Weekly Recipe Recap #1

I'm going to attempt to do a little post on recipes I've made throughout each week!  This first one will be a test of sorts, to see if I actually cook enough to warrant an entry like this on a weekly basis, and to figure out what format I want to use/notes to include/etc. I'll start with the weekends, because that's when I tend to do much of my cooking:

Saturday, June 28:

• Twice Baked Shortbread fer me ma! Delicious. Second time I've made it, and it's so easy and so delicious!  Stays fresh and good for a long time, too, if you can resist eating it.
• Roasted peppers with capers and mozzarella. I roasted the peppers for this recipe, peeled, de-seeded, and got them marinatin' for a meal tomorrow (Wednesday).

Sunday, June 29:

• Smoked salmon, artichoke, and goat cheese quiche!  This is a game changer.  It's so tasty, and wasn't too much work to make (I did use a pre-made crust...).  I'll be making more quiches. I put a few slices in the fridge for lunches, and sliced the rest (about half of it) to freeze for later.

Monday, June 30:
- Today I went to garden district with Kyle and a bunch of great people, and I had some lovely beers and the lovely, lovely MUNICH BRAT WITH KRAUT. And fried pickles, of course!

Tuesday, July1
- After I have some reheated quiche and carrots + hummus for dinner, I'm going to make:

• Brown butter banana bread - got some ripe bananas that need to be used, and Eleanor loves banana bread!

Wednesday, July 2

• Mmm, ate the roasted peppers and capers today with fresh mozzarella, Robusto cheese, fresh bread and butter. It was goooood.  Still no drinking because of Tuesday horrible hangover.

Thursday, July 3

• No real cooking today - crisped up some Pork Belly, cooked some carrots, and had Japanese sweet potatoes.

Friday, July 4
- I made two VERY yummy recipes for the Fourth today!! 

• First, I made a big ole batch of these Salted Watermelon Margaritas, but added more booze, less simple syrup, and more pureed watermelon. I also just peeled whole limes and tossed them into the Vitamix. Really good.
• Beer braised brats with cabbage-apple slaw! I threw some Chorizo sausages in with the German pork sausages.  The slaw was great - lots of vinegar and grainy mustard!

So, that was my first post attempting to record my weekly cooking exploits. I have no light in my apartment, so it's rare you'll see pictures of me cooking these things, or the finished products.  But you might be surprised one day!

Fourth of July Visit to D.C.

On Friday, July 4, Matt and I woke up early and made the drive to D.C. to spend the holiday with friends and family!

Wearing our patriotic colors on the drive to D.C.!

We arrived first at the Alexandria home of one of my best friends from college (roommates for two years), where she was throwing a Fourth of July cookout. Matt and I had fun catching up with her, meeting her friends, and chowing on cheeseburgers and beer. We also enjoyed destroying this lovely and boozy American flag jello shot display.  YUM. This jello shot flag tradition started back when we threw an Inaugural Ball party in our tiny apartment junior year... it was a HUGE success and just so fun. The Cool Whip on top to make the white stripes was my idea ;-)

After an hour or so, we headed off to the city to visit Katie and Ellie!!! Perfect timing... Ellie was just waking up from a nap, so we got lots of time to play. Ellie is becoming more and more confident and curious, and just SO sweet. She loves giving hugs and kisses! She is also a GENIUS and is learning so many words (banana, ball, hot, mama, shoe, socks)! One of her favorite things to do is bring a book over to you, climb in your lap, and read.

Reading!

Trying on Mama's shoes :)

Playing hide and seek! This was her favorite hiding place.

She loved throwing this pillow down and then face planting onto it... such a goofball. 

The best seat in the house! She loved watching soccer and yelling "BALL!!!!"

The book we read the most was a body parts book ("My boots protect my TOES! My mittens hide my FINGERS!"), and it's amazing how well Ellie knows the words! All you have to do is say "Ellie, where is your belly button?" and she'll point right to it. Or, "Ellie, where's Mama's back?" and she'll stand up, walk over to Katie, point to her back, and then climb right back into your lap for the next page of the story! Once we were just playing in the middle of the room, without any books, and I said, "Hey Ellie, where's your elbow?" and she actually walked over to the bookshelf, grabbed that book, and flipped to the page with the elbow on it. She really is a genius, I can't say it enough.

Cocktail hour rolled around, and Katie made us deeeelicious watermelon margaritas, made with frozen watermelon, watermelon simple syrup, whole limes, Grand Marnier, and tequila. For dinner, she made us yummy beer-braised sausages with caramelized onions and apple-cabbage slaw on potato buns. So, so good. Ellie went CRAZY over the slaw, and shoved huge handfuls of it into her mouth. She definitely has a healthy appetite, that one! We watched some Veep after dinner (after a few episodes of Daniel the Tiger, of course!). Matt and I went for an evening stroll -- it was surprisingly cool out, the perfect weather -- and had fun walking to our old apartment building and just exploring our old stompin' grounds. Brought back a lot of memories! We saw a few fireworks and then went to bed.

We woke up bright and early the next day and all walked over to The Coffee Bar. We all got donuts, bagels, and/or coffee.

You can run but you can't hide, Kyle.

It was the most beautiful day in the world, so we walked to an awesome park to play with Ellie in the sunshine. Her favorite things were the swings and the see-saw! Just so fun.

Fun on the swings!

Baby and mama!

See-Saw! (Photo credit: Kyle)

Wheeee! (Photo credit: Kyle)

After we were all tired and hot from the sun, we walked back and grabbed lunch at Sweet Green. Ellie loves her salad.

Delicious, healthy lunch!

While Ellie napped, Katie and I made watermelon slushies (Katie added a creamy coconut layer to hers) and read out on her balcony. GORGEOUS weather.

Yum! Just frozen watermelon, lime juice, and coconut water.

Beautiful view from Katie's balcony

After Ellie's nap, we had more time to play, read, dance, and watch Daniel the Tiger. I made sure to get lots of hugs from her before saying goodbye (she went to her dad's at 4:30 pm). After Ellie left, Katie and I went for a lovely walk and then shopped at the new Trader Joe's right by her apartment! What an awesome location. We both bought a few things and then hung out back at her apartment. Matt had been watching basketball games at Georgetown all afternoon, and when those were over, he came to pick me up and say goodbye to Katie. At around 7 pm, we made the drive back home to Raleigh.

It was a PERFECT weekend!!!