Happy Holidays!

So I am a couple days late with this post... The last two days have been a fury of cooking and present wrapping, present opening, eating, and general good times having, pair all of that with the 75 degree weather we've had in San Clemente plus the fact that my husband is home from work for the next two weeks... well, I'll back on January 2nd ready to start a new year, and with a few healthy recipes.
Until then, Happy Holidays and Happy New Year!

Peanut Butter Krispie Treats

Rice Krispie treats are the perfect thing to make if you don't have a lot of time or interest to get into a baking project but you really need (want?) something sweet. These are easy to make and basically fool proof. Note: This mixture is STICKY and will get on everything and anything if you let it.

Homemade Eggnog

 

I didn't grow up drinking eggnog, so it's never been on my list of favorite drinks. Its usually too thick, too sweet and cloying, and when spiked, its almost always too strong, ( to those that know me, I realize how confusing that last statement must be.) Last year, we decided we'd give eggnog a try, so the afternoon of Christmas Eve I drove to the store bought rum and walked over the dairy aisle only to find that all of the eggnog was sold out. Fail. We had Mai Tais that night. This year, the urge to drink the nog hit us earlier and two great things happened.

Thai Chicken Pizza

First things first, my apologies for the terrible photo of this amazing little pizza, while your eyes may want to high five me, in the face. With a chair.  your taste buds will be apologizing. This Thai chicken pizza is ridiculously delicious and easy!

Books About Food

When I'm not cooking, eating or drinking, I like to read things that trick my tired brain into thinking I'm cooking, eating and drinking. These food books aren't full of recipes in the traditional sense but I promise you, you'll learn as much (maybe more?) from these than any cookbook.

 

Chicken and Vegetable Pasta

 

Last Monday seemed like the coldest day we've had in Southern California in a long time. I had big plans to go out to the park, the grocery store and a few Christmas related errands but given temperature there was no chance I would be leaving the warmth of our house. Lunch time came around, and a hungry and impatient baby doesn't  leave room for preparing dishes that take too long to throw together. This pasta dish is perfect because you can throw in anything you have in your fridge like: broccoli (or broccolini in our case) zucchini, squash, bell peppers, (unfortunately, I was out of bell peppers.) I often will make this dish without any chicken, but if you have it why not add it?!

 

Happy Weekend!

I'm happy to be back after my laptop died on Monday. I am going to sign off early this week to prepare for a little holiday party we'll be attending on Saturday, I plan to wear this, some Christmas shopping (and wrapping), lounging in front of the fire with a cocktail, and (hopefully) a little holiday photo shoot for Emma. And remember that redesign I talked about earlier this week? Turns out it's going live over the weekend, yay! I'm so excited to share what Sara has done for this little blog. Until Monday friends, have a great weekend!

*photo via

Ugh!

Unfortunately, my computer fizzled out yesterday. Posting from my phone or iPad really won't cut it, I promise to be back ASAP!

Quick: A Note

Happy Monday! It's in the 30's!!! this morning  and I'm quickly working through my first cup of coffee. We put up our tree on Friday night, and then decorated it on Saturday afternoon. Unfortunately, decorating with a nearly one and a half year old leaves much to be desired.. We went to my in-laws' new house here in town on Saturday and I made a pretty tasty dinner, but after two mai tais I forgot to take photos... groan. But, I'll be making it again later this week, (It was that good) so the recipe and photos coming soon!

I've been thinking a lot about this fresh little blog, I am working with Sara on a little revamping and have realized that I want to change things up a little bit. I will be posting everyday instead of the M,W,F scheduled I have been sticking to. I also plan to roll out a new weekly series or two. There are a lot of ideas floating in my head that I am anxious and excited to execute... Back to brainstorming today.. See you tomorrow!

* graphic by Sara Mueller for Society 6, buy it here. 

Happy Weekend!

I've (almost) made it through my first week home with Emma or 'retirement' as my husband calls it. It has been both tiring but most importantly fun, with trips to the park, lots of playing, and numerous on demand readings of the book, Opposites. This weekend I'm looking forward to going out to get our Christmas tree, (which reminds me, does anyone have any advice for keeping a 16 month old from ripping ornaments off?!) We'll also be decking our house in what might be an obnoxious amount of decorations. We're expecting rain tomorrow, with temperatures in the 50's through the early part of next week, so we'll be hanging out in front of the fire with a cocktail and filling our bellies with something warm and delicious, (yet to be decided, but I'll be sure to share next week!) Until then, something to think about:

"There is no passion to be found playing small - in settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living."    - Nelson Mandela

*Image by Erica George Dines for Atlanta Home and Lifestyle

Pasta: Butternut Squash, Bacon and Sage

I'm going to be honest, when I first made this it just wasn't doing it for me... it was very 'one note.' It was missing something, something to mellow out the sweetness of the butternut squash, the answer? Why, the answer to almost all of life's quandaries of course, bacon! The bacon not only balances the sweet with salt, it also gives it some crunchy texture. Another confession, until this, I had never cooked with sage, but after crisping it in the rendered fat from the aforementioned bacon... I will never-not cook with sage again!

Salad: Persimmon and Watercress

In case you missed my announcement on my birthday a few weeks ago, Friday was my last day at my job, (we were all in a food coma from the day before but if the market is open so are we.) As of today, I am a stay at home mom, yay! Unfortunately,  in my absence the last few weeks, (tying up loose ends at work) I missed posting some amazing Thanksgiving recipes... [sad face] but! today's recipe tastes so good (see what I did there!!) you'll want to make this tonight, tomorrow night, and every night this winter, (or until persimmons are out of season.) I added some toasted pepitas, (shelled pumpkin seeds) for added crunch and depth, you'll want to too... please, please, take my word for it.