Save the Date

My friend sent me a gorgeous letterpress calendar for Christmas, which sadly had been sitting tucked away on my bookshelf for months. Each month is beautifully designed with gorgeous colors and heavy-weight paper that just exudes luxury. Instead of propping up each month, I decided to post the entire calendar in my craft nook to make the space a little more colorful and cozy.

I'm hoping this will inspire me to craft some more since my craft nook is more inviting now. 

Have a great week everyone! 

Shiitake Mushroom and Arugula Pizza

Monday nights are my least favorite nights to cook because over the weekend we've made all our fun stuff and we have random bits and pieces of leftover ingredients. Here is a dish you can put together with very little time and is perfect for the after-work meal. It was inspired by my trip to ATL where we had the Nucci pizza at Varasano's Pizzeria, which is to die for.

Ingredients:
Trader Joes Naan bread
Basil pesto (premade)
Shiitake mushrooms, sliced thinly
Mozzarella cheese (in our case we used left over queso asadero)
Sliced proscuitto
Baby arugula, washed and dried

Directions:

1. Bake the frozen naan bread until dry and the outside feels somewhat crisp.

2. Spread basil pesto on the naan and top with shiitakes and cheese. Bake until cheese is melted. Sprinkle with a pinch of salt.

3. Top with proscuitto and arugula right before serving.

Serve with salad and this could be your simple Monday dinner.

Dining In: Durham, NC - Dame's Chicken and Waffles

We've never had Chicken and Waffles despite hearing about it in Texas and now in Durham. After being inspired from my sister's recent chicken and waffle meal, we ended up at Dame's Chicken and Waffles in downtown Durham.

The sweet waffles and syrup work really well with the seasoned batter of the fried chicken. We had The Carolina Cockerel (trio of chicken wings) and A Red Crested Rose-Comb (duo of drumsticks).

There was a massive line, but a surprisingly short wait. And just when you are thinking that fried chicken and waffles are definitely going to set you back on your "healthy eating" goals, every entree comes with your choice of either rosemary mac and cheese, homemade grits, or a fruit bowl.

We clearly did not get the fruit bowl.

The strawberry and toasted almond shmears were delicious. The classic waffle had a great cinnamon hint. Overall, a great experience for a chicken and waffles newbie and unique addition to the Durham food scene. 

Knitting Needle Case

I have always coveted after the DIY projects on DesignSponge, but never had the courage or energy to try any. However, I decided that this project was just too cute to ignore. I also just happened to need a way to store my random knitting needles so they can hibernate until next winter.

I found 2/3 yard canvas fabric at JoAnn fabrics for $2.44 total:

Securing pins to set the lines with an iron:

Drawing lines for the different needle pockets:

Then, sew sew sew sew... I used twill tape on the edges to create a finished look.

Now it looks like I need more knitting needles:

The final product all wrapped up for the summer.

Not bad for not using a sewing machine since home economics in 6th grade. Thanks Miss. Petrucelli for teaching me how to thread a sewing machine and wind a bobbin.

Why do they call it home economics?

Happy Durham Weekend

Durham is one of those cities where a lot of people are driving around with "I love Durham" bumper stickers affixed on their cars. I have to be honest I wasn't a huge fan of Durham when I first moved here because it was such a change from the big cities that I had previously lived in. But, I must say that in the past few months I've really come to appreciate the little things that make Durham quirky and fun.

Here are a few shots of my favorite things in Durham this weekend:

1. Beautiful cookie or cupcake stand from Anthropologie (I could live in the store). 2. Spiked pink lemonade on a beautiful Durham Saturday. 3. THE Durham Bull (city mascot) dressed up for the winter. 4. Inspirational notes left on the sink in a restaurant bathroom (thanks Mr. Rogers).

Number 5 deserves a little more story telling. While walking around in downtown Durham, I happened to see a hint of neon pink hidden in the middle of some daffodils in an urban green space. Upon closer inspection, the pink happened to be a little knit hat for a little homemade garden gnome. He was holding a little sign that said, "I'm so glad you found me! I'm here simply to make you smile. I can go home with you, or you can leave me here to find another."

We actually left it there, so Durhamites can go searching for it too! Number 5 reflects the spirit of Durham that I've really grown to love. :)

Hope you have a great Monday!

Liquid Nitrogen Ice Cream

This past weekend for a fabulous grilled quesadilla dinner our friends brought over a massive container of liquid nitrogen to make dessert. Imagine my excitement after watching Top Chef, Richard Blais, use liquid nitrogen in almost every tasty creation on the show. For dessert we made vanilla bean and mango and strawberry ice creams.

The pictures speak for themselves, but I must say that liquid nitrogen creates the smoothest ice cream.

Sorry, we ate the ice cream so quickly that there was nothing left to take a picture of. However, I don't think this will be the last of our nitrogen adventures.

Have a great weekend!

Flowers like... Whoa

Saw this in the grocery store the other day and was just captivated by the color. No matter the fact that these flowers were watered with blue water to create this illusion. 

Slacking on posting, but I'll be better soon!

Dining In: Durham, NC - Toledo Carniceria

After Taqueria La Vaquita was written up in the NYTimes, The Husband said that the line at the little outdoor establishment instantly tripled. The hype of La Vaquita certainly overshadowed many other taco-focused joints in Durham, NC. So I wanted to pay homage to a taco place that we recently discovered and love: Toledo Carniceria aka Toledo Butcher Shop.

One of the best parts is that they have lengua, which is one of our favorite taco meats. Yep, you heard me correctly. Cow. Tongue.

Half of the taqueria is a butcher shop and grocery, which likely sources all the food. 

They let us try their delicious quesadilla cheese at $5.70 per pound. We'll definitely be back for this next time. 

Start off the meal with free chips and salsa!

They also add sour cream, queso fresco, and avocado slices for free. Just remember to ask. 

Good to the last bite! 

This place is definitely your local, hole-in-the-wall taqueria with no-nonsense food. Tacos at $1.65 a piece is not a bad deal in this economy. 

Tamago Yaki

The Husband has been making this for a long time... so long that we don't even have a precise recipe. Coupled with some sushi rice it can be a yummy snack or can even be made into sushi.  The key I think is either having a tamago pan or a very good non-stick pan.

You can try this recipe. It isn't the one we used since the Husband just makes it based on his intuition, but the recipe looks close enough.

Enjoy!

Linguine alla Bolognese

The Husband found a great way to use up the ground pork in our fridge by making this delicious pasta dish. He claims that he improvised this recipe and then figured out later that it was called ragu alla bolognese. Either way, it was scrumptious. This was his "improvised and estimated" recipe.

Ingredients:
linguine or choice of pasta
1 cup sliced mushrooms
1 lb ground pork
3 thick slices of bacon, chopped
1/2 jar of your choice tomato sauce
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 tbsp soy sauce
1/2 tbsp onion powder
1/2 tbsp garlic powder
1.5 tbsp dried basil
pinch of whole mustard seeds
2 tbsp granulated sugar
salt + pepper
parmesan cheese
1 tbsp olive oil

Directions:
1. Mix pork with soy sauce, onion powder, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Set aside.

2. Boil salted water for pasta.

3. Render bacon in pan until bits are browned and crisp. Add pork and cook until pink is gone. Add mushrooms and cook pork till browned.

4. To the pork, add minced garlic, tomato sauce, mustard seeds, and basil. Simmer on low heat until desired thickness and flavor has had a chance to develop. (The longer, the more flavorful).

5. Add salt and pepper to taste and grate in as much parmesan cheese as you'd like. Add olive oil and stir in right before serving for some earthy, grassy flavor.

6. Serve immediately over hot pasta.

Some mache lettuce with smoked salmon doesn't hurt either!