I just had to take a moment to mention this recipe of Roasted Bell Peppers with Capers and fresh Mozzarella I made for dinner last night (and prepped the night before). IT WAS SO YUMMY. And, I've never roasted my own pepper before, and it was pretty satisfying. All images and recipe credit goes to Deb of the Smitten Kitchen (because we sadly scarfed our meals up way too fast, before even thinking about pictures). People, this is probably the number one blog I turn to for recipes. Everything she photographs looks so delicious, and everything I try turns out so delicious too! If you havent perused her recipe archive, I highly recommend you do that.

PS: Deb now has a cookbook of her images and words coming out, and I cant wait to get it!!

Does your partner annoy you? Joanna from Cup of Jo always asks her readers to weigh in on questions she poses. And this one really made me think. Because while I am totally head-over-heels in love with my partner, yes, there are still things that bug me about him. But she makes a good point (or rather, her husband Alex does) that annoyances are "part of the fabric of the relationship. They try to act like they're driving each other crazy but they really can't live with out each other. Annoyances aren't a deal killer. They're a natural part of a long, happy marriage."

Things that Alex does that annoy me:
-He is such a smarty-pants. He always has to explain things to me in a very calculated, scientific, smarty-pants way. When I dont understand the language he's speaking, I end up getting even more frustrated.
-His reluctance to try new things (which he has been getting better and better about in the last few years, but very slowly). He always wants to go back to his favorite restaurants, and go on the same vacations over again, and do things the way he's always done them. I hate doing things the same way twice, even watching movies for a second time! There are just too many things/places I havent gone yet to think about going back again!

Things that I do that annoy Alex:
-In general, I am very good at spelling and grammar. But the one that I never say right is "borrow, and lend." Somehow I manage to always say "Emma borrowed me this book," instead of "Emma lent me this book." (Did I say that right?)
-I watch bad tv. He cant stand being in the same room with me when Im watching Gossip Girl, Charmed, Law and Order or any crime show. He can be half-listening and still find fault with the plot or the legitimacy of the show. He hates them.

Also, I totally stumbled upon one of THE BEST twin cities guides! All thanks to Design*Sponge! It is written from the point of view of an actual local, instead of sounding like every other city guide out there (aside from The City Scout, of course!!!), regurgitated over and over again from soul-less internet articles and best-of lists. It is seriously amazing and comprehensive, you should check it out.

Design*Sponge ALSO did a little home tour yesterday of Sarah & Greg's Los Angeles apartment, whom I had a chance to meet up with while visiting Miss Katie back in March. It was so great to see your amazing apartment Sarah & Greg, Katie & Scott talk about it all the time! (Go check it out, I especially love that vintage couch and chair set!)

TRAVELING... I have that itch again! I know, I just went to CA, but it was such a short visit! I was browsing Airbnb yesterday, and I found this adorable little flat in Istanbul for only $14/night (THOSE VIEWS OMG)! I think I might have to make that happen. UGHGhGhGHHHHHhhhh.

PESTO. It is taking over my life! We've had a few weeks of our CSA delivered now, and all we seem to be getting these first few weeks is spinach, arugula, swiss chard, salad greens and more salad greens! When we cant quite finish them at the end of the week, I've been throwing them all into the food processor with some walnuts, garlic, olive oil and S+P to make a quick pesto. But NOW I have too much pesto... a few small jars of it in my fridge. But I found out last night that I can just scoop it with some crunchy french bread and some spreadable goat cheese and it is to die for. BEST THING EVER.

What's up with you guys? I feel like we havent caught up in awhile.

Alex and I are going to the cabin up north this weekend for the first time this summer (other than opening up the cabin and doing some prep work), and I am pumped! The weather looks perfect for laying in the lake all day and drinking mojitos on the deck each night. This got me thinking about summer and what plans I have this year. So I made a list! Here are some things I want to accomplish this summer...



1) Spend weekends at the cabin (obvs), relaxing as much as possible and soaking up the sun! (top photo taken at the cabin last year)
2) Go to a pick-your-own berries farm, preferably raspberries or blueberries. Although I hear the strawberry crop is outstanding already this year. Go pick them if you are in MN!
3) Have an outdoor dinner party (possibly for my birthday?). I saw this photo (above) years (maybe) ago, and have been dying to recreate it ever since. And boy, do I have big plans for that!
4) Pickle things and make some jams. (with my CSA! the first share was delivered TODAY, as demonstrated by the image below! there is mint, hence the mojitos mentioned above! I cant wait, gah!!)



See ya in a few days, peeps!

Do you remember when I said that I was going to start eating meat again? Well here is the first recipe of 2012 that I made with... pork chops in it! I generally only eat real meat burgers and sometimes bacon, and tend not to want any other type of meat-things (unless it is sort of hidden in something, like chili). But Lunds had a two-for one sale on some meat type things awhile ago, and I jumped at the chance (meat is expensive, y'all!). Now, of course I let the chops sit in the freezer until we literally had nothing else to cook in the house (except, well mac' n cheese doesn't count, right?). But tonight it is snowing (a miracle for MN!) and something warm and hearty sounded just right for dinner. I made a dish that my mom used to make literally once a week for us growing up, but with a few differences. And Holy Cow, pork chops and rice is so easy people! You literally just throw some stuff in a baking pan and cook it in the oven for an hour. BAM, a delicious dinner.

This recipe called for cream of mushroom soup, and since we didn't have a can (who wants to run to the grocery store when its snowing and cold outside? Not me.) I winged it and used what the almighty internets suggested as an alternative, a cup of sour cream. That also sounds a lot healthier to me, dont you agree? For flavorings, I added in a lonely can of leafy green kale I had sitting around, and to spice it up, some cayenne and cumin (yummmyyyy). Also, the obligatory giant spoonful of garlic. I STILL have a can of minced garlic in our fridge from the CSA this summer... yep, we got a TON of garlic! I also used chicken broth instead of water. Much more flavorful.

And let me tell you folks, this was the most amazing, most comforting, most delicious meal for a cold winter's night. We cracked open a bottle of red, and I was pretty much ready for bed. Sweet sweet food (meat) coma. 

I cant even begin to tell you about all of the things we made with the last of our summer CSA share. SO MUCH. But I have to say, the last few weeks (in October!) were my favorite boxes. In them, we got squashes, potatoes, chard, onions, garlic, pumpkins and spinach. YUMMMMM. Here are a select few of my favorite meals that we made with them.

I might have one more post left after this (only one week left of the CSA share, boo), but here's the bulk of what we've been cooking for the last few weeks! Thanks Turnip Rock, I love your veggies!

Sauteed Sweet Onion, Patty Pan Squash and Green Pepper


Sweet Corn and Sizzled Green Beans with Bacon and Pine Nuts (so easy and so delicious!)


Another yummy Tomato Sauce with Basil and lots of Parmesan


Fresh Tomato Salsa (I used lots of cilantro and lime, and made three jars of it! It was so nice to have on hand when people came over, or as a little snack)



A delicious mix of grilled Squash and Carrots, with garlic and ginger (I didnt use a recipe with this one, I just knew I wanted them gingery, and yes we totally ate them with fish sticks!)



We had so many heads of garlic that we chopped it all up and canned it with a little olive oil, for use later! AWESOME.

It makes me so happy when Alex joins me in my remix picture every once in awhile. :) On this day, we went for a walk around the lake, and to the boys' place to babysit the kitty. Then we stopped for a few groceries and made yummy tuna sandwiches with lettuce and tomato and ate watermelon from our CSA. Then we spend all night lounging around and watching Star Trek Voyager episodes on Netflix (our latest obsession)! I love relaxing summer days like this.

on him:
vintage cowboy shirt: Tatter's
white hanes tee: Target
jeans: Banana Republic
flippy floppies: DSW
sunglasses: vintage, Succotash

on me:
dress: thrifted from Everyday People, originally from Anthropologie!
cardigan: Target?
leather sandals: vintage, thrifted from Savers
straw bag: vintage, thrifted from Everyday People

Guys, here are some of the delicious recipes I have been making recently with our weekly CSA share from Turnip Rock! My favorite place to look up recipes is the Smitten Kitchen, but some are from elsewhere on the web as well. All of the fruits, veggies, and herbs have come from our share, can you believe it?! Oh what a delicious summer it has been, and this is just the beginning!

Fresh Green Garlic Pesto with Blanched Fresh Broccoli over Linguine

You guys, we have just started our first year of a summer CSA with Turnip Rock, and I am loving it! We are on week two, and I am still not quite finished with last week's vegetables! I have a feeling that I really need to get my rear in gear if I want to eat all of these veggies, and try out a ton of new healthy recipes this summer. I MEAN LOOK. AT THIS PILE. OF VEGGIES.




This is a part of Alex's and my joint "new-year's resolution" (kind of) of trying to eat healthier and stay fitter this summer! Eat more veggies. First thing we tried (besides scarfing down the strawberries right out of the crate - yummy!) was this recipe for a marinated swiss chard salad. You can use whatever veggies you have to add to the salad, so I chose to add one of our cucumbers and a crap ton of radishes! Both from the CSA also.




Tonight, I will be making this green garlic pesto (and maybe with the garlic scapes too, if I want leftovers, but I might also save them for something else) to go on linguine!

I have also been learning a ton from our farm's blog on what these funny things are, what to use them for, and in cruising the internet for more infos. Thanks internet!!

Some cool things I've learned about vegetables (and herbs):
*You should add your herbs the last 20-30 minutes of cooking because they lose their flavor with longer cooking.
*Wrapped in wet paper towel, fresh herbs will last in the refrigerator about a week. (COOL!)
*garlic scapes are the flowering stem of heartier garlic plants. Normally, garlic scapes are removed from the plant to focus all the garlic's energy into bulb growth.
*green garlic is simply immature garlic and looks like a slightly overgrown scallion or green onion. They are pulled by growers when thinning crops.
*both garlic scapes and green garlic have a mild, garlicky flavor, but are much sweeter and vegetablier!
*strawberries, when smaller and less ripe, are really sour and tangy while larger riper strawberries are sweet and juicy. I cant decide which I like more!
*kale is actually a cabbage!
*swiss chard is one of the most nutritious vegetables around and ranks second only to spinach
*swiss chard, kale, and other leafy greens are very bitter fresh, but turn sweet and even buttery tasting when cooked (with heat or with vinegar, like my recipe above)! Yum.
*radishes will stay fresh like-forevs if you cut off the leaves and roots, and put them in a bowl of water in your refrigerator. (I had seen this done at a great aunt's house when I was younger, and just thought it was weird. was she trying to get them to grow? I now understand.)

More on this later.