"We Got More Bounce In California Than All Yall Combined"

Clockwise from the top : Big Bang Theory, Chinese takeout, Gilmore Girls, The O.C.

Confession time: I have some weird habits. I love to get whole seasons of TV shows on DVD and watch all the episodes back to back. This is not without some side effects. I tend toward funky dreams where I share intimacies with the characters from the show, I imagine that I've spotted members of the cast out in random places they would never be (driving a garbage truck?), and I start to crave the food they're eating in each episode.

"I Nutella Resse's" or "A Little Sweat Ain't Never Hurt Nobody"

One summer when I was 18 I got into this phase where all I would do was listen to Beyoncé's B'day Album and bake peanut butter cookies. I must have baked at least 8 different batches, tweaking the recipe over and over until I got what I thought was the perfect taste. As deliciously toe curling as I can remember that very last batch to be, I must have lost interest, or found a new boy or something because once I finished with my magnum opus I never bothered to write down the recipe. * face palm* This week I had a surplus of Reese's lying around (what?! how does that happen?!) from a recipe that never came into being, and so I got to thinking that maybe maybe the peanut butter gods had a message for me...

"Love Potions" or "Pork Is A Nice Sweet Meat"

yes, I accidentally squashed those poor sad roses

Bacon I think is the food of love. Not only is the mere the sight of it enough to bring a dreamy look into they eyes of carnivores everywhere, but when paired with beer, has been known to even bring tears to the eyes of grown men. And its' delicious hot pink stripes totally fits in with the whole Vday color scheme. And if that doesn't convince you, it was at least the perfect salt lick pairing for the box of chocolates I was gifted and will not confess to eating all in one day.( Hey what happens on V day...) Personally I think bacon should be the official food of Valentine's day. What could BE more romantic? What? Chocolate? Champagne and Strawberries? Pshaww!

"There's a Tie on the Doorknob" or "Conejito"

To the cream in my coffee,my giver of rubz, my nutella thief, my hand holder, my devoted taste tester of kitchen disasters, my lover,my bf and my companion through the good, the bad, and the supremely awesome; te quiero, mi amor. To everyone else, Happy Valentine's day. I'll update on our Valentine's food adventures once we're done having them.

"Black Key Lime Pie" or "Palm Trees, Flat Broke Disease"

Warning*: If you're at the gym bouncing around the elliptical trying to beat those winter blues and you notice through the giant window that it's started snowing again AND it just so happens the Black Keys are on your ipod playing slide guitar and crooning about palm trees, you might start to seriously cry your eyes out crave key lime pie. Be ready, have that pie whipped up and IN YOUR FRIDGE before you step foot in a gym. Do not be caught unprepared.

*= most likely only applies to me

Thinking of You: Ashley

me (left) and my sister Ashley

My sister and I are like day and night. We lived in the same house together for 16 years and I'm pretty sure the only things we had in common were barbies when we were young and Johnny Depp movies when we grew up. She's adventurous, social, brainy, while I'm sort of a dreamy old fashioned homebody, I always wanted to be like her, but it never really worked out.

My sister and I live what seems like worlds apart these days and often times when I'm in the market, things that once made me cringe seem to make their way into my basket because the remind me of her.

"Meat + Cheese 4 Eva" or "The Super Bowl's a Holiday, Right?"

One of my new years resolutions was to  learn about and celebrate random traditions that are new to me, and keeping with that personal promise I decided to celebrate the meatiest, cheesiest of America's assumed holidays; Super Bowl Sunday.

"Winter Madness Sets in" or "It's Summer in Australia"

There is nothing like a wintertime funk to make you crave something warm and exotic