December 17, 2012 Jesi

Christmas means a lot of things to a lot of people, but in my house, where Alex and another couple of roommates are singers, Christmas means gigs, and lots of them.  (I guess people just want extra music in their lives around Christmas.  Go figure!)  It’s a fantastic time, but…

December 14, 2012 Jesi

A couple of weeks ago, as my roommates and I gathered together to trim our tree and turn our apartment into a veritable winter wonderland, I stumbled upon the box of Christmas paraphernalia that I always seem to forget about: my collection of Christmas mugs.  I know the fact that…

November 27, 2012 Jesi

Before we get started, I’d just like to take a moment to remind everyone that, as I said last time, I have tons of photos for blog posts in the works due to recent bouts of baking.  I am not– I repeat, not– stuffing my face with Nutella scones a mere…

November 22, 2012 Jesi

So I turn my back for two seconds, and suddenly it’s Thanksgiving. Here’s a (not-so) little-known fact: food retail is absolutely NUTS during the weeks leading up to Thanksgiving.  I don’t even know how many wedges of Stilton and Brie I must have sold in the last two days alone,…

November 5, 2012 Jesi

Every once in a while, I like to mix it up and share a cooking adventure that didn’t turn out as planned.  I have a weird dream of turning “Notes on Sugar’s Big Fat Failure” into a recurring segment, but to be honest, this cake wasn’t bad enough to qualify…

October 30, 2012 Jesi

I want to be sure to choose my words carefully here, so as not to sound complaining or ungrateful, but this has been the most unrestful October I have ever experienced.  For some reason, I always hold a very romantic idea of what Autumn in general, and October specifically, should…

October 16, 2012 Jesi 1Comment

Does anyone else remember Danish Wedding Cookies, the Keebler confections that came in a bright pink box?  They were crumbly little cookies, about an inch and a half in diameter, covered with powdered sugar and studded with little chocolate chips.  We didn’t have them very often in my house– probably…

October 11, 2012 Jesi

Where should I begin with this recipe?  I could tell you about how easy it is to prepare: boil pasta, roast veggies, top with cheese, and eat.  I could tell you about how flexible the recipe is: a quick dig through your crisper drawer will probably produce enough different veggies…

October 2, 2012 Jesi 2Comment

I know, I know.  Muffins again.  I just made muffins two posts ago, and here we go again.  And it’s not even an original recipe, or an adaptation of a recipe.  I lifted it straight from Joy the Baker. But let me just tell you, these are the most incredible…

September 25, 2012 Jesi 1Comment

I don’t want to count my chickens before they hatch, but I’m pretty sure I’ve officially survived another Boston summer.  It’s a little too early to say for sure– we could still have a couple of muggy days ahead– but for several days now, the air has been crisp and…

September 16, 2012 Jesi 2Comment

What a whirlwind few weeks!  In the very silly, very awesome movie Rat Race, a character says, “Good things take time.  Great things happen all at once.”  This may or may not be true in all cases, but the latest great thing to happen to me definitely happened in a…

September 2, 2012 Jesi 3Comment

I am a big, big fan of podcasts.  Is that weird?  It feels like such an early-2000s thing to say.  But it’s true– I really love podcasts.  When you live in a city and rely on public transportation, portable music and headphones are an absolute must.  Otherwise, you’ll be forced…

August 29, 2012 Jesi

Well, friends, this is a momentous occasion, indeed: Notes on Sugar’s very first cocktail post.  I haven’t exactly beaten around the bush about my affection for bourbon-based drinks; if you’ll recall, my very first post involved a big, fat bottle of Woodford Reserve and a Manhattan that had very little…

August 22, 2012 Jesi 1Comment

One of the electives that I took in grad school was a food history class, which functioned not so much like a class, but rather like a really intense book club.  When the professor handed out the syllabus on the first day, the reading list included not only a new…

August 15, 2012 Jesi 2Comment

For the past few weeks, I have been obsessed with Project Runway.  And I mean obsessed with a capital O.  We’re only on episode four of the current season, but so far, those few episodes have done nothing but whet my appetite for more.  Fortunately, in addition to its many…