Feel the Burn!

So, perhaps you are a bit fed up with my Lilly obsession {Really?? Is that possible?}, but I HAD to share this with you folks...

Lilly Cruisers are now officially on Pre-Order!!!


Cuteness OVERLOAD!!!
Source



And what, you may be asking yourself, does this have to do with food? Well... after cooking all of the tasty recipes I've been sharing, you might need a little bike ride to rid yourself of those excess calories. ;) {Yes, I will shamelessly find ways to make this relevant.} :P

Anyway... I have a bigger project ahead of me: Convincing the husband that I NEED this cruiser!! Start peddling!

"Home Run" Cookies

We had an uncharacteristically fun Tuesday this week! Our Gator baseball team was practically playing  in our back yard, so we broke free from the weekday routine and went to the game with a bunch of friends. Lots of fun!

Since the game was going to be around dinner time, I decided to pack a snack to take with us to the stadium and share with our friends. After taking inventory of what we had going on in our kitchen cabinets, I decided on making some delicious sounding cookies from FineCooking.com. I must {sheepishly} admit that I ate more than my share before thinking to give anyone else a taste. ;) But they were just that.stinkin'.good.! I did get around to sharing with a few of our friends, and they were gone in a flash. I'd say they were a hit (hence the cliche & predictable title post). ;)

Wine & Dine

Why, hello there. After a jam-packed weekend + President's Day of working ArtiGras, I am one exhausted chicklet. I have to admit that I've barely stepped foot in my kitchen, let alone cooked anything remotely appealing. My dinner today? Half of an abnormally large sweet potato. I just didn't have the energy. Don't judge.

I did, however, discover something new and food/beverage related over the weekend. Are you ready for this revelation? Here it goes: I do not particularly enjoy Moscato wine.

This was news to me as 1. I like almost every wine I've ever tasted, 2. I had never tasted Moscato before & 3. I assumed that I would like it due to its reputation of being sweet and delicious. It was, indeed, sweet but... TOO sweet for me. A bit like drinking syrup, I'd say. While I most definitely love a good confection, I would much rather enjoy something that sugary in the form of cream cheese frosting, thankyouverymuch.

This earth shattering discovery lead me to try to figure out what to do with an almost-completely-untouched bottle of Moscato. {Because I really hate wasting stuff. Especially food.} Thanks to a little Googling & the Barefoot Wine website, I now have a variety of uses for my un-loved Moscato! :D

After a brief once-over, I've already found a recipe that I could have used tonight with my very plain (albeit delicious) dinner: Barefoot Moscato Sweet Potatoes! I'm quite excited to spend some more time browsing Barefoot's recipes and giving Moscato the chance I'm sure it deserves. ;)

Taste & Temperature

The husband & I are geared up for a fabulous weekend of art, entertainment, and marketing at Jupiter's ArtiGras festival, where we'll be manning a booth for New Path Chiropractic. And let me tell you, the weather could not be any more pleasant and perfect for an outdoor event!

Currently, I am blogging from my balcony where I am tanning my {nearly translucent with paleness} legs and enjoying the cool breeze. This weather is such a treat, even for Florida, where we rarely get the perfect mix of sunshine, low humidity, and a refreshing breeze. (I know, "waa, waa, waah" is all you hear if you are reading this from a frigid state.Well, my apologies, but we in tropical climates are entitled to have complaints, too.) :P

Kitchen Couture

So, today I was browsing the web... you know, doing some "Windows" shopping, (HA. I crack myself up.) when I came across these incredibly adorable finds that I decided I MUST share with you:



From etsy shop hickitypickity



From etsy shop lwhelan. So Mommy & Minnie can cook in style. :)



From etsy shop shasta2001

 

From etsy shop ALittleLollipopTree - Um, yeah, obsessed with her entire shop.


 Oh, my. So cute. So preppy. So refreshingly Lilly! Now, from what I can tell, these Etsy sellers created these items entirely independently and are not affiliated with the Princess of Pink, but I doubt that even Lilly herself would be able to turn up her nose at such charming kitchen accessories. I, for one, am smitten. ;)

Time to add some items to my wishlist!


  

A Heart Warming Brunch

Happy Valentine's Day!

Today, people across the country are celebrating love with their sweethearts. Aside from my sweet husband, I am blessed to have so many people in my life who I love dearly. While Valentine's Day is certainly known for hearts,  and roses, and mushy-kissy romance, I decided that this year I would have a celebration of love for family and friends as well in the form of a Ladies' Valentine's Brunch. Nothing says lovin' like food in the oven!

I had so much fun creating the menu for brunch. To tell you the truth, a lot of the creating was already done for me! Most of the recipes came from a special edition of Taste of the South magazine dedicated to parties. I hit the recipe jackpot when I found a section called Celebrating with Brunch. Luckily (for me AND for you), Taste of the South has the recipes I used on their website, so I'll be able to give you a direct link to each one. Yay!

I've also hunted down the recipes for the rest of the items on the menu, so I'll link those up, too. Double yay!!

Girls Night Italiano

Few things are more fun to me than having a casual night in with the girls. We're talking yoga pants, gossip, wine, and of course... food!

The fun of it all comes from the comfort of knowing that you don't have to get dressed up and spend a lot of money to have a blast. When I have the girls over, I like to keep a casual and cozy ambiance and make it special with the type of food I serve.