once there was a little dog…
who found himself in a big bed.
the little dog’s sister was trying to make the bed, but the little dog was very smart.
he knew that if he posed for a picture…
…and looked at his sister with his big brown eyes…
…that she would forget about making the bed and let him sleep away the afternoon.
so that’s just what he did.
the end.
xo
{the “corn husker”}
{crawfish on the porch as an appetizer}
{sometimes blurry photos are the best ones}
{buffalo butt beer and buffalo burgers for dinner!}
{the best way to eat crawfish is wearing dad’s old t-shirts!}
{the grill master}
{there’s no shame in smooching the dog around here!}
{look-alikes?}
{buffalo burgers with swiss cheese, sauteed mushrooms, and garlic aioli; baked beans; deviled eggs; broccoli slaw; and corn on the cob}
{peach sour-cream pie that i made in culinary school}
though minus one, our family is alive again.
xoxo
i know it’s basically the weekend, but i still have yet to catch you up on last weekend. so here it goes…
given the circumstances of the previous weekend and the absence of our beloved papa in our lives, we surprisingly had quite a swell one ["we" being my mom, mimi, and myself, as my poor dad had to fly and mike was in austin]. i think the two main things that contributed to this were that 1.) we took full advantage of having a girls weekend in every way! and 2.) we were all the more grateful to spend time with loved ones and, in the case of mimi and mom, appreciative of getting out of the house.
on friday, i had the day off from work, which meant sleeping in a bit [yippee!] and cleaning up my apartment in the morning, which wasn’t actually very messy [a straight miracle, people]. then i met mom and mimi in the design district, where we had a delicious lunch at bridge bistro and antiqued for a couple hours.
{strawberry mint tea}
{apricot and field greens with key lime vinaigrette and spicy pecans}
{shrimp/crawfish enchiladas}
mom and mimi had brought overnight bags so they could stay the night at my apartment, and they had also brought lucky. we were nervous about how he would do, because he has severe and dramatic separation anxiety when he’s left alone anywhere other than home. thankfully, the weather was perfect – not too hot – so we could leave him in the car while we shopped. he did SO well – we couldn’t believe what a calm, easygoing attitude he had that entire weekend. we left the windows cracked, but he would nap while we were gone and was very go-with-the-flow when we came back. we were so proud of him!
{what a sweet boy!}
after antiquing, we went to my apartment and got settled, then headed over to the shops of park lane for the rest of the afternoon. before leaving the shops at park lane, we stopped at whole foods to grab some bits and bites and wine to bring home for dinner. we set up an itty-bitty feast on my coffee table and chatted late into the evening, finishing our mini meal with a slice of key lime pie that i made in culinary school for dessert. oh yeah, and we had a couple of fashion shows. because that’s how we roll.
{look at that smile from the little brown dog!}
{i spy…some tired feet, a little puppydog face, a random easter decoration, a dog bone, and lots of tasty nibbles!}
saturday morning was leisurely – not like our usual shopping-day mornings, but this weekend, we had no time restrictions. we felt oh-so-free! we drank coffee and hot strawberry tea and ate fruit and pumpkin bread and english muffins with biscoff spread [my new OBSESSION] and sat around the table talking. when we finally got out the door, we headed to northpark to get our nordstrom fix. of course, we couldn’t leave without lunching at the nordstrom cafe, where we all ordered our usual cilantro lime shrimp salad.
{the usual, along with ginger-peach tea}
by the way, nordstrom’s home decor section is right up there with anthropologie on my favorites list. the stuff they have is too cool.
anyway, after northpark, we went up north to ikea, which is always a fun time. [does anyone else think of tom and summer's ikea date in (500) days of summer every time you go there?! i just love that part of the movie.] i got a white cabinet thing that will be handy for storing the excess of paperwork that tends to take over my little apartment. next it was the shops at legacy. i had never been there, and in all honesty, i don’t know that i would make the trip up there for the shopping [it was nice, but limited], but we did stop at a cute little place called main street bakery for tea, coffee, and dessert. we sat outside and enjoyed the divine weather and our sweets that we shared. i live for these moments, seriously.
{people-watching and such}
{heaven on earth}
{a beauty of an apple pastry}
{this chocolate bomb was an explosion in my mouth. but really.}
we took a scenic route back – there are some beautiful neighborhoods in dallas – and although mimi and mom had been planning to go home that evening, i convinced them to stay another night so that we could go to church together on easter sunday. we stopped at the grocery store to pick up a few things for dinner, then went home, had a couple more fashion shows, and went for a lovely evening walk on the paths around the ponds in my neighborhood. i tried to put together my new cabinet with no luck… building things/following instructions that have no words/using things likes screws and bolts have never been talents of mine. eh, it was worth a try. thank goodness for dads!
we ate popcorn for dinner, the fresh-popped kind with real butter and salt [every time we eat it, we think of papa, the Popcorn King], and drank wine and talked late into the evening, just like the previous night. perfection.
{any wine called “j” has to be a good one!}
and lucky decided that shopping made him exhausted. but i think he fully enjoyed it. :)
{after shopping day #1}
{after shopping day #2}
{he shopped til he dropped!}
the next morning, we went to church together at holy trinity – it was the most beautiful easter mass with the most beautiful easter music – and we left with our hearts feeling full. we ate a final lunch of caprese with a slice of key lime pie, and then it was time to say goodbye.
thank you ladies for the wonderful weekend! i love you very much.
xoxo
it just so happens that i’ve read interviews of two different talented cookbook authors lately with some seasonal meal ideas that were very inspiring from the perspective of a foodie, so i thought that i would share those here. i found the first one on smp living, and it’s an interview of beatrice pelte, author of la tartine gourmande, which was inspired by her beautiful food blog. [once upon a time ago, i talked about her book here. i'm now a proud owner of the book, thanks to a birthday gift from my sweet brother! i'm a huge fan of bea's.]
here’s her meal idea for a fall or winter dinner party, taken directly from the interview:
If you are looking for a casual meal, and it’s winter or fall, I would start with a soup finished with greens and a good quality oil or maybe oeufs cocottes, then I’d make a dish of roasted root vegetables with black rice and chicken cooked with spices and coconut milk. I would always finish with a large bowl of green salad and an apple tart or an apple clafoutis for dessert.
{images from la tartine gourmande}
the second meal idea is from nigel slater, author of the kitchen diaries: a year in the kitchen with nigel slater and many other culinary-centered publications. anthropologie interviewed him in their magazine, which is where i found the excerpt below, and although i didn’t really know a lot about him before, i quickly became intrigued and am now convinced that i need every last one of his books.
this is his idea of a perfect spring meal, start to finish, taken from the magazine:
A bunch of radishes, white-tip if possible, for people to pick at, served with sweet, cold butter and sea salt. A bowl of early salad leaves, with capers, sprouted seeds and young fennel. A dish of rabbit with chopped tarragon and cream, or a young roast chicken stuffed with lemon and a head of spring garlic. No dessert, but a single fresh goat’s cheese with a basil-infused olive oil to trickle over.
when asked what cocktail he might serve, nigel responds with:
There has to be a little fizz to a spring cocktail, to remind us of the new life that is starting in the ground. I would serve a champagne cocktail, perhaps with a dash of pomegranate juice.
{images from nigel slater}
i love the emotion, the stories, the love and joy and meaning that these two authors bring to the table along with their wholesome, beautiful, of-the-earth dishes.
to coincide with these two, i created my own meal idea for summer that utilizes the abundant fruits, vegetables, and herbs of the season as much as possible:
Peach, prosciutto, and smoked mozzarella bruschetta with a sprig of arugula. Grilled shrimp and scallops served over fusilli with a light yet luscious cilantro-lime oil with tomatoes, orange peppers, avocado, and fresh grilled corn. A spinach salad with feta, green onions, candied almond slices, fresh blackberries and raspberries, and a cinnamon vinaigrette. For dessert, sweet basil shortcakes with balsamic-macerated strawberries and marscarpone cream.
my drink of choice would be as follows:
A crisp pinot grigio, or a hugo, a drink that I discovered in Germany, made with prosecco, a splash of elderflower syrup, mint, and lime.
there’s a beautiful thing about enjoying the harvest of the season. it’s healthier and tastier, less expensive, and it just feels right. i hope the captions above from bea and nigel inspire you as much as they inspired me.
xoxo
so this blog is past due for an update of what’s been going on around here since the start of 2013, besides all the birthdays [mine and my brother's], valentine’s day, culinary school, and business trips, because those all get their own posts. what else is there? you ask. well, a whole lot of everything, and by everything, i naturally mean food. and a scattering of other randoms. this is me we’re talking about, after all.
so here it is:
{christmas crafts. after christmas. because this is how i roll.}
{the tiny bit of snow we got + milky, cinnamony chai tea with honey and The Book With All the Stories. in bed. on a sunday evening. a.k.a. contentment at its finest.}
{in early january, kyle came to visit, and he went with me to buy my first mini keg for my beertender, which i mentioned in this post. ”baby’s first mini keg” – that’s one for the books!} ;)
{it just so happened that the lucky ducky dogs food truck had set up camp at the liquor store parking lot when we went to get the keg, and we hadn’t eaten dinner, so we each got a hot dog before we went home. they were delicious, and i loved how college-y it felt – so spontaneous and fun. ahh. i miss college.}
{trying out the beertender!}
{sorority posing}
{just another wild night in dallas}
{i adore them.}
{delicious lunch that kyle and i had at olivella’s}
{ashley and me + the southwest turkey burger from village burger bar}
{back in the kitchen, y’all. you know what that means… an over-abundance of food photos! and lots of pictures of downtown dallas}
{lucky helping me with my work projects…and all bundled up in his new bed!}
{eating a chocolate-dipped coconut macaroon by the warmth of a fire at la madeleine.}
{blackberry lovin’}
{doing my monday-tuesday night thang}
{leinenkugel’s snowdrift vanilla porter + a prehistoric camera}
{a couple of my favorite lunches from whole foods… a salmon roll + more blackberries(!), and roasted edamame}
{…and some tasty dinners: acorn squash with butter and brown sugar (okay, so that might be more like dessert!) and a mini pizza with zucchini and sunburst tomatoes}
{“that building with the green lights”}
{being silly in the bugatti}
{the bugatti dog and i went for a ride with dad}
{yet another great shopping area to explore in dallas… highland park village}
{happy mardi gras!}
{the historic inwood theatre + a louisiana roll}
{i used my anthro birthday coupon to buy this adorable pair of earrings for myself, among other things}
{this city.}
{why i feel the need to document my crazy hair days, i don’t know…}
{…and then there was the time that i had purple hair for a day…}
{editing produce specs, drinking large volumes of green tea, and eating sunbursts like candy all kind of go hand-in-hand, as it turns out. so that’s what i do!}
{caramelized sea scallops with roasted asparagus and sundried tomato-mushroom pearl pasta from seasons 52…and a lot of dallas traffic}
and there you have it, folks. the first two months of 2013 in a nutshell.
have a great rest of the week!
when the new vine app came out a couple weeks ago, i decided that i had to try it out. for those of you who don’t know about it, vine is a mobile application that allows you to create and share short looping videos. the videos have to be 6 seconds or less, which doesn’t seem like much at all, but the app makes it easy using a touch screen, and it’s amazing what you can capture in that amount of time. some of the kinks are still being worked out on the app, but overall, it’s a lot of fun. it’s exciting to bring life to photographs with movement and sound. i feel like i’m discovering videos for the first time!
i really am no pro at it, but i’m getting better. food always fascinates me, and this evening i made a video showing off a mini pizza with goat cheese, zucchini, and sunburst tomatoes for dinner. i’ve also started my own little series called “corners of my home,” where i show bits and pieces of my apartment. the first “episode” can be viewed below.
apparently there have already been issues with porn on the app, but so far, i haven’t experienced that. if you have an iphone or an ipod touch, i recommend that you give it a try! and if you would like to follow me, here’s my info:
happy video-making! :)
i usually share happy things on this blog, partially because that’s my nature and partially because my belief is that people don’t want to read negative stuff. i personally prefer positive posts when it comes to blog-reading – although i don’t think people should pretend that life is perfect, it is tiring [and a moodkill] to hear people complain all the time.
we all know, though, that life isn’t all sunshine and roses, and for the sake of keeping this blog real, i will inform you that i have been facing a few challenges lately [some more minor than others], hence the lack of posts. specifically:
1. i’ve been battling what could be the f-word – no, not THAT f-word! dirty mind! – the one that starts with “f” and ends with “lu.” yeah, you know, the one that everyone and their dog also seem to be battling right now. and though i can’t use it as too much of an excuse for not blogging since it just snuck up on me a couple days ago, it’s definitely set me back a little. for example, i went to bed at 6:20 pm last night and slept until my alarm went off at 6:20 this morning. and it’s forcing me to eat chicken noodle soup and oranges and drink 20 cups of hot tea a day [as if i didn't already do that]. oh yeah, and eat ice cream for breakfast, because that’s what you’re supposed to do when you have the flu, right? [clearly it's not the stomach flu.] anyway, this is the 3rd or 4th time that i’ve gotten sick this winter, which is UNHEARD of for me. so. needless to say, not a happy camper.
2. work has been extremely busy lately and stressful at times, though not necessarily in a bad way, because i love my job and i honestly love working. it’s challenging and rewarding and keeps me on my toes at all times. i’m gradually getting more and more responsibilities, and i spend more evenings working than i used to, but thankfully, it’s what i want to be doing. not something bad, just a time-suck these days.
3. but. what is really on my mind is papa. my mother’s dad, the only grandpa that i have left. we recently found out that he has cancer. it’s in his lymph nodes, his liver, his colon, and possibly other places. in just a month or two, he’s gone from being normal to being very sick. he’s in pain [though he's thankfully on pain meds] and was just admitted to the hospital yesterday. it makes me so sad that this man who so loved to eat has no appetite and who was always someone obstinate is now so docile. i’ve never seen him like this before, and everything happened so fast. the prognosis isn’t good. it makes me sick, how cancer can completely take over your body. and sometimes, there’s just nothing that anyone can do.
in the hardest of times, it is more difficult to find the happy things in life at a given moment, so that is what i am trying to focus on right now. i’m glad to have this little blog to document them, so even if it is peppered by moments of sadness, this is a sanctuary for good things as well. and above all, we have to trust in the Lord, that He will get us through every challenge we face in life, no matter how great.
any prayers for papa and my family would be greatly appreciated.
after a tumultuous week with lots of ups and downs, i met my family in oak cliff last night for dinner at la calle doce, a charming old home turned into a mexican seafood restaurant. the food was excellent, and we all needed the time together after such a chaotic week. i love them.
brother bear came back to dallas with me after dinner so that we could have a sleepover! my beertender and arrested development made for a fun night, along with our chats about college and life and stuff. he’s pretty cool to hang with. :)
this morning, we went to brunch at bread winners, my favorite breakfast place in dallas. coincidentally, it is also an old home converted to a restaurant. the weather was warm [this was before the fierce cold front blew through!], so we sat in the little courtyard. i couldn’t believe how pleasant it was – i didn’t even realize we were outside at first!
they gave us a little plate of breakfast bread to munch on. mike ordered the pomme de terre bayou sausage casserole [i've had it and it's amazing], and i had hot tea and a smoked salmon bagel. everything was delicious, as usual. then mike headed home, as he had to drive back to austin this afternoon.
i met up with ashley, our new friend angelica, and some of her friends at the dallas museum of art to go to a posters of paris exhibit. it was relaxing and nice to have some girl time. at the end of the exhibit, they have a big table set up where you can make your own “posters of paris.” there are these boards with different layers of plastic sheets, and you can trace cutouts of the paris posters with dry-erase markers onto the different layers of plastic to create your own picture. they photocopy it for you in this little room and hang one on the wall, and give another one to you to take home. it’s really a cool idea. the bright colors and creativity that covered the wall were inspiring, i thought.
after the art museum, ashley and i headed back to her apartment, and ended up walking to gloria’s for dinner and sangria. i feel like i’ve been going straight from one meal to the next this weekend, but the important part is that i’ve been with friends and family, and i couldn’t be happier to spend time with them.
i’ve been reflecting on a lot of things these past few days, and it’s the people in my life that make it what it is for me. i’m thankful for each and every one of them and the impact they’ve had on my world. the times we share are precious, and i don’t want to take for granted a minute of them.
i hope you are all having a happy weekend. still another day left! xoxo