Dishtowels~

I have this thing for embroidered dish towels. I had a grandma Betty who I have never met, but rumor has it she was the original Martha Stewart! Wish I could've met her, everyone said she was sweet and wonderful. She died a month before i was born. :(

Anyway, she would make these really shnazzy dish towels with cute embroidered pictures on them. I have one she did of a girl sitting on a blanket in her bikini!

So now, I have been thinking about making my own. Ones that i can give away too... I found a blog Posie Gets Cozy who just made some dishtowels and posted the directions on her blog! I am so excited to get started on these!

Help IS around the corner...

What you may not know about me is that i am a huge Coldplay fan. I have been ever since "look at the stars, look how they shine for you" floated into my ears. I have seen them in concert a few times. The first time was at First Avenue... where i practically\literally almost ran into Chris Martin when he was just walking around amongst the crowd (this was before they were big and pre-Gwyneth) any way... I was just saying to a friend today that you never know what is right around the corner. And every time I think or say that... I think of this little Coldplay song, Help is Around the Corner.

I know what I am doing tonight!

The great thing about the internet is that at my fingertips are recipes galore! Some of my favorite places to get recipes are other people's blogs, and also some great food related websites. I have a whole list of links under 'food' that i recommend you just take a look at. And not only are there great recipes, but articles about food and everything culinary. I think right now if I had the money, I would go back to Paris and take a cooking class by some mastor chef! Then he would yell at me in French and make me do trivial tasks like whisking egg whites to a glossy peeked perfection... Almost like Mr. Miyagi did with Daniel Son, wax on-- wax off! And right when i would want to give up and say, "What's the point Chef?"... I will have then created the most light and airy souffle ever made! Sweep the leg Johnny!
Tonight i am making soup from a recipe I found on Culinate. Pasta and Bean Soup. Sounds hearty and heart warming. Then I will watch LOST. Perfect Night.

Pasta and Bean Soup (Pasta e Fagioli)
By Carrie Floyd, from the Culinate Kitchen collection
Serves 10
Introduction
This makes a large pot, perfect for tucking a container or two into the freezer. Just don’t add the pasta to the soup pot; instead cook it to order. I adapted this from Rogers & Gray Italian Country Cook Book.
Ingredients
1½ cups borlotti (cranberry) beans
~Extra-virgin olive oil
2 red onions, peeled and chopped
3 cups chopped celery, leaves included
2 carrots, peeled and diced
4 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
1
small dried red chile pepper, crumbled (or a large pinch of red chile flakes)
1 large sprig rosemary, leaves removed from the branch and finely chopped
¼ cup chopped Italian parsley
2 to 3 slices smoked bacon, diced
1 large can (28 ounces) plum tomatoes, chopped, with juice
~ Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
8 oz. dried pasta (use any small shape, such as penne or orecchiette, that cups sauce well)
~ Freshly grated Parmesan cheese (optional)
Steps
Soak the beans overnight in a large saucepan. When ready to cook pour off the soaking liquid then cover the beans with fresh water, two inches over the top of the beans. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, and cook partially covered until the beans are done (tender but not mushy). Turn off the heat and set aside.
In a large soup pot, add enough olive oil to cover the bottom. Sauté chopped onions, celery, and carrots over medium heat until the onion is soft. Add the garlic, chile pepper, rosemary, parsley, and bacon. Sauté, stirring, until the bacon is cooked through. Add the chopped tomatoes with the juice and continue cooking, 20-30 minutes.
Meanwhile, in a blender purée half of the cooked beans with a little of the cooking liquid. Add this purée along with the rest of the cooked beans to the soup pot. Adjust the liquid — adding bean broth and/or water — to the consistency you like. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Bring a separate pot of salted water to a boil. Cook the pasta — a handful per person if you are not serving the entire amount in one sitting — until al dente, following the package instructions. Drain.
Serve by scooping a large spoonful of pasta into each bowl, then covering with soup. If you like, garnish each soup bowl with freshly grated Parmesan.
Notes

HotPockets!!!!

This is why I call crazy people Hotpockets! Courtesy of comedian Jim Gaffigan:

Nori Fix!

Tonight I went over to Megan and Jake's to bring some food over and to see sweet baby Norelle. She just keeps getting sweeter and sweeter! She is so content and happy, i just love her a ton!
It was great to hold her and feed her... Kelly, who also brought food, said that if i got started tonight i could have my own baby by October?!?! Hmmmm....I will have to think about that one!
It was fun to see the "S" clan... They are the perfect little family. For dinner, Kelly brought Balsamic Thyme Chicken and fresh bread from the Breadsmith. yum. And I made a Torte di Riso (picture is provided for a visual, not my pic)

and Angel Food Cake with Chocolate and Raspberries.

I think summer needs to hurry up so we can have more fresh berries and angel food cake! someday!

Torta Di Riso
From Special Occasions by Martha Stewart. Serves 10-15
6 tbsp unsalted butter, plus more for pan
1/2 cup bread crumbs
10 cups chicken stock, preferably homemade
1 onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 cup finely chopped mixed fresh herbs, such as thyme, rosemary, basil, parsley, and oregano
3 cups arborio rice
1 cup dry white wine
1/2 cup grated Parmesan, plus more for garnish
Salt and freshly ground pepper
Butter springform pan and coat with breadcrumbs, shaking out excess. Set aside In a large saucepan, heat stock to boiling, then lower to a simmer.
In a large heavy saucepan over low heat, melt 3 Tbsp. of butter. Add onion, garlic, and about 2/3 cup of the herbs and cook until onions are soft and transparent. Increase heat to medium and add rice. Stir well to coat all the grains.
Add wine and simmer, stirring constantly, until mostly evaporated. Add 1 cup of hot stock and simmer, stirring constantly until mostly absorbed, about 3 minutes. Add remaining stock a ladleful at a time, stirring constantly. Always wait until one ladleful is nearly absorbed before adding the next. Continue until rice is creamy and firm but not hard in the center (al dente) The cooking time should be about 15-20 minutes, but you must taste rice to judge doneness. Add remaining herbs about halfway through cooking time.
Stir in remaining 3 tblsp of butter, Parmesan, and salt and pepper to taste. Pour into prepared pan and cool completely. Refrigerate overnight.
Heat oven to 400 degrees. Bake torta for about 30 minutes, or until heated through (test by inserting a knife into the center for 15 seconds and checking the temperature of the blade upon removal to see that it is hot.)
Unmold torta carefully onto a plate, sprinkle additional Parmesan over the top, slice into wedges and serve.
Notes: This Torta is good for a party since it can be made ahead of time. It is essential that you use Italian short-grain rice; arborio is a widely available variety.

I wanna be a supermodel!

For my birthday, I received a gift card to one of my favorite places: Sephora!!! The creme de la creme of beauty products store. When i go there I am like a kid in a candy store. I really have a thing for makeup and beauty products. HOWEVER, the prices can be very high for some items... so when I go, I just am there to browse, try on the latest colors, smell the Philosophy body washes and spray my favorite perfumes. And then *maybe* I will buy something out of the $5 and under bins. But now with my gift card with a very sizable amount on the balance, what to buy?!? I wanted to be the most savy and get the most out of my gc. There were at least 3 things I was really wanting, Dior Diorshow Mascara, Stila Lip Glaze and Smashbox O-GLOW... but all those together were way over the amount I had to spend. Until.... I found the best deal ever! It is called the Supermodel Kit.

What it is: A glamourous gift set filled with products used by Sephora makeup artists for Fashion Week Live. Set includes a Stila Lip Glaze in Brown Sugar, Make Up For Ever Diamond Shadow in Diamond Black 307, Smashbox Mini Travel Photo Finish Foundation Primer in Original, Smashbox O-GLOW, Dior Diorshow Mascara in Black 090, Sephora Blush Me! Mono in Abricot Plaisir 6, all in a chic black sequined Sephora Brand clutch.

Fate had smiled upon me. All three things i wanted were in one set. Plus other fabulous products that i love! For one great price!

Now I am ready to walk the catwalk. Tyra, pick me! pick me!

I am a GIRL

As to now defend my feminine womanly awesomeness... I will no longer talk about sports. I rarely talk sports anyway. It's not at all how i used to be back in the day when i was ADDICTED to sports talk radio! KFAN morning, noon and night!!! And on top of that, I could tell you everything that was ever going on in the sports world, even sports i didn't like. It reached a point where it got so bad that I was having scores texted to me!! GIVE ME A BREAK! Guess what solved my problem: I bought a car that didnt have AM radio... NO AM=NO KFAN! That was years ago anyway.
So my ticket is booked for my friend Liz's wedding next week in San Antonio. I leave Valentine's night and therefore i get to share my love with strangers on a plane. I am so excited to see Liz and visit San Antonio, which i hear is a beautiful city. Alamo here I come! Which reminds me of a scene from Pee-Wee's Big adventure. The one where Pee-Wee goes to the Alamo to look for his bike. He says, "Excuse me, where is the basement?" And the tour guide lady says, "There's no basement in the Alamo!" and they all laugh at him. Poor Pee-Wee. The tour guide lady also says "These people live in an ADOBE, can you all say ADOBE?" Everytime i hear the word 'Adobe', I say that line from the movie. ADOBE!



Anyway I need a dress now for this wedding... good reason to go shopping. Dresses and shopping are very girly too!