fall cravings

this

Source: spacetacular.com via Devon on Pinterest

plus this

Source: crateandbarrel.com via Devon on Pinterest

would be amazing.

Wedding Wednesday- We go "shopping"!

I have a confession. I have not dreamed of my wedding since I was a little girl. I didn't dress up in my mom's dress and walk down the aisle with our neighbor (Steven "broccoli head"). Instead, we played house- and pretended to blow up the occasional Barbie.

No, the dress, the flowers, the venue were not on my mind. But one thing was...

The Registry.

How freaking awesome is it that you get to pick out all the super cute kitchen stuff you have always wanted and then have people buy you that exact same stuff!? Phenomenal I tell you. So you can imagine my excitement when the boy said to me last night, "want to go to the mall and register for some stuff?"

That my friends- was HALF the excitement I felt last night haha

Sadly, we realized today that registering isn't all scanner guns and daisies. It's hard! Mostly, because you are SO ready to go, and then a really nice lady makes you fill out paper work and gives you a 20 minute schpeal about what the program is all about. It's a bit of a buzz kill. But once we got through that (smiling and holding hands like good engaged couples should do!), we were lost. Where to start? What do we really need? And then the boy found out that a high end down comforter costs $700 and nearly chucked the scanner down the aisle of neatly folded color coordinated Idon'tknowwhatthreadcountmeans luxury towels.

After 20 more minutes, we had under 20 items on our list. We looked at each other and realized- we are SO much better at buying things online. Why? There are reviews! And comparable price lists! And I could Google what made one towel better than another! I should have known- I am a researcher when it comes to buying things. I browse the J Crew site before stepping into the store and know all the dresses carried at the LOFT by style name. Why would it be any different when trying to pick out knives, plates, and other lovely home things?

So here is where I need your help. I have come to the conclusion that I need to pick my "kitchen style" before setting forth. Right now, we have gorgeous cherry stained wood, dark granite counter tops, stainless hardware, and bright white walls. The main accent color is a apple to sage-y green, mostly because all my fabulous Marshall's finds come in that shade (you know how that goes!)

I think the shining star of every little girl's registry is the KitchenAid Mixer (even if she can't bake). And thus, I need your help picking out the color! {all photos courtesy of Macy's and KitchenAid}

Blue Willow (navy?)

Cobalt - has almost a purple hue?

Ice - paler in real life

Pistachio - a bit more green in person

Apple Green- a bit brighter in person

What do you think?? Right now, I'm leaning towards the blues- I just don't know which one! The idea of the Blue Willow is lovely, but will I EVER get it to look clean again?? Experienced ladies (and gents), chime in!

Summer Solstice Salad

Happy first day of summer everyone! It's a rainy one here today, but the boy and I celebrated the end of spring last night with a fantastic dinner out on the little red deck. After a week full of parties and celebratory dinners (yay Daddy day!), we had a fridge full of leftovers and felt pretty blah. I decided we need to eat better (and smarter!) so I pulled together a lovely little meal- without a trip to the grocery store!

Along with some leftover corn on the cob and a bag of frozen shrimp, I adapted this panzanella off of 2 recipes- one by my fave Ina Garten and the other from the lovely Giada De Laurentis.

"Summer Solstice" Panzanella

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
• 1 large loaf french bread other country-style white bread, 2 to 3 days old
• 2/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil plus reserve for grilling
• 2 cans diced tomatoes {you really should use fresh, but it was a pantry night!
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• Salt and fresh black pepper
• 1/2 cup thinly sliced fresh basil leaves
• 1 hot house cucumber unpeeled, seeded and diced
• 4 scallions, finely diced

Directions

Cut french bread into thick slices and grill, drizzling olive oil on both sides of the bread. Once grilled, let cool and cut or tear bread into 1 inch cubes and set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk 2/3 cup of the olive oil, 1/4 cup of vinegar, and garlic. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. 

Transfer the cubed bread to a 13 by 9 by 2-inch dish.

Mix the diced tomatoes, cucumbers, scallions and basil into the bread. Pour the dressing over top, and combine well. Cover the salad and let stand at room temperature for flavors to blend, at least 1 hour.

Source: womansday.com via Megan on Pinterest

I wish I had the forethought to take a picture last night (everything looked so yummy!), but you get the idea :)

The best part about Panzanella- you get to use the stale bread you forgot about from Saturday's party. And there are no real rules! Don't have cucumbers? Really like olives? Throw in whatever fresh veggies you want and see what happens.

I hope your first day of summer is a bit sunnier than mine. Have a great week!

Just in time for the heat wave...

get outta the kitchen!

Whew! It's 88 degrees here on the deck today and Weather Channel so kindly informed me that it feels like 91*. Super! Actually, I'm pretty happy after the long cold winter we have had. With the change in seasons comes a change in my eating habits. Once the thermometer goes past 85, I crave light, fresh, cold meals. Sometimes, that comes in the form of ice pops all day, but I'm being better this year!

I got the hankering for some fresh gazpacho Wednesday night and did a mental check on my fridge. Tomatoes? canned-check. Cucumber? check. Red onion? no- but dreamy red scallions! check! A quick stop at the market for some tomato juice, and I went home to hang out with my blender.

Doesn't it look yummy? And you can't go wrong with some fresh french bread to soak up the goodness.

My base recipe is off of the fantastic Ina Garten seen here. I'm a firm believer in figuring things out based on what you have already- so here's my more flexible and "my food processor doesn't work" version.

Ingredients

• 1 hothouse cucumber, seeded, but not peeled
• 2 bell peppers, cored and seeded (I like orange and yellow for color)
• 1 can of diced tomatoes, drained
• 4 red scallions*
• 3 large radishes*
• 3 cups tomato juice
• 1/4 cup red wine vinegar (or whatever kind you have!)
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• sea salt
• fresh black pepper

 *CSA veggies! woohoo!  

Directions 

Finely chop the cucumbers, peppers, radishes, and red scallions. Put 1/3 of each vegetable into your blender along with the diced tomatoes and one cup tomato juice. Pulse until it is coarsely blended

Pour blender contents into a large bowl with chopped veggies, remaining tomato juice, vinegar, olive oil, salt, and pepper. Mix well and chill before serving. Convince your man that the soup gets better as it sits, so please don't eat it all now. 

This is pretty much all I have eaten for the past 24 hours (along with watermelon!). It's delicious and certainly doesn't last for long in our house.

What's your go to warm weather meal?

CSA- Week 2!

Hello hello! Week #2 of our CSA is here and I am so excited! We have managed to use up almost all of our week 1 veggies (I shared some with my momma too). Monday night, I made kale for the first time. And loved it! Hopefully, I will see it again in our shares in the near future.

Here's what came in our bag Tuesday:

Tuesday, May 17 - Half Share

1 Bag Arugula - Certified Organic - Farmdale Organics

1 Head Red Leaf Lettuce - Certified Organic - Railroad Organics

1 Bunch Red Scallions - Certified Organic - Sweetaire Farmdale Organics

1 Bunch Asparagus - Certified Organic - Rolling Ridge Farm, Orchard View Organics, Farmdale Organics, or Lancaster Farmacy

1 Bunch Easter Egg Radishes - Certified Organic - Windy Hollow Organics

1 Bunch Baby Sweet Hakurei Turnips - Certified Organic - Autumn Blend Organics

1 Bunch Green or Red Mustard Greens - Certified Organic - Maple Lawn Organics

I've never tackled Turnips or Mustard Greens- but I did pretty well with Tatsoi and Kale, so bring it on!

No picture this week. Riley was being...Riley. Every time I tried to lay the veggies out for a photo shoot, she would attempt to grab the radishes and run....

The asparagus looks SO delicious, and I found the simplest recipe over at Smitten Kitchen for a lemony asparagus salad. My rendition wasn't nearly as pretty as this picture, but it sure was delish!

Source: smittenkitchen.com via Devon on Pinterest

For lunch, I made up a salad using the red leaf lettuce, arugula, turnips and radishes (with a few cucumber slices tossed in). Can't wait!

Have a sunny Thursday!

Tackling the CSA veggies-Tatsoi

Well- Blogger is back! After last week's crash, I lost a bunch of my drafts. Then my image files wouldn't open. Thankfully, we are all back to normal now :)

Remember this little cutie of a vegetable?

Well, after a google search, I came across Backyard Farming's blog and found a recipe for browned butter pasta with tatsoi. It's "kid approved" so I figured, why not? Lucky for me, even the boy liked it! And he's the man that hates spinach in all forms.

Isn't it bright and pretty?

Here's the recipe {with my edits}

Browned Butter Pasta with Tatsoi
Serves 2

Your pasta of choice, preferably curved or with ridges {rigatoni baby!}
1/2 stick unsalted butter {smart balance}
Salt and pepper
Leaves of 2 to 3 bunches of tatsoi, rinsed
1/2 cup chopped sage {left this out, added chopped red scallions from the CSA}
Freshly grated parmesan
Lemon wedges, optional 

Cook pasta to al dente in salted water. 

When pasta almost done done, melt butter in a skillet. Swirl the butter in the pan as it foams. (At this point, remove pasta from the heat and drain well in a colander.) When butter begins to brown, toss in pasta and mix to coat with butter. Salt and pepper to taste. Add tatsoi and sage {scallions} and cook until slightly wilted, about 1 to 2 minutes. Plate and serve immediately with grated parmesan and lemon wedges on the side. 

This was definitely a winner. Non greasy (the butter was done just right), a little spicy from the scallions, and light enough for the heat. It made 2 new veggies approachable and was good enough that the boy took the leftovers with him for lunch! Next time, I am going to try tatsoi in a stir fry since the slightly bitter taste reminded me a bit of bok choy.

In a quest to eat a little healthier (my triathlon is only 30 days away!), I'm pretty excited for the adventure of cooking with new veggies. Any other recipes that you can suggest? My next project is Kale!

CSA- sneak peak, week 1!

Yay! CSA Season is here and I can't wait to get my first delivery! I was excited to get the "your pick up location is..." email and just got the surprise of another email telling us what is in our first share!

We elected to go for a half veggie share and will be getting a fruit share starting mid June. Here's what we can expect for the next week:

Tuesday, May 10 - Half Share

1 Bunch Asparagus - Certified Organic - Coyote Run Organics or Autumn Blend Organics

1 Bunch White Scallions - Certified Organic - Friends Road Organics

1 Head Red Leaf Lettuce - Certified Organic - Green Valley Organics

1 Bunch Tatsoi - Certified Organic - Hillside Organics

1 Bunch French Breakfast Radishes - Certified Organic - Green Valley Organics

1 Bunch Red Scallions - Certified Organic - Sweetaire Farmdale Organics

1 Bunch Green Kale - Certified Organic - Autumn Blend Organics

I am most excited for the asparagus!! I love love love it- especially on the grill.

I'm a little more anxious about the tatsoi and kale....I've at least heard of kale, but had to google tatsoi after taking some far ranging guesses. That's why we signed up though! Yeah, it's great to get tried and true veggies, but the fun part is trying new things! I have a few recipes gathered, so hopefully I'll have a great report for Wednesday.

This weekend, our engagement party and Mothers Day! Be nice to your mommy and have fun!

Taco Tuesday!

Source: thekitchykitchen.blogspot.com via Matt on Pinterest

Today, I just couldn't help myself.... I needed a taco! I blame it on reading Food and Wine while on the elliptical last night. They featured a taco visionary in the March 2010 issue and I'm pretty sure visions of salsa danced thru my head all night.

So today, I called up my food partner in crime (hi Kemi!) and we set off for El Diablo- a fantastic built to order taco/burrito joint in town.

I went with the short rib tacos on corn tortillas with pickled red onions, corn salsa and a shallot lime vinaigrette. WORTH IT. But really- I could do this at home, right?

Here's my next salsa adventure....

Mango-Tomato Salsa via Food & Wine, March 2010

Ingredients

• 1 cup finely diced peeled mango (from a 1/2-pound mango)
• 2 plum tomatoes, finely diced
• 2 tablespoons minced red onion
• 1 teaspoon minced serrano or habanero chile
• 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
• 1/2 teaspoon sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon unseasoned rice vinegar
• 1 tablespoon chopped cilantro
• 2 teaspoons chopped mint
• Salt and freshly ground pepper

Directions

In a bowl, toss the mango with the tomatoes, onion and chile. Stir in the lime juice, sugar, rice vinegar, cilantro and mint. Season the salsa with salt and pepper and serve at room temperature.

Yummy! What specialty salsas do you make on your own?

How to get your fiance to cook dinner every night :)

I'm back! Sorry for the lack of posts. Having 2 sick blondes (me AND Riley) in one house has resulted in a lack of sleep and creativity over here.

This weekend, the boy busted out his major Christmas gift- a grill from my parents! Ladies- if your man doesn't have a grill- Get.him.one. He's made dinner the last 4 nights in a row and they have all been phenomenal. To make Monday's dinner a little more special, we hit up Costco (love)for some filets (fancy!). Paired with grilled sweet potato fries and a light salad, it was a perfect way to start the week.

The boy would also like me to post this picture because it shows the gorgeous yellow gerbera daisies he brought home for me haha

The grill has me super excited for our CSA share to start up in May. Grilled veggies? Yes, Please!!

Next up- another wedding Wednesday post and a cupcake adventure!!

Savoring Spring (a bit early!)

Happy Monday! Hopefully, most of you have off today. I have to work, but with a limited schedule, meaning I get to catch up on bills, get a good workout in, and daydream about spring!

Speaking of spring, I can't wait for the warmer weather, sunshine, and FOOD! This Friday, we had temps up in the high 60s/low 70s. It immediately made me crave shorts, flowy sundresses, and grilling out on the little red deck. Something I've been considering for awhile is joining a CSA, or Community Supported Agriculture. Friday's weather had me longing for fresh veggies and ripe fruit- and I think it also pushed me over the edge in making my decision! There are a few CSAs for us to choose from locally, and the boy and I have decided to try our luck with Lancaster Farm Fresh Co-op. 

Deliciousnessss

They offer 25 week half veggie shares, and after looking at samples of their full shares last season, I can't wait to see what shows up in our boxes! LFF also has a fruit share option- providing 20 wks of yumminess to go with your veggies.

Part of what had me hesitating is the inability to choose what you will get. Our household has some pretty adventurous eaters, but the boy is a little more limited on veggies he likes (I adore spinach, keep it far away from him). The idea of cooking brand new things is a little intimidating!

eek! what do I do with THIS?

Also- the upfront costs. LFF's full veggie share is $700, a half share is $425, and a fruit share is $180. That's a chunk of change considering the half share and fruit share cover 2 months of my grocery bill.

But what pushed me over the edge? I looked at our grocery bills.

The 25 wk veggie half share will average out to $17/wk. The fruit share will come to $9 a week. I usually find myself limiting the amount of fresh produce I buy in the supermarket to stay within budget. The CSA will provide a great assortment of fruits and veggies while staying within our budget! Not to mention, we will be getting all organic produce- something I admittedly don't do on a regular basis because of costs.

Either way, we start our culinary adventure in May. I hope you'll come back and check out my weekly posts about what showed up in the CSA boxes and my adventures in cooking!

Valentine's Dinner

Before digging in to our sweet little dinner last night, the boy asked "wait- do you want to take a picture of this for your blog first?" Love him! haha so by special request, here's what we made last night...

Black pepper crusted Ahi tuna steaks with a soy reduction

Roasted brussel sprouts (I posted the recipe here)

Hand cut Parmesan sweet potato fries

What's sexier than a healthy dinner packed with superfood sides?! Shockingly, I made it through the entire cooking process without busting out butter or garlic- and everything tasted fantastic! Sadly, we didn't do anything for dessert (too full), but I snacked on a little salad while we watched How I Met Your Mother later that night.

I used to be pretty scared of fish- especially tuna- before meeting the boy. Now, I can't get enough of sushi! The recipe we followed was super easy, and probably saved us a ton compared to going out to eat.

Seared Pepper Tuna Steaks via epicurious {and modified by moi!}

Ingredients

• 4 6- to 7-ounce ahi tuna steaks (each about 1 inch thick) {we made dinner for 2}
• 1 tablespoon coarsely cracked black pepper {we prefer MUCH more to taste}
• 2 teaspoons oriental sesame oil
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1/4 cup dry Sherry
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives or green onion tops

Directions

Sprinkle tuna steaks on both sides with salt, then sprinkle with coarsely cracked black pepper, pressing gently to adhere. Heat sesame oil in large nonstick skillet over high heat. Add tuna steaks and sear until brown outside and just opaque in center, about 3 minutes per side {we like our tuna rare- seared for about 1 and a half min/side}. Using tongs, transfer tuna steaks to platter. Tent platter loosely with foil to keep tuna steaks warm. Add soy sauce, then Sherry to same skillet. Reduce heat and simmer until mixture is slightly reduced, scraping up any browned bits, about 1 minute. Spoon sauce over tuna steaks. Sprinkle with chives or green onion tops. 

Do you have any restaurant worthy at home meals?

Snow Day!

I hope everyone in the north east has dug their cars out and can safely travel now! We got hit with around 10 inches Wednesday into Thursday. Since Delaware thinks snow plows are a novel idea, I'm surprised we're getting around without too many issues right now.

The good/GREAT thing about the snow? SNOW DAYS! I got lucky and had 2 (one early dismissal and one full out snow day), and I used them to their fullest. Snow hikes with Riley and the boy, lots of shoveling and car cleaning, drunk lunches with friends, fuzzy blankets and lots of home cooked winter meals. 

Here are a few shots of our winter hike along the river...

I will bend, but not break

my favorites :)

For dinner, I made 2 of the boy's favorite things: black beans and brussel sprouts. ok, I know, weird combo. Actually, it's a VERY dangerous combo (hehe)- but it was delicious!

I never thought I'd like brussel sprouts- but my mom turned me on to the trendy idea of roasting them with lots of salt and pepper. I used Ina Garten's recipe found here. {my alterations look like this}

Fresh cut sprouts! The finished product disappeared quickly :)

Ingredients

nocoupons

• 1 1/2 pounds Brussels sprouts {for 2, I use a 10 oz pkg}
• 3 tablespoons good olive oil
• 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt{or more!!}
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Cut off the brown ends of the Brussels sprouts and pull off any yellow outer leaves {I like to halve mine}. Mix them in a bowl with the olive oil, salt and pepper. Pour them on a sheet pan and roast for 35 to 40 minutes, until crisp on the outside and tender on the inside. Shake the pan from time to time to brown the sprouts evenly. Sprinkle with more kosher salt ( I like these salty like French fries){me too!!}, and serve immediately.

The black beans are insanely easy to make, and muy delicioso! Unfortunately, they go faster than Speedy Gonzalas. I have to remember to take a picture next time for the blog! I'll save that recipe for later :)

They're calling for more snow today... hopefully only a little. My shoulders are sore from clearing off the cars! Stay warm!