Julie & Julia...I mean Stefanie and Ree.

As I mentioned in my inaugural post, I owe a lot of my cooking ability to The Pioneer Woman's blog. Her step-by-step photos in the cooking section of her blog enabled me to make sure I was following the recipe closely and ensured that my end product resembled hers--at least somewhat. She had such an influence upon me that I found myself trying new dishes that I normally would have assumed I would not like. Her crisp photos made the food call out to me, although there are a few recipes of hers that I still am not convinced to try (e.g., chicken fried steak, fried round steak).

Ree Drummond, aka Pioneer Woman, is also one of those women of whom you can't help but be tiny bit jealous. She lives this seemingly idyllic life in rural Oklahoma on a ranch and a married a rancher who also happens to be a millionaire. She has four beautiful children and she homeschools them. While I realize you truly never know what goes on in someone's personal life and that it's not always perfect, at least for me (and I'm sure many of her followers) I can't help but wish for a week in her shoes--at which point by the end of that week I'm sure I'd get tired of having to drive 20 miles to the nearest grocery store.

Furthermore, she has this highly successful blog from which she has made around a million dollars due to sponsors, ads, etc. She had the genius to include recipes with step-by-step photos, as well as add other sections to her blog devoted to photography, homeschooling, and her "confessions" (i.e., daily musings about country and family life). I can't help but wonder, "Why didn't I think of that?" Likewise, I'm sure I'm not the only one who has thought this (not withstanding that I don't have her cooking skills/experience to even initiate such a blog). And the popularity of her blog has turned into cookbooks, children's books, an autobiography, and--most recently--a television show on the Food Network. I can't help but offer my opinion that she probably wouldn't have been as successful at these endeavors if it weren't for that fact that she doesn't have to work outside of the home. Not every woman has the luxury of being able to devote so much time/focus on hobbies--which might happen to turn into a lucrative career--without worrying about a full-time job. And, yes, I realize that raising four children is a full-time job in and of itself, but some people happen to manage that and a job outside of the home--out of necessity due to their financial state and other circumstances (and purpose of this post wasn't to argue for/against stay-at-home mothers as that is a role I hope to fulfill someday; I am just trying to point out that there are some who who truly cannot no matter how much they would like).

Ree's story somewhat parallels Julia Child's. Although my perception is based off having only seen the movie Julie & Julia and not having read any of the Julia Child biographies, Julia had the blessing of being married to a man who had a Department of State job and she didn't have to work in order to pay rent or a mortgage. While he had his assignment in France, she was free to take classes in French cooking and experiment in the kitchen. As someone who is single and supporting herself financially, if I want to take a French cooking class I have to do it after working all day. One advantage I do have, I suppose, is that I don't have to consult with anyone or work around a spouse's schedule to make sure I can do it; I can just sign up if it aligns with my schedule (and finances allow). At the same time, thank God Julia was able to stay home and create those recipes so that so many cooks could benefit from her technique. There is that touching scene in the movie where it is implied that Julia really wanted to have children but could not for whatever reason. While I'm sure it was very painful for her and her husband to not have children, perhaps that was all part of God's plan...so she could devote herself to cooking and sharing that love and devotion to her cookbook readers and television viewers. What a beautiful gift.

Ultimately, I am grateful for both Ree's and Julia's contributions to the culinary world. How blessed they are to have had that lifestyle that accommodate The purpose of hobbies is personal enjoyment and fulfillment. People generally don't intend to make money off their hobbies, but sometimes it happens that way. Cooking and baking are hobbies for me (and cooking could also be considered a means of survival), but I can say for certain that I won't be creating any mind-blowing (or tastebud-blowing?) recipes in the future. I am content to follow Ree's recipes, as well as many other food bloggers' and chefs' recipes, and amaze myself that I am capable of creating something from a bunch of ingredients sitting on the counter. There is that simple pleasure of enjoying a meal that you know you made, without help. A small personal victory. Now I long for the lost years when I didn't cook anything and let my mother make all of my meals.

And I do look forward to signing up for a French cooking class someday.

Oh, those Wildwood days...

Whoa whoa whoa whoa those Wildwood days, wild, wild Wildwood days
Oh baby, every day’s a holiday and every night is a Saturday night
(Lyrics by Dave Appell/Barry Mann; recorded by Bobby Rydell)

Those are just a few of the lyrics from the kitschy song about one of my favorite places, Wildwood, New Jersey. While there are many resort beach towns along the Jersey Shore, I grew up going to Wildwood for vacation with my family. My mom and her family went there for vacation when she was a little girl, as well as her parents before she even came along. I have many, many fond memories of Wildwood from my childhood, but it seems that the older I get the less I can remember them as vividly (which is where my mother, with her freakish memory, can help fill in the gaps). I remember my grandmother, great aunt, aunts, uncles, cousins, parents, and brother all gathering for a week in the summer and staying in the same apartment complex which happened to be only steps from the Boardwalk. At least when I was growing up, not many of my classmates had ever heard of Wildwood, NJ, and would always stare at me quizzily when I told them where I'd gone on vacation. In their world, only Ocean City, MD, seemed to exist.

One memory that does stand out, however, is the terribly long walk to the beach that I endured with my little legs. Despite the actual beach starting right where the boardwalk was, Wildwood has a rather long shore and the actual ocean doesn't start for quite awhile (or it seemed that way at the time since I was small). Those of you who are familiar with Ocean City, Maryland, know that the walk is much shorter from the street to the ocean. During those summer vacations, a day at the beach was literally a day at the beach. Once we got to the ocean in the morning with all of our gear and set up camp, you didn't leave until the afternoon as it was such a long walk back to the apartment. I remember lunch consisting of the typical sandwich, but I also remember my grandmother giving us those "Captain's Wafers" crackers...I think they were sour cream and chive flavored. As soon as you'd open the brand new pack and put a cracker in your mouth, you'd somehow get sand in your mouth. ALWAYS. How did that happen? Did the sand somehow seep through the plastic wrapper? One of those things I have yet to understand.

As you can see, I could write about those childhood vacation memories forever, but I intended for this post to be about my most recent trip to Wildwood which occurred this week. For reasons not worth mentioning here, my family stopped going there every summer when I was seven. And then my nuclear family would alternate between Outer Banks, NC, or Ocean City, MD, yet the yearning to return to Wildwood remained in me--yet what say would I have in deciding where my parents would take me on vacation since I wasn't paying for it?

This summer, my parents and I intended on visiting Cooperstown, NY, to see the Baseball Hall of Fame, and then head west to Syracuse, NY, to visit family. Well, we were a little late in deciding to book a hotel room in Cooperstown and they were all booked within a 40-mile-radius. I didn't realize it was such a popular place. Further, this late in the summer I would think most kids would be going back to school. Well, since those plans fell through, my dad suggested we just find a place to stay in Wildwood. My mom called a "motor inn" (as a lot of the motels are affectionately called there) that she and my dad had stayed in during a weekend in July. A room was available and we stayed from Sunday through Friday. I have to admit I was almost glad we didn't go to Cooperstown because I'm not certain I would have had as good a time as I did in Wildwood. My dad suggested that I make an itinerary for our beach trip and I love doing that kind of stuff (even if we don't adhere to it exactly once we get there) so that I did!

On Sunday afternoon, after arriving and settling in to our efficiency room at the Beau Rivage Motor Inn in the Wildwood Crest part of town, we relaxed for a bit and then headed to Maui's Dog House for dinner. I had heard about this hot dog place on Diners, Driveins, and Dives on the Food Network, and also asked a friend who had recently visited there about it. Because it's so popular now as a result of the show, you have to make reservations to ensure you have a place to sit since it's a bunch of picnic tables under a tent. So we made it for our 6:30 reservation and perused the menu. The menu has so many different kinds of hot dogs (in addition to chicken, hamburger, and shrimp dishes for those who don't eat hot dogs). I was excited because the hot dogs are more German style--i.e., made of a pork, beef, and veal mixture. I finally decided on the Texas Cheese Dog; my mom had a hamburger; and my dad had some kind of Italian sausage. We also ordered some fries. Everything is served in dog bowls, presumably this is easy clean up for the workers. I also liked how they only served Stewart's sodas, so I happily chose a Orange Creme soda. We really enjoyed our food and didn't expect the big portions of everything (even though this is America and everything is super-sized, you just don't think a hot dog could be super-sized). After our meal, we headed back to the apartment and enjoyed some sangria on the balcony.

On Monday, my dad and I went for a power walk on the beach and then came back and had a lazy morning drinking coffee and eating breakfast. The three of us then went to the beach for the day. For dinner that night, we went to a restaurant that had been recommended to me by a friend. It was the Beach Creek Restaurant, located near the marina area of Wildwood. For an appetizer, we shared the crab and bass bites which tasted like little crab cakes with a hint of fish. For our entrees, I had the Shrimp Asperge, which was shrimp and asparagus in a light creme sauce with angel hair pasta. I also enjoyed a "Beach Orchid" martini, which consisted of Stoli vodka, raspberry liqueur, and 7up. I love a place that has a good cocktail menu (which is a rarity it seems) and this place had so many good-looking ones that it made it hard to choose. I would love to go back and sit out on the deck and have cocktails and watch the sunset (we sat inside because there was a wait for outside tables). I added this wish to my list of "Things I'd Like to Do When I Get A Fiance/Husband."

On Tuesday, Dad and I went for another power walk on the beach. This day was also another day spent at the beach. We then went to Juan Pablo's Margarita bar in the downtown section of Wildwood. We had an outdoor table and I had the crispy shrimp tacos with beans and rice. My drink was a Pineapple Upside Down Cake. After dinner, we went to the boardwalk and played "Fascination" which is a unique arcade game not found in many places. I saved my tickets from our visit last summer and added to my stash that night. I wanted something sweet to eat, so I had a Chocolate Cherry Kiss Blizzard from Dairy Queen. Even though Dairy Queen is a chain, it's a place I hardly ever go to so it felt like a treat.

On Wednesday morning, I went to a yoga class on the beach (I'd found it while browsing the Convention Center's calendar of events before we left). My dad dropped me off for the 9am class and I have to say it was heavenly and the best $5 I've spent in a long time. There were about 25 people attending the class, and we all spread out our towels and sat facing the ocean. Although the sun was really beating down and no clouds in the sky, there was a slight breeze and the smell of the salt water in the air. The teacher had a calming voice and led a 1.5 hour class. I'd never practiced yoga on the beach before and it was hard to get used to the uneven surface, but it was relaxing. My parents picked me up and we headed to a place called Jimbo's (diner-like) for a late breakfast; I had a broccoli cheese omelette. We didn't go to the beach that day as I was trying to recover from a nasty sunburn I'd accumulated on Monday and Tuesday and thought it was best to give my skin (especially my back) a rest. For the record, yes, I always use sunblock and somehow still seem to burn (I really need to have a shirt printed with this sentence). However, around 3pm, my dad and I decided to go for a power walk, but not on the beach. We went around the lake and clocked about 2.25 miles and worked up quite a sweat because of course there is no shade.

For dinner that night, we stayed close by and went to Fitzpatrick's Crest Tavern for dinner. Dad and I shared Buffalo Chicken bites as an appetizer and I had the dinner special that night which was Chicken Pot Pie. I realize that is definitely more of a wintery dish, but it just called to me and it's comfort food. Of course I burned the roof of my mouth since it was so hot and I am impatient. After dinner, we decided to venture to Cape May which is about a 4 mile drive from where we were staying...it just takes awhile to cross the tiny bridge/pay the toll. I'd never been to Cape May before. Well, apparently I have, but it's one of those "you were there when you were a baby" situations. (Hmm...what would Freud have said about that? Was I really there if I don't remember?) We walked along the sea wall and stopped in some of the shops. It was a quaint town and I'd love to go back and spend a weekend at one of the bed-and-breakfast places (again, add this to my list of "Things to Do If I get a Fiance/Husband). I stopped in a soap shop and bought some soap made in Cape May. I also visited a cooking shop and bought some plum jelly also made in Cape May.

On Thursday, our last full day, my dad suggested we rent bikes and go for a ride along the boardwalk. This wasn't on the itinerary, but of course I went along with it! ;-) It was a great idea. We rented the bikes in the Crest and rode the length of the boardwalk and then turned around. On the way back, we stopped for a slice of pizza at Hot Spots on the boardwalk. Pizza always tastes better on the boardwalk! After returning the bikes, we stopped at an Italian pastry shop called Marcela's and I bought a pint of Blood Orange gelato to take back to the apartment. Delicious!

For our final dinner, I chose Westy's Irish Pub which is situated near the inlet in the northern part of town. We sat outside on the patio, and I chose a Jersey Tomato and Mozzarella Salad for dinner and enjoyed a few pints of Harp. The salad was wonderful. I was happy to try some local tomatoes and Jersey's are really good. The salad also had mixed greens, basil, and kalamata olives with a raspberry vinaigrette. After dinner, we ventured back to the boardwalk one last time to play more Fascination and I intended to cash in my tickets. However, there was nothing I liked in my "ticket range," so I'll save them and head back next year and try to win again. Mom and I stopped at Douglass Candies for some butter toffee. I intended to take a box to work, but after trying them on the way home yesterday, I decided they'd be better off in my house. :-)

In conclusion, this trip was much needed as I hadn't taken a vacation/any time off of work all year. We also didn't have to leave the beach early on account of a hurricane like we did last summer (and there wasn't an earthquake which also happened last year). I was grateful for the time spent with my parents and I really felt special being with them. They were so easy going and had no problem going to any of the restaurants that I suggested. This trip also made me wistful for those childhood beach memories and made me really miss my grandparents. But how blessed I am to have had such good memories, so I shouldn't complain.

Sorry this post was so long. As I am new to blogging, I now realized I should have broken this post into several posts--one for each day perhaps. Oh well, I'll try to remember that for the next trip I write about. Thanks for reading if you've made it this far!

Inaugural Post

Amidst much nagging encouragement from my cousin Katie and inspiration from my friend Kristen's blog, I have decided to enter the blogging world. I don't have a concrete purpose or theme for this blog, but I have always loved to write academic works yet I never exercised my creative side so much. Perhaps this is my opportunity to do so. I also don't expect many people to read or be interested in what I have to say, but peRhaps commiting myself to writing will be therapeutic for me in the way that cooking and baking has become.

I faithfully read many food blogs and they essentially have taught me to cook ever since I moved out of my parents' house in 2010. The Pioneer Woman blog was very influential for me when I first started cooking and baking, although I am no "pioneer woman" nor would I ever want to be one. I am a city girl through and through. Regardless, I hope this blog will feature many food posts in which I describe successfull--and failed--attempts at making dishes I find on other people's blogs. As Theodore Laurence, a character from my favorite novel Little Women, once said when describing his music, "[they are] mediocre copies of another man's genius." That is, I have yet to create a recipe entirely on my own and rely on recipes--they are my crutch. I just don't have the skills to make up something on my own. I need steps!

As for the title of this blog, I also give the credit to my cousin Katie. She thinks I should name my future bakery "Breakfast at Stefanie's." It was also inspired from my love of Audrey Hepburn. I first saw the movie Breakfast at Tiffany's in high school and essentially fell in love with Audrey Hepburn then. Looking back, though, I don't know what my mother was thinking in allowing me to watch it, but I definitely didn't understand it all that well...I had no clue Holly Golightly was a call girl/hooker...I honestly thought she was a young woman trying to make her way in New York City who happened to meet Paul, or "Fred," who was just as lost as she was. And, although I'm not a call girl by any means, I find myself feeling like Holly some days...if you're familiar with the movie this needs no explanation.

This concludes my first post of my first blog. I hope to share my love of food, fashion, and travel through this outlet and I welcome you to share the journey with me!