foodagram. yup. i said it.

I have heard a few people say that pictures of food (specifically instagrams) are their least favorite pictures to look at. I think I speak for amateur foodies everywhere when I say seriously, get a life. Food involves so many colors and textures and intricate pieces that all have to work together to make it look as good as it tastes.  Here are some my recent documented food adventures:



apple tart.

The fourth of July is not complete without apples. Specifically apples baked with lots of sugar, flour and butter. Last year, Carolyn and I made a delicious apple pie inspired by our lady Ina. Unfortunately this year we had to celebrate this fun holiday in different states. Thus, no apple pie collaboration. Separately, however, this is what I came up with: an apple tart that slightly resembles a chrysanthemum.Check out the recipe [here]. I might suggest using a smidge less cream cheese and a few more apples. Serve it up with a dollop of vanilla bean ice cream. It will make your tummy smile...even if it isn't on the fourth of July.

lovely lunch.

In a perfectly cute world, one might wear these things to lunch with her best friend

in the spring when trees have bloomed & the smell of fresh cut grass lingers in the air.

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H M striped top, £9.99 || H&M checkered shorts, £13

ASOS cut out shoes, $38 || ASOS flap handbag, $32

ASOS pin jewelry, $45 || ASOS triangle ring, $14

House of Harlow 1960 black jewelry, $40 || Essie nail, $8

cobbler salad.

I totally get that this is sort of a summer food salad but it seemed delicious and after all this is Florida which means it's pretty much always summer. Right?

This salad is really easy. Really easy.

You may also be thinking warm salted fruit sounds a little weird. I thought so too until I remembered how much I love those two ingredients in a cobbler and decided it probably couldn't be too terribly awful. I'd like to think I was correct. So there we have it, a cobbler salad. Try it.

Grilled Fruit & Blue Cheese Salad
-a pear
-a peach
-a few strawberries
-sea salt
-spinach or greens
-blue cheese
-vinaigrette dressing (optional)

Turn your broiler on low. Slice up your fruit and put it on a baking sheet. Sprinkle with sea salt and pop it in the oven. Wait a few minutes, do a dance, and then sprinkle the fruit with blue cheese. Bake it a few minutes longer or just until the cheese starts to melt. Wait a few more minutes for the fruit to cool, do another dance and then place that cheesy grilled fruit on a bed of your favorite greens. Add a little bit of your favorite dressing and wah-la!

Easy, pretty & tasty.

p.s. I think I would add some sliced almonds next time!

saturday's are great for...

PANCAKES!

A last minute trip to Florida has been quite tasty so far. Remember the last time I visited my friend Amanda? This time has been just as fun. I've found that the greatest thing about best friends is that you (nine and a half times out of ten) have a fantastic time together doing just about anything. Especially when that 'anything' is making pancakes with BACON inside of them. I know...crazy right? Crazy awesome. Major credit for this delicious breakfast goes to my friend. She's da bomb.

Ta da! They were deee light full!

Nashville, revisited.

The last time I went to Nashville it was wonderful and delightful and any other word you could think of to describe a positive experience. Today's trip to Nashville had a different agenda but my sentiments about the city and the people I went with this time remain the same. It's just a cool place to be. I think it's neat to go to new towns (especially cool, hip ones like Nashville) and observe the people; you can immediately tell who belongs there. 

This brings me to my question of the day: do people inspire a city or does a city inspire the people? Maybe it's both. People are desperate to belong to something. Something bigger than themselves but not big enough that they can't fit in. We the people like belonging. It's just a fact. Observing the people at Fido in Nashville today lead me to believe they have figured out a pretty sweet balance of this. They seem to be unique individuals with expressive styles and personalities and yet they fit nicely into a mold that the place they reside has set for them.

These are just my thoughts. You may totally disagree & that is ok.

However, there will be no room for arguing with me about the delicious food and beverages at Fido. The black bean burger I had for lunch rocked  but my favorite treat of the day came later in the afternoon in the form of a local honey cinnamon latte & a blueberry goat cheese muffin. oh. my. yummy. I plan to recreate this muffin some day and wanted to see if there was a recipe online somewhere. I did a simple google search and found this girl, who also loved the muffins at Fido made them herself! I'm telling you, blueberries and goat cheese in muffin form...sheer bliss.

Four noteable things about this wonderful day.
1. Food makes people happier.
2. Laughter is absolutely a cure for most things.
3. I wanted to take more pictures of my food but I didn't want to be that girl.
4. Nashville is pretty darn cool.

Let's Do Lunch.

Let's get three cheers for some egg salad! I recently have developed my own take on this delicious lunch that my mom sometimes made for me as a kid. It's funny when you realize the things you don't know how to do because someone else has always done them for you. For example: hard boiling an egg. I am fully aware of what a hardboiled egg looks like, taste like (yum), smells like (gross) and I had a general idea of how to get it there but I thought I better do a little googling. Is 'googling' officially a verb yet? It’s probably a safe bet. Ok, back to lunch - after finding instructions on how to perfectly hard boil an egg, I waited a few minutes for them to cool and when it was time, I turned them into this delicious salad.

Pretty simple: dice eggs, mix with a little bit of mayonnaise, a tiny drop of mustard, green onions, salt and pepper. Toast two pieces of bread, lay some spinach leaves down and spread out the egg salad.

Make one for you. Make one for a friend. Enjoy it. Together.