Krispy Kale?

Guys, guys....

Did you have any idea that kale was SO delicious?  I mean, yes, I know it is super good for you and that it can be tasty, but this was SUPER easy and very yum.

Literally got home late after some drinks with close gal pals.  I hadn't really eaten dinner, only a late lunch of leftover soup (maybe even better the next few days) so I was hungry but not in the mood for a meal, per say, as bedtime was coming up and I am really hoping to drop some lbs.

So I cut up some cherry tomatoes drenched in EVOO and s+p, two slices of baguette and broke up two or three leaves of kale and put them on a baking sheet.  Drizzled a bit of extra EVOO on the kale and thew in the oven for less than ten minutes.  The tomatoes were not yet wrinkly...just warmed and sweet.

I took tongs and put the kale on a plate and squeezed some fresh lemon juice on it.  Then the baguette and all the sliced tomatoes, and let. me. tell. you.  It is delicious!  Seriously.  The kale was my favorite part, and I actually cannot wait to have it again.

I'm not the first to know how good this is, but legit try it yourself.

Picture found here.

P.S. Did you notice the updated "spring" cover photo?

The Best Thank You Gift Ever?

Aren't thank you notes, gifts, whatever the best?!

I truly love writing thank you notes and getting the perfect gift to match.  Not that it has to be expensive to be fabulous.  

Some of my favorite thank you gifts have been to friends' parents for letting me stay at their vacation homes (hey, I like to travel, but a 20-somethings budget usually only gets you the flight!)  After a Fourth of July at a friend's aunt and uncle's house in Cape Cod, I got a cute little notepad personalized with a nautical image and the name of the house on the top of each page.  I also got a kick out of giving miniature Adirondack chairs (doll house sized) to Patrick's parents after standing on (and breaking) their real-life sized one around their fire pit in Southwest Virginia.  I also added the name of their house to the arm rest, which made it even more personal.  It probably didn't make up for the fact that I broke one of their chairs, but still, I thought they'd laugh -- half the battle.

But isn't it fun to be on the receiving end of it too?!

That said, I wanted and expected absolutely nothing from Gigi after her wedding.  She thinks I was "a huge help" but what she refuses to hear is that it was not work at all for me.  I wanted to help!  It was fun and therapeutic and I loved that I was able to spend time and become even closer to her, her amazing now-husband, Kevin, and both her girls.  Seeing those two at Emma's First Communion and them just jumping up to give me a hug felt wonderful.  Before they had always been a little shy around me, polite, but shy.  And now?!  We're buds!  And I love it!  And it wouldn't have happened if Gigi hadn't allowed me to help.  Really, I am the one that owes her a thank you!

INSTEAD, she got me the most amazing thank you ever!

Ask any fashionista what the color of the moment is, and I guarantee they will tell you "mint!"  (OK, maybe some will start with emerald, but that was soooooo March.  I kid.)

But seriously, mint is such a great color, and not just because it's trendy.  Because it's gorgeous, universally flattering and fun!

So when she presented me with these....Ahh!

What's that, you ask?  Is there something more to them than just being amazingly mint and white cap toe flats?

Why yes....yes there is.  They are also adorable bunny faces.

Le Bunny Bleu's

They are just perfect!!  Can't wait to wear them!

White Bean, Chicken Sausage and Kale Soup

Yes, it is early May, but the weather just does not want to warm up fully.  A week of sunny, 75 degree weather followed by one with wet and chilly conditions has been the norm in Washington, DC.  And while I am anxious for summer, I am glad to have a few more weeks to shed some of these winter lbs that have crept up on me -- what happened, ugh!?!?!

But its not all bad news.  The produce is starting to look awesome and I am happier eating lighter things (it's the sweets I need to stay away from!).

Then, on Sunday at brunch with the family after Emma's First Communion mass, Mimi said she's trying a new diet and that one of the recipes was for a good white bean and zucchini soup.  Since I don't have the recipes for this diet, I took to the internet to find a good recipe to make this week, as it was one of those cold, wet ones.

Per usual, here are all the ingredients you'll need.

Perhaps the most interesting from this recipe was the parmesan rind, which I've never cooked with (or done anything else for that matter) before.

Also per usual, I just mixed things I bought with things I already had on hand (i.e. chicken or vegetable broth -- or both!)  Navy beans and Great Northern Bean -- why not!?

Cook the sausage, out of the casing, in a pan on medium heat.  Remove from pan and set aside.

Add olive oil and a chopped onion until mostly wilted.  Add garlic and red pepper flakes and cook for another minute or two.

Drop in pretty much everything else -- broth, beans, parmesan rind, bay leaf(ves), oregano and bring to a boil.

Once at a boil, simmer for an additional 15 minutes, which is when I added the zucchini -- next time I would probably wait until the 10 minute simmer mark to add the zuch, but it was not mushy at 15 minutes, so really it's your preference.

Meanwhile, inspired by the amazing crostini I had at my uncle's friends' home after Gold Cup on Saturday, I sliced some baguette...

And brushed on some red pepper flake "infused" olive oil.

Drop that in a 350 oven and go do whatever you want for ten minutes -- in my case, pour yourself a glass of wine and get to blogging!

Check in every once in a while to smell the deliciousness and make sure your kitchen isn't burning down.  Kidding, kidding...

After the 15 minute simmer has completed, add a whole bunch of roughly chopped up kale.

Too much?

Nah...

Take your crostini out of the oven and rub with a just-sliced garlic clove.  No need to go overboard here -- just a once over and that will be plenty.

I made tons, mostly so I could take it to work for lunch.  So glad I did.

Serve, enjoy and feel good about eating a hearty, healthy, homemade meal you completed in less than an hour.

DIY horse bit necklace

Sometimes ideas hit you at the right moment.  And Saturday morning was no exception.

A few months ago, a good gal pal handed me down some clothing she was just tired of wearing.  Included in the set were some dark wash jeans with gold, horse bit-type buckle detailing on the front and back pockets (a la gucci).

So when the jeans didn't fit quite right, I decided to take off the buckles and save them for something -- what, I did not know just yet, but something.

Alas, my uncle invited me to join him and his friends at their amazing plot for the Gold Cup horse races in Virginia this past weekend, and I knew those buckles could be used for something.

The initial idea was to use two buckles and create a bracelet, but it proved to be a bigger challenge and time was running out (i.e. I was getting picked up in twenty minutes).  So I took an old F21 necklace that I never seemed to wear, opened the jump rings to remove the faux tortoise shell medallions, slipped on one of the horse bit buckles.  And what do you know...

A one-of-a-kind necklace was the perfect accessory for a horse race event!

We had so much fun!

It's (almost) the Freakin' Weekend and Baby I'm About to Have Me Some Fun

Looking forward to a sunny, 70-degree weekend with horses, family (especially Emma on her First Communion), old friends and I'm sure what will become new friends!

I need to pop into F21 or Targ or somewhere to find a hat for the races on Saturday, but here's what I'll be wearing, likely with my Jack Rogers, a spring jacket and rocking an arm party.

Although I sort of wish I were wearing something like this...

Just decided this will be the next dress I'll make -- maybe in navy or grey though.

One final, happy thing to leave you with before the weekend: THESE.

Ugh...why, oh why are they so pricey.

For now, I'll just drool and dream.

The First Cut of Fabric is the Hardest

After years of a lot of talk, I finally decided to do something about my interest in clothes -- I actually started sewing.

I've been volunteering at a sewing studio in DC since October of last year and every time I go, I am just thrilled to be around people interested in being creative and productive.  It is really remarkable to think that you start with a piece of fabric, and create something -- anything really.  I love the feeling it gives you and I am determined to make (at least some) clothing.

So after literally three hours at the fabric store with Mami and Alina, we walked out with a pattern, all the related fabric and notions.  I was so anxious to get started!

Here's the pattern we decided to go with.

It is a fairly straight forward dress, but it has pockets and is lined, and given that the skirt is pencil, it needs to be more precise than a full skirt -- something I am actually looking forward to working on rather than it looking right, but being sewn incorrectly, as can happen when you add volume.

So I took the fabric home, washed it and was ready to go for the Working with Patterns class at Bits of Thread, which gave me the confidence to get started.

There were a few hiccups, aka the pattern listed too small an amount of fabric, I had to go buy more fabric which I then forgot to wash (and more importantly pre-shrink) but was too hasty to stop working so am just never going to be able to dry the damn dress...but at this stage, all the fabric is cut and I am ready to start sewing!

 Start here.  And remember to just keep breathing...

Lay all the pieces out according to the directions.  Of course this isn't as "simple" as it sounds.  You have to ensure you are cutting on the correct size line, that you marked/noted where all the dart or other indicators are, that the grain line is straight--which is important because it affects the way your fabric (and therefore garment) can stretch, that things are pinned (or not) to your satisfaction.  It's not difficult by any means, but it is important to remember all these small items (and to know how to read them -- thank you Working with Patterns class!)

Like I said, the first cut is the hardest (at least it was for me), so I was too busy just trying to stay calm to remember to take a photo.  But here are both top pieces and one of the skirt pieces pinned to the folded fabric.  (Of note, I was also so hasty to get started that I actually laid out of the fabric wrong sides together, which is not what the pattern calls for.  Not good.  But I asked the instructor to check, and all was fine so long as I marked on the wrong side of the fabric with the chalk.  Whoops.

Here are all the external pieces cut out.

Here's a close up which shows you all the little markings/details to watch out for.  There are various ways in which to mark them, but I wanted to use tailor tacks, as it is the most traditional way.

So you find some thread that is colorful/different than your fabric so you can see it...

Then you sew through the markings you need to remember, leaving four loops.

Once they are all done, you take scissors and cut the tops of the loops.

Here is what is looks like with all of the loops cut.  Note: I used a good amount of thread for each loop on the tailor tack so that the next step would be easier.

Then you carefully/slowly start to pull apart the fabric, just enough so that you can stick some scissors in there and cut the thread in between the folded fabric.  That way, thread remains on both sides once it is unfolded.

After the outer pieces were ready to go, I cut all the lining and contrast pieces so that once I started sewing, I wouldn't have to stop to cut fabric again.

And that's where I am at this stage!

Given that the dress is red, white and blue, I decided to try and finish this dress by the Fourth of July so I can wear it then.  Always good to have a deadline!  In the meantime, I'll be working on fixing or reconstructing existing clothing items, but this is will be the first piece of clothing I'll have ever made from scratch!  Exciting!!

Game Changer: Eggs Cooked in a Muffin Tin

I recently saw something on Pinterest about cooking eggs in a muffin tin to have eggs benedict ready for a large group all at the same time.  ?!?!?

Given that eggs are my favorite food on the planet, I had to give it a go.  And a quiet weekend at Camp with my folks a few weeks ago seemed like the perfect chance.

We decided to try two different types.  For the scrambled egg version, we chopped up some leftover red onion.  I had used most of the veggies the night before for salads, so this was pretty much all that was left, otherwise we would have added other veggies to that mix.  I thought we might add the leftover steak Johnny had made, but alas, we snacked on that cold while the food was being prepared.

Scrambled up some eggs, added the onion, and then dropped some plain, whole eggs into the individual cups of the tin.  Salt and pepper and put them in a 350 degree oven for ~10 minutes.  They looked far too runny then so I left them in for a few minutes longer.

We only had a silicon muffin tin, which I do NOT recommend using, mostly because you can't move it or the eggs will spill out.  We put a metal baking sheet underneath of stability.

I think the baking sheet changed the amount of time needed to cook them, so in the end, they were overdone -- a bummer, because who doesn't want a little runny yoke on their breakfast sandwich?  Plus, I didn't really take into account that the eggs would probably keep cooking for another minute once out of the oven.  Just a few minutes less and they would have been perfect.

Meanwhile, we cooked the sausage, made another batch of coffee, and....wah lah!

Aside from being a bit overdone, they were tasty!  I can see us making them often in the summer, especially when all the little kids are down.  Everyone can have their own, special made egg, and then they can all eat at the same time too!

See....game changer!