Summer rolls are one of my favorite things to order whenever we head out for Vietnamese food. They are crisp, and light, and unlike a deep-fried egg roll, don’t leave me feeling guilty after dinner. They’re kind of fun, too…crisp salad, sometimes shrimp, sometimes pork, sometimes both, all wrapped up in chewy rice paper and then dipped in peanut sauce? Good stuff.
Photo by: http://www.flickr.com/photos/aukirk/8426109718/
I’ve screwed up.
Despite the TV specials, newspaper articles, ad leakings, endless Brothers Harbaugh interviews and all of the Super Bowl stories that have taken over sports media this week, up until yesterday, I thought that the Super Bowl was NEXT weekend. Oops. It’s not. It’s this Sunday.
I’d meant to devote an entire week on the blog to Game Day Food. Obviously, that’s not going to happen now. I’ll make my brain lapse up to you in upcoming weeks. I promise!
The mantra I use to get me through the holiday cooking season is simply, “Make Ahead”. I am all about getting things prepped as early on as I possibly can, whether it be for a ginormous Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner, or just a smaller, intimate get together. This is a great make-ahead appetizer for the holidays, or any time of the year, really! You can prep these beautiful little rolls earlier in the day, store them in the fridge, and then bake them up right before your guests arrive.
I’ve lived in Georgia for over six years now, and one thing I’ve learned during my stay is that Pimento Cheese is kind of a big deal around here. If you’re not familiar with Pimento Cheese, it’s usually a pretty simple mixture of cheddar cheese, mayonnaise, diced pimentos (which are a type of red pepper), and seasonings. It’s used as a dip, or a spread, and Pimento Cheese sandwiches are commonplace. In fact, here in Augusta, they are a tradition at The Masters Golf Tournament.
Just a couple more days until Halloween!! Are your kids bouncing off the walls yet? Mine are. There’s nothing like the promise of a giant bag of candy and a subsequent sugar hangover to get my kids excited.
This weekend, we went to my husband’s department Halloween party. I wanted to bring something festive, but was short on time. The endless amounts of cute Halloween projects that I’d pinned on Pinterest would have to wait. I wanted quick, simple, and fun.
A few days ago, I returned from a Girls Week at the beach with my daughters, Mom, Aunt and cousins. We had a fantastic time together and it was so nice to just hang out and reconnect, since we don’t get to see each other that often. We live in different states, and all lead very busy lives, so we were eager to park our chairs in the sand and just “be” for a week. I think the trip did all of us some good! Oh, and the Mojitos helped too.
Tomorrow morning, the girls and I are heading home after a two week long trip up to the Midwest. Namely, Michigan and Indiana. We were hoping to escape the heat in Georgia, and that worked for the first half of our trip, but wow…did it get hot! Despite the heat wave, we’ve had a wonderful visit.
We packed a lot of activity into those two weeks, but best of all, we got to spend a lot of time with family and friends that we don’t get to see often enough.
It’s been a fantastic trip.
Is there really anything better than a really good BLT? It’s such a simple sandwich, nothing fancy. But, every time I have one, my first thought is, “Why don’t I have these more often?” They are the unsung hero of the sandwich world.
A friend of mine (who must have read my blog post last week about my inability to grow anything other than basil) gave me an armload of beautiful tomatoes, fresh from her garden, over the weekend. I went into immediate tomato eating overload. I was gobbling up handfuls of cherry tomatoes like they were candy, and figuring out a way to slice up the larger tomatoes to add to every meal. My tomato obsession was a little out of control, but I guess if I’m going to overindulge in something, fresh tomatoes aren’t the worst option!
Today is THE day!
It’s the last day of school!
The last day of school is always so bittersweet for me. While I’m excited about the fun and sun of summer break, it means that in the blink of an eye, my girls have passed another milestone. Emily will be a 4th grader in August when she heads back to school. Fourth graders are the big kids at school! I’m not ready for that! And my baby, Avery, is done with Kindergarten! How does this happen??? When I was a kid, the school year dragged on and on, and summer always seemed like it was a lifetime away. Now that I’m the grown-up, time moves so quickly, I can’t keep up. My dad warned me that this would happen. I should have listened.
It’s always nice to have a few recipes in your back pocket when you’re asked to bring a dish to share. It’s even better when the dish is something a little out of the norm, so there won’t be twenty of them on the pot luck table.
This is one of those recipes. These little savory artichoke bites are really easy to put together and they bake up beautifully. I would compare them to a really hearty little crustless Quiche. They are really tasty, and even better, super simple to whip up for a crowd.