Do you ever have leftover pasta that you don’t know what to do with? If you reheat it and sauce it, the result is a mushy, congealed mess. One great solution is to fry it with a bit of olive oil. It becomes crunchy and golden on the outside but tender inside. Top it with your favorite sauce or just some grated parmesan. It’s so good you might start making leftover pasta on purpose!
I’m Sorry…
I’m sorry for being so absent. Suddenly life took over and I don’t know where all the time has gone. The photo above is often representative of my free days. Stacks of books, tons of work, and not enough time. I am reaching the end of our core classes and summer vacation cannot come soon enough! Just three more weeks!
Many of you have asked about the program that I am engaged in, as well as the experience of going back to school again, so I thought I’d talk a bit about that today. I am working towards my MBA at HEC Paris. The school is one of the top business schools in France and globally. The MBA program is an international program with participants from all over the world. My class intake is currently in our second term of core classes. These are fundamental business courses that we all take together before pursuing our specialization. They range from finance, to strategy, to marketing, to statistics. They are meant to give us a strong foundation from which to build on.
Outdoor Living
The weather is finally warm in Paris and it makes me so happy! I want to spend all my time outdoors. Seriously, I don’t think I would ever go inside if I could get away from it. I’m addicted to fresh air, sunshine and warmth. I spent all the summers of my childhood outdoors from sunrise from sunset. I climbed trees and buildings, picked berries, chased other children, and rode my bike. There’s something about those first few days of warmth that make me a bit wild. I want to break all the rules, ditch all my responsibilities, and just play. I remember years ago when I lived in Chicago I made my boyfriend drag our mattress outside to the backyard on the first semi-warm day so we could sleep outside. He thought I was crazy and spent the night shivering. I loved it. Here are a few spots that I could easily while away an afternoon.
Heavenly Caprese Bread Salad
I love a good caprese salad and I also love a good bread salad. The other day I came across THIS post on how sweet it is about a roasted tomato caprese panzanella and I couldn’t wait to try it. There are two tricks to this version. The first is roasting the tomatoes which intensifies the flavor and makes them extra sweet. The second is that the bread is fried (not baked) in a bit of olive oil. The recipe is simple and absolutely delicious. I didn’t make a single adjustment and it was perfect. http://www.howsweeteats.com/2012/06/roasted-tomato-caprese-panzanella/
Sesame-Soy Sweet Potatoes and Green Beans
This is one of those dishes that just came together by accident. I was planning on simply roasting the sweet potato and steaming the green beans. Super simple and not very inspiring, I know. Then I remembered THIS stir-fried sesame asparagus that I have made before. It’s a delicious mix of salty and sweet and the sesame seeds add a nice crunch. This recipe is a variation on that one. I added a bit of heat and bit of bitter vinegar to better balance the flavors. The result is a delicious and much more interesting side!
Chic Office Attire
It can be really difficult to dress for the office while looking stylish and work appropriate. Too often I see women dress exactly like men do in corporate positions – black suit, blue button down, ugly shoes. In fact, this is the exact way I dressed in my extremely short lived career in Finance. It was easier to blend in and I somehow thought this would make people take me more seriously. I thought that if I dressed like a man I would fit into a man’s world. I was wrong. Not about fitting into a man’s world but about trying to do so by loosing my femininity and my style. Many years later, I have realized that my power lies in being myself and standing out from the crowd. That being said, I believe that there is office appropriate attire and that is not what you necessarily wear to a nightclub or to the gym. In other words, mini-skirts and sweat pants are out. For a bit of inspiration I’ve compiled these looks, any of which I would happily wear to work and feel damn good doing so.
Working from Home in Style
For some people working from home sounds like hell. For me it is something I would love to be able to do at least part of the time. My dream would be to create a quiet, beautiful space within which to work. Here are a few lovely home offices. What about you? To work at home or not?
