Baking with Blondie

This weekend was amazing! I started this little blog of mine when Ryan was in law school. I was going out-of-my-mind with boredom, and needed an outlet of some kind to keep me somewhat sane. If any of you are related to a former-law student, I'm sure you know exactly what I'm talking about. Anyway, this past weekend, it finally happened. Ryan graduated. It was amazing, and I couldn't be more proud of him, and our little family during the past 3 years. Now that graduation has come and gone, and we are starting Ryan's clerkship in a couple weeks, I've wondered what I should do with this little piece of blogland I have going on here. I think I'll keep it going for the time being :) This salad was ridiculous. I've never eaten carrots in ribbons before (no expensive equipment required, just a hand-held vegetable peeler, kids. You can probably find one at the dollar store.), but it certainly was a fun way to glam-up your usual side dish. Ryan hates raw c

You know those blogs who post a TON of pictures of one stupid cake? Seriously, who do they think they are?   The queen of the universe? I mean, one picture is all it takes. Maybe two. I would never...    Until I made this cake.  My 2 lbs (for under $2 this week - I love Spring!) of strawberries were ripening much faster than I anticipated. It drove me nuts. You see, I wasn't planning on using them until a few days later, and I already had a dessert on the fridge destroying my afternoon snack on a daily basis.  Oh wait, did I say destroying? I meant rocking. If you run your miles, you can enjoy every morsel, my friends. Anyway, off to the store I went for the DOZEN eggs needed to make this blessed dessert. After I came home, and started the cake, I thought things were going pretty well. Unfortunately, my blonde ways came to the forefront, and I got halfway through medium-peaking my egg whites before I noticed I didn't have enough c

Okay, I cheated. Apparently a traditional piccata is supposed to have capers. And in a battle between capers vs. bacon, guess which one always wins? Dang straight it does. I know this is another savory recipe in a row, but one of my readers is 100% right: people are more likely to try a savory recipe vs. a sweet one; myself included. Later this week, though, I have something really fun to share - so keep those sweet teeth lined up and ready to go. I loved the texture of this salad - the potatoes weren't mushy as expected. They were cooked perfectly, and the beans were cooked through well enough that they still maintained their integrity in the crisp department, and didn't turn the nasty-overcooked-green-bean color. The bacon was a genius addition, if I must say. But then again, bacon almost always is. The reason this dish is called a piccata, I've learned, is that it's coated in a light lemony sauce - I drenched the veggies in it, but I didn't want the c

I know that everyone and their dogs have probably made these taco cups already. I blame Pinterest: the mistress of blog land. Even so, giving these cups a try has always been on my list. And well worth it, I say. They were the perfect little size, melted with gooey cheese in every bite, and we loved how we could customize our little cups with whatever toppings we wanted.  If it was up to me, I would have dumped the whole dang can of olives in one cup and called it good. My obsession with olives is beyond any type of therapeutic cure. Ryan, on the other hand, can't even stand a small slice of olive within smelling distance. So as you can see, I am officially the yin to his yang. Oh, definitely make these, btw, etc, etc, etc. Kids eat this stuff up - literally. And Ryan, the whole-wheat-hater, gobbled these right up as well. So I guess all the pinning and repinning was for good reason. So pin on, sailors. Pin on. And happy weekending.  Whole Wheat Taco Cups make

Friends, I beg you.  Make this dish as soon as you physically and emotionally can. You will fall in love! We couldn't believe how incredible this side dish was - it completely stole the show, and we've kind of been talking about it ever since.  The secret?   orange zest and orange juice.  It transcended any way I've ever eaten peas - or pancetta for that matter. We seriously couldn't eat it fast enough, and although the servings suggest this dish at about 6, Ryan and I polished it all off between the two of us.  Within seconds.  But really. At your next potluck/family gathering - take this dish. People will probably stalk you, demanding the recipe.  ------- Peas and Pancetta makes about 6 servings Ingredients: 1/4 lb pancetta, trimmed and diced 1/4 C red onion, finely chopped 1 t minced garlic Grated zest and juice of 1 orange 3 C frozen peas 1/4 C fresh parsley 1 T unsalted butter kosher salt Method: 1. Over

  Um... so.... You see this cake? I totally made it at 11:30pm on Nyquil.  Imagine laying individual sliced almonds "neatly" in a row when your eyes can barely stay open.  It was the Saturday night before Easter, and I told my family I'd bring dessert. I had it all planned out, baked the cake layers early, but somehow got distracted throughout the day and ended up frosting/decorating the cake last minute. I was still getting over the cold my son passed on to us, and had already taken some medicine for the night, but it was only after I had taken the Nyquil when I realized that I'd have zero time the next day to get the cake done before we had to head to my Mom's for Easter dinner. So I swirled the top of the cake and started laying down sliced almonds on the sides... I remember laughing at how insane it looked, instead of the perfect picture I had planned out in my head. My experiences with Nyquil are very infrequent, but it's been my experie

That's not butter. It's further confirmation that I am obsessed with my melon baller. This time, bananas were my delicious victim. I just didn't want to scare away all the health nuts with the "fake butter balls." haah. Not that I avoid butter or anything - we're actually great friends.    I haven't posted a breakfast recipe in a while. It's about dang time, I say. Yesterday morning I was craving waffles like crazy. I didn't have any white flour left, only had 2 eggs in the fridge, and had a ripe banana I wanted to use up. This recipe was the first to pop up in my search - and lucky enough, it was from one of my favorite websites : Eat Yourself Skinny. She is a doll, and her recipes rock my socks.  I expected this to taste.... healthy...  you know... that grainy not-as-good-as-it-could-have-tasted scene on your plate.  However, this recipe is a complete exception. It tasted perfect. The flavors were all there, and in a t

Most of us have been there. And most of us look back and laugh a those who have been there, too. You know, that moment when the doctor at Insta Care gives you the look of "so... um...you really brought your son in for this? Ever heard of a band-aid?" To make a long story short, my son dove off our couch into the corner of our coffee table, and there was quite a bit of blood. For a toddler who only knows how to communicate on a very basic level, the writhing around in pain coupled with the crying and screaming only spread the gore around even more. (I'm not too keen on blood all over the place, you see.) And his favorite blanket happens to be white. Awesome. Wiping off his face with a ice-cold hand towel revealed a cut - not your usual cut... and it scared me. I called Ryan in panic, and didn't even tell him what was wrong. I remember saying: Ryan? Ryan! You need to come home! Come home right now! He was parked in front of our house within 10 minutes. We

What a rainy morning we've woken up to here in the valley. Whenever I see the rain in Spring, I can't help but hear my mother's voice saying: April Showers Bring May Flowers.  When Ryan and I pulled our little boy on a short wagon ride yesterday, I couldn't help but admire the adorable houses in the neighborhood. They're all very unique, but almost all of them had flowerbeds adorned with little to many beautiful Spring flowers. My current favorites are the tulips (mostly the white or purple ones). But the Spring flowers I remember most from my childhood are what I called the "Barbie grapes" ( muscari bulbs/grape hyacinths ). I would snip a few of the flowers off from my Mom's flowerbed (again, I was a rotten child sometimes), and put them on a plate for my little plastic fashionistas. Ken always had more than his fair share, that's for sure. As we walked slowly back to our home, we talked about planting bulbs someday in the flo

  I just about fell off my chair when I was reading my April issue of The Food Network magazine this past week. You see, they had identified this dish you see before you as "kid food." Kid food?   I'm pretty sure those green things will turn away most children. And the red peppers? hilarious. Yes, I fully understand there are perfect children in existence that will eat everything and anything you put in front of them. To their parents I say: enjoy it while you can... some of them eventually grow away of it. At least that's what happened to my little guy. How's that for hasty generalization, eh? He used to eat everything - including the non-edibles. But for what seemed as quickly as overnight, he hated everything I put on his plate - things that he'd never turned his nose up to. I've been feeding him a wide variety of food since he was very little, and he completely built up my self-esteem in the "my perfect child eats everyt

  Wanna find out how to make my new favorite frosting ?  Check out my guest post over at Love Stitched to find out :)

  (click here to see if you won the giveaway :) Most of you fine peeps are on Spring Break. And because of you, I have thoughts soaked in extreme jealousy. However, instead of letting myself become as green as this pesto with envy, I have decided to provide you with some Blondie approved activities for your week off: 1. Watch the first two seasons of Glee on Netflix. Tell no one. 2. Buy a watermelon. Slice it in half. Eat both halves in one sitting with a spoon. Wear your Joey pants . Tell everyone. 3. Use up all your toddler's chalk to fill in your entire driveway with color. 4. Don't stop there. Color Daddy's tires with said chalk. Laugh as he drives away to a serious interview with flower-power pink tires.  5. Did anyone catch my idea on the GIVEAWAY to blow up your backyard shed with mentos and diet coke? That sums me up in a single sentence. Oh, don't really do this. Unless it's actually your shed. Wear goggles, maybe. 6. Eat an entire