Dine & Unwind

You know what? Joy actually is my middle name.

It's Emily Joy Fedner.

Fun fact. Okay, now we can move on.

Um. [laughs] [easy music]

I'm Emily Fedner.

You might know me online as Food Lover's Diary,

and when I am not at my pasta popup, slinging pasta,

or traversing New York, making videos about noodles,

I actually have a passion for arranging florals.

And today I am building the LEGO pretty pink bouquet.

Whenever I have time off,

I try to make it to the farmer's market.

I pick out different flowers, different botanicals,

to make my floral arrangements.

The LEGO bouquet is similar

to something I'd gravitate towards there,

'cause there's a lot of variety, texture, and color

that I can transform into something magical.

Building with LEGO bricks

will always remind me of my twin sister,

'cause that's something we always did together.

And thankfully there are two of these roses,

because if there were only one,

I am certain that that would've not [laughs]

gone down well in a twin household.

There's gotta be two of everything.

So this one's for you, Frannie.

The joy of organizing LEGO pieces

really reminds me of mise en place.

I think I first became obsessed with flowers

when I was playing around in my grandpa's garden

when I was a kid.

He had such a green thumb,

and we were just always frolicking through the flowers.

I was very, very close with my grandparents,

so anything that reminds me of 'em always makes me just.

[light music continues]

When I was a kid,

I was obsessed with watching nature documentaries.

I was fascinated by the role color played in flowers.

This orchid is such a stunning color.

And the color reminds me of this beet dough varenyky I make.

It's a Ukrainian dumpling.

I roast beets and put it in the dough,

and it's this insane magenta color.

I think cooking with color,

and making sure dishes are visually appealing,

is a big part of remembering that food is fun,

and it can be whimsical and it's not so serious.

There's something about LEGO sets

that just embodies that same type of spirit,

that inner childlike creative spark that we all have.

[breezy music]

These just look so beautiful and artful.

I love cooking with flowers on display.

So I got some incredible hot sausage at the farmer's market.

I have a beautiful sage bush growing in the backyard,

and some leftover fettuccine from my popup,

so I'm thinking I'm gonna make a

hot sausage, brown butter and sage pasta.

It's a dish that is near and dear to my heart.

First thing I'm gonna do is get my sausage nice and brown,

'cause I love it when it's crunchy.

All right, sausage out, butter in.

Brown butter is the nectar of the gods.

It has this hazelnutty flavor and smell to it.

Once this is done melting,

it's time to add the sage from the backyard.

It's also beautiful garnish,

so let's take a few of these guys out for later,

because even though I'm just cooking for myself,

it's part of the joy of cooking

and making myself feel taken care of.

So we're gonna add in an eyeballed-serving size

of egg fettuccine.

[light jazz music]

We cook on vibes.

The smell of the kitchen does remind me

of when I was a line cook,

and one of the most popular dishes was a hot sausage,

brown butter sage pasta.

That's just nostalgia in and of itself.

It reminds me of that time, that place.

It's just al dente enough to transfer over.

[light jazz music continues]

Listen, did I make a little extra? Yes.

But I was raised in a household where no is yes,

and yes means two portions, so.

I love feeling like I make beautiful food for other people,

but I also deserve to eat and make

beautiful food for myself.

I find it to be a form of self-love,

and it makes me so happy and brings me so much joy.

On my day off, it's this, maybe a nature documentary,

and of course, some LEGO-building, and I'm set.

Find the recipe that brings you joy.

Find the LEGO set that brings you joy, and happy building.

[easy music]