ampersand for tuesday

Because, I just love the word ampersand, that’s all.

Yesterday, I ruined my coffee.  With cream… and a touch of honey.  What was I thinking?  I didn’t even want to drink it.  I should know better.  I’ve gone to the dark side and there is no going back.  After all, some people drink coffee for the taste and not the caffeine.  I obviously enjoy both.

Sunday, the handle of my coffee mug collided with my computer and a few drops splashed across the keyboard.  No apparent damage was done, but the husband said, “Wouldn’t it be funny if coffee killed your computer?”  No. NO. NO.  But, yes, probably.

some links that must be shared.

• Speaking of coffee, I made coffee steak. Well, that’s not actually what it’s called, but I did, in fact, put espresso grounds on my steak.  It was delicious.
• Last night, I took in my new jeans, using this tutorial. 
• This was dinner on Monday.  It was delicious.
• If you sew, you must see the adorable dresses my friend Jessica has been making in anticipation of meeting her baby girl.  Of course, I’m saving all the links and adding them to my own project ideas folder.
• Tumblr, anyone?  I started a new one, because I needed a little place for treasures.  If you are on tumblr, send me a link to your blog.
• If you need super cute burp cloths, my darling Erica has them. Check out her shop.
• After reading this post from Mandy, I must read One Thousand Gifts.

Oh and.. these two are my favorite.

 

Hope your Tuesday is as good as the best cup of coffee you’ve ever had.  P.S. I’d love to know more about that cup.

in the kitchen: zuppa toscana

As many of you know, I used to work at the Garden of Olives…you know, that restaurant that everyone in the world loves and loves, with all the breadsticks you can eat, until you turn into a giant, garlic, carb monster drowning in alfredo sauce.

Anyways, here’s the thing about this place.  I worked there for five years. five. long. years, but I made a good money and I got to work with my roommate and it wasn’t all terrible, but a lot of it was, except for the good parts.  The marriage proposals from the cooks are not included in the good parts, just for the record.  Also, every horrible Saturday that the rest of our friends spent at the beach, while we slaved away for 13 hours inside –BAD PART.

I may need therapy.

The thing this, I still enjoy the food, it’s good fake,  Italian food, but I can not, I repeat, I can not eat the food there.  It sends me into a state of nostalgia and not in the best way.  The smells, the music, the servers, the people asking for more, more, more, more, more…. ahhh!!!

Back to the food, it’s tasty and I often think about eating it, as long as it is not in the restaurant. I mean it, I would eat the food in a train or in the rain, in a box or… anywhere except there.  My favorite soup was the Zuppa Toscana, and I made this recipe last night.  Delicious. Scrumptious.  Divine. 

If I close my eyes while eating it, I almost can hear the music and smell the garlic in the air, and hear my server asking if I would like freshly grated….umm, no.  NO. NO. 

I’m just going to eat it with my eyes open, but you can close your eyes if you like.  Eyes open or closed, it’s lovely.  Make it.

PS.  The bowl was super hot when I warmed it up for lunch, hence the dishtowel around it.

four things + three weeks

1. Little lovie is three weeks old, yesterday. Go ahead and enjoy her sweetness.

2. I made this delicious sweet chocolate + coconut granola yesterday, you might love it.  (Image via Living the Swell Life)

3. My friend Jessica, from A Little Gray won the Prudent Baby Sewing Machine contest.  She gets this killer new machine and all these people will tell her how talented and creative she is, which of course, she is. (Image from A Little Gray)

4. Couldn’t show you until now, but last night, I made these homemade chocolate peanut-butter cups for my chocolate/peanut butter loving husband. I may have had a few myself.  They are a little time consuming, but totally worth it.

Any good recipes to share? Any fun news?

file under: husband’s favorites.

Last night, I happened upon a recipe that received immediate approval and jubilation from the mister.  I can only take credit for half of the recipe, but half is fine with me, as long as I’m sharing with good ole’ PW.  Honestly, the Pioneer Woman has yet to share a recipe that we do not like.  It’s a bit ridiculous, and by ridiculous, I mean awesome.

If you like a little spice to your dinner and you’re a shrimp lover, take note.  We like the shrimp around here, very much.  Also, we’re big on the spice, especially with operation: have this baby underway.  I didn’t take a picture, because I never do… please forgive me.

We’ll call this:  Spicy Lemon Garlic Shrimp… Pasta.

{Photo from PW}

1. Follow this recipe to prepare the shrimp.  Except,  I only used 1 lb. of shrimp and cut the rest of the ingredients in half. I added one whole sliced onion and three sliced bell peppers, one of each color (use whatever colors you have or prefer).  Add the onions and peppers to the pan and cook with the shrimp.  The flavor in this dish is out of this world.  Feel free to add hot sauce, if you’re into that.  I am.
2. Boil some water, make some pasta… whatever you prefer, this part is pretty easy, right?
3. Pour contents of shrimp, veggies and all that delicious garlic butter into a dish.  Toss with the pasta.
4. Eat.
5. The End.

We served it with garlic bread and you can never go wrong with that.  Enjoy.

That Pioneer Woman hasn’t failed us yet.

Lavell’s Cheesecake Pie

This morning, I’m thankful for a husband who ventures out in the treacherous cold to work long hours, so that the rest of us can stay inside, all warm and cozy.  He also made oatmeal raisin cookies yesterday while watching his football games, because he’s the best.

Thanksgiving week is here and I think it’s one of the best weeks ever, because high on the list of all the things I love in my life, is Thanksgiving dinner.  Man, am I glad those pilgrims and Indians got together to eat.

After college, my friends and I created Friends’ Thanksgiving, we’d all travel to one location and spend the whole weekend together feasting, drinking and discussing coffee, and laughing.  One of my lovely (OCD)  friends, her name  is similar to Erica, would make menus and place cards for the table  and long before November there would be e-mails about planning committees for the event. I’m not lying.  Sadly, this couldn’t last forever, we  started getting married, having kids, no money, and those silly families of ours got greedy feeling like we were supposed to spend holidays with them… how absurd.  Truth be told, if I had my way, I’d spend all my Thanksgivings with them… and now there would be five husbands (three named Matt) and four little boys, age 3 and under, running around… I think it would be marvelous.

Also,  Thanksgiving reminds me of the few years we spent in Tennessee.  We couldn’t travel far for the weekend, because Matt worked in retail and I guess there’s a big shopping day, which required him to be there.  So, we spent those Thanksgivings with our Tennessee family at Lavell’s.   Lavell owns the barn where we got married and I dare say, she is one of the most amazing people in all of the world.  I could probably write a novel about how much we love her and so could everyone she knows.  It’s also quite possible that she is one of the best cooks on the face of this earth.

She’s the kind of person who upon entering her home, you feel like you belong there and you never want to leave.  Her hugs are magic and she is really the warmest person I know.  I mean, literally, her hands are ALWAYS warm.  And now after writing this, I miss her.  Anyways, she would feed anyone who walked through her door, as long as you called her first, to let her know you were coming… and Thanksgiving was no exception.

Among all the masterpiece dishes she would make, she also whipped up a couple simple things, one of them being, what she called Cheesecake pie.  I don’t know if she actually made up the recipe or not, but as far as I’m concerned, she did.  Last year, Matt’s sister and her family came to spend Thanksgiving with us and I made it for them.  They loved it.  They have since asked me for the recipe about four times and I think I’ve given it to them about four times, but that’s ok, they have lots of kids, making it hard to remember things.  Now with Thanksgiving only days away, taunting us with its merriment, she asked me to send the recipe and I just thought I’d share it with anyone who wanted to enjoy it.

If you are the type of person who likes exact measurements, I’m sorry, because I’ve never seen this recipe written down. Deal with it.  It’s so easy and delicious.  It’s the cheesecake for people who don’t want to spend the time making cheesecake.

Lavell’s Cheesecake Pie

1- store bought graham cracker crust or make your own

2- 8 0z packages of cream cheese, room temperature.

1- 2 cups of confectioner’s sugar (or as my sister calls it, confederate sugar)

1.5 teaspoons of vanilla extract

1 can of fruit filling (I use blueberry or cherry, but you can use whatever.)

In a bowl, mix the cream cheese until smooth.  Add the sugar, starting with 1 cup and little by little,  add  more, until the mix is to your sweetness liking. (This means, stick your finger in and taste it).  Add vanilla extract. 

Spread the mixture into your pie crust and pour can of fruit filling on top.  Cover and chill for about an hour.  You could leave the filling on the side and let people add it themselves, if they don’t all like the toppings, but I prefer to add it. 

Done.

 

It’s so easy and people will marvel and wonder how you made this.  You’re welcome.

P.S.  This year, I’m trying this new recipe for Cranberry Cheesecake.

What are you making?  What is the one dish you wouldn’t want to miss on Thanksgiving?

{Liv

in the kitchen + exciting news

No, this is not my kitchen.  But feel free to pause and catch your breath, lovely, no?  I thought I’d start the week off with sharing a few delicious recipes that I made over the weekend, because now that one can actually turn on the stove without melting… I’m on a cooking frenzy.  Isn’t frenzy a fantastic word? Frenzy.
Now for the recipes…

This butternut squash mac n cheese was so delicious.

These slow cooker black bean enchiladas were a bit hit, but I’d replace the salsa with a tasty cheese sauce.

I’m enjoying this scrumptious homemade granola right this very second.  Will I be making it again, yes, indeed.

We certainly enjoyed this bbq chicken pizza, you might too.

Our homemade pancakes were perfection with this spiced syrup.

Do you have any tasty recipes to share from your weekend? I’d love to hear about it.

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Oh, and some new and exciting changes are coming to the Saturated Palette in the near future…  but, you’ll just have to wait to find out more!

Oh, and frenzy.

{Liv

{image: source}

You need new recipes.

Until recently, I haven’t been cooking much.  The very idea of eating is a chore, much less cooking for my family.  Unfortunately, I think they had their fill of hot dogs and mac n' cheese.  But I’m starting to feel much better and even some days I notice this foreign feeling of hunger.  A few weeks ago, I picked up the latest issue of  The Food Network Magazine, while on a recent date to the local  B&N, my husband let my buy it because I convinced him I would cook again.  I wasn’t lying.  I think I’m make five recipes so far. Now, I need a subscription. Hint, hint.   Here are a few of my favorites.

 

1. Baked Fish and Chips.  Who doesn’t love them?  I prefer tons a malt vinegar on the side for dipping.  No frying required.

2. Mustard- Rosemary Pork with Peaches.  This one was off the charts delicious and scrumptious.  The recipes calls for grilling the meat, but there’s no grill here, so I used the oven, still wonderful.  It’s also slightly fancy, so it would be impressive for a dinner party… and still so simple. 

3. Shrimp Salad Pitas.   The husband loves shrimp.  He could eat it all day.  The was a perfect summer dinner, because it only required a few minutes to broil the shrimp.  So light and rather healthy too.

4. Tomato Salad with Cheese Crisps.  I made this for lunch, because let’s be real… the husband doesn’t want to eat a bunch of tomatoes for lunch.  But me?  I love tomatoes, especially the ones I’ve been getting from the garden market across the street.  I used to eat tomatoes like apples with salt shaker in hand.  Yum, yum, yummy memories.  I didn’t use heirloom tomatoes, I know that would had added to it, but it was still a tasty little lunch, if I do say so myself.  Aren’t tomatoes so pretty?

5.  Homemade Soba Noodles.  My friend Kristin spent a month in NYC doing yoga instructor training and she shared her recipe for Soba noodles.  It was really tasty.  I will admit, I didn’t add tofu, because I don’t really think that is food.  Maybe you do, that’s wonderful.  I’m still a no-tofu necessary kind of girl… we can still be friends.

And just for the sake of being authentic and transparent.  I also made a version watermelon sorbet from good old’ RR, but I must have forgotten that watermelon is actually really sweet already because, I added too much sugar and now it’s unbearably sweet… as in downright gross. (We’re not really huge lovers of sweets around here).  My fault, I’m sure if you followed the actual recipe it would be a lovely summertime treat.  For now, my version will sit in the freezer until I feel motivated to clean out the fridge or I need that cake pan.

So… there you go.  Six new recipes. You’re welcome. What have you been making lately?  I’m always looking for new things to try.  I am not afraid of new.  I love new.  I’m one of those rare individuals who crave change… but that is an entirely different subject. 

P.S.  That still doesn’t mean I want to eat tofu.

{liv