Snuggie-licious weekend

While the cat's away, the mice will play. The cat in this scenario is Brian and the mice are the Sacramento girls. This weekend Jen, Carolyn, Carmen, Katy, Lisa (Page) and Lisa (Marie) came to San Francisco to celebrate Carolyn's birthday and my birthday! We had a great time full of food, games, cocktails, karaoke, and even a SNUGGIE!

That's right, Jen gave me a Snuggie for my birthday and I have to say I love it! And I've never been so popular on Facbeook.

My favorite comments so far = "May the force be with you," "You look like you're ready to sing on the church pulpit," and "You could be the Snuggie Spokesmodel." Why, thank you!

At dinner: Lisa Marie, Katie, Carolyn, Jen, Lisa, Carmen and Katy

With Katy at KT's

LMB and KCN celebrating birthdays AND Mardi Gras.

Coming soon: Pros and cons of Snuggie life. Don't get me wrong, I love it. There are a few things I've already learned you probably shouldn't do while donning one.

Keeping the Flame Alive (in the Kitchen!)

This week was really busy for me socially, with something to do just about every night after work. On Tuesday, I met an old friend and co-worker (and then, by chance, new friends that evening). On Wednesday, I attended my first Yelp event with Jen's sister, Becca (very fun and great freebies!). On Thursday, I went to see "He's Just Not That Into You" with one of the girls I met Tuesday and some of her friends, so all in all it was a packed week. By Friday, I was in desperate need of a workout and a relaxing evening at home.

Yesterday was the first time Valentine's Day has fallen on a weekend night since Brian and I have been living together, and it was nice to celebrate on the actual day rather than a few days before/after due to his schedule. Most of you probably know how much I DON'T love Valentine's Day, but we always enjoy a nice dinner together and exchange cards. We started a tradition on our first Valentine's Day six years ago of Brian cooking dinner for me, and we've continued that ever since (with the exception of our year apart).

That first year, back in 2003, Brian was still wooing me so he pulled out all the stops (or at least he tried). I was a senior in college and he was a young news producer trying to impress his girlfriend. When I got to his apartment, he had spread out a red tablecloth and matching napkins, lit candles and served the food in heart shaped plates! I'm not sure if we still have the tablecloth, but we always eat our V-Day meals in heart shaped plates (though technically, we're on the second generation now - the originals bit the dust in the dishwasher a few years ago).

The menu is always a surprise. This year Brian decided to make an "RW meal," as I called it. Read: NY strip steaks, baked potatoes, broccoli and tossed salads. While I sipped a delicious cabernet we've been saving for a while, Brian got everything ready in the kitchen. It seemed a little disorganized but very sweet, so I didn't worry too much.

Until the smoke detector went off. You see, we don't have a grill so Brian was broiling the steaks. He had just checked them and thought the reason the smoke detector went off was because he opened the oven door (and I let him know that's not really normal). So I opened the oven door and saw flames shooting from the bottom broiler...one of the steaks was on fire! Luckily, it was just around the edge and went out quickly. Crisis averted (barely). I felt kind of bad that I had to intervene, but in the end we were both glad. And honestly, the steaks came out quite nicely, one of them just a little tiny charred bit on the side. A little natural grill flavoring, if you will.

If you read Brian's Facebook status message, you might think Brian's hanging up his apron, but I think he's already had a change of heart. He said next year, he's going with a simple past dish. Fine with me, as long as it's served in heart-shaped plates.

By the way, we enjoyed this dessert recipe for chocolate ricotta mousse. Not exactly like regular mousse but VERY easy and quite good.

Pineapple Portion Control

For the most part, Brian and I are healthy eaters. We cook most foods at home using lots of fresh fruits and veggies, lean meats, and little added fats. If it weren't for portion control, we'd probably be thin as rails!

My addictions to food - from light-hearted to serious - are well-documented. I'm happy to say that for the most part, most things except my proclivities towards ice cream are now under control. Brian, however, has recently developed a problem.

And that problem is pineapple, of all things.

For years, he's been known to polish off a pound of grapes in a single sitting. Now he's turned his sights to the tasty tropical treat from the islands.

The problem is that he has been eating entire pineapples in one day. The first time, he played it off since he ate some of it after work one night and the rest of it the following morning. Still, I said, that's an entire pineapple in less than 12 hours.

While he was out yesterday, I sliced up another pineapple and put it in the fridge without a single bite for myself. I got up this morning and the container was in the sink, completely empty. Who sits down and eats an entire pineapple? Apparently Brian does.

So what's the damage? A pound of grapes has between 275-300 calories. An entire pineapple apparently has about 450 calories. That's a lot of vitamin C, but it's also a lot of sugar.

At least it's better than chocolate chip cookie dough.

Thcrabble

Shout out to Nicole for discovering this gem! This one's for the Neal family, Jen, Jen, LMB and everyone else who loves Thcrabble.

Where's the Cheese?

After four hours of underwhelming Super Bowl commercial breaks, I found myself asking, "where's the cheese?" No, not cheesy commercials as in the Bob Dylan/Will.I.am Pepsi commercial... I mean Velveeta.

The Super Bowl traditionally signals an uptick in Velveeta sales - up to 50% - according to Kraft, making it a popular staple of football parties everywhere. Despite it's unsurpassed melt-ability, however, overall Velveeta sales have dipped recently. Apparently not everyone has the same soft spot for the processed cheese loaf in my life many of us Southerners nurture. (After all you can mix it with anything!)

Economic outlook and personal feelings aside, Velveeta did something quite clever with its marketing dollars this year. Instead of shelling out $3 million for a Super Bowl ad this year, it hosted a contest with viral roots, tapping into its key consumers and building buzz among likely-to-buy audiences. With articles in the WSJ and on CNBC.com, the buzz surrounding the "House Party" reached audience far greater - and more diverse - than the 15,000 women who applied.

While it remains to be seen if Velveeta's "House Party" will translate into pushing cheese loaves off the shelf, Kraft's marketing initiatives distinguish the company from its competitors.

GoDaddy.com should take note.