I’ve received a few requests from interested friends to post my design portfolio on the blog so without further ado, a portfolio page has been added! If you have a design project on the horizon and you’re interested in working together, do keep me posted. As always questions and comments are always welcomed with open arms. Click here to see the full gallery.
I’m sure I’ve said this before, but baking is not my forté, perhaps it stems from not loving chocolate and my preference to eat some salty prosciutto over a sweet any day, who knows. Either way, these blueberry crumb bars were super successful and will definitely be repeated.
We had the pleasure of partaking in a delicious vegetarian friendly dinner with our friends Mike & Lily on Saturday night. You should just go ahead and follow them both now as their tweets intelligent, hilarious, and even include the occasional TSwift reference, @lilylinqs and @jefftheturtle. First off, our dinner was awesome. Stuffed green peppers with soy italian sausage and one of the most delicious soups I’ve ever had, *hint hint…I’m still awaiting that recipe email. If I was a better blog documentarian (clearly a real word) I would have taken more photos, thank god for the bf. Our soup had a bagel crouton on top that expanded into buttery, soup soaked deliciousness, I asked for seconds and thirds.
I offered to bring a dessert treat over to contribute to our meal so I spent last week researching desserts that weren’t filled with heavy cream or chocolate that I also felt wouldn’t require a billion steps or any fancy equipment. It was quite the search but sure enough Smitten Kitchen came through again. She has the best recipes and I find myself heading over there first whenever I’m in need of some inspiration.
Blueberry Crumb bars (not even remotely adapted) from Smitten Kitchen’s archives.
I’m already excited to recreate these in the summer with a mixture of freshly picked blackberries, raspberries and blueberries. The buttery crumb topping is amazing and I’ve felt absolutely no guilt as I ate one for breakfast every day this week, I figure the fresh fruit balances out the two sticks of butter. The recipe makes a good sized batch, the plate above is actually only half the batch.
I braved Shaw’s on a Saturday afternoon to pickup the berries and had to get into a minor scuffle with an older lady who felt the need to block the entire berry stand and repeatedly ignore my polite “excuse me’s” so if you get inspired, I hope your market experience is far less tragic than mine.
We ended our night with many games of Banangrams, one of our absolute favorite games and you should 100% buy it as soon as possible, it will be well worth your $15. I promise!
This is another amazing egg recipe. I made this for dinner on Monday evening and enjoyed it for lunch the next day heated up in the toaster oven while the boyfriend finished off the rest of it for breakfast. It had been quite some time since I had made a quiche and for some reason I thought I preferred frittatas, but how could I so easily be overlooking the wonderful buttery pie crust addition.
The great thing about this recipe is you pretty much can’t mess it up, you could add all sorts of veggies, use more or less eggs, milk or cheese and it would still be fantastic. Just be sure you don’t overfill your crust and make your pie overflow. Here’s what I used:
+ half a large white onion, diced
+ about 3/4 a cup lactaid milk
+ 5 large eggs, whisked
+ 1/4 lb organic black forest ham from the deli counter, chopped
+ 4 onches of shredded goat gouda
+ a generous handful of roughly charped parsley
+ salt & pepper
+ 1 frozen Trader Joe’s pre-made pie crusts that I highly recommend you put in the fridge to defrost overnight
First saute the onions in a smidge of olive oil in a cast iron skillet for a few minutes just until it softens. Did anyone else know that cooking in cast iron actually infuses your food with a bit more healthy iron? I had no idea, so now I feel like it’s even MORE beneficial than simply avoiding the sketchy nonstick coating that likes to flake off into food.
Next add in the ham and saute that for a couple minutes, and then throw the parsley in for just about 30 seconds and combine it all.
Lay out your pie crust inside your pie pan the same way you would if you were making a 1 crust pie (ie pumpkin). Whisk the eggs and add in the milk, add in everything from the skillet as well as the gouda and mix to combine, season generously with salt and pepper and then pour that into the shell.
Bake on 375 for about a half hour just watching to be sure the crust doesn’t burn, I use these crazy little pie crust protectors that my mom put in my Christmas Stocking one year but you can always just use little pieces of tin foil to protect the delicate crust edges while the middle firms up. When done you should be able to put a fork in the center and have it come out clean.
Try not to eat this entire Quiche in one sitting because I’m fairly certain the leftovers were even more delicious on the second day.
We enjoyed our Quiche with a spinach salad on the side with a quick warm honey dijon balsamic vinagrette that I made in the same pan as the onions and ham. Also in general I found that most quiche recipes called for about double the amount of cheese I used as well as heavy cream instead of milk and to me this came out quite rich and cheesey with just the 4 ounces of goat gouda and the lowfat milk so feel free to give it a shot without all the extra calories.
I know it’s January 8th and everyone has put the holidays behind them and sworn off cookies for the next 40 days but let’s just take one more trip down memory lane.
We had some friends over for a little celebration last month, here’s what was on the menu:
Sweet:
Chewy Ginger Molasses cookies
Peanut butter chocolate bars (Courtesy of Shannon!)
Andes chocolate mint cookies (Courtesy of Shannon again)
Snowflake sugar cookies with royal icing
Oatmeal cookies with cranberries, dark chocolate chunks and almonds
Savory:
Roasted red pepper hummus with assorted veggies and toasted pitas
Brushetta topped with slow roasted tomatoes, fresh basil and a drizzle of balsamic
Spinach Artichoke dip (Courtesy of Steph, unfortunately not pictured)
Cheese plate consisting of peppered goat cheese, warm brie topped with fig spread (not pictured), Roquefort & extra sharp cheddar.
{Kudos to Steph for her pro hand modeling skills}
Our lovely friend Lily brought a really delicious sweet greek wheatberry salad that I will have to get the recipe for, it made for a great breakfast!
Steph came over early and helped me set up, without her I would have felt super rushed and not had enough time to set up this cute last minute bar area. We served Jim Beam mixed with a blood orange, cranberry infused simple syrup with fresh mint.
We spent the evening playing Scattergories, drinking whiskey and listening to some Christmas tunes, Nsync & She & Him included, of course.
Decorating the house for the holidays is one of my favorite things. This year I was really pleased with the way things turned out. This was our second Christmas where we had a mantle to decorate which is awesome! I went with a sparkly bird theme even though I have a pretty ridiculous fear of birds, fake ones are totally fine. Our nursery had such an amazing array of greenery that I had a really difficult time choosing one, the garden shop guy told me to spritz it with water to keep it fresh but I clearly forgot about that (let’s just say I don’t have a green thumb). I added the same stocking holders we’ve used for a few years, a candelabra I plan on using year round and some sparkly trees that were the only new purchase.
I sewed our stockings last year, and I wish the lettering had been a bit more visible in this photo, they have a scripty initial on each. Santa brought us a fair amount of treats in our stockings, including the Hangover II which we instantly watched.
On the side table in our kitchen I added some fresh holly berries that have made it through a solid 4 weeks of life in a large hurricane along with some sparkly candle holders. The red and gold glass looks really beautiful at night when the candles are lit up. Does anyone else know about Annalee dolls? I’m beginning to think it’s just a weird Rhode Island thing, but either way my Aunt gave me a few of these little decorations and I like to put them out, who doesn’t love a slightly terrifying mouse in costume?
We also have a real tree up that I am seriously dreading taking down. I love having it on every night, it lights up the whole living room. I crocheted some garland that I mixed in with mint green sparkly garland from last year, it was a cheap quick project that turned out great.
{please disregard the awesome cream crushed velvet tree “skirt” aka round fabric}
These are a few of my favorite ornaments, a glass watermelon (again a gift from my Aunt Nancy), a little framed photo of me and my favorite puppy friend Desmond since I no longer get to see him daily, and lastly a little chef gingerbread man from Henry’s Tree Farm where we always got our tree growing up.
Anyone else have some holiday photos to share? I’ll be posting our holiday gathering menu shortly after our mini New Years break in New Hampshire with friends. Right now I’ve got to get back to frosting some funfetti cake.
I love meal planning. It’s been a blog topic before, as has our grocery shopping routine but I still get questioned regularly about it so it seemed like a good do-over. This is our kitchen table after this mornings trip to Whole foods. Every Sunday the boyfriend and I sit down and pick out our recipes for the week and then have a 5 minute debate about which WF market we want to go to. We are within a couple miles of three different stores and I have very distinct likes and dislikes about each but that’s a whole other entry.
River Street is my favorite store, it’s large, the employees are all super nice and most of all the man who works at the deli counter told me I have “such a nice attitude” last week after I had the worlds most awkward run in with a customer who thought I was trying to cut him in line for some prosciutto.
We try to budget around $75 a week for groceries for 5 dinners and 4-5 lunches for the week for the 2 of us, sometimes we go over, sometimes we don’t. Spending money on food is not something I allow myself to stress over, spending $10 extra on some flank steak that’s on sale won’t kill me. Usually while we have coffee and breakfast I will harass the boyfriend about what he’s in the mood for while I look through a couple cookbooks and my recipe binder.
We make our list on the left side of the pad and write the schedule down on the right so we don’t forget.
Here’s what’s on the menu for this week:
Dinner
Sunday :: Bacon & Pea risotto
Monday :: Slow cooker soy ginger chicken + rice
Tuesday :: Soft boiled eggs on olive oil toast with spinach and goat cheese
Wednesday :: Warm spinach salad with eggs, crispy soppressata and caramelized onions.
Thursday :: frozen bolognese from my last large batch and rigatoni
Lunch
Monday :: leftover risotto
Tuesday :: Almond butter & Raspberry jam on francese bread, fruit + hard boiled egg
Wednesday :: Turkey Sandwich, fruit
Thursday :: Repeat something from above
Friday :: lazy day, buy lunch!
One thing that I do try to keep in mind is re-using ingredients in two different recipes for the week, for example, spinach makes a double appearance for dinner and will go on the turkey sandwiches. Leftovers are always happening for lunch even though it’s a known fact that i despise leftovers in general. Egg’s are another item we fly thru, the boyfriend likes to eat one hard boiled for breakfast, and I tend to pop one in my lunch on my 4 yoga days. Hard boiled is the one time when I hate the yolk so I don’t have to think twice about eating 3 eggs in one day.
It’s tough when you are just starting out in a new apartment, or if you’re new to cooking, it can feel super daunting to read recipes and think about how much money you will have to spend on all the ingredients. But once you get going you’ll have a well stocked pantry full of all the essentials. Also you can always improvise. I only ever buy two types of oil, Olive for 99% of the time, and safflower for the occasional baked treat or ridiculously rich fried chicken. Save your money and skip things like vegetable, canola & peanut. I instead like to keep all sorts of vinegar on hand, balsamic, white, red wine, rice, apple cider. Spices are pretty expensive too so once you start your collection you’ll see your weekly spending go down because they take forever to go through.
Does anyone else love the grocery store as much as me? Sometimes I’ll go by myself at 9am on Sunday, get a coffee and spend a good hour browsing. Today we walked in and smelled the most delicious warm apple cider that I just couldn’t say no.
You guys, I’m so sorry for the second hiatus, have no fear though I’m totally back. I’ve been busy with freelance projects, finishing up my own holiday cards (that will surely make a blog appearance) and spending Thanksgiving in New Hampshire with my family. I hope you all had a great holiday, it was lovely to leave the snowy white mountains and return home to 65 degree days in late November.
It’s odd to be harassing the boyfriend about when we can get our christmas tree when it’s so very warm outside, also the winter down comforter came out of storage way too early. It’s great to not have the heat cranking yet but I won’t lie…I’m ready to get cozy with some flannel PJs, sleeping when it’s cold out is the best thing ever.
Today I remembered that my vibrant flame pants were back from the dry cleaners so they took their first spin to the office. For some reason I was apprehensive about wearing them to work in the sea of boring black pants that walk around the financial district. Apparently bright colors bring out my inner narcissist because I loved knowing that people smiled when they saw my bright colors today, even if a good handful were thinking that I looked completely ridiculous.
I’m thinking about ordering myself these pants in black for christmas from Santa.
You’ll also see I’m accompanied by my favorite kitty cat friend who I had previously named Stella until I found out she was in fact a he, named “Flatcat”. I still like to believe he loves me more than his owners as one of his favorite napping spots is under the chairs in our backyard.
People keep asking me what fabulous things I’ve been cooking for myself with the boyfriend out of town, he’s away in Vietnam for a few weeks and it’s been quite the adjustment. Let me tell you, it is not the glamorous feast a few friends keep imagining for me. I had these high expectations of dinners for one accompanied by a nice glass of red wine followed by a relaxing evening, preferably including a bubble bath. I even spent a whole $10 on a bottle of French Burgundy this week at TJs! Then I realize our bathtub is toddler sized, I will never finish my bottle of wine on a weeknight without some help and instead decide to take another evening yoga class, come home to a DVR filled with fantastic shows, sit for far too long in my sweaty yoga clothes and find myself eating yet another bowl of rice krispies for dinner.
Cooking for one can be super challenging, is it really worth making so many dirty dishes just to feed myself? I didn’t even take the time on Sunday to plan out my own meals or make a real list so needless to say I wandered two markets and spent way too much money. Some staples this week have included wild smoked salmon and spreadable goat cheese on everything bagels, over easy eggs, and pumpkin spice pancakes from William Sonoma mix (which I will only buy on sale at the outlet, if I was rich I would absolutely stock up on cases of this stuff to last the whole year, it’s that good). Breakfast for dinner is my favorite aspect of this menu planning hiatus, when all else fails, eggs to the rescue, runny yolks only.
These are some highlights (can you tell I’m also missing my photographer?) I’ll start you off with as fancy as it got.
Tuna sashimi Emily style, aka I need to learn proper knife techniques, white rice and frozen edamame. TL loves sushi but also never wants to eat raw tuna with me because he could eat about 14 pounds of it and still be hungry, this was a perfect opportunity for me.
Next up, a classic combo, hot dogs and baked beans. Disregard my super yellow photo, apparently I’m still learning how to use photoshop after 9 years of practice.
These are by far the best hot dogs I’ve ever eaten, and the nutrition stats are less than tragic. We try not to eat things like nitrites and crazy amounts of sodium so these fit the bill.
{I am in no way associated with Applegate, I just like their products, the cute packages help too}
I definitely cooked an extra dog, chopped it up, mixed it in with the leftover beans and brought it to work for lunch today. No joke, as I walked through the little park by my house this morning a dog ran up to me super excited so of course I think she just loves me, but in fact she was trying her hardest to get into the tote bag with my lunch. Am I the only person who would beg their Italian mother to make this meal as a child?
Football season means comfort food, many hours of television and my new enthusiasm for fantasy football (still not based on actual football scores/points/theories…whatever). This past weekend was no different, we had a couple friends over and I decided I needed to attempt this fried chicken our friends Mikey & Caitlin had served us weeks ago that knocked my socks off. While my version didn’t come out exactly as perfectly golden as theirs did, it still tasted incredible.
I’m not one for crazy fried things, and to be totally honest I really don’t LIKE chicken. I understand people think it’s easy to cook, lean, and all that jazz, but because of those qualities it sometimes just tastes so…boring. This chicken is none of those things. First off, chicken on a bone is always going to have more flavor, so drumsticks that were on sale for $1.59/lb at our tiny whole foods was already a great start to this project. I used this recipe as a starting point but definitely made a bunch of adjustments out of personal preference/laziness/the fact that I cannot validate owning 14 different kinds of flours when I generally don’t bake.
Feel free to heed Paula Deen’s recipe word for word, she is the queen of all things buttered and fried after all but I highly recommend you make at least this once change. Sriracha hot sauce instead of the Texas Pete hot sauce that to me has no flavor and instead just burns my mouth. I definitely did not use a full cup, I would estimate it was more like 1/4-1/2 to keep it at a manageable level of heat.
Other changes I made include:
I used lactaid milk instead of water in the egg bath, for some reason cooking with water freaks me out, call me crazy but I just don’t want to water things down. The milk was great, I would do some ghetto buttermilk next time but curdling the milk with some lemon juice or apple cider vinegar. Also I made the egg mixture and let my chicken marinate in it for a couple hours while I waited for our guests.
I fried in Safflower oil instead of peanut strictly because it’s cheaper and I like to think healthier because it’s the oil that Clean Eating always uses in their recipes. See how I’m validating fried foods right there?
You don’t need self rising flour, apparently you can just throw some baking powder in to all purpose and call it a day. Do some googling to find out the exact ratio because I’m done with fractions for now, I had to actually write down notes to figure out the conversion to create 2 cups of self rising flour.
I didn’t mess around with creating this “House Seasoning” that Paula recommends either, I knew I would never use it and a cup of salt seems like crazyness. I played it by ear and seasoned my flour as I saw fit, generously with black pepper, a tiny bit of salt (the sriracha is plenty of salt for this recipe), and a bit of onion powder.
Do NOT try to do this without the appropriate thermometer. It will not work. There’s no two ways around it, you must know the temperature of the oil to avoid super burnt skins on top of raw chicken. This thermometer only set me back around $11 at Target and now I can make some homemade marshmallows with it in the future.
We dipped our chicken in sweet chili sauce after it had cooled off a bit, Kara and I sort of hoarded the chicken in the kitchen as long as possible while the boys were distracted by football, it is THAT good.
{Blazer, Old H&M :: Blouse & Necklace, H&M Fall 2011 :: Jeans, Madewell :: Boots :: Handbag, old Steven by Steve Madden}
I love colors. Every time I’m shopping I keep telling myself that I’m going to stick to nuetrals for all new wardrobe additions. Needless to say I have not stuck to this rule, I’m cool with it though. I’m also trying to not be AS obsessive about my “no synthetic fabrics” rule seeing as I’m not independently wealthy and as much as I wish I could, sometimes 100% silk can break the bank. I picked up this pretty berry colored top on Sunday at H&M along with this amazing bright orange and gold oversized lock pendent for $5.95.
Posing was not really in the cards for today, I was way too busy thinking about cooking sirloin burgers so kindly disregard my hand trying to fluff my day old hair. Had I been more patient I would have shown you the awesome thick striped lining of this coat as well as the fun patterned bag lining.
I need everyone’s help though, am I imagining it or do these boots look way too loose in the ankle? I really like how high they are and the dark brown leather, kudos to Andrea Morin for sending me this pic of my style icon to further convince me I’m nuts.
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