Pinterest has kept me busy!

I have hardly been blogging lately and it has been breaking my heart. A few months ago I discovered {Pinterest} and have been hooked! Rather than blogging about the awesome things I find out there, I have been "pinning" them like crazy! In a short period of time, I have created 50+ boards and over 1600 pins!

If you have not heard of Pinterest, it is essentially a place catalog and share visual bookmarks. Rather than keeping a list of URLs to cool things you want to refer back to, taking screenshots or saving images to your desktop, Pinterest allows you to not only save of the images, but it also keeps the link to the original site from which you found it should you need to refer back as needed. The best part is the ability to categorize and organize the pins into different "boards" that are labeled (ie. For the Home or Wedding Ideas). You can connect with your friends who are using Pinterest and that has been the most fun, learning so much about someone from seeing the things they love! If you have not already done so, sign up and start pinning!

If you are interested in seeing the things I love, check out my boards {here}.

The coolest part has been seeing how many things people have actually pinned straight off of my blog! Check that out {here}.

Pin·terest (pĭn'trĭst): n. a social catalog to collect and share things you love

Pin·board (pĭn·bôrd): n. a visual collection of things you love

Pin (pĭn): n. an item you post to a pinboard

Re·Pin (rē·pĭn): v. to post another person's pin to your own pinboard

Butternut Squash Soup

To be honest, I don't have an exact recipe to share with you...but here is a delicious butternut squash soup I made for dinner tonight! I started by preparing the veggies to be roasted - butternut squash, potatoes, celery, carrots, shallots, and grated fresh ginger. I then tossed them with some olive oil and roasted them in the oven for about an hour. After the veggies were tender, I transferred them to a pot on the stove and added chicken broth, cumin, garlic, salt, cayenne and black pepper to taste. With a hand-held blender, I puréed the mixture to an almost smooth consistency and served it topped with shaved Parmesan cheese and chopped chives. I think I succeeded in making this ALMOST as good as my mom's version :)

Baby Shower! Cupcakes! Decorations! Sewing!

So, last weekend was my friend's baby shower - it was amazing! This was also my friend {Natalie} and my first attempt at doing a dessert spread - A few different kinds of beautifully decorated cupcakes, brownie pops, and fruit skewers. Many props go to our friend Tabitha, for her amazing decorating skills - it looked wonderful down to every little detail: the hanging onesies, the cute drink buckets, the appetizer table, the chalkboard, the small vases wrapped with beautiful ribbon, the stylish paper chains, the adorable "about to hatch" egg timer favors for everyone, and much, much more! Check out the handmade elephant stuffed animal and handmade flannel burp clothes made by our friend {Tricia}.

Below is the gift I sewed for the guest of honor ~ a nursing cover!

Sydney International Food Festival

I love food and love it even more when people do creative things like this with it! Check out these international flags made of food - advertisement for the {Sydney International Food Festival} this year. Jason, even you have to say this is pretty cool!

Thanks to {Steven} for finding this!

The Pasta Shop & Teance

This is it from my day trip to Berkeley. {The Pasta Shop - Rockridge Market Hall} and {Teance} were my last two stops of the day. Rockridge Market Hall's "Pasta Shop" location is amazing! I wish, wish, wish we had a market like this in San Luis Obispo. I haven't been somewhere like this, with fresh pasta, a huge selection of cheese, fresh produce, ingredients and products from around the world, sauces, and a great selection of prepared foods. This is pure heaven for anyone who loves to cook! Teance was right next door, where their mission is to promote authentic fine teas and re-introduce the culture of appreciating tea. They carry only the most pure, premium, and seasonal whole leaf teas possible - introducing the consumer to the enjoyment, health benefits, and serenity that comes with drinking tea. In their Berkeley retail store, they have a beautiful tea bar where you can sit and enjoy any of their fine teas. The coolest parts, other than the fact that this was my first experience in a store dedicated to teas with a tea bar in it, was the awesome fountain right in the middle of the store with water pouring down from the shower above and the awesome structural piece hanging from the ceiling!

Fresh Basil and Heirloom Tomatoes!

My mom has been gardening like mad lately and sent me back home with delicious fresh basil she grew. It smells SO good that I had to make something immediately so I could use it. When I was home we made a very tasty bruschetta with heirloom tomatoes, also from her garden, so that inspired me to make a fresh heirloom tomato pasta sauce :)

I don't really have a specific recipe, since I just kinda threw what came to mind at the time in a pot. The basic idea is butter, olive oil, shallots, garlic, crushed chili peppers, salt, pepper, lemon juice, chopped heirloom tomatoes. I topped it with shaved Parmesan cheese. It was quite yummy if I do say so myself.

How to use up bread stat!

So I had 4 sheets of tonir lavash bread left and it needed to be used before it went bad. I was trying to think of a way to use them up quick without making sandwiches everyday. I came up with a quick and very easy layered pizza. I used spicy Calabrese salami for an added kick. I have done this before with a French bread baguette and it is delish.

Natalie's Mediterranean Couscous and a Greek Salad

I am a huge fan of couscous and my mom has a delicious that {recipe} that I love to make. The other day my friend Natalie had made her own version that reminded me of that but had an interesting added ingredient...dried apricots! I decided to give it a try and LOVED it. I highly recommend giving this a try. It is a nice, light, and refreshing dish that would go nicely for a summer get-together. Visit her at {In the Kitchen with Kristie} to view the recipe! I paired this recipe with a Greek salad from {Cooking Light} - recipe as follows:

Makes 6 (dinner salad) servings

Ingredients:
1/4 cup coarsely chopped fresh parsley
3 tablespoons coarsely chopped fresh dill
1 tablespoon extravirgin olive oil
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon dried oregano
6 cups shredded Romaine lettuce
3 cups diced tomato
1 cup thinly sliced red onion
3/4 cup (3 ounces) crumbled feta cheese
1 tablespoon capers
1 cucumber, peeled, quartered lengthwise, and thinly sliced
1 (19-ounce) can chickpeas, drained and rinsed

Directions:
Combine first 5 ingredients in a large bowl; stir with a whisk. Add lettuce and the next 6 ingredients (lettuce through chickpeas); toss well.

Master Chef: Natalie Mathews

You should all be pretty jealous if you don't have a friend who will cook an amazing dinner like this and invite you over on a wonderful Sunday night. I just want to brag a bit about how delicious this meal was and point you all over in the direction of {In the Kitchen with Kristie}, the cooking blog by Natalie Mathews and her twin sister Melanie Marshall. They are both master chefs and always have amazing recipes to share. Check it soon for recipes from tonight's dinner, shown above.

1. Sensational salad with tortellini.
2. Flavorful BBQ fava beans
3. Strawberry and Rhubarb crisp with vanilla ice cream

Great end to a beautiful the weekend :)

Enchilada Casserole Creation

I seem to get so frustrated every time I make enchiladas because the rolled corn tortillas either crack or unravel in the pan and turn into one big mess. This time I decided to make it in the form of a lasagna-type casserole and it turned out great!

Ingredients are a rough estimate, as I don't usually measure everything when I create something new...everything is to taste...but I did my best to remember!

Ingredients:
18-24 corn tortillas
2 bottles of Trader Joe's Enchilada sauce (AMAZING - not even worth making it from scratch)
2-3 chicken breasts, boiled and shredded
2 1/2 cups shredded cheese (Mexican blend - usually 4 cheeses from Trader Joe's)
1 1/2 cups corn (more or less)
1 1/2 cups sliced bell peppers (more or less - blend of red, green and yellow)
1 1/2 onions, chopped
2 4oz cans Ortega chili peppers, diced (or one 7 oz can)
1 large bunch of cilantro, chopped
1 jalapeño, chopped
1 packet fajita seasoning
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 teaspoons ground cumin, or to taste
Salt and pepper to taste - add Sriracha for added kick if desired

Directions:
In pan, heat the vegetable oil and sauté the onions until slightly wilted. Remove from the head and add the fajita seasoning, jalapeños, ground cumin, salt and pepper and mix well.

In a large bowl combine the shredded chicken, sautéed onions and spice mixture, diced Ortega chili peppers, corn, bell pepper, cilantro and mix well.

In a 9x13 pan (I used a glass Pyrex), pour enough enchilada sauce to simply cover the bottom of the pan, but not too much. Lay corn tortillas over the sauce to cover the bottom, either 6 or 8 should be enough, overlapping each one slightly. Put one layer of the chicken mixture on top of the tortillas, top with cheese and about 1 cup of the enchilada sauce. Repeat the layering of tortillas, chicken mixture, cheese and sauce until you run out of chicken (or until you run out of space). The final layer should be tortillas, sauce, and cheese on top.

Bake for about 40 minutes or until cheese is melted and sauce appears to be bubbling.

Serve with sour cream, guacamole, and salsa.

Enjoy!

Gatnabour a.k.a. Milk/Rice Pudding

This is one of my favorite Armenian desserts! Gatnabour is our version of a milk and rice pudding. It is absolutely delicious and worth a try even if you are unsure...

Ingredients:
4 cups milk
2 cups water
1 cup Calrose, short grain rice
2 cups sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
Zest of 1 lemon
2 tablespoons orange blossom water

Garnish: Finely chopped or ground pistachios

Directions:
In a pot, combine the milk and water and bring to a boil. Rinse the rice and add it to the milk and water mixture. Reduce the heat, stirring frequently until the rice is thoroughly cooked and the mixture has thickened. It is important to keep stirring in order to prevent the mixture from clumping or sticking to the bottom of the pot.

Add sugar, vanilla, lemon zest, and orange blossom water. Mix thoroughly, remove from the heat and immediately pour into individual cups or one large bowl.

Sprinkle the surface with ground pistachios.

Tip: Ground cinnamon can be added to the gatnabour for an added kick.

Tomato-Leek Cod

Another family favorite - Cod fish with tomato and leek!

Ingredients
2 1/2 pounds fresh Cod
1/2 cup olive oil
3 cups leek, chopped
1 cup red bell pepper, chopped
6 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
3 cups cherry tomatoes, halved
3/4 cup cilantro, chopped
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon crushed chili pepper flakes
4 tablespoons lime juice
zest of one lime

Directions
Heat the olive oil in a skillet and saute the leeks, red bell pepper, garlic, cherry tomatoes, and cilantro. Add the salt, crushed chili pepper flakes, lime juice, and lime zest. Continue to saute until the vegetables are tender.

Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees.

Spread about 1/4 of the sauteed vegetable mixture in the bottom of a 9"x13" pan. Lay the cod on top of the vegetables an top with the remaining mixture.

Bake for 20-30 minutes, until the fish is flaky.

Tip: This dish can be made with any other light white fish.

A Green Lifestyle

In honor of Earth Day, which really should be everyday, I thought I would post some of my favorite re-usable and recycled products that help us do our part to save the environment. It is up to us to get ourselves out of this mess we have created around our planet. When there are patches of plastic the size of Texas in our oceans, when dead fish are cut open only to find lighters and trash in their stomachs, when birds are being wrapped up in plastic and dying - it is all a rude awakening - or at least it SHOULD be for us all.

From top to bottom:

(1) I love this idea of having re-usable storage bags for fruits, veggies and herbs. Cloth bags like these keep produce fresh for much longer than plastic grocery bags and are obviously better for the environment. These were made by {WonderThunder} - a great idea and a beautiful design!

(2) Re-usable/washable sandwich and snack bags - I don't know why I never though of this before! Such fun colors and designs, who wouldn't want one!? The Lunch Skins set is by {3 Green Moms} - they carry other great products and fantastic prices! They also carry the wonderful cornstarch spoons called Popcorn Ware, which is actually the kind of utensils at the take-out section of Whole Foods (man, I wish we had one in San Luis Obispo).

(3) {Bamboo re-usable utensils}! Perfect for children's lunchboxes or taking lunch to work :) I have to get myself a set of these!

(4) Re-usable {hot drink cozies} - take it along with you to your favorite coffee shop instead of using and throwing away their cardboard ones each time. They come in many great designs and colors too!

(5) {Bottle cap thumb tacks} make an easy, but fun craft project and a great way to re-use your favorite bottle caps!

(6) These great re-usable stainless steel food containers are a great way to reduce waste. They are available at {Go Green in Stages}.

(7) Last, but not least, this is a great DIY project for all ages! These fun night lights by {Mariposa Avenue} are made out of recycled soup cans! With a coat of paint and a drill, look at what you can create!

Roasted Veggies...MMM

Here is another favorite recipe from my (in progress) cookbook. This dish is to die for. It is easy, healthy, has great presentation, and is delicious! Seriously. Try it.

Ingredients:

2 large eggplants, sliced into 1/2" rounds
1 cup goat cheese, crumbled
1 cup parsley, chopped
1 jar of red and yellow peppers (or roast fresh)
Salt and Aleppo pepper to taste
Olive oil for drizzling

Directions:

Start by brushing both sides of the eggplant slices with olive oil. Grill them on both sides until they are soft.

Layer the grilled eggplant with the roasted peppers, parsley, and goat cheese. Add salt and Aleppo pepper to taste and drizzle with olive oil.

See, I told you it was easy :)

Enjoy!

MMM...Food Photography

{Matt Armendariz} is one of the best food photographers I have seen! He is based in Los Angeles, CA and has been photographing for advertising and editorial for about 18 years. He is passionate about his job and claims to be a man who is obsessed with food, drink, and everything in between. (As am I...well except for the man part...) He is a former graphic designer and art director, who worked for companies like Whole Foods Market and Bristol Farms. Not only is he a photographer, but he is a blogger as well. His blog, {Mattbites.com}, has been recognized by many publications, editors and writers and is one of the charter members of Martha’s Circle, a selection of lifestyle blogs selected by the editors of Martha Stewart Living. Bellow is a clip from his appearance on her show :) I'm jealous.

Couscous Salad. Delish.

So basically...aside from my grandma...my mom is the best cook I know. This is one of my favorite recipes she has. It is so light and refreshing - healthy and filling! Enjoy :)

Ingredients
Salad
1 cup couscous
3 cups garbanzo beans
²⁄³ cup currants
²⁄³ cup red bell pepper, diced
½ cup scallions, chopped
½ cup fresh mint, chopped
½ cup pine nuts, toasted
½ cup parsley, chopped
Dressing:
½ cup extra virgin Olive Oil
½ cup lemon juice
1 tsp. garlic, crushed
½ tsp. ground cumin
Salt and black pepper to taste
Garnish
cherry tomatoes, halved or quartered
fresh mint
radish

Directions
Make the dressing by combining olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, ground cumin, salt and
pepper to taste. Mix well and set aside.

Soak the currents in warm water to plump up, then strain and dry them.

Boil 2 cups of water and add couscous. Remove from the heat and cover for about 10 minutes. Fluff the couscous with a fork and transfer to a bowl to cool.

Once the couscous has cooled, add garbanzo beans, currants, red bell pepper, scallions, fresh mint, pine nuts, and parsley. Add the dressing mix well.

Cover and leave out in room temperature for 1 hour or cover and refrigerate overnight. Return salad to room temperature before serving.

Garnish with cherry tomatoes, fresh mint, and radish.

This can be served as an appetizer, side dish, or add grilled chicken for a bigger meal.