Date night

Bob and I treated ourselves to a date night this past weekend. The weather was beautiful so we decided on dinner al fresco at one of our favorite restaurants, Radio Maria. Fitting for a cheese head like me, we started and ended our meal with cheese. We started with Queso de Cabra Frito...

...and ended with a delicious chevre and berry compote, and Maytag blue with honeycomb and candied walnuts. Oh my, was it good!

Bob, a lefty, pointed out during dessert that cheese knives are made for right-handed people. Poor lefties.

After dinner we popped into our favorite neighborhood record store.

I found this awesome oldie. It reminded me of the time I went to a Peter Noone concert with my parents when I was about 8 years old. My mom loved him.

It was a beautiful night in our little town.

Croutons

I could eat croutons by the bagful. They're just so good. When I eat salad I usually end up with more croutons than lettuce.

Today I made my new favorite dressing: avocado vinaigrette. It's so tasty and easy to make. I like to make a mason jar full and then use it all week. Yumm-o!

Vanilla bean olive oil ice cream

This recipe for vanilla bean olive oil ice cream makes me want to get an ice cream maker. Doesn't it sound like the perfect summer treat? Mmmm.

Ombre heart cake

This would make such a beautiful wedding cake. Or birthday cake. Or any day cake. Love it.

Sweet treats

This weekend, husband and I threw a diaper/baby shower for Emily, my sister-in-law. She's expecting a son, Myles, March 19th. I had fun making these necktie cookies and cute cupcakes. I made little cupcake toppers that said "Little Man," "Oh Boy!," "M is for Myles," and some with neckties. And, I loved the green and blue color combo. All quite tasty, too.

Here's a group shot from the day. Me and husband: count down = 10 days 'til due date. Yay for babies!

New parent food planning

This past week Bob and I have been doing a little prep work for our return home after the baby is born. One of the main things you always hear is that, during that initial time after the baby is home, food is one of the last things you want to think about as a new parent.

So, we've made a couple of meals with that in mind. So far we've made this quinoa broccoli casserole and this stuffed manicotti - both Pinterest finds. Both were yumm-o. The quinoa casserole works as a main dish with a bag o' salad, or as a side. The manicotti was awesome. We added turkey sausage to the sauce, which was a good choice.

I purchased some foil baking pans and we made sure to fill one of those with half of the recipe each time. We wrap each one up and label it with cooking instructions and stick it in the freezer. It's worked out perfectly leaving us with fewer leftovers to feel bad about not eating by the end of the week and easy meals for the (not so distant) future.

Any suggestions for other meals to freeze for future eating? 

Green monster

This morning I made one of these green monster smoothies. And the verdict... it was pretty yumm-o.

Husband has made his own versions in the past, but they were just too bitter for my taste. I've been trying to incorporate kale into my diet and and I think this is going to be the ticket. Instead of coconut oil I added coconut almond milk and some orange juice, which helped sweeten it up. I need to play around with the mix a little bit more, but it's pretty close. I may try adding some pineapple juice next time.

I'm thinking about trying to guzzle one of these every other morning for breakfast. Apparently you can really feel a difference if you make it a regular part of your routine. Light, fresh, and healthy - yeah, baby!

Morning jump start

I started my day with this delicious iced blue kitty cat sugar cookie. Yeah, that's right.

Love bracelet

I just love this bracelet. Simple. Sweet. Beautiful.

And, how delicious does this applesauce recipe sound? I'm going to try it this weekend and add some brown sugar to the batch. Yum, I bet the smell in the house will be amazing!

Broccoli soup

Doesn't broccoli soup sound yummy? I love cauliflower soup and this recipe for broccoli soup caught my attention. We'll be giving this a try for Sunday dinner.

Pumpkin bread

This weekend I made this really delicious homemade pumpkin bread. Best of all, it was SUPER easy. With the temperature dropping and the leaves changing I've got a serious case of pumpkin brain, i.e. give me pumpkin recipes!! I forgot to take a photo of my bread before I cut into it, so I borrowed this one.

I also put out some pumpkins and bright yellow mums in front of our house. So so pretty! Ah, fall, I heart you.

Josie Maran on motherhood

My dear mom has been on my mind quite a bit lately. I miss her everyday and love to think of the wonderful memories we shared. Today I stumbled upon this sweet feature with model/eco-cosmetics founder Josie Maran where she talks about motherhood. Just a sweet little pick-me up about moms and how great they can be.

And, she included a recipe for a delicious sounding salad that I can't wait to try.

Happy weekend! xo

Indy weekend

This weekend my honey whisked me away for a birthday (and anniversary) weekend in Indianapolis. We stayed at a charming little B&B (recommended by some friends) in the Mass Ave. arts district just north of downtown. We ate, we drank, we walked and shopped and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.

Check out the fun weekend we had...

Birthday treats

I seriously work with a great group of people. This morning they brought in an assortment of tasty birthday treats for me. I had strawberry pie for breakfast and I'm having a turtle cookie for dessert. How great is that?

And, unlike my 32-mile running husband, I'll probably take a nap.

I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

My husband the runner

This year, Bob decided that he was going to run 32 miles in honor of his 32nd birthday. The man is insane. And, sure enough, he ran all 32 of those miles. I'm so proud of him. He really is amazing.

In celebration of his milestone run, I made him these homemade blueberry muffins - from scratch! No box mix here, no sirree. Complete with yummy crumble on top and everything. They were delicious. Bob thought so, too, after he recovered from turning nearly his entire body purple from a post-run ice bath. We had to eat them outside so he could warm back up.

photo: Bob and our nieces blowing out his birthday candles

White peaches

White peaches are one of my favorite summer treats. Fresh, juicy, sweet and delicious. I love biting into one and letting the juice run down the sides of my face. We've been getting the best peaches at our local farmers market. We seriously go through an entire quart every week. They're just so good!

photo via

First day of summer

Happy first day of summer! Summer is my all time favorite season. Something about the excitement, the freedom, the easy-going nature of it all. It doesn't hurt that it's my birthday and anniversary season, either. These are just a handful of my favorite summer things:

1.pretty summer dresses 2. peach blush 3. flip-flops ( I live in these) 4. homemade sun tea, steeped for hours on my back porch 5. hot buttery sweet corn with every meal

Cherries

One of my favorite times of the year is cherry season. I love fresh cherries. I devour them by the truck load. So sweet, and spitting out the pits as I eat a handful while walking the dogs is so much fun.
Some are even calling cherries "the new wonder fruit."


Image via 

Indoor s'more maker

I foresee needing one of these indoor s'more makers this winter. In a serious way. It's genius.

Big Grove Tavern

This weekend, my main squeeze and I checked out the newly opened Big Grove Tavern. It's the latest restaurant to open in our neck of the woods and I was dying to check it out. We were not disappointed.

We began with The Tavern Infusion cocktail (deliciously refreshing!), and the complimentary popcorn (a mix of kettle, salty and something else yummy). We ordered Tater Tots to start, which were served with apple purée and crème fraîche. Crunchy, sweet, salty and delicious.

Next we shared the Spring Chopped Salad. The beets and the orange were the real highlights. The sherry vinaigrette was a simple finish to this wonderful salad. 

For the main course, we went for the meat. Bob had the House Made Pork Sausage with caraway spätzle that was so good.

I opted for the Bistro Filet that was paired with kohlrabi gratin. (Just earlier that day we were at the farmer's market and I was eying the kohlrabi wondering what they tasted like.) Frankly, paired with horseradish butter, I don't think there was anyway they could have gone wrong.

Last, but in no way least, we splurged on Sweet Potato Waffles for dessert. Whoa, were those great! The vanilla ice cream, the server told us, was made with olive oil and sea salt. It melted just perfectly over the waffles and the whiskey caramel drizzle. Mmmm...

After that extraordinarily indulgent dinner we went home and passed out. It was terrific. Just my kind of night.

I hope you had a fabulous weekend!