World's best cheeseball

I have a major weakness for cheese. I could eat all kinds, any day of the week (except blue cheese, but otherwise I love it!) So, it really shouldn't be much of a surprise that one of my most favorite things that my Mom makes for almost all holidays, is a cheeseball. The worlds most glorious cheeseball that I can remember eating probably when I was 5 or 6, at my grandfather's house - and it's been at all my mom's family gatherings since she was a little girl.. My great-aunt would make it, and man is it amazing. At Christmas Eve's, my cousin and I tend to park ourselves right in front of that cheeseball, and can't stop eating it until someone forces us to "leave some for the others" (granted, there are 50 people in my family, so that's fair)! 

In preparation for the Superbowl next week, and for going over to a friend's house for a little "Bachelor Wedding dinner party" (yup, I went there). I whipped up a batch of this cheeseball. Warning - it is fabulous and you won't be able to stop eating it. Just don't read the calorie count on the ingredients :) Also, don't let the grocery store employees tell you that old English cheddar is the same thing as cheez-whiz - it is NOT! 

Enjoy!

Ingredients:

• 2 8 ounce cream cheese, softened
• 1 stick butter, softened
• 1 jar Kraft™ Old English Cheese Spread, room temperature
• 2 Tablespoons dried parsley
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 cup walnuts, finely chopped

Directions:
Mix all ingredients together using an electric mixer until smooth and well blended. Chill 3-4 hours. Divide into thirds and roll into balls. Roll in chopped walnuts.

Ambar

I'm pretty upfront about my love for food - both the eating and the cooking. One of my friends is the exact same way, so we frequently go out and try new restaurants together. One of the best things about going out with her, is that we almost always share everything, making splitting the check so easy!

Last weekend we ventured out to Eastern Market for brunch at a new(ish) restaurant in the area, Ambar. Ambar is Balkan food - which neither of us have had before then, but we were curious and intrigued by the small plates menu. We opted for the all-you-can-eat/also all-you-can-drink brunch option, which while yes, a little pricey for just a brunch, was worth it. We ate so much food (it's possible the waiter might of judged us).

We split everything, but had the most amazing tomato, cucumber salad with an aged cheese, a meat and cheese plate, biscuits, an eggs benedict, cheese pie/pastry, a pear waffle, and course mimosas. My favorites were the salad and the cheese pie. I wouldn't choose Ambar for the desserts - they were only so-so, but the salad and the pastry made up for what was lacking in the desserts. It was wonderful.

If you're looking for a good brunch place where you can take you time tasting lots of new foods, I recommend it.

What I'm reading: January

Last year, I set a goal for myself to read 40 books in 2013, and I ended up reading 49. It became a sort of competition (with myself) to see how many books I could actually read. It was an awesome feeling to look at my Goodreads profile, and see how many different books I'd read, and how many pages I'd read over the past year. I've set a goal for myself this year, of 50 books (or 18,000 pages if I read long books). Yes, it's probably a little ambitious but I love reading so I'm excited to see how far I get. You can always follow along on my Goodreads page.

I have a pretty good sense of what I'm going to be reading for at least a little while - I have a lot of books i"m on a wait list for with my library's (awesome) ebook system. With so much time off for the holidays, I've read three books so far this month: The Longest Ride, The Lowland, and The Fault in Our Stars.

All were completely different styles - but I did enjoy John Green's book the most - it is so sad, but wonderful. I'm glad I read it before seeing the new movie this spring. Read that one first, it wont disappoint.

I'm currently reading the Beautiful & the Damned; a presidential biography on LBJ, and Elizabeth Gilbert's newest book. Again, all completely different, but all wonderful in their own way.

Any must reads for me? I'm trying to branch out from what's "current" on the bestsellers lists (hence, the F. Scott Fitzgerald), so lay it on me! I'll read almost anything.

Bernaise

It probably isn't all that shocking that I love and watch Top Chef, and therefore get geeky excited every time a chef from the show opens a new restaurant in the DC area. I'm pretty proud of myself for having gone to several: Graffiato and Kapnos from Mike Isabella, Volt from Bryan Voltaggio and Belga Cafe from Bart Vandaele - all of which were excellent. Of course, you can't think of DC "Top Chefs" without Spike Mendelsohn - his restaurants are now popping up all over the city it seems.

I'd been to Good Stuff Eatery and We the Pizza, and enjoyed both of them as great, "quick eats" places. So, I was very curious to see what Béarnaise would be like. I found the concept - steak and frites - interesting and definitely up my alley. I made a reservation, grabbed my go-to foodie coworker/friend, and we excitedly made the trek to Capitol Hill.

First: it was July, and extremely hot and about to storm. As we walked into the restaurant, rather than being met with a cool blast of air conditioning, it was a heat wave. Unfortunately their AC was not working, but it's safe to assume 4 months later it's fixed (and now that it's fall, no longer needed!). We started our night with cocktails, a cold potato soup, Brussels sprouts covered in Bearnaise sauce (not pictured we ate them too fast), and then the course: steak with Bearnaise sauce and bottomless french fries. The sauce was my favorite part, rich and buttery and perfect, the fries were also great.

We left the restaurant, literally as the massive storm rolled in, but we were happy and stuffed. I still think I like Spike's Good Stuff Eatery more, but this is a nice option on Capitol Hill for a more "upscale" dinner.

2014 Travel Goals

Every year, I look forward to the New York Times's "places to go" article; and this year was no different. I always quickly scroll through to see if anywhere I've been before makes it (this year, Nashville is on it!), and then I scroll through, reading about places I could only be lucky enough to travel to. Traveling is something that is important to me; and if time/money allowed I'd go somewhere new every weekend. 2014 for me, will be lots of trips to my hometown to celebrate my best friend's wedding, births of babies, and birthdays. All wonderful things, but will limit my travels elsewhere.

I'd love to say that I'm planning a big trip to Europe or South America this year, but unfortunately that's probably not in my cards. I aim for at least one new place each year - 2010 was Philly, 2011 was exploring DC/MD/VA and West Virginia; 2012 was New Orleans, 2013 was Nashville and New York. Yes, the destination is important in a trip, but I honestly think just exploring something new and being with friends/family is what makes the trip.

So with that said, my 2014 travel "goals" so to speak, include:

• multiple trips to my  lovely hometown for all sorts of celebrations
• a trip to Chicago to visit a dear friend
• a summer roadtrip to Charleston and Savannah
• a beach trip to Delaware with a good friend  - I've never ever done a beach weekend in my four years in DC!!
• hopefully a trip northeast in the fall to see fall foliage
• a trip to NYC in the winter to see it decorated
• lots of day trips in the DC area
• an hopefully a trip to Texas (Austin!!!) for some work events.

Lots of good things are on the horizon for 2014, I can just sense it and cannot wait to try new things. What are your plans for 2014?