june recap

I've been bad at keeping in touch, I know, but I promise I'll make it up to you. For now I'll do a speedy catch up of the past month. Earlier in the month, T & I went home to New York to celebrate my father's retirement! Erin enjoyed the lake...

 

 

...and attempted the hammock...

 

...before calling it a day and napping in the grass.

 

While the pup napped I made sugar cookies...

 

...and looked through old photos (most of which are far too embarrassing to share).

We enjoyed some celebratory champagne before heading out to our life-long favorite restaurant.

 

That Sunday we headed home, driving through more sunsets, before restarting our driving the following weekend, when we headed to Philly to celebrate T's cousin's bat mitzvah.

 

the professional dog-walker

 

When we got home later that weekend we picked up some beautiful pink peonies (I really am convinced that Trader Joe's has some of the best long-lasting reasonable day-to-day flowers)....

 

...before making some lavender-vanilla sugar cookies to bring to my final week at my job.

 

This week T & I went to a Brasstacks dinner, knowing it would be recorded for Canada's Travel+Escape channel's new series "Illegal Eater", premiering this fall. According to the IMDB page, the series follows Barenaked Ladies' front man, Steven Page "as he embarks on a journey to uncover some of the tastiest, creative, illegal food in a city's unlicensed - secret - underground venues. It's in these places where the food is always fresh, local, and the experience is completely authentic." We arrived to the dinner, which was set at Bondir, and were shocked to see we were two of only twelve seats set. It was truly a delicious & personal dinner, per usual for Brasstacks, and we were lucky enough to be seated at a table of six with Bondir's chef/owner Jason Bond. 

  

The next day was July 4th (woohoo!), so I made some delicious potato salad, which I will share the recipe for on Tuesday...

 

 

...along with a red, white & blue sangria made with white wine, club soda, a splash of cranberry juice, a splash of vodka and grand marnier, lime juice, strawberries and blueberries.

 

 

After a feast of grilled chicken, cheeseburgers, and the potato salad, we played some croquet with the antique set we picked up at Brimfield last summer.

 

 

As the sun began to set, but the heat was just as intense, we had to find some alternative cooling strategies...

 

 

...before celebrating with sparklers!

 

My last day of my job was yesterday, so now I'll have the whole summer off before heading back to school for my MSW this fall, so I promise I'll be better about checking in with you, okay? Tomorrow I'll finally post the recipe for the tortilla espanola I tempted you with a few weeks ago, and Tuesday you'll be able to see the best potato salad recipe, to use for the rest of the summer.

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nutella cookies

If you're looking for something healthy...look away. If you're looking for something wrong in all of the right ways, welcome. I have a somewhat unhealthy obsession with nutella, but let's be real, who doesn't? I've been found a few times hiding under blankets with spoonfuls of the chocohazelnutcrack, eyes wildly-large mouth coated in chocolate gold. I decided it was time to make my nutella-love into something more acceptable to eat in public...cookies!

Ingredients (for 18 cookies):

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup unsalted butter (cubed)

1 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup white sugar

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1 egg

1 egg yolk

2 tbs nutella 

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 325F. Sift together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

2. Cream together the butter, brown sugar, and white sugar until softened and well mixed.

 

3. Beat in the vanilla, egg, and egg yolk until light and creamy.

 

4. Add the 2 tbs of cr...*ahem* nutella and mix quickly to not overblend and keep the streaks.
 

 

5. Make small cookie doughballs, flatten slightly, and pop these badboys into the preheated oven for 16 minutes. Let cool for as long as possible before enjoying with a cold glass o' milk!
 

 

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christmas recap

This Christmas was packed with food...so much food, so little time to fit it all in. All week we have had a crackling fire glowing away in the background of all of our activities.

We opened an early gift of rum my parents picked up from Barbados (as they don't export this type & it was engraved as a gift)...

 

 ...before making some festive Christmas tree cookies...lots and lots of cookies...

 

...followed by a taste testing of champagne.

 

 

 

 

We settled in for a movie before Christmas eve dinner of steak au poivre and lots of Alaskan King crab legs (my favorite food in the wholeeee world).

 

 

 

 

Christmas morning we skipped down the stairs to our full tree, and opened our presents while the paparazzi followed Erin.

 

 

 

Christmas dinner fell in my hands as everyone watched sports on TV (no thanks). I made a Christmas turkey stuffed with butter and herbs to retain the moisture, ham, green beans with toasted pine nuts and shallots, cornbread stuffing & scalloped potatoes served with the necessary crescent rolls, olives, cranberry sauce & meim's gravy.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After a huge Christmas dinner we took a break, watching a Christmas movie by the fire before....chocolate soufflés for dessert of course! I added a touch of salt and a pinch of cream of tartar to the recipe for some extra depth & topped them with Toscanini's french vanilla ice cream.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The day after I'm still recovering from all of the food...but definitely looking forward to some leftover "Thanksgiving" sandwiches for dinner!!

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