Dinner Last Night

I really can't believe it's August.

This year has passed by pretty quickly, but has been full - we've been busy and have traveled and hosted parties and dinners and overnight guests. One of the things I like about having an extra room or two is being able to provide a place for out of town guests (or Kevin's grandma, even though she lives just 30 minutes away). My house is far from finished or attractive or stylish at this point. I am starting to feel like I should just give up because all my efforts seem lost and when I do make an update or a change, I don't like it so I feel like it was all a waste.

I don't like the blue paint in my kitchen, the rest of my house is still unpainted (meaning it's still the boring white and tan it was when we moved in over a year ago) and my 'decor' feels cluttered and entirely too 'lived in'. Of course we live here; we can't help it. But surely I can keep those piles of 'Martha Stewart' and 'Better Homes' OFF the floor and in a cute basket or something? I need design help, that is a fact.

Anyway, the point of this post isn't to vent about my desigh woes, though this is as good a place as any to do so. I wanted to post some pictures of our dinner last night. It's been a long time since I've posted anything about food (I have quietly skipped any coverage of my birthday party for so many disasterous reasons) and I thought I would share this dinner since it was sort of new (the salad part) and really good. I'd make it again, with minor tweaks to the salad which I will mention later.

Turkey with Greens and Beet Salad

I started by pan-searing/grilling/whatever some turkey cutlets. I just sprinkled some sea salt, cracked pepper and some parsley on each side as it was cooking in a tiny bit of olive oil and and even tinier bit of butter. I'm trying not to use butter and other fats since I'm dieting but the oil was splattering a little too much so I added just a pat of butter to tame it. It won't take too long to cook these but just make sure they are cooked all the way through - this is poultry we're talking about.

While these were cooking I coarsely chopped up one bunch of collard greens. They are so cheap right now (no more than $1 per bunch depending on the store - we found some for $.89 at Minyard last week) and so good for you. They are coming into season along with a bunch of other greens like spinach so it's the perfect time to add them at every possible opportunity. I just set this in a large high-sided skillet ... don't start cooking them til everything else is done because the only need a few minutes to wilt.

Once everything else is done, turn the heat on the greens and let them wilt til they are cooked to your preference. I like leaving mine still bright green and crisp. Jurt turn them a few times to make sure it's cooked evenly. No seasoning needed because they are amazing on their own! But we sometimes squeeze some fresh lemon juice over the top.

I was trying to think of a salad I could make that was different from the usual. I typically make salad with lettuce and cabbage and mix in a bunch of chopped or grated veggies with a homemade vinaigrette. I'm not sure how I got 'beets' in my head but I browsed the web for some ideas and then blended a few of them to come up with my end result which was actually pretty good. Kevin said he liked it, too but maybe he was just being nice. ;)

I mixed 2 cans of beets (I am so aware of how inferior these are to fresh, oven roasted beets but I didn't have time for that), about 1/3 lb of fresh, pitted cherries, halved, 1 segmented orange and 1/2 an apple, very thinly sliced. For the dressing, I combined 1/3 a can's worth of the beet juice I had reserved, about 1 T olive oil, 2 T red wine vinegar, salt and pepper. Then I decided it needed a different texture - something crunchy. I thought some nuts would be nice and toasted a couple handfuls of coarsely-chopped almonds. I added these at the very end (actually I completely forgot about them and Kevin added them for me).

Overall, it turned out great. I love turkey and I would like to use it more often and the cutlets are a nice way to do that. I think people use it primarily as a 'replacement' for ground meat but as a stand alone flavor, it's excellent and NOT just for Thanksgiving!

Need Supply Co.

I never knew this place existed before today but I am really liking their selection. Some pieces are definitely not me, but I like a lot of their striking shoes, some of their apparel (like the dress below) and their reasonably-priced handbags. It's definitely worth checking out. =)



Darian Woven Front Wedge (favorite!)



Veronica Lace Bootie



Benched Cutout Platform (weird and probably uncomfortable, but really cool)



Slate Blue Handbag



Slinky Criss Cross Dress by Free People



Briefcase Satchel by Let Them Eat Cake

check them out at needsupply.com

Summer Vacation

At the end of June, Kevin and I went on vacation.

We went to California for 8 days.

We stayed in El Segundo for a few days, went to Fresno and saw my cousin, and then went to San Francisco for a few days; we had never been to San Francisco and had an amazing time. Such a beautiful city contrasted by self-important people and horrible parking. Stunning parks though! And great food! We spent the 4th in San Francisco and were able to see a great fireworks show over the bay at Aquatic Park (by Fort Mason). Here are a few photos of our trip. Also, I haven't seen my cousin in 14 years, so that photo is gold.

First night in CA we ate at California Fish Grill; Kevin and his Ahi Tuna Salad.

Redondo Beach with my family. My cousin's babies, running off dinner. ;)

Sunset Blvd. In-N-Out. Of course.

The hotel they used to film exterior shots of the hotel in 'Angel'. *nerd*

Amazing Italian food we found in Fresno!

Me and my cousin.

On the Bay Bridge headed into San Francisco. Our first San Fran experience: witnessing an arrest. Good times.

July 4th. Kevin standing in front of our hotel, the Marina Inn, waiting to cross the street.

A cute mint-green Vespa. After a few days of endless walking, this seemed like the smarter alternative.

Kara's Cupcakes. YUM!

The Fleur De Sel cupcake: chocolate with caramel filling, ganache frosting and a sprinkle of sea salt. *inspired*

Fireworks over the bay!

Just walking around the city...

Some wild blackberries we (I) picked after discovering Tank Hill. Best view of the city, by far.

The beach in El Segundo after dinner at Andiamo's Pizza on Main Street.

Us!

Have you vacationed this year or do you have plans to?

Change can be a good thing

Sometimes it's just nice to mix things up. I like having things for certain seasons and then changing them out for different things. Like bedding. It's inexpensive to have a couple different bedding sets - one for the Fall and Winter months and another for Spring and Summer. I have been itching for something more cheerful and bright in our bedroom for a while. We had a great paisley quilt in there already with deep grays and greens. But I felt something Springyer (?) would be nice for a change.

At Home Goods (I can never go to Home Goods and come out empty handed. Never.) I found a gorgeous new quilt that is *perfect* for our room! It brightens it up just enough but keeps it cozy - our bedroom is our haven (our escape from stressful kitchen redo's, for example) so warm and relaxing is important.

The quilt and shams are by Cynthia Rowley

Our existing tan shams we found at an estate sale actually 'work' with the new quilt; the 2 toss pillows in front are new, too.

A new Ralph Lauren sheet set, too - sateen, of course. So soft!

Close up of my pretty new champagne-colored sequin toss pillow.

We went into Home Goods just to browse ("Just 5 minutes", I told Kevin ... he scoffed, of course) and came out with all new bedding. I need to stop visiting Home Goods for a while. ;)

Celery for dinner? Yes, please!

Recently I have been trying out some really amazing celery salads. I never had a celery salad before this Spring but have come across a few interesting ones, tried them, and loved them. I found this particular recipe in one of my recent Martha Stewart Living issues and tore it out to add to my messy heap of scrawled recipes and web printouts. It's as easy as can be with just 4 main ingredients, dressed with olive oil, lemon juice and salt to taste. A perfect accompaniment to grilled chicken or fish ... or amazing by itself. Like tabouleh, I could eat bowl after bowl of this stuff easily. At about 240 calories per 2 (ish) cup serving, there isn't much guilt involved either.

- Start with fresh celery, washed and diced - I use the leaves as well - about 6 cups

- Add freshly rinsed and dried cilantro leaves, about 1 cup. No mincing necessary but a little chop with a mezzaluna helps keep the leaves more manageable

- Chop about 1/4 cup of golden raisins and add to the cilantro and celery

- Lightly toast about 1/4 cup of coarse-chopped almonds while doing the next step ...

- Toss in about 2-3 T each of olive oil and fresh lemon juice and kosher salt to taste. Then toss in the warm almonds and eat immediately. It's best when the almonds are still toasty-warm against the chewy raisins, crunchy celery and aromatic cilantro leaves and the zing of fresh-squeezed lemon juice. Absolutely divine.

Lucky spatula ;)

dinner and '30 Rock' tonight!

Burn Baby Burn!

I have to say I am proud of myself and Kevin: We have joined a gym. And actually gone. And sweat! Last weekend (I think) we went to a gym just up the street from our house called Planet Fitness; we have been flirting with a membership there for months but decided to finally 'Just Do It', as they say. Their memberships are insanely affordable; we opted for their $10/month option with includes group classes/tutorials, fitness trainers and unlimited gym access. It's a nice, clean gym with locker rooms and showers; they open early and close late (I think it's 5am to 11pm on weekdays) so you can go before work or after dinner and errands.

I have been watching my portions and the things that I'm eating. Lots more fruit, salads, good fiber and way less of everything; my calorie intake is probably about 2/3 what it was. I'm just proud that we're making an effort. Even if we don't see results *right now* (which is tempting to hope for) we are working at it - that's all you need to do. I feel so energized and so good about myself when I work out. That's enough (for now) to keep me coming back. Of course if I don't look better and fit into those old jeans after months of work, I'll feel more than a little discouraged but...here's hoping that is not the case!

So yeah, most exciting post ever! Just thought I would share something I'm working on lately persuant to my resolution of treating myself better ... doing things that are healthier for my body.

Have you changed your habits for the better this year?

Kitchen Reno - Part II

And the saga continues.

Again with the whole iceberg thing: you see one project and feel confident it won't take too long to tackle. That project ends up being imperceptibly and indelibly connected to 8 other projects that you are then forced to tackle before any one of the projects can be satisfactorily completed. One of the rules of Home Renovation 101.

This month we started by ripping out ugly old linoleum and ended up pulling baseboards, painting walls, painting door knobs, ripping off 40 year old 'tile' and rock-hard adhesive from our back splash, removing a massive range hood ... I think that's all. Oh, and of course spending as much time at Lowe's as we have at home. Here are photos of the 'progress' if you could call it that ... more like chaos.

And I have a party to host on Saturday! Yikes!



After just one coat. So pretty and crisp against the freshly-painted door/trim.





The blue looks COMPLETELY different on this wall. Crazy, color-changing paint.





Awful adhesive! And the little tiles we had to chip off one by one.





Kevin pulling more tiles. They used to be vintage green. The ones behind the oven were never painted.





All the tiles are OFF. Now to get the adhesive off.





Most of the adhesive is off. Now to smooth the surface, patch holes and retexture.





The fruits of our labor? or ... whatever. ;)