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By Adrianna, March 8, 2010

Everyone is always on the look out for a weeknight meal. Sometimes I feel like telling people to relax and just eat a bowl of cereal like I do.  But then I remember that a lot of people have kids and dogs and Franklins, and bowls of cereal just won’t do.  Rather than being concerned about a weeknight meal, I’m always more concerned about an easy weekend morning breakfast.  When I wake up a little late and maybe recovering from the night before, going to the store to get fresh ingredients and slaving over the stove doesn’t sound too appealing.  Lucky for you, my weekend breakfast can also be your weeknight meal.  This, like the Croque Madame I made a few weeks ago, is a unisex type meal–it can be breakfast, lunch or dinner. And with only 3 main ingredients, (bread, eggs and a can of plum tomatoes) it’s the easiest thing in the world to make.  You can do it hungover, super sleepy, or super stressed. All is well!

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By Adrianna, March 3, 2010

I have a dream.  Not, like, an important dream mind you–well to me it is–but to no one else.  It goes something like this:  I live on a farm, in the middle of nowhere, like …oh…I dunno, say Colorado, and I have a husband and he’s awesome and I probably have kids and they’re awesome too.  But the part of the dream that makes me most excited is that I have a pet pig. A really cute pet pig.  And his name is probably something really proper like Howard…or Franklin, and me and this…Franklin are inseparable.  We go for swims in the pond, he waits for me by the front door when I go and run errands,  he sleeps by my bedside, we play in the mud together, and when no one’s looking, I give Franklin kisses. Because that’s what I do with animals I love…I kiss them, even if other people think it’s gross.

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By Adrianna, February 21, 2010

I sometimes wish I could have conversations with my past, younger self…here’s a conversation between Little and Big Adrianna that I wish I could have:

Big Adrianna: Hey…geez you’re tiny.

Little Adrianna: You’re tiny too and you’re supposed to be a grown adult. Umm…I don’t mean to be a harsh, but you don’t look like Cindy Crawford. People tell me I’m gonna grow up to look like her.

Big Adrianna:  I know I know, disappointing.  I’m not as rich either. Oh and by the way, sweet punch stain on your upper lip. Classy.

Little Adrianna: I like Hawaiian Punch, sue me. Hmm…well, your hair is pretty.

Big A: Oh yea…way nicer. I mean, I have to blow it straight and I need this fancy straightening cream and a flat iron…but it works, you know.

Little A: Yeah, totally…well, you look really happy.

Big A: I am…really happy.

Little A: Is it as hard as they say? You know, life…

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By Adrianna, February 13, 2010

I secretly LOVE Valentine’s Day.  I mean, how can I not? I LOVE love!  Here’s a small little list of what I’m loving right now:

I love my family dog, Chuck, mainly because he has weird habits like biting his nails and smelling his ear wax. He’s weird. Like me.  Also, his paws smell like chips, particularly Fritos.

I love my family because all of them, in their own way, have taught me how to be a human being.

I love my friends because they can make me laugh ’til I cry.

I love small stuff like sleeping in without having an alarm set, my tempur-pedic pillow, french pressed coffee…and…umm…this blog. I really do love this thing.

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By Adrianna, February 3, 2010

Biscuits rule, period.  Sadly, I didn’t always know this. Yeah, it’s true.  Even though I was born in the South and was raised by parents who spent most of their youth in the South, biscuits weren’t part of my childhood. This is mainly due to the fact that my mother was not much of a baker and, in general, my parents are not huge fans of Southern food.  In fact, my first real introduction to biscuits was a random trip to Kentucky Fried Chicken—and from then on, I was hooked.  Yes, I’ll proudly say that KFC has some pretty glorious biscuits. Everyday after tennis practice, on my way home, I’d go through the drive-thru and order two biscuits with honey and butter.  It was heaven in a to-go bag.

These biscuits are also heaven, even though they’re nothing like KFC’s biscuits. I’ll even go so far to say that these are better–much better.  Don’t believe me? Well, here are a few reasons why my biscuits stomp the KFC competition.

#1 All of the ingredients in my biscuits are pronounceable.

#2 These biscuits aren’t meal-specific.  You can have them for breakfast, lunch, dinner and even for a random snack, if you like.  They’re like um…a unisex shirt, or a shirt that’s ’size fits all.’  I love when stuff is like that.

#3 They have cheese in them.  The end.

Verdict: I win!

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By Adrianna, January 27, 2010

I’m a huge advocate of winter.  If winter ever needed a representative to defend him or herself in the court of law, winter should give me a ring.  For me, winter signifies a time of cuddling, celebrating holidays, eating comforting foods and…not sweating. Yeah, I despise sweating. But sometimes, I must admit, winter can be a huge bummer.  The dreary, cold days get old after a while so I think that’s why winter citrus is so crucial to my January happiness.  Every time I go to the market, the ray of citrus sunshine that comes from the produce department makes me giddy.  The brightness from the meyer lemons, honey bells, clementines–and my recent love–blood oranges, can turn any dreary day into a sunny one.

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By Adrianna, January 19, 2010

Breakfast is by far my favorite meal of the day, but despite my heavy addiction to pancakes, (which you’ll find here, here…and here) I hardly ever make them during the workweek.  I’d much rather opt for sleep than wake up early to prepare a full breakfast. Instead, I usually just make myself a blueberry smoothie which takes less than 5 minutes.  But as it’s recently been damp, chilly and rainy in LA, a cold smoothie simply does not sound appealing.

I always gaze at the marble loafs and sugary-coated scones at Starbucks and dream of eating them, but having a sugar rush first thing in the morning isn’t what I want. So, to hit the spot, I’ve moved my attention to something just as healthy as my smoothie, but with less sugar than the marble loafs I lust over—Granola Blueberry Muffins. Surprisingly they’re just as flavorful and easy to make.

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By Adrianna, January 11, 2010

I realized something about myself today.  Olive oil is my thing.

When I was 12 or 13, I received a spa cookbook for my birthday and became hooked on mixing up oatmeal masks, honey hair treatments and avocado masks.  Why my 12 year old self needed any sort of facial mask is another story.  But  I think I just liked the idea of cracking eggs in my hair and slapping oatmeal on my face; it seemed so neat and kinda retro. Now, the thought of slathering avocado all over my face sounds sort of weird, and plus, I’d probably just end up eating it anyway, which is even weirder. I know.

Anyway, I didn’t think much of it when I picked this pound cake out of a book of 200 or so recipes. Lemon Olive Oil Pound Cake? I’m there. Sooo there. I then went to get ready for the day and grabbed my olive oil face wash and then put on this olive oil body lotion. And then I stopped. Whoa…I umm…really like olive oil. I guess I’m not so far off from my 12 year old self.  I still put food on my face thinking it’ll make me pretty. Hmmm…interesting.

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By Adrianna, December 30, 2009

New Years is approaching at lightening speed and for everyone that means coming up with a new lame New Years resolution, which will inevitably be broken or given up on by the third week in January.  So in lieu of attempting to not be a total failure at the beginning of a new year, I’ve decided to set a resolution that I know I can’t screw up.  Ready for it?  My New Years resolution for 2010: Drink more water. That’s it. Drink more water.  It’ll leave me with clearer skin, no more headaches due to dehydration, more energy, and a healthier body overall.  Not too shabby right? I feel like I can take this on. I’ve even gone so far as to buy a cute polka dot canteen that I plan on toting around with me everywhere I go.

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By Adrianna, December 21, 2009

Uhohhh! It’s a few days before Christmas and I haven’t done a lick of Christmas shopping. I guess you could say I’ve been distracted doing other random things, like sleeping for 14 hrs straight…and watching past seasons of Top Chef…and, uh, watching episode after episode of Avec Eric (which by the way, if you haven’t watched you’re totally missing out).  I essentially have had better things to do then gear up and go to the wretched mall.  And since I’ve waited so long, I can’t order anything online without being penalized by high shipping costs, but still I’m not too worried.  I have a feeling I’ll just make myself some pancakes and this hot chocolate and my problems will go away.

And plus, here at A Cozy Kitchen we’ve been busy doing other “life” stuff…like getting proposed to. Yep, you’ve heard right. Just nights ago Chase got on one knee and asked his lady, Caroline, to marry him.  It’s pretty exciting stuff and I’m totally psyched to plan a wedding cake, if not make it myself, which I’m secretly scared to do. One thing Caroline and I have talked about, of course, is the cake…and we’re both leaning toward a red velvet cake with a butter cream frosting. So in lieu of my Caroline becoming an honest woman, I bring you the liquid, winter version of her future cake: Red Velvet Hot Chocolate with Cream Cheese Whipped Cream!

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