September | 2011 | strawberries in paris

Taco Surf and Vallarta Burritos…

September 30, 2011 at 7:00 am | Posted in Dinner | 1 Comment

Happy Friday Friends! Boy have these weeks felt long and very short… maybe it was having to wear the boot all week. I got 9 more days with that puppy, lets hope it does its job and lets my ankle tendon heal! Note to self: Do not run 6 miles if your ankle is telling you its not right, even if you spent $33.

Enough ankle woes, let’s talk about TACOS!! Last Saturday, abuelita made the raucous whole family asado de plaza and some awesome chorizo cheesy poblano concoction that we ate on fresh masa corn tortillas. So that was awesome. But I also got to have some great tacos and burritos in San Diego, so I was super psyched about that.

Like every time Becca asked me, well what should we eat? I would say TACOS!! I wonder if that was my first word (any ideas Aunties??) Cause I swear that is my favorite thing to eat. So go check out some Mexican food amigos…

Continue Reading Taco Surf and Vallarta Burritos……

Wordless Wednesday: Colorful & Annoying Events from the Weekend

September 28, 2011 at 6:20 am | Posted in Entertainment, Travels | 1 Comment

Birthday Pie and a Pie Party!

September 26, 2011 at 7:00 am | Posted in Daring Bakers, Dessert | 5 Comments

Who knew I would be spending my 29th birthday making two pies and then going to a pie contest! What would surprise me even further was that I would win that pie contest! And I didn’t even guilt trip the other contestants/judges into voting for me because I was the birthday girl (I neglected to share that fact to make the contest more fair…). But it makes sense, cause when Bec and I get together for a extended amount of time, we end up spending a good amount of it in the kitchen making glorious concoctions (see these old posts here..) We scientists know how to whip up things very expertly. (or maybe we’re just good at cooking??)

Look at this cute friend of mine in her pink and green apron. 😀 So I went searching that weekend for the perfect awesome pie recipe. And I found this peach and blueberry one on Joy the Baker’s site. I ❤ Joy the Baker!!! I mean, even in this post, she tries to prove that making pie is like making pure love in your hands! She convinced me to make that pie and damned if it wasn’t the best pie I ever made! Thank you JOY! And thank you Becca for making it with me every step of the way. On to some fun pictures my friends!!

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Wonderful Wine Vault & Bistro

September 23, 2011 at 7:00 am | Posted in Dinner | 6 Comments

When I thought about actually celebrating turning 29, I envisioned dressing up in some sparkly gown and eating a delicious gourmet meal and going for fancy drinks. What can I say? I like to pretend I am fancy? Or I just like being fancy at least one day of the year. So off I went pinning lots of sparkly gowns and handed the drinks and dinner part to Becca. As it turns out, I went with my awesome purple bridesmaid dress from Bob and Jen’s wedding and this beautiful gem of a necklace from UO, I was very happy with the combination! (wait- who said this was turning into a fashion blog, well maybe me!) And Becca picked the Wine Vault and Bistro for dinner, great choice B!

This restaurant was nestled up in the top of a funny little street. It had a very clean feeling, lots of white wainscoting and fresh birch hardwood floors. When we arrived at our table, I felt like we were sitting down to a meal a our own home- very comforting and welcoming! And our waiter was just so outgoing and fantastic so it really helped us have a great meal. Go for the jump to check out some strangely blurry pictures and how we made the chef smile that night!

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District 365 Wine Contest

September 22, 2011 at 7:00 am | Posted in Dinner, Entertainment, Travels | 6 Comments

Heyooo dear readers… Did you know I love wine? Les Jamelles – Cinsault is probably my favorite wine to drink right now. Ah but there will always be a special place in my heart for the beaujolais – louis jadot. My favorite local wines include the Boordy Sevyal – Chardonnay – Vidal blend and my favorite red is from Blank Ankle is the Rolling Hills (see a shot from my afternoon there last fall below!). All of those wines evoke good meals or afternoons with my friends or loved ones. There is an exciting situation going on in Maryland now because of the new laws, wine can be shipped directly from wineries to our homes! So this is a bit touchy to me, because I want people to support our local wineries, but I also think it is awesome that we are able to experience wines from other regions of the country and support those producers directly.

So how does this relate to the point of this post?? Well my new friend Rohan at District 365 who I had previously helped with a food blog survey has started up a new business that sells wines from around the country for a really good price and similar to the Groupon style, they feature a new wine every week starting on Monday morning. They are starting up the site next week and are offering up a contest for the launch! So my dear readers, if you are interested in signing up for these weekly emails, go here and be entered to win a weekend getaway to a B&B and come home with 6 bottles of wine! Mmm wine… can’t wait to go back to Black Ankle real soon for a nice fall afternoon in the countryside.

Wordless Wednesday: Hours at the Beach

September 21, 2011 at 7:00 am | Posted in Travels | 2 Comments

July Charm City Cookbooking: Ottolenghi

September 20, 2011 at 8:52 am | Posted in Cookbooks, Dinner | Leave a comment

Wayyyy back at the end of July, Alayne hosted us at her lovely little abode and we had the most blissful summer evening meal. It started with a beautiful table arrangement and ended with lots of tea lights and white christmas lights and good conversation (oh and we had amazing food too….) The way every cookbook club should be!!!

I love these flowers – just as beautiful as our gracious host. Alayne found a gem of a cookbook, Plenty- by Yotam Ottolenghi, and I was pleasantly surprised how well my dish turned out. Verrrry simple and very good. Cucumbers, “relaxed” red onions, garlic, ginger, and sesame seeds & oil. I will definitely be making this again! And whats funny about this cookbook, is that when I was in San Diego at Becca’s friends house for the pie party (post on that next Monday!), I noticed they had the cookbook on their shelf too! We all bonded over it and I noticed Becca’s enthusiasm too, so after I got back to MD I sent one to Becca! Can’t wait to hear how the recipes turn out for her!

Yay for good cookbook love all over the country. To see more from this cookbook, hop on over to our Charm City Cookbook Blog and read Alayne’s review!

Birthday Sprinkles and More Sprinkles

September 19, 2011 at 7:00 am | Posted in Brunch, Dessert, Entertainment | 4 Comments

Did I ever tell you how much I love Sprinkles?? Not just the cupcakes… but sprinkles in general! Miniature dots of brightly colored sugar just bring smiles to my face. And I very much enjoy pinning sprinkly kind of things.. like this and this and this. I am so happy lots of my buddies have been pinning their little butts off! So inspirational, pretty and funny. Ok so back to the actual sprinkles! Everyone knows about this cupcake chain…

This company picked a beautiful logo. Marketing is so important for this type of business. Every little detail counts! Go for the jump to see the store and our picks for the weekend!

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Breezy Afternoon at Bahia Taco

September 14, 2011 at 7:27 pm | Posted in Lunch, Travels | 2 Comments

If you saw my wordless Wednesday post from this week, you might have noticed I went to California!! Beautiful sunny La Jolla actually. I turned 29 years young and made a trip to visit my best girl Becca to commemorate the occasion! After a nice stroll along the water we went in search of that elusive best fish taco. I think we found it too! It was just lovely driving along the coast headed south towards Bird Rock.

Becca is so lucky to live in this oasis! Especially an oasis that has so much good Mexican food! We sampled lots of it all weekend and I was soooo happy. Go for the jump to see our meal and some pretty pictures…

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