New England Clam Chowder

I was thrilled when I received the cookbook The Lobster Roll as a gift from my parents. Ever since my trip to Newport, RI this past winter for my brother's wedding, I've become obsessed with the trademark dishes that have been perfected by the east coast. The Lobster Roll authors Jodi Della Femina and Andrea Terry of the Hamptons restaurant Lunch compiled the cookbook which contains recipes for the namesake dish and "regional recipes from chowders and salads to sandwiches and burgers to delights like buttermilk-lavender fried chicken, strawberry-rhubarb pie and berry-citrus iced tea."

For my first cooking attempt, I decided to make The Lobster Roll's recipe for New England Clam Chowder since it's still quite chilly here in the Midwest. The result was a creamy, hearty soup that I will be sure to make again and again, only next time I may use more clams. :)

Don't mind my thumb that snuck its way into the picture :)

The result - served with crusty, garlic infused bread

The thing about mistakes...

"I know it's a mistake, but there are certain things in life where you know it's a mistake but you don't really know it's a mistake because the only way to really know it's a mistake is to make the mistake and look back and say 'yep, that was a mistake.' So really, the bigger mistake would be to not make the mistake, because then you'd go your whole life not knowing if something is a mistake or not."

3 Interesting Things

So I once dated a guy that used to end every day asking me, "What are three interesting things that happened to you today?" At first, I thought it was really annoying. I hated that after a day that was either really long, stressful or incredibly uneventful I had to try to think of things that would be deemed "interesting". However, after some time of telling each other interesting things that occurred in our days I began to open my eyes more to the world around me and to be honest, it helped our conversations from falling into the "How was your day?"..."Fine, yours?" routine. Unfortunately, when that relationship ended my need to tell someone about "interesting things" ended as well. So, recently I've been trying look out for things that are noteworthy and although I do not plan to include 3 interesting things I did every day on this blog, I thought including 3 from this week might be a good start, especially since I haven't posted at all this week. So, here goes...

1. I discovered an awesome new bakery in Madison, Wisconsin called Peoples Bakery thanks to a colleague traveling in with doughnuts. They are a Lebanese restaurant/bakery that apparently has some of the best gyros in Madison, but also makes a mean jelly doughnut if you ask me.

2. Started a new art project to serve as organization for my ever-increasing scarf collection - inspired by DIY project found on Design*Sponge. I purchased a number of different off-white knobs from Anthropologie and plan to finish up my drawer hanger project next week.

3. I tried a new recipe for vodka sauce from scratch. I found it to actually be lighter than the traditional vodka sauces that I've had in restaurants. It was delicious and served as a great cold-weather treat

Visiting Portland

I eluded to my love of Portland when posting last week but I didn't go into much detail regarding my trip. It was definitely a whirl-wind and although I wish I could have spent more time there, I did enjoy just about every minute of my trip. I did a fair amount of research before heading to Portland because I knew my schedule was going to be tight and I wanted to be able to fit in as much as I could of what the city has to offer. Surprisingly, one of my best tools turned out to be the Portland City Guide offered by West Elm. West Elm actually offers a number of these City Guides and they are filled with the best restaurants, hotels, landmarks and shops to visit in an given city - great idea, especially for a furniture shore - it makes them appear more local and less corporate.

But anyway, back to Portland. The city itself is amazing - practically set into the mountains, split by a river with almost a dozen magnificent bridges connecting the city and a size that was neither overwhelming nor too small. The culture of Portland is very eco-friendly and seems to really focus on leveraging mom and pop shops rather than large food chains, which I loved. My favorite spots had to be Le Pigeon (an amazing french inspired restaurant that only houses a handful of tables but has some of the most amazing dishes I've ever tasted) and basically any shop or brewery that resided within the Pearl District, one of Portland's distinct neighborhoods set right next to downtown.

The only downside to Portland would have to be the rain, which I don't know if I could ever get used to if I lived there. As one would imagine, it rains slightly less than Seattle and slightly more than San Fransisco...which still equates to quite a bit of moisture in the air year-round. However, the city is so unique and inspiring that maybe after investing in one of the patented Patagonia rain jackets that everyone was sporting, and some durable rain boots, I'm be able to make the sacrifice. :)

 

Clyde Common - really neat spot (lots of exposed piping and old wooden tables) where I had my first meal in Portland...you can see my meal below...

Delicious Chicken Grana sandwich equipped with local Portland IPA

 Downtown Portland at dusk

 Very cool "Vegas-ish" sign that lights the way to downtown

 Cupcakes of course - I found these at Cupcake Jone's in the Pearl District which was surprisingly the only cupcakery I found during my trip

 Pearl District

Cool art on one of the sidewalks downtown

The Pacific Coast - not part of Portland obviously but I included since it's close-by and was a great part of my trip

Game Night

As much fun as it is to go out on a Friday night and let loose from the work week, I do enjoy a good weekend evening game night from ever so often. Sometimes after a long week it can be tough to motivate myself to head out (especially during the cold winter months) and I find I'd much rather stay in wearing comfy pants with a bottle of wine, good friends and a good game. I feel that a lot of time the best conversations and memories fall out of nights like those where everyone is just around to enjoy each others company.

Lately, I've become a big fan of Scrabble, although I'm not as great at it as I like to think I am, and card games. Spades is a new favorite card game of mine, but I also enjoy the classic hearts since it's one of the few I can actually win at. :) I've included rules to these card games since they always seem hard to remember when it actually comes time to play and some of my other favorites as well in case anyone else is interested in starting up the game night trend. Please feel free to comment with any other great games I've left out. :)

1. The Rules of Spades
2. The Rules of Hearts
3. The Rules of A**Hole (naughty name, but great game)
4. The Rules of Rummy 500
5. The Rules of Spoons
6. The Rules of Texas Hold'Em
7. The Rules of Ugly

Career Journal

I, like many individuals, often struggle with the idea of where I would like my career to go. It's hard to know how to navigate the waters of the working world to find the next step that puts you in a position that you want to be in and advances your personal and professional goals. I was emailed the idea of creating a "Career Journal" and think it's a great idea. I plan to start working on my own Career Journal next week and hopefully within the weeks to come will have a better idea of where I would like my future to lead. I thought I would pass it along to share with those of you that need a bit of guidance as well and don't know where to start. See details below and best of luck!

Creating a Career Journal

Creating a career journal can help you move faster and more strategically from where you are now to where you want to be in your life.

If you at all struggling to figure our what's next in your career OR you have a vision of a future you'd like to achieve but no idea how to get there, a journal could be the thing to turn your dreams into solid planning.

GETTING STARTED

The recommendation is creating a Friday Update for your boss each week. Friday updates are a bulleted list of your…

… accomplishments,

… areas of challenge or where input is needed, and

… goals for the week ahead.

It's a simple exercise that should require no more than 15 minutes per week to complete, yet the benefits in communication and overall productivity are immeasurable.

Each week, set aside a small chunk of time (20 to  30 minutes) to really analyze what you've done and what you need to do to pursuit your goals. To begin, create a checklist of 5 things you want to complete this week.

Keep a career folder on your desktop, add photos from magazine, etc. for visual inspiration, it could also be a notebook, whatever works for you. Good apps are Evernote or Momento.

Next pull out your journal on Friday and evaluate your progress. Commit to doing this for one month and see what happens. 

It will take some discipline to keep your journal current, but if you do this consistently each week, you will  achieve far more progress on the road to your goals. 

The Map Room

The Map Room in Chicago is rated number 47 on the 125 Places to Drink a Beer Before You Die. I did not know this when I happened into the travel-theme Bucktown tavern over a year ago but I can definitely see why  - especially since it has consistently ranked as one of my favorite bars in Chicago.

The atmosphere is cozy and inviting - its walls are lined with old National Geographic magazines and vintage board games that you can enjoy while sampling from the eclectic selection of beers on tap, or if you're in need of a jolt, the variety of espresso and coffee options will please even the biggest coffee snobs. And if you look up while sitting at one of the Map Room's highly-coveted high tops, you will see that the ceiling is covered in flags of the world. This sprang from the original idea of the Map Room to try to carry beers from as many countries as they could. That idea grew into the creation of an atmosphere where all travelers, near and far, could feel welcome. According the their website, the Map Room wanted "to be that kind of place, where all different people felt welcome, where ideas could be exchanged, where people could come to get some good social nourishment." I would say that they have succeeded in their mission and continue to grow in their knowledge of beer and provide that insight to the people that love it. So in the words of the Map Room, "Don't Be Lost" and make a stop in as soon as you are able. Cheers!