I’m frequently asked for restaurant and bar recommendations from my friends, and in my own travels, I’m always the (self-designated) person in charge of finding all the good spots to eat and drink.
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I’m afraid I may have just corralled all the kale fanatics and scared away all the kale opponents. But please stay. I fancy myself somewhere in the middle—I sort of hate food trends that take over the scene, but I also really do like kale. So I promise this post will be a quiet, under-the-radar cheer for kale. I won’t declare that it’s changed my life or pretend that if you eat this, you'll get all the vitamins and minerals you need in one day in a single salad and that it helps fight off seasonal depression and increases your metabolism. This salad purely tastes good and travels well, which is why I’m featuring it. It doesn’t hurt that it’s got some supposed nutritional value too—but that’s honestly not the point.
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I was on the lookout for a new mousepad, and I had a specific idea in mind of what I wanted. I ordered this plain white leather one from Amazon for under $10 and set out to add the gold touch I was looking for.
This DIY is so simple. I didn't even have all of the materials I should have used, and it still turned out great.
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I think everyone has a go-to food blog, and mine is unabashedly Smitten Kitchen. I have never made one of Deb's recipes and not loved it. In pursuing my own blog, it was and is one of my goals to always be authentic in every way, and part of that is to only post those recipes I really and truly feel 100% about. I like to follow recipes that are delicious and that are worth it—worth the money, the effort, the time. And being able to serve those dishes to other people is the best part. That's why I love Smitten Kitchen.
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There are a few man-made sights in this world that are hard to beat. One of those is a crafted charcuterie board. It doesn’t matter whether it’s neat and simple, rustic and hodgepodge, or messy and thrown together, it’s a beautiful sight. It’s probably because a charcuterie board signifies my favorite way to eat food—slowly, in a group, sharing bites (and usually with wine). I know I’m not the first to profess what is important in a charcuterie plate, but these are a few simple things I like to consider when I’m making one.
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There’s something about Brunch @ Bobby’s that is so stinking mouth-watering and a true feast for the eyes. Bobby Flay, to me, is a chef who demonstrates poise, comfort, and talent. He is so fun to watch because he is smooth, effortless, and creative in the kitchen, and he produces such elevated dishes. I always get inspired to cook when I watch him, and I always feel like I’m learning something new from a trustworthy source, and those two things are what I love most about a cooking show.
One Sunday morning, I was watching Bobby’s “Marrakech Express Brunch” episode, and he made Moroccan eggs. It looked so good that I had to make it. And that’s incredibly rare—it takes a lot to actually inspire me to go to my least favorite place (the grocery store) on a whim and whip up a dish from a recipe I’ve never made before when I’m already starving—that’s what bagels are for in my life—but this time was different. I was so inspired to recreate the dish, and I am so, so glad I did.
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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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Be kind
Be a leader
Be interested
Tell the truth
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.
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My 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.
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The 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!
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The 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.
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