Kitchen

I want a kitchen that begs to be cooked in.

My new arsenal

And what better way to break them in than through Coq au Vin

Ladies and Gentlemen, I butchered a whole chicken. Granted it took a couple of youtube videos and Nate's assistance but I butchered this bird!

It turned out to be a rustic version of chicken noodle soup minus the noodles. Super good. 

Valentine's

To be quite honest, Nate and I and Pumpkin had the Valentine's Day from hell. Worst Valentine's Day Ever.

We've never celebrated Valentine's, it's a little silly in my opinion. We woke up last thursday morning to a massive array of puppy diarrhea ALL over the apartment for the 3rd time that week. It was Nate's turn to clean up since I had to rush to my 7am class. When you start your day scrubbing diarrhea, things can only get worse.

I ended up taking lil P to the holistic vet down the street for the second time in two weeks and after a very quick visit and $202 later I was ready to make the special dinner I had planned. Nate came home from work, tired of a job he/we hate, and I told him about the vet bill which only lead to the regrettable conversation about money and how being a yoga teacher, I don't make enough of it. Way to make a girl feel appreciated, I know.

With zero motivation to cook the $30 Whole Foods steaks I bought, I locked myself in our room and watched Girls. The HBO show I have become obsessed with. Although my life is a tad bit more together than theirs, I relate so much to the over-arching themes of the show it's ridiculous.

I finally ended up cooking dinner. Pumpkin shat approximately 3 more times in the apartment that night. And we went to bed. We hate Valentine's day, but at least the food was good!

I made filet mignon with The Pioneer Woman's Hotel Butter which I totally forgot about until the steaks were half-way eaten. Go me!

And molton chocolate cake with home-made whipped cream. If you look closely you can totally see me and my sexy apron in the spoon reflection. 

Pinterest, anyone?

The Valentine's Mantle

Lil P at the holistic vet

Not happy

She was given some homeopathic pallets (along with anti-biotics  and pro-biotics) But Nate calls them "Magic Crystals" and asks me every morning if Pumpkin has gotten her magic crystals yet.

Luckily we had a way better weekend. Pumpkin almost instantly got better. We went to Malibu, our favorite place EVER and had a groupon dinner. And I cooked Clinton Street Bakery to die for Banana and Walnut pancakes. And all was right with the world.

Secret ingredient: butter and love. 

New Look

I gave the blog a make-over and a new name! I think it was about time, considering I started this thing as a sophomore in college and now I'm almost 25 years old and married. 

Despite having a cold and pumpkin getting a bit of pancreatitis from one too many meatballs at the superbowl party we had, we've been good. Nate is supposedly not scheduled to travel until May, which is literally unbelievable. I'm not holding my breath. 

 

After our fireplace was all set up we went to mount our tv above it, or should I say, computer monitor, only to realize what a pathetic excuse for a tv it was. That combined with "Nate's 49ers" (that's right, he owns them) making it to the Superbowl lead us to splurge on a decent size flat screen tv just in the time for game. It's contributed greatly to making our apartment a home.

We got the super cheap spanish cable package and somehow despite this we just recently discovered that we have The Food Network and HDTV and have become obsessed with Giada de Laurentiis and the idea of buying a house. When did we get so old and married? 

Oh, and I built a new website - www.NicoleBuckleyYoga.com Check it out, the more people who visit it the more likely it will be to show up on google searches. 

This weekend we went wine tasting with friends in Temecula and found this little gem just as we were about to drive back home. Let me just say it was super affordable! And when the store owner knocked another $30 off we were both sold. It's from the 1930s and it's our first piece of vintage furniture, and my 3-moths early birthday present. 

Until I got sick, I've been cooking almost every night since Nate got home about a month ago. My obsession with America's Test Kitchen grows and last week I made homemade Broccoli Cheese Soup. It was delish. 

I've never been a fan of V-day, but I am a fan of flour-less chocolate cake which we will be eating tonight! I should get started on that... As far as I'm concerned The Superbowl, Valentine's Day, and even St. Patrick's day are just excuses to cook elaborate and delicious meals. More on that soon.