for the love of christa: happy housewarmimg

Let's face it: becoming a homeowner is a big deal. If you are at all scared of commitments (like me!), the idea of a thirty year mortgage is terrifying. Looking at home after home until you find "the one" kind of reminded me of the many botched dates that eventually led me to meeting Dave, "my one." But once you step foot into the perfect home, just like that first glance of meeting that special someone, well, you just know. That's what it was like for my dear friend Christa and her *new* fiance, Mike.

Christa and I have been friends since college where we studied art together. We've spent countless hours pouring over centuries worth of art history, plates and linoleum for printmaking and I even did a little modeling here and there for Christa's photography portfolio. So fast forward to 2012 and here she is, engaged to a wonderful man and now a happy homeowner of a 1925 bungalow township of Philadelphia. So this past week, I went for a little drive to the City of Brotherly Love to visit the happy couple in their adorably cozy home and I brought along a little something, something.

It turns out that there are several traditional gifts that one gives to new homeowners (and no, an Olive Garden gift card isn't one of them!) I made a little basket of gifts with a wish for warmth and love in their new home and here it is:

Wishes for a warm home

Bread, may those in your home never go hungry.

Candles, may you always have light through the darkest of times.

Honey, may you always enjoy the sweetness of life.

Olive oil, may you always be blessed with health and well-being.

Salt, may there always be flavor and spice in your life.

Wine, may you always have joy and never go thirsty. 

Love, light and warm wishes for your new life together.

I bet this won't be the only post you all see about my sweet Christa- after all, there is a wedding to be had and rumor has it she has an unofficial wedding planner and chances are you all know who it is! Yaay Christa and Mike!

play like a raven

It is football season again and it couldn't have come sooner! I love the crisper weather, the late season grilling, the spiced fall beers and spending time with Dave and Harper on our big cozy couch, cheering on our teams.
So to show my allegiance to all things Baltimore, I crafted up a purple and black wreath that I think even Ray Lewis would enjoy. My sparkly little roosting Raven is straight from the Halloween aisle and my plaque serves as an homage to the poem and namesake of my beloved team.
I bet it won't be long until Dave talks me into making a Panthers wreath - it is only fair for a house divided. Until then, GO RAVENS!

baby, you can drive my car

9.5 years and we are still together

Today, I hit a milestone. No, there's no bun in the oven and I still have 2.5 years until the big 3-0. Nope, this milestone is purely personal.

Today, Penelope, my very first (and only car) logged 200,000 miles. The moment flew by but when I saw all of those nines go to zeros I thought about just how incredible the journey has been. I got Penelope on my 18th birthday as a present from my late grandfather. At the time, it was a super hip car and those of you that know me know that "hip" isn't exactly a word that one associates with me. Penelope and I have been all over this great country and she has been such a low maintenance and fun car to drive. I've crammed her with boxes, canvases and cookbooks and moved six times. She was gas efficient before gas efficiency was "a thing." She's delivered me safely to the slopes through Frostburg blizzards and has always made me feel secure during downpours and the worst Charlotte traffic.

We've been through a lot. I've cried on her steering wheel over boys that were wrong for me and words that I wish I could take bake. I've fallen in love with her windows down and the radio up. I've dropped way too many French fries on her carpet and inbetween her seats. There are dings in the paint from epic southern hail storms and gashes on the upholstery from trying to fit 2x4s in through the tiny space that is her trunk.

While I know our days together are numbered due to her increased age and my love of travel, I also know that I won't have as great of a car as Penelope in the future. They don't make cars like her anymore, this I am sure of.

So thanks for taking me where I've needed, wanted and dreamed to go, Penelope. Thanks for a great trip.

that's alright mama

Well it sure has been awhile! I started my new job four weeks ago, and needless to say, the breaks have been on when it comes to our Clever Cap Cod. Between work during the week and visitors every weekend, I just haven't had much time to DIY it up.

What I have had time to do is make randomly themed connections between my new role as a chef in an assisted living community, and well, Elvis. Lets face it, Elvis is the best - especially to our residents that remember bopping in their high school gymasiumss to the King's early hits. Some of our ladies just swooned at the sight of those big blue eyes or those gyrating hips!

So I took Elvis' favorite combination of peanut butter and bananas, printed out a few pictures of that handsome mug, turned on "Blue Suede Shoes" and made us all some smoothies. Here's the recipe!

4 bananas
1/2 cup smooth peanut butter
2 cups skim milk or vanilla soy milk
2 cups ice
Vanilla, optional

Blend all ingredients, serve with a big straw and a side of Hunka, Hunka Burnin' Love.

Serves 4

Thank ya, thank ya very much!

man-ish cave

My husband is the man I always dreamed of marrying. He is brilliant, compassionate, wise, and oh-so-handsome. What my husband is NOT is super manly - no power tools, no truck, not the biggest fan of beer, and doesn't particularly care for construction, hunting, contact sports, etc. He is the epitome of  gentlemanly - he always gets the door for me (he forgot it once in 5 1/2 years), free-flowing with kind words, and just very sweet. So when the topic of a "Man Cave" came up for the new house, he laughed. Would this mean that it would be his space only? That he wasn't supposed to allow me in his "cave"? He hated that idea. Unless he's watching Battlestar Galactica, and doesn't want my cynical commentary, he wants me cuddled up on the couch with him - eating some homemade cookies and watching football (because truth be told, I love football more than he does!) or a Bollywood film. So one of our favorite parts of our Cape Cod is the beautiful finished basement, complete with two cooling ceiling fans, can lighting that dims for movie night, rich wooden floors and a cozy wood stove for those chilly winter nights. We got a great, North Carolina made, sectional sofa from Value City that was previously a floor model with a nice $459 price tag and positioned it for optimal Ravens football watching. We just love this room, man cave or not!

dreams of delhi

aqua + butter yellow

The Bollywood-inspired bedroom is coming along - although we have our fingers in so many projects inside the cape cod, we seem to be making slow but substantial progress on our bedroom. One of our greatest new finds is a quartet of pillows to top our cozy hotel-inspired duvet. Again, Marshall's is the place - and I tell you what, they continue to dazzle us with gorgeous Indian goods that are actually from India.
Still thinking about the perfect wall color - any recommendations would be welcome. After all, it is a big commitment.

Room service, please!

pillows of heaven

I love gnocchi. I especially love homemade gnocchi. But notice, I didn't say my homemade gnocchi.
I'm not Italian, not even a slice. And I often find myself at a lose when it comes to making popular dishes in an authentic Italian way. My sauce never turns out as savory, my meatballs are never as plump and my eggplant Parmesan tends to be kind of bland. Sure, I can follow the recipe just like anyone else, but there's something missing - at least to me. The reason? Well, I know some pretty spectacular Italian cooks, and perhaps I'm just plain spoiled with all of that amore of theirs - the thing that keeps my Italian from being an aria rather than a 50's pizza parlor tune.

Little pillows, pre-boil

Well, friends, I may have hit the jackpot with Mario Batali's gnocchi recipe. Don't deviate and I guarantee that these little pillows of heaven will make you want to give the big orange crocked man a kiss - and maybe me, too!
Oh, and I paired mine with a blissful orange tarragon Alfredo, brocollini, and sauteed mushrooms - you can go crazy, but even some garlic and butter will do these little gems right Fancy or not, ditch the Italian restaurant tonight and try this homemade goodness for yourself.

Gnocchi, cooked and tossed in orange-tarragon alfredo

Ingredients
3 pounds russet potatoes
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 egg, extra large
1 pinch salt
1/2 cup canola oil

Directions
Boil the whole potatoes until they are soft (about 45 minutes). While still warm, peel and pass through vegetable mill onto clean pasta board.
Set 6 quarts of water to boil in a large spaghetti pot. Set up ice bath with 6 cups ice and 6 cups water near boiling water.
Make well in center of potatoes and sprinkle all over with flour, using all the flour. Place egg and salt in center of well and using a fork, stir into flour and potatoes, just like making normal pasta. Once egg is mixed in, bring dough together, kneading gently until a ball is formed. Knead gently another 4 minutes until ball is dry to touch.
Roll baseball-sized ball of dough into 3/4-inch diameter dowels and cut dowels into 1-inch long pieces. Flick pieces off of fork or concave side of cheese grater until dowel is finished. Drop these pieces into boiling water and cook until they float (about 1 minute). Meanwhile, continue with remaining dough, forming dowels, cutting into 1-inch pieces and flicking off of fork. As gnocchi float to top of boiling water, remove them to ice bath. Continue until all have been cooled off. Let sit several minutes in bath and drain from ice and water. Toss with 1/2 cup canola oil and store covered in refrigerator up to 48 hours until ready to serve.

Finished!