The Battle of the Gratins

While thumbing through an issue of Real Simple I grabbed out of the recycling bin at work, I came across a real simple (lol) recipe for a Spinach and Gruyère Gratin. I've never made (or eaten) a gratin other than scalloped potatoes, so I figured why not? I mean, there's cream, wine, eggs, shallots, and Gruyère in there! All of which I love.


After buying almost 50oz in frozen chopped spinach, it hit me: we were about to be inundated with spinach! Maybe I should halve the recipe?? Of course this is was after I purchased all my ingredients. Luckily, I had everything I needed to try Ina Garten's Spinach Gratin, too. Let the battle begin!

Real Simple's on the left and Ina Garten's on the right.


Real Simple's was much heartier due to the eggs and reminded me more of a frittata than anything. The wine-cooked shallots were delicious and my addition of garlic was smart (duh). Ina's was definitely creamier and more dip-like, but I wish it had a little more flavor. Honestly, I still don't know which one I enjoyed more. We ate both with toasted pita wedges the first day, spread atop a pizza the next, and tossed with capellini pasta, tomatoes and garlic for the next two meals. Surprisingly, we weren't completely sick of spinach by the end of the week!

Kitty Faces on EVERYTHING!

This post is essentially a tangent about finding the source of the so-twee-it-hurts image below, for which I required more info because of the outfits, the ladies, the props and accessories, but most importantly, the sweater! You've been warned...

(Jung Min Hee and Park Sora for Style Nanda)
After a few "cat+face+sweater" google searches, Opening Ceremony seemingly made the adorable sweater they're wearing, but only carried it in men's for a whopping $150. Turns out I was wrong, though. They're actually wearing a Korean knock-off by Style Nanda ($43.93)!

Opening Ceremony on the left, Style Nanda on the right.

Along my searching I found that Opening Ceremony also carries this sweater for $99:


Completely unwilling to pay more than $20 for a cat face on a sweater, I decided I'll do it myself. I don't know which cat face I should try, but I've purchased new floss and two sweatshirts that are in the wash as I type this. So excited for the 9-year-old Cats (the musical) fan in me who definitely owned this shirt.