Hello from the road.
Today, we're on our way to Omaha.
Yeah. I know. Not the most glamorous road trip destination, but not the worst by any stretch of the imagination. We are leaving Chicago well rested and full of love, after quite the "hello/goodbye" type-party at Matt's mom's yesterday.

So, needless to say, I probably won't have recipes for a while. And though this may not mean much to many of you, I figured it'd be nice to share some of our final moments in the city that has been Home, to me, for the past ten years. Between the freezing temperatures, the packing of all our worldly possessions, and the well-attended farewell party we had last weekend-- it was the absolute definition of bittersweet to say goodbye to our friends, our apartment, my parents' house, our favorite stomping grounds... everything.

I don't know what this adventure will bring. I don't know what California will hold.
All I know is I will miss these moments, these faces, these places, that lobster roll (obv), and everything else my fair city has offered me over the past decade.

Oh, Boston. I love you so. But I've got to go.

I'm currently sitting in a living room in Chicago, watching more snow relentlessly drop from a gray sky. We are halfway along on our cross-country voyage to Los Angeles, and I have a lot of photos and recipes I need to sort through from our final days in Boston. Our last few weeks out there passed in quite the blur-- after a decade in the city, it took all I had to sort it out, pack it up, and move on out. It still hasn't really hit me that we don't live in Massachusetts anymore. There's so many people and things I am going to miss.

Toward the top of my Boston miss list is, of course, Mei Mei.
I've been on team Li kids since the beginning -- watching them turn their food truck dreams into reality like the smart, scrappy business owners they are. This past November, the siblings did it again and opened their brick-and-mortar restaurant in Audobon Circle.

At this time next week, I'll be finishing packing up my stuff to load onto a few "relocubes" the next morning, which will meet us out in LA. The fact that we are leaving so soon is just starting to hit me-- it's going to be pretty crazy adventure. But for this week, we're still in a pretty normal routine around here-- comprised of viral videos and TV as much as always.

Hello, Hello!

Back again with much less intense things to talk about than last night.

Like, you know, french fries.
And homemade ketchup.
Because some sportsing is happening tomorrow, we've already addressed that you should make some snacks. I'd been itching to make my own ketchup again ever since I took a Condiment Making class at the BCAE last Spring. This recipe is pretty simple, comprised of things you may just have handy already. The fries themselves are super simple and turn out pretty perfect-- that lovely combination of crispy outside and tender potato inside. The secret is soaking them, thoroughly drying them, and frying them--twice. These stay nice and warm in a oven set to 220 or so while you wait for your game day guests to arrive. And the ketchup keeps for a week or two in the fridge--and tastes good on just about everything.

So. Whip this up tomorrow.
Because sports!