April 23, 2012

Tarragon Lime Green Tea

New recipe! Tarragon Lime Green Tea

It’s almost that time of year when I overdose on bruschetta and drink fancy cold beverages outdoors until the mosquitos come out and then I book it inside. Thanks to my friend Cheryl and her amazing/stunning new cookbook, Ripe: A Fresh, Colorful Approach to Fruits and Vegetables, I have a drink that will turn heads at future dinner parties. I have yet to find out if it will repel mosquitos…

In this fancy beverage, tarragon mixes with green tea, honey & lime to create the most pleasant herbal/citrus iced tea. It’s reminiscent of gin, but contains none. Since I’m always looking out for YOU and YOUR best interests, I mixed a little Hendrick’s gin in one of the glasses and was extremely pleased with the results. Cheers to that!

my everyday life, Photography

April 21, 2012

My Everyday Life: Week 16

Here’s what this past week looked like:

Outdoor painting with Cooper & Lucy.

Uncategorized

April 20, 2012

I love lists, Friday!

Look at this black bean & lemon sour cream sauce sitch. Whatta craving!
Fry pie! It’s fun to say. Especially when strawberries & blood oranges are involved.
Cauliflower Crust Pizza. I can’t even tell you how much this excites me. Look at that egg. LOOK AT IT.
I love what Lisa says about having a full plate.
This Breaking Bad gag reel is tiding me over until next season. Hilare.
Spicy California Roll on a rice cake! GENIUS.
New words for internet friends. I’m SUPERFOND of Helen Jane, natch.
Wallpaper? Who needs wallpaper when you have two crazy talented parents!?!
Modern Kiddo is giving away a Kate Spade bag. I wanna win!
HONEY!!! I think I need that honey jar….#6!
I always love reading Katie & Bri’s ADVICE.
Imagine a fried egg sandwiched in between one of these jalapeno cheddar scones. YES.
I might have to board this lavender lip train! So pretty, Ashley!
Imagine if your dad was this is clever. I love the Super Mario Bros. one!
Henri, Paw de Duex. Merci, chat, merci.

Check out the Joy the Baker podcast episode #46: Tiers of Tears! We give another shout out to T-flo (WHO TWEETED US!). We go over your blazer homework (you are awesome) AND we talk about earballs. What the?

This week on High Straightenence I give you my tips & tricks on How to Stay Organized in the Kitchen (while you’re baking & cooking). Yeah…I’m guilty of making lots messes in the kitchen.

recipes

April 18, 2012

Smoked Salmon Cream Cheese

In my family, my mom and I have always been outnumbered by men. One adult male and two growing boys meant that anytime my mom put out a platter of smoked salmon & cream cheese for a party, there would be no smoked salmon left by the time it was our turn to get some. I think their mental cue for leave some for the rest of the party was always dominated by the how much salmon can I pile on top of this bagel cue.

After many years of suffering with measly smoked salmon scraps, I finally found the solution! Take away the plate of sliced smoked salmon and put the salmon IN the cream cheese. Dudes will still want to load it onto their bagel, but I’m pretty sure you’ll find some cream cheese left by the time you get to the appetizer table. There’s nothing worse than spending a ton of money on smoked salmon when you never get to try it.

This cream cheese is also PACKED with flavor and perfect for a party because you can do it ahead of time. The last thing you want is the stress of fanning out salmon slices when someone shows up to your party ridiculously early. Am I right?

recipes

April 16, 2012

Thai Beef Salad with Herbs

When you’re deep in an organizing project and you look around the room you just destroyed, it’s best to just STOP. Before you get thoroughly overwhelmed, take a breather and make something good to eat. Don’t examine your stuff!

Just LEAVE.

The act of taking a break and chopping up vegetables, grilling steak outdoors and composing a bunch of colors on a plate will not only give you a nice break from the chaos in the other room, it will give you fuel to power through.

Don’t think of the pile of papers you need to shred. Don’t agonize over how much stuff you’ve accumulated in the past few years. Just eat this delicious salad. It’s spicy, hearty and kinda light!

We spent so much of this weekend going through our unwanted items. Lucky for us, this bright/colorful salad was the light at the end of the tunnel.

Now excuse me while I get back to work sorting all the stuff I need to shred.

my everyday life, Photography

April 14, 2012

My Everyday Life: Week 15

Here’s what this past week looked like:

We had thunder & lightning this week…and some amazing clouds to prove it.

Uncategorized

April 13, 2012

I love lists, Friday!

This series…My Better Half…is so AMAZING.
I love EVERYTHING about this table.
The Road to Healthy Glowing Skin!
I could eat all of these cupcakes. No joke.
Almond Mini Donuts with Cherry Glaze. I’m in lurve.
Joy is a genius with Ten (Super Rad) Blog Post Ideas
This might be my go-to cocktail this summer.
Six Rules for Dining Out. This is super helpful.
To say I’m in love with this look is…an UNDERSTATEMENT.
Joanna nails it with her Table Manners post. Cute illustrations too!
It’s totally rhubarb season. I’ve got my eye on this Rhubarb Raspberry Crostata.
Sounds like my East Coast side of the family 🙂
Have we discussed Nerdy Boyfriend yet?
I could never be a news anchor. I would not be able to keep from laughing.

This week on the Joy the Baker podcast, we go over your 5 fave things homework, answer questions AND give you homework for this week like It’s Nobody’s Blazeness!

Aaaaaaaand I think I might be done with my kitchen organizing project. Just a few more things to go. Here’s this week’s installment!

(that image up there is from my Instagram stream! You can follow me @tracyshutterbean. That temporary tattoo is from tattly. Casey totally thought it was real for a minute. HA!)