New Year's Resolutions

Tomorrow is 2015!

Wow it felt weird to write that...

 15?! 

Why do I feel like the 90's were yesterday?

Okay, so, save the fact that I am aging at an uncontrollable rate, 
and I should know better at this old age to make resolutions, 
I am going to give it another go.

Here are this year's lies:

1. To plant a real, bad-ass, flower garden. 

Yes, I know, this was last year's resolution, and 2013...I mean it this time.

2. To plant, and nurture my vegetable garden,

 and to preserve/can/sauce enough for the winter 

(this year was a sad flop).

3. To mentally prepare myself for the first day of kindergarten. 

I am going to be a F$%^ing basket case in September. 

I apologize to Elias' teachers in advance...

4. To make a 100% homemade lasagna. 

Our cow, our tomatoes, our basil, our homemade pasta, our homemade cheeses.

I will name it Narcissism, and it will be delicious.

5. To run my 5th and final half marathon in Lake Placid. 

After the second weekend in June, running and I will just be friends.

6. To make physical prints of every picture I cherish. 

Not on the computer. Not on disk. Actual, old school photo books all the way.

7. To finish that damn quilt.... 

this may require me to learn how to use a sewing machine.

8. To eat more green, less white for real this year, 

and do something everyday that could be considered exercise.

To be a good example for Elias.

9. To travel, explore, adventure every day;

 Whether it is in a book, out our front door, locally or globally.

To make everyday richer. 

10. To continue to make my family and true friends my priority; 

to laugh with them, to cry with them, to love them and to foster our relationships from a new place. 

To make every day, every week, every month brighter than last. 

*(Yes. I try.)

I wish you all a happy, healthy, fun, fulfilling, beautiful and delicious 2015!

Happy New Year!

ps. Today I plan to eat everything I see, drink everything in reach and not exercise one bit.
Just for the record.

Breakfast Smoothie Bliss

So I made it through an entire day of juicing yesterday until about six o'clock last night I dove face first into a bowl of Thai green curry...

Curry counts as a liquid, right!?

Well, if anything, I created a luscious lunch smoothie that gave me a very happy belly,

 and a little extra energy to get me through the afternoon.

Since I normally skip breakfast in lieu of coffee, chai or tea, this smoothie might become part of my normal morning repetoire, cleanse or no cleanse.

It is very simple, healthy, delicious and can be whipped up in less time than brewing a pot of coffee.

Ingredients:

1 banana

1 inch piece of ginger, sliced for easy blending

1/2 cup of chai tea concentrate (I use Starbuck's brand)

1 cup of unsweetened vanilla almond milk

One handful of ice

nutmeg for sprinkling

Steps:

Pull banana into pieces and put it in your blender with ginger, chai, almond milk and ice.

Pulse on high until smooth.

Sprinkle with nutmeg.

Enjoy!

Juicy Lucy

I know it is not New Year's yet,

however after what seems like weeks of gluttony it is time for a pair down of sorts.

I guess you can say that I'm doing a trial run for Thursday. 

I figure this will allow me to experiment with recipes, and cheat a little before the ultimate day of reckoning on January 1st.

As with all new beginnings, it is easier if we come prepared...yes?!

And if you're going the juice route, why not jazz it up with a fun glass!?

It adds a sense of fun to a seemingly daunting task.

Look at those biscuits!
Couldn't you just squeeze them!?

This smoothie came out surprisingly delicious, as it was a mish-mash of ingredients I had left over from this month's festivities;

One banana, two clementines, a handful of spinach, a chunk of ginger, a cup of ice and a splash of water.

Pulsed on high until smooth, this is super refreshing!

This juicing thing might be easier than I initially thought!?

Maybe.

Until I'm craving solids so badly that I will eat a bar of soap if it means something other than juice...

We will talk in a few days...

Yes Please

If your pants aren't tight enough, these may help...

If any of you are looking for any serious last minute...errr, late gifts this holiday season, I'd be willing to bet these would be a big hit.

Just a hunch.

http://www.oliveandsinclair.com/shop/duckfatcaramel

YUM!

Craft Explosion

Everything is turning up Sculpey.

I can not stop crafting, and I promise this will be my last post on the matter...well, maybe. 

I will try.

I both have to thank and to blame my friend Kathy for introducing me to these projects.

Once you realize how easy and fun it is, 

you feel like you could construct anything and everything out of this wonderously simple clay-like material. 

I have caught the crafting bug. 

Check these out!

...last post, I promise...

Holiday Themed Coasters

Coil, Twist, Smoosh Into a Ball  Roll Out (not shown) and Mold

The Finishing Materials:
Mod Podge to seal and add shimmer + Gold Paint to add a beautiful finished rim.

Walla!

Gifts for Everyone!

 Again, I cannot take full credit for these.

My friend Kathy not only introduced me to this awesome project, 

but also to the great blog 'A Beautiful Mess,' where this project originated, and every single one of their craft projects looks like something I could get my hands into.

(Poor Elias may have a winter of crafting ahead of him)!

Check out the link for the best instructions on how to do this project, and explore all of their other great ideas:

www.abeautifulmess.com

Happy Crafty Holidays!

Florentine Deliciousness

I poached an egg!

Hurrah!

I finally conquered my fear of this seemingly daunting task...

then I smothered that beautiful, shimmering, healthy egg with butter, cream, cheese and bacon.

We have to keep things real people!

I derived this recipe from a Florentine egg dish I had at a brunch years ago in New York City.

The place was over-crowded, noisy, and flirted with filthy, but their food was delicious.

So delicious, that I have been thinking about making this dish since.

The only problem is that I don't like breakfast. 

At least not at breakfast time.

Much to my breakfast-loving spouse's dismay, he is usually in charge of this meal...not to mention that he would never make this.

So, for years I have just kept this tucked in my sensory memory bank, just waiting to break free.

Well, to cut this long story short, over this past Thanksgiving weekend of pure gluttony, I actually woke up early and cooked! Zoiks! 

The timing seemed right and I had most of the ingredients.

I am very glad I did, because I may have to make this again;

Just maybe for dinner, and in the summer when the tomatoes are ripe for picking.

Recipe:

Serves two hungry, hungover people

Ingredients:

4 eggs

1 small onion, sliced thin or chopped

1 clove of garlic, finely chopped

5 tablespoons of butter, divided

1 tablespoon of flour

1 cup of heavy cream

1/2 tsp of nutmeg

2 cups of Parmesan/Romano cheese

s/p to taste

4 generous handfuls of fresh baby spinach

2 Thomas' English muffins, or homemade crusty bread, toasted and buttered

4 strips of bacon or pancetta, cooked until crispy and drained

2 generous slices of a juicy, ripe tomato:

*I used canned San Marzano tomatoes today because this was the only ingredient I didn't have: I drained four small plum tomatoes (2/serving) and cooked them briefly in a sauce pan. You don't have to do this with a fresh tomato; just slice and enjoy.

Steps:

1. Prep all ingredients (cut, chop, slice and measure)

2. In a large pan, saute onion until tender in two tablespoons of butter, add garlic for 1-2 minutes at the end. Be sure not to burn the garlic.

3. Add the remaining three tablespoons of butter and stir until melted.

4. Add flour and stir to make a paste

5. Add nutmeg

6. Add the heavy cream and stir until hot

7. Add the Parmesan cheese, a little at a time, stirring gently. 

8. If the sauce is too thin, add more cheese. s/p to taste

9. Add spinach, a handful at a time and cook until wilted. Keep warm.

10. Meanwhile, cook your bacon and poach your eggs and place in a fine mesh sieve placed over a bowl to drain

11. Also, toast and butter your bread component

*To poach the egg, bring water to a boil with the juice of half a lemon. Crack the egg and gently slide it into the water. Cook for 2-3 minutes, until the white is cooked and the yolk is set, but still runny. With a slotted spoon, remove and put into a fine mesh sieve to drain.

For assembly:

1. Place your bread component on the bottom of a medium-large shallow rimmed bowl. 

2. Top the bread with the slice of tomato (or cooked San marzano tomatoes). 

3. Top with poached eggs. Season with salt and pepper. 

4. Top with spinach/onion/cheese mixture. 

5. Finish by topping with cooked bacon or pancetta. 

6. Serve with a giant cranberry mimosa

7. Eat immediately

I hope you guys enjoy this recipe as much as we did!

Let us believe that it is healthy because of the spinach, tomato and the poached egg.

Wink.