Fall Listing

I’m back in California (for the 4th time this year…) so I wanted to put this out to you to comment one while I’m gone. I fear my fall is getting gobbled up (get it? haha!) life is just always crazy busy, isn’t it? I have a few fall favorites I hope to make before winter when I’ll probably come up with a new list. I’m considering my fall/self imposed deadline to be pre-Thanksgiving. I made a list last fall but want to complete one this time!

This fall I’ll be whipping up:

1) Pumpkin coffee cake or pumpkin pull apart bread, or pumpkin granola etc. Regular pumpkin bread or muffins doesn’t count. <check it out here!>

2) Something fun in the crock pot. By fun, I mean we’ll eat it at least 4 times so we’d better like it! <check it out here!>

3) A cranberry bevvie (I put this on last year’s fall list and overlooked it) <check it out here!>

4) Soup of some sort.

5) A pasta dish that isn’t our “we-don’t-have-anything-for-dinner” option. <check it out here!>

 

Any suggestions to help me complete any of these bad boys?

Roundup: Birthday Boy’s Favs

Today is Mr. J’s birthday. I looove birthdays (as seen here and here). He isn’t as into birthdays as I am, but luckily he humors me. I’m super jazzed about the dinner I thought of for tonight (stay tuned). Hopefully it works!

In honor of his birthday I’m giving you a little collection or list of some of his favs! Happy birthday Mr. J!

He liked this Thanksgiving Sandwich I made recently (yes, no timely connection or anything)

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And he surprisingly fell for broccoli & cheddar soup in breadbowls
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and he was into these Greek Meatball Wraps
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and the guy loves his Chinese food
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He embraced Neapolitan pizza when we were in Italy on our honeymoon. We’ve recreated since then and I perfected it…I dare say.
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He loved this Balsamic Citrus Chicken though the photos don’t do it justice.
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I hope he has a fantastic birthday. He’s amazing beyond words and deserves it. He has suffered through some of my mishaps and willingly eats pretty much anything I make. He patiently waits for me to photograph his meal before taking a bite and is my biggest supporter…blog and live-wise. The pup and I have lots of fun surprises for him!

Check out his amazingness here on his guest blog.  Better yet, check out his blog here! Go ahead, leave him a comment for his birthday!

List: Post Event

I have lots of sleep to get caught up, a mound of laundry, a husband, family, friends and pup who may have felt neglected by me, and probably multiple emails to catch up on but I’ve been formulating a list of what I want to accomplish after my event is over this season. I work all year for an event this past weekend. It is crazy but as we say in the biz, we chose this life. The thousands of people who participated last weekend raised millions of dollars and changed the lives of medically uninsured or underinsured, in addition to their own.

Once I get my life back together and once I know which end is up, I’m wanting to tackle some of these things:
Pull apart bread, like this or this or maybe I’ll try a do-over on this
Pot du crème like this
Some sort of crazy salsa (and by crazy, I mean with grilled pineapple or tomatillos or something unusual)
Ricotta
Dip
My own pizza dough

My head is spinning. Stay tuned, and tell me, what should I make?

Just Like The Terminator

…I’ll be back. I need a bit more time since I am settling into my new home. We JUST got internet and cable and have made our way through the boxes. Work is nutty and post-holiday craziness is subsiding, so we’re getting there!

I have some exciting tidbits for you, when I do come back. Here are some morsels you can salivate over until I return in full force:

  • a google-hosted mac & cheese tasting: 5 mac and cheeses…count ’em
  • 2 amazing Christmases
  • maybe some resolutions for the new year
  • a tour of my dare-I-say amazing kitchen (complete with new-to-us but from-the-wedding gifts!)
  • a cookie swap at one of Boston’s best bakeries
  • pumpkin pasta
  • tomato zucchini risotto
  • etc etc etc

See ya soon!

1st Blogaversary

Happy Blogaversary to The Three Bite Rule!

Can you believe The Three Bite Rule is a year old today?!?! Wow. I cannot believe it’s been 365 days with 139 posts and 667 photos and lots of techie learning along the way. This year has been full of changes, travel, our wedding, job changing, new kitchen equipment, and so much more.

In celebration I’d love to make some goals for year 2 of the blog and extend some awards.

Goals for year 2:

1 – Some behind the scenes growing up and some website changes: I need a better archive system/recipe index; biz cards; pinterest follow icon; and to finally figure out why my tweets like to repeat. I’m sure there are some other items that need tweaking too.

2 – I would love to improve my photos…I’m sure you’d love that too! I desperately want a kitchen with a window but in the meantime I need a better lighting set up. I got an amazing camera but the lack of natural light and too much yellow light annoys me when photo editing. Stay tuned.

3 – More guest posts: come on down! (email emily@thethreebiterule.com for details)

4 – Get a bit better about prepping posts further in advance. Ever notice they appear at 7:30 or 11:30? Well, I’m spilling the beans that no, I’m not hitting “send” before/during work. I schedule them to appear.

5 – More Giveaways. Scratch that. Some giveaways. Wouldn’t that be fun?

6 – More restaurant recreations, more food round ups, more food/drink related crafts, & more unusual stuff.

7 – Move to a house with real kitchen unlike my current apartment kitchen which drives me nutty. Then all my new kitchen toys can come out to play!

8 – Preview of coming attractions so you can get excited before I even post ‘em!

9 – Host more often so I can share with others and learn more from different tastes.

10 – Be more creative.

Now, for some superlatives:

Party Animal: Mac & Cheese Taste-Off
This was my favorite party of the year. I was blown away that we had 10 entries! Wow! Delicious! I was too busy having a wonderful time to take many photos. You get the idea though, right?
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Best Dressed: Tangy Asian Wings
I was happy with the photos of these and thought these were the best looking plates.
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Most Likely to be Famous: Life Savor Fundraiser Event
This meal was so memorable. I loved all the courses, the wine pairings, how the restaurant really went all out, and all the choices.
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Biggest Meal Surprise: Ranch Chicken Burgers and Apple Slaw
I was surprised how amazing this meal was. I mean I knew it would be good but I was bowled over! I hadn’t made a burger inside before and it was a really pleasant surprise.
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Biggest Flop: Baked Orzo Flop
This dish was just sad and it didn’t even taste better than it looks. Bahh.
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Most Likely to Succeed: Calzones
Calzones are my signature dish and always seem to be a success!
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Proudest Moment: Meatballs
I hadn’t made them myself before but totally should more often…especially given my beef-less life!
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Best Supporting Actor: Butternut Squash Risotto
For Valentines Day at home I made some bbq pork ribs and butternut squash risotto. This side dish was sooo good. As Rachael would say…yum-o!
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Thanks to everyone who reads, comments, follows, subscribes, and supports me and The Three Bite Rule!

Love Lists

I love lists. I’ll admit it. Most people do.

I keep my daily to-dos at work as a running word-doc to avoid all the paper. My life to-dos are spread between 4 apps, shared google docs with the hubby, and the occasional post-it or white board note. I keep a grocery list on a shared app which was a genius invention even-though we rarely shop unplanned without coordinating with one another.

I think my lists make me more accountable and it’s just so fun to cross stuff of of there! Here a new list…probably the first of many. I define fall as pre-December.

Fall “To Cook” List:

  • Pumpkin Pancakes (I made them as waffles a long time ago) <find it here!>
  • Some sort of stew (I’m thinking maybe lamb & lentils?)
  • An annual apple crisp attempt (that won’t ever compare to my mother’s) <find it here!>
  • stuffing (I don’t like to call is dressing so stuffing is what I’ll make!)
  • some sort of cranberry cocktail (when I relocated our liquor I unearthed lots of cranberry vodka)
  • rosemary cashews (I made these in August but didn’t blog ’em…addicting) <find it here!>
  • risotto (I bought some in Italy!) <find it here!>
  • coconut shrimp (just want to make it…it doesn’t have to be summer, right?) <find it here!>

Most are thematic but if I just need an excuse or when inspiration is lacking, I’ll be back…and I’ll be checkin’ stuff offa there! Have any recipes you suggest for these?

Stay tuned!