How was your week? Whether it went super smoothly or kicked your butt, I’ve got a drink that should put you in good spirits: Mulled White Wine with Pear Brandy.
I know, sounds a bit fancy pants, but January calls for warm, soothing drinks and spices that make you feel like wintertime isn’t so bad. The recipe, found at Epicurious (and taken from The Food 52 Cookbook, Volume 2), features star anise, cloves, cardamom pods, ginger, and honey. And pears are the quintessential winter fruit, don’t you think?
So, with one of these in hand, here’s my high and low of the week:
High: Getting the girls on a better schedule. They were going to bed too late, waking up too late, getting dressed too late, and breakfast and lunch were morphing into one weird meal. This week, I went all military on them with a smile. They’re now falling asleep earlier, waking up earlier, dressing before coming downstairs, and eating at more routine times. It’s still a work in progress, but yay!
Low: Happily, I didn’t have any big lows this week. Maybe wasting two hours of my life that I can never get back on a highly rated but terrible movie? I refuse to even mention what it was…an independent film you’ve probably never heard of anyway. My free time is so precious now; if I’m going to actually devote two hours to a movie, it had better be edifying in some way.
Here’s my bonus question: If you were planning a romantic dinner with your significant other at home this weekend, what would you serve?
Right now, I’m drawn to baking a whole fish in coarse sea salt with some vegetables on the side — maybe brussels sprouts and sautéed mushrooms. A wild rice could work, or maybe risotto… If it were up to me, I’d have something chocolatey for dessert, but B isn’t usually a fan (he prefers fruit or Asian-style desserts) — so maybe I’d do a mango sticky rice or a rustic pear galette. To get things started, I’d serve him a G&T with Hayman’s Old Tom gin, followed by a robust, buttery Chardonnay to accompany the fish.
And, of course, now I’m hungry.
Okay, grab a drink: It’s your turn. What was your high of the week? Your low? (And what would you serve for your romantic at-home dinner date?)
Have a slow weekend, and see you back here on Monday!
P.S. I’ve decided that rather than include links in these Pull Up a Chair posts, I’m going to put together a monthly or bi-monthely links post, so stay tuned…
Image: Crystal Alvarado
Hello, I'm Zoe Saint-Paul. I'm a writer, life coach, and new mama to twins who's trying to live "slower" in a speed-obsessed world. Here we chat about life and love, food and design, and everything in between -- all at the right pace. So grab some tea, pull up a chair, and join the conversation. Feel free to 
I love the phrase, “…I went all military on them with a smile.” I’m trying to imagine that at work and it sounds fun AND efficient. Yeah!
Will think about the romantic dinner and get back to you if I have inspiration.
I am always so thrilled when I try something with the girls and it actually works!
I’ve never tried mulled white wine before…but I like the sound of it!
Good for you for getting the girls on a schedule, too! (Do you do consultations?) My high of the week is probably the brunch I had on Sunday at Neopol, a fish smokery in Baltimore. I could write an ode to their smoked rainbow trout hash…
Low would probably be still feeling under the weather after last week. It just seems like I never quite got over what was plaguing me then…and I’ve noticed that everyone around me now seems to be getting sick with something new. Oh joy.
For you, I will waive my fee
And sorry about the under the weather status. I can totally relate.
I’ll take the special! I’d never have the energy to make it at home, but I’d certainly order it at a bar, virtual or otherwise.
Low: Struggling to get up when my alarm goes off. I’ve going to bed late finishing up Tess of the D’Ubervilles and watching season 4 of Breaking Bad. When I don’t get up on time, though, my mornings are — not surprisingly — rough.
High: Enjoying our new minivan! I could live in this thing.
BQ: I’d make perfectly seared scallops, risotto with mushrooms, leeks, and truffles, and a nice salad with beets, avocado, gorgonzola cheese, and an orange muscat champagne vinaigrette. Dessert would be your gingerbread cake with lemon sauce because I’ve been craving it recently.
Um, I think I might have to change my dinner menu to yours. Except for the salad – I’m sadly allergic to avacado and hubby hates smelly cheeses. But yes to the rest!
And I hear you on mornings. How they start really makes a difference, especially when you have kids.
High: Making my baby laugh this morning. She has the sunniest disposition, but her surgery on Monday took all the fun out of everything. Last night she slept better than she’s slept all week, and this morning when I did NEAR….FAR with her (Grover style), she started chuckling. Maybe it was partly the morphine laughing, but I’ll take it!
Low: The night the baby couldn’t sleep because she was in so much pain from her surgery. She’d get another hit of morphine, and it would last maybe 15 minutes, then she would have to struggle through the next hour and 45 minutes, waiting for the next dose. It was awful. In the future, I will pretend that night never existed.
Bonus question: I would order in Thai, probably some pad see ew and tom kha soup. For dessert we’d have something from the Whole Foods bakery, maybe a key lime tart. I wish I were up for cooking, but see above high and low. I’ve got no energy to cook while the baby is in post surgical recovery. (And the reality is that if we had a meal right now, it would be from the hospital cafeteria. Grilled ham and cheese for the win!)
Schedule is key!! Hope it makes life easier for you all.
High: We are getting snow, and lots of it! I love snow – even have fun driving around in it with my kick-butt Subaru.
Low: Never got around to getting the flu mist for my son, but after watching the news warnings, I decided to drag him to a Rite Aid down the road for a free one. He had the mother of all tantrums – and it took me and two pharmacy techs to hold him down. Thank god for the promise of Sea Monkeys, or we never would have made it.
Bonus: An Indian dish from my new slow cooker book. Nothing like a little spice to get the temperature rising!