to pin or not to pin

to grab a line from joyce, it is time to elsa the crap out of the blahs.

birthday week has had a good start except for just a glass or two of too much wine.  you know, keeping it classy on a sunday at home with s. davis. add that to the list of things that you're too old for as you approach 30...

now for the good stuff:  the pinterest "to cook/sweeten" lists are shrinking!  i cooked and baked some pretty awesome stuff last week.  most pictures are on instagram already but here's the round-up in case you don't follow :)

chickpea and dumpling soup from oh my veggies.

this recipe taught me that i love soup and do not care for parsnips, except as a flavor agent. the florally quality to them is not something i like.  the dumplings, though, are fantastic and this was a great first foray into making them.

avocado tartine from malibu kitchen blog.  juan and i made (and forgot to photograph) a version of this recipe two weeks ago.  avocado tartine is apparently out of vogue now or is at least not at the height of trendiness but, damn, it's delicious.

lemon lavender pound cake featured on bake your day. i've had a little jar of dried lavender from the savory spice shop in my cabinet for two years.  this was a great way to experimenting the strong, floral flavor profile of the lavender and use up greek yogurt hanging out in our fridge.

sriracha honey lime tofu from iamafoodblog. 
just... yes. stephanie le's blog is one of my favorites.  everything looks delicious and is styled in such a non-pretentious way.  this was the second time i've made a recipe of hers.  even though we didn't have limes, the sauce was top notch, as uncle gib says. and potato starch is going to become a new favorite breading device.

this week:  i'm not sticking to the original plan for this one, but i am enjoying the fruits of full-time job and birthday week. materialisma ;)

with love and chia seeds, ann <3

food & flight edition

happy lazy sunday!   it's already a slow one for juan and me since there is no better way to handle the aftermath of a flash stomach bug. here's to tea and rice and naps and r.e.m.'s reveal album on youtube. 

all that aside, i'm super excited to roll out one of the banners that val made me for these posts.  my sister is talented, for sure.

this week i'm feeling considerable wanderlust.  kind of ready to jump on a plane and go somewhere juan and i haven't explored and see new places and spaces. we've been talking international trips for a long time and haven't gone on any since we've been together: a whole four and a half years.  i think we'll stick to another domestic trip for now since we're not sure how much vacation time juan'll have in the summer time. (this would be a good thing, actually, but maybe news soon).

so seattle it is!  there are so many hip restaurants to stuff our faces at.  that's one important criterion for all of our destinations.  i've already started revisiting travel blogs and creating itineraries.  juan is personally excited for beerfest in july if we can swing the trip then.  

even though we love walking through up and coming - or, in this case, "arrived" - neighborhoods, i'm thinking that we need some time in the great outdoors so olympic national park is on the to-do list.  i'd like to hike through part of the hoh national rainforest and saunter along the coast for a while.

i am a little bit sad that the san juan islands are too far removed from seattle to merit a visit this trip.  they are definitely on my bucket list for the future.

though i'm totally stoked for planning the trip, more than travel, i'm ready for spring.  bring on the green and the flowers and wardrobe changes. it's my favorite season and i can't wait to get some fresh produce that isn't a root vegetable or citrus. 

oh, but i love pears. perfect for a healthy snack as there's so much fiber and good sugar.  at the same time, i've got my eye on you, pomegranate pear salsa and upside-down gingerbread and pear cake. 

as a vegetarian, shameless recipe collector and general "foodie", i can never get enough ideas for meals, especially with consideration of our grocery budget. oh my veggies offers afforable weekly meal plans and "remake" recipes of popular dishes with veg-heads in mind.  the site is an awesome resource if you're veg or if you just want to work a more plant-based diet into your lifestyle.

this week i also purchased the massive, formidable textbook for the culinary institute of america. if you follow me on instagram, you may already know that i am hella stoked.   in addition to this book, i'm scoping out the baking and pastry and garde manger textbooks for future purchases when i'm not trying to pay off a credit card.  what can i say?  i like to have all of my cookbook bases covered.

sitting beside the tissue box.  you know, for reference.

love watching mo rocca on my grandmother's ravioli as much as we do? check out grandmas making food from the hometowns and countries.  the complete list of grandmas can be found here.

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that's all for now, folks. hope you all have a happy, happy week!

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