Bohemian Steak & Egg

A steak dinner always sounds a little fancy, but you need not shell out the bucks for one when you're #singlegirldinnering at home. Sure, I'll select a choice cut of ribeye for myself from time to time, but for a regular weeknight meal I discovered something called "bohemian steak" at Citarella. This long, well-marbled strip is actually the tail of a porterhouse or T-bone steak. It's really flavorful and just the right size for a #singlegirldinner. Here's a little insider secret from a Paper Bag Princess (i.e. me): the one I bought was $3.96.

*There were quite a few more slices than what you see above in the pic–just couldn't fit on the plate.


1 strip of bohemian steak
Maldon sea salt
Freshly cracked black pepper
Taco seasoning
1 organic egg
Olive oil
A pat of butter

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1. Season the steak with salt, pepper, and taco seasoning. Drizzle with olive oil. Massage everything into the beef. Set aside.

2. Cover the pan with a slick of olive oil and heat it up on medium-high heat. If you have a cast-iron, it would be best in order to create a browned crust on the exterior.

3. Throw in the steak. It should sizzle. Leave it alone for a couple of minutes so that it can brown. Once browned, flip to the other side. Cook to your liking. I like mine medium-rare, more on the rare side as you can see.

4. Remove the steak and turn off the heat. Let it rest on the cutting board for 5 minutes or so. Slice.

5. Add a pat of butter to the pan and once it melts and gets foamy, crack an egg into the center. Cook to your liking and arrange everything on a plate. Grind black peppper over your eggs. You can shake a few dashes of your favorite hot sauce on top of your steak, if you like. I definitely did!

Paper Bag Princess Spaghetti

If you're on a #paperbagprincess budget, PBP Spaghetti will last you for at least four or five meals and will only set you back a mere $8. The touch of luxury here is in the chives, so I highly recommend that you splurge on them (I believe they are usually less than $2 for one bunch). You can add them to anything for extra flair. Surprisingly, the more barebones you keep it, the better it tastes. I brought some for lunch and one of my coworkers raved about it!


1 can of Hunt's Tomato Sauce

1 pound or so of ground beef or turkey

1 box of dried spaghetti

Garlic powder

Olive oil

Sea salt

Black pepper

Fresh chives

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1. In a pan, brown the ground beef or turkey in olive oil and season with sea salt, black pepper, and garlic powder. Drain if necessary.

2. Open the can of tomato sauce and pour over the browned meat. Stir around with a wooden spoon. Season to taste and let it simmer. Feel free to add whatever other seasonings you have on-hand. Dried red pepper flakes add a kick.

3. Boil a pot of salted water and add a glug of olive oil so that the pasta doesn't stick. Add the dried spaghetti and cook according to suggested time on the box. Drain.

4. Plate the spaghetti and ladle the sauce over it. Snip lots of chives on top. If you have grated parmesan, go to town.

The Duality of an SGD Life

"I have spinach smoothies for breakfast, I only eat salads for lunch, and then, for dinner, I'll go to town on, like, pork belly," said a girlfriend of mine, ironically, over a shared plate of sizzling sisig at Pig and Khao, "It's all about balance." I nodded in agreement while crunching on the last pork rind from our appetizer of chicharrones.

We went on to discuss the ups and downs and yins and yangs of an SGD lifestyle. We work hard and gym hard. We'll buy fabulous shoes during the day and eat cereal in bed at night. We're game to try crazy diets yet not afraid to indulge in a meal of fried chicken. We've developed a refined palate but can also enjoy Doritos. We're somewhat of a conundrum even to ourselves.

It's hard to find a food blog that we can relate to. Sure, there are plenty of ones with gorgeous photos and interesting recipes, but I'm not an aspiring domestic diva, a heath nut, a dive junkie, or an ambitious home-cook. I'm a complex creature. I'm looking for a conversation about food that's not only about food. Less Food Network and more Sex and the City-meets-Nigella Lawson, with a dash of Parker Posey and a sprinkle of je ne sais quois. Are those shoes too big to fill? It's a dream pair of shoes for SGD to grow into.

Carrie Bradshaw once famously said: "When I first moved to New York and I was totally broke, sometimes I would buy Vogue instead of dinner. I just felt it fed me more." Let's be real, it might not be the main course, but when it comes to #singlegirldinners, there are times when reading Vogue definitely makes the meal.

It's Raining Gems! Hallelujah!

Here, I have on Pomellato's Capri earrings with chrysoprase, blue sapphires, and rose gold.

After a coffee chat with a friend uptown at Bel Ami Cafe yesterday morning, it started to rain. I suspected that it was the beginnings of the Nor'easter. The rain wasn't a shower or even a drizzle, but rather large, heavy, semi-frozen plops that seemed to sit for just a second before splattering. I hurried down Madison Avenue, clutching my wool jacket closed tighter and ducking my head as though that would help. Here's what New Yorkers without umbrellas do when it rains: We periodically pop into a store or a cafe along the way until we make it to our final destination. For me, the nearest shelter happened to be the Pomellato boutique, which also happens to be my favorite jeweler. 

It didn't take long before I found myself having a seat and trying on trays and trays of beautiful jewelry. Colorful, glossy, shiny, sparkly...Like a little magpie, I bit. Oh, sure, this something I'd do on any old day: Walk into my favorite jewelry store, try on jewelry, figure out which one to go home with--or, in my case, dream about for years to come. It was the best cheap thrill a girl could ask for! 

The manager noticed that I was wearing a Pomellato ring. "We could have that polished for you," he offered, "It would be no charge to you and, in two weeks, it will come back looking brand new." I looked down at my ring. The stones needed to be properly cleaned and the gold mounting was scratched up with dings from years of wear. I wriggled it off my finger and laid it down on the tray.

I had a million dollar experience for all but $0. Paper bag princess moment? I think yes.


Backstory

I had first come across their Pomellato jewelry a dozen years ago when I was a make-up artist. One of my clients was a very fashionable French woman named Delphine. While I was applying her blush and pulling the brush towards her cheekbones, I caught a glimpse of her lapis lazuli earrings, a dark matte-blue stone with a touch of sparkle from the diamond pavé details. I couldn't stop admiring them. They were eye-catching yet understated enough for everyday wear. I asked her about them, hoping that they were costume pieces that I could afford. "These are by Pomellato," she told me, "I bought them in Italy." It was a name that I never forgot. 

Prosecco and Jamaican Curry Chicken Patties

Here's a prime example of a Paper Bag Princess moment: 

1. My friend Carolyn invited me to join her at the opening of Antica Pesa in Brooklyn, a new restaurant arrival from Rome, where its known for attracting jet-setters and local glitterati. As expected, the prosecco was flowing, but, due to the size of the crowd, the hors d'oeurvres? Not so much. We did manage to nab a few refined bites of Italian cuisine, but left still a bit hungry.

2. I came back to the city and met Ashley at Miss Lily's Bake Shop, where I had a Jamaican curry chicken patty ($4) and split an order of plantains ($3). She even treated me to a little something afterwards. #singlegirldinner