Hungry Planet

a look at what families around the world eat for a month...super fascinating.

Albondigas

super simple and delicious, albondigas is the best chilly weather food. you can google it for a billion recipes, but i’m sure none will be as good and as seriously easy as my friend nancy’s. after all, while once eating some of hers, her young son miguel proclaimed “mom, THIS IS THE LIFE!”

-sauté a bit of onion and tomato in a soup pot until the onion is clear and the tomato is broken down

-nancy does beef albondigas, so she would next add water and beef consume (or stock). i like turkey, so i add chicken stock and water

-add in whatever vegetables you want- zucchini, potatoes, carrots…

-mix the meat with a pinch of white rice, shape into small-ish meatballs and set in to the soup

-simmer until all is cooked through

-top your bowl with shredded raw cabbage, lime and tapatio and eat it with warm tortillas.

They Invented Pesto

,
every american traveling in italy is doing so with the help of the book. you think he is totally lame. he is. but every person- EVERY PERSON is hiding the book in their backpack. and he tells us all to go to cinque terre. he writes over and over how amazing it is. everyone goes. everyone. it is crowded with people hiding the book in their backpacks. but it is so worth it. go. so worth it. it looks like this photograph with your own eyes. and stay at the hostel. they are very kind and will break the rules and let you sleep all day in your bunk on your too-much-pesto-and-limoncello deathbed and watch out your window as little grandmoms pick basil and lemons from their tiny terrace gardens carved into the sides of the mountain.

Khao Pun

some of my favorite family gatherings have not been my own but my friend sarah’s. and, honestly, that is pretty much because they feature gigantic pots of
khao pun. as demonstrated by lorena above, khao pun is basically a bundle of noodles with a brothy sauce ladled on top and then covered with tons and tons of herbs (mint, cilantro, basil…), lettuces and lime. it’s so fresh and addictive. and goes really well with shots of hennessy taken out of risqué shot glasses wielded by sarah's grandparents.

Coatsey's Corner

hockey time means coatsey’s corner time and that is a good time.

Art Hearts

so cute and happy, chris uphues’ work is awesome. he painted the exterior of the fred flare office with his sweet rainbow hearts. i saw them in person over the summer and they are so fun and random- smiling heart faces in the middle of a block of warehouses.

Best Strawberries. Hands Down.

weaver’s orchard is just plain awesome. family owned and operated, they’ve expanded a lot over the years but still are the nicest, friendliest folks to grow apples ever. you can pick your own stuff or, for the lazybones/fair skinned, they have a jam-packed store full of their amazing produce (and amazing samples of it all too-bonus!) plus they have a nice ye old amish country selection of goods for the tourist in you. but the best thing (besides the baby goats outside and the peach milkshakes at their summer festival) is the cider- fresh pressed in the fall or sold in little cider popsicles in the summer.

Lumpia Party

my friend rita first introduced me to lumpia, in particular lumpia shanghai (pictured) and turron. i wish i could find a better picture of turron…it’s sweet plantains wrapped up spring roll-style, fried and covered with melty brown sugar or honey. serrrriously. lumpia party at my house!

Hola/Bonjour

the taco tote. pretty much the best thing that ever happened. ever.

Portulaca

we have a few varieties of portulaca growing in our backyard oasis this summer. they just bloom and bloom with barely any work. and the colors are super serious summer.

Summer Love

let's talk nails. for serious.

Carne Asada Fries

my friend michelle offered me some carne asada fries on a particularly bad day (good day, in retrospect) and my life was changed forever. they are basically an entire carne asada burrito on a pile of french fries. I KNOW, RIGHT!!! in all ways it is just the best thing imaginable. totally unnecessary, completely unhealthy and totally shame inducing when you eat them all yourself (especially when you do this completely sober and fully aware of your actions) but so good. so good. my favorite are from los panchos but, seriously, get them anywhere you can.

PS: if you know where to find these in philly, please let me know!

Not The Best Name

it’s called a dik-dik and is possibly the cutest thing ever. it looks like a cartoon.

Hot & Fresh Out The Oven

according to the wiki on pretzels, the average american eats 2 pounds of pretzels a year. the average philadelphian eats…20 pounds! staggering/disgusting/totally makes me want a pretzel. PS: not my favorite ever of all time: wawa's new salt-melting plastic pretzel bags!

Hedgehog in The Fog

My Little Pony

someone randomly mentioned mini horses/ponies to me recently and it changed my life. they are so teeny tiny that you can have one as an indoor pet (they can be housebroken like a dog.) plus they often wear shoes! and not regular old iron horseshoes- sneakers and heels and such. why? i really don’t know, but why question it? let the mini pony wear the sneakers. the smallest of all is thumbelina at 57 pounds! she travels the world for charity (so keep an eye out for her) and resides in a magical land called “st. louis”. mini ponies! oh man!

Icing Fries. Nuff Said.

have you ever seen anything more amazing in all of your life? doubtful! even the fries are made of fondant! there are many different takes on the hamburger cake, but i really think this is the best yet.

Top 5 Favorite Things (You Don't Want Anyone to Know About)

i hate the term "guilty pleasure"... mostly because i got no shame in my game and fully admit that i have questionable tastes in most things. but there are still a few little things that i love that, while i'll admit them to anyone, i am just a little shameful of.

top5 secret favorite things ever of all time
-ramen noodles
-howard stern
-country music
-good housekeeping (the magazine, not the practice)
-suburban shopping centers

Hallelujah Holla Back

the first baptist church of oakeola sounds like the best place ever. plus they ain't hatin'.

Love You, Hate The World

love you, hate the world
-josh. possibly the best ever ending of an email of all time.

i can’t watch movies with girls in big skirts.
-mac, referring to marie antoinette

my stomach is about to crest.
-mark/puddles, during an intense round of 3-man

i can’t find myself.
-darren. existential pondering or drunken mumbling? a little of both?

i love amazing things!
-casey

I’m so done with strippers.
-jeremy

who passes out at the dinner table?
-jo, the morning after she had done just that

this sandwich is falling apart, just like my life!
-amy

the people are all just so nice. except the ones who aren’t.
-beth’s observation on the south

when a conversation starts marking you sober- time to end it.
-jeremy. full of wisdom. always.

here’s another interesting statement…
-zach, prefacing something surely interesting

can you wear glitter?
-marissa, preparing for my birthday celebration

is this thing in alphabetical order or what?
-jeremy looking for his grandmother’s grave at a cemetery

i feel like we haven’t talked about rainbows in awhile.
-i’m not sure who said this, but i wrote it down and i love it.

jesus gets all the chicks
-dan k

wow! it would be awesome to collect dice, wouldn’t it?
-casey

Pleased To Meet You

this has 37,735 views on youtube and i probably account for about 32,000 of them. before i saw the subtitled version i thought the pizza slice said "pleased to meet you" and it instantly made me want to eat at pizza-la. how can you pass up a well-mannered pizza?