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instagram friday

June 1st, 2012 | Comments Off on instagram friday

It’s June already, the first day of ‘official summer’. Let’s hope the weather catches up with the calendar. It’s been a bit chilly lately, and the warm days are few and far between.

This past week was pretty low key; I had five days off work over the Memorial Weekend, and I spent a lot of time at out lake home in Western Wisconsin. There was much to see there.

But before I could even leave, I had to calm down a freaked out cat who hid in the cupboard from a vivid thunderstorm.

Once there, the butterflies were the star of the weekend.

I took a long, long hike along a winding country road.

I relaxed a lot. With adult beverages.

And came home to marvelous garden greens, covered with a delightfully light and flavorful Strawberry Balsamic Vinaigrette.

{{I’ll post the recipe soon. Trust me. It’s worth the wait.}}

And of course……

What else did I discover this week??

A meatless lentil burger <—–WANT


Steel Cut Oats…. in BREAD


How to do what you love


The simplest Ice Creams Ever 


This book.

This Tofu

instagram friday

May 25th, 2012 | 1 Comment »

My friend Mary, the talented photographer behind White Peach Photography, and the kind and giving heart who gifted Clara to me has a feature on her blog called Instagram Friday where she highlights her week through her Instagram stream. Last week, in her Facebook post about it, I mentioned that I would love to do my own Instagram Friday post, but jokingly said that I’d have to do something interesting first. My Instagram feed isn’t always the most exciting of my social networks.

But this past week, I took a closer look at what I was doing, and started capturing a lot more images of daily life besides the ubiquitous cats. And with that, my own Instagram Friday evolved.

 {{rhubarb spoon bread…. recipe coming soon!}}

{{I discovered the magic of Diptic, a photo grouping app on the iPhone}}

{{nacho night due to excessive tortilla chips in house}}

{{spider season is back…. this is our garage after dark- a suburban horror story of macabre and bloodlust}}

{{Eli in the garden, his favorite spot to snooze away the day}}

What else have I discovered this week??

 

This cake. Gah.

A sandwich for Spring.

Perfect treats for the upcoming HOT weather.

Breakfast Extraordinaire

A meatless wonder burger

HAVE A WONDERFULLY ENJOYABLE AND RELAXING WEEKEND!

it snowed last night…..

November 20th, 2011 | Comments Off on it snowed last night…..

We had our first snowfall of the season yesterday. It wasn’t much, really, just an inch or two, but there was an hour or so in the afternoon where the snow fell hard and the wind blew heavy and it LOOKED much worse than it was, and Minnesotans, even though they are a hearty bunch yew betcha, well, there was a lot of griping and sniping and exclamations of “I don’t have a snowbrush in my car!!” {{ahem…. that might have been from me…. cough cough}}

But in the end, it was just an inch or two. Certainly NOT this again.

This was last year’s incredible 24″ blizzard from about mid-December. Gorgeous and shockingly beautiful {{mostly because I enjoyed it from the comfort of my home}} and the impetus to usher in a Winter that saw more snow, more hassles and more headaches than we anticipated. Now that I am working, and got my first taste of commuting home in a snowfall, I’m not so eager to deal with an epic snowstorm, but I know, inevitably that the day will come where I am at work and the white stuff is coming thick and fast. And the only thing standing between me and the warmth of home is Audi’s legendary all-wheel drive, nerves of steel and a deep well of patience.

Oh the joys……

What’s on YOUR plate this month???

Food holiday mish-mash

November 12th, 2008 | Comments Off on Food holiday mish-mash

Officially, we’re looking at National Chicken Soup Day and National Pizza with the Works (except Anchovies) Day.

k, thanks…..bye

chicken-picture1

Oh right, sorry there Chicken, a little humor insert, but that’s the extent of what I feel for these particular days- not a lot of excitement. How can you get excited about Chicken Soup? Or pizza overloaded with too many toppings? Ho hum…

I love Chicken Soup, don’t get me wrong. Little else can soothe so universally as chicken soup, made fresh with lots of vegetables and soft dreamy noodles. It’s a well known fact that it’s good for colds and sinus infections, but whether or not it’s beneficial isn’t always the reason to indulge; eat it because it’s delicious and a simple and healthy option. Soup is such a great way to offer a meal that is low in calories and high in substance; you can add in a multitude of vegetables and easily achieve a large amount of your RDA in vegetable consumption with one meal. A little goes a long way too.

Soup is a much beloved and oft repeated meal in our house and the sky is the limit for what goes into the pot. I didn’t cook up anything new for this post, but here are some of my favorite soups ever-  Chicken Tortellini Alfredo Soup, a lively Smoky Chicken Tortilla Soup, and a rich and creamy Chili Blanco, then a completely random but delicious Chicken Corn Potato Chowder. This last one isn’t a chicken soup, but it’s wonderful anyway, and as long as we’re talking soups, you should give this Pesto Vegetable Soup a shot.

And now….Pizza.

I’m a minimalist when it comes to pizza; the less on the crust, the better I like it. I’ve had those Everything Pizza’s and it’s just too much stuff. I’m not a fan of onions on my pizza unless they are beautifully caramelized; mushrooms aren’t a favorite either. I don’t like hamburger on it, or canadian bacon, or pineapple or pickles or jalapenos or cheddar cheese or potato or beets……

All right, those last two might be considered a long shot, but the rest is not. A classic combo that I love is sausage and green pepper; I also love just pepperoni with nothing but cheese. I love chicken, tomato and green pepper, I love fresh tomato and fresh mozzarella, with capers and kalamatas. And I love vegetable pizza. But these days, with dairy being on my avoidance list, pizza has taken a backseat in my culinary repertoire and I seriously miss it. Indulge in a slice or two for me, would you??

nablopomo21

{{chicken photo courtesy of Easy Chicken Recipes}}