Snarly Photos, TASTY BITES!

I've been blogging now for approximately 6 months, and have learned a LOT in the process!

                                           Month 1                                   Month 3

Month 6

First of all, I have learned (or have remembered) how much I enjoy writing. I totally forgot, in all the hustle and bustle of family life!

I have learned many techy-tricks that a computer misfit like myself, never thought possible.

I have learned that blogging is just as much about making friends as it is about sharing recipes!

And I've learned that no matter how great your recipes are, PEOPLE WILL NOT TRY THEM IF THE PICTURES ARE TERRIBLE!

Charming Chimichurri

Grilled Pork Tenderloin with Chimichurri and Summer Veggies.

Even for those of us that love to tinker around our kitchens, there are days...dare I say it out loud? Days I just don't feel like it! Days I'm either so busy or so focused on something else, the idea of cooking dinner just hangs over me like a wet blanket.

An Inspiring Find!

Hibiscus-Ginger Iced Tea...and Martini.

One day in the grocery store, I strolled past an enormous pile of crispy burgundy objects. They looked like little dried sea anemones...in the produce department?!

Philosophical Salads

Tomato Stack and Beet Stack Salad.

Sometimes the best, most flavorful things are the simplest.

This philosophy seems to cover, well, life in general. Legendary artist Hans Hofmann once said, The ability to simplify means to eliminate the unnecessary so that the necessary may speak. I know many of us have been hanging onto the life-raft in this wild economic time. But through this, a bouquet of  lovely realizations have blossomed.

Cultured Kiddos

Fresh Plum Cake.

My kids love to be in the kitchen. I don't blame them! The aromas wafting from the oven are hard to beat! There's not another room I'd rather be in...

Heavenly Honey

Herb Infused Honey.

Have you ever opened different jars of honey and experienced a honey-tasting? Honeys can vary in taste and appearance, just as much as wines. The flavor and color of honey is derived from the nectar bees collect. Bees collect nectar from flowers grown in specific parts of the world--so honey tastes slightly different in every region. A few popular honeys in the U.S. are clover, tupelo, orange blossom, alfalfa, and buckwheat...although there are many more varieties available.

What the bees do with the nectar to produce honey is nothing short of a miracle...

The Best Eats Are On The Streets

Vietnamese Banh Mi Sandwich.

Street food is a weakness of mine. When I travel anywhere, it's the first thing I look for. You often get the real sense of a country's (or city's) culinary clout by what you purchase from a rickety cart on a bustling corner. In some way, such workman-meals give away a culture's deeper secrets. What can the average cart-pushing cook whip up on the sidewalk? What does that say about a people group's creativity, ingenuity, and zest for life? You can learn a lot about people by what and how they cook, if you just pay attention.

To Market, To Market...

Market Stuffed Squash Blossoms.

 
One of my favorite aspects of summer is our local farmer's markets. I literally get giddy Friday evening thinking of what I might find the next morning. This week I had the luxury of sneaking out of the house before the kids woke up! Off I went, TOTALLY ALONE, to pursue the market.