Amazing Roasted Sweet Tates.

We need to have a discussion about sweet tates. I love them all year round. But I get pumped in mid-September because it means my nemesis (Summer) is getting ready to make its exit for a minute or two, and I can start making Thanksgivingy food and not have to feel weird about it.

I feel much better having had that discussion.

Start by peeling + dicing a couple of sweet potatoes. Grease a roasting pan and throw them in.

Scrounge up a tablespoon of butter. Then melt it. Grab your olive oil. Drizzle the butter atop the tates, then drizzle a little (like a tablespoon?) of the olive oil over that.

GRAB YOUR THANKSGIVING SPICES:
-1 tablespoon brown sugar
-1 teaspoon cinnamon
-1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg (grind your own if poss!)

Add a pinch of sea salt. Use your index finger to combine. Other fingers will not work for this. DO NOT ATTEMPT TO USE OTHER FINGERS. 

Sprinkle this atop your buttered + oiled tates, then stir them around to combine. They'll look like this:

Roast these in a 350 degree oven for ohhhhhh I don't know, like 35-45 minutes. Pull them out after 20 or so minutes and give them a stir. Pull a bite out with a fork after 30 minutes to check. Your oven temps may vary. WHO KNOWS. Who knows. Ovens are unpredictable.

They will look beautiful and delicious when they're done.

 They'll blow your pants off. I swear.

Farewell, Summer.

I made an OFFICIAL icy cold get the hell out of here, Summer, drink yesterday. I walked outside and says to the summer heat, I says, "This is the last time I'm celebrating you, pal. You can't occupy every single month. Time to go. Get off my lawn." We'll see what happens.

This recipe came about yesterday after I'd decided I was going to make some homemade lemonade. I am not a big lemonade drinker, but my life companion, Matt, is. I originally set out to make blueberry lemonade, but I couldn't find blueberries at the grocery because I didn't look very hard, so I settled for raspberries, and they worked beautifully. I added ginger ale at the last minute to my buggy, because I like fizzy things and I also have a grocery shopping problem.

You'll need sugar and water to make simple syrup, lemons, 6 oz. of raspberries, and ginger ale. Also a fine mesh strainer. If you don't already have one of these, I'd recommend taking the FMS plunge. I've used mine 4x since I got it less than 2 weeks ago. UPDATE: Just said "Damn, mesh, you fine!" out loud and rammed my leg into a chair, so it is with a heavy heart and bruised knee that I continue this post.

Start by heating 2/3 cup sugar + 1 cup water over medium heat. Dissolve the sugar, then remove from heat and allow to just chill out while you gut your lemons.

Go ahead and juice 1+1/4 cup of fresh lemon juice (for me, that was 10 lemons). Use your FMS to remove seedsies and pulpsies.

Do you have one of these small blenders? They're for, like, sportsball athletes who make protein shakes on-the-go or for girls like me who are trying to puree just a handful of berries. Only one or the other, though. It literally won't turn on if you're using it for any other purpose. You can, of course, use any size blender to totally obliterate your berries.

Run that raspberry puree through your FMS. You'll need a spoon this time to help the juices out.

In a pitcher combine your simple syrup, lemon juice, and strained raspberry juice. Allow to sit in fridge for about 30 minutes to cool.

Once it has cooled, or you've decided to quit waiting, pour some ice in a glass, fill it 3/4 with raspberry lemonade, and top with ginger ale. Drop (or throw from a distance) a couple of berries on top.

The perfect late summer afternoon beverage. If you're feeling fun as heck, you could splash in some Pimm's or vodka. What a treat! Hope you make this tasty bev!

No Pants Lunch

Sunday I was hungry around lunch time.

I didn't want to go the grocery because I didn't want to put on pants.

I didn't want to go pick something up because...you know, the pants thing.

I raided my fridge and pantry to see what I had on hand.

Here's what I found:

• 7 sprigs of asparagus left out from a tilapia + veg dinner I'd made several nights prior
• Half of a small bag of fettucini noodles
• 1/4 jar of pesto from a previous pizza night
• Half container of crumbled goat cheese because I'm fancy and buy goat cheese dammit

So I washed and chopped my asparagus. Threw that and the noodles into the same pot of salted boiling water. Heated up my pesto and goat cheese to melt it all together.

When the noodles and asparagus were done, I drained + threw them into the melty pesto goat cheese combo. Stirred it around. Added a little salt & pep and lemon juice.

Sprinkled some cilantro on top. What do you care?

You don't have to feel screwed if you realize you are hungry, don't have a meal planned for that day, and don't want to put on pants. TRUST ME. Just go be creative with whatever you have on hand.

Pants suck. Have a great week!

Avocado + Bacon Toast

As of late I've been extremely into simple dinners. I suppose even if I wasn't "into" them I'd be partaking in them because I seem to always be working these days. I still like to cook any night I have off, but I just haven't wanted to exert all of my energy in the kitchen. 

This avocado + bacon toast recipe is one I've been eating variations of for years now. Naturally I felt robbed when I saw it pinned from someone else's blog on pinterest, but after months of intensive psychotherapy I came around to the understanding that maybe I didn't invent the wheel. The wheel in this case, of course, being avocado toast. FUCK YES I DID. Nope. No I didn't. 

Step one is to get yourself a nice loaf of hearty multigrain bread. Also grab your serrated knife.

You'll know its good if the inside of the bread loaf looks like bird feeder was baked right in.

Cut some slices. NOW!

Oh yeah, throw some thick-cut bacon into a 375 degree oven.

Grab your olive oil, salt & pepper. Its important to note that for this recipe sea salt is best. Table salt is too salty. I don't know if thats true but invest in some sea salt. It looks like snow on your food and I can't stress enough how important that is.

Drizzle extra virgin olive oil on your bread slices. In a zig zag or you're a square.

Olive oil side down, grill them.

Lop your avocado in half. Sorry this picture looks like the damn sun is shining in your eyes. I don't have a grownup camera yet so I have to rely on my phone and God knows I can't NOT filter my photos. I mean I've got like 5 filter apps, so I'd be an idiot not to right? Again. SORRY THIS PICTURE IS SO BRIGHT.

Smash it up with a fork. 

Lime. Or the sun pt. 2. Who can tell the difference?

Flip your bread. Once its brown and crusty on both sides, pull it off. Duh.

Put some bacon on top!

Put your avocado on top, then squeeze some of that lime juice on it. Also a sprinky dinky of salt & pep.

This totally simple dinner is seriously right up my alley. I could eat this kind of thing every single night. Also morning. I am a huge fan of avocado in the am. Try it. Add whatever you want. Tomato slices on top would be so good. A fried egg if you're into that kinda thing. Make it your own.

BYE!

Sunday Esque Brunch

Happy Monday, all! Since Matt and I don't play by the rules, we decided to have a tasty Sunday esque brunch this morning. This is a simple frittata that you could add any of your favorite veggies and herbs to. 

Had it been just me making this for myself, I'd have nixed the bacon and substituted spinach. However, I'm proud to say that Matt REQUESTED tomato in his frittata this morning. I got really happy but pretended it was no biggie. Here's the step-by-step, folks.

Start by cracking 8 eggs into a big bowl. 

Splash in a little half & half, then a little milk. Don't measure. Just do it.

Chop up some bacon! I like mine burnt to a crisp. This is a little underdone for my taste, but it got the job done. 

Happily chop up a tomater per husband's request. 

BEHOLD. Gouda cheese. Grate some right over the bowl. Right after you've hurled in the bacon & tomato.

Sprinkle in some sea salt & freshly grind some pepper over the top. 

Whisk. Then pour into a greased pie dish. AND BAKE IT AT 375 FOR 25-30 MINUTES.

Poifect.

Have a happy week, you guys! Be sweet.