Weekend in Photos Pt III
Saturday, a bunch of good friends graced my home with their presence… we had good food, watched….amusing online videos, talked and just hung out. I love having people over. I need to do it more often.
Sunday I invited my family over for brunch so my mom wouldn’t have to do anything… our dining room table isn’t very large, so I set up the coffee table as a makeshift dining area….
My sis-in-law made this GORGEOUS(and delicious) fruit salad.
I had made this for my party… but I completely forgot to serve it! So the family got to enjoy it. Strawberries, yellow cake, white chocolate pudding and cool whip…. so good. Layers of strawberry shortcake yumminess.
Adventures in the Kitchen
As I said in a previous post- I’m working on cooking more at home, eating GOOD food (non-processed, non-fast-food) on a more regular basis. Plus, I’m finding out that I love to cook. I love chopping and stirring and the presentation. I love all the colors…. so I’m going to do my best to document my adventures here on the blog- food photography is fun.
Friday night I finally got around to making some nachos…
They were so pretty- I almost hated to eat them. (almost)
I fried the chicken up with some lime… yum. Then I topped blue tortilla chips with the chicken, black beans, sharp cheddar, lettuce, tomato, sour cream, green onions and a little salsa. Mmmm.
Then this morning before I headed off to work, I finally got around to making the French Toast I’d been craving for a couple weeks now. (But I didn’t have any eggs till yesterday)
Topped the French Toast with fresh strawberries and powdered sugar (AND real Maple syrup) So good.
P.S. For those of you who enjoy my ‘outift’ posts, I’ve started a Tumblr account/blog/thing just for that…. so check it out! There’s a new outfit up! Its a Peacock Feather Day
Yum.
Ever since last year when me and my sisters stopped by the Greek Festival downtown Dayton and ate some delicious Gyros, its been in the back of my mind to try my hand at them…. this week I’ve gotten on a food kick, wanting to cut back in how much fast food/restaurant food I consume/purchase (too much!) so I’ve been toying with some different ideas and recipes. I read a few recipes here and there online on Gyros (pronounced like: Yeer-RO, not “Ji-Ro like so many people say it…. I’m Mediterranean, I know these things.)
After perusing a few recipes(most, too complicated) I figured I had a enough of a grasp and could wing it.
….and, it turned out delicious. Seriously. Shocked at how good it was!
mmmm… I have enough left-overs for tomorrow. Score.
I marinated some boneless skinless chicken overnight in olive oil, garlic, salt&pepper. Today I fried it up with a little olive oil (+more salt, pepper & garlic) in a frying pan and then added some red onion.
To make the sauce (which is called Tahini sauce) I grated some cucumber, then squeezed it out in some paper towel to rid it of excess moisture and mixed it with plain Greek Yogurt, salt, pepper & garlic…. its really good- and I am a person who isn’t big on sauces/condiments.
I found some garlic Tandoori Naan flat bread at the grocery, sliced some tomato… and presto! (or the Greek equivalent) Delish. As good, if not better than the ones from the Greek Festival.
Sleigh Bells Ring… Are Ya Listening?
So… despite a dessert fail, and an almost pizza dough fail… the holiday party at the apartment was kind of awesome. Tons of food, friends and pepperoni… (a LOT of pepperoni) I really love my friends. They’re kind of amazing, hilarious and ridiculously good looking…(or maybe just ridiculous…)
Since I was running around like a crazy person making pizzas and finding more plates and cups and being a distracted hostess, Isaac took over camera duties:
…. lots more pictures to upload… I baked Christmas cookies with some of my house church girls Friday night (before going to see ‘New Moon’) and then I did some Christmas pictures for my friends Deborah and Ryan this afternoon. Plus I have shots of our Christmas tree and some holiday decorations… I kind of love the holidays.
Thursday Night at Home
So my plans for the evening got canceled, so I’m staying in… bad news was I had a bunch of chicken marinating in the refridgerator because I was supposed to have dinner guests… so I had to cook all that up… and I’m not a big meat eater, so, needless to say, I now have leftovers… I hope I eat them, I hate throwing things out.
Inspiration Friday Vol. VII
I’ve been feeling crafty lately, meaning I want to make things, not in a Hogwarts wizard/witch type of way… (just so we’re clear.) So I’ve busted out some DIY stuff and its been great. Plus, now that Thanksgiving is over I’m letting myself listen to Christmas music! I’m probably a total dork, but I love it….
A little sample of my holiday music collection… a little Frank Sinatra, some Copeland, Sufjan Stevens ect…
…and then here’s a few things I’ve made lately…
some cake plates made from vintage dishes and cups I thrifted (and two-part epoxy glue) the link to a site with directions is on my Flickr
Cooking counts too, right?
Some Chocolate Trifle I made for Thanksgiving… So easy, chocolate cake, chocolate pudding, whipped topping, chocolate chips all layered pretty in a Trifle dish….
Then I put this little wreath together today after I put up some Christmas lights…
Now I think I get to go get dinner with some lovely ladies and possibly visit my little sister while she’s working retail on Black Friday….
Sunday
Can I just say I love the weekends? I love the weekends.
I took some time this weekend to do a little thrifting… one of my goals was to acquire a collection of random water goblets. Ever since I moved I love having people over so I wanted some neat glasses to serve drinks in when I have “dinner parties”. I am quite pleased with my finds that I will add to my current collection…
The kitchen colors at our apartment are turning out to be red, green (like an olive/pear green) and cobalt blue. I’m a fan… and the goblets match the scheme perfectly.
I also had some time to do some painting and arranging of a wall in the dining room….
I added a couple pieces today… both black canvases, I drew a wood-grain pattern on one and the other has Owl City lyrics written on it… (Owl City lyrics are adorable!) The oval frame is thrifted, and I taped some neat wrapping paper I have in it (which coincidentally is the same wrapping paper in the center frame behind the sketches…) I also painted the “e” glossy black (it works because both mine and my roommates names start with “e”) and framed the top left-hand photo/Copeland lyrics piece of mine. I’m liking the arrangement so far…
I finally painted my big “E” glossy white and the little owl is one of my spray-paint projects.
…and… I got my curtain hardware up (with a screw-driver no less. I don’t have a drill… I am a girl who does not have tools…I should probably get on that) and hung up the curtains that used to be in my bedroom for temporary curtains till me and the roommate find something we like better. They’re made out of vintage scarves sewn together and the curtain ring/clips are from Ikea.
A productive day… now I can’t wait to have some people over.