This Friday I'm excited about the Royal Wedding. I wish I had the gusto to stay up all night, but alas, I had to work Friday, and a sleepless teacher does not make a happy teacher! Instead I've DVRing all the coverage. I'm very excited for Kate + Wills, and their royal life together as future King and Queen! 
Remember when I bought the 3-lb box of strawberries? Yeah, I've devouring those berries like it's my J.O.B., but today it became pretty clear I couldn't eat the entire box alone. So I came up with a new game plan before they go bad. Solution: strawberry cinnamon-sugar muffins! They turned out delicious, definitely a recipe to repeat!
Dinner last night was orange-glazed salmon with rosemary. The best part - how quick this recipe was to make! Honestly, I was a tad reluctant to make this recipe as it called for maple syrup. I'm usually favor savory over sweet anyday, but the citrus/maple syrup glaze was surprisingly delightful. I think the acidity in the orange juice balanced out the sweet of the maple syrup just right. Another fish dish to add to my repetoire!
Are you following the royal wedding action play by play like I am? My DVR is jam-packed with Kate and Wills specials! It's actually little embarrassing... However, if you're anything like me, here's a helpful tip. With the countless Kate & William specials airing this week, you must prioritize! Here's a go-to guide so you don't miss a beat! Enjoy!
I was totally scoping out the strawberries at the grocery store today. Plump, red, juicy, and the best part - ON SALE! Woohoo! Happiness is all about life's little thrills, right? Now I don't know about you, but I can find an excuse to put strawberries on anything! Cereal, oatmeal, toast, or my favorite indulgence - dipped in chocolate.
We enjoyed ourselves a grand little backyard BBQ this past Saturday! Smack in the middle of a rainy, overcast Seattle weekend, the sun decided to shine it's little heart out! Temperatures even got up to the early 70's, it was marvelous! Bleu cheese jalapeno burgers, pineapple & avocado salad, and my new favorite (coconut infused beer). Pair that with a rousing game of cornhole, and we had ourselves a time! Gotta love the brink of summer!
Lately, I've been in a baking mood on Sunday afternoons. It's that welcome lull between go-go-go an getting back into gear for the Monday workday. This week was no different. This time, I made banana-oatmeal-chocolate chip cookies via this recipe. I was expecting a more pronounced banana flavor, but not so much. 
Hooray, it's the weekend! This has been one LONG week, so I'm ecstatic it's Friday! On the weekend agenda: dinner + drinks at this local/sustainable restaurant with my girlfriends, followed by a showing of Water For Elephants. I'll also be enjoying some much needed quality time with my wonderful fiance - who is coming home after being away the entire week. Throw in a workout or two, coffee with a friend and her new babe, and double-date night to this new dumpling house hot spot. Finally, wrapping up the weekend Easter dinner with the family. 
Hello Mr. Gyros! My fiance had been raving about this place for ages, but somehow I resisted. Until recently, I'd never been a big gyro fan to begin with, so I was a bit hesitant to jump on the Mr. Gyros bandwagon. But after hearing a smattering of friends echo the praises my fiance had been singing, I finally gave in.
Have you heard? Sweet Valley High is back! Then sequel of sorts - Sweet Valley Confidential - is reportedly a "where are they now" check in with the famous blond twins, Elizabeth and Jessica Wakefield.
Ever heard of coconut water? It's the hot new item crowding the shelves of natural markets a la Whole Foods? I just sampled my first taste of the boxed coconut water, and I'm not quite sure what I think of it.
How do you like your eggs? I'm growing bored with my tiresome order of eggs scrambled with black pepper and grated cheese. Occasionally, I mix it up and consider myself a benedict girl, but truly, that's only on special occasions at worth restaurants. Scrambled eggs is my usual M.O. 
This recipe for blueberry yogurt cake caught my eye on a fellow blog and I couldn't stop thinking about it. So rather than do the sensible thing like wait until the weekend to try it out, I decided to make it at 8:30 at night, just to fulfill my curiosity. 
It's Friday! Happy hour anyone? It's been one, long, draining week, and I'm thinking this little grapefruit margarita sounds mighty fine right about now to ring in the weekend! It's 5 o'clock somewhere, right?
My present to my mom for her birthday was a Thai cooking class that we could do together. Since we're both HUGE fans of Thai food, we signed up for a Thai cooking class, affectionately entitled, "Thai One On." As in traditional Thai cuisine, we cooked with only fresh ingredients; lemongrass, lime juice, fresh tumeric, kaffir lime leaves, and beyond. We were definitely satiated by the end of the class, as there were 4 courses including desserts. 
I'm on a fish kick, can you tell? Dinner last night as broiled tilapia with mustard chive sauce a la Giada de Laurentiis. Now that I've managed to acquire the confidence to cook fish, I'm on a roll! 
Dinner last night was lemon tarragon salmon over asparagus. The secret of the dish is wrapping the entire thing in parchment paper. Salmon over fresh asparagus spears topped with a concoction red onions, fresh tarragon, lemon zest and juice, salt, and pepper...wrap it in parchment, bake, and voila - dinner! The salmon was really brightened up by the lemon and just tasted fresh and healthy (in a good way). 
