Cookies and Lipstick

Budapest Street Food.

I was visiting friends in Vienna a few weeks ago and since it’s so close, my husband and I took the train over to Budapest for a couple of nights. Once we checked-in to our hotel, we dropped our bags and went out in search of food. We were staying at The Four Seasons Gresham Palace which is right across from Chain Bridge so we walked for a bit and found a square where they had a lot of different food stands selling goulash, rooster ball stew, sausages, wine and this…
 

 
I have NO IDEA what this is called but it was ham, cheese, sour cream, onions and cucumbers on bread that is kind of like a pita. The dough was made right there in the stand then shaped and grilled, then was passed along to another grill where it was filled with any combination of what I mentioned. At first we thought we would share one then remembered we’re both greedy and hate sharing food so we each ordered one with everything.

Cheese only

This Happened. Red Wine-Braised Short Ribs.

Beef. It’s what should always be for dinner sometimes.

What?

As I said earlier I don’t really “do” Valentine’s Day but I usually make something a little more indulgent than what I normally cook on a weeknight. I was going to go the cassoulet route but decided on short ribs at the last minute. Actually, it was at the ATM machine when I decided on short ribs. I will always order them if they’re on the menu, I’ve read countless recipes for them but never made them. Originally I wanted to do a soy-glazed version but while reading a recipe on bonappetit.com for moon pies, I noticed a link for a red wine-braised short ribs recipe that looked really easy and I decided to go with that one. Here’s what Bon Appetit shows it should look like…

It’s Fettucine Alfredo Day.

When I think of fettucine alfredo the first thing that comes to mind is an order I once took while waiting tables. I waited tables in college -and for a long time afterwards- and worked in an Italian restaurant where fettucine alfredo shockingly wasn’t on the menu. The restaurant stood across the street from a by-the-hour motel you went to to either have sex and/or do drugs so naturally we hosted a very refined and dignified clientele. Especially on the weekends.

Thanksgiving.

I’ve been busy prepping for upcoming spring shoots so my Thanksgiving post is way late. I think all the booze from the long weekend has finally worked its way out of my body and I now have energy to do something other than sleep and read Thanksgiving Horror Stories on Gawker.

Veal Ragu aka Carne Di Vitello alla Abbatiello

I normally don’t post about what I cook but…Would you believe this is only three ingredients? Five if you include the herbs. Three pounds of cubed veal, six large sweet onions and one can of tomato paste. Basta. I tossed in a small bouquet of thyme and rosemary only because I had it. This has to be one of the easiest sauces to make because all it requires is time. If you know how to buy veal, you can make this. If you know how to slice onions, you can make this. If you know how to use a can opener, you can make this.

Oktoberfest.

Last weekend was my kind of weather. Mid-60′s and clear, sunny skies. Since Oktoberfest was coming to an end and I was on the verge of murdering my door-slamming, heel-stomping hipster upstairs neighbors, I headed out to my parents house to take advantage of their backyard, BBQ and drink all their beer. And all their wine also.

After eating sausages and bread and drinking a few bottles of beer it seemed to me that I was still well below the number of recommended calories necessary to maintain my (debated) awesomeness. Solution? Cake. Always, cake.

Spaetzle.

I grew-up in a German family so one of my all-time favorite comfort foods is spaetzle with gravy. When I’m sick I want it, when I’m feeling down I want it, when I drink too much I want it. I’ve seen spaetzle made on numerous TV shows and have read many recipes how to make spaetzle and I’m here to tell the zero people reading this that YOU DO NOT PUSH SPAETZLE DOUGH THROUGH A COLANDER OR SIEVE. Seeing these tiny little droplets of dough drop into boiling water is pure torture to me. There is one and only one way to make spaetzle and over the Christmas holiday I was cooking with my mother and took some pictures and video of her spaetzle making skills.