January 9, 2014

Almond Pizzelles

My grandma is one of those people who never shows up to party empty-handed. This is just one of the many reasons I’d like to be her when I grow up. I always remember being excited to see what she had in her hands when she walked through the doorway of my parents house. Whatever it was, I knew it was bound to be good. Of course it was always a treat when she brought pizzelles with her. And in my grandma’s fashion of recycling before recycling was cool, her cookies would be in a decoy container so the real fun was to see what was inside. We always knew that meatballs were in an emptied milk container. Pizzelles had to be in something HUGE. Just look at what a stack looks like!

Before my grandma left to live in a retirement home in New York, she went through her kitchen and put aside a few things for me. I accepted her pizzelle maker. with great pride because I knew that with it in my possession, I had the power to make my father happy & nostalgic for his childhood. Now, it’s something that will help build memories in our own household. Cooper was an instant fan.

I stood in my kitchen the other day and made pizzelles thinking of my grandma. I thought about how she doesn’t have a computer and how much I wish I could show her a picture of these pizzelles. I know she’d be proud of me and I know she’d be the first to tell me to put anise seeds in the batter. I ran out, Grandma! These cookies are crisp and delicate, slightly almond-y, and perfect with a cup of coffee. It’s like eating a waffle cone before it’s been shaped. I can just imagine my late grandfather eating a few with a demitasse cup of espresso spiked with anisette. Gives me warm/fuzzy feelings.

around the home, Inspiration

January 8, 2014

Top 20 Recipes of 2013!

I made a LOT of food in 2013! With about 2 new recipes each week, I put out at least 104 new recipes for 2013. With a little help from my analytics, I was able to compile the Top 20 most pinned/popular recipes in 2013. Here are your favorites!

Inspiration, Outfitting

January 7, 2014

Outfitting: Winter Weekend Wear

ONE/TWO/THREE /FOUR/FIVE /SIX/SEVEN

My weekends are for errands at the earliest hour possible and hanging out with friends/family. My goal when dressing on the weekends is to be casual yet semi-polished. Today I’m sharing my weekend winter uniform with you! Here in the Bay Area, I may or may not be wearing a coat…It’s been in the 60s this week!

First things first. Long & Lean jeans from Gap because they work really well on me (I get petite because I have short legs). This cardigan from Old Navy is AMAZING. I bought it in green & purple because I love the fit. It’s nice and long! Converse because HELLO, I can move around in them and they’re classic. A striped shirt because I’m Tracy Shutterbean. A scarf that’s black & white with polka dots because I like mixing patterns these days and I feel like mixing black & white with black & white works. My most favorite bag (ever?) because I can fit a lot inside (also with leopard lining!) and my new favorite earrings that add a nice pop of color to my black & white palette. If you see me at the grocery store I’m probably wearing this with my glasses on so you can’t tell I’m not wearing makeup. Please don’t look at the back of my head. My hair will probably be unkempt.

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recipes

January 6, 2014

Banana Walnut Baked Oatmeal

My friend Megan’s new cookbook, Whole-Grain Mornings: New Breakfast Recipes to Span the Seasons has arrived!! I can’t tell you how excited I was to find it on my doorstep last week. To say that I’ve been eagerly anticipating its arrival is an understatement. I spent an afternoon with a cup of tea and a notepad, writing down all the recipes I wanted to try. Turns out I wrote down practically ALL of the recipes. I just KNEW it would be a hit.

What I love about this book is that Megan loves to fortify her breakfasts with good/healthy ingredients. There are some indulgent recipes but for the most part, each one will get you off to a pretty healthy start in the morning. That’s important to me since I find that breakfast usually sets the tone for how I eat the rest of the day. Breakfast is kind of my gateway drug. If I begin with doughnuts, the rest of the day gets blown. These things happen.

I started with this Banana Walnut Baked Oatmeal mostly because I had all of the ingredients at home. There are a few grains and flours I’m excited to try and I’ve already got my list together for when I do some bulk grocery shopping next week. I’m looking forward to that! I’ve tried a version of Baked Oatmeal before and loved it but I was intrigued by this recipe. There’s a substantial amount of nuts in this oatmeal and that’s just fine by me. The more the merrier, I say! The sweetness with the bananas and applesauce creates an oatmeal/banana bread hybrid. I’ve been enjoying a bowl every morning this past week with a little bit of milk, a tiny pad of Kerrygold salted butter & the littlest sprinkle of brown sugar. I think my regular avocado toast is getting jealous.

my everyday life, Photography

January 5, 2014

My Everyday Life: Week 1

Here’s what this past week looked like:

On the first day of the year I was determined to smell fresh ocean air.

January 3, 2014

I love lists, Friday!

If you’re having trouble gathering your thoughts about 2013, this will help!
Also related— how to start of the new year (when you want to live simply)
Thinking of trying out this salad soon.
Things to Leave Behind in 2014.
I might employ some of these tricks this year.
This is why I’ve been craving almond croissants for the past week.
But really I should be eating these.
Heart shaped cake! This is how you make one.
I really like the idea of having a cheese night and making one giant salad. Meal planning tips!
There’s a recipe from this book coming your way on Monday. Stay tuned!
I will watch anything by Laura Miller. FACT.
I bought this dress with a Xmas gift card this week and LOVE IT. OMG.
This juice made me salivate!
Most Eagerly Awaited SF Restaurant Openings of 2014. Hope to make it to some of these!
27 Clever New Ways to Use Kitchen Appliances.
Moms can literally do EVERYTHING.

Mikasa Su Casa made my Crunchy Peppermint Bark (hi jenny!!! xo)

Uproot From Oregon adapted my Spinach Tortellini Soup

Happiness is a Warm Bun made my Bourbon Salted Caramels

around the home, Photography

January 1, 2014

Ten Intentions for 2014

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! I had a great 2013 (I hope to recap soon!) and I wanted to share my intentions for 2014. I find it’s best to set intentions instead of resolutions. It seems a little bit easier for me to lay a foundation of how I want the year to look instead of expectations and resolutions I’m pressured into keeping. Turns out I have 10 of them. An even number for an even year. I love those even numbers. Cheers to that!

Challenge myself photographically. I’d like to use my DSLR more this year. I got into the habit of leaving it at home when I go out (it’s heavy!) so I’ve been researching a good point & shoot camera to keep in my purse. Hopefully I’ll make a decision on that soon. In 2013 I used my iPhone more than I’d hoped for My Everyday Life series. I think it’s been great for spur of the moment shots and the quality is pretty good but there are definite limitations. The biggest problem is that I’m not very good at deleting photos on my phone so it gets cluttered easily and that stresses me out.
Work harder at organizing my technology. This is somewhat related to #1. I have so many dang photos to delete from my hard drive and phone. I need to back things up and start fresh! Also….ahem my EMAIL and my Aperture library both need some serious sorting. I hope to make more time for this in 2014 before it REALLY overwhelms me.
Write more in my journal. I don’t even know what my handwriting looks like anymore. It was sad how much my hand was cramping when I wrote out our holiday cards. I’d like to take more time to gather my thoughts on paper this year. I completed an entire journal in 2013 and I’m hoping to do that again in 2014. It feels so satisfying!
Incorporate meditation into my everyday life. Meditation has always intrigued me, mostly because I have a hard time stopping my brain. I don’t allow my head to clear enough and get into trouble as a result. I’d like to carve out a small chunk of the day or a little part of the week to do so. In a way, my walks have been my own form of meditation but I’m hoping to delve a little further into this in 2014. Maybe a retreat would do this brain some good?
Write a book proposal. I’ve been toying with the idea of writing a cookbook for a few years now. I think I finally figured out what my focus could be and I’m nervous/excited to get started on it. I hope this will be the year when I start living out my dreams and putting all this hard work to good use. Onward march!
Update my website. There are things I’d like to do around here. Maintenance! I hope to tidy things up and make it easier to search for recipes/posts in the archives. Shutterbean will get some minor work done. We’re not talking a major facelift…probably the blog equivalent to Botox & fillers 😉
Less structure, more play. I’d like to shake things up around here and not be so rigid with my posting. I’m not sure what that will look like, but I hope to do more personal posts related to travel, dining out, organizing, around the house, etc. I haven’t shared as much as I could have because my work schedule hasn’t permitted me to. Hopefully a little bit of wiggle room will help.
Read more books. I say this every year and I really hope that it sticks this year! I’m a person who devours self help books and really enjoys learning new things but I think a little fiction would do me some good. I also want to finish a WHOLE book instead of reading 4 books (and never finishing them) at once.
More family dinners. I think we’d all benefit from that. I need to make more of an effort this year in the kitchen during dinner time. I’d also like to get together with family more; even if it’s just casual/simple eating!
Build the momentum on projects around the house- After living in this house for over a year, I think we’re ready to start making some changes around here. But in the process, we’re going to have to simplify and save! I’m excited to pull the trigger on some painting projects and I’d love to get a vegetable garden going this year. I hope to share that in this space soon.