Food spotlight: Sausages

I recently served sausages for a brunch I was hosting and every time I see my guests they always tell me how much they loved the sausage. This gave me the idea to dedicate this post to sausages. 

 Sausage is simply ground meat mixed with spices, herbs in a casing. Most sausages are made with pork however you can find turkey, chicken, beef and lots more at your local butcher. Sausages tend to be a little salty and high in fat so I eat them as a treat and don't recommend eating them regularly. 

image by Petr Kratochvil

A popular way to eat sausage is with cabbage. Something about combining the crunchy texture of cabbage with sausage work very well.

image by Sam Bourland

 I personally love the sweet turkey sausage from the whole foods butcher. I like to serve it with barbecue baked beans, a fried egg and a Challah roll for a simple breakfast. 

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving is bittersweet time for me as it is a time when families get together and I unfortunately have no family members around. Loneliness during the holidays is part of the life of an immigrant and all you have to do is realize that there are worse things in life and just enjoy the day off.

I use this day to relax and be grateful for all the blessings that have been given to me including my good health, family who are millions of miles away, my amazing boyfriend Marcus and just being alive. Its very important to give thanks. What are you thankful for this year?

Picture gallery: Celebrities and nature

As we approach the dreadful winter and holiday frenzy, I am enjoying the last few weeks of bearable weather. One thing I am not looking forward to is driving in the snow and wearing the not so cute snow boots. ugh!

To celebrate the last weeks of fall I thought some pictures would be a great way to do it. I call the picture below " A beautiful mess" This is right at my doorstep. My neighbors probably thought I was crazy taking pictures of leaves but that's the life of a blogger. 

A drive with the BF on the outskirts of Boston. Love the fall tree colors .

Last week there was a crew filming the movie "The Forger" near my work place and you can imagine the commotion it created in my office. Everybody wanted to see John Travolta. Love the old house and the car that was used during filming.

I am not one to go crazy over celebrities, after all they are just normal people. The only difference is that they are famous and have lots of money. One of my workmates took this picture of John Travolta with some cops. He seems like a nice guy.

Easy lemon and herb fish dressing

As an advocate of healthy eating I try to eat seafood at least twice a week. Fish is high in omega 3 fatty acids which are essential for many body functions including the formation of cell membranes, hormone production etc. They also help with preventing heart disease and arthritis, I could go on all day on the benefits of eating fish. 

Fish can be intimidating to some cooks so my advice is to keep it simple and to buy the freshest fish you can find. Fish should smell like the sea so if there is a little funk I would stay away. 

An easy way to cook fish is to broil it and my go to recipe is a lemon herb dressing with fresh herbs and garlic that I put on the fish before broiling. This recipe is so easy and it will have you feeling like a gourmet chef when you are done. For this recipe I used Monk fish which happened to be on sale at Whole foods but you can use any type of fish e.g Sea bass or Salmon.

Directions

-You will need 2 cloves garlic, 1 1/2 handfuls fresh parsley, 2 green onions, 1 tsp dry oregano, 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice and 1 tsp fresh ginger. Mince all the ingredients except the lemon juice in a food processor then add 1/4 cup olive oil and lemon juice. 

-Season fish fillets with salt and pepper and place in a lightly oiled  shallow baking dish. 

-Pour dressing over fish and bake in the oven for about 15 minutes or until fish is done. 

I served my fish with spicy Moroccan couscous mixed with cauliflower , bell peppers and carrots. I also added some avocado on the side. 

Ingredients

4 Monk fish fillets 

1 1/2 handfuls fresh parsley

2 small green onions

2 cloves garlic

1 tsp fresh ginger

1 tbsp fresh lemon juice

1 tsp dry oregano

1/4 cup olive oil

salt and freshly ground pepper 

Directions

- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F

- Mince parsley, onions, garlic, ginger in food processor then add olive oil, lemon juice and mix. 

-Season fish with salt and pepper and place in shallow baking dish.

-Pour dressing evenly over fish and cook for about 15 minutes or until fish is cooked to our liking.

I promise you will be making this again ! 

Style Spotlight : Warby Parker Eyewear

Just like clothing and shoes every fashionista knows that their eyewear including prescription needs to look good too. I have always been into eyewear especially sunglasses and it has become a bit of an obsession as I have a pair in my car, a pair in my bag and a few more at home.

Nowadays there are many options when it comes to eyewear and right now I am loving Warby Parker eyewear as they have good quality, functional and stylish eyewear. I was excited to hear that they just launched their winter collection which is a perfect combination of rustic and modern. Most good quality eyewear costs an arm and a leg however at Warby Parker all frames cost $95 including presciption lenses.



When selecting eyewear it is important to select the best frame for the shape of your face. For example if you have a strong jaw line and square chin I would suggest the Durand pair above as the roundish shape will soften your look.


 For those with a round face shape I would suggest a rectangular horizontal shaped frame like the Langhorne above. This kind of frame will make your face appear longer.
 

  I have an oval shaped face and luckily people with oval shapes can get away with most styles. I have my eyes on a pair called the Watts from the Warby Parker winter collection. I love that it comes in newsprint grey which is a break from regular black eyewear. 

To check out more of Warby Parker's new winter collection visit the link below http://www.warbyparker.com/winter-collection-2013