Nobody puts Brendan Shanahan in the garbage. Not even Christina Applegate.

Taken from my other blog What's Up, Ya Sieve? (it's about hockey, but with a fun twist).

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If you aren’t watching “Up All Night’ on NBC, you should be.

First off, it is hilarious.

Secondly, Christina Applegate & Maya Rudolph.  I love them.

Thirdly (and most importantly), Will Arnett plays a retired hockey player turned lawyer turned stay at home DILF.

And honestly how you can you not like a show that has scenes like this?

She straight up shanabanned Shanahan!

Clearly, you can see why this is one of my favorite shows on TV right now.

You can watch episodes on Hulu.   (Personal faves are “Week Off”, “New Car”, and “Birth”)

MLK Day Brunch at Ceia Kitchen + Bar

When one has a day off from work, one must indulge.  Right?

Luckily, my Monday of errands and shopping (for new jeans and hockey tees) started off with a exceptional brunch at Ceia Kitchen + Bar in picturesque Newburyport, courtesy of Boston Brunchers.

Located right on State Street, Ceia Kitchen + Bar (SAY-yah) is a intimate restaurant featuring "coastal European" cuisine (flavors of coastal Spain, France, Italy, and Portugal).  Its exposed brick, warm lighting and cozy feel make this a great date spot or local haunt.  It has the feeling of place you'd go all the time, to hang at the bar and have a glass (or two) of wine.

Also, as a side note, I would highly recommend visiting Newburyport on a summer day trip.  It is only about 40 minutes from Boston, located right along the water, and beyond adorbs.

Brunch started off like every good brunch should...with booze.  A St. Germain 75 cocktail (Tanqueray, St. Germain, lemon juice, simple syrup, and sparkling rose).  I love me some gin and was pleased that the cocktail was not overly sweet.  But at 10:30 in the morning, it was quite potent. (Not that I'm complaining or anything).  

Good thing, I was ready to get my food on.

First out were warm rolls and a roasted tomato tapenade.  Not the best rolls that I've ever had, but the tapenade was good. 

Next, we enjoyed Oyster Escabeche with blood orange.  While oysters are not high on the list of my favorite foods (the texture creeps me out a little), blood orange is.  I will pretty much eat anything with blood orange on it or in it.  Including oysters.

Insalate course was a salad of cold smoked asparagus, organic mache (aka lamb's lettuce), fresh mozzarella, and shaved cipollinis.  The smokiness of the asparagus really came through, which was unique and quite tasty.

But the real star of the show was the main entree - Poached eggs with Quail Bernaise with a sweet potato & linguica hash.  

Oh my god, the hash.  It was OFF THE CHAIN.  Seriously.  If it was legal, I would marry this hash.  It was subtly sweet and spicy at the same time.  The linguica was not overpowering and paired with the perfectly poached egg, this might have been the best brunch food I've had in a while.

Hello there beautiful.

Needless to say, I licked my plate clean.

To round of this lovely meal, we finished with a raspberry and coconut pain perdu.  A pain perdu is like a french toast, bread pudding thing and it was so yummy.  I'm more of a fruity dessert person, as opposed to a chocolate dessert person (I know.  I'm weird), so this was right up my alley.  Accompanying the dessert was a late harvest Chilean wine, which was sweet and auburn colored. 

Kudos to Chef Brando and Nancy, the owner, for putting together an amazingly delicious meal.  I'm looking forward to a return trip to try the dinner menu.

Disclaimer: this brunch was provided free of charge to Boston Brunchers. I only paid gratuity and was not required to write a review. 


But I did anyway. :)

Follow Ceia Kitchen + Bar on twitter: @ceiakitchenbar

It takes two to make a thing go right. It takes two to make it outta sight.

As a follow up to my "Dream Duets" post the other day, here some of favorite video duets.  What's yours?

Phil Collins and Philip Bailey, "Easy Lover" - I love the '80s with the fire of a thousands suns...especially the music.  

Delta Goodrem and Brian McFadden - She's blond. He's sorta blond. Together they're golden.

Colbie Calliat and Jason Mraz, "Lucky" - Breezy and beautiful.  This song expresses how we all want our boyfriend to feel about us.

JC Chasez and Tony Lucca, "Now and Forever" - I swoon.  Then...and now.  *sigh*

Jason Aldean and Kelly Clarkson - I will listen to anything that Kelly sings. AN-Y-THING.  The phonebook.  The chinese food menu.  My grocery receipt.  And Jason is a pretty good singer too, I guess.

Katharine McPhee and Zachary Levi - he acts!  he sings!  he's smokin' hot!

Dewey Cox and Darlene Madison from "Walk Hard" Warning - NSFW

Method Man and Mary J. Blige, "I'll Be There For You/You're All I Need to Get By" - all you need to know about this song is that it is tioght.  Tioght like a tiger.

Kenny Rodgers and Dolly Parton, "Islands in the Stream" - how can you not love Ms. Dolly and the Gambler?  Classic country.

A Royal Website

Wills and Kate have a wedding website!

Their wedding website - http://www.officialroyalwedding2011.org/ - launched today!

The website includes information about the service and reception, a twitter feed from Clarence House (the official residence of Princes William and Harry), a link to the The Royal Channel on YouTube, and a Flickr photo account.

The site will even have the latest information on Kate's wedding dress, which is probably the most highly anticipated aspect of the wedding and a visitor's guide for London if you plan on visiting during the nuptials.

I wonder if Kate had a hand in creating this website.  Think she brought it up to Wills on day at breakfast?

Kate: Hey honey.
Wills: Yes dear?
Kate: I think we should have a wedding website.
Wills: A wedding website?
Kate: Yes.  A wedding website.  You know, like the ones that every other bride in the WORLD has.  I just need to feel like a normal, average, non-future-Queen-of-England bride sometimes.
Wills:  Sure, love.  Whatever you want.  Please pass the scones.

As a self-admitted Royal Wedding-ophile, I'll be checking this site everyday.   I have to get my fix somewhere and here it is.  All in one spot, wrapped up with a pretty purple bow.

Music Monday: Dream Duets

I love duets.  I love the blending of beautiful voices.  The feigned passion (or hatred). The longing.  The lust.

Often times, while listen to my iPod on my commute to work, I find myself listening to a song and wondering what artists I'd most like to see join up in the studio to record a song.

Dream Duets:

Lee Dewyze and Marc Broussard
-their voices have similar, gravelly quality and I feel like they would blend so well together.

Grace Potter and Ray LaMontange
- they've got the whole 70s folk-rock-soul thing down pat!

Sara Bareills and Michael Buble
- crazy piano chops + crazy swingin' singing chops = awesomeness

Natasha Bedingfield and Rihanna
- pop + smidge of rock + R&B.  Love it.

Adele and Joss Stone

- They're British and have a vocal maturity well beyond their years.

John Mayer and Keith Urban
- great guitarists and great songwriters.  Oh and they can sing pretty good too.

What is your dream duet?  

Beauty and the Best: Face Front!

Hello all -

For this edition of Beauty and the Best, I wanted to focus on all the lotions, potions, and creams out there for the face.

As I mentioned before, the key to any good make up look is great skin.  You have to have a flawless canvas on which to apply your colors and here are a few products that will help you get there.

bareVitamins Skin Rev-er Upper by Bare Escentuals - $21.00

This little bottle = amazeballs.  Totally worth the $$$.  Started using this lightweight miracle lotion about two years back and since incorporating it into my daily skincare routine, my skin as been clearer and healthier looking. This multi-vitamin lotion with glycolic and salicylic acid is a godsend for those with oiler skin like mine and it doesn't feel heavy.  A little goes along way - just three squirts twice a day.  I even managed to convince my mom to starting using it!

Oil of Olay Complete All Day UV Moisture Cream

I wear lotion with SPF every day - even in the cold, dark New England winter.  Even though I have dark hair, I have fair skin with alot of adorable freckles so I want to keep my skin as protected as possible.  I like this one since it is moisturizing without feeling like you are spackling it on your face.

bareVitamins Prime Time Products - $21.00

This product is a must for anyone who wants their "face" to last.  This satin-finish formula goes on smooth and leaves the skin primed for makeup application.  It makes makeup stay on longer since it controls oil, which causes your look to fade.  Apply a little to your eyelids to help shadows stay on longer.  Great to use over moisturizer but under make-up for events like weddings or proms, any events where you don't want to spend all night running to the bathroom to re-apply.

What's your favorite go-to product for your face?  What's your skin type and what products to you like the best?

Polish Pickle Soup - Just Like Babcia Makes (sort of)

I am a person who is exceptionally proud of my heritage.  

I'm 100% Polish.  Both my parents were born there and immigrated to the US when they were pre-teens. My brother and I were born in the States but thanks to Mom, Dad, and our grandparents, we grew up to be very appreciative of our culture.  

Baby Brother and I

We spoke Polish before we spoke English and spent countless Sundays, holidays, and summer nights at Babcia and Dziadzia's (grandmother and grandfather) house, eating delicious Polish food.

Babcia and me.

I love all my grandparents but my maternal grandmother, Babcia Kazia, and I have a close relationship.  She also happens to live downstairs from me.  With her so close and the fact that she just turned 84, I want to make sure that I learn as many of her Polish recipes that I can.

However, there is a slight problem.  None them are written down.  Every thing that she makes - pierogi, golabki, soups, pastries, etc. - she makes from memory.

So all of the recipes I will be attempting to make will be based on how Babcia tells me to make it, along with some slight variations of my own and some I picked up from my mom - not from any actual recipes.

1st Recipe: Polish Pickle Soup (trust me, it's delicious!)

I wanted to tackle this recipe first - one, because it is my FAVORITE soup and two, because it doesn't require a whole lot of prep work like some of the other Polish dishes.  Felt it was best to ease myself into this without getting overwhelmed and discouraged.

This is what you'll need to get started:

2 boxes of chicken stock (or 8 cups of your own)

celery, diced

carrots, diced

potatoes, diced

1 jar of Polish pickles (those in brine are the best)

oatmeal

pepper

sour cream & dill for topping (optional)

Oatmeal?  Yea, oatmeal. Most recipes for this soup call for milk, but my mom's best friend said to use oatmeal to thicken the soup.  This works out great for me since I don't drink milk.

• Add chicken stock, celery, carrots, potatoes, and oatmeal (I used about 3/4 of a cup) and bring to gently boil, until potatoes are fork tender.

• While the stock is heating up, use a box grater to grate the pickles. 
• The pickles in brine are the best because they add great flavor and salt to the soup, but they may be hard to find.  I get mine from the Polish market down the street from my house.  If you can't find them, regular polish pickles will do, but you might have to adjust the seasoning to get the right flavor.

• After the potatoes are cooked, add the grated pickles.  Mix well and let the soup come together for a little bit (like 3-4 minutes).  No need to add salt if you used pickles in brine.  I just added some pepper and little bit of this Polish seasoning I had.

And that's it.  You've just made Polish Pickle Soup!

nom nom nom

Serve with a dollop of sour cream & chopped dill if you'd like.

So as we say in Polish - Smacznego!