July | 2011 | strawberries in paris

Cause I’m Keepin it Real

July 29, 2011 at 7:00 am | Posted in Dinner, Entertainment | 6 Comments

This clip from Clueless popped into my head on Tuesday night when I was making myself dinner. Kendra and I planned to do some Jillian Michaels Shred DVDs and then get cooking upstairs in her awesome house, but a migraine struck her. So I was left to fend for myself for the night! After a nice long run/walk around town I set to cook myself a meal!

Now back to Clueless lead in… I baked some chicken that I had marinated all day (Worcestershire, dijon, evoo, herbs de provence and s&p) in the toaster oven. That toaster oven has seen much better days, BUT, it still works so I will hold out! The first picture I snapped of the workings of this meal was a view of the chicken baking through that nasty oven door. And hence…

This movie was probably one of the first movies I claimed as a favorite of mine. I don’t know if it was the cool fashion or popular lead character or just the sweet love story with Paul Rudd that comes out in the end, but I totally took it as my own. And I totally sported a pink fuzzy pen like Cher did in school. So who else has been keeping it real lately? My favorite girl Sherry from YoungHouseLove. Gosh I can’t wait to have my own place to have to rehab and decorate!! But for now I will focus on feeding myself and others, and maybe trying to sew up some throw pillows for our couch.. Here was the final result of my cooking on Tuesday. Pretty tasty looking eh?

Go for the jump to see more workings of this meal!

Continue Reading Cause I’m Keepin it Real…

Wordless Wednesday: Laurita’s views from Vermont

July 27, 2011 at 7:00 am | Posted in Travels | 4 Comments

Early dinner at Loco Hombre

July 25, 2011 at 11:31 am | Posted in Appetizer, Dinner | 7 Comments

This past weekend was a family weekend for sure! Grandpa (Abuelito) got heart valve replacement on Thursday and so everyone’s time and efforts were spent at the hospital since then! Jen and Bobby just left to go on a two city tour of Europe (London and Paris, LUCKY DUCKS!!), but before they left we all wanted to go see Abuelito at the hospital. We couldn’t get in until 8 pm on Friday night because he was still in the ICU, so we decided to hit up Loco Hombre for dinner!

It was kinda on my way in to the city (I avoid 695 like the plague on Friday evenings, so I take the city route!) and a wee bit south from their house in Towson. I think I might have had a drink there once a million years ago, but this was the first time I dined there! And so Bob and Jen were willing to put up with my photography for the evening and we had a super cute and nice server named Scott. (Yup, I’m single now world! Watch out!) Go for the jump to see more tasty treats…

Continue Reading Early dinner at Loco Hombre…

Black and White and Red all over

July 22, 2011 at 7:00 am | Posted in Dessert | 4 Comments

How’s that for a old school funny joke. Reminds me of reading the kids section of the Baltimore Sun for the comics and such. I always loved that Egg section that had funny pictures and jokes inserting the word “Egg” into different words. So what is your favorite version/answer of/to that joke?? I think mine is a sunburned skunk.

So how on earth does that relate to this post?? WEllll…. I made black and white cookies! For James my buddy (buddies because of work, so really he’s my coworker, but he’s more than a coworker, sometimes he is someone I get to annoy, sometimes he is a shoulder to cry on, and most of the time he is someone that makes me laugh).

I love James!!! ❤ him so much that I just had to make him a treat for his birthday. And he is a cookie monster just like me, so I went searching for a good cookie that I had never made. I settled upon the Black and White cookies from Joy the Baker. James has good memories from his childhood of these cookies, so I thought they were a perfect choice. For a couple of days I considered making the red velvet version of these cookies, which he responded unethusiastically… But it turns out his lovely wife Kristen guffawed at his apathy, so next time I will make red velvet Kristen!!!

Go for the jump and see some more mostly crappy iPhone pictures!

Continue Reading Black and White and Red all over…

Wordless Wednesday: Lovely Lilly

July 20, 2011 at 7:00 am | Posted in Travels | 4 Comments

Tempted at Tate’s Bake Shop

July 18, 2011 at 10:55 am | Posted in Brunch, Dessert, Travels | 2 Comments

Last Monday morning, the girls (including little Lils) and I set out for breakfast in the Hamptons. We wanted some sweet stuffs and then go browsing at some of the local shops. Jana and Nicole have become smitten with Tate’s bake shop recently and so that was our breakfast choice!

It was a very nice bakeshop and the sweet confection I had for breakfast in addition to the crispy whole wheat chocolate cookies I picked up for later were really good. Go see some more pictures after the jump!

Continue Reading Tempted at Tate’s Bake Shop…

Summer Suppers in Bellport

July 15, 2011 at 7:00 am | Posted in Dinner, Entertainment, Travels | 1 Comment

Incidentally, when I was up in Long Island visiting this new girl…

We got to have two amazing dinners on the back porch!

Yup that’s right, Jana and Howie’s back yard is a perfect oasis and I am so thankful I could spend four luxurious days lounging around it! I did work for my money though by taking over the kitchen for two dinners, so go check out my simple summer eats…

Continue Reading Summer Suppers in Bellport…

Wordless Wednesday: Marfi’s Wedding

July 13, 2011 at 9:53 am | Posted in Entertainment | Leave a comment

Wordless Wednesday: America the Beautiful

July 6, 2011 at 7:00 am | Posted in Travels | 4 Comments

Our Palates were Jumping for Joy at Jaleo

July 4, 2011 at 7:00 am | Posted in Cookbooks, Dessert, Dinner, Travels | 5 Comments

How’s that for alliteration?? Speaking of jumping, I am surmising that last night (aka Marfi’s wedding) the entire Hall clan was jumping (aka dancing) for two straight hours! And boy are we sore!! More pictures to come from that soon!

And while I am talking about celebrations, Happy Fourth of July everyone!!! I thank God that I was born in this great country.

So let’s jump back about a week ago to Laurita and my day trip to DC! We had fun at the BBQ Festival and then wandered over to the Capitol and took some cool shots (yay for Wordless Wednesday!), then relaxed at the arboretum followed by an ice cream truck stop and visit to the National Museum of the American Indian! Then I realized that Jaleo, a restaurant that I first visited when I took Spanish in high school (Gracias Señora Lange!) was right around the corner! And a way to salute my sister and her Spanish learning this summer and soon to be Spanish teaching adventure this fall, we went there for dinner!