Plates | Cherry Tomato Pesto Salmon

First meal of April, and it was a winner. Low in effort, high in taste!

Ingredients
1 green and 1 yellow zucchini
Olive oil
1 pound of salmon
Pesto
Cherry tomatoes, halved
Salt/pepper to taste

Directions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Dice the zucchini, drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.
Lay the salmon on top, coat with pesto, and lay out the cherry tomatoes on top.
Cook for 15 minutes, cut into the salmon to see if it’s cooked through. If not, cook another 5-10 minutes.

Plans | Pretty Spring Brunch

Spring is now upon us! And when I think of spring, I think of colors--pink, green, yellow, pretty colors. It doesn’t feel like it in Boston (it snowed the other day!), but I invited a few girlfriends over to celebrate the new season. I found pretty plates and napkins at Michael’s, and I found ring pops at the grocery store and decided to have a pretty brunch party! Does anyone remember the board game “Pretty, Pretty Princess”? These ring pops reminded me of that game. I loved sitting around on a Sunday morning, chatting with my friends over a mix of sweet and savory food.

Menu
Coffee, hot and iced
Coconut Orange Cocktail
Irish Soda Muffins
Fruit
Feta Tomato Quiche

Plates | Nectarine Quinoa Salad

This is the time of the year when I don’t have a chance to go home for lunch (I live pretty close), so I prepped this meal in the morning and got a few jealous glances in the kitchen when I assembled this colorful salad. I added some chicken for protein and was good to go the rest of the day!

Ingredients
1 cup of quinoa, cooked
1 nectarine, sliced thinly
Flat leaf parsley
Walnuts
Greek dressing
Chicken, cooked and shredded

Directions
Cook the cup of quinoa and the chicken.
Lay a bed of quinoa, and top with the shredded chicken, flat leaf parsley, and 1 sliced nectarine.
Crush walnuts for the top, and drizzle with Greek dressing.

Projects | Paper Bird Houses

How cute are these? I found these bird houses at Michael’s for a dollar each, and I knew I had to decorate them somehow for a spring decoration. I LOVE scrapbook paper, I’m actually really obsessed with cute patterns, so I picked out 6 sheets that coordinated and spent the afternoon outfitting each house. I am really happy with how they turned out. They provide a great pop of color in my apartment. Perfect for spring.

Art Supplies Needed
Wood bird houses ($1 each from Michael’s!)
Scrapbook paper, 5-7 coordinated sheets
Scissors
Glue pen
Scissors
Pencil

Plates | Irish Soda Muffins

We can all be a little Irish on Saint Patrick’s Day! These muffins were mostly inspired by the adorable green clover cupcake liners I found at the craft store. These were such easy muffins to bake, and they were a large hit with my friends.

Ingredients
1 cup + 1 tbsp flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup sour cream
2 tbsp canola oil
1 beaten egg
1/3 cup raisins
Gold sprinkles

Directions
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
Combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a bowl.
Add the sour cream, oil, and beaten egg.
Stir the mixture until it is just moist.
Fill the muffin cups half way, should fill 6-7 cups. Add some gold sprinkles to the top!
Bake for 15-18 minutes until golden brown on the top.

Yields 6-7 muffins

Places | 3 1/2 Days in New Orleans: a Photo Narrative

Jon and I had the best time in New Orleans--so much good food, great music, and culture. There are some cities where I feel a little "been there, done that." This is not one of those cities. Get me back there! Here's how we spent our three days!

Day 1, Arrival around 3:00pm

4:00pm Hurricane at Pat O'Briens. Warning: these are very potent!

 4:45pm Walk to Jackson Square for a photo op, (nearby is the steamboat Natchez)

 Isn't New Orleans cute?

 5:15pm Flight of beers at Crescent City Brewery

6:00pm The moment I've been waiting for--BEIGNETS at Cafe du Monde. Amazing!

6:00pm Walk around cute shops

Not pictured: 6:30 Drinks at Ole Saint Bar and walk through the Carousel Bar (we didn't get a drink there because it was too crowded but it was super cool to see!)

Not pictured: Po'boys at Killer po'boys, delicious!

Day 2

9:00am Cafe au Laits at Cafe du Monde

10:00am Special breakfast at Brennan's Restaurant

I can't get over how beautiful this was.

Walk around Royal and Bourbon Streets

Beer outside at Jackson Square, because you can drink EVERYWHERE!

1:00 Cemetery Tour with Voodoo Bone Lady Company--really informational and informative!

The cemetery! Ended around 3:00pm

3:30 Ubered to the Bywater area for a glass of wine and late lunch at Bacchanal Wine, (they have music performances later at night)

4:30 Walk through the Crescent Park

5:30 Shared a BBQ plate at The Joint

1.5 mile saunter walk back to the hotel along Royal Street, stopped for a road beer along the way, because #NOLA

After a one hour break at our hotel, we hit Frenchmen Street to see live jazz, and we were not disappointed by this incredible brass band, Treme at d.b.a.

11:00pm Late night beignets--so tasty!

Day 3--Jon's birthday!

Birthday breakfast at Surrey's in the Garden District, delicious shrimp and grits and biscuits

10:30am Self-guided walking tour through the Garden District mansions

12:00 Birthday lunch (+.25 cent martinis) at Commander's Palace, amazing food, very tipsy

The outside of Commander's Palace--pretty sweet!

Slightly tipsy stroll down Magazine Street

We marched all the way down to Audubon Park, quite a long way! 

We stopped for margaritas because it was happy hour, and because we had walked a long way along Magazine Street.

The only photo of the parade because my phone died, but this was probably a highlight of the trip. We caught so many beads!

Day 4

9:30am Breakfast at Ruby Slipper, so tasty!

Another perfect weather day to soak in the beauty of the city.

Last meal of the trip--boiled crawfish, a New Orleans must, and they were in season!

What an action packed trip! Already looking forward to my return some day. Hopefully soon.

Plates | Basic Scone, Three Flavors

These were a really homey treat for my Crafternoon Party. They paired really well with the Chai tea that I made. It was a simple to make the base dough and fun to create the variations! There are so many possibilities with this recipe.

Ingredients
2 1/2 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp baking powder
1/3 cup sugar
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
3/4 cup butter

Variations: 1. blueberries & lemon juice (and zest), 2. raspberry jam

Directions
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
Mix together the dry ingredients, and cut the butter into cubes. Mix in the butter until the dough resembles fine crumbs. Add the remaining wet ingredients and mix until the mixture comes togehter. It will be a course dough.
Divide the dough if you’re making different varieties and add in the mix ins to each portion.
Pat a ball of dough into a flat circular disc and cut into 6 or 8 equal pieces.
Bake for 12-14 minutes until they start to turn golden brown.

You can serve these with butter, jam, honey, or heavy whipped cream.

This recipe made 24 mini scones, 8 of each kind