A Little Food Porn

I was going to post the photos of the food at the Garden Soiree/Shower/Party, but I decided that it was so lovely that it needed its own post. Marilyn set up the buffet table with the garden party theme in mind.

In the photo above, there are some fresh purple grapes and these amazing sausage skewers (chicken sausage, cherry tomato, basil, and a kalamata olive on top). Delicious!

There are Michael's famous chicken wings with bleu cheese sauce and ranch dressing. And that colorful bowl on the other side of the table (to the right) is Christine's avocado, tomato, and mango salad (AMAZING, btw).

There's mom's delicious broccoli salad (complete with bacon, almonds, grapes, cranberries, golden raisins, and sunflower seeds) that I ate a boat-load of!

Mmmm... Marilyn's lemon pepper shrimp was so tasty!

If you've never had Ellie Krieger's zucchini rolls, I would highly recommend them!

This is my dad's famous corn salsa (black beans, fresh corn, tomatoes, cilantro, and lots of other goodies!).

Marilyn made homemade spicy pita chips and served it with guacamole and spicy chipotle hummus (from Earth Fare)

This is another Ellie Krieger recipe - Devilled eggs... with tofu!

And there is some delicious pasta salad with asparagus and cherry tomatoes!

Quite a spread, huh? It was all so delicious that I thought you might enjoy seeing it all!

~ Mari

April Garden Soiree

Ryan and I had our first couple's wedding shower/party - hosted by Marilyn Anderson. It was such a blast and the weather couldn't have been more perfect. They predicted rain all week... and then it was sunny, beautiful, and cool. Perfect weather for a garden party!



Look familiar? This is what I made the rosemary lemonade for! I also mixed it with some sweet tea and made "swamp water."

Did I mention we had a GARDEN soiree? And what a gorgeous garden to have it in! One day Ryan and I will have a yard like that... one day.... :)

The wedding is so close now! I can't believe it! I hope there's not a let-down afterward... I've been planning so much and putting so much of myself into getting ready for the actual event. I'm sure it will be great, though. I'm not worried. Even if it rains, we'll have a good time!

~ Mari

Ugly Little Cuties

We've got babies! No, not the human kind - the feathered (well, fuzzied) kind. Our mommy bluebird was quite busy building her nest for weeks.. and then we looked in there and 5 precious little blue eggs were nestled down in the straw.

And guess what's in there now?

They're so ugly that they're adorable! Their little gray eyes haven't even opened... and their balding. I mean, how cute can you get, right?

Hopefully we can get more pics as they get older (and less ugly)!

Yay for Spring!

~Mari

Rosemary Lemonade

If you've got warm weather on the brain, this is sure to get you smiling! (You know that lemonade makes you smile...) So, if you've got lemons, rosemary, and sugar - you've got a unique drink that is great for a warm afternoon in the sun.

Rosemary Lemonade

5 cups water

2 cups sugar

1/2 cup fresh rosemary (3 sprigs)

8 lemons, juiced & strained

In a medium sauce pot, heat 3 cups of water. While it heats (before it boils), add the 2 cups of sugar to the pot. Stir as it heats, bringing it to a boil. Allow it to boil for about a minute.

Turn off the heat and put 3 whole sprigs of rosemary (1/2 cup of rosemary leaves - off the stem) into the water.

Let the rosemary sit in the hot water for a few minutes (as long as it takes you to squeeze the lemons!).

Take 8 lemons, halve them, and squeeze as much juice as you can out of them!

You'll wind up with about that much juice (below).

Next, strain the lemon juice (don't want any seeds in there!) into a pitcher or storage container.

Then strain the rosemary water liquid into the same pitcher, add 2 more cups of water (this makes it not QUITE as intense), stir it around, and VOILA! Rosemary lemonade!

I like how it has a green tint to it - and the flavor is unlike anything you've ever tasted! It's hard to describe, but it doesn't really taste like rosemary. It's just a hint of an herbal flavor. Chef Joe Cairns taught me how to make this in school - and now I'm passin it on to you!

Enjoy!

~ Mari

In the Mood for a Before & After?

I was too. Even though Ryan and I tackled the breakfast room a while back, I realized I never put any photos of the magical transformation on my blog. So, here they are!

Here is our yawner of a breakfast room BEFORE:

And here is the AFTER!

With a few coats of a mustardy-yellow paint, a cute (and very inexpensive) table and chairs from American Signature furniture, and some accessories and such... we turned our breakfast room into a fun place that one might want to devour some delicious creations!

I can't wait to get down there and do some more befor & after-ing! :) Heck... I can't wait to get down there and enjoy the house - period! Not much longer, now... only 24 days! Ahhhh! :)

~ Mari

The "Whatever You've Got in Your Fridge" Pizza

Don't judge this pizza by her looks - she's unbelievably tasty, however knobbly she may be. Every two weeks or so my mom and I get a hankerin' for homemade pizza. And tonight, the above photo is what came of our efforts. Are you ready? It was a: goat cheese - roasted tomato - spinach - caramelized onion - hard-boiled egg - mustard vinaigrette pizza! And how did I discover that all of these ingredients made one hell of a pizza? By making it...out of random goodies in the fridge!



Mom made her famous pizza dough (which I will put on here eventually), but you can make any pizza dough recipe or buy a ready-made pizza crust. Then we drizzled olive oil on it, put the pre-roasted tomatoes (mom does this in the summer when we have more tomatoes than we know what to do with) on top and plopped globs of goat cheese on it. Then we baked it in the oven on 500 degrees F until the crust browned and bubbled.

Next we put fresh spinach, caramelized onions (I caramelized them before-hand in a little red wine), and sliced hard-boiled eggs on top. Then I drizzled my homemade mustard vinaigrette (dijon mustard, honey, apple cider vinegar, thyme, and basil) over the whole thing!

I must say, it was quite good! The combination of the sweet onions, the tart roasted tomatoes, and the creamy eggs and mustard vinaigrette was a great variation on the old "pizza with red sauce and lots of cheese" trick.

~ Mari

Spinach

Ridiculously Easy (and Tasty) Roasted Veggies

In my book, one never needs an excuse to eat broccoli or Brussels sprouts. But, I know plenty of people who would beg to differ. Whether you're a die-hard broccoli/B. sprouts fan, or you hate the thought of their green grossness, I think you'll like this dish. (But, if you still hate them after this, you can use almost any hard veggie - beets, carrots, parsnips, etc.)

First, preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Then take your broccoli stalks and chop them up - I cut the bushy part of the broccoli from the stalk, peel the stalk & slice it into discs, and separate the broccoli florets. Then I take the fresh B. sprouts and lop (I love that word) the brownish little ends off, peel off the ugly outer leaves, and slice the little buggers in half. Next, peel some whole garlic cloves (can you ever have too much garlic?). Throw all of your goodies onto a pan (with an edge), douse with extra virgin olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and toss with your hands.


Stick your pan of yummies into the oven and let roast (tossing with a spoon every so often) for 20-30 minutes or until the tips of the broccoli are brown, the B. sprouts are crunchy and browned, and the garlic is smooshy and soft.

Now get out some parmesan cheese and a lemon. Zest the lemon (about 1 Tbsp.) and grate some cheese (about 1 Tbsp.) into a serving bowl.

When your veggies are done, dump them into the bowl and toss with the zest and cheese. Squeeze about 2 Tbsp. of fresh lemon juice on top and grate some more cheese over top of your masterpiece.

Eat and enjoy! If that doesn't make a broccoli/Brussels sprout believer out of you then I don't know what will!

~ Mari

April Shower Photos

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Little Spring Dress

Anthropologie: $158.00

I was doing my usual perusal of Anthropologie.com and I came across these adorable spring dresses. Sadly, they are a bit out of my budget, but I can imagine myself in them, and that seems to be enough for now. ;)

Anthropologie: $148.00
(I feel like this one should have been featured in Mamma Mia!)

Anthropologie: $288

(This one is my favorite)

Anthropologie: $168.00

Eggs for Dinner

It was such a nice day out today that I thought I might make a light dinner. So, I decided a quiche would be perfect! We had some goat cheese and cherry tomatoes in the fridge, so I thought that would be a delicious mix.

First, I made the dough for the crust. All you need for the crust is:

1/2 cup cold butter

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. cracked black pepper

1/2 tsp. dried thyme

1 egg

1 Tbsp. ice cold water

1 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

Mix the flour, salt, pepper, and thyme together in a mixing bowl (with your hands...I promise it's fun!). Then chunk the butter, plop it in the bowl, and smoosh it around until the butter chunks are evenly distributed. Then pour in the ice water and mix it around. If it is too wet - add more flour. If it's too dry, add more water!

Then just wrap up your little dough ball in plastic wrap and stick it in the fridge while you work on the rest of your quiche!

Now, we will make the quiche filling. Here's what you'll need:

3 eggs

3/4 cup Half & Half

2/4 cup light soymilk

1 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg

1/2 tsp. dried thyme

8 oz. goat cheese

Combine everything in a bowl and mix it around until the eggs are completely combined. The goat cheese will be chunky , but that's fine!

By this time, your dough should be ready to roll (lol...)! Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Roll out the dough to be about 1/8 inch thick. Put it in a greased & floured tart pan and cut off the excess with a pairing knife. Then stick the whole thing in the fridge!

I had some extra pie dough and I didn't want to waste it, so I thought I would cut circles out of the dough (with a biscuit cutter) and bake them to make crispy, buttery crackers! They came out delicious!

I brushed them with egg so that they would brown and become nice and shiny!

After it's chilled, take your crust out of the fridge and cut a piece of parchment paper that fits in the bottom of the pan. Then put pie weights on top and stick it in the oven! Bake it for 15-20 minutes.

Then take it out of the oven and remove the parchment paper and pie weights. Brush the entire thing with egg and stick it back in for about 2-3 minutes. This will brown the crust and seal it off from the moisture in the egg mixture.

Once it's brown and delicious-looking, take it out and let it cool a little. Halve cherry tomatoes and place them on the pie crust cut-side down.

Sliver garlic cloves and sprinkle them over the tomatoes. Then poor the egg mixture over the whole thing, leaving the tops of the tomatoes peeking out.

Bake it for 20 minutes and it will be a beautiful thing of beauty! Let it cool, slice it, and serve it!





Mmmmmmm... it came out so good! We sliced it up (it kinda looks like pizza doesn't it?) and served it with some simple sauteed spinach with garlic and pine nuts.

Happy eating everyone!

~ Mari