Red Wine Cranberry Sauce

I hope you all enjoyed your Thanksgivings!  I, for one, might have done a bit too much enjoying, judging by the several pairs of pants that were vetoed as outfit choices this morning for failure to zip...and for that, I blame the cranberry sauce.  I love cranberry sauce.  Every year, I slather it all over the top of my Thanksgiving plate like whipped cream on a pie, and I get seconds mostly just to have something to put more cranberry sauce on (although I should add, I am not above eating it by the spoonful).  For me, cranberry sauce belongs in the same category as bacon and peanut butter -- everything is better with it.

For the last few years, I've been making a wine-based cranberry sauce, and I thought I'd share my recipe with you today!  If you're a red wine lover, then I know you will really like this!

Red Wine Cranberry Sauce

12-oz bag fresh cranberries

1 1/2 c. frozen cherries, cut in half

1/3-1/2 bottle of zinfandel 

1/2 c. brown sugar

Rind of 1 orange

Juice of 1 orange

1 T. rosemary, finely chopped

1 t. cinnamon

1 t. cloves

1/2 t. nutmeg

Put it all together in a sauce pan.  Turn the heat to medium-high until the mixture boils, then turn it down and simmer until it thickens up (about 30 minutes).  When it's thick enough, take it off the heat, cool and serve!

I might start making this year round.  That's how much I love red wine cranberry sauce.

Do you have any favorite recipes for the holidays?  I'm always looking for new recipes and I'd love to hear about your favorites!

5 [Inconsequential] Things to be Thankful For

It's time to give some thanks, people!  This year, I'm thankful for all the little things - the things that usually go unappreciated but without which my days would be substantially less happy.  So, in honor of pilgrims and Native Americans eating turkey together (that's what Thanksgiving is about, right?), I bring you the top 5 insignificant things that I'm thankful for this year:

1. The most comfortable work shoes in the entire world (which I wear every single day)

{picture on left via Tory Burch}

2. My GPS - I'm lost without it (pun intended).  But really.

{lost in Turkey}

3. The sheep emoticon on Microsoft Communicator (gchat for corporate folk)

{the only emoticon you really need}

4. Teresa Caputa (aka the Long Island Medium) - man, I love that woman.  Have you seen the show?  No?!  Go watch it and then tell me psychics aren't real.  I dare you.

{via TLC}

5. Pumpkin pie from Urth Caffe (it really is the best I've ever had!)

Cheers to the small things, my friends!  (Now go eat your weight in turkey and pie already!)

The Night I Became a Lawyer (and then drove to Vega$)

At 7:30pm, we slammed the car doors, started up the engine, and headed east.  I was tired and giddy and residually sweaty.  Vegas sounded like a dream.

At 12:30am, we caught our first glimpse of the strip!  At last!  And there's our hotel!  None of this felt real, not in the slightest.

{thanks to a very nice friend for getting this room for us at the last minute!}

(I was ready to move in.)

It was champagne that night (morning?).  So much glorious champagne.

And pure, genuine, carefree happiness to go along with it.  It felt like nothing could ever be wrong again.

The next day, I woke up after normal people had finished their buffet brunches (as you do in Vega$), and had to pinch myself to make sure that all of this was really happening.  That I really was a lawyer.  That I really had driven to Vegas last night.  That I really had drunk that much champagne.  (Ohmygosh I love champagne.)  That I really was lying in the world's most comfortable bed.  That I really could just press a button and the shades would open.  (Ohmygosh I love hotels.)  That there really were no open container laws here.  (Ohmygosh I love Vegas.)  That I really had absolutely nothing to do for the next 48 hours but enjoy.

And enjoy I did.

{fabulous flower balls at the Wynn}

{Paris.  P.S. have you seen this site?  So much hilarious awkwardness.} 

{City Center} 

This was my first time seeing the Cosmopolitan and I was in L-O-V-E.  

I mean, the place is draped in strings of sparkly crystals from top to bottom.  C'mon.

{Chandelier Bar} 

You may have to shield your eyes from the pretty.

Why yes, I will have another Rose Mist.  And some tickets to Le Reve while you're at it, k?

 

{no pictures allowed during the show, so I just got this one on the way out} 

It was stunning.  There were people rising out of the water, high diving into the water, circling the ring of the pool, upside-down swimming under the surface (how do they do that?), swinging from trapezes across the aisles...there was just so much.  And then there was the lighting, the costumes, the make up, the music.  It was all so fluid, like a moving painting.

And then it was back to the Cosmopolitan for some tapas at Jaleo (delish) and some good-spirited debauchery.

 

Not Pictured (because life was too insane to find my camera): the part where, just as we were walking out of the hotel to get our car and head home, I decided to gamble the $20 in cash that I randomly had in my wallet (because what kind of people would we be if we left Vega$ without gambling at all?  Lame.  Lame people.).  And then I won $360.  Yeah.  YEAH.  I played roulette (gambling for dummies) and bet $10 on 9 and $10 on 18 (our wedding date because that's as good of a date as I could think of), and the ball landed on what I thought was a 6.  So I said "too bad" to the silly-vested dealer-man and walked away.  But then the dealer-man was calling me back, was waving at me.  Me?  What?  I lost, right?  And then the casino floor boss-man in a suit was telling me "come back, you won!" and handing me $360 in plastic chips.  And then I laughed hysterically for about 20 minutes.  Because who just gives you $360???  WHO DOES THAT?

And that's when you know it's time to leave the Vega$.

The storm clouds moved in just as we started back to L.A.  Brian drove and I curled into the leather car seats, heavy with sweet, content exhaustion.

My goodness, what a life I have.

Blog Fail, Bar Pass

Sorry I've been MIA lately....

It's just that I've had a stressful week, mostly because I've been waiting for my bar exam results....



AND I PASSED.



No more words.

So L.A.

Last night, I went to my very first movie premiere!

It was for the animated film directed by Steven Spielberg, Tin Tin.  I'm not usually a huge fan of animated movies, but I was really impressed by this one.  It was clever, not very kiddy, and the animation was so insane that it really looked real at times.  Plus, it was 3D!

Somehow, we also accidentally ended up on a red carpet.  Or should I say, the red carpet...

{Grauman's Chinese Theater in Hollywood}

We got in the wrong line, but they let us walk down the red carpet anyway, and as we passed the wall of photographers, one of them actually snapped a picture of us!  It was hilarious!

{Brian's FACE.  That's all.}

The theater was built in the 1920s and has been the site of lots of famous premieres.  It was so ornate and rich on the inside, and it really made me feel like I was in the Hollywood of the '20s.

Well except for the 3D glasses thing...

(And the free popcorn and soda.) 

The after party was held at the Roosevelt Hotel, where we drank champagne and ate ice cream bon bons while I continuously scanned the crowd for a famous face (to no avail).

Such a glamorous night!

Happy weekending, everyone!

A Rainy Sunset

A spectacular end to my third week of work.  (And not a bad office view, eh?)

Weekend

{Huckleberry on a Sunday}

What are your plans this weekend, friends?

My friend Caroline is in town, and I'm looking forward to two days of eating, chatting, cheersing, and laughing.  We might even get to do a little flea marketing at the Rose Bowl on Sunday!  Ohh the girliness that awaits me this weekend knows no bounds!  TGIF, my dears!