Lunchtime Links for August 6th, 2024

• The Kitchn: Cucumber chicken salad. 
• I Heart Naptime: Sourdough chocolate chip cookies.
• Two Peas and Their Pod: Making pizza at home.
• Crazy for Crust: Pumpkin Streusel muffins.
• A Spicy Perspective: Chipotle rice.

Lunchtime Links for September 6th, 2022

• Table for Two: Baked chicken spaghetti.  
• The Kitchn: Asian sesame seed garlic dressing.
• I Heart Naptime: Coffee cake. 
• Creme de la Crumb: Homemade Buffalo sauce.
• Just One Cookbook: Shio Ramen.

Lunchtime Links for December 3rd, 2020

• The Kitchn: Carla Hall's stovetop mac and cheese. 
• Food52: Kabocha, olive oil, and bittersweet chocolate cake.
• Cookies and Cups: Fudge recipe.
• I Heart Naptime: Christmas Chex mix.
• Table for Two: Gingerbread man cookies.

Starbucks - "The Gary" Drink

If you're a fan of Brad Goreski and his husband Gary Janetti like I am, you probably have seen a million photos of an iced Starbucks drink on social media linked to the two of them, haha.  Brad recently posted a montage of Gary ordering the same drink at Starbucks at a bunch of locations while on vacation, and some versions of the drink seemed to fare better than others based on Gary's reaction.  Of course I wasn't the only one that went out and tried "The Gary" shortly after seeing these posts!

Based on the videos, "The Gary" is:
- Starbucks Grande Iced Mocha
- 2 pumps of Mocha
- Almond Milk
- No whipped cream

I got the Tall version of "The Gary" and I loved it!  I like almond milk to begin with and I think it adds a little extra flavor to the drink as well.  I love that this fun and silly social media post got so many people to try Gary's Starbucks drink of choice :o)  I also posted on Instagram that I wondered if my pre-order of Gary's book (Do You Mind if I Cancel?) would come with "The Gary", and he replied that it sadly does not, haha!

2017 Christmas Tree (with Andy Cohen)

I'm not sure if there's any sort of "official" time to start decorating for Christmas, but since my tree is tiny and takes about 5 minutes to decorate I figured I might as well start now, haha.  When do you all put up your holiday decorations? 

As you might notice from the photos above, there's a general sweets/food theme to my Christmas tree, and over the years it has started to look like a big advertisement for various brands, haha.  Some of those include my favorites, like Shake Shack, Starbucks, and Dunkin Donuts. 

After decorating my tree last night, I realized that I had a Facebook memory from 2012 and realized that I was basically doing the same thing 5 years ago - hah!  I'm glad that Andy himself enjoyed this Christmas moment with me too :o)

11/27/2012 - Andy on Watch What Happens Live:

 11/27/2017 - Andy on the RHOC reunion part 2:

November - Thanksgiving Cards

It's November, which means that Thanksgiving is already around the corner.  In the spirit of Thanksgiving and giving thanks, I will be sending a card out every day this month.  This will be a great way for me to stay in touch with my friends (and some "friends" like Shake Shack, Georgetown Cupcake, and Andy Cohen if I can, hahaha), and also actually use some of the massive stock of stationary that I have - so a win/win situation, really.  A lot of people associate Christmas with the time to send cards to others, but I highly encourage everyone to just send cards any time of year! 

Andy Cohen - DC Book Signing

I recently had my second opportunity to see the fabulous Andy Cohen - he made a stop at Sixth & I in DC during his book tour for "The Andy Cohen Diaries"!  I'm very happy to have been able to see him at signing events for both of his books - this one included a fun interview session by Wolf Blitzer, how very DC!

Although the book signing portion was very strict (and with good reason, there were hundreds of people waiting to get their book signed, haha), I definitely wanted to bring a little something for Wacha, Andy's dog.  I saw this super cute bagel with cream cheese, and I thought it was the perfect gift for Wacha that Andy would also appreciate, haha.

The employees working the event were in charge of taking photos with our phones/cameras, and luckily the guy took some photos as I was giving Andy my gift for Wacha.  As you can see I also wore my Target doughnut sweater to "coordinate" with the bagel, haha.  

It was so fun seeing Andy again, and I love his new book so far! Everyone should go buy it, or ask for it as a holiday gift! 

Bobblehead Andy Cohen

After participating in the Bravoholic (RIP) programs through Bravo TV earlier this year, I received a gift card for the Bravo online store.  I had held on to it for a while but last week decided to have Andy Cohen come live in my apartment, haha.  Thank you to the Bravo team for the gift card to pay for the majority of this order :o) 

The Andy Cohen Bobblehead fits perfectly in front of my tv, and as you can see he's just the right height for the Bravo logo during the shows.  Welcome to my home, Andy Cohen!  

Aggio Restaurant

M, her mom that was visiting, and I had a wonderful time trying out Chef Bryan Voltaggio's new Aggio - which is located inside Range restaurant.

The wine list was extensive, and also pretty funny if you read the different categories and the descriptions.  

We had a great dinner with delicious food, and fantastic service (Gerard was awesome!)  It definitely had a special occasion atmosphere but not stuffy at all.  I look forward to coming again to try out more dishes!

Amuse - Parmesan funnel cake

Chioggia Beets - tonnato sauce, charred rosemary, pine nuts, mullet roe, arugula

Cavatelli and Clams - rye, soffrito, soda crackers toasted in brown butter, prosciutto lardo

Pistachio in Olives - olive oil cake, pistachio cream, cara cara orange sorbet, crispy pomegranate, kumquats

Bonus dessert - Espresso and Campari grapefruit chocolates 

Aggio

5335 Wisconsin Avenue NW

Washington, DC 20015

202.803.8020

Volt - Brunch

I finally got to check off a restaurant that I have wanted to visit for some time now: Chef Bryan Voltaggio's Volt in Frederick, MD! My friend S and met up for brunch there recently, and we were super pumped to be there - literally, I think we were "woo"-ing at the table once we sat down, haha. We opted for the 3-course brunch and it took a while for us to make our decisions as we sipped on mimosas- everything looked great!

The bread service was. Awesome. There were a selection of about 5 housemade breads to choose from, including these bacon-thyme brioche and chive biscuits. The biscuits especially were so fluffy and rich, I probably could've eaten a dozen on my own. 

Calamari Bolognese: Miso, squid ink Cavatelli, Parmigiano Reggiano

This was a no-brainer for me, as Chef Voltaggio had made this dish during his time on Top Chef Masters, and I really wanted to try it out. To say this dish was full of flavor would be an understatement- the components all came together in this decadent plate of savoriness, if that makes any sense.  Delicious!

Scallops, congee, country ham

There are actually more components to this dish but it is no longer on the online menu so I'm just going off my Instagram notes, haha. The scallops were huge, and cooked perfectly.  I loved the congee on the bottom, it reminded me of Japanese okayu (rice porridge).

For dessert, we both ordered the chocolate option- obviously, haha.  This was a really delicious dessert with lots of textures and components.  Chocolate, hazelnut, and marshmallow were the main components here, and clearly you can't go wrong with those! I loved the presentation, so pretty!

Along with our check, we also received these mini cinnamon coffee cakes to take home, which was a lovely touch for the end of the brunch! I tried this the following morning and it was super flavorful and crumbly, just what you would want from a good coffee cake. I am so happy that I got to try out Volt, and I would highly recommend it for brunch! 

Volt

228 North Market Street

Frederick, MD 21701

301.696.8658

Bravo TV - RHOC 100th Episode Shirt

If you follow me on Twitter, you'd quickly realize that I talk about Bravo a LOT - especially on nights that new episodes of their shows are on, haha.  It's always nice to get rewarded for my obsessive Bravo love (like with the Bravoholic account), so I was very happy when I found out I had won a "Real Housewives of Orange County" 100th episode special edition t-shirt, haha.  I initially thought it would be their "regular" OC shirt with the two oranges, but this one is a cute design with lots of sliced oranges spread out across the front of the shirt.  Thanks Bravo for the fun prize! 

Andy Cohen X Lady Gaga

This past Wednesday evening, Lady Gaga was the special guest for Bravo's Watch What Happens Live ExtravaGAGAnza, and it was AMAZING!!!

Since the link to the Watch What Happens Live video page gets updated pretty regularly, here are all of the clips I could find so far, it was such a fun show to watch!

- Favorite Costume
- Plead the Fifth
- Housewives Tagline
- Edge of Glory Hole Game
- Aftershow #1
- Aftershow #2
- Aftershow #3
- Aftershow #4

Last but not least, Lady Gaga drunkenly putting makeup on Andy is awesome, haha.

My Birthday, Woo!

There's really no other way to talk about it without sounding obnoxious, so I might as well go all out - Today is my birthday, woooooooooooooooooo!

I'm planning on going a fun happy hour with friends tonight, and likely indulging in some Shake Shack at some point as well - shocker, haha.

Although this has nothing to do with my birthday, I was recently thinking about an old Jeff Lewis moment that never ceases to crack me up, and Bravo TV really might as well be a gigantic part of my birthday celebration, haha.  So here's an oldie but a goodie - Jeff Lewis flipping out about onions in his lunch, hahaha. I love you crazy Jeff, never change.

Lunchtime Links for June 27th, 2013

• Food Fanatic: Copycat Red Lobster biscuits.
• Princesses of LI: Recap from TrashTalkTV.
• The Kitchn: Making whipped cream in a jar.
• Serious Eats: How to make the best fajitas.
• AOL Memories: From Buzzfeed.

The Bravoholic Swag Bag

As if being the Bravoholic for a week wasn't enough, Bravo TV also sent me a fun swag bag after my stint was completed!  

Included in the fun bag (which I am totally keeping, love it) was a Watch What Happens Live glass coaster set  and a set of Mazel shot glasses.  My home drinking needs will be all the better with Andy Cohen's face all over everything, hahaha. Thanks again, Bravo! 

Bravo TV - Bravoholic

I am so so so so so soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo excited to announce that Bravo TV has chosen ME to be this week's Bravoholic!!!!!

For those of you that aren't familiar with the Bravoholic account, here are the details of the Bravoholic Twitter contest on the Bravo TV website.

Finally, I feel like my constant viewing and Tweeting (@kay819, by the way!) about all of the Bravo shows is being rewarded and not criticized, haha!

If you're on Twitter, please be sure to follow me at @thebravoholic between now and next Monday (4/29) morning, it should be a lot of fun!!

Real Housewives of Beverly Hills - Social Edition

It was a lovely surprise to see my Tweet appear on Bravo for the second time, woohoo! Bravo often shows "social editions" of most of their shows, in which a rerun of an episode includes Tweets and Facebook comments that viewers had posted during the original airing.  

Seriously though, these Beverly Hills ladies were in Vegas, at an awesome dinner, and having the most depressing conversation EVERRRRRR.  I'm glad the folks at Bravo deemed it important enough to share, haha. 

Bravo TV Mug

I am totally in love with this Bravo TV mug!!  Andy Cohen has never been shy about his love of side ponytails, especially when guests on his show Watch What Happens Live show up with one, haha.

This mug encompasses so many of the loves in my life:

- Andy Cohen
- Bravo TV
- Side ponytails
- Mugs

Need I say more??  You can find this mug on Bravo TV's online shop here.

Lunchtime Links for January 7th, 2013

• How Sweet It Is: Creamy tomato soup with brown butter garlic croutons. 
• Kirbie's Cravings: Dinner at the French Laundry. 
• Two Peas and Their Pod: Roasted cauliflower and cheddar soup. 
• Top Chef: Recap from TVGasm. 
• Cookies & Cups: Peanut butter cup spread. 

Lunchtime Links for December 14th, 2012

• Cookies & Cups: Chewy brown sugar cookies with brown sugar frosting.
• Thought Catalog: 9 couples of "Love Actually" ranking.
• I Heart Naptime: Cheesy potatoes. 
• The Kitchn: Cookies made with tea. 
• Real Housewives of Beverly Hills: Recap from TVGasm.