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Shrimp and Asparagus Stir Fry

April 26, 2016

File today’s recipe under the “dinners we eat once a week” category. Much like the oven baked salmon recipe I shared a few weeks back, this easy and healthy shrimp and asparagus stir fry makes an appearance on our table more often than I’d like to admit. Who can blame me for defaulting to it? It’s quick to whip up, offers an additional dose of vegetables and I just can’t get enough of the tangy combination of ginger, soy sauce and shrimp. Add in a crisp glass of white wine and an evening warm enough to dine on our balcony and you’ve got the recipe for a perfect spring night as far as I’m concerned.

Gluten Free Peanut Butter S’more Cookies

April 19, 2016

Have I ever mentioned that summer camp was a huge part of my life throughout my middle school and high school years? I both attended and later worked at camps in Washington State as a camper and then as a counselor. In fact, my first real job was at Camp Don Bosco in Carnation, Washington as a dishwasher! To this day it was one of the hardest yet most rewarding jobs I have had.

To me camp was an escape from reality; an escape from being bullied in school, an escape from feeling out of place and awkward every day. At camp I was given the acceptance and support to really discover who I was and who I wanted to be. It was working at camp where I met one of the best friends I will ever have and it was camp I turned to when I lost him unexpectedly seven years later. Camp was life, camp was love, camp was the smell of crackling embers, the sound of water lapping against the shore, the sight of hundreds of stars against the pitch black night sky. Camp was…s’mores.

I always adored s’mores and the fact that I got to make them with my campers on our weekly campouts in the woods was something I always looked forward to, as did my campers. The whole lot of us equated s’mores to a complete camping adventure and, even when our camp outs were occasionally rained out, I always made sure to still give the kids that part of their summer camp experience.

It has been years since I slept beneath the stars and even longer since I successfully built and started a campfire on my own. I’m not sure I could flip a canoe these days to save my life and the words to some of the camp songs I once loved are long since gone from my head. What remains are fleeting memories of being blissfully happy and free, memories of the sound of my best friend’s voice and laughter, sounds I will never hear again, and memories of roasting marshmallows around a campfire. Camp may be gone from my daily life but every time I bite into a s’more I’m taken back to a less complicated time and place where I fell asleep to the stars and woke to the sunrise, where I’d surprise myself by discovering tan lines on my cheeks from smiling so much, where I fell in love for the first time, where I grew up.

Today, in honor of the warming weather, in honor of the days getting longer, in honor of it almost being time for summer camp once again, and in honor of my best friend, I’m sharing a piece of myself I don’t normally share along with a recipe for s’more cookies.

Whiskey Lemon Foxtrot

April 12, 2016

Whiskey and I have always had a love hate relationship. I went through a phase in college where Jack Daniels was my JAM. And then, like most things from college, I outgrew it and moved on. Or perhaps my sudden repulsion was due to a bad night with my frienemy, Jack.

Time heals all wounds and these days I’m finally dipping a toe back into the whiskey pool and am starting to explore bourbon whiskeys. While you won’t (likely ever) find me coming home from work and pouring a splash of bourbon whiskey over some ice, you might find me experimenting with various whiskey-based cocktails ever so often.

Today’s cocktail is not for the faint of heart. It is essentially straight bourbon whiskey over ice with a splash of flavor added in for good measure. I didn’t expect to love it or want to share it with all of you but I found it so delicious that I just couldn’t help myself. It’s the perfect springtime drink because it blends the smooth, woody, wintery flavor or bourbon with just a hint of sunny days to come in the form of lemon and mint.

Portobello Mushroom Pizzas

March 29, 2016

Today’s portobello mushroom pizza recipe is one that we eat on the regular. In fact, it has become our go to Friday night dinner. I tend to default to it after a long week because it can be put together quickly, it satisfies the classic weekend pizza craving AND it manages to be fairly healthy. It’s basically a triple threat.

I first became a fan of these rich mushrooms last fall when I made crab stuffed portobellos to commemorate our move into our new home. Since that introduction I have been searching for different ways to incorporate them into our diet because I love their unique dense and meaty taste. That flavor perfectly compliments my new favorite way to eat them…as a savory base for pizza.

The Lolabee – A Fruity Gin Cocktail

March 22, 2016

Months and months ago as the days were growing shorter and colder, my husband and I were experimenting with new drink recipes as we often do and stumbled upon the most delicious gin based cocktail. I immediately wanted to share the recipe but knew it was too Springy to put up at the time, so I tucked the cocktail away in the back of my mind until sunnier, warmer days returned. Well, those days are here and I am excited to finally present to you with the Lolabee, a fruity gin cocktail.
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