Make This Now

After I published my first “Make This Now” post, Joey told me I should make it a weekly series.  I told him I’d been saving up recipes and writing that post for over a month, so I probably wouldn’t have enough content to make it a weekly thing, but he assured me that even one recipe a week would be good enough.  Go figure that a week later, I’d end up with three recipes worth sharing!  This edition includes all things carby, aka delicious, so pay attention now.

Vegan “Brioche” Slider Buns

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When you can’t stop thinking about slider buns, even during Game of Thrones and your husband can’t stop talking about slider buns, even during a Fantasy Baseball draft, you know you’ve found a recipe winner.

Vegan or not, these were SO GOOD.  The yeast actually foamed up (which never happens for me…), they rose like a charm and they made the biggest, fluffiest, softest slider bun cloud I’ve ever had the pleasure of eating.  I started the dough and Joey formed them into the slider buns while I was at book club and then we baked them and it was probably our proudest joint-effort-moment thus far in life.  I can cross “find PERFECT burger bun recipe” off my life goal list.  DONE!

Creamy Chive Potatoes

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I don’t even like potatoes (‘cept sweet potatoes and, uh, all French fries), but this recipe!  I can’t even deny the potato goodness here.  It transcends all potato blandness and just becomes something so innately satisfying.

We’ve made this before, but even so, I wasn’t prepared for that first forkful to hit my taste buds.  HOW IS IT SO GOOD?  Full Disclosure: we used almond milk, which might be the furthest thing from the half-and-half the recipe called for, and it still turned out so creamy and luscious.  They almost taste like gnocchi — or, as I call them, “potato pillows” — but without all the trouble of actually making gnocchi.  Just know we had to go to FIVE different grocery store to find chives and it was 100% worth it.

Orecchiette with Peas, Shrimp and Buttermilk-Herb Dressing

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Confession: I reach “recipe exhaustion” after making something about five times.  As much as I wanna be that person who has an arsenal of tried and true recipes they’ve made so many times they know how to make them by heart, I’m just not.*  BUT, I’ve been making this every spring for like five years and I look forward to it every.single.year.  It’s so dang easy, quick and delicious.  Warning: serious garlic breath ahead, but it’s so very worth it.

Exceptions to this rule: my mom’s stuffing and red velvet cake.  I will NEVER get sick of those two things.

Happy Eating!

 

Weekend Things: April is here!

If I told you I ate tacos (twice), a lamb burger, spicy fried chicken, duck (also twice), soft shell crab and my body weight in chips and salsa this weekend, would you judge me?

It’s finally April!  Which means baseball is back, birthday celebrations are the norm and warm weather is here to stay.  Please please let that last part be true!  I could probably feel gluttonous about this past weekend, but instead I’m feeling happy because this time of the year is just the best and there’s too many fun things happening to not get caught up in it all.  April, I am so glad you are here.

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I texted Joey Thursday night and told him I was declaring Friday the start of his birthday, meaning we were gonna ignore the stuff we “needed” to do and just have fun from then on.  I also told him we could do WHATEVER he wanted and he wanted a red velvet cake.  And that’s how you end up carrying two sticks of butter in your purse.  Full cakes are intimidating but I’ve vowed to perfect it by the end of the year.

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Oh and Joey also really wanted me to get a lunchtime manicure on Friday 🙂

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We skipped out early, for the traditional birthday weekend happy hour at Root Down (In actuality, this is only the second year we’ve partook in that “tradition,” but it should most definitely be a yearly thing.)  We were lucky to grab two spots at the packed bar, then proceeded to order most of the menu.  I wish I could get to the root of it (see what I did there?), but for whatever reason, sitting in the sunshine on a Friday afternoon, sipping a Spicy Paloma and eating lamb sliders and duck wings with my favorite person just makes me the happiest girl in the world.

In true, J&L form, we left Root Down saying “we should go there EVERY Friday!”Read More »