April 11, 2014

I love lists, Friday!

I’ll Finish the Dishes When I’m Dead. I needed this.
Cooper’s DREAM KITCHEN.
How beautiful is this bundt pan? I have major bundt envy.
I’ve never had a Montreal Bagel. Time to fix that.
Megan! You had me at polenta crust.
Snacks! Lots of helpful tips.
Have you ever thought about the hair styles on Mad Men? Now you will.
How good does this sandwich look??
Oh San Francisco…you’ve changed.
The paws… it’s always the paws that get me.
Ahhh! And I used to always request aisle seats…
I kinda love Eileen Fisher too…
These airline secrets creeeeeeeep me out. Especially since I’m flying today.
People playing their cats like instruments. Enjoy.
This Chocolate Stout Oat Cake….oh man. I want it.
Serious reading is taking a hit… THANKS internet.
Paul Rudd….I’d do it for free.

Healthy Food Crush made my Smoky Kale Caesar Salad

Quinoa Kale & Exhale made my Homemade Vanilla Almond Milk

Celebrating Sweets made my Garlic Herbed Bread Twists

April 10, 2014

Peanut Butter Stuffed Dates

Split open a date, take the pit out, add some chunky peanut butter inside and top with shredded coconut. In this instance, I used sweetened coconut. Almond butter works just fine as well as sunflower seed butter. It’s chewy, sweet, crunchy and delicious. It’s also pretty healthy. This snack is definite keeper!

recipes

April 9, 2014

Bacon & Pea Pizza

It’s funny to think of what comforts you. I’m sitting here writing this in my hotel room in Oregon. I was invited on a blogging trip that came at a time when I really needed to get away. My routine was wearing me down and I’d been aching for alone time like you wouldn’t believe. If you’re a mom you know how rare it is to get a moment to just think about yourself. No one else. Just you and your thoughts. To be the only person of your family in line at the TSA…not bracing for security checks with a kid who needs his Curious George and is upset that he has to take his watch off and carry his own backpack. None of that. Today I spent an extra hour at the airport due to flight delays and was actually happy about it. More time to read my book. More time to people watch. Time to be myself and observe other people who were freaking out over flight delays. More time for reading, I kept repeating to myself.

Tonight I had an amazing dinner with uninterrupted adult conversation. I came back to my hotel room, unpacked and situated myself. Somehow I find great pleasure unpacking and setting up my homebase and I had this moment where it was just really quiet in my hotel room. A very eery quiet. A quiet that I didn’t anticipate. I mean, I had looked forward to this quiet all week. Lawd!! I praaaaaaayed for this quiet and here it is. So I immediately turned on music in my room and felt better. Comfort found in music. Does this mean I’ve finally adjusted to a life with background noise? I don’t know.

Last week this pizza fed us well. My goal was to use up some of our leftovers before I went grocery shopping. Somehow I was left with three strips of bacon (why didn’t I cook the whole package??) and a handful of peas and with a little rooting around our fridge I found cheese, lemon & grabbed some mint growing in a pot on our deck. Casey thinks it’s the best pizza I’ve made with the Bacon Cheeseburger Pizza being his close second. Perhaps I’ve found Casey’s comfort food combination> It might be yours too. I think he likes it because it has a carbonara vibe. Comfort, indeed.

out & about

April 8, 2014

Out & About: Flora Grubb Gardens

My love for plants started in college when I bought my first spider plant. I cannot tell you how many black & white images I took of that dang plant. I send my deepest apologies to my photography professors. I now get it. Not everyone is into pictures of plants like I am. However, I managed to keep that spider plant alive for 5 years and made some new plants from cuttings. When I moved home to California, I moved into a new apartment with Casey where I proceeded to kill it. Caring for plants is a learning process. You have to pay attention, take notes and act accordingly. I’ve learned so much since then and I strive to learn even more!

I recently had a little Crazy Plant Lady date with my friends Jen & Leslie. We met for lunch and then headed Flora Grubb Gardens where I fell in love…felt paralyzed and vowed to come back AGAIN and AGAIN. If you’re into plants and you live in the San Francisco Bay Area, this place IS IT. It is purely plant heaven. The only thing I regret was delaying my first visit for this long. If you haven’t gone, GO.

DO. NOT. DELAY.

recipes

April 7, 2014

Salted Caramel Macaroons

I made this recipe twice on Saturday. The first time went really well until… I burned the caramel. I should seriously have a leash on me when I’m working in the kitchen with things that require attention. If I have enough counter space free, I almost always find another project to work on. It just doesn’t feel right to have less than three things going on at once. After the caramel burning fiasco I sat there in my kitchen contemplating whether or not I should call these Burnt Salted Caramel Macaroons or just scrap the recipe altogether because I actually drizzled all of the macaroons with the burnt caramel. I wasn’t convinced.

Then I found another bag of coconut in my pantry as well as a can of condensed milk and HALLELUJAH round two!

I’m glad I gave it another go because these macaroons (from The Macaroon Bible) are incredible. They taste amazing with or without the salted caramel. The caramel adds a little bit of a crunch to the crispy/chewy macaroon. Plus! It’s salted so HELLO. If you haven’t noticed, I’m a sucker for anything with coconut, caramel or salted caramel.
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