Pickled Red Onions

One of the chefs I work with over the summer does one thing (among many others) extremely well when it comes to food. Pickle. Don't get me wrong he has many other culinary talents, extremely creative ones and I always seek him out when I am looking for advice. But really this man could pickle just about anything and it would be oh so good.

I decided I would finally give it a try myself, and while it may not be creative and adventurous as his pickling, as my first try I am giving my self a lack of creativity free pass.

What is so beautiful about pickling is how versatile it is, and who doesn't love a little versatility. First of all you can pickle just about any vegetable you have on hand, and you can also put a great deal of herbs and spices into your pickling brine. Oh an then when you have the finished pickled product it goes great on meats, fish, chicken and of course salads. SO many possibilities right!

The base of any pickling is water, vinegar, salt and sugar then it is your choice to add any flavors you want. Having the limited college fridge that I do I simply went with rosemary but you can add any hearty herbs that stand up to soaking in vinegar. Other great add ins are garlic, peppers, pepper flakes and citrus peels.

Pickled Red Onions

1 large red onion

1 cup water

1 cup red wine vinegar

4 tablespoons salt

2 tablespoons sugar

2 sprigs rosemary

Thinly slice a red onion into rounds. In a large bowl combine water, vinegar, salt, sugar and rosemary. Stir until salt and sugar are dissolved. Add the red onions. Let sit for an hour or more, the more time the better. Store in the fridge in the pickling liquid.

Juice for a day

Ok...thinking we might need to start a health category here soon. I've been meaning to share this with you all. I recently tried out Juice for a Day (more info here), a one day long juice program from the Cooler Cleanse people. It served as a good reset for me last week, and I think it would be a great way to ease into juicing for a novice. It's 6 juices in 1 day. And that's it. Anyone can handle that! For me, it just made me want to keep going and keep juicing...which I did.

Here are the juices included:

Green: Cucumber, celery, parsley, spinach, kale, pear, lemon, ginger 

Sweet: Kale, watermelon, apple, lemon 

Veggie: Carrot, apple, beet, lemon, spinach, kale 

Citrus: Pineapple, orange, lime 

Spicy: Lemon, lime, cayenne pepper, raw agave, filtered water Hemp: Hemp seeds, dates, cinnamon, ginger, filtered water

To note, the "Spicy" is really not spicy at all (coming from a person who has little tolerance for heat), and I found myself needing to add some acid (lemon/lime) to the green juices. All in all, the juices were good! 

Try it for yourself, and see if juicing is for you. Keep in mind, it's not for everyone. I happen to love the break it gives to my digestive system and how it makes me feel from the inside out. My sister on the other hand, well, she doesn't do so well without solid food. We've written about the Ripe Stuff previously as well, who provides a day (or more) of juices locally which we also love. Try it out and let us know what you think!

Hope you all survived crazy sandy...

item of the week

Every so often I get a request from a family member or friend saying....help me find a dress, shoes, whatever it may be! I love getting these kinds of questions because I'm a serious online browser-shopping. Since the only time I have to shop these days is the weekends, I tend to do a lot of it online just to avoid the crowds. I also almost exclusively visit H&M within an hour of opening on weekend days when everything is organized and there are no lines.

So this week, my mom asked me to help her find a shoe that she could wear with skinny pants (you're so trendy mom) when she doesn't want to wear tall boots or flats. I started looking at my usual haunts for booties, but she had three requirements, they needed to be flat, not go above her ankle, and they needed to be wearable with black and brown. I found the perfect pair, sent it to her, and she picked them up yesterday at Bloomingdales! Mission accomplished. I love it! The only problem is I now can't get the black version out of my mind....

booties found here

change of scenery

there's something so great about a change of scenery. escaped to maine this past weekend, and it was so worth it. the foliage was amazing, and I can back to the city feeling totally rested. snapped this pic on my way out on sunday morning. I live in this sweater/dress that I snatched up at H&M last winter. So comfortable, and it just feels right for this weather.

scarf: zara

dress: H&M (also in stores now)

black leggings

boots: Frye

sweater weather

I'm a sweater hog, I'll admit. There is nothing like the perfect, goes with everything sweater for this time of year. Part of the reason why I love this season so much is because you can layer! More clothes = more fun. 

I've been on the hunt for a comfy but clean looking cream sweater for a few weeks. I've found I few that I liked but didn't LOVE. This one, I love. It's from BCBG and has great structure and a modern twist on the class cream cable knit sweater. Can't get it out of my head! I usually force myself to wait a bit to make sure I really need it before pulling the trigger. Let the waiting commence!

check it out here

image found here