Of Eastern New York, Albany got the least amount of snow in terms of accumulation, but from Tuesday to Friday it was cloudy and snowing or raining every minute of every day. Talk about needing some motivation and Vitamin D.

I tried to brighten the days with some color in the form of fruits and vegetables. It’s amazing how thankful I am for an orange when the ground, sky, and everything in between is gray.

That particular lunch also featured leftover pizza topped with hot sauce and pesto for a little excitement (I’m not even kidding, sometimes pesto is the most exciting part of my day.)

Here is my confession: I found this slice of homemade pizza in the back of the fridge and I admit that I cannot remember the exact date of its birth. But it looked fresh and (more importantly!) SMELLED fine, so it was added to the lunch menu. You can ask The Boyfriend: I am extremely sensitive to smelly things. If something smells off (pizza, produce, milk, your feet) you had best get it away from me pronto.

The random bit of pesto was from a Real Simple meal The Boyfriend had made the night before: Cod with Beans, Corn, and Pesto.

As you may have heard, The Boyfriend has been making fish lately.

The recipe is meant to have green beans, but when the boy came home from the store he announced that green beans were nowhere to be found, so he bought peppers instead. I was nervous about how the peppers would pair with the fish. Peppers are so flavorful and full of zing, whereas green beans are much milder. I said nothing though, which is unusual for me, but I am wary to criticize the hand that feeds me.

Let me tell you: The Boyfriend is 2 for 2. First the tilapia, now the cod. Success, my friends, delicious and fishy success! I was surprisingly full, without even eating a single noodle or slice of pizza.

Dinner was accompanied by a bottle of wine from our nice neighbors downstairs.

Dessert was accompanied by an episode of Criminal Minds (you can sneak a peek at Gideon and Hotchner in the background).

Following in The Boyfriend’s footsteps, I made a comforting Real Simple recipe for dinner the next night. (*I accidentally just typed “foodsteps” instead of “footsteps” — it still works, right??) I found this recipe in the magazine a couple of issues back and it just spoke to me. Seriously, how good does Creamy Barley with Tomatoes and Greens sound? The recipe makes a big ol’ pot, too.

I hate to say it, but this was honestly a little bland for me at first. I ended up adding some smoked Cheddar to the pot, and I think I would recommend skipping the Brie all together in favor of a smoked cheese. I also added some red pepper flakes for a little zing. I will say that I am completely in love with barley though. It’s so comforting and has such a good flavor. Barley stew has the same qualities as risotto: warm, filling, and good for you. I do recommend this recipe, but just add that you should be open to added your own favorite flavors.

Then again, this was the sight that met my eyes when I walked through the door this evening:

That would be a slice of cheesecake from the one and only Cheesecake Machismo. How do I feel about Cheesecake Machismo? I would like to fill my bathtub full of their cheesecake and soak it in through my pores. I’m hoping one day they will hire me to be their personal cheesecake tester. Just hearing the word “cheesecake” bring me unabashed joy. Cheese? Wonderful. Cake? Yes, please. Cheesecake? WELL, IF YOU INSIST.

I suppose I should stop my drooling for a moment to mention that this phantom cheesecake was purchased and set ever-so-sweetly upon my desk by the one and only Boyfriend. I sent him a text earlier detailing the fact that I was having a crummy day full of gray skies and blue emotions. (I believe the text went something like “shmeh.”) And because he is wonderful he bought me cheesecake. Bliss.

The cheesecake was a good buffer to the other thing I came home to:

That, dear friends, is a large pot. Normally I would use such a pot to boil up a large vat of pasta, sprinkle it with a little cheese and pepper, and call it dinner. But on this day, we are using this pot to collect the rain that is falling from our living room ceiling.

Drop by drop…

This is the fourth or fifth leak we’ve had in the apartment since we moved in last spring. We’re all delighted, as you can imagine.

It’s been raining all day along in Albany. But yesterday it was doing a little something like this:

Albany finally got its snow.

Nearly everything was cancelled, so The Boyfriend, Roommate, and I clambered into the Roommate’s minivan and ventured to the Gateway Diner for a late breakfast. Speaking of why you’re fat:

When one’s city is blanketed in snow, one is left with no choice but to consume copious amounts of breakfast foods to cope with the pending hibernation/starvation of a snow day. You understand.

I can only hope spring will be here soon, at which point I will stop eating like a bear.

(P.S. I know the layout of this particular post is all distorted.  I have no idea why.  WordPress and Ecto are both being whiny children today.)

Moving on… Happy Mardi Gras, everybody! Or Fat Tuesday, or Pancake Day, or whatever you want to call it. I celebrated accordingly this morning:

This morning’s breakfast feast was muy delicioso: The Roommie made scrambled eggs and topped ‘em with avocado and hot sauce, The Boyf fried up some maple bacon, and I made lemon blueberry oatmeal pancakes and drizzled them with syrup The Roommate brought back from Montreal this weekend. Oh, yes.

Instead of a pancake, The Boyfriend poured some of the batter into the waffle iron that someone wonderful (me) gave him for Christmas. Doesn’t that look pretty?

Santa was especially nice this year.  See that KitchenAid mixer? That baby is mine!

I immediately dug into it and offered to start mixing away. But apparently my mother has already made dinner…

Speaking of cooking, my mother made a pork strata for breakfast. Holy Christmas deliciousness!

You can also see my Christmas orange on my plate. We always get oranges in the bottom of our stockings, but we’re the only family I know of who does this.

My creative little sister made me Notes On A Page recipe cards! She is so awesome.

I gave my mother some framed photos as one of her presents.  From top to bottom: all of the Page girls pose during her wedding a few years ago, my sister and I years ago, and my sister’s high school graduation.

Jack had a busy Christmas running around like a hyper toddler.  Linnea and Jack Christmas shot!

Jack has that “I will not sit still!” look in his eyes.  I finally let him out in the backyard for some much-needed zooming.

No time to stop for a photo, Mom!

He has been out in the backyard approximately nine times today. Something about that fenced, no-leash-necessary yard just makes him even more bonkers than usual!

I’m blogging at the kitchen counter while my mother preps dinner.  Everyone else is preoccupied, leaving me with the arduous task of consuming all of the Christmas cookies.  But if anyone is up for the job, it’s me! My extended family is coming over soon to eat, exchange presents, and help me out with this cookie situation.  Merry Christmas, everyone!

The Roommies and I took Jack out for a romp in the snow.  I say “romp”…. we may have romped, but Jack sprinted around the backyard like a bat outta hell!

Jack attack!

He was a blur.

The snow really put us in the Christmas spirit so we heated some Mexican hot chocolate and busted out the decorations to festify the apartment.

This is not, as it were, a case of Maker’s Mark.  Although I suppose that would make for a merry Christmas of another sort.

We strung lights about the apartment and in the windows.  And on the pets.

The Boyfriend, meanwhile, was actually working.  It didn’t take long to get our tiny living ready for the holidays!

Even the fish got in on the act.

We found a bag of my Mardi Gras beads from last year.

Jack dressed up as a Louisiana belle.

Hm… perhaps I wanted a little girl dog? No way, I love my patient little puppy.  (Fun fact: today is the 6 month anniversary of his adoption!)

Somewhere during the day I finished up my bagels.  I added salt to half and flax seeds to the other half.

This batch went much faster than the last batch, so apparently I’ve got the recipe down! I really think the trick is adding toppings.  Who doesn’t love toppings?

I have to get started on narrowing down my cookie recipes for Christmas.  If it were up to me I would make 27 different kids and Santa and I would split them all.  But then I would look like this guy:

[Image courtesy of Chicago Tribune]

Only in my case it would be upset stomach, not lust for world domination, that explains the super grumpy face.

If you need me, you can find me drooling poring over these: