Main Dish

I have made this yummy dish a couple of times now and I still can't get enough of it. I am at work and went to reach for my leftovers, but alas, I have forgotten them. But I have Quinoa and Pesto on the brain so thought I would spead the good word.



Picture and Recipe found here.

 The tomatoes are by far the best best best part of the whole dish, so I absolutley reccomend full force with the tomatoes!


from my iPhone

 And another winning shot from the iPhone- kinda blurry (and totally under styled) the final ta-da moment...

Where can I get some?

If anyone can find this in the US, please let me know. If you find it - I will pay you $2,000 so you can go to the UK to pick it up and bring it to me. Wait. What? That doesn't even make sense.

4th of July Dinner

Our friendly neighbors, who are not only neighbors, but friends-- suggested that we BBQ out on the patio last Saturday night. Vanessa made some of the bestest veggie stuff ever. A homemade pesto pasta, Greek cucumber salad, and ratatouille! Which she will soon blog about (right, V?!) Nate and I contributed chicken (so boring we didn't even photograph it), Angel food cake with berries and homemade whip, and Champagne cocktails.






Thanks to one of my fav blogs, Mint Love Social club for the inspiration on the cute stripey straws and the yummy Champagne cocktail (recipe here). Honestly, if I weren't so lazy, I would blog about all the awesome stuff she does. Check her out and follow if you don't already.


Thanks to Vanessa for all the super cute table toppings! Fun fun fun....

Recipe Experiment

I experimented over the weekend with a new recipe and it was pretty good. It started to look pretty enough a 3rd of the way through that I even decided to text the neighbors to join in. ( One of which is gluten free, so that was kinda a bust.)

I found the inspiration here on a cute little blog called ClothesHorse NYC. It wasn't exactly a recipe, but she gave a decent enough explanation. I did search like crazy on Men's Health, but couldn't find it.


Also, I had never heard of Farro before. I asked 3 people (3 PEOPLE!?!) at Whole Foods to find where it was. Is it a produce, is it a liquid, is it bigger than a breadbox?? Alas, someone took me to where it was (by the rice and other grains), but of course they were out. Good thing the Hubs was there to solve the problem; simply by crouching down and looking at the back of the shelf behind the other things that were not Farro. Where would I be without him? Farro-less?

Anyways, here it is.... hope my vegetarian friends and family (Aunt Dianne/ Uncle Ron) find it helpful.

Saute chopped white onion and garlic in a pan.

I pre-cooked the Farro for about 6 mins.

Transfer both the Farro, onion, and garlic, to a cast iron.

Add tomato sauce

Add red beans

Add red chili flakes

When the pan is really hot and the tomato sauce starts to boil a little, crack a few eggs right on top.

** this was the scary part. It didn't seem like the eggs were going to cook, so I put a lid on it and they cooked perfectly.

Put in the broiler for about 5 mins (should have added cheese here).

While the whole mess is in the broiler- grill some butter bread.

Serve hot and right outta the pan. We just put spoonfuls on top of the bread.

In case, you are in the mood for a history lesson, here is a little tid-bit on Farro.

Lazy Girl Babbling...

Okay, it has been weeks. WEEKS I TELL YOU! I actually wish I could say that I have been too lazy to write anything on this blog, but the truth is I have been busy busy busy with the BAU stuff. (BAU is corporate lingo for "business as usual".) I know. Lame. The last few weeks have been jam packed with a 4 night trip to the La Quinta Resort (aka Desert Paradise) with the Hubs for an Anniversary trip. Came home relaxed, tan, and hungover. It was awesome. The same day I got home I got back on a plane to London for work. London is the BEST! Is there any way better to describe London than using caps to spell BEST? yes, but I am too lazy to explain. And then we head to Michigan for my sister in law's graduation/ fam visit/ help them pack/ etc the day after tomorrow. All exciting stuff going on... but I can't help think how many things I need to put on the list/calendar for the next few months. Phew. It actually made me cry last night... so much to do... so little time. I'm annoying myself as I write this all down here. But sometimes life can get cra-zay and I need someone to slap me across the face and tell me to "SNAP OUT OF IT", like Cher in Moonstruck.

Any... ways... I am feeling a little exhausted from all the thoughts running in my head and a little lazy to go into a real post about something real interesting which is really not very often anyway. But thought I would post a few ideas of cute little ideas for the next time someone invites us over to their house and says "Bring whatever you want. Surprise us". Anyone? Anyone? Buller?.....

How cute are these? Best not put any red sauce on 'em, cause they might loose their cute factor. Anyone know a better word for cute? (putting it on the list of words to look up synonmys for next to BEST)
Or how about making some of these cute easy to-do icecream sandwhiches. Just add sprinkles. There are from the Carter and Cook Event Co blog.

While shopping the duty free on my way home, I stocked up on some Pimm's, which has fast become my most favorite drink. Or is it a cocktail? I dunno, but it tastes like juice to me. Here is a recipe.

Coctails and Creativity

I have just fallin in love with a new blog: Mint Love Social Club.
Honestly, if I weren't so lazy, I would totally be this chick who is doin' it up like every single day! Creative little home ideas, amazing recipes, and cocktails galore! Here are some fancy Friday Cocktails she has posted. Ummm... for me a little soda water and vodka is the best I can do (sometimes I might even through in a straw from Ikea cause I'm lame like that).

And then there's this one......

So bottom line is... that if I weren't so lazy, I would TOTALLY have friends over all the time and I would make them fancy cocktails. And if we had all those lovely ingredients, I would like to have it look like this in my house(obvs it would be a SF map)....

Pic found on this home tour from Apartment Therapy from Cupcakes and Cashmere.

Lazy Girl Holiday Dinner

Sorry for the delay in posts... this month is slipping away from me. I am having a hard time balancing a heavy work week, coffee stains (from the dog digging in the trash), recycling that is piled up in the downstairs bathroom(to protect from dog digging into), laundry, dinner, shopping, wrapping, packing, shipping, blogging, blah blah blah. Honestly, I don't know how the mommies in the world do this.

So in the spirit of trying to balance everything with lack of the biggest missing link in my life, TIME, I am going to have some friends over for dinner on a school night for dinner and drinks this week. Here is the yummy recipe that I will be using to entertain.... in the most handy kitchen appliance we have... the SLOW COOKER! Found here on the Kitchen.

Sangria Party

When in London, visiting the Bourough Market, a HUGE farmers market on the weekend, we came across a booth with Sangria. How fun would it be to entertain for a dinner party/ cocktail party/ bridal shower with a Sangria Station.


Sangria is easy to make, easy to drink, and even people who are not "into" wine may like it. There are so many different flavors and recipes to play with.








How about some of these interesting flavors on About.com:
Apricot/ Champagne
Spicy Sangria
Low Sugar
Basic

Frosty Cake on Cake Plate

Hi! So just for the record, I TOTALLY know that nothing on this blog is cohesive. I think I am still just trying to figure out what works best for me. And secondly... I hope that no one thinks I am so narcissistic that people actually care about all the random thoughts in my head. I will eventually have some direction, I promise.

As today is Thursday, I am anxiously counting the minutes until Saturday. This weekend, if I am not too lazy, I really want to bake a cake. We have not even used our glorious Kitchen Aid mixer since we received it as a wedding gift! (thank you, O'dell Family!) I think that this is THE weekend to do it! But, it MUST have be fluffy and frosted and of course it MUST be served on one of my beloved cake plates. (even if only served to the Hubs)

Maybe this one?
Or this one?

I love these cake plates so much:

(from the wedding)