If you know me at all, you know that I could eat pasta every single day. I can admit that my pasta consumption during the fall and winter is bordering on overload and I’d like to say that I take a break from the pasta in the summer. Not so. Just because it is grilling season does not mean that we should cease and desist with the pasta. Let’s just lighten it up a bit.
Read MoreAs I write this, it is 95° outside and my house is a balmy 80° according to my thermostat. The mere thought of turning on my oven just about puts me over the edge.
I know what you are thinking. Turn down the air conditioning already so that you can bake something. Ah-ha, my friend. Here in lies the problem. You are clearly not living on the West Coast, where most of us only have AC in our cars, and some not even that. The thought of 90° weather with no AC makes all of my good Southern relatives go weak at the knees. What on earth do you mean no AC? Houses here in our little mountain town just aren’t equipped. And don’t kid yourself, it is HOT.
Read MoreI can’t stop with the tacos. Anything I can put in a tortilla can and will be put in a tortilla. And, yes, I realize today is Monday, but tomorrow will be Tuesday and you (unlike me) might be planning ahead.
Read MoreIt’s that time again. Time to talk fashion. In my case, lack thereof might be more appropriate, but cut me some slack. I’m working on it.
This month, I’d like to introduce you to my new best friend at Stitch Fix, Zahra. Zahra actually took the time to check out my closet Pin board and my feedback on prior fixes. Wait, what? Who doesn’t absolutely love a listener? Exactly. Zahra also let me know that I can request a particular stylist in the future. You’re the one, my friend.
Read MoreSunday mornings meant pancakes when I was growing up. We made the same pancakes every week from a recipe that was printed in pencil on the inside of an old copy of The Fannie Farmer Cookbook. I made those pancakes so many times that I didn’t need the recipe. I didn’t even measure. I could make pancakes by feel. When I would visit my grandmother in Louisiana, I would always make pancakes for supper at least once. I’m pretty sure it was her favorite supper. She ate them loaded with butter and drowning in cane syrup.
Read MoreI can’t stand mayonnaise. I’m just not a condiment person. Or a cream sauce person. When it comes to potato salad or coleslaw, it goes to reason that I will pick a vinaigrette over a mayo or buttermilk based dressing any day of the week. My husband fortunately knows about my (strong) anti-mayonnaise sentiments so he was wise to pick Ina Garten’s French potato salad to go with our barbeque last Sunday.
Read MoreWe’ve been discussing waffles around here for five months now and you are probably thinking that the waffle is enjoying the longest 15 minutes of fame ever. If we are going to discuss food items over-staying their welcome, let’s talk about avocado toast. It’s good and all, but do I need to see six pictures a day of a piece of bread with avocado on it? Yes, yes I do spend too much time on the Internet.
Read MoreNow that it's June, it is time to think about backyard parties. And wearing white jeans. And replacing your regular duvet cover with linen. This last one I may have done before Memorial Day.
Memorial Day weekend is usually a bust weather-wise around here, and this year proved no exception. We went to a movie at the library on Friday, then on Saturday took the kids to the theater to see Tomorrowland during yet another round of showers. Just a little PSA: this movie might be a bit scary for some kids. Like Théa. Gus, however, absorbed every single minute of it and thought it was the best thing ever. Especially the robots. With guns. It should be obvious at this point that I made a tactical parenting error taking my five-year-olds to this movie. Also your kids might not want to go on It’s A Small World after seeing this movie. I’ll leave you to decide whether that is a good or bad thing.
Read MoreI think it is safe to say that pictures of donuts or pictures of sprinkles or pictures of anything tiny are the key to success on the internet. Combine all three and you might even shut down the internet à la Kim Kardashian.
Read MoreIt seems like fava beans are all I see in my food porn stream around this time of year. And every year, I pin or save or drool over fava bean recipes only to find that there are no favas available where I live. Last week, I almost shouted in the market (it’s true – you can ask my husband) when I saw fava beans in stock. I had no idea what I was going to make but I bought a bag on the spot.
Read MoreI’ll get straight to the point. I’m probably not the right person for Stitch Fix. I really, really, really love the idea of this. I love the idea that someone can assess your style from a Pinboard and items that you love just show up in your mailbox.
Read MoreGround turkey? I’ll be honest. I really wanted to name this dish something else, at least for purposes of this blog post, because if you are anything like me, you see ground turkey and you think bla-and. Get ready for a shocker. This green bean and ground turkey stir-fry is so good that I’ve made it twice. And it might be one of the easiest weeknight dinners that you can possibly make.
Read MoreRee Drummond, aka The Pioneer Woman, was the first blogger that I actually followed. I mean, my first love was Apartment Therapy, but I’m not even sure that I knew it was a blog. This was before I knew anything about feed readers or bloggers or, frankly, cooking. I loved Ree’s voice. I loved how she told stories about her food and talked about ingredients. I loved her photos. I loved that she made cooking look easy.
Read MoreMy husband came home from the grocery store the other day with red snapper and a selection of vegetables. “I thought we would have stir-fry,” he said.
What I should have said was, “Thank you, honey, for planning dinner and going to the store. That was so awesome!”
What I actually said was, “Fish stir-fry? Gross. Have you ever actually heard of fish stir-fry?”
Not my finest moment as a wife. Did I mention that I was napping when he went to the store? With the kids? Yep. Not my finest wife moment at all.
Read MoreIt’s May, and I have not purchased a single box of waffles since I began this waffle quest. I’d say that is a pretty successful New Year’s Resolution. Perhaps my most successful resolution ever. Wish I could say the same for exercise.
Read MoreWe interrupt our regularly scheduled programming (party preparation from hell) to bring you a review of this month’s Stitch Fix.
No, really. I’m drowning in aqua here, people. And lists. Lots and lots of lists. I need to talk something other than mermaids for five minutes, ok?
My grandmother always said “God don’t like ugly.” She usually said this as a reminder to herself rather than as a condemnation of others. I use this saying in the same way. And I’m saying it over and over as I type out the review of my latest Stitch Fix shipment. I’ll be honest. I had to write this review twice. The first time, I had to get the ugly out. I just hope there isn’t too much ugly left in this second version.
Read MoreIt may come as a shock to you that I am, in fact, still alive. It may be an even greater shock that I am still using my kitchen for its intended function. I promise to tell you why I’ve gone off the reservation at some point, but for now, I think we should stick to the donuts.
I had a lovely plan this morning to surprise my littles with homemade Mini Strawberry Donuts. Who wouldn’t love to wake up to that? Excellent plan until I realized that the recipe called for “dried strawberry bits”, which after further investigation, I concluded must mean freeze-dried strawberries. You guessed it. I was fresh out of freeze-dried strawberries this morning. Moving on, I decided to try Baked Buttermilk Donuts with Fresh Strawberry Glaze. Fresh out of fresh strawberries too. I also really couldn’t get past the fact that this recipe called for yeast.
Read MoreEver since my kids saw the Lego Movie (we could discuss this for days, people), they think Taco Tuesday is all that and a bag of chips. And ever since I saw these ridiculously cute Oreo tacos on Pinterest, I agree. I mean, are you kidding me with these?
Read MoreWhen I was a little girl, my grandmother had a woman who helped her out at home with cooking and cleaning. Mrs. Morvant made the best lima beans in the world. Her smothered corn was pretty damn good too. Anyway, I remember helping Mrs. Morvant shell the fresh beans that she would cook down forever. Her beans had just the right consistency, tasted a bit of whatever pig product she used to flavor them, and were seasoned to perfection. Like anything, I’m sure that these beans are better in my memory than they were in fact, but no matter, Mrs. Morvant’s limas left me with a thing for a nice big pot of beans. (Side note: If you have kids and have not read A Bad Case of the Stripes by David Shannon, you are missing out. It is about a little girl and some lima beans. You should definitely pick it up at the library.)
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