two years♥

The day Ricky and I got married, we took a picture of ourselves in our car in Holland. It sort of became a thing. For the past 2 years on our anniversary we've done the same thing.
Wednesday the 13th was our 2 year wedding anniversary. Here's to many many more.

October 13, 2008. Maastricht, The Netherlands.

October 13th, 2009. Gulf Breeze, Florida.

October 13th, 2010. Santa Rosa Beach, Florida.

Alotta Piccata.

Chicken piccata on some not so Italian noodles with steamed broccoli.

Piccata is super simple. White wine, lemon juice, chicken stock, cream, and capers.

I love how the sauce sticks to the chicken (with the help of some flour dredging) so that you don't need (or want) to dump sauce all over your noodles. Nice portion control. ;)

Isn't anything with capers a good thing?

Me thinks it is.

Making Strides Bake Sale

Our team (Starbucks) had a bake sale at the shop this morning to raise money for Making Strides Against Breast Cancer.

You can donate to the cause here.

I love any excuse to bake lots of pretty things! These are my cupcakes: the pink ones are vanilla bean cupcakes with strawberry swiss meringue buttercream, and the white one is a vanilla rose cupcake with rosewater and cardamom swiss meringue buttercream.
Yup.

The larger batches. So pretty! I think these are probably the most attractive little cakes of my cupcake career thus far.

All my loot! From left: Lavender vanilla bean cookies, vanilla strawberry cupcakes, forelle pear and almond tartlets, orange and thyme brownies, vanilla rose cardamom cupcakes, and blueberry oat cookies.
I was so tired this morning! My lobstah (Randi Hadder) is in town for the weekend for Todd's going away bash, and she and I and some ladies from work went out to 600 South last night for drinks and tapas. I finally had an excuse to wear my sparkly blue shirt and blue suede heels. By the time I got home it was past 12, and I still had pear tartlets to bake! It was completely worth it though, we raised over $500 in just 4 hours today selling goodies to the masses!

Me and Danielle. I met Danielle years ago through a mutual friend while living in Germany. She's in the AF too, and just got stationed here last month.
Small world.
Small world full of cute cakes, to boot.

dinners of days gone by (and one breakfast)

Chicken breasts rolled up with prosciutto and asiago cheese, then breaded with panko and baked. Topped with a brandy mushroom cream sauce and served with asparagus and roasted beets.

Breakfast for Ricky! Ciabatta roll, bacon, egg, and farmer's cheese.

Whole grain penne with a sauce of tomatoes, onion, eggplant, pancetta, and crushed red peppers. Served with garlic bread and shaved parmesan.

Spice (coriander, cumin, smoked paprika) rubbed pork tenderloin, Israeli couscous with curry powder, and stir fried broccoli with lemon zest, garlic, and crushed red pepper.

Chicken fricassee with fried sage, gruyere toasts, and haricot vert.

Getting colder

Well, it's cooling off at least. Temperatures have been around 80-90, which is a welcome break from the heat and humidity of Summer.

It's cold at night though! I finally had to break out the blankets!

Except Ricky naps without them and Salvador naps in them. Ah well.
It's still beach weather, and I'm sure it will be all the way up to mid-December. It's nice now, to be able to lay on the beach and not be uncomfortable because I can't breathe. This is perfect beach weather to me.

The Monarchs are migrating, and they're everywhere, even at the beach. How cool is that?
Read more about the amazing monarch butterfly and its migration here.

Bliss♥

my favorite vanilla cupcakes, and other things.

I have finally formulated the perfect vanilla cupcake. Well, perfect to me. Click on the picture and it will take you to my dessert blog where you'll find the recipe.
Things have been great around here, work is good, house is good, pets are good.
Our new kitten Salvador tested a slight positive (?) for feline leukemia at his first vet visit, the day after we brought him home. He can't be re-tested for another 6 weeks, but Dr. Dyson told us to look out for signs of general sickliness. He is anything but! He is healthy, rambunctious, and eats like a horse. It gives us high hopes. Apparently kittens can give a false positive result when they are young, as their mother can pass along antibodies. If he does in fact have it, he can become very ill, or live a long time until any symptoms arise, or his body can develop antibodies and he won't get sick. Here's hopin' for that last one.

We leave for Costa Rica in exactly a month! I'm so excited! I still have about 10 pounds that I'd like to lose before we go, so I've got to seriously start hitting the gym. Oh! I joined the gym by my work. I don't go enough. Lame.

I bought Ricky a Kindle as an "I love you and you're cute" gift, and so far he has downloaded 200 something books. Apparently any book written before 1923 is public domain, and therefor free. Pretty cool. Especially since all the books Ricky really wanted to read were classics anyway!

My birthday is next month, as is our 2 year anniversary!
2 years and we haven't killed each other.
Awwww ♥

bad bad blogger

Truth: This is the first time I've turned on my desktop in over a month.
Also truth: I have been bad about blogging.

Salmon with roasted zucchini, orzo, and a dill cream sauce with capers.

Penne with cherry tomatoes, feta, and olive oil.

Chicken fajitas with avocado and jalapeno quesadillas.

Cornish game hens with lemon, roasted fingerling potatoes, and Brussels sprouts with lemon, garlic, and cream.

Pumpkin and cauliflower curry and basmati rice with black mustard seeds.

I was up one morning for a few hours before Ricky got up. I felt ambitious and wanted to bake something... I made apple bread with cinnamon streusel topping.

Salvador and Jira... getting along?

Salvador and Malo, being nap time buddies.
Awesome kitten face.
We doggy-sat for my friend Ashley, which meant Sal got some new friends.
As did Ricky... this is insane. It's like in a Disney movie where the characters are always surrounded by woodland creatures!
My new favorite t-shirt!
The pond behind our house, which is filled with critters. If you stay still enough, you can...
...freakin' snatch turtles out of the water and feed them bread!
All the while keeping your pinkey out, as it is the proper way to hold a turtle.
I am awesome.

penny loafers

Ever since I was a little girl, for as long as I remember, my mother has worn leather penny loafers.

I've looked everywhere and never could find any. I always found penny mocs, without a functional penny slot.

I finally found some! At Dillard's, I found these lovely Cole Haan penny loafers!

They weren't cheap, $99, but they're so perfect and very well made, and I'm sure I'll have them for a long time. My mom has had hers for at least 20 years.

These make me happy and nostalgic.

new shoes make me happy

I've recently gone on a shoe binge. Not too sure why... it's not usually my thing. I've purchased a pair of cobalt blue suede pumps, a pair of iridescent nude peep toe pumps, and these! My new Sperry Top Siders!

They make me smile.

AND I wear a 6.5 in Sperry shoes... which makes me smile wider.

=D

three meals and a kitty

Roasted tomato soup and caprese salad. This is a great meal for nights that you don't want to cook very much.

Sprinkle halved tomatoes (I used Roma) with olive oil, salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning. Roast in a 400 degree oven for 45-55 minutes on a foil lined baking sheet. Roast a few cloves of unpeeled garlic on the same sheet. Meanwhile, in a dutch oven on the stove top, bring 2 cups of vegetable stock and 1 cup of canned crushed tomatoes (I like Muir Glenn brand) to a simmer. Add the tomatoes and the garlic, peeling it first, of course. Puree with an immersion blender until desired consistency is reached. I served mine with a spring of fresh basil and a touch of cream.

Chicken paillards on a chive and spinach puree topped with crispy green olives, served with mixed green salad and fingerling potatoes.

♥Kitten on a key board. ♥

Roasted salmon with a sauce of red wine, oyster mushrooms, shallots, garlic, and thyme, and an arugula and fig salad with parmigiana reggiano.

Happy Eating.