brunch and botanical prints

Hi there, what are you up to this Saturday? This morning I went out to brunch with a friend at this restaurant, which was lovely. I highly recommend it for breakfast if you're in the area. Then this afternoon I went on a (very quick) antique shopping excursion with my mother-in-law, Tracy, and one of her friends. Right now I'm looking for props for Dusty and my marriage blessing ceremony this September. We've decided that we want to do a science-botanical-nature theme--think bell jars, scientific props, ferns, terrariums, botanical prints etc. Thankfully, I've been able to come up with lots of inspiration and already found a few decorative pieces. Please let me know if you have any ideas or know of good places to find stuff like that. I hope you're having a perfect Saturday. Xo.

Ira Sleeps Over

I read this book to the kids at work today. It's a super sweet story, and the illustrations are really wonderful. Have you read it before? What was your favorite book when you were a child? If you're interested, you can buy the book here. I hope you're having a thrilling Thursday!

starman

David Bowie forever!

rad link wednesday

Theodore Roosevelt and John Muir in Yosemite

Happy Wednesday, friend! Here are some rad links from around the web!

Vintage trailer anyone? Remember this place?

These purple potatoes sound amazing.

Aren't these photographs beautiful?

Wow! (A bunch of stuff on that website is awesome!)

LOVE this outfit, almost (just almost) makes me want to try to pull off white jeans. 

Want to look like Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany's?

Dusty made these brownies from this cookbook the other day and they were delicious.

This is so cute!

I hope you're having a fabulous day! Xo

(Photo thanks to this rad tumblr)

:-)

An ode to Trader Joe's, since I mentioned them so much in my last post!

warm days and warm food

Lately, the weather has been very sporadic--rainy and cold one day, and sunny and hot the next. Thankfully, over the weekend it was sunny and hot and so Dusty and I decided to grill on Saturday. At first I wanted to do something super complicated but then I realized that we were a bit crunched on time so I decided to jazz up something easy (and healthy)---turkey burgers. Below you will find my recipe, all of the ingredients were purchased at Trader Joe's so if you have the choice, I'd buy ingredients there. I apologize for not taking a picture, but I was too hungry to stop and take one before I'd eaten! (Photo credit: Me!) Also, sorry this blog has been nothing but food lately, I've just been cooking up a storm!

Simply Jazzed-Up Turkey Burgers or Turkey Burgers with Chevre and Mango Chutney

Serves 4

Ingredients

4 turkey burger patties (I bought mine pre-made at TJs)

4 small pain rustique rolls

mixed greens

herb flavored chevre (soft goat cheese)

mango chutney

olive or other vegetable oil

salt and pepper

Instructions

1. Heat the grill to medium-high heat. Lightly brush the turkey patties with olive or vegetable oil and lightly season with salt and pepper. Grill the patties until cooked through, about 7 minutes per side. 

2. Cut the rolls in half and lightly brush with olive oil,  place the rolls cut side down on the grill until lightly browned, 1-2 minutes. 

3. Assemble the burgers--give a generous spread of chevre on each side of the rolls, then on the bottom side of the rolls press down a generous handful of mixed greens, place the turkey patties on top, and top the patties with a generous dollop of mango chutney. Enjoy!

I served my burgers with baked sweet potato fries (also available at Trader Joe's) and a curried yogurt dipping sauce. Below you'll find my recipe for the dipping sauce (which would taste good on just about anything).

Curried Yogurt Dipping Sauce

3/4 cup plain greek yogurt
1/4 cup or more yellow curry powder
1 tbs honey
1 tsp brown sugar

Instructions


1. Place the yogurt in a small mixing bowl, mix in curry to taste (some people like more or less, and different curry powders are stronger or weaker in taste). Mix in the honey and brown sugar, taste and adjust seasoning. Enjoy!

Ginger

I've always loved the flavor of ginger, there's something so intriguing about its unique spice and the scope of versatility it offers. Besides that though, ginger has several healing properties. Did you know that ginger helps with nausea, morning sickness (during pregnancy), digestion, feeling down (consumption of ginger releases dopamine in your brain), and works as an anti-inflammatory medicine? In celebration of ginger I made this delicious gin and ginger based beverage the other night. I've also used ginger when I made this roasted corn and edamame salad the other day, and lately I've enjoyed simply thinly slicing fresh ginger and adding it to my tea for extra flavor. What do think? Do you enjoy ginger as much as I do? Have you ever found it to be medicinally helpful? (Image credit: Joyful Belly)

revisited: chicken noodle soup

Sadly, Dusty has not been feeling well lately. He has some sort of flu/cold thing that's been lingering for some time now. So for dinner tonight I decided to revisit my favorite chicken noodle soup recipe (recipe follows). As mentioned here. What is your favorite thing to eat when you're sick? Besides this soup, I enjoy cacio e pepe, hot tea, and chilled pink grapefruit. Photograph courtesy of me.

Get-Well Chicken Noodle Soup (revised from this recipe from Bon Appetit)

Ingredients:
16 cups (4 quarts) low-salt chicken stock
4 medium-sized boneless, skinless, chicken breasts

1/2 cup chopped white or yellow onion
2 stalks celery thinly sliced
2-3 carrots peeled and thinly sliced

2 tablespoons butter
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 1/2 cups chopped broccoli
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
8 ounces dried, wide egg noodles
1/2 cup chopped flat leaf parsley

Directions:

1. Combine broth and chicken breasts in a heavy, large, stock pot. Bring broth to boil, then reduce heat, loosely cover, and simmer until chicken is cooked through, about 15 or 20 minutes longer.

2. Remove chicken from broth with a slotted spoon or tongs. Place chicken in a large bowl to chill. Allow broth to cool slightly.

3. Add the onion, celery, and carrots to the broth, simmer until vegetables are just tender, about 8 minutes.

4. Meanwhile melt the butter in a saute pan, add the garlic and broccoli and cook until broccoli is just beginning to brown on one side, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat, and while the pan is still hot add the lemon juice and stir it in with the broccoli, set aside. Shred the chicken into small, bite-sized pieces.

5. Add the broccoli mixture, chicken, and parsley. Simmer for about 5 minutes. Add the egg noodles and cook until just tender, 4-5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

Enjoy with a salad of greens and bread.

Xo

I am so thankful for my amazing husband who makes me cappucinos at home in the afternoons. Xo

happy hiking

Lately the weather has been so nice that Dusty and I have been going on a hike nearly every day. We're lucky enough to live super close to some awesome trails, and I'm so glad that we've been taking advantage of them. Above is a picture I took on one of the local trails, those yellow flowers are mustard plants, which bloom like crazy here this time of year. They're super pretty to look at, but actually not native to California and they're considered to be invasive weeds!

What do you do for exercise? Last year, I was obsessed with hoopercise. Have you ever tried it? 

homemade candles

My mother-in-law, Tracy, recently sent me this link of a DIY guide to making candles. As a lover of candles I decided right then and there that I haaad to try to make my own. So, last Friday I did, and I have to say that the candles (two of which are pictured above) came out wonderfully. My favorite scents ended up being Orange-Vanilla, and Lemon. Also, I tried adding coloring to some of the candles and it didn't work out very well. I recommend just keeping the candles plain for the best look. As for the labels I used these, which I purchased at my local Michael's.

spring day trip

Last Friday Dusty and I treated ourselves to a lovely day at The Huntington, one of my favorite places ever. It was a gorgeous day, and great for taking pictures on my new phone. Above, is a picture I took via Insta.gram of their cactus garden.

the best (and easiest!) homemade bread ever!

Last week Dusty and I decided that we wanted to make homemade bread so I looked for a recipe online and came across this delicious one for wholesome homemade honey wheat bread. I've made bread before, and this was honestly the easiest recipe I've ever tried. It is time consuming in that you have to wait for the dough to rise a couple of times but it's the sort of thing where you can just set it aside, set a timer, and do something else in the meantime. Trust me, it's worth it. Do you enjoy baking? Photo courtesy of... ME! Thanks to my new iphone!

*Note: The recipe makes four loaves of bread (so you might want to halve it).