The Royal Wedding

Congratulations to the Happy Royal Couple!

Just lovely.

     The bride and her sister.  That dress is is stunning as is the tiara and veil and that train.  And her sister Pippa’s dress is gorgeous too.  

She makes a perfect princess.  Beautiful.

And so regal.

May they live happily ever after.

Thai Peanut Noodles

I tried out my first recipe from my new cookbook Our Best Bites by the girls over at the blog with the same name.  This was delicious.  It was fragrant.  And it was easy to put together.  It’s a winner.  The recipe is on page 165 of the book.  And if you can’t wait for your book to arrive, you can get the recipe HERE!

Don’t forget the lime for garnish and give your dish a quick squeeze before serving.  I also added some leftover chicken to my husband’s plate to make it a bit more hearty for him.  It’s delicious.  I think I already said that.  Yep, It’s delicious. :)

Randomness

Purchased my red geraniums yesterday.   Now I need to get some Miracle Gro Potting Mix.   Summer officially begins around here when I get those pots planted.

I made a delicious platter of Twice Baked Potatoes for dinner yesterday.  Forgot to photograph them.  Will make them again soon and post to my blog.

We had the most fun Easter weekend with the four of us all home at the same time.  Our daughter came home from school and there was lots of eating, watching movies, shopping, dying Easter eggs, eating chocolate and trips to Gnam Gnam for gelato  for three days straight.

A woman at the Dermatologist’s office this week stole the magazine I was in the middle of reading when the receptionist called me up to the desk for a question.  I turned it upside down on my chair when I got up.  It was gone when I got back to my chair and she just kept on reading pretending it was hers all along!

New wires for my braces this week.  Very tender chewing right now.

It’s just not natural to be a passenger in the car with your 17 year old son.  It’s just not!

I planted my radish seeds and some green onion seeds this week.  I am already battling the Bermuda grass.  And my red skinned potatoes are growing.

New chairs for the patio!  We only got the chairs because we didn’t like the table that came with the set.  Our old table works but might need a coat of black paint.  And I’ll keep my eyes open for a new table but right now we are good.

I finished Bossy Pants by Tina Fey.  Very Enjoyable.   I am reading The Sweet Life in Paris by David Lebovitz now.

I think this is a topic that people whisper about.  Shh…….Have you ever had pantry moths?  We had to pull everything out of the pantry.  Examine each package for evidence of moths.  All flours went in the trash.  When in doubt ….we threw it out.   Removed all the shelving.  Washed the walls.  (If you have ever swatted and killed one of these moths, they leave a gray/black powder on the wall and it smears.  GROSS!)  Then we painted the walls and ceiling with a washable bright white paint.  Let it all dry, moved the shelving back in and all of the food.  What a job.   We are now moth free. We added a very discrete moth trap in there too…just in case.  Just thought you might like to know. 

Growing a Garnish

 

Today I bought these.                                   So that later this summer, I can make these.

And I don’t even like radishes.

Our Best Bites Cookbook

 

One of my favorite blog cooking sites to visit is called Our Best Bites.  It is hosted by Sara Wells and Kate Jones and it always has creative and delicious recipes with fabulous photographs of the food..   They recently released a cookbook and I just ordered mine from Amazon.com and it came yesterday.  I am very happy with it.  Each recipe is thoroughly explained and the best part is that every recipe in the book has a photo to go along with it.   That is VERY important to me!

How simple and delicious do those Strawberry Cupcakes look on the cover of the book?  I will definitely be making them soon.  Strawberry season is almost here!

The book is clear and easy to read and has lots of “regular” recipes and some more creative ones like the Thai Chicken and Noodle Salad shown in the photograph above.  Can’t wait to try this one.  I’ll let you know how it is.  I just need to pick up a couple more ingredients before I give it a whirl.   A few of the other recipes I can’t wait to try are Honey-Citrus Vinaigrette,  Italian Meatball Soup, and the Bacon Wrapped Green Bean Bundles. There are recipes for marinades, creative ways to prepare vegetables, and delicious desserts. 

This is a great book to give as a gift for anyone who loves to entertain, a wedding shower, a Housewarming, or maybe a new apartment, in addition to the regular birthday, anniversary, or Christmas gift.  It’s a keeper!

Randomness

I planted spinach, lettuce, and Swiss chard in my garden.  The potatoes are starting to come up.  And my favorite garden tool is a hoe.  Just thought you might like to know. :)

Cracking open wheels of Parmesan Reggiano and all the cutting and wrapping of cheese that I did in the last couple of weeks has given me carpel tunnel.  I was first  in line at Target a couple of mornings ago for a wrist brace.  Ahh….relief! 

I am currently listening to Bossy Pants by Tina Fey on my I-pod.   Very Funny.

I am tired of people judging me for liking my Mini Van so much.  Don’t hate me because I drive something you wouldn’t be caught dead  driving and you would rather struggle lifting kids and groceries into your SUV that drives like a truck, sucks gas, and your children are sitting on bench seats  poking at each other while I am floating down the road in cushy comfort, all passengers sitting in their own “chairs” and getting much better gas mileage.  No, don't hate me for all that…hate me because  mine is paid for and yours is not. :)

Not really enjoying The Borgia’s like we had hoped.  So, we dumped Showtime last night and signed up  for HBO.  Have any HBO favorites I should tune in to?

That’s it for now.  I have my yearly appointment with the Gyno and I’ve got to get a quick coat of polish on my toenails.  ;)   (C’mon, I know you do the same thing right before your appointments too..don’t you. Uh huh.)

Salad with Strawberries, Spinach, Mushrooms, and Jarlsburg Cheese

This was delicious so of course I had to share it here.    I made a quick salad with half a head of lettuce, a couple of handfuls of spinach, sliced strawberries, mushrooms, and Jarlsburg cheese.  Then I dressed it with this salad dressing.  So good!

Sweet~ Sour Salad Dressing

1/4 cup Canola Oil

2 Tbsp sugar

2 Tbsp white vinegar

1/2 tsp. salt

Dash of pepper

Dash of red pepper sauce. 

Shake all ingredients in tightly covered jar. 

Bird Nest Cookies

I saw these Bird Nest Cookies the other day over at Tip Junkie and tried them out last night. They could not be any easier. Tip Junkie made hers with Chow Mein Noodles and Butterscotch Morsels. I instead used Pretzels (got to love the salt with the sweet) and Semisweet Baker’s Chocolate.

I did a test batch to start and only made four nests. I melted 2 of the Baking Chocolate Squares and mixed in a couple handfuls of broken pretzel sticks and mixed them together till well coated. Then I dropped some of the mixture onto a piece of parchment paper and formed into a nest shape. Then I added 3 pretty blue Jelly Belly Jelly Beans for the eggs. M and M’s would work here too or any egg shaped candy.

These are a fun and easy Spring time treat and just in time for Easter.

And thanks to everyone for all the kind comments to my posts earlier this week. Life got back to normal once the new hot water heater was installed. Husband is back from his business trip and the electricity will never be taken for granted again! Furniture Market appears to have been a busy one which is good news for our area. I am beat and so glad it’s Friday!! Have a fun weekend everyone!

I have linked this post up to Centsational Girl's Easter Inspiration Party.

Pink Tulips

Husband is out of town and of course, that is when storms come through, electricity is lost, and things like  hot water heaters break.

  And it’s Furniture Market in High Point, NC this week so I am very busy helping stores sell lots of cheese.

So I bought myself some pink tulips and now I am waiting for the Water Heater Man.  I am not fun to be around when I don’t have all the modern conveniences at my fingertips.  :)

Bruschetta with Mozzarella

Here is what we had for dinner last night and it was so good.  Almost as good as summertime.  Almost.

It’s been a long winter.  I have missed my fresh garden tomatoes.  In the wintertime I think Roma Tomatoes and Cherry Tomatoes are your best bet as far as flavor and texture.  Nothing worse than a flavorless, pale, and mealy tomato.    So I skip the majority of what in the market  and stick to my Romas and Cherry Tomatoes in the winter and look forward to and savor the REAL summer tomatoes. 

I found some Ciabatta bread and had them slice it for me in the store.  Then it was just a matter of dicing up some Roma Tomatoes.  I used about 6 of them.  I drizzled on some olive oil (about 1/4 cup), pressed 2 cloves of garlic, drizzled with about 2 Tablespoons of Balsamic Vinegar,  Kosher Salt, Black Pepper, and Dried Basil. 

To assemble the Bruschetta I placed the Ciabatta slices on a platter and put a piece of fresh Mozarella on top of each piece of bread.  You could toast your bread too if you’d like.  Then I scooped the tomato mixture on top of each piece.  And finally, I took my Microplane Grater and dusted the whole platter with finely grated Parmesan Reggiano Cheese.  

We dined on some leftover pasta from earlier in the week along with the fresh Bruschetta and a couple glasses of a nice red wine.  Delicious.  So nice to not have to go out for a change since that is what we usually do come Friday since I am usually not in the mood to cook come the end of the week.    This meal wasn’t really cooking now was it?