march is here!

i started looking through my last several weeks and realized i didn't have much going on until mid march. P has been very busy. he had two conferences the first two weeks of march and was exhausted when it was all wrapped up. the 2nd conference was in Austin, TX so i went down for a day & hung out with him in his off time & shopped the rest of the time! got a couple of pairs of torys and a new ks bag. nothing too exciting, but still fun for me. if you've never been to the san marcos outlet mall, you must go. it is SO big. i could not get over the sheer size of this mall, much less the number of stores. there is no way i could have seen all i wanted to in just one day, so i hit the highlights.

the next day i drove back to fort worth early in the morning and by late afternoon i was across DFW at my very first pinterest party. my friend Steph, she has the most handsome baby boy, welcomed us to her beautiful home for the party. i had no idea how much i'd enjoy this, but it was really fun. three (Erin, Brit and I) of us made a nail and string art design of our native state, Brit also made a clock (like she literally made the clock work out of a blank canvas and a clock kit) and Steph made pillows for her house. Truth be told Stephanie did my nail art and i sewed her pillows. :) no matter - we all ended up with something fun from our craft day. check out the pictures below. yay for us!


Stephanie lives in a different part of DFW than I do (check out the post on her blog about the pinterest party too! she's a real deal blogger and does a much better job chronicling. the pillows are on that page) It's about 60 miles from my house, but so worth the trip to spend quality girl time with my friends. as the perfect hostess she showed us a great time and brought us to one of her favorite restaurants, Zanata in Rockwall. As a lover of simple but classicly prepared foods, i'm telling you right this very second if you are in this part of town, you must go. and do not look past the simple things like the hummus and pimento cheese board because you think - oh i've had hummus before. what appears simple is over the top delicious. hands down the best pimento cheese i've ever had. ever. this place is so unassuming, even with cassoulet and a pork belly app on the menu, and has such a relaxed atmosphere that you won't have a moment to feel like a stranger. just settle in and enjoy the experience. absolutely delicious. can't wait to get back.

finally february..

promise to keep this month to one post, but lots happened so it will be a long one.
one of my dear friends had her sweet baby girl, M on February 13 and i'm pretty sure she's the most beautiful M i've ever seen in the history of ever. she's so teeny tiny. mama and baby are well and at home getting to know each other. i'd post a picture of the cuteness, but i haven't asked Sarah so I can't do that yet. so instead i'll post a picture from her baby shower (and my friends happen to be gorg). needless to say a very exciting day before valentine's day!

at work i was hella busy with events, etc. P wasn't so much, but his march was set to be busy so I knew that we wouldn't see each other much the next couple of months. definitely a bummer, but it just made valentine's day more enjoyable. dinner at our favorite fort worth restaurant, Lambert's (just closed a few weeks ago. sad face.) with some close friends the weekend before and on the day of just hanging out at home together. The day started with valentines from my awesome colleagues, followed by beautiful tulips, my favorite, sent to me by P and i sent him a ding dong cake. :) his version of flowers..it was delicious! i lvoe valentine's day - i think celebrating love is awesome, but i think having a day to celebrate one of the greatest gifts in life is awesome!

next up was a visit to the Dallas Art Museum for the gaultier exhibit. i do not have words for how amazeballs this was...what a great exhibit. i really enjoyed this one. of course there were no photos inside, but i did shoot one so you can get a baby taste of it. he's an amazing designer and really his expression through design and fabric is truly incredible and so fun!

other than that, Feb was pretty boring. i'll end it with a biscuit recipe i made in Feb. these biscuits were the bomb and easy peasy. i really like cooking from a video because you can pause, rewind and really see the correct form to make sure you aren't over-mixing, kneading too much or just plain doing it wrong. so you will see videos pretty oftern from me. :)
http://www.joyofbaking.com/Biscuits.html
here is the result of my labor. i absolutely love the chunks of butter you can see in the biscuit dough and watching it translate into a flaky biscuit. seriously amazing the science that happens in cooking. and eventhough my mother is a chemist, i was/am terrible at science. yikes!

january again

this will be quick and short - i completely forgot to mention we bought a new car. i always enjoy new car feel. when you drive down the road and thinke veryone must be noticing my new car and how freaking awesome i look in my RB wayfarers, sun shining through my sunroof and the wind blowing through my hair - or not so much. but whatevs..still excited and even in march still loving it.

still in january, but at least the end

i started this year with a ton of cooking and baking. many many cookings and many many bakings. so i picked one cake that i made that got the most attention and people liked, my adaptation on oatmeal cake. it is for sure not healthy, but i liked it. the end. this cake took a lot of time and was no comparison to the deliciousness created at ellerbee's, but still tasty.

my adaptation of ellerbee's amazing oatmeal cookie cake






CAKE
1 cup old-fashioned oats
1 1/4 cups boiling water
1/2 cup vegetable shortening
1 cup sugar
1 cup packed light brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon fresh grated nutmeg

GLAZE
1/2 cup butter; unsalted
3 tablespoons milk
1 1/2 cups packed light brown sugar

ICING
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
1 pinch salt
1vanilla bean
1 ½ cups heavy whipped cream , unwhipped (33-35%)

Before starting this cake, throw a cup of golden raisins in a bowl with 1/4 cup of white rum and 1/2 a vanilla bean. if you don't like raisins - omit..obvi.

Put the oats in a mixing bowl, pour the boiling water over them, and set aside for 20 minutes. Heat the oven to 350ºF. Combine the shortening, sugars, and eggs in a large mixing bowl. Beat well with an electric mixer, adding the soaked oatmeal.

In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Beat them into the wet mixture until the batter is evenly mixed. Pour the batter into the prepared pans. (i used 8 inch rounds - this recipe wanted a 9x13) Bake for 30 minutes or until the cake pulls away from the sides or a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
Meanwhile, make the glaze. Melt the butter in a medium-size saucepan and stir in the milk. Add the brown sugar. Bring the mixture to a gentle boil and cook for several minutes, until it coats the back of your mixing spoon. Remove the pan from the heat and continue to stir for 20 more seconds
When you take out the cakes, leave in pan for 5 minutes and then plan on rack lined beneath with wax paper. After 20 minutes, with a toothpick, poke holes in each layer..several, but not a million and pour half the glaze over each cake. make sure to give the cakes enough time to soak in the mixture. slow is the idea here. then let sit for another 30 minutes before frosting the cakes. (adapted recipe from familyfun.go.com)

For Frosting: In a bowl whip the 1-1/2 cups whipping cream until stiff peaks form. In another large bowl beat together the cream cheese with sugar, salt and vanilla until smooth. Using a spatula fold in the whipped cream into the cream cheese mixture. (recipe from food.com)

Happy New Year!..in March..

as noted by many of my friends i have not been very good about updating my blog so I thought i would start now in March. The next few blog posts will be quick updates with a few pics of the last couple of months and then i will be all caught up and it will look like it never happened. whatevs..

well since we're on january now, my husband insists on black eyed peas on new years day. being from a south american family, i never had that tradition, but have embraced it being married to an oklahoma boy. over the years he's perfected his recipe to make it an actual meal and one that i look forward to.





1/2 quart of chicken stock
1 can of black eyed peas or fresh black eyed peas (fresh have a different cooking method - check googs for cooking method)
1 shallot
1 clove of minced garlic
1 tbsp of tabasco
pinch of salt and pepper
2 andouille sausages, scored (or any sausage of your choice)
2 cups of cooked rice (we used a quick cooking rice)

black eyed peas, chicken stock, tabasco, shallot, garlic, salt and pepper in a sauce pan. andouille in 10" frying pan scored side down until cooked. serve sausage over beans over rice. delish. thanks to P for introducing me to this good luck in the new year recipe.