guacamole!

one of the many foods i love are avocados. i could eat one every day! approximately once a week i have a craving for guacamole. instead of rushing out to my favorite taqueria down the street i decided i would make it myself. i've tried MANY recipes, but this is my favorite one from alice waters, 'the art of simple food.' you should all run out and get a copy of this cookbook. it's wonderful. the recipe is simple, but delicious. as my friend corinne says "make this and you will be the hit of every party!" you should try and see for yourself!

2 ripe avocados (cut in half and remove pits...I think this is pretty self explanatory :)

1 tablespoon fresh lime juice (this is about the juice from 1/2 of one lime)

2 tablespoons chopped cilantro

salt

the recipe also calls for 2 tablespoons finely chopped onion, which we don't put in because we think it is delicious without!

you will want to try this. i recommend it with el milagro tortilla chips from whole foods. it just completes the perfection.

the fruit, literally, of our labor

one hot day in june we travelled to the northshore to go blueberry picking. although it was a while ago, this endeavor definitely deserves a post! i just love picking, harvesting, gathering, collecting...food that is :) maybe it was getting to spend time on my grandmothers farm as a kid, but to me berry picking is a favorite!

two of my faves joined in on the fun. my brother and i are proud of our hard work!

immediately (he insisted the minute we walked in the door!) when we got home it was time to make a blueberry cobbler.

maple was accidentally floured in the process of rolling out the crust. she didn't seem to mind.

delicious! recipe here. and yes, that is mounding piles of sugar on the top.

the next recipe, blueberry ice cream! some of the best ice cream i've had (and that's saying a lot if you know me!) recipe here.

the next few days were spent eating blueberries by the cupful. don't worry my gathering self froze some and saved them for winter :)

any favorite berries or berrylicious recipes? i'd love to hear!

lovely days

i'm not good at blogging. shocker i know. i think it has to do with the fact that i'm at my computer at work and that's where i blog (shh don't tell) and my pictures are on my home computer. any suggestions for solving this unfortunate hindrance would be greatly appreciated.

as bad as i am at blogging, i'm more tired of seeing that disgusting picture of the luther burger every time i log on to look at other blogs so i present to you some pictures of the "loveliest days" of this summer. i borrowed that title from a blog i found and i think it perfectly describes my summer (which is not over yet, thank goodness!)

in june, all of my family (there are only 9 of us in my extended family) traveled out to palo alto to see my brilliant cousin graduate from stanford. the only one missing from our clan was nana, so we made sure to make her sign so she would know she was missed!

unlike anything i've ever seen (and i've seen some unusual graduations, i do live in new orleans remember) the "wacky walk" as they call it was a sight to behold. as a reward for studying ridiculously hard for four years, standford graduates can do whatever, literally whatever, they want when walking in the stadium. you have to see it to believe it.

don't worry traditionalists. the smaller ceremonies for your major are formal, caps and gowns, and order and handing out of diplomas. here is my cousin richard, myself, and my brother. we are so proud of him!

after the ceremonies we all traveled to berkley where richard's girlfriend's family hosted a wonderful dinner. their house was picturesque, the weather beautiful (70 degrees and no humidity, what?) and the company delightful. here i am with my aunt and her best friend.

we ate outside in their garden and the hostess made the most amazing paella i have ever had, i'm not kidding, even better than the paella i had in valencia. see the amazing backyard above.

we all went inside because it was chilly (again in june what?) followed by the best banana cake i've had, ever. i guess you could say i liked the food :)

this lovely day was followed by a trip to san francisco, sonoma, and big sur. blogs to follow...

"and when we're old, we'll sit and repeat ourselves, telling our favorite stories...
and we'll love the lovely days."
-fisher

fat

Health Magazine released today their "opinion" of The 50 Fattiest Foods in America. If you know me well, you know if I use quotations I am being insulting. I would like to argue that I could probably find 50 foods in Louisiana alone fattier (is that word?) than beloved beignets, a favorite for locals and tourists alike. I digress. If you are interested, check out your state here.

I can't decide if this list grosses me out or if I want to try them. Some are crazy (a BLT with 20 pieces of bacon???), some are lame (poor Massachusetts got a chocolate chip cookie), but my all time favorite is from my dear home state, Georgia. I introduce you to...The Luther Burger. Named after R&B legend Luther Vandross (not sure if he ate them but Health Magazine wanted to make sure we knew he was diabetic in the article).

credit

A ground-beef patty, topped with cheese and bacon between two Krispy Kreme glazed donuts instead of a bun. I will not bother including the nutrition information because unlike Health magazine, I don't like to think about that when I am enjoying something delicious (not saying this is delicious, just saying).

Disclaimer: As a dietitian I am not promoting eating like this to the public (or blog world), I'm just saying it's okay to indulge, in moderation...which I guess might not include 20 pieces of bacon.

a taste of home

although i am completely in love with the city i live in, living 500 miles from your favorite state, your friends, and family can elicit homesickness (not sure if that is a word) every once in a while. usually i am prepared for this. it happens during the fall, the time in ga when the leaves are changing, the air is crisp and cool, sweaters are on the shelves in stores, and most importantly uga football is in full swing. it's during this time in nola when it is still 80 degrees, the leaves never change, the air is muggy, sweaters taunt you on the shelves because you will never wear them, and uga football must be watched on tv. the fall i expect being homesick, the summer...never!


well all that to say, i have been VERY homesick. missing good friends who are enjoying new relationships, fun weekends, and babies on the way. missing braves games on friday nights and screen on the green. missing jazz concerts on the lawn at the carter center and walks through centennial park with children splashing in the fountains. missing mostly the people but also the peaches, tubing in the mountains, and enjoying a drink on the marietta square.


being homesick has taught me a lot, mostly that this world is not my home, that i am called to something greater than myself, and to appreciate sweet times with family and friends. although i can't go to a braves game or visit erin at work at the marietta square (I would be a frequent visitor at her new job!) i have two sweet men in my life that remind me that home is not that far away! we all ventured out to chick-fil-a for spicy preview week for a little taste of home :)

spicy vip's excited about the new sandwich! (but i am mostly excited about my brother living in new orleans all summer--i feel my homesickness lessening all ready :)

a thumbs up from someone who is well versed in spicy foods, if he likes it, it must be good! (also he is a wonderful reminder of the state i love, i'm so thankful he is sharing this journey with me)

and yes, i do realize that in this new blogging venture, two posts have been about chick-fil-a. i promise i will try to work on that :)

florist for a day

a few weeks ago my longest best-friend, erin, got married. not longest as in tallest, that is reserved for corinne, but longest as in our parents knew each other before we were born, we met in kindergarten (but claim 2nd grade as the starting point). we went to elementary, middle, and high school together and although we have lived in collectively in 4 different states and 1 different country since then we remain the dearest of friends.

her wedding was beautiful, check it out here thanks to the awesome duo known as altmix photography. for my wedding with the help of a very gifted florist friend my mom and i did my flowers, see pictures here (i'm at work so there is a lot of linking going on!). it was a lot of work, but we loved doing it. we found such joy in designing bouquets and arrangements. we also did the flowers for erin's brother's wedding (sorry no pictures), and after having two weddings under our belt erin asked that we do her flowers! here are some highlights:

stunning bride, her groom and a close-up of her bouquet



bridesmaids bouquet and arrangement for guest book table

all the bouquets

some arrangements that are pretty cool if i do say so myself and the aforementioned tallest best friend

my mom and i had such a blast putting everything together! we both agree we are not cut out to be career florist but we enjoy the opporunity to pretend like we are, at least for a day!

to cook or not to cook?

so up until this year i was an oxymoron of sorts. i have a degree in nutrition and i am a registered dietitian but i never cooked. i either didn't have the means to (housesat for a year) or didn't have to (lived with my aunt and uncle for 3 years and she is a gourmet cook so there you go).

the thing is i loved recipes, planning meals, i knew how to cook, i just didn't do it. so when i got married last summer i'll be honest i was a little nervous. luckily i have a husband who loves to cook so with the dozens of cookbooks i own (yes i collect them) we started on our journey.

at first we didn't realize this but after about two months we realized we hadn't made the same recipe twice. so we set a goal for ourself (i'm all about goals) not to cook the same main dish twice our first year of marriage. now this doesn't include breakfast or side dishes but we have been married 9 months and we're on track! we do eat leftovers and we do freeze extra and pull it out on a rainy day, we just don't cook the same recipe twice.

let me tell you it's been so much fun! we are eating healthy, trying to eat local. growing our own herbs, and having a lot of fun together. we've decided that besides our new puppy, cooking might be our only hobby, but we love it!

here are two recent meals we've really liked:

spicy chicken shawarma, pesto whole wheat pasta, and southwest slaw

(who knew what a jicama was?)

delicious!

mushroom-stuffed chicken, short-cut collard greens (minus the bacon), and

honey roasted sweet potatoes

beautiful collards from a local farm and market

a little black dog who prefers to eat collard stems rather than her bone :)

recently we are loving cooking light, ellie krieger (her cookbook is great), alice waters the art of simple food, and blogs of course! so if you cook something good, post it! i still need 3 more months of new recipes :)