Clammy goodness

I love clam chowder. Well, I love most anything that has to do with fish and seafood. However, a good clam chowder is hard to come by. Especially now that I know of this recipe; I’ve had clam chowder in restaurants after and was always disappointed. So if you’re a fan, I highly recommend this recipe!

Ingredients

• 1 1/4 pound canned clams, minced, juices reserved
• 2-3 cups bottled clam juice (I usually use the juice from the canned clams and water for the rest of the liquid)
• 4 bacon slices, minced (this is double the original amount, which is what I always do)
• 1 onion, diced
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/2 teaspoon thyme leaves, chopped
• 2 pounds of potatoes, peeled, diced (this is also double the original amount)
• 3 cups heavy cream or half and half
• 6 tablespoons dry sherry, or to taste
• Salt, to taste
• Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• Tabasco sauce, to taste
• Worcestershire sauce, to taste

Drain the clam juice from the minced clams and combine with enough bottled juice to equal 3 cups of liquid.

Cook the bacon slowly in a soup pot over medium heat until lightly crisp, about 8 minutes.

Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion is translucent, about 5-7 minutes. Add the flour and cook over low heat, stirring with a wooden spoon, for 2-3 minutes.

Whisk in the clam juice, bring to a simmer, and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. The liquid should be the consistency of heavy cream. If it is too thick, add more clam juice to adjust the consistency. Add the bay leaf and fresh thyme.

Add the potatoes and simmer until tender, about 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, place the clams and cream in saucepan and simmer together until the clams are cooked, about 5-8 minutes.

When the potatoes are tender, add the clams and cream to the soup base. Simmer for 1-2 minutes.

Now, here comes the part that makes all the difference: stir in the sherry, season to taste with salt, pepper, Tabasco, and Worcestershire sauce. Don’t skimp on the sherry. I suggest you add, taste, add, taste… Same goes for the Tabasco and Worcestershire sauce. Trust me, these make the recipe.

Sprinkle with chives.

Once again, this recipe is from Epicurious: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/New-England-Clam-Chowder-243296

Off the market

We were discussing yesterday how long we’ve been seeing each other. We couldn’t decide when we should start counting: April 1st, when we first made out, or April 13, our first date? One way or another, we’ve been seeing each other for about a month now. It’s not very long, I was with the other guy for about 3 months before Christmas, but I don’t know, it already feels much more serious. Serious enough that I’ve deleted my profile on the dating sites. Oh, but as I write this it’s making me realize I forgot one. Be right back… Done! Bye bye, Match.com! Not letting me read my emails unless I bought a subscription sucked, anyway.

So yes, I was saying, I feel this is much more serious. Of course, knowing him beforehand makes a difference, I’m sure. But it’s not just that, as I’m discovering a whole new side of him I never knew before. It just feels right. I have even been thinking about telling him about this blog. I guess I’d tell him about it and about some of the stuff that is on it, before letting him see it. I’d want to gauge his reaction and openness. I don’t think I would edit it, I feel I want him to know the real me, what I really think and feel. And I think I’ll hold off giving him a nickname; if I do indeed tell him about this blog, he can pick one for himself

And there you have it: I am off the market.

Kuddos to me

I’m all partied out. Wow, what a weekend! Though I did something pretty stupid this morning. We went out with a friend, last night, the new guy and I, and at the end of the evening we ended up at my place. The friend slept over, on my couch. This morning, I forgot he was there and I went to get some water in the kitchen, wearing only a g-string. The worse part? It took me several minutes to realize he was there sleeping on the couch. Thankfully, he didn’t wake up, as that would have been really, really embarrassing. I went back to my room laughing, and new guy had quite a laugh too when I told him!

But seriously, what a weekend.

Vodka gummy bears

You are having a party? Or just love candies? Do this:

Put some gummy bears in a glass or ceramic bowl. Pour vodka until candies are covered. Cover and refrigerate. Wait 8 hours. Drain the excess vodka. Don’t throw it away! Gummy-flavored vodka is nice.

From experience, if you wait a day or two before you eat the gummies, they are better.

Have fun!

Delicious, easy cookies

“Come to the dark side, we have cookies.” Hey, it does work. Well, especially with these cookies. They are easy to make and taste fantastic. I’ve had friends ask me for the recipe after tasting them. Go ahead, try them!

Giant Sugar Cookies

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 1/2 cups sugar, plus more for sprinkling (I usually skip the sprinkling)
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup sour cream (I use plain yogurt)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees, with one rack in upper third and another in lower third. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda; set aside.
2. Using an electric mixer on medium-high, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy, 2 to 4 minutes. Add egg and vanilla; beat well to combine.
3. With mixer on low, add half the flour mixture, followed by sour cream, then remaining flour mixture; mix just until smooth. (Dough will be stiff; you may need to finish mixing it by hand with a wooden spoon.)
4. Drop mounds of dough, each equal to about 3 tablespoons, 3 to 4 inches apart, onto two ungreased baking sheets; sprinkle with sugar. Bake until edges of cookies are just firm and tops are barely beginning to brown, 20 to 25 minutes, rotating sheets once halfway through. Transfer cookies to a rack to cool.

This recipe is from here: http://www.marthastewart.com/316593/giant-sugar-cookies?backto=true&backtourl=/photogallery/our-easiest-cookie-recipes#slide_5

 

 

When you’re dating a friend

Dating a friend is pretty different from dating someone who was a complete stranger to start with. A lot of common friends makes the beginning a bit awkward, for one. We’re at a stage where we don’t know what we are to each other yet, so what the hell are we supposed to say to people who notice we seem to talk a lot more these days? Or people we walk into when we’re going to the restaurant or just buying condoms at the pharmacy? (Yes, it happened.) We even have some friends who are suspecting us and are trying to find out what’s going on. I’m suddenly getting invited to things I didn’t get invited to before, because HE is invited.

Something else I’ve noticed too is that I felt more shy with him at first than I would with a stranger. There was a different sort of barrier between us. However, when that barrier came down… Boy, did it come down! There is a definite familiarity that probably wouldn’t be there yet with someone I hadn’t known before. There is still some shyness though and he knows it; he likes to gently make fun of me when he notices something makes me shy. I have to say though, nothing brings two people closer like showering together.

So busy

I suddenly find myself so. damn. busy. It looks like I actually have a guy who wants to see me and spend time with me. Yes, I know, shocking. Ok, probably not shocking to most of you, but with the experience I have with my ex, it is shocking to me.

On top of that, work is crazy busy, and I have all kinds of stuff planned with my friends. Whew! But eh, a busy Elle is a happy Elle.

It’s funny and kind of sad that the fact that he’s being such a nice guy scares me. Like I said, I am not used to someone who wants to spend lots of time with me and do lots of nice things for me, and so part of me feels mistrustful of this. It’s only been good things so far but I almost expect something bad to happen. I dread it a little. The important thing right now I think is to not let fear decide for me. I am going forward.

Today while we were chatting, he called himself my toy. I’m almost tempted to use this as a name for him on here, but it’s too close to Boy Toy, is it?

Oups!

Well, I’d say the date went well. It started Friday night and ended Sunday night… I had a really great time. I’m still a bit surprised but, this could actually have a lot of potential. We have a lot in common, from common interests to ways of seeing life. I enjoy his company and he’s pretty damn sweet, helpful and thoughtful. And hot. And tall. I like tall men. Oh and the sex is great too. So yes, I definitely need a new name for him. I think it’ll be Mr. D.

There was only one snag this weekend. Today as we were chilling on the couch, talking and looking stuff up on the Internet, I realized that my computer wasn’t signed out of my Gmail account for this blog. I always sign out of my blog dashboard and email account before anyone’s to come here, and even empty the browser’s history. I don’t know what happened this time but while we were on Google, I could see my email address, elleunrestricted, on the upper right corner of the page. Damn! There was nothing for it but to ignore it and act as if there was nothing wrong. I have NO idea if he noticed it or not. I can only hope he didn’t. I’d feel pretty embarrassed if he read some of the stuff I’ve posted here! I will definitely have to be more careful in the future.

Since my last post…

I don’t believe his ex is seeing my ex. Though everything is possible, from what I hear, it doesn’t seem likely. But one way or another, I’ve gotten over the weirdness, I think. Besides, I feel really, really good with him. That’s all that matters right now.

It really looks like this might be going somewhere. I feel kind of surprised! But very happy. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to go get ready for my date

D/s anyone?

I have a big wooden bookcase in my place, full of books. I just realized “A practical approach to D/s” is in there. I wonder how many of my visitors took a close look at those titles…?