This post is dedicated to Sophie.

Another couple we know moved in together last weekend and their housewarming party is tonight and I decided to make rice krispie treats because like OMG how cute and retro and ironic are rice krispie treats and how cute and retro and ironic that everyone is moving in together and trying not to let the basil plant they bought at Trader Joe’s die in the windowsill and talking about getting a kitten and becoming their parents. So I made some rice krispie treats and took pictures of them on Hipstamatic and now I’m going to go try to talk my boyfriend into getting this gorgeous oatmeal tweed 70’s sectional sofa at Housing Works. 

Rice krispie treats:

• 1/3 cup butter
• 10 oz bag marshmallows
• 5 cups rice krispies
• 1 tsp cinnamon

1. Melt the butter over low heat in a nonstick pot, stirring constantly.
2. Add marshmallows and continue stirring constantly until they’re melted and the mixture is smoothly blended.
3. Add cinnamon.
4. Remove from heat, stir in rice krispies.
5. Transfer to a 9x9 dish (preferably this adorable pink vintage one) and press into the dish with your hand (from the secret Paula Deen tips&tricks file: butter your hand first so the mixture doesn’t stick to it.)
6. Let cool, then slice into shapes like squares, triangles, moustaches or dinosaurs. Enjoy ironically.

I discovered a really neat food blog project recently by chef, cookbook author and food writer Tony Rosenfeld. It’s called Cook Angel, and the idea is that you submit a picture & description of what ingredients you have available, then Tony writes back a detailed suggestion for what you might make. I wrote in with the contents of the Hoboken pantry: over the months I’ve lived here, I’ve accumulated some impressive food stores. Tony was kind enough to give me suggestions for all of the eclectic items, as well as two full recipes that required little outside of the supplies we already had on hand.

Believe it or not, I’ve never had cornflake-crusted chicken before, but as those named Tony tend to be kind of experts on flaked cereal, I trusted him. I made a few modifications to Tony’s recipe: I’m not a cilantro fan, so I left that out, and I ended up coating the chicken in standard egg wash (my boyfriend is stringently anti-mayo). Other than that, I stuck to the instructions, and I was impressed! It wasn’t exactly a dish I would’ve thought to put together on my own, which is exactly why outsourcing meal planning to a pro is such a neat idea that you should definitely try.

Tony’s cornflake-crusted, oven-fried chicken:

• 1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 2 cups cornflakes, crushed, + whatever hard taco shells or tortilla chips are on hand
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise, or 1 egg, beaten
• 1 lime
• cumin, cayenne, garlic powder, salt & pepper
• cilantro, if you like it

1. Cut chicken breasts into 1-inch strips and sprinkle with spices.
2. Mix together crushed cornflakes and chips with some fresh chopped cilantro, if desired.
3. Coat chicken pieces in egg or mayo, then dredge in cornflakes.
4. Bake at 425 degrees for about 15 minutes.
5. Serve with lime to squeeze.

I go through phases with my breakfast cereal. Sometimes I put lots of fruit in it, sometimes I mix in half a cup of dry rolled oats, sometimes chopped chocolate or cookies find their way in. Lately I’ve been doing this thing where I mash together a cup of cereal (Kellogg’s Crunchy Nut, today) with a ripe banana, then pour over a mixture of almond milk and crunchy peanut butter, microwaved together. It’s amazing.

“Peanut butter is the pâté of childhood.” - Florence Fabricant

I’ve been breaking my cardinal rule of food blogging as of late, which is to never go more than two days between posts. I have excuses: my friend Mary was in town for a few days, and there are lots of exciting things happening at work that require important meetings and much thought-energy. I’ve been cooking, but nothing that hasn’t been photographed before, or never during good lighting - breakfasts of scrambled eggs and fried potatoes, dinners of breaded fish filets and a really lovely goat cheese, spinach and thyme quiche that Mary made one night. But ingestibles began as a way to record what I eat, and so the only way to get around the inevitable gaps in output might be to rededicate myself to posting what I eat: even when it isn’t pretty, even when it doesn’t come with a recipe or a well-rounded anecdote, even when it doesn’t sound particularly appetizing. Just what I ate. 

Which, today, was Cascadian Farms Organic Kids’ Cinnamon Crunch cereal with leftover dark chocolate-covered Passover matzoh and almond milk.

And, a few mornings ago, a fried egg on an end of Italian bread with some good mozzarella.