Minestrone

Minestrone turned out fabulously! While I'd love to take credit for it, this really is Ricky's specialty. Cannellini beans, potatoes, zucchini, tomatoes, mirepoix, rosemary... mmmm...

Even when it is 85 degrees outside, there is just something so comforting about a bowl of hearty soup. I made some quick garlic cheese toast to dip into the broth, they were completely made up but they were great!
In a large bowl, combine:
1/2 stick butter, at room temperature
3 fat cloves of garlic, minced
1 tsp Italian Seasoning blend
1/3 cup mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup grated Pecorino Romano cheese
Mix with a hand mixer set on low. Spread liberally onto Texas toast (or sliced baguette) and broil for 5-6 minutes. Hoorah for cheese!

Lovely things

Lovely thing number one:

Chamomile tea, lemon biscotti and a piece of very dark chocolate. Heaven.
(You can't see it, but Shark Week is on the television, which made this moment that much more awesome.)

Lovely thing number two:
I am now a proud member of a natural foods co-op called Ever'Man Natural Foods! I was beginning to think that there weren't any good grocery stores in my area! This place is on my way home from work, and they have great food and natural cleaning and beauty products. These sexy little eggplants are locally grown and are one hundred percent organic and pesticide free. Don't eggplant look so much more appetizing without all that waxy crap on them? Hooray! It's only twelve dollars a year to be a member, and all of the organic and natural foods I buy are so much more expensive at the commissary. I stopped by Ever'Man on the way home on a whim, and I'm so glad I did.

Ugly Myrtles

I have two very large, very overgrown bright pink Crape Myrtles in my front yard. They have not, from what I can tell, ever been pruned or properly tended to. I can't decide if I want to trim them into submission or just remove them altogether. Something about tearing a plant out of the ground seems so mean to me. I've never pruned such an unruly plant before, and I don't even know where to begin. Anyone out there know how to tend to these bushy pink beasts?

If I do keep them, I think that they would complement the hydrangeas and lavender that I'd also like to have in the front of my house. I think yellow roses would look beautiful too, but I don't want to go too Technicolor.

Lemon Tree!

Last week I got off work and headed to the main store to pick up some supplies. When I got there, everyone was smiling at me, and I saw this beautiful lemon tree on the back counter...
It was for me!!
I was so surprised! Ricky's family sent it to as a congratulations on my new job! How sweet and thoughtful! I've been talking and talking about getting one, and now I have one! I love it!
I didn't know, however, that lemon trees have GIANT thorns. Good to know.
I can't wait to plant it in my yard, I don't know if I want it in the front or the back...decisions decisions.I think it looks pretty enough to just stay inside my house! I can't wait until it blossoms! What a heavenly smell! Ooooh and the bees!

The other day I caught a rare shot of Malo and Maggie not trying to kill one another. They're sweet.

Fajitas and Turtles!

Tonight for supper I made skirt steak (duh) fajitas with toasted Pepita salsa. Ricky loves this meal, and so do I, because it is so easy and so delicious! I served everything up on a large wooden board, and we just assembled our own fajitas at the table. Yum!

Pepita Salsa (no measurements, because real cooks don't use 'em!)
Tomatoes
Red Onion
White Onion
Fresh Garlic
Salt & Pepper
Hulled Pepitas (pumpkin seeds), toasted for about 8 minutes at 350 degrees
Fresh Cilantro

Yesterday it was raining pretty heavily for most of the day. Ricky let both of the dogs out, and they ran to the side of the yard and started barking madly at the ground. Upon further inspection, he found a small and angry turtle sitting in our lawn! He scooped the hissing critter up in a towel and took him around front to get him back into the lake. He was pretty cute, albeit frightening.

Here is another picture of Maggie Mae sleeping in her bed. She doesn't sleep in the kennel anymore, and she loves it. Look at how her tongue is hanging out! So cute!

Some peoples' kids

Last night Ricky and I went to El Paso for Mexican food and then we saw Funny People. The movie was great, definitely not what you'd expect. I had a good time, I love going on dates with my husband!

Okay then. So at the restaurant (which, incidentally, had the most amazing Carnitas) we were seated near the bar. Hooray. It was a Friday night, and I completely understand that people like to go out and have a good time, but still. There was a group of four sitting near us, not too near, mind you, and they were SHOUTING. Swearing, yelling, talking graphically about sex and all kinds of glorious things. It was hugely offensive. It makes me so sad that this is what people have come to. Where are our manners?

It gets better. In theater, there was a group of three women seated across the aisle and 2 rows back from us, and we could literally hear every word of their conversation. INSIDE voices, ladies. They weren't even talking about the movie, and they kept using their cell phones to text and whatnot. Why even come? Then the man sitting directly in front of us accepted a phone call (on a phone that was not on silent) and spoke, very loudly, to the person on the other end, "Hey man, I told you I was going to the f*cking movies and not to f*cking call me. Yeah? Well, did you f*ck her or not?..." This went on for about a minute and a half, at which point Ricky said, "Come on man, turn off your phone." The guy turned around, looked at Ricky, and exhaled loudly. Not much of a comeback, I know.

I think it is so pathetic that we are a generation of people that can't bear to turn off a cell phone for two hours of our lives! How hard is it? What bad could possibly come of it? I can't believe that adults nowadays don't have an manners at all. Ah!

Mascarpone Bliss!

My latest dessert endeavors!

This is a Lavender Blackberry and Raspberry tart! I made the tart dough (no-roll tart dough, how awesome is that?) with almond flour and ground lavender (along with sugar, butter, and an egg yolk) and spread the baked crust with strained, heated raspberry preserves. The filling is mascarpone, heavy cream, orange zest, almond extract, and sugar. Then I arranged the berries on top. It's heavenly.

This is my first Tiramisu. I was surprised at the simplicity of it, but not disappointed. I love mascarpone cheese! I do not, however, love people who pronounce it as though there were an "r" after the first "a" instead of an "s." What is it with those people? Probably the same people who say "nuk-le-ar." It was such a joy trying to locate it in the grocery store, as I am apparently the only person in Florida who understands that it is said they way it is spelled. Sheesh!

Job at Crema

So I've accepted a job as a barista at Crema, this amazing espresso bar and bakery in Pensacola. I had no idea I'd find a place like this, it's an original building from the 1940's. They use the original ovens! They roast their own coffee beans, they bake their pastries from scratch, and the don't use any hydrogenated oils or HFCS in anything! I love this place! The building is gorgeous inside. Antique chandeliers and Italian tile floors... the owners are a husband and wife from San Francisco, they've done such a great job with this place. I'm really genuinely excited to start working for them. They seem like really sweet people. I start on Monday.

Today I got this adorable apron at Cost Plus! I love it, and it was on sale for $10.00, which I always like. I don't have to wear a uniform of any sort, so I can wear whatever apron I want, which is cool. I had to call Starbucks and tell them I wasn't going to start on Monday, and I felt a little bad about it, but this place is much more what I was looking for, and the hours are perfect! Monday-Friday 0600-1400. Hooray!

(another added bonus of Crema is that I don't have to cover up my tattoo like I would have to at Starbucks, which I think is ridiculous!)

Lemon Cupcakes!

Tonight I made lemon poppy seed cupcakes with lemon butter cream frosting, completely from scratch!

They are divine, and so simple to make! Prep took me all of 20 minutes, and with baking time included the whole shebang was done in less than an hour!

So tonight I made a roasted pork loin with potatoes and lemons. I love roasting citrus fruit, it turns out so sweet and delicious. I can't wait to get my hands on some Meyer lemons...yum. On the side I made some sauteed Brussels Sprouts with olive oil, pancetta and garlic.

Bon appetit indeed!

New (age?) chocolate

Today at the store a cute little chocolate bar caught my eye. NewTree Tranquility, a milk chocolate bar with lime flower and lavender. Did I buy it? Of course I did.

It is everything you'd expect from the Belgians. Smooth, creamy chocolate. The lime flower and lavender are very much there, and quite fragrant, but they blend and melt seamlessly with the chocolate.

NewTree makes other varieties, with kitschy one word monikers such as "Rejoice," "Sexy," and "Blush."

Pretentious names aside, I'm looking forward to trying these out. Chocolate, I believe is good for the soul.

Baked!

I mean pies and tarts, of course.

Highly recommended: Lemon Lemon Loaf (page 41) Banana Espresso Chocolate Muffins (page 32) Sweet and Salty Cake (page 67) and the Lemon-Almond Meringue Tarts (page 109.)

Mmmm Cake!

I believe that few things are needed to make a kitchen beautiful aside from potted rosemary and lavender.

Also, I've decided that gone are the days of boxed cake mix. Sure, they're convenient... but what am I doing that justifies baking shortcuts?

Here we have a chocolate and lavender layer cake. It is, indeed, just as delicious as it appears to be.

I also made some delicious Chai Tea cupcakes with cardamom cream cheese frosting. These just may be my signature baked good.

These are vanilla lavender cupcakes sprinkled with cinnamon and lavender flowers. I dyed the vanilla butter cream frosting violet with some blue and pink gel food coloring.

I also wanted to throw in some pictures of Maggie sleeping in adorable positions because, let's be honest, who doesn't love sleeping puppies?

Oh the pitter patter of little paws

So housebreaking is mind numbing! I love her though, and I'll never get frustrated to the point of being angry with her (at least not that I can foresee.)

So far she's caught on wonderfully to the idea of going potty outside. It's just the going potty inside that we need to work on.

Potty pads are, by the way, not for potty at all. They are toys! Ahh!

The Most Important Meal of the Day!

So I've been in the states for about 6 weeks now, and since leaving Germany I had just about kicked my coffee habit. Just about.

I finally caved and purchased a coffee maker. A Hamilton Beach 6 cup Brew Station, to be exact.

I'm happy with it! There isn't a pot to clean out, and anything that cuts down on my dish load is, in my opinion, a good thing. I bought some Starbucks Colombian coffee, and now I love my mornings even more!

I also bought creamer! I'm normally a black coffee with sugar kind of gal (just like my dad) but I saw this Coffee Mate Parisian Almond Cream coffee creamer... and seriously... you could call anything "almond cream" and I'd probably buy and consume it.

It is divine. I like the refrigerated liquid as opposed to that shelf stable powder stuff.

This morning, Ricky told me about 3 times how hungry he was. So, I made brunch. I made bacon, eggs, and the best French Toast I've ever made. I didn't get a picture, sadly, as he ate it that quickly! Here's the batter recipe.

4 eggs
2/3 cup skim milk
1/3 cup all purpose flour
1/3 sugar
3/4 tsp. good vanilla extract

1/4 tsp. kosher salt

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

Whisk it all together, and I used thick Texas toast. I got about 7 pieces out of this recipe. Garnish with confectioner's sugar and some good quality maple syrup and, if you're in the mood, fresh blueberries.

Ricky won't be hungry again until supper.

So about The Weight of Heaven...

I loved it, don't get me wrong. But goodness gracious, it was probably one of the saddest novels I've ever read. I felt so close to those characters. I honestly felt like I knew these two, Ellie and Frank. The ending brought me to tears, I almost put the book down because I didn't want it to happen. Amazing, though. It's so great that there is still literature out there that can engulf you like that, it really is a beautiful thing.

This book is not for the faint of heart. I do, however, recommend it.

I'm still reading Sea of Poppies. I finished The Weight of Heaven in about 9 days, but this one is taking forever! It moves a lot slower, and I have so much going on with the house. I really need to keep going with it though. I find that the longer I wait in between readings, the more apt I am to forget what I read before. Hopefully it picks up. It's also written in a way that I find unappealing. It doesn't let me see the story... I think great literature should speak to you, rather than let you read it. To put it in American author terms, Sea of Poppies is too Hemingway and not enough Steinbeck, ya dig?

Maggie May!

This is Maggie May! Ricky surprised me with her the day after I met her in the pet store. I love her!

Regrettably, our sweet Maggie was born with Blue Monster Foot Syndrome...

...and Pirate Eye...

...and Wonky Ear, but we love her anyway.

This was the day Ricky brought her home! She loves kisses.

She loves naps, too.

However, she hates baths.

They make her very sad.