If you're reading this, it turns out that the Mayans, Nostradamus, and a major motion picture starring John Cusack were all wrong: the world has not ended.
This means it's time to get down to business and begin again the work of re-building your life. I know most of the reasonable world tells you that New Year's Resolutions are a bad idea--but I'm a big fan of them. Every good goal needs a start, and the New Year is as good a time as any. That said--if you find yourself off the wagon by 21 January, know that every day is just as good as New Year's Day to do something different.
So...
Friday, December 30, 2011
Saturday, December 24, 2011
On the Eve of an Extravaganza: Gluten-Free, Sugar-Free Corn Casserole
Upon meeting the Kefi family
for the first time, a friend remarked, "Well, you sure don't come from
simple stock, do you?" We're a spirited, complicated, opinionated bunch
more or less made for a reality television show (except, sadly, our
schticks are real, no scripted).
This
is perhaps most apparent at the Christmas Day meal, when the extended
Kefi family gets together and we break bread--except at this table we
have at least four loaves: a sugar-free loaf, a gluten-free loaf, an
all-sugar, all-gluten loaf, and a loaf of plain, white-ass Wonder Bread.
Try the flow-chart...
A Christmas Miracle (Or: How I Found the Only Sauce You Will Ever Need to Make, Ever Again)
On Thursday, BF Kef and I did a little Christmas celebration--dinner, wine, and gifts. This was a plan semi-doomed from the jump: I was tied up until 5, then had to scoop up fresh ingredients at the grocery store, fight week-before-Christmas traffic to get back to my house on the other side of the city, and THEN I had to make a delicious, nutritious, festive dinner for us, plus whip up last post's Gluten-Free Orange Cheesecake for our trip to his parents' house the next day. Oh, and did I mention it had to be portable?
BF Kef just moved into a beautiful new apartment,...
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
Gluten Free Orange Cheesecake with Chocolate Sauce
Well- I hope none of you were actually banking on those no-buy holiday gifts I promised. If anyone noticed I was gone, it was because of the crushing wave of finals. If you didn't notice, well.... welcome back.
Today we have a treat. A big one. It surely isn't the easiest recipe, and it is a bit time consuming-- but it packed enough Kefi for both my debut Chanukah party (thanks Emmy and Ben!) and for a trip to BF Kef's hometown (Staten Island!).
If any of you are going to make it, I'd love to know if subbing Greek yogurt for sour cream works- so let me know!
I adapted this...
Thursday, December 8, 2011
A Fine Balance: Kefi at the Office Party
For those of you lucky enough to be employed, some helpful hints for ensuring that you still have a job, post-office holiday party:
Thanks, Grub Street, whatever you are...
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
Christmas Songs That Won't Make Your Ears Bleed
By now, you are probably inundated with Christmas music-- it is on the radio, in the malls, at the office, and in your head (sometimes permanently). But, I'll bet most of these songs don't make into into rapid rotation on your Christmas Pandora Station--enjoy!
10- Santa Claus, Go Straight to the Ghetto-- James Brown
James Brown gets funky and real--and the fact that this is not a holiday standard is proof that Clearchannel is run by hacks.
9- Just Like Christmas--Low Normally I'm not one for ambient rock--but this song is good enough to make me look past its hipster...
Give Some Kef, Save Some Bucks
All of us here at KefCentral love Christmas. Not all of us here have the big bucks to buy for everyone on our list. Luckily, Chef Kefi has got some great ideas for holiday gifts that don't include buying (almost) anything.
This week and next, I'll post ideas for homemade gift ideas. If you've got good ones, post 'em in the comments (or, alternatively... I'll just keep talking to myself).
DIY Gift #1: Kefi Tsoureki
Alright, alright-- tsoureki is really an Easter bread, but its main spice is cloves, and nothing says "Merry Christmas" more than...
Thursday, December 1, 2011
Something to Read, Something to Watch
To Read: This has nothing to do with food, running, community, family, or Greekness. It is just simply one of the funniest things I have ever read, and I really think everyone else should read it.
It includes, among other things: a couples' bicker, hot pink towel, and a 5-foot chicken named Beyonce. And what is kefi if not 5-foot chickens named Beyonce? Am I right?
http://thebloggess.com/2011/06/and-thats-why-you-should-learn-to-pick-your-battles/
To Watch: Chef Kefi would never let a World AIDS Day pass without a fat shout out to the sweet tender angels who lead the fight...
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
When Harry Met Butternut: A Playlist and Coconut Butternut Soup
In the fall, I think about two things: butternut squash and running. We'll get to the running in a minute, but first let's talk butternut.
Now, don't get it twisted: my first autumnal love is and will always be pumpkin. But in the romantic comedy of fall produce, pumpkin is the "it" girl whom our main character loves from the jump-- it's beautiful, tasteful, goes with everything and has a comfortable, earthy personality. As the movie moves on, though, the protagonist realizes that there's something a little too easy about pumpkin and it dawns on him (or her!): s/he has loved butternut...
Friday, November 25, 2011
Chef Kefi's Gift-Giving Guide
If you hack into my email, you'll find a little document that has a list of all the people I love and, next to each name, an ever-changing list of ideas for their Christmas/birthday/anniversary present. I shudder at the idea of giving gift cards or, worse, cash (perish the thought!), and instead spend all year in search of the Perfect Gift for each of the people on my list.
Now, it might seem that a post about gifts is a strange way to end Gratitude Week. It has become trendy to be cynical about gift giving at this time of the year-- but, for me, a huge part of Christmas* Kefi is...
Thursday, November 24, 2011
Gratutitous Gratitude #3: People Who Make The World a Better Place
We live in a world of paradox. Some days, the beauty of the world wins; other days it's the twisted injustice. Never is this binary so obvious as on Thanksgiving, when even the extreme excess of some does not come close to balancing the needs of many.
So, today I'm grateful for the people who work every day to keep the beauty fighting against the injustice in the hope that, one of these days, we will all have a group of people to call family, a roof over our heads to call home, and a meal to call Thanksgiving dinner.
1- Geoffrey Canada- For making a model that makes huge changes...
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
Gratuitious Gratitude #2: Running + High Protein Pumpkin Pancakes
Thank you, Jesus, for creating running. Let me say that again: THANK YOU LORD FOR RUNNING!
Running is heaven. It's stress relief, it's exercise, it's brain-boosting, it's cancer-fighting.... really there is no good reason NOT to run.
Unless, of course, you look like this while you do it:
Chef Kefi, finishing the 10k that started it all.
If you are sitting there thinking to yourself, "I could never run a road race" you are wrong. Dead wrong. Two years ago, a good running week was one during which I ran more than once for a distance of more than 2 miles. In Jan 2010,...
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
Gratuitous Gratitude #1: The Calculus of Cooking
One day in college, I decided to throw a dinner party. I didn't know how to cook, really, but having mastered literacy by the second grade, I felt confident I could at least follow a recipe. So I picked out several ambitious recipes with about 100 ingredients each, and muddled my way through, to pretty spectacular results (if I do say so myself). The problem came the next time I offered to make dinner for people: this time, I had deluded myself into thinking I knew how to cook and picked out new, equally-ambitious recipes with even more ingredients. The result was, uh, less-than...
Monday, November 21, 2011
Gratitude Week at Cooking Up Kefi
Whenever I get gloomy with the state of the world*, I think of all the things I am thankful for. With 2012 drawing near and the news growing ever more doom-and-gloom, this can be easier said than done.
I worry, sometimes, that showing thanks is something we do only when were prompted to-- during those last few minutes of yoga, as we walk out of stores, or while our parents are watching-- but not something most of us do because we're actually, you know, thankful. The number of times I see people interact with other humans--in settings from cafes to hospitals--without expressing...
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
A Moveable Greek Feast
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