greenheart

last night's dinner...

First, let me say, that cooking fresh clams has always seemed daunting to me. But lately I've been in love with linguine and white clam sauce and I felt the need to add it to my repertoire.  I came across this recipe... so easy, right?!  And SO good.  My Grandmother suggested adding mushrooms, saute them after the scallions and garlic {wouldn't chanterelles be nice?!}  She also suggests a stick of butter, rather than 2 pats.  I can't argue with that, more butter usually is better.  I think next time, I'll also add some extra {pre-shucked} clams into the mix and use linguine instead of the suggested spaghetti... I don't know why that last one matters, but it does. Oh, and I'm also pretty sure it's an Italian faux-pas to put Parmesan on your clams... but I can't be bothered with such quandaries involving cheese.  So the new summer mission is to go clamming!  ever been?  It sounds dirty to me and probably a ton of fun. 

jam on...

The strawberries from last week have been all done up... into one delicious strawberry shortcake cake {note I've tried that recipe before as cupcakes, it does NOT work as cupcakes unless your goal is to make a mess of your oven.}  And the first batch of strawberry jam... just follow instructions on the pectin box, easy peasy.  I've got big plans for the jam, it will be a summer-long production.  side note: Lila and I picked just the right amount of strawberries for both recipes, just like we planned it.  ;)

breakfast ramblings...

{homemade waffles, local bacon, fresh strawberries, and Cara Cara oranges}

In our household and according to my iphone, breakfast reigns supreme.  Lila usually has about 2 or 3 rounds before we're out the door for that day's adventure. And I've noticed that my grocery list usually revolves around breakfast stuff, light lunches and then whatever is for dinner that night.  {because I'm terrible at meal planning and can seemingly only buy what we'll eat that particular night... a lot more trips to the store, but a lot less wasted food... that's my thought process.  eh. needs improvement.}  Meanwhile, here are some things we made this weekend that didn't involve breakfast... Pasta All'Amatriciana, otherwise known as the perfect man pasta.  We made some improvements, including a little white wine and san marzano tomatoes... even better!  I whipped up some whoopie pies for a Sunday treat.  And yes, I tested both fillings, I went with filling #2.  Fish tacos were perfect for a warm spring night... we made them with corvina, which was a little sweet and pretty tasty. {but damn, I miss some Oregon seafood, cause nothing beats fried halibut!}  And last, but not least, Ryan took his first stab at homemade biscuits... they were awesome.  Did you know you could buy powdered buttermilk?  ingenious.  We packed some up with cheese, for an afternoon picnic and a hike at Umstead Park. 

{black cherry greek yogurt}

{sockeye salmon omelets}

{egg on toast and a big morning smile}

fabulous {& fully-loaded} focaccia...

 

How was your weekend?  Ours was filled with fantastic food, thanks to three back-to-back dinner parties {including Sunday family night, my newest, most favorite tradition}. On Friday, dinner was at our house with friends, and I decided that I need to become an expert focaccia maker.  Focaccia has a reputation as 'easy' so I thought this would be a good place to start with my novice bread-making skills.  Friday's bread turned out ok, but I think the recipe was over-simplified {and I'm a novice remember} so, the result was good, but too light and a little crumbly for my taste. Skip to Saturday and I'm determined to try again. new recipe, much better result, still room for improvement.  Which brings me to Sunday... and my perfectly chewy focaccia.  I followed this recipe again, but finally got the right combination of everything.  Things of importance... cast iron pan {made it easy to shape into a heart for Sunday night, with the help of a little tinfoil mold. AND they're just a heck of a lot better to cook with}, rapid rising yeast, bread flour, plenty of olive oil and salt, and I added grape tomatoes in the dimples of the bread {cherries were a bit too big}, along with all the other yummy toppings suggested by Mr. Florence.  delicious!  

around our house * the kitchen...

ALL of our boxes are unpacked! {well, almost. anything that's left we won't need until summertime, so I'm calling it good for now.}  I thought I'd share a few snaps throughout the house this week; let's start in the kitchen. We spend most of the morning in here... Lila sits at the window and we watch the birds take baths and neighborhood kitties strut the street...  we have a few rounds of breakfast and we're off for the day.  The homeowners painted all of the kitchen cabinets white, so the space is bright and cheerful.  If the house was ours, we would change out a few more things... we would replace the sink {with an old farmhouse one} get a new oven, and switch out the counters with some simple cuttingboard wood.  But, overall the space is good and I love spending our mornings here.

'SUN Y' letters a vintage find from the outer banks of NC, woodstock repro gift from my Mom, vintage lime green iron chairs and metal top table from my Babcia, placemats from Target, measuring cups from anthropologie, vintage bluebird shakers gift from my Mom, large vintage ball jars from antique shop in Portland, OR... these were once used by some badass canning nuns in a Portland convent, they were also used as centerpieces at our wedding.