Greek tragedy written by Euripides, based upon the myth of Jason and Medea and first produced in 431 BC. The plot centers on the barbarian protagonist and she finds her position in the Greek world threatened and the revenge she takes against her husband Jason, who has betrayed her for another woman. For those who may not know or recall, the Jason that I speak of is the Jason who sought out the Golden Fleece. Going into this production, I knew that it was a revenge play, but nothing could prepare me for what I was about to witness. William Congreve was really spot on wh...

Last weekend, my parents and I entertained our longtime friends, J and A, at our cabin in upstate NY. We had a truly marvelous weekend, though it was wayyy to short. The weekend was spent eating, drinking, laughing, hiking, cooking, and exploring our local community. We took advantage of the gorgeous Fall weather and decided to hike our property. We own 50 acres and our cabin sits at the top of a mountain. Our property has two ponds, as well as a stream ---- both are filled with the brim with frogs, crayfish, and fishies! We found some interesting mushrooms throughout our hike In the woods! We discovered a teeny tiny frog in the forest One of many frogs living in our ponds We captured some crayfish (which we then returned to the pond) We named this crayfish "Godzilla" because it was so big! Goodbye, Godzilla! Checking on our apple trees Very old stone foundation on our property Hello there, Mr. Frog We discovered the remains...