Bar Harbor is such a charming little town where everything is within walking distance and curb (or shore) appeal is the name of the game. President Taft said the summer air in Bar Harbor was like “champagne in a prohibition state.” How awesome is that?
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San Francisco is a city that holds a special place in my heart. I visited for my first time about one week before meeting Jon. I was out there for a work conference, and my mom met me for the second half of the trip to walk and shop and eat our way around the city. Upon recommendation, we went to Tartine bakery, waited in the ridiculously long line, and sat like sardines at the cozy and bustling tiny bakery’s tables. I loved it from the second I walked in. It’s on an unassuming street corner, and the smells coming from within are divine. Although we’d never been before, something about the way that everyone else was behaving just made us follow suit, unintimidated.
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These came to me after hearing Coach K (Duke University's famed men's basketball coach) speak at a conference I attended for work. He was an incredible speaker. He is honest, he’s humble, he’s experienced, and beyond anything else— he’s motivational. He makes you want to trust him, because he’s authentic. He makes you believe in yourself. He’s a winner, at heart, from within. He’s funny. And man, is his track record impressive. Check out this.
The best gift I ever received was a book full of all my grandma's baking recipes. She built a collection for me over the course of a few months, writing down for the first time some of her very best recipes that she knows by heart. Others are newspaper clippings or type-written rules passed down from some of her family members. The pages are decorated with little stickers and little notes of advice and tips from her. When I opened it up on Christmas I was blown away by the thoughtfulness, and to say that I cherish it is an understatement.
My grandma will always be my favorite cook and my favorite baker. She has been making some of her specialities for us since we were very little, and I am so excited to be able to share them with my own kids someday.
She makes the best coffee cake. It's old fashioned, straight forward, and delicious. It'd be the perfect lazy Labor Day breakfast-in-bed with a good cup of coffee.
Read MoreMy mom used to have this big old apothecary cabinet with shoe box sized drawers filled with rubber stamps and different color inks. She’d wrap gifts with brown craft paper and stamp silver and gold stars all over them, and tie it all up with great ribbon and a letter-stamped gift tag. She was also a perfectionist about it, so I loved watching how perfectly everything would turn out. One trick she used that I thought was so ingenious was using markers or brushes to get different colored ink onto one stamp.
I used these tactics to make what I think are the most adorable little stationery cards.
Taco Tuesday. Tex Mex tacos in flour shells with melty cheese. Fish tacos. Taco Bell. Street tacos with fresh lime and cilantro and slaw. I love it all! And it's hard for me to imagine that street tacos are a relatively new addition to my life compared to the others because they're my favorite way to indulge in Mexican inspired eating. And while I love ordering them out at restaurants or from street stands and food trucks, it's really fun to try them at home with all the best toppings.
Read MoreThe first time I made this salad was for a friend’s dish-to-pass baby shower, and I was so happy with how it turned out. This salad just gets better as it sits with its flavors melding, and it makes a really pretty addition to a buffet style line up. I know it may look like it has a lot of ingredients, as a lot of Thai cooking does, but I promise you it’s worth it. More recently I made it on Sunday to act as a few weekday lunches, and I was thrilled with it again. The flavor combination of this dish is honestly a little bit life-altering. I love hearty cold salads and this one fits the bill better than any other I’ve encountered. With juicy medium-rare skirt steak and plenty of crunchy vegetables, this tastes like so much more than a salad. It’s got great texture, great color, and obviously great flavors of salty soy sauce, lime, vinegar, cilantro, and a little heat from sriracha. Go make this right now!
Read MoreThe blue/sea foam/white/gray/green views of the ‘rocky coast of Maine’ made my heart go pitter-patter in a way that only travel and adventure to new places can do. I love that feeling.
Read MoreThis summer was my first ever actually keeping a basil plant alive for longer than a couple of days. And with him by my side, I have grown to be a little more creative with my basil uses. This recipe is not exactly a creative use of basil (with tomatoes, garlic, and lemon?), but it is a really really tasty one. I'm so partial to cherry tomatoes in this case because they are so dependable for flavor and sweetness. Although in the right months, heirloom tomatoes would be amazing and look even prettier.
Read MoreI had some best friends over for one of my very favorite things: a boozy brunch on a Saturday afternoon. I wanted to dress up the table to be a little bit special, but nothing too fancy or serious. This look seemed to come together on its own and had a French rustic farm-table feel.
Read More...so much greater than the sum of its parts. Crispy potatoes, sour cream, and dill might just be one of the most delicious combinations out there, and it also happens to be a beautiful and impressive looking dish. Potatoes are obviously a very versatile ingredient, and this is great way to serve them for brunch or for dinner with a slightly more elegant feel. It also requires very few ingredients which is always nice.
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