life lately

Easter came and went and April is being very quickly chewed away, just like the bags of leftover candy that I have hidden in my purse and in my belly. We celebrated my husband's 26th birthday, a barista renamed me KayKn, and we legitimately have a year's worth of candy still in our house.

Speaking of, let's take an almond Snickers break. Because the sweetness of life can sometimes be found in....the quite literal 21 grams of sweetness they cram into these mini chocolate bars the size of my thumb. Sheesh!
Maybe I'll have two. 

I have a few important announcements:

1. I am an official contributing author over at Hello Giggles! My first article on the joys of being an aunt was posted last month in their guest post section, and as of this month I am a regular contributor. My first post was published Easter weekend, and it was about the beauty of sisterhood (coming from a gal who grew up sisterless). I am over the moon about this part-time writing gig and I cannot wait to publish more articles! You can check out my personal contributor page to keep track of all of my published articles.

2. We are house hunting. Big news! We are hoping to find a dumpy house with tons of potential to fix up over the next few years and eventually resell. Our ultimate plan is to build our own home, so this project will hopefully provide us with enough cash to start building our dream home. We're in no rush, so it's an exciting (instead of stressful) endeavor at this point. We saw a house yesterday that was pretty disgusting - we're thrilled!

3. I made the most beautiful red wine pasta dish last night (recipe courtesy of A Beautiful Mess) and I'm now obsessed over one-pot pastas. Did you all know about these?

recipe via abm

4. The Harry Potter Book Club is finishing up Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone! Come back on April 15th for the review and discussion here on the blog, and don't forget to join our group if you would like to jump in. Better late than never!

5. I just finished reading The Republic of Thieves, the third installment in Scott Lynch's epic Gentleman Bastards series and I feel quite forlorn about it. I have an uncanny attachment to these books. Go read them, unless you're particularly sensitive to language, thievery, violence, and crudeness. Stunning endorsement, eh? But really, The Lies of Locke Lamora (book 1) is absolutely incredible. A must read, in my humble opinion. They'll blow your mind but they'll also make you blush. My favorite thing in the world is to recommend great reads to friends, so follow me on Goodreads and let's talk about stories. 

What are you reading?

instagram post

summer mint recipes

Have you ever had something define your summer?
Maybe a certain scent, or a particular playlist, or even a group of people.
I love summers because every single one is totally unique. Sure, you could say that about every season, but there's something about summer that is different. I think probably because summer is the season of play.

Maybe it's because I'm from Arizona, but summer is the most creative, most inspirational, most exuberant season of all. The heat is so intense you have to be innovative to enjoy your days; it forces you to dress differently, plan your days differently, break out new ideas. Some of those ideas include travel and road trips to better weather, which means a lot of beach and mountains and road trip music. Pool parties, sunflowers, iced drinks, bubbles, bikinis, bright colors, new sunnies, outdoor misters, porch lights, movie nights.
Summer also brings with it a host of new recipes and for me, this summer has been all about mint. 

My favorite mint recipes this summer have been the mint watermelon appetizer with goat cheese, the grilled zucchini and walnut salad with mint from M loves M, and of course a few yummy drinks from Starbucks, like the low-calorie cool lime refresher (ask to get it fizzed! yum!) and the blackberry mojito iced tea lemonade. 

You can also get really creative with infused water! I love cucumber/lime/fresh mint water. If you wanna kick your water up a notch, fill up your glass with ice and infused water and add an herbal tea bag to the mix. I added a raspberry tea to my cucumber/lime/mint water this morning, so refreshing!

I'd highly recommend trying out a watermelon and mint combo. I'm going to share with you a really simple and delicious recipe that my dad created after having something similar at an upscale restaurant in Phoenix.

Mint Watermelon Appetizer with Goat Cheese Ingredients: ·         Watermelon, cut into bite-sized cubes ·         Goat Cheese ·         Citrus Ponzu Sauce ·         Fresh Mint ·         Toothpicks for serving! Directions: Easy peasy! Grab a bowl and toss the watermelon, goat cheese crumbles, and fresh mint (lightly shredded/torn) together. Then lightly spritz the concoction with ponzu sauce, and hand out the toothpicks! You could also serve them a bit fancier on a platter, separated into individual portions. Watermelon cube topped with the goat cheese and a leaf of mint, finished off with a dash with ponzu sauce.  Get fancy with it!

I'd love to hear more tried and true mint recipes. If you have any, send them my way!

Also let me know if you try any of these minty delights. They all have my stamp of approval.

Hope you're having a uniquely wonderful summer. It's quickly coming to an end!

lavender honey ice cream

Have any of you seen It's Complicated?

There's something wonderful about Meryl Streep that we've all come to appreciate.
In this movie in particular, it's her adorable relationship with her children, her spunky personality, her amazing bakery, her incredible kitchen (and house), and her unbelievable recipes.

 Best of all, when she can't sleep, she makes lavender honey ice cream.

From the moment I saw this movie in college, I wanted to be her.
I wanted to spend a year learning to cook in Paris, I wanted to have that exact kitchen, and I wanted to own a bakery with freshly made chocolate croissants.
Granted, this isn't the first time I've wanted to steal the entire identity of a movie character - I seem to remember running around to different stores to try and buy clothes that matched Alexis Bledel's character, Lena, in The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. 
I was grabbing things and holding them out to my best friend, frantically asking, "Is this Lena?"

In any case, I finally was able to channel some Meryl on Easter, when I finally made my very own lavender honey ice cream.

It was a long time coming, but I had finally grabbed some fresh lavender from Whole Foods and was ready to make my masterpiece.

I found the recipe on My Sweet Remedy, and the reason I stopped there was because her inspiration also came from It's Complicated, so I figured kindred spirits should stick together.

Lavender-honey ice cream:

- 2 cups whole milk (I used Half & Half)
- 1 1/2 cup cooking cream (I used Heavy Whipping Cream)
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/3 cup mild honey
- 1/4 cup dried edible lavender flowers
- 3 large egg yolks
- 1/8 teaspoon salt

I have a Cuisinart ice cream maker, and I would highly recommend investing in one if you don't already have one! It's so easy to mix together ingredients for a fun treat. Homemade ice cream is the best.
If you do have an ice cream maker, you'll just need to make sure your ice cream maker bowl is completely frozen (24 hours or more) before making this (we keep ours permanently in the freezer, so we never have to worry about it!)

Directions:

1. Bring milk, cream, honey, and lavender just to a boil in a heavy saucepan over moderate heat for 8-10 minutes, until mixture thickens slightly, stirring occasionally, then remove pan from heat. Let steep, covered, for 30 minutes.
This is where I varied from the recipe - I tried a tiny bit after only steeping for 10 minutes, and it was already very very strong. I would recommend keeping the flavor light, and possibly even skipping the steeping step. But taste as you go and figure out your flavor level!

2. Pour cream mixture through a fine-mesh sieve or cheesecloth into a bowl, and discard the lavender. Return the mixture to the saucepan and heat over moderate heat until it warms up again.

3. Whisk together egg yolks, sugar and salt until light and fluffy (3-5 minutes). Then add 1 cup of the hot cream mixture into the eggs in a slow stream, whisking. Pour the egg mixture back into the remaining hot cream mixture in the saucepan, and cook it over moderately low heat, stirring constantly. Stir with a wooden spoon (if you have one) until the mixture is thick enough to coat the back of it, about 5 minutes (do not let it boil!).

3. Pour custard through sieve into cleaned bowl and let cool.
I would highly recommend refrigerating the mixture for a few hours - it needs to be completely cooled down, even cold, before you put it in your ice cream maker!

4. Once cooled, pour the mixture into the ice cream maker bowl, and start the machine. Let the machine work for the instructed time (20-25 minutes).

5. Put the ice cream bowl in the freezer, covered, until cold.

6. Serve (perhaps drizzled in honey and lavender) and enjoy! :)

I would love to try another non-custard ice cream, with a much lighter flavor.
This turned out a bit strong for me (and my husband, as well) but the flavor combination is truly amazing. I would love to continue my journey with lavender by trying a few other recipes, including lavender lemonade, more lavender ice cream, lavender lattes, and more!

Sunday morning: breakfast hash

After visiting Delightfully Tacky's blog last week, I decided it was time to try her "favorite easy breakfast" hash!

I've gotten in a rut of avoiding home cooked meals. In the last few weeks we've resorted to the simple things: pasta, tacos, burritos, etc. Simple chicken or beef centered quick meals.
For breakfast we have cereal.

While there's nothing really wrong with those basics, it's been way too long since I've meal-planned, or seen a recipe I can't wait to try!
The best part of this breakfast hash is, it is simple, basic and quick - BUT it's filling, full of flavor and feels like a brunch-worthy accomplishment.

To see Elizabeth's original recipe, head on over to her original post.

For two people, I used:

- 4 small red potatoes (which I picked up at our local farmer's market)
- 1/2 an onion
- 1/2 sausage link (Hillshire Farm's jalapeno sausage)
- 2 eggs
- Pepper, Cajun Seasoning

I would love to add mushrooms next time - and maybe bell peppers.
The step-by-step is easy peasy.

Cut up the potatoes, sausage and onions.
Heat a skillet to medium heat, add a bit of olive oil, then toss in the potatoes.
You can season the potatoes while they cook.
Once they're about halfway done, add the sausage. Toss together and let cook for a few more minutes.
Last but not least, add the onions! They're the quickest to cook.
While the onions are adding their delicious flavor, you can fry up the two eggs in a separate skillet.

Add more seasoning if desired, bowl up the hash, and top with a delicious fried egg!
(Or, if you're anything like me, you'll leave your egg runny so it can seep into the hash for that extra bit of delish!)

I served this hash with toasted jalapeno bread from the farmer's market, and we ate breakfast in bed together. It was the perfect Sunday morning!

Let me know if you try this hash. With so many different flavors of sausage, and potential seasoning choices, the tasty opportunities are endless.