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Welcome to the new format of the Friday Foodie Feature. As a blogger it is so important to me to be able to share different perspectives from the food, wine, and travel worlds, so I wanted to keep the Friday Foodie Feature but change the format a little. Going forward, I will continue to feature a fellow blogger each Friday, but it is completely up to the individual what to include. I am seeking foodies for future Fridays, so please email me if you are interested in contributing.

Today’s feature is Jen from Twenty-Something and Starving. Jen is not only a blogger, but she is the cousin of my long time neighbors and friends back in NJ, so I have known her since she was little. It makes me feel old to see her all grown up! My mom and sister were at a christening this past spring (which I missed due to the Boston Marathon), found out about Jen’s blog, and I have been a fan ever since. She has a great writing voice and professional quality photos and recipes and is definitely someone to follow.

Twenty-Something and Starving

Well, hello! I’m Jen, and I am the mastermind behind Twenty-Something and Starving.

I started Twenty-Something and Starving in September for my Online Journalism class. My professor said we needed to choose a topic we were passionate about, and I knew instantly that I had to choose food.
I’ve always loved food. I remember growing up, I would spend weekends at my Dad’s house, and he would always plan something elaborate for our Saturday dinners and Sunday breakfasts and I loved helping and spending time in the kitchen.

I’ve always loved writing, too. My most famous piece of writing  – at least according to my Mom – is one I wrote in the first grade about a penguin that lived in my freezer. Ha. Clearly I’ve always had a sense of humor, too!
When the semester ended and my Online Journalism class was over, I chose to continue blogging because I grew to love it!!

In the last 10 or so months, my life has changed so much.  I graduated from college. I left my home state of New Jersey (and moved next door to Pennsylvania.). I’m attempting to plan a wedding. Sheesh. It sounds even crazier when I write it all out. Blogging has been an amazing outlet for me. It takes two things in my life that are constant and that I love and turns them into something other people can enjoy, too! And that makes me so, so happy.
If I had to pick my favorite post I would say that it’s actually a video project I did for my class about Joloff Rice, a traditional and rather tasty African dish. My favorite recipe, though, is for my Chicken and Corn Chowder. I love soup. So much.  It’s hard to really pick my favorite food, but soup may actually take the cake. Heh. Cake is good, too. But in all seriousness – soup is so versatile and typically pretty healthy and tasty and yum.

Anywho, my blog is still kind of a baby, I guess. I haven’t even been blogging for a year yet. However, I do have 50 original recipes and my plan is that once I get to 100, I’m going to start compiling my recipes into a Twenty-Something and Starving cookbook! I already have a layout planned in my head, but that’s the Journalism major in me! What started out as a class assignment has really become quite an adventure for me, and it’s one I plan to continue for as long as people keep enjoying it. 🙂

Tags: Food, Guest Blogger, recipes

I may be a little obsessed with the sriracha and corn combo that I discovered at Myers + Chang and posted about yesterday. There is something about the sweetness of the corn, the spice of the sriracha, and the yummy, melty butter that scream summer in a hot, gourmet kinda way. Since I can’t eat just corn for dinner, I brainstormed with some of the fresh ingredients that we had in the house to come up with a healthy, filling, and easy to cook meal.

shrimp, corn, arugula, heirloom tomatoes

I shucked and boiled the corn on the cob until it was about 3/4 the way cooked. In the meantime, I was cleaning a bunch of medium sized shrimp and getting them into a pan with a few drops of olive oil on low heat.

shrimp, corn, arugula, heirloom tomatoes

Once the shrimp were pink on one side, I cut the corn off of the cob and tossed it into the pan of shrimp. Then the magic began. I added 3 small pats of butter and a bunch of sriracha and stirred the shrimp and corn until fully coated. Two minutes later, everything was cooked, and I added the shrimp and corn to a bed of fresh arugula and heirloom tomatoes.

shrimp, arugula, heirloom tomatoes, corn

Simple and delicious! This was another home run meal, if I do say so myself. I have been really enjoying the intense heat and the fresh, local food that summer has brought upon us. I really feel like I FINALLY feel thawed out after the winter! As everyone else is complaining about the heat, I reflect back on those Boston Marathon training days. . . and look ahead to this year, knowing that I will crave the summer heat then!

While cooking, I had a tiny glass of a great wine that I picked up at The Urban Grape last week. The 2007 Aramis is deep purple in color, as you can see in the photo on the right. I loved swirling it around in my glass and looking at it’s lovely color in the summer sunlight 🙂

Interestingly, the first night that I tried this wine, I got lots of dark berry flavors, but after I poured a glass from the day old bottle, I got an intense whiff of cocoa before the fruit came through. This wine feels round and luscious in the mouth and has a long, smooth finish. It is really an exceptional wine and was among many great choices that were open for the tasting.

Aramis Vineyards Shiraz Cabernet Aramis Shiraz Cabernet

This is not necessarily what most people would consider an ideal wine for a 100 degree evening, but for some reason I often want to drink red wine over white, even when it is hot out.

I can’t believe we are leaving for California so soon, after such a great long weekend! I am a little stressed. . . I always get stressed when we travel even though we do it pretty often. Often I just worry about my cats, but this time my cousin will be housesitting which is nice. I don’t know, I feel like leaving home takes away from of the control from this control freak 😉 Does that make sense? I am of course really excited and have some great restaurants, winery visits, and boating on Lake Sonoma planned.

Do you get stressed when traveling?

Tags: Aramis Vineyards, arugula, corn, healthy recipes, heirloom tomatoes, recipes, salad, Shiraz Cabernet, shrimp, sriracha, summer, Urban Grape, wine

I love food, I love wine, I love to cook, I love events and eating out, and I love to write. You probably already knew that, considering the food and wine blog and all, but while steaming artichokes, chopping lemons, and photographing the whole process last night it hit me. Months ago, my focus was blog traffic, and it made me miserable. I spent so much time trying to figure out what other people wanted to read that I forgot what I wanted to write about.

Slowly, somewhere along the way, I rediscovered the joy in writing. It may have been in Sonoma or Napa or attending various wine tasting events or delicious dinners, or it may have just been in my own kitchen. All I know is that hello, I am happy to be here and ready to do more!

As you know, today begins the Eat from Home Challenge, an effort to save money, waste less packaging, eat healthier, and in general get my kitchen mojo back after the marathon. I appreciate all of the support you offered in this challenge which I actually think will be a little difficult. I love going out. I feel like it gives me something to look forward to during the week, and it is always a great option when you are too tired. Still, recommitting myself to my kitchen is a good thing, and I can’t wait to get creative.

With ingredients like these strawberries and artichokes that we picked up at Trader Joe’s, I think it will also be a delicious challenge.

artichokes

strawberries

 

Sunday was NOT part of the challenge, so we went to the Bin Ends Fine Wine Flea Market, a magical wine tasting event which usually houses 9-10 different tables with 5-7 different wines for tasting and ordering. I have found so many wines that I love this way. (past Bin Ends posts here and here)

I will post more on our wine purchases later, but I did fall in love with a new Italian Cabernet Franc and a delicioso sparkling wine made from the Malvasia grape. I am working on my grape Century Club membership (having tasted wine from at least 100 grapes), and I am about 70 into it and tried 2 new ones today. Not too shabby. Bin Ends is a great environment for this pursuit!

After Bin Ends, all I wanted were oysters. I have actually had an oyster craving since pre-marathon but thought it prudent to avoid raw seafood for a few days prior just in case.

We tried Barbara Lynch’s B & G Oyster in the South End, a mecca for all things oyster, but they were closed for a private event. Luckily, Eastern Standard saved the day.

It was a patio kind of day, and an Anchor Steam from San Francisco hit the spot.

anchor steam beer

silly husband

enjoying an anchor steam

We also had the cheese plate which included a Manchego, a Gorgonzola Picante, and a Brie cheese along with quince paste, candied bacon, and Nicoise olives.

cheese plate

image

It wasn’t really lunch, and it wasn’t really dinner, so we ordered homemade potato chips and onion dip. SO GOOD.

chips and dip

We also satisfied my Island Creek oyster craving with a dozen oysters complete with cocktail sauce and mignonette. Delicious and briny, they hit the spot! I could live on oysters!

Island Creek oysters

When I got home, I decided to dive into the artichokes that I bought, so I trimmed them, boiled them, and ate every last leaf and heart, some plain and some dipped in a mix of mayonnaise, lemon, and spicy mustard.

artichoke

Artichokes take forever to eat, but they are so incredibly meaty and delicious!

artichokes and lemon

We ended the night eating homemade pizza, guacamole, roasted veggies, and other treats at our friend Michael and Jill’s house. We popped open one of my birthday wines, a 1980 Beaulieu Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon, and once decanted and aerated, it was delicious! We were celebrating 2 engagements, a new job, a birthday, and the marathon, so a special wine was in order! 🙂

And here we are starting a brand new week full of possibilities and challenges! I hope you are all well rested and ready for the week and as excited about something as I am about blogging.

AND I hope you have entered my Cabot cheese giveaway! This giveaway closes on Wednesday, and it is too good to pass up!

Tags: blogging, Boston, cheese, cooking, Dining out, events, Food, oysters, recipes, Restaurants, wine, wine tasting, writing

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