As most of you know, I still have a day job. Gotta pay the bills, right? 

I am thrilled to share my contribution to Verily Magazine, an amazing women's online magazine, entitled, "Why Work Friends Can Make the Best of Friends." Their names may have been changed, but these ladies know who they are. 

Happy Friday!

In case you are wondering, I have not been lounging on an Adirondack chair in the woods for the past three months, as my last post would imply. That would have been awesome, though. 

It's actually been a busy summer, with business and pleasure taking me everywhere from New Orleans, to Charleston, to Minneapolis, and the Jersey Shore. Normally, I would have my iPhone in one hand and a fork in the other documenting every step and bite of the way. But I've been carrying some extra luggage around - as of last week, about seven ounces, to be exact...

Doug and I are expecting our first baby in December!!! It feels amazing to be able to finally say it out loud and share the news here. Our. Child. Soon. It’s a girl. Whoa.

How do I feel? Every woman has her individual journey, both physically and emotionally. I love to share (and over-share) much about my life here, but for once, this feels like a pretty private experience and I am content with that. For the purpose of what my pregnancy means for the blog, though, I must admit that I have had a tough time with food aversions, which is just nuts. If you had told me that my soul of a fat kid would ever be able to turn down a meal, I would have told you to take a walk.

Food is my lifeblood, really. And documenting these at-home cooking adventures with Fat Noodle and city dining escapades with Gotham Grub has been a privilege. It has given me a kind of personal satisfaction I always hoped to experience. But there’s nothing cool about my picky eating habits right now. If I cannot eat, I cannot cook new things. If I cannot eat, I cannot write in detail about food, at least not right now.

I am taking time to work on a larger writing project, one that is harder to create and easier to defer when writing fun posts about dumplings. Meanwhile, I am imagining all of the ways my blog can evolve as my life evolves, and maybe with that will come a whole new adventure.

I am still trying to capture beautiful bites and scenes, so please continue to follow me on Instagram @avgjoelle and Twitter @averagejoelle. Meanwhile, I have some other publications coming out soon, so check back for more news on those.

Thank you for your continued support!

I will be back as soon as possible with more food, travel, and words. 

Happy Memorial Day Weekend!

Upper West Siders, this is a Gotham Grub public service announcement. 

Please get behind our relatively new restaurant Senn Thai Comfort Food. You know, the one that opened up in the old Recipe space after the failed Mexican joint, two doors down from the neighborhood’s only other Thai restaurant? Unlike that other Thai restaurant, Senn is no “noodles with your choice of meat” type of place. In fact, they proudly serve no Pad Thai and make a point of etching this on their wall like a badge of honor.  

Senn serves authentic comfort dishes straight from grandma’s kitchen, with diverse offerings that bear names difficult to read and worth studying. You can explore unchartered combinations that depart from the Americanized version of Thai food we are most often subjected to in plastic takeout containers. Like the Kao Keab Pak Mor, steamed pork dumplings from Northern Thailand, which are plump pink sacks of beetroot rice wrappers stuffed to the edges with ground pork, peanuts, and garlic. The Som Tum, or shaved green papaya salad, is an indicator of Senn’s true legitimacy, carrying a strong kick of Thai chili alongside the fishiness of dried shrimp – the good kind of fishy.

Last fall, on a boozy weekend afternoon, some friends and I devised a plan. Our food games were strong, our hosting games were stronger, and most importantly, we were up for a challenge to help us through the bitter winter months. So we formed a bi-monthly supper club to test our skills and keep us entertained. Each dinner would be hosted and prepared by one household, with the other guests supplying the booze and dessert. Each dinner would have a theme. Each dinner would present an opportunity to drink copious amounts of wine without leaving a couch.

The details were clear, but the name was not. What would we call this meeting of the minds and stomachs? 

After dining at Cosme last weekend, I kept thinking of the adage, “the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.” Not because the parts are bad; in fact, the parts are delightful. At his first stateside restaurant, Chef Enrique Olvera uses authentic Mexican components to deliver dishes that are not necessarily Mexican. It’s a thought-provoking concept for a cuisine so often driven by tradition.

When executed at this level, the concept works, as evidenced by the impossible task of scoring a reservation. Luckily, my husband and I had a free Saturday night with nothing but time, so when we arrived around 7 p.m. to a ninety-minute wait, we committed and hunkered down at a stand-up bar area built for this scenario. The cocktails, too, are built for this scenario. My favorite, the Anti Histamine, combines tequila, liquor strega (an Italian herbal liqueur), honey, lemon, and bee pollen, for a well-balanced but stiffer-than-you-think refreshment. The hostess sat us after about an hour. The dark space is modern but not a gimmick, allowing diners to retain enough of their senses to focus on the fare.

I cannot wait to share with you every bit of my California adventure last weekend: the food, the drinks, the celeb sightings, the beach yoga, the bachelorette. Okay, we'll leave the bachelorette out of this. But since my return, I have been feeling inspired by the healthful grain bowls that are seemingly available everywhere in Los Angeles. So tonight for dinner, I drew upon some of those West Coast flavors to make an awesome concoction.

For grains, I used rainbow quinoa and bulgar wheat. For greens, I chopped up some curly kale and tossed it with golden raisins, parmesan cheese, a squeeze of lemon juice, olive oil, and a splash of apple cider vinegar. The sausage is Applegate Chicken and Turkey Sausage with spinach and feta. I also pickled some red onions in apple cider vinegar for a tangy bite, and in true California fashion, included sliced avocado. 

The best part? Leftovers for lunch. I roasted some veggies this afternoon and plan to make myself a 'lil quinoa salad to bring to the office tomorrow. Boom. Who said it was hard to get back into the groove after vacation?

And I'm back! Happy Saturday, y'all. It's been a hectic few weeks that have kept me from posting more often, but I assure you, the wheels have been churning and the fingers have been typing.

This morning, my favorite neighborhood blog, West Side Rag, published a piece I wrote about surviving and thriving in the notorious Upper West Side Fairway. Please check it out, comment, and talk amongst yourselves!

Happy Valentine’s Day, Noodlers!

The holiday falls on a Saturday this year, but that won’t entice Doug and me away from our annual tradition and into an overpriced prix fixe. One night a year, we take on the laborious, but loving, task of making lasagna.  Hold your horses, there’s no food porn to share yet. We’re currently simmering meat sauce pursuant to a recipe from the bam-master himself, Emeril. However, the sauce required carrots. We purchased a bunch of lovely organic carrots from Eataly last night, and I couldn’t let the rest be wasted. With a little improvisational inspiration, I give you, Curried Carrots with Currants.