Sweet Toothed

As I've said before, this is not a food blog.

I'm not a recipe creator by any means. 

But I just really like food. 

(Is there such a thing as simply a food lover's blog?

Nothing ingenious, just adoration?)

Anyways, I also suffer from a major sweet tooth. 

So while I might have come across as all nice and healthy with my farro shout out last time, 

it's not exactly an authentic representation of all my culinary cravings. 

So even as I read Meg Fee's recent posts about going sugar free 

and even as this idea resonate so deeply with me

and my current dietary dilemmas, 

and even as I attempt to start figuring and mapping out 

how I'll remove sugar from my daily diet, 

I find myself making raspberry jam swirl blondies the other night at 9 pm 

for my even more stronger sweet-toothed father for father's day.

As I stood over the stove top, I came to the conclusion 

that the smell of brown sugar, cinnamon and vanilla, 

is absolutely pure heaven.

I want to bottle it up 
and surround myself with this scent 24/7.

And of course, I couldn't help 

but cut off a little corner piece, 

for sampling sake, 

and it just melted in my mouth.

The raspberry seeds added an ever so subtle texture 

to the smooth, creamy blondie,

and as I wrapped up the individual pieces

I knew, somewhat discouragedly, 

but with really no effort to fight it,

that blondies and their various accoutrements will be a new

repeating recipe in my slowly but surely growing repertoire.

So thank you Joy the Baker for refusing to let me go completely sugar free.

The recipe for these blondies can be viewed here

photos via my iPhone

I've Fallen In Love With Farro

My exciting Friday night 

This is by no means a food blog, I didn't set out to write anything even close.

I don't consider myself all that great at creating culinary masterpieces. 

I can make a solid pasta dish and bake a great cake, but I'm no Julia Childs 

nor am I trying to be the next best food blogger. 

I just really love food, and I really love eating it. 

I love reading about food and looking at fabulous foodie pictures. 

And so I have a roll of food blogs that I've fallen in love with, 

where I can get lost for hours, 

getting ideas and inspiring me to cook an endless amount of deliciousness. 

But unfortunately, due to time and energy, 

I have only made a handful of these salivating recipes.

But when I do, I get really excited. 

And I want to eat a lot of said dish and tell everyone. 

And so this brings me back 

to what started this whole foodie rambling in the first place: 

I made a damn good farro salad Friday night 

and the leftovers I had for lunch were absolutely awesome, 

maybe even better than the original serving.

I've come to realize that I adore pretty much every grain out there, 

and when some veggies are tossed into the mix, 

it's not only incredibly satisfying 

but makes me feel pretty healthy too. 

Inspired by this farro salad of red peppers, red onions, carrots, celery and feta, 

I've been brainstorming other grain salad concoctions...

Quinoa with avocado, corn and tomatoes?

Brown rice with edamame, carrots and shredded chicken with a dash of soy sauce?

Cous cous with walnuts, cucumbers, tomatoes and feta? 

Toss in some olive oil dressing variation, salt, pepper 

and I have several days worth of meals. 

But back to the recipe that got this all going: 

Farro Salad courtesy of Shutterbean 

View the full, super easy to follow recipe here 

recipe photo courtesy of Shutterbean 

top photo via my Instagram 

Long Weekend Luxuries

This Memorial Day weekend came at the perfect time. 

After several busy weeks for both myself and the boyfriend, 

we entered into this long weekend with no plans. 

And it has been fantastic.

With the summer ahead already packed with weddings, showers, 

get togethers, and traveling, I've started to feel a bit worried, 

concerned that there was too much on the calendar. 

While I hope to embrace the crazy busy summer for what it is, 

full of wonderful, joyous celebrations, 

I know that staying organized and calm will help me, personally, 

to enjoy it all so much more, despite its schedule, 

and so I've looked forward to this upcoming weekend, 

to kick off the summer season, 

hanging on to the fact that our days were free from plans.

Having that extra day makes long weekends insanely more awesome. 

It allows one to really achieve, so much more fully, the core goal of the elusive weekend: 

mixing productivity with relaxation and pleasure. 

And so this lovely long weekend, I've done just that. 

I cleaned our home, and tidied up our living space. 

We stocked up on necessities for the upcoming week's breakfasts and lunches

 as we grocery shopped, carting home various items to turn into creative dinners. 

I went to the gym,

making up for the lack of time and self discipline 

that reigned over the past couple weeks. 

I have piles of clean laundry, fresh sheets on the bed, 

and I'm slowly but surely making a dent in my towering stack of magazines 

that I can't help but collect. 

Friday night we set out a smorgasbord of taco fixings, 

filling tortillas with shrimp, beans, rice and avocado, 

indulging in one of my favorite types of dinners. 

What use to consist of parties, pizza, cocktails and 

bedtimes that went into the early hours of the next day, 

now ended with a showing of The Great Gatsby and bed by midnight. 

The movie didn't disappoint and neither did the hours of uninterrupted solid sleep. 

Saturday night we cheered on the Bruins with good friends and good food, 

before returning home shortly after 9PM, 

to enjoy the lazy pleasures of hbo's comedians. 

These little long weekend luxuries came together to create a weekend

 that I so badly needed and craved. 

While I didn't cross off everything on my never-ending to do list, 

I feel refreshed and reorganized, 

eager to keep this positive momentum going, 

ready to not only tackle the week ahead, 

but excited for the beautifully busy summer that lies before us.

And so as we wrapped up this weekend with a little hike by the coast

and a bbq with the boyfriend's family, 

I cheers to not only our country's Memorial Day 

but also to the summer ahead.

photo via my iPhone

Mid-Week Motivation

Because at the end of a rainy, cold, just plain yucky Tuesday, 

I need to get out of this quickly approaching rut I sense 

and so I call on Pinterest...

and because we all could use a little inspiration 

to tackle the rest of the week, 

whether it be with sundaes and streamers 

or sugar cookies and organized shelves.

all photos via Pinterest

About Me & This

Over the weekend, I finally got around to 

putting together an “About Me” page 

for this site of mine. 

It can viewed via the “ABOUT” tab 

on the top of the left side column,

at the top of the page, at any time. 

Other weekend highlights included

stocking up on papers, stickers, bags, tags, cards and more, 

gearing up for some Valentine crafts, baking and wrapping, 

and trying my hand at domesticity and cooking a casserole.

And then came Sunday and 

with it, time to join in 
with some American traditions

and watch the Super Bowl, 

while I enjoyed some (craft) brews, 
too much chili, chips and dips,

and the commercials and half time show, 

more than the touchdowns.

Have a wonderful week~


photo via Pinterest