petit déjeuner

one of the things i like best about the weekend is having the time to enjoy a leisurely breakfast and a cup (or two!) of milky french press coffee.  i am not a morning person, and during the week it's always a rush to get out the door.  even if my weekend mornings sometimes technically don't begin until early afternoon, i always make the most of my weekend breakfast ritual.

it may not be croissants, fresh-squeezed orange juice, and café crème in the jardin des tuileries, but it makes me happy nonetheless.

happy monday!

fresh start

happy monday!

i've decided to go sugar free for the next few weeks, so this weekend i made sure to stock my kitchen with lots of fresh veggies and fruit.  i am already one week in, actually...so far, so good!

i also got a new orchid because my other two are sans fleurs right now.  isn't it beautiful?  sometimes i just can't believe the colors that nature comes up with.

tgif: white

this week, i love the idea of white for the usual friday tgif theme.  it's crisp, elegant, summery.  it's also, based on my photographic documentation at least, sometimes quite sweet.  i am inspired to try to replicate those pillowy café du monde beignets in the last photo and am considering this recipe.  or, one could buy the mix (i won't tell if you don't).  note to self: stock up on confectioners' sugar.

thank you and welcome to my new visitors this week, too.  happy weekend, all!

sweet summer

my dear san francisco friends were here this weekend, so saturday was spent catching up with them over glasses of wine, learning about the avengers from my favorite four-year old, "crashing" a family dinner, sipping mojitos, comparing manicures and sparkly headbands with a sweet six-year old girl, naming our if-you-could-go-anywhere-in-the-world travel destinations, reminiscing, philosophizing, and planning a visit to bay area before the summer is over.

on sunday, a shopping trip with another friend yielded the softest summer-weight sweater, new chinos two sizes too big -- for the perfect slouch -- and watch bands in bright summer colors, which i plan to customize with beads and wear as bracelets.  and, because my eyes were bigger than my stomach at brunch, i took the remaining half of my chocolate almond croissant home and ate it for dinner.  yep, i'm just crazy like that.

here's to a good week.  happy monday!

mellow yellow

i just uploaded my photos of our little memorial day backyard barbecue and noticed quite a bit of yellow.  it really was a bright sunny day!

chop chop

this weekend i chopped off 10 inches of hair for locks of love.  this is the second time i'll have donated to this charity, which creates hairpieces for children suffering "long-term medical hair loss."  and for someone like me, who willingly submits to only the most minimal of trims about once a year, it makes it a lot easier to make a big change.  nothing like picturing these smiling faces to put one's vanity in perspective.

as it happens, today is my birthday, so this haircut is also a great way to start a new year!

post haircut, my cousin and her beau took me out for an early birthday dinner.  pomegranate martinis are my new fave!

i have always loved baklava.  this one was garnished with pistachios.

we also ordered a melt-in-your-mouth tiramisu.

our sugar binge was preceded by a proper (and delicious) meal -- lebanese cuisine -- but it seems i was too busy eating and socializing to take any pictures.  priorities in order, thank you very much.

the ordinary everyday

last week was a long one.  and, it rained.  but this weekend there was a sunny view from my kitchen window, plants thriving on the sill, and something sweet cooking in the oven while i washed the dishes.

 

and while i readily admit that i am one of those "monica" types who actually enjoys most mundane housekeeping tasks...

(because, c'mon, isn't clean and organized pretty?)

...that doesn't mean i don't appreciate a little reward when i'm done.

tgif: red

while i won't be visiting the eiffel tower this weekend, or eating lobstahs in boston, i will be giving some thought to a trip i am  planning for later this spring.  closer to home, there will be a visit to the farmers market, which is sure to inspire some serious cookbook perusal.

happy weekend!

sometimes, it's as easy as opening the paper

this recipe + just the right amount chocolate in the cupboard = a delicious excuse to break my 'no sugar' resolution.

stewed apples

so glad i had apples in the house while i was sick. 

peeled, chopped, and simmering in a pot with some cinnamon and tangerine rind...more or less inspired by this recipe.

so simple.  so good.  it was the perfect comfort food and just what i needed. 

popsicles

It was hot here today.  At last.  Tonight when I got home I opened all the windows, turned on the fan, and thought to myself, finally, finally it feels like summertime.  And as I puttered around in my bare feet, watering my geraniums, and thinking vaguely about a dinner of corn on the cob, it hit me.  Popsicles.  That's what I wanted for dinner.  What could be more summery and refreshing?  Popsicles are grass-underfoot-running-through-the-sprinklers-cicadas-singing-in-the-trees perfect summer food.  And if it were not for the three hour freezing time and my rampant laziness, I would have run right to the kitchen to make these watermelon popsicles.  

In my defense, I didn't have all the ingredients.  Okay, I didn't have fresh mint (I'm working hard to justify my laziness here), but I'm sure the mint is essential to a recipe of only five ingredients.  Tonight I settled for a slice of watermelon.  It's supposed to be hot all week.  Tomorrow I buy mint.

tea party

recently, i hosted a tea party for a couple of friends, which i had been wanting to do for a while.  i made three types of tea sandwiches: curried chicken salad, cucumber and cream cheese, and turkey.  for dessert, i made gingerbread tea cakes, lime shortbread cookies, and an almost-flourless chocolate cake with white chocolate cream.  it was all quite refined, if i do say so myself...except for that cake.  the cake was pure decadence.  i used this recipe.  i've made it before and it is seriously rich and delicious and i love it in a way that only a true chocolate lover can (obsessively).  it also happens to be delightfully boozy -- bourbon-soaked -- a quality that only intensifies after a day or two.  i highly recommend it.

what did you have for dinner?

there are plenty of days when i'm perfectly content having a bowl of oatmeal for dinner.  maybe yogurt with fruit.  cookies even.  (the truth is, i'm delighted by cookies for dinner.)  but i'm not always that lazy and uninspired in the kitchen.  sometimes i make a proper meal, like stir fried shrimp and asparagus with lemon.  that's what i did a couple of nights ago and here's the proof.

it was delicious.  if only i'd had cookies for dessert, then it would have been perfect.