pasta!

WOW. i had forgotten how amazing pasta is. trying to avoid carbs, i had given pasta up altogether for a few months. but last night i went for it and WHOA--blown away.  i didnt do much to make diner, just assembled, which just proves that dinner doesnt require a lot of work, just the right ingredients.

recipe:
1/3 box of linguine
about 1 teaspoon black pesto
    (can opt for regular pesto, black is olive based)
whole foods olive bar:
a few roasted tomatoes, a few peppadew peppers, and a few sundried tomatoes
basil leaves (if have on hand)
parmesan cheese (worth it to buy a nice block of it)

directions:
cook pasta according to package
while cooking, chop up the tomatoes and peppers, and basil
drain pasta, add back to pot
add pesto and stir
add peppers/tomatoes/basil
plate
grate parm on top

CHEVRON. everybody's doing it.  i wanted to paint my desk in gray and white chevron.  but i figured id be over it in 3 6 months. SO instead i opted for chalk.  i was at michael's the other night and saw martha stewart chalk paint in teal that i knew i couldnt leave the store without.  i bought a random frame, gave it a couple coats of the paint, and then chevroned it up. 

fyi: i would use a wooden frame

sweet potato pie and i shut my mouth

i thought i had christmas all planned out this year...however i am behind as usual.  and as i write all these last minute posts, i realize that this has been a whirlwind of a week!  so if you are like me and need something to take into the office tomorrow, or to grannys house this weekend try this: sweet potato bread.  easy as pie and pretty delish.  i used this recipe, (just kidding, i used this one, but that is the best song ever) it calls for like 2 things, the only thing youll probably need to go to the store for is the sweet potatoes or yams.  also to give it something extra. i used about 2 teaspoons of the juice from a clementine and mixed it with about 2 to 3 tablespoons powdered sugar to make a pretty thin glaze.  once the bread comes out of the oven immediately pour the glaze over the bread and let harded. yum! (you could use an orange, orange juice or even water for the liquid in the glaze). one more thing, the bread may need an extra 15-20 minutes, i baked mine for an hour and ten minutes and it could have used an extra ten.  

best christmas song ever :)

LAST minute gifts!

with all the hype over pinterest and diy projects this year, i thought it was about time i made one.  this lemon scrub is the EASIEST thing to make--in terms of time and ingredients.  the recipe i used called for sea salt but i decided to use mostly kosher salt.  kosher salt is a much larger grain of salt than sea salt so the one i made is probs best for feet or elbows.  using sea salt would make a better scrub for legs.  i used about a 3 to 1 ratio of kosher to sea salt in this recipe. to make the scrub all you need is:

kosher or sea salt (or both)

a few lemons

olive oil

rosemary, optional

in a large bowl put 5 tablespoons of kosher salt. coat with a tablespoon of olive oil. once well combined squeeze half of the lemon over the mixture, and stir together.  i made probably about 7 times this much.  its best if you figure out how much you are going to need to make first that way you can mix all the salt and oil together first.  the recipe i followed said mixing the oil and salt first keeps the salt from dissolving.  a point about mixing the salts: i did about 25 tablespoons of kosher to about 15 tablespoons of sea salt (using a big box of kosher and a tall canister of sea salt) if that makes sense.  just test out the recipe as you go along, so that you get the consistency you want.  and there you go: a very last minute, but very cute, christmas gift.

oh, and if you want to: as i filled my containers (use any size you like, mine are from ikea) when they were filled half way i added a piece of rosemary and then continued filling.  i would say these will last a couple weeks, when refrigerated. 

Merry Christmas! 

apple goat cheese quiche

my mom made the craziest quiche this weekend---goat cheese, apple, bacon, onion quiche!  so weird.  but it turned out to be absolutely delicious.  who would have thought apple could go in quiche?  but its awesome with the goat cheese and BACON. yum.  it lasts a few days, so its great to have for lunch or breakfast the next day.  the combination of all the ingredients are great for fall.

recipe after jump:

blog about blogs

when im bored as hell, or want to read something a little lighter than all the news headlines that are out there right now, there are a couple blogs that my fingers type almost as quickly as facebook.com.    

1. the sartorialist has unreal pics of people in their everyday lives looking like staight up models. 

2. smitten kitchen is always a go to as well.  she doesnt post that often, however, the "surprise me" link will refresh the page with new recipies each time you click it, she has hundreds of recipies, so you will never get bored.  im usually completely starving after looking at it for 5 minutes.

3. i have to give credit where credit is due.  although i think the cupcakes and cashmere girl can be irritating and overrated, she is the inspiration behind most lifestyle blogs of the 20-something blogger.  as much as i would like to say i dont look at her blog all the time from time to time, i do. she posts almost everyday and has nice taste in clothing (even though i dont always approve of the way she styles her outfits--im hyper-critical, i know). 

PUMPKIN cupcakes! with cream cheese frosting

since the beginning of october, ive been obsessed with pumpkin stuff but i could never get around to making anything because ive been so lazy busy.  howeverrrr, it was my roommates bday last week, so i finally had a reason to make something.  and i will admit upfront that i took the easy convenient route.  i bought a box mix of yellow cake as the base, and literally just added some pumpkin puree and pumpkin spices-and surprisingly it turned out better than expected.  so, if you are in the mood to bake some pumpkin-y things but want to take the easy way out, no one will ever know the difference :)

recipe follows: