Hi folks! While it’s not time yet to go on and on about tomatoes and pesto I thought I would throw out a few recipes we have tried lately that will now stay in the rotation! The basil plants aren’t ready for quarts of pesto we are tossing basil and fresh herbs into just about everything these days!  I would love to have more pictures to share but since I am just now back into cooking again I am not in my cooking/picture groove.  Since I don’t have many new pics I’ll toss in some from my day trip to Italy last May.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Giada’s Tri Color Orzo Pasta Salad This one is light and fresh! I subbed spinach for arugula thinking the kids might like it more but really the adults were the ones that ate it! My mom turned me on to this when my cousin made it and it was all the rage. Unlike lots of pasta salads this one is light and lemony without a heavy sauce!

Grilled Marinated Flat Steak This is the best marinade I have found in a while. I found some sirloin flap steak at Costco a couple of months ago and had never used “flap steak” before so I did a quick searcharoo. Up popped this recipe and it has been great every time we use it! *Just to clarify, the link takes you to a blog that has both a rub and a marinade. I used the marinade but my mom tried out the rub. The rub looks spicy, the marinade has lots of flavor but no spice which is nice with a crowd!

Any season appetizer…Baked Fontina  . This is delish! You literally cut up fontina, toss it into a small cast iron skillet and top it with fresh herbs, olive oil and garlic. Broil it and serve it with baguette! Thanks, Ina! It’s not for an outdoor summer gathering like a bbq but we had a chilly afternoon a few weeks ago when we had family over and it was a great preview to the above steak. To make it more summery you could toss sun-dried tomatoes on top and then when it comes out top it with fresh chopped basil or drizzle with pesto. Or even be really adventurous and in season and try it with one of those raspberry chipotle sauces or sliced peaches.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mini potatoes- once it gets hot we are not in the mood for heavy potato meals but I am not always in the mood for all cold salads as sides. We have used the mini potatoes from Trader Joe’s before for fondue but I picked up a bag last week and they were a perfect summer dinner side. I boiled them for 15 or 20 minutes or so until they were tender. I then heated a cast iron skillet and added a little bit of butter, olive oil, garlic and a small shallot sliced. I tossed in the potatoes for a quick saute. When they were looking nice and golden I turned off the heat and tossed them with a tablespoon of fresh herbs. I used parsley, thyme and rosemary since we had those handy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Don’t despair….tomatoes and pesto are on their way! Tomato basil pie will be here before you know it!

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I’m back! I flew back Sunday afternoon after a fun weekend of talking…well, we did far more than talk but basically while we did everything else we talked. I was brought up to speed on what teenage girls are faced with today, soaked in Annie’s parenting experience and wisdom, along with her gorgeous decorating taste, ate yummy meals, and did not respond to the early morning and throughout the night wake ups (thanks to super dad at home).  I drank coffee each morning and took a shower that was unaccompanied by knocks on the door and “I’m starvings”. I watched a hilarious chick flick, giggled with the girls, laughed so hard I cried, and reminisced on when these big girls were itty bitty and was reminded of the need to once again SAVOR these boys in the now. They will indeed grow too fast and the Kindergarten boyfriend/girlfriend talk will soon be the real deal with them having to make real life decisions.

I have lots of pictures to share…some of the trip in general and some of the house because I just had to share that too. I haven’t organized my thoughts yet on how I’ll share those but I promise I’ll get on that soon!

In the meantime just wanted to give you all a shout out so you didn’t send out the search and rescue. I am here, we are well, just a bit overwhelmed on how to begin to catch up here.

Here are a few pictures to get me going and to give you a sneak peek at Annie’s house…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I arrived home to see my guys, two of whom seemed to have grown a foot while I was gone and one with a giant goose egg on his forehead. The night before I came home Seth got up in the night to go to the bathroom thinking he might throw up (TMI, I know) instead of throwing up he woke up later on the floor. He had passed one somewhere in there and hit his head. Unsure of how long he’d been unconscious.  He says it was a ploy to make me never want to leave again. The bump on his head is turning a pretty shade of green. The boys and Seth had a great weekend together, despite Seth’s incident. After they picked me up at the airport we headed to Gravelly Point Park (just next to Reagan International Airport). For you locals who haven’t been you must take your kids!  When the weather warms up pack and picnic and make the little drive.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I will be back on here tomorrow to share with you some of the fun ideas Annie passed along that she used with her kids when they were younger!

 

 

 

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A few (a lot of) pictures to sum up our Christmas festivities! People and food pics all rolled into one!  (And one added goal for the new year is to have Seth take more pictures so I am actually in some! My kids might think they had a single parent Christmas based on the photographic evidence. I hope they recognize my hands working in the kitchen)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lots of fun memories with family and delicious meals!  Looking forward to a Texas Christmas next year!

 

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Hey folks! Things are pretty jolly around here. I did the baked goods for my friends big vendor sale yesterday! None of us sold much but we met lots of sweet gals and had a great time. In lieu of baking up another storm of baked goods for neighbor  gifts I got home last night, made up baskets for neighbors and friends and we went out on a little family delivery drive.  I was worn out! I was disappointed to not sell like I did at the Embassy sales but glad that I can skip the other baking day!   Seth was a rock star this weekend while I baked and was at the sale. I came home to relaxed happy boys last night after an afternoon with daddy. Did I mention he did tons of dishes, helped with meals and even was talked into some taste-testing. What a guy.

Last week I was doing my yearly search on what fun advent gifty things people are doing. I love our open the window advent calendar and our evening devotionals. We will keep those from yr to yr but some year when I have oodles of time and a little extra cash I want to do something like this for the kids with bags containing little notes and sweets…

 

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Aren’t they cute?!

I found this recipe for Winter Minestrone (Barefoot Contessa) while I was pintresting advent stuff. It is a rainy chilly day here so we are snuggling down for afternoon naps and when we wake up I will make this soup and we’ll decorate our gingerbread house. Seth confessed he doesn’t have the patience to survive another gingerbread house project so we will surprise him with our finished product and frazzled nerves!

 

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