Piecaken

This "piecaken" is making its way around the internet. Anna sent it to me while we were chatting last night. I love pie, and cake's pretty good too, but I don't know about this. Does it look good to you?

Via Taste of Home

One sad fridge

The status of my fridge is embarrassing. Yet here I am, showing you a picture.

We've got half of a banana, a few tablespoons of homemade salted caramel sauce, and four eggs. Really, really embarrassing. On the top shelf we have some coffee and in the bottom drawers a few beers, but that's about it.

But I wanted you to know that I have big plans. Tomorrow I will head to the farmers' market (and likely have to supplement my finds with our neighborhood grocery store), and I will come home with sweet potatoes and white beans and avocados and I will make these:

Via Healthy. Happy. Life.

And then I will need something sweet. So I will pull out some bittersweet chocolate and cocoa powder and sweetened condensed milk and I will make this (no ice cream maker needed!):

Via Cup of Jo

And once I am done with the ice cream, I will pull out my new waffle maker (which I received today as a hand-me-down from a neighbor who is downsizing) and stock the freezer with these buckwheat, oatmeal, ginger power waffles for the week ahead.

Via 101 Cookbooks

And waffles are no good without coffee. Even though it's still chilly out, I might make a batch of iced coffee concentrate. According to The Pioneer Woman, her iced coffee concentrate makes the perfect iced coffee and lasts three to four weeks!

Via The Pioneer Woman

Don't worry, I'm not going to eat it all at once.

Happy weekend :)

Catching my eye

Just wanted to stop in and share a few things that have caught my eye lately...

1) Hudson Bay Knit Blanket Tutorial, by The Purl Bee

Via The Purl Bee

2) Coconut Curry Peanut Soup Recipe, by Pink Basil

 

Via Pink Basil

3) A new Kate Spade satchel that I may or may not have bought myself as a half birthday present (What, you guys don't celebrate half birthdays?)

Via Zappos Couture

Baby lettuces

Many people have an aversion to Brussels sprouts. I get it, I get it, I really do - if undercooked they are hard and bitter, if overcooked they are mushy and bitter. But if cooked just right, they are awesome. Ask my friend Jenn. I brought them to a pre-Thanksgiving party this past fall, and she cringed. (Yes, I am the lame friend who brings Brussels sprouts to parties.) But little did she know, I had sauteed them in bacon fat (not just any bacon, but thick slabs from the Whole Foods deli counter) and sprinkled them with sea salt and pepper and they were rich and flavorful and crunchy. And as a result of me force-feeding her the sprouts, she now makes them all the time.

I also like Jenny and Andy's approach to making Brussels sprouts enticing: just rename them "baby lettuces!" Nobody cringes when you mention "lettuce," right? And the recipe on their blog, Dinner: A Love Story, looks even better that the baby lettuces that I usually make.

"Baby lettuces" via Dinner: A Love Story

For the full recipe, head over to Dinner: A Love Story.

A new recipe

As Anna mentioned, you should check out our new "good reads" page, because it is full of blogs we want to share with you. One of those blogs is The Wednesday Chef. Luisa (the Wednesday Chef) tested out a delicious recipe from the cookbook Ancient Grains for Modern Meals. She made an artichoke tart with goat cheese and Greek yogurt instead of cream and butter. The crust is made of polenta instead of wheat flour. I took one look at the recipe and had to make that night. It is light and healthy, but filling and creamy. I highly recommend it.

The Friday Find: Vintage Book DIY

Photos and tutorial via Design*Sponge

What a cool way to take an old book and turn it into a useful organizer for your modern gadgets. Find the tutorial and more photos here.

Food patterns

My mom recently told me that I take photographs of foods in patterns. I never noticed it before but it is so true! Should I make a calendar? Anybody want one?

In case you can't tell, I'm getting back on the blogging horse. Anna doesn't know it but she's coming too.

Homemade granola (January?)

Valentine's Day sweets (February?)

Oatmeal chocolate chip banana cookies

Hasselback potatoes

Homemade pickles

Donuts in Seattle's Pike's Place Market

Fresh farmer's market carrots

Farmer's market tomatoes

A Piggy for Your Friday

As if butter isn't totally awesome on its own, how fun would it be to eat it out of this little piggy?

By Jonathan Adler

This piggy brightened my Friday and I hope he brightens yours.

Giving Thanks

With Thanksgiving around the corner, we are feeling thankful for lots of people, places, and things.

Via HGTV

We are thankful for:

Loving family, including new addition Sally,

New friends and old friends from the East Coast to the West Coast (Hi Marie!) and beyond (Hi Chlo!),

Our charming, intelligent, loving boyfriends who brighten every day,

Our jobs/schools that allow us to grow and contribute to the world,

And finally, we are so incredibly thankful for all of our lovely readers :) You make us very happy and we are thankful for you every day.

What are you thankful for? We hope you have a family- and food-filled Thanksgiving. xo

Bench - complete!

Remember this weekend project? Chloe reminded me that I never showed you all a final picture of the bench in action. So here are two photos of the bench at the end of the bed storing too many books and newspapers. It's definitely serving its purpose.

I hope you all have a nice relaxing weekend before a week full of too much food. Do you have any plans? Are you preparing for Thanksgiving? Any good recipes you want to share? xo

Weekend project recap

I have been looking for a new bench for our bedroom for a while now. West Elm and Pottery Barn sell some beauties, but you have to shell out $200-$400. I needed something in the near-free price range. Thus, Ben and I took a trip to Home Depot to build our own.

We were clearly beginners at the hardware store - not knowing which wood, screws, or wood stain to buy. But we swallowed our pride and recruited the help of Mr. Mike in the orange apron. He showed us the ropes and now we'd like to share some tips with you!

Tip #1) If you don't own a saw, plan ahead and make sure you have someone at the store cut the wood for you. We wanted a bench that was about 3 feet in length to fit in our pint-sized apartment. After lugging home five bags of goods on the Metro, Ben was off to work on the bottom part of the bench.

Tip #2) Buy pre-made legs. They are about $3.50 each at the hardware store and when you're painting your bench outside in front of your apartment you get lots of compliments like "those are beautiful legs you've got."

3) Paint outside. Whether you have wood stain or paint, do not paint inside. The fumes will make you go brain dead. But don't sit as close to the street as I did. That is also dangerous.

4) Use push pins (or thumb tacs) to turn your bench right side up when the legs are still wet. Ben and I started staining the bottom of the bench before the top. That meant that we had already painted the legs of the bench. To prevent the legs of the bench from sticking to the newspaper that we laid on the ground, we stuck push pins in the bottom of the legs, lifting the legs an extra inch in the air. Although you can't see the push pins in the picture below, the bench is very happy to not be stuck to the trash bag.

Tip #5) When nothing else will remove the wood stain on your hands, nail polish remover will! It was a life saver when I super glued my fingers together last year, and it was a life saver once again this past weekend when the sticky wood stain wouldn't come off of our fingers. Thank you, nail polish remover.

Stay tuned for a pic of the final product in use!

Feeling fortunate...

...to have friends that drink good Malbec and cook homemade pumpkin gnocchi and crunchy kale salad on an ordinary Thursday night.

Gnocchi and kale

Gnocchi on parchment, friends on couch

Gnocchi master

Malbec and gnocchi

Pendleton Dreaming

The temperature dropped by about 15 degrees in the past week in DC. Anna introduced me to Pendleton wool, and now I've got Pendleton blankets on the brain. Should I get one? It would be such a warm and toasty addition to our apartment! Which one below do you like best? Happy Wednesday and Happy November!

The traditional Glacier National Park Blanket

The Chief Joseph Blanket in Ivory

The Rainbow Apache Blanket

The Gatekeeper Blanket

Weekend plans

It's only Thursday and I'm already thinking about the weekend. We're going to go apple picking so that we can make more delicious pies like these,

Go to this craft fair right by our apartment,

And maybe even paint my nails like the ones below. I mean, how cool are they?

Via Apartment 34

What are your plans? For Anna, this may be the weekend that she becomes an aunt!

Man Gift

We always talk about clothes and gifts for women, but rarely for men. We need to get better at doing that. So when I spotted this online store for guys, I figured I'd share. I love the notepads, the belts...everything from Wood & Faulk. The bag below would make a really nice gift for any boyfriend, brother, or dad who likes to travel. Looks like something that would last for years. And really nice for fall, which begins Friday!

Via Wood & Faulk

I hope you all have a great start to your fall. (It is definitely my favorite season.) Here's to crisp air, falling leaves, apple pie, the smell of wood in the fireplace, and cozy sweaters. Mmmm.

For your travel adventures

The best luggage tag around.

Via Harlex

See of Love Fall Essentials

Feeling like your wardrobe is a little drab? Us too. Here are our picks for fall 2011.

Blazer via JCrew.com

Tie blouse via Piperlime.com

Bright skinny trousers via Zara.com 

Dark wash jeans via Gap.com

Animal print pump via Nordstrom.com

What do you have in your closet for this fall? We'd love to hear! Happy Monday :)

Blowing in the Wind

Wishing I could spend my day today lounging in the AC like this pup. He just looks so incredibly comfortable. Even if you don't spend your weekend lounging on the air vent, I hope you have a relaxing weekend :)

You say tomato, I say tomato

There is nothing better this time of year than eating cherry tomatoes by the fistful, or heirloom tomatoes with just a pinch of salt. They are that good.

This week's pickings...

...from the Dupont farmers' market

Got too many? Why don't you try out this simple, delicious recipe and freeze a few jars so that you can remember what summer tastes like in a few months when you'll be well into fall.

xo :)

The Saturday Find - morning granola

Today we have "The Saturday Find" instead of "The Friday Find." Why? Because I was giving these jars of granola away as gifts and I didn't want to ruin the surprise!

This past week I made a huge batch of this delicious granola. It came out crunchy and chewy and sweet (and even a little salty, mmm) - everything you'd hope granola would be. It served as a yummy, affordable gift for a few great people. So far, it is the best granola recipe I have found out there on the world wide web.

 

For those who want to make this granola, the recipe suggests stirring the granola every ten minutes, but I would suggest every twenty minutes. That way you get bigger clusters. If you like crunchier granola, I also suggest turning the heat up to 325 for the last ten minutes of baking.

Enjoy! And have a very relaxing weekend :)