September 15, 2010

Craft Project: Silhouette Portrait!

I’ve been wanting to do a silhouette portrait of Cooper since the day he was born!

In the midst of our super busy Labor Day weekend, I finally busted one out!

I used this contrasty photograph of him in front of our sunny guest room curtains.

I played around in Photoshop- cropping out his silhouette from the background…

I printed out a copy and traced it onto a thick piece of black card stock-then I cut that out.

I lined our fancy IKEA frame with yellow striped fabric and taped his portrait on top.

And here it is! (so far)

I’m going to enlist the help of my neighbor to write COOPER in her perfect/scripty handwriting.

I’ll place that underneath his portrait.

It feels really good to have that done. I keep staring at it because it totally looks like him–especially in the nose & lip area!

I’m really enjoying all the yellow accents in my living room. Can’t wait to decorate my mantle for Halloween!!!

recipes, Uncategorized

September 14, 2010

Brown Butter Biscuits & Creamy Sausage Gravy

I’ve never really understood the appeal of biscuits & gravy. Out of all the things to eat for breakfast, it never seemed worthy to share the same head space as my waffle, french toast & fried egg breakfast food fantasies. Look at it!!! It’s a plate of monotone.

I was reading this recipe in the current Food & Wine Magazine on my recent flight to Seattle and out of nowhere my mouth started watering. Ground turkey, chipotle peppers in adobo with sage?!?!!! I think the whole plane could hear me enthusiastically rip out the magazine page. The pilot should have turned on the fasten seat belt light!

Thanks to this recipe, I’m happy to report that I am now a fan of biscuits & gravy. Make a Facebook page, and I’d press LIKE in a split second. The speckled bits of chipotle peppers give a nice spicy kick to the gravy. Monotone??!!! Who you callin’ monotone?!! The sage makes the ground turkey taste like sausage and the milky gravy part?? Heaven. I might put some of the leftover gravy on top of brown rice for dinner tonight. Sounds good, huh?

recipes, Uncategorized

September 12, 2010

Brown Butter Biscuits

Guess what I started this Sunday morning with? Brown Butter Biscuits!

Reasons why you should make them:

They’re SUPER easy! You don’t have to cut the butter into the flour!
You LOVE biscuits.
You love the nutty taste of brown butter!
You need something to spread raspberry jam on!
You find therapy in biscuit cutting. (I know I do)

Reasons why you shouldn’t make them:

Butter repulses you.
You are on a diet.
You’ve never really liked biscuits.
You’re no fun.

recipes, Uncategorized

September 11, 2010

Hearty Black Bean & Sweet Potato Soup

Welcome to another edition of CLEAN OUT YOUR FRIDGE, SOUP!

I threw together this Mexican Inspired Vegetable Soup at the beginning of the week and am quite fond of the results! There’s over 6 different kinds of vegetables up in there! I have a bunch of leftovers in the freezer and am currently devouring a bowl for lunch. I roasted a corn tortilla over an open flame on my stove and crumbled bits of it into the soup! It’s absolutely scrumptious with avocado chunks and hot sauce on top!

Yum.

I should note that this recipe is vegan! I know I have some vegan readers out there, so this one’s for you! My husband who is definitely not vegan really enjoyed it. I got an instant message from him at work yesterday that said:

“Really good soup, honey.”

Hooray! I’m happy that he got his daily requirement of vegetables at lunch. This pleases me.

A huge dose of fiber and an insane amount of hearty vegetables in one bowl?

AUTUMN?!? BRING IT ON!

Hearty Black Bean & Sweet Potato Soup

Makes about 6 servings

1 medium yellow onion, chopped

1 tablespoon olive oil

3 cloves garlic, chopped

3 carrots, chopped

1 32 oz. container vegetable stock

1 15 oz. can diced tomatoes

1 tablespoon ground cumin (a heaping one is just fine)

1 bunch kale, chopped

1 red pepper, chopped

2 medium zucchini, chopped

1 medium sweet potato, peeled & chopped

2 12 oz. cans black beans, rinsed & drained

3 corn tortillas, diced

1/2 bunch cilantro, chopped

hot sauce

salt & pepper

In a large pot, heat olive oil with onions on medium heat and cook until onions are transparent. Add the carrots, garlic and cumin to the pot and cook for about 3 minutes. Add the vegetable stock and canned tomatoes to the pot, raise the heat to medium high. Add the kale, zucchini, red pepper, sweet potatoes and black beans to the pot and bring to a boil. Add in your tortillas, half of your chopped cilantro and a few splashes of hot sauce and stir. Reduce heat and simmer for about 15 minutes. In that 15 minutes, add the rest of your cilantro and taste the soup every now and then to see if it needs more salt, pepper or hot sauce.

***You might be a little overwhelmed by the ingredient list here. Don’t be! As long as you have the basics (cumin, veggie stock, cilantro,onions, tortillas etc.) you can toss whatever vegetables you have on hand.***

around the home, Uncategorized

September 10, 2010

lessons in gardening…

The other morning Cooper & I were hanging out in the backyard and he kept running up to me saying “Green ones, green ones!” I assumed he was referring to his trucks so I brought them out for him to play with. My assumption was wrong. A few minutes later he turns the corner, runs back to me with a proud look on his face and yells, “GREEN ONES GREEN ONES!” It was then that I realized he was talking about my GREEN TOMATOES waiting patiently to ripen on the vine. Little bubbs then says “Grapes! grapes! grapes!” He proceeds to smoosh them in his hands and then runs away. Whoa. I was stunned. Goodbye green tomatoes. I worked hard all summer for you….I now see why my grandparents were super pissed when my brothers and I would pick off buds from their plants. GAHH!!!

So let’s talk about the current status of my garden…. CONTINUE READING

recipes, Uncategorized

September 9, 2010

White Chocolate Almond Chunk Cookies

Almost two weeks ago, I was inhaling one of these amazing cookies at the kitchen counter of the most beautiful home in Seattle. With the happy chatter of 5 fellow female food bloggers in the background, I thought to myself…..

“I need to make these cookies. I need to be transported back to this moment. Girls weekend…discussions of cookbooks, family, the internet…A weekend of overeating, learning new things, and taking a break from my routine. I sooo need to get back to this space when I’m at home drowning in my TO DO lists.”

Fortunately our lovely host– Dana thee DANA of Dana Treat has supplied us with the recipe…

Oh these cookies…creamy white chocolate, chunks of crunchy almonds with a subtle oatmeal taste/texture! Your mouth is going to love you. The part in your brain that loves chewy cookies is gonna go nutso. I sandwiched them with vanilla ice cream at a Labor Day BBQ we went to; they were a hit! You are gonna DIE when you taste those almond chunks. I did. Fortunately I was resuscitated just in time to write this post.

So here I am. It’s Thursday morning. I’m chugging coffee while Cooper shoves cupcake wrappers and pens into our printer. I’m working on a TO DO list for the day and I’m transported back to Seattle. I’m eating one of these cookies. My heart is happy. My taste buds sing. I am thankful for the new people in my life who show me different sides of the world and bring out new dimensions of myself. I feel like today is full of hope. I can do what needs to be done. I can handle it all. My kitchen is filled with Dana Treats and I couldn’t be happier.

So thank YOU to Cheryl, Dana, Denise, Joy & Kristina

Because of you and the International Food Blogging Conference in Seattle, I finally feel like myself again.
CONTINUE READING

recipes, Uncategorized

September 7, 2010

Roasted Mangoes & Blueberries

If I was a painter, I’d focus my attention on making abstract paintings with roasted mangoes and blueberries.

Preferred canvas? A big white casserole dish!

My brush strokes would produce bits of fiery orange flesh with rich black dots speckled on top of a deep crimson wash.

Here’s a glimpse at my latest painting.

What do you see?

The juxtaposition of ooey gooey blueberries & baked juicy mangoes masking the reflection of my happy face?

Wow, you’re good! Did you go to art school?

Now that you’ve learned how to make Cinnamon Sugar Tortilla Crisps, it’s time to do something with them! I probably know better than anyone they do just fine on their own (hello! who ate a whole batch?!!) but let’s jazz them up with another recipe! So baked mangoes & blueberries? Hmmm. At first your brain tells you I’M EATING PEACHES (cuz that’s what it looks like) and then your taste buds say WAIT! NO! MANGOES! The combination of the blueberries & mangoes creates something almost raspberry like. So peculiar yet fun & totally unexpected. And let’s discuss that color again! Can I just say that I want this as a flavored lip gloss. Hello Stila? You out there? Please help.
CONTINUE READING