I don't usually post twice in one day... but my sweet seester-in-law just shared a little video she made from Travis's birthday party on Sunday. She shot it all using this amazing 8mm Vintage Camera iPhone app. I am so happy that his 25th celebration could be documented this way! We had such a lovely time - I set up a big table in the middle of our living room and we partied the night away. Hope you all enjoy!
Showing posts with label good eats. Show all posts
Showing posts with label good eats. Show all posts
Catching Up...
Hello my sweet friends! Sorry to be absent for a bit but I had the loveliest break and tried to savor every moment [away from the computer as much as possible]. I'm back today and trying to play catch up! So many e-mails to send, blogs to read, ideas to brainstorm... Happy New Year!
Last night I hosted a birthday party for my hubs who just turned 25 last week. It was what I'm calling a semi-elegant dinner party with a subtle Harry Potter theme [his favorite!]. Here are a few photos I snapped with my phone and I'll share more details [and mayyybeee a little video] soon!
And a glimpse of the aftermath... I will be hand-washing all of these today! Boo for no dishwasher!
Cheers to a fresh new week in a brand new year!!
[Day 9] Salted Chocolate Vanilla Bean Cookies
The sweet Olivia Rae James is stopping by today to share the cutest and tastiest holiday recipe! This time of year I'll I want to do is eat, eat, eat -- so I'm always happy to welcome in new sweet treats. Don't miss Olivia's blog, Everyday Musings... it's full of yummy things, pretty photos, delightful stories and more. Thank you, Olivia!
.............
During the holidays, I become (even more) obsessed with baking. My family and friends actually get annoyed because we constantly have more sweets around than any human should ever consume. While I adore classic peppermint and spice-flavored recipes for the holidays, I also love to try out new ones. I came across Joy the Baker's salted chocolate vanilla bean cookies, and I knew I had to make them for their cute looks alone. Turns out, they taste amazing too - especially with a salty caramel glaze. Joy's recipe is perfect as is, but here is an easy recipe for the salty caramel I added on top. (I also recommend sprinkling coarse sea salt on top of the caramel for a finishing touch). Enjoy!
3/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons water
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract (or 1/2 vanilla bean)
Directions: Cook sugar and water over low heat until sugar completely dissolves. Increase to a boil until mixture turns to a medium brown (about five minutes). Gradually add heavy cream and vanilla, watching closely. Let simmer until sauce thickens (keep a close eye on the caramel the entire time, as it can burn easily).
N.E.E.T. Eats
I am super excited and honored to be featured in one of my favorite online mags - N.E.E.T. Magazine! It is such a beautiful magazine bursting at the seams with inspiring photography, extremely creative ideas, amazing fashion picks and oh so much more. The new issue just came out today and yours truly [along with a few other lovely bloggers] have written reviews of our favorite local restaurants - for me, the delicious Burger Up. If you ever find yourself in Nashville, you must stop in!
[check out the full review on pages 266-267]
{Date Night}
The hubs and I shared a lovely evening together Friday... We went to a fancy restaurant [that has the best margherita pizza ever] and laughed over wine [beer for the mister] and yummy food... it was the perfect little date night. What did you do this weekend?
Pssst... Check out my guest post over on Southern Flourish >> SEEING STRIPES. And what do y'know? I just so happen to be wearing stripes in these photos. True love.
Hellos & Goodbyes
I've had a jam-packed couple of days that have included both happy and sad tears. Our good friend {and amazingly talented artist} Greg Sczebel just got into town for a few days... We spent last night laughing over Mexican food, devouring yummy frozen yogurt and playing some Canadian trivia {who knew their alphabet ends in zed and they eat something called poutine?}.
This morning I enjoyed a farewell coffee and crepes with my dear friend Kelli Trontell. I've blogged about her often -- her creativity, photography and sweet spirit continually amaze me. Kelli and her husband are packing up and moving to Montana next week! I will miss her dearly but can't wait to visit her out west SOON!
This morning I enjoyed a farewell coffee and crepes with my dear friend Kelli Trontell. I've blogged about her often -- her creativity, photography and sweet spirit continually amaze me. Kelli and her husband are packing up and moving to Montana next week! I will miss her dearly but can't wait to visit her out west SOON!
[top photo by Katie Moore | bottom photos by Kelli Trontell]
[Goofballs]
Mexican food seems to happen often with our dear friends Mike and Ashley (remember this?). I love them. I also appear to love posing with chips and margaritas.
¡Cinco de Mayo!
So these pictures were taken last week... but I'm hoping tonight looks awfully similar. Jumbo margaritas, queso dip, friends and mexican food. ¡Fiesta!
Happy 5th of May, friends!
Happy 5th of May, friends!
Birthday Adventures
I had such a wonderful birthday weekend! The weather was absolutely perfect and my sweet hubs took the day off on Friday to spend it with me {he's pretty great, huh?}.
We started with a delicious brunch at one of our favorite places in town - Marché.
Then we walked around town and ended up at the Downtown Antique Mall -- of course!
Eventually we made it to Sevier Park to soak up some sunshine, but not without a visit to Las Paletas.
We were pretty excited about our yummy popsicles! Such a tough decision, but we each settled on avocado - our absolute favorite! Sounds strange but I promise it's amazing!
Loving my new shoes...
We did some shopping and stopped for a Mexican dinner before coming home to a small surprise party with my sweet friends - which included ranunculus flowers, banoffee pie, wine, hazelnut hookah and laughs over teen pop icons. :) A pretty fantastic birthday if you ask me!
Hope your weekend was lovely as well! Thanks for all the sweet birthday wishes. Cheers to twenty-three!!
Then we walked around town and ended up at the Downtown Antique Mall -- of course!
Eventually we made it to Sevier Park to soak up some sunshine, but not without a visit to Las Paletas.
We were pretty excited about our yummy popsicles! Such a tough decision, but we each settled on avocado - our absolute favorite! Sounds strange but I promise it's amazing!
Loving my new shoes...
We did some shopping and stopped for a Mexican dinner before coming home to a small surprise party with my sweet friends - which included ranunculus flowers, banoffee pie, wine, hazelnut hookah and laughs over teen pop icons. :) A pretty fantastic birthday if you ask me!
Hope your weekend was lovely as well! Thanks for all the sweet birthday wishes. Cheers to twenty-three!!
A Happy Heart
The hubs and I had an extremely lovely long weekend... it was so refreshing! We had friends over Friday for some yummy treats, I met my four-mile running goal and we tried out a couple new restaurants {Italian seemed to be our food of choice this weekend}. I was also reminded of how much I love Italian Orange Soda - San Pellegrino Aranciata to be exact... YUM! Our adventures included ::
Strawberry cupcakes with chocolate ganache. I created Valentine's-themed decorations from Elsie's downloadable template.
Trying out a little Italian place called Caffé Nonna in Sylvan Park...
Loving my Pellegrino...
Puffed pancakes for breakfast, found over on Naomi's blog.
A sweet little weekend... hope yours was as well!
It's A Soup-Kind-Of-Night
Hi friends... Sorry for my lack of posts lately! Why is it that the holidays are always so crazy? It takes twice as long to get anywhere around this town - so frustrating! We're heading to Colorado for Christmas this year and couldn't be more excited. I promise to post photos from our Christmas celebrations along the way! What will you be up to?
Tonight was a very-much-needed relaxing evening. We made some yummy {and super easy} carrot soup found on Bleubird Vintage's blog and watched multiple movies on TV... Hello Sleepless In Seattle! Hope you all had a lovely day. Happy Holidays & a Happy Weekend to you!
Tonight was a very-much-needed relaxing evening. We made some yummy {and super easy} carrot soup found on Bleubird Vintage's blog and watched multiple movies on TV... Hello Sleepless In Seattle! Hope you all had a lovely day. Happy Holidays & a Happy Weekend to you!
[Quick, Easy & Delicious]
My cute hubs is a huge chili fan. I was determined to find a really good recipe, and this one turned out wonderfully last week. I'm not too much of a cook {although you'd think I would be with all the food shows that I watch} and am always looking for quick and simple recipes.
This Whole Foods recipe was so yummy and just the right mix of sweet {from the corn} and spicy {but not too spicy - from the sauce}. A perfect, comforting dish for the new season. Bon Appétit!
Spicy Corn & Chicken Chili
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 large onion, coarsely chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 1/2 to 2 tablespoons chili powder
2 teaspoons oregano
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
Cayenne powder to taste
1 pound ground chicken breast
1 (15-ounce) can tomato sauce - I used Trader Joe's marinara sauce
1/2 cup mild or medium salsa
1 (16-ounce) bag frozen corn kernels, or 3 cups fresh corn kernels
Salt to taste
1/3 cup chopped cilantro
In a large soup pot or Dutch oven, heat oil over medium heat. Add onions and garlic and cook 5 minutes, stirring frequently until onions are translucent. Stir in chili powder, oregano, cumin, coriander and cayenne and cook 1 minute, stirring constantly.
Add chicken. Stir to break up and brown for 3 minutes. Add tomato sauce, 1 cup water {I halved this for thicker chili}, salsa and corn. Season with salt, then bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer, cover, and cook for 20 minutes, stirring often, until flavors have melded and chili is thick. Stir in cilantro and serve.
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 large onion, coarsely chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 1/2 to 2 tablespoons chili powder
2 teaspoons oregano
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
Cayenne powder to taste
1 pound ground chicken breast
1 (15-ounce) can tomato sauce - I used Trader Joe's marinara sauce
1/2 cup mild or medium salsa
1 (16-ounce) bag frozen corn kernels, or 3 cups fresh corn kernels
Salt to taste
1/3 cup chopped cilantro
In a large soup pot or Dutch oven, heat oil over medium heat. Add onions and garlic and cook 5 minutes, stirring frequently until onions are translucent. Stir in chili powder, oregano, cumin, coriander and cayenne and cook 1 minute, stirring constantly.
Add chicken. Stir to break up and brown for 3 minutes. Add tomato sauce, 1 cup water {I halved this for thicker chili}, salsa and corn. Season with salt, then bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer, cover, and cook for 20 minutes, stirring often, until flavors have melded and chili is thick. Stir in cilantro and serve.
Chocolate Crinkles
I figured I'd start this Tuesday off with my very favorite cookies, Chocolate Crinkles. If you haven't tried them, you must!
Chocolate Crinkles
adapted from "Field Guide to Cookies"
6 oz semisweet chocolate, chopped
1/4 cup plus 2 Tbs unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 Tbs cocoa powder
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
confectioners sugar for rolling
Melt chocolate and butter over a double boiler. Remove from heat and set aside.
In the meantime, whip the eggs with the sugar until thick. Add the vanilla extract and the melted chocolate and mix.
Sift flour, cocoa powder, salt and baking powder into a bowl and add this to the chocolate mixture. Mix until combined.
Place this bowl in the refrigerator for about 2 hours until the dough hardens enough to scoop out.
Preheat oven to 325F. Scoop one inch balls. Roll these in powdered sugar and place them on sheetpans lined with parchment paper. Flatten the tops of the cookies a bit with your fingers and bake until set for about 12 minutes.
{photos and recipe from cannelle et vanille}
Chocolate Crinkles
adapted from "Field Guide to Cookies"
6 oz semisweet chocolate, chopped
1/4 cup plus 2 Tbs unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 Tbs cocoa powder
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
confectioners sugar for rolling
Melt chocolate and butter over a double boiler. Remove from heat and set aside.
In the meantime, whip the eggs with the sugar until thick. Add the vanilla extract and the melted chocolate and mix.
Sift flour, cocoa powder, salt and baking powder into a bowl and add this to the chocolate mixture. Mix until combined.
Place this bowl in the refrigerator for about 2 hours until the dough hardens enough to scoop out.
Preheat oven to 325F. Scoop one inch balls. Roll these in powdered sugar and place them on sheetpans lined with parchment paper. Flatten the tops of the cookies a bit with your fingers and bake until set for about 12 minutes.
{photos and recipe from cannelle et vanille}
MawMaw's Sausage Casserole
How adorable are these owl recipe cards? My dear friend Katie recently shared her grandmother's delicious (and easy!) breakfast casserole recipe:
MawMaw’s Sausage Casserole:
1 lb. mild sausage
6 slices white bread (if you cut the crust off, use 7 slices)
2c milk
4 eggs, beaten
8 oz. bag of shredded mild cheddar cheese
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp dried ground mustard (good with or without)
-Brown sausage & drain fat, set aside
-In a separate bowl, combine beaten eggs, milk, mustard, salt & pepper
-Tear the 6 slices of bread into chunks and layer evenly in a 9x12 pan
-Sprinkle the browned sausage over the bread, then sprinkle the bag of cheese over that
-Pour the egg mixture over the layers & press firmly with your hands (gross, but effective)
-Cover & refrigerate overnight, if possible
-Bake for 45 minutes at 325 degrees F
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