unruly things

lately, one of our favorite {an easiest!} things to cook for dinner is what we like to call “Fresh Nachos”.  we’d developed a rather unhealthy obsession of nachos from a local brewery down the street from our apartment and after thinking about how many calories were probably involved in them, we opted to create our own version!  I simply saute some veggies – right now I’ve been using summer squash, broccoli, red onion and garlic.  I roast an Anaheim pepper in the oven, remove most of the seeds because I don’t like it too spicy, and dice it up.  then we pile all the veggies, some pinto beans, a diced heirloom tomato and feta cheese on top of some tortilla chips, and voilà!  Fresh Nachos!!

I’m not much of a coffee drinker.  I drink tea and lots of it.  in fact, I haven’t had a good cup of coffee since Christmas and hardly miss it.

however, today I got a weird kick in me and ordered a Spiced Iced Coffee from Prasad, my fave local lunch spot.  it’s spiced with cinnamon and cardamom and served with coconut milk.  I’d say it’s pretty much perfect for this bizarre July weather we’re experiencing in the Northwest.  {61 and cloudy and the need for leggings?  psh!}

{photo from smitten}

now that it’s officially summer, I need to put our new drink dispenser to use.  I suppose I’ll have to patiently wait for blackberries to ripen so I can make this, but I’ll need something in the mean time.

what is your favorite summer cocktail?

{via wit + delight}

dlb and I collect beer labels from every new beer that we try.  we’ve got close to 500 labels.  I’ve never seen this beer in Portland, but I think I’d want to try each one, just so I could save those pretty labels.

{via the lovely package}

first of all, I want to thank you SO much for your response to the wonderful giveaway from Sarah Magid!  her new book, Organic & Chic, is truly a gem and I’m so happy to share it with you.

so, with out further adieu, the randomly chosen winner of the Organic & Chic giveaway is:

Maggie, who said “This looks lovely! I’d bake a cake for my boy and I, and eat it on our porch so we could enjoy one of my favorite summer pairings: pretty sweets and good company!”

thank you everyone!!  and a HUGE thank you to Sarah for sharing her amazing book with us.

good morning friends!  I hope you had a wonderful weekend.  did I catch your eye with that gorgeous green cake?  I sure hope so, because I’ve got an amazing giveaway to start off the week.

have you heard of the lovely Sarah Magid?  she bakes the most amazing cakes and decorates them beautifully.  I posted about her cakes early in 2007 and have enjoyed watching her pop up over the blogisphere ever since.  last week, the Sarah contacted me to see if I wanted to host a special giveaway for a copy of her new book, Organic and Chic.  she sent me a copy of the book last week and my oh my friends, it’s truly a delight. the photography is beautiful and the recipes look oh so delicious!

so, to enter for a chance to win a copy of Sarah’s gorgeous book leave a comment here before Friday August 7 at 10am PST, saying who or what event you’d love to bake a cake or cupcakes for!  since I’m a sucker for pretty much anything with split vanilla bean, I baked the Vanilla Bean Butter cake into cupcakes and iced them with Vanilla Americana Icing, dyed pink with beet juice!  they are incredibly good.

good luck friends!  I’ve got a super busy day and will be back in full swing tomorrow.  happy monday!

hi!  I hope you all had a nice weekend.  I made this for dlb and he loved it.  right to the last bite.

have you ever had squash blossoms?  they are my newest love.  I stuffed them with a tiny bit of cream cheese, battered them with blended flour, paprika and salt, then fried ‘em up in little bit of butter. oh my goodness… amazing.

I hope you had a nice weekend my friends.  I sure had a nice break.

really, I do.

{via the lovely package}

that he reads my mind and brings me kombucha. I’d been craving it all morning, and what do ya know, dlb shows up at my office with a bottle of Guava Goddess. love that guy. and kombucha. seriously, I’m totally hooked. our kombucha habit is an expensive one and I’ve tried to cut back, really. but it’s so darn good.

::

I’ve been wanting to try making my own. has anyone made their own kombucha? if so, what were your experiences? I’d love to know.
{photos: left – these days in french life, right bogenswb}