August 20, 2010

Thank you for the Birthday wishes!!!!

You are all soo sweet and awesome. You helped make my birthday SOOO special. You have no idea!

Thank you thank you THANK YOU!!!!

Over a week ago, I vowed to eat healthy so I could totally go nuts on my birthday. If you are gonna go big, you might as well do it on your birthday, right?! I totally GORGED myself and rembered what it’s like to have my stomach reach it’s maximum capacity! Not pleasant…but totally worth it—especially the dessert part! Be patient, we will get to that in a second!

I started the day off by SMOTHERING coconut oil on my toast for breakfast (sorry not pictured). I’m like totally IN LOVE with coconut oil lately! It deserves its own post for sure! Look out for that soon!

My dad took me out to a really yummy Seafood lunch@ Swan Oyster Depot in SF for lunch!

We always get there pretty early to get a seat. I love going there with him. It’s really old-timey & fun.

I thought it was funny to see a Keep Calm and Carry On poster on their walls!

I ordered an Anchor Steam & we got a dozen cherrystone clams on the half shell to start with.

recipes, Uncategorized

August 16, 2010

Egg & Asparagus Gratins

I have a confession to make. This dish STRESSED me out. It’s really not a complicated recipe, but the thought of overcooked eggs paved the way for me to be on edge with this recipe. Mix that with a incessantly meowing cat, a crazy bed headed mom with no coffee (ahem, me) and a toddler running around the house—OMG WHOA! I’m surprised I managed to pull this off. Dipping that piece of toast into that brilliant yellow runny egg was the money shot I was looking for. Thank god it happened. It was worth the stress. We dodged a bullet, people!

Let’s have a look at that yolk!

Now that that’s out of the way…this is a really good dish! I’d totally make it for company! It reminds me of the Herbed Baked Eggs I made awhile ago, but without all the herbies. The bright green asparagus were happy to take their place. If you are pressed for time, cook the asparagus in advance to make things easier. The Parmesan really makes this dish, so you should add more than it calls for. I won’t tell anyone. I bet fresh breadcrumbs mixed on top would be FANTASTIC too. Look at the runny egg yolk being soaked up by my buttery toast. Do I really need to say more?

around the home, Uncategorized

August 15, 2010

So organized! Recipe Folder!

On the internet I have a great way to save tantalizing recipes.

A pinterest board dedicated to nothing but FOOD.

(It’s a place where I save some of my current food obsessions!)

In real life, I have piles of ripped out magazine pages all around our house. Sometimes it takes me forever to find the ONE recipe I’ve been wanting to make. Chances are it could be on my bedside table or on the coffee table shoved underneath a bill. Sometimes I find them crumpled up in the couch! Thanks Cooper!

Bottom line= I am a stack maker; there’s many of them throughout my house.

Here’s what a general pile of mine looks like:

I’ve tackled some of my piles & I’m excited to show you the little project I knocked out this week-

MY NEW RECIPE FOLDER!

recipes, Uncategorized

August 12, 2010

Lemongrass Ginger Iced Tea

We had a signature cocktail at our wedding. It was a Lemongrass Gingertini. It was FANCY! I’ve always wanted to make it at home and was delighted that the base of this drink comes pretty close! If I grated fresh ginger, added vodka & rimmed a martini glass with chunky sugar, then we would have it!

So yeah this recipe is a really good base. I say base because it’s SOO sweet & fragrant. It’s definitely concentrated! I diluted my drink with sparkling water because I wanted bubbles and I don’t really like drinking sugary drinks. If you want to drink it on its own, I suggest reducing the amount of sugar! The lemongrass gives a nice punchy pow & the ginger adds a warm spice. It’s super tasty.

Feel free to add some spirits up in. Gin or vodka would totally be buds with this tea. Casey threw in some gin last night and LOVED it. It might be fun to make some ice cubes out of this tea and pop them into your water throughout the day. Wow, clever me. I’m gonna go do that now….
CONTINUE READING

around the home, favorites, Uncategorized

August 11, 2010

MY new lunch sack

I’ve been on the lookout for a new lunch sack for COOPER because the one I’ve been using for his food broke. Stupid zippers. It was really cute too! It had navy & magenta apples. It was pretty girly, but I bought it because I liked it. He wasn’t at the age where he had an an opinion(he has one now!), so I took the liberty. It’s my money, isn’t it?!

I took a journey to San Francisco with my bff this past weekend, and spied this lunch sack within the first 15 seconds of walking into a cute little boutiquey shop. MINE!! IT MUST BE MINE!! And that’s when the love affair started.

Here’s a side shot. Yes I have dual monitors at work with my kid’s mug on them! <3

I like it because:

It’s bold.
We can learn the alphabet!
It’s well insulated! Nothing is gonna spill into my big ass purse.
It stands out in my office fridge (don’t take my shit!)
There’s a convenient handle on top.
The velcro is SUPER strong.
I love the font & get nostalgic for that old timey *paper*
It’s got a place where I can put Cooper’s My name.

I found it for you on Amazon! There’s some other cute stuff in the alphabet design too! I’ve got my eye on that spoon & fork! Look at the Floor Splat Mat!! The company is named Sugar Booger! Isn’t that silly?

And while we’re at it…let’s see what I’m having for lunch today:

Vegetable Minestrone & a sweet potato with some butter! YUM

Sorry, Coops!! Momma is holding your lunch sack hostage. I’ll buy you a special one when you are actually in school! Promise!

recipes, Uncategorized

August 9, 2010

Orange Hazelnut Biscotti

I briefly mentioned that my oven broke this summer. We got a new one. It’s fantastic. I love it. It works like a charm! Would you believe that I spent close to three days figuring out what it’s maiden baking voyage would be!?! I will now share with you the recipe that popped my oven’s cherry. Hazelnut biscotti!

As a child, I never really understood the appeal of biscotti. Through kid goggles, they were an icky grownup “treat.” I’d watch my dad dip a ridiculous amount of biscotti in a short class of Vin Santo and wanted to gag. I always thought dipping a cookie into something that wasn’t milk was weird, but now as a grown up I totally get it. These biscotti don’t need to be dipped in ANYTHING. They have TONS of flavor on their own. A nice cappuccino or some milky tea would be a good companion—but that’s it. Notes of orange, spicy anise undertones & crunchy toasted hazelnuts will assault you with each bite. They’re delightful!

So yeah- I’m a grown up and I love biscotti. I’m always surprised at how easy they are to make. Some people think that because they are baked twice, it means more work in the kitchen. It’s really not that bad!! I find cutting up the baked “logs” to be quite therapeutic (WEIRDO alert). It’s really nice to see a huge batch of cookies on a parchment lined baking sheet that have no risk of melting & sticking to each other. To me, that is worth any “extra” effort. Another upside- they last in an air tight container for a few weeks. They taste soo good that you might not have any around that long enough to find out…
CONTINUE READING