I think my favorite thing about our apartment is the jasmine hanging outside our front door. It’s in full bloom right now…every time I leave the house I see it, smell it, and smile. I can’t share the amazing smell with you, but I can share their beauty!

MONDAY:
- Tacos

TUESDAY:
- Breakfast for dinner (I swear we haven’t been having breakfast for dinner week after week…just haven’t done it yet! Not that there’s anything WRONG with having breakfast for dinner every week, of course…sounds good to me!)

WEDNESDAY:
- Chicken Salad Sandwiches

THURSDAY:
- Hawaiian Pizza

FRIDAY:
- Spaghetti (Cate’s new favorite meal, apparently)

SATURDAY:
- Eat out

SUNDAY:
- Hamburgers and hot dogs on the grill
- Watermelon (hope your tricks work!)
- Sweet potato fries from Trader Joe’s freezer

I know last week was a holiday, so I’ll cut you a little slack…but it’s back to normal life, people! Post your menus! We all love seeing them! If you haven’t posted before, go for it!

Who doesn’t love a polka dot?  And what better place to put a polka dot than on a cake?!  Seriously, how cute is this?

My friend Natalee has been making these cute polka dot cakes lately and I asked her to please share her secret so that I might pass it on to you!  She kindly obliged, so here’s the lowdown on how to polka your cake to the nines.

To give credit where credit is due…our good friened Melissa from ISLY turned Natalee on to this post from inchmark, which is where the original idea came from.  Natalee has provided additional information below, including the recipe for the icing.  Thanks to all of your beautiful minds for providing such a wonderful idea!

Icing for the Polka Dots:
- 3 cups confectioners’ sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
- 2 egg whites, beaten

Directions to mix icing: In a bowl, sift together confectioners’ sugar and cream of tartar. Using electric mixer, beat in 2 beaten egg whites for about 5 minutes or until mixture is thick enough to hold its shape.

Click here for the original tutorial. Here are Natalee’s most helpful notes on the process:

I ended up having to water the icing down a little bit, but I think you just have to play with it until it seems right.  It needs to be thin enough that it will pipe into the circle shapes without any peaks, but thick enough that it won’t run outside of the parameters of the circle.  Better to err on the side of too thick.

As far as the food coloring, I’ve found that if you really want GOOD colors, you have to get the cake decorator’s gel paste food coloring which you can find at either Michael’s or Diddams (and I’m sure any party/cake decor store) and online.   All you have to use is a little glob on the end of a toothpick to get the same color you get from an entire bottle/tube of the stuff you buy in the store.  Plus, I’ve found that if you add the whole bottle from the store, your icing tastes like chemicals.

After the icing is colored, you just need to put it in an icing bag with a large round tip (or if you don’t have one you can do what I did and cut a corner off of a ziploc).  Then Rob (her hubby) made a template (click here to download) of different sizes of circles, printed it out on paper and put the template under some waxed paper.  Then I piped right on to the wax paper in the shape/sizes of the circles.   Once they are all piped on, you just let them harden at least 12 hours and then they will come right off and you can put them right on your frosted cake.  I recommend going directly from waxed paper to cake as stacking them for storage causes colors to bleed if there is absolutely any humidity in the air/fridge.

It really is such a cute idea…and look how festive the cake looks on the birthday table!  Happy Polka Dotting!

You may have noticed that cute little flashing button for SocialLuxe Lounge on my sidebar.  And you may be wondering what it is.  WELL…it’s getting so exciting I just have to talk about it!

I am co-hosting the Swiffer SocialLuxe Lounge in Chicago on July 23!  It’s a pre-BlogHer pamper & primp party in the Hyatt Regency Chicago’s penthouse suite.  And it’s going to be fantastic.  I’m co-hosting with 5 other fantastic women bloggers, and we have some great sponsors…Swiffer, Kodak, Lands’ End and OPI…just to name a few!  The closer we get to the party, the more giddy I get.  It really is going to be so fun…and it’s been empowering to work with such a talented group of women to pull it all together.

Even if you’re not going to BlogHer, you can still participate!  It’s time to nominate your favorite women bloggers for the prestigious 2009 BlogLuxe Awards. Simply click here and nominate your favorites…and VOTE VOTE VOTE!  You may see a familiar face under Tastiest.   Go Vote! It’s easy!  Click here for more information on each category.

I love honey mustard.  In fact, I went through a phase in college where if there was something with honey mustard on the menu, I always ordered it.  In fact, it was overkill.  I’m not so obsessed these days, but it’s still a favorite sauce and dressing for me.

I love Ken’s Steakhouse Honey Mustard Dressing.  But last night it was all gone.  I was making chicken paninis and really wanted honey mustard.  I’ve tried to make it in the past, but it wasn’t very good…of course, that was pre-Internet when you couldn’t find 2 million recipes in 2 seconds. So last night I found this recipe and it was delish.  I even crossed the Ken’s honey mustard off my shopping list today – sorry Ken!

HONEY MUSTARD:
- 1/2 C mayonnaise
- 1/4 C mustard
- 1/4 C honey
- 1 T rice wine vinegar
- Dash salt
- Dash of black pepper

Whisk and enjoy! (Keep leftovers in refrigerator.)

I love Jif peanut butter.  It’s the only kind I’ll eat.  YUM YUM YUM.  I’ve tried other brands as well as natural peanut butters and have never been happy.  I even tried making my own…let’s just say I’ll be leaving that task to the experts. My friends and I were discussing this recently and Natalee piped in with, “Jif has a new natural peanut butter – and it’s great!  Super smooth, great flavor, I love it!”  We were all sold and decided to try it.

Fast forward to the next day, hanging out with the same friends, me (obnoxiously) checking my email on my iPhone.  Want to guess what was sitting in my Inbox?  A press release from Jif announcing their new Jif Natural Peanut Butter! We decided Jif should have paid Natalee a few bucks and let her write the press release…and seriously, why was she so on top of this new product release?  We all felt a little bit like a living commercial.  Pretty funny.  Serendipity dictated that I must respond to the email…Jif gladly sent along some Jif Natural for me to try.

I must confess, regular creamy Jif will always be my favorite, but Jif Natural is very good.  It has a stronger roasted peanut flavor and a nice smooth texture.  Natalee was right, it beats out other natural peanut butters for sure.

I predict that 90% of the people who read this post today will have PB&J for lunch.

Happy Memorial Day Weekend!  Sorry I haven’t shared any fantastic food ideas with you…I’ve been too busy enjoying the weekend and drinking yummy smoothies prepared by Nate.

If you are looking for Memorial Day ideas, check out this post from last year with some great picnic ideas…and if you have picnic ideas to share, please go leave a comment on the picnic post!

MONDAY:
- Paninis (I know we’ve been having these a lot lately, but Cate actually EATS them, so gotta go with it)

TUESDAY:
- Ricotta Pasta with Tomatoes al Forno (Rachael Ray 365: No Repeats) – thanks Courtney, I have that cookbook, and this sounds delish – gonna give it a try!

WEDNESDAY:
- Tacos

THURSDAY:
- Leftovers

FRIDAY:
- Breakfast for dinner (didn’t do that last week)

SATURDAY:
- Eat out

SUNDAY:
- Chicken Caesar Salad

Please share your menus!  Happy long weekend!

The first time  I had a pulled pork sandwich with coleslaw on top was at Disneyland, near the Pirates of the Caribbean. Nate and I were like “What?” and then we ate it…and understood.  It is a divine combination.  We had this for dinner last night and it was as good as ever.  (Confession: I bought a coleslaw mix that came with the dressing packet…I know, so lazy, but it tasted great and was EASY.)

My favorite sandwich the Rachel also sports this salad topping.  I guess I just like sandwiches with coleslaw…which is funny considering I would never eat coleslaw alone. Yuck. But I will grant that it makes for one tasty, fresh, crunchy addition to a sandwich. Yum.

PS…If you were planning on using the Texas Pulled Pork recipe on the Recipes-Main Dishes page…I just added my modified version of this recipe underneath it (you’ll have to scroll down near the bottom).  My version is sweeter, which Nate and I both liked better. But I think it is a matter of taste…if you like a smokier, not-so-sweet flavor, the original recipe is for you.

Is there anything LESS disappointing then cutting open a watermelon only to find this:

No, there isn’t.  Seriously, Isn’t watermelon supposed to be red?  Light pink just isn’t right.

I haven’t bought a GOOD watermelon in years.  I’m not exaggerating.  Am I just a bad watermelon selector?  Or are watermelons simply the victim of mass-produced produce?

Alton Brown once said on Good Eats that you should pick watermelons with a bigger yellow spot on the bottom. The yellow spot supposedly indicates that the watermelon was in the field longer before being picked, therefore more ripe.  No luck folks, the trick does NOT work. Which was disappointing to discover, normally Alton is right on.  And I really wanted him to be right this time.

Is finding a good watermelon just a crap shoot?  Does anyone feel as sad about this situation as I do..or am I just nuts?  Wait, don’t answer that.

Cate and I attended a 2-year-old’s Curious George birthday party yesterday.  Everything was adorable, including the cake, which I will share with you later this week.  This was one of my favorite parts about the food spread…bananas and chips, side by side. Any guesses which snack was more popular?

MONDAY:
- Breakfast for dinner (it’s going to be a busy day, gotta take it easy)

TUESDAY:
- Texas pulled pork sandwiches topped with coleslaw

WEDNESDAY:
- Kitchen sink quesadillas

THURSDAY:
- Spaghetti

FRIDAY:
- Leftovers

SATURDAY:
- Eat out

SUNDAY:
- Something on the grill…I will see what meat is on sale

Time for your menus…bring it on!  I know you’re eating…so tell us what it is!

This beautiful New York strip steak was one of my Mother’s Day presents.  (Sorry to the vegetarians out there…I always feel a little bad slapping a big piece of meat across your screen…but it was too good not to share!)  Nate cooked it to delicious perfection, so we thought we’d share what he did.

Cooking a New York Strip Steak
- Let steak sit at room temperature for an hour before cooking.
- Heat a cast iron skillet over high heat on the stove, with a little canola oil in the skillet, it should get very hot and start smoking
- Salt and pepper the outside of the steak (Nate used coarse sea salt…make sure to spread evenly, but seriously, those little chunks of salt on the meat were to die for…good move, Nate)
- Place steak in hot pan, 1 minute per side (and a little on the edges of the steak as well)
- Place skillet in preheated 425-degree oven for ~8 minutes for medium rare (at least, that’s how long it took for us)

Medium rare is the only way to eat a steak. If you don’t like it that way, then you’ll have to experiment yourself with the oven cooking time. I refuse to assist with your endeavor, however! You can probably find a chart online that tells you what temperature the steak should be for what doneness you want.

I wish it was Mother’s Day again.  All this steak talk is making me hungry.

Last fall I received an email from Penguin publishers asking if I would like a copy of The Sharper Your Knife, the Less You Cry, by Kathleen Flinn.  I love reading, so I jumped.  I read the book as soon as it arrived and really enjoyed it.

Kathleen Flinn was going to be in San Francisco for part of her book tour…and then the date changed and I couldn’t go.  I was très disappointed!  Anyway…the point of this long rambling story is…I was going to write about the book after meeting Kathleen, but that never happened, then the holidays arrived and I lost all semblance of sanity, so I never told you about this little gem of a book.

The Sharper Your Knife, the Less You Cry (which refers to cutting onions, by the way) is an autobiographical account of Kathleen’s experience being laid off from her job and then pursuing her dream of attending Le Cordon Bleu cooking school in Paris.  I loved the book for several reasons…it’s in Paris, the city that (after my trip last summer) is now my most favorite place on earth. I also ended up really enjoying the first-hand account of attending Le Cordon Bleu (which I wasn’t expecting to get so into).  Kathleen’s writing was engaging and genuine and there are recipes peppered throughout the book. It’s a very enjoyable read and would be a fun book club selection as well.

You can get the book here. Or visit Kathleen’s blog here.  Bon Appetit!

It’s time to announce the TEN random winners from the pingg giveaway! Here goes!

1. Kristen, “I love, love, love those cupcake invites! So cute!”
2. Amy W., “This sounds like something fun and interesting…definitely a unique idea!”
3. candice drew, “Yes, please!”
4. Deborah, “Aw! I get to have some awesome parties in my sweet backyard this year so this will be lovely for planning! thanks!”
5. Kelly, “I have TONS of parties coming up and could use the Invitation HELP!!”
6. Darbie, “I would love a good excuse to have a party!”
7. megan, “Cute invites. Pick me!”
8. Hannah C., “I would love this! Thank you!!”
9. Kristy, “I love pingg, too. So classy.”
10. Stacey, who posted the most serendipitous comment…”Yippee!! I hope I get it! I’m always throwing parties and just today I went on your site to find the name of that invitation company….sure enough….pingg~ I’m planning my son’s 4th Bday party and haven’t had time to make homemade invites yet. Thanks!”

Congatulations, ladies! If you are NOT a winner…remember online invitations at pingg are ALWAYS free, and beautiful.  And you can have some fun visiting all of the winners’ blogs today!

If I have not converted ALL OF YOU to pingg by now, I don’t know what else to do!  Except beg…please use pingg for your online invitations. I hope never to see an ugly invitation in my email again! (It all boils down to what makes ME happy, right?)

The 10 winners will receive an email with a unique code for 20 free printed invitations.  Congratulations!

You have a few more hours to enter the pingg giveaway…so click here and post a comment quick! You have until midnight, tonight (Monday, 5/11). Good luck!

Happy Mother’s Day!  Cate made this beautiful paper flower for me. Isn’t it lovely?

Nate took the girls into their room last night to do some Mother’s Day prep work. Cate emerged from the room GIDDY over their surprises for me.  It was one of those irresistibly wonderful mom moments.

My dear friend Christy sent this great link from Real Simple…a list of questions to ask your mom. It’s a great article.  Read it and make your call to Mom today that much more meaningful.

Do I really have to plan a menu? At least I’m not in charge of the food today!

MONDAY:
- Some yummy flavor of sausage, on the grill
- Veggie of some sort
- Zatarain’s Rice & Beans

TUESDAY:
- Chicken Paninis

WEDNESDAY:
- Chili

THURSDAY:
- Attending a graduation party…congrats, Dr. Jake!

FRIDAY:
- Leftovers

SATURDAY:
- Eat out

SUNDAY:
- I have no idea. I’m pleading “It’s Mother’s Day so I shouldn’t have to think.” I’ll come up with something later this week and use your menus for inspiration!

I know, it’s Mother’s Day. If you’re a mom, get off the computer and come back tomorrow with your menu. That said, can’t wait to see all of your menus!

Have a happy day everyone!

Yesterday I had the fortunate opportunity to participate in a conference call with my good friend Maria Shriver!

Okay, that picture was from a book signing last year.  And I guess we’re not REALLY friends, but seriously, once you meet her you feel like you ARE best friends!  Anyway, yesterday I joined about 30 other fellow Silicon Valley Moms bloggers to hear Maria discuss her latest endeavor, The Alzheimer’s Project on HBO. The call was informative and inspiring, and I’m definitely interested in seeing the series.

Maria’s father suffered from Alzheimer’s, so it is near and dear to her heart.  She wrote a book several years ago called What’s Happening to Grandpa? to help parents with talking to their children about Alzheimer’s.  Maria mentioned she’s wanted to do a special like this for years and sounded very excited to be a part of The Alzheimer’s Project.  The series will touch on the science of Alzheimer’s, the impact on those who have it as well as the caregivers, how to talk to children about Alzheimer’s, and more.

If you are interested in seeing the special, it will be airing Sunday, Monday and Tuesday nights on HBO.  You can also watch the films online, so if you don’t have HBO you won’t miss out! Visit this link to read more about the films and get more information on Alzheimer’s.

When I wrote about Aaron and Lindsay’s Chicken Tortilla Soup Extravaganza last month, the response was huge.  Understandably, since it looked SO delicious. I knew the soup was tasty, but I had never actually made it myself. This week I finally tried out the recipe.

It was really easy to make! SO simple.  And of course just as delicious as ever.  My kind of recipe! The tortilla strips were also a cinch to cook, but mine were NOT as tasty as Lindsay’s, so I’ve gotta ask her what EXACTLY she does there.  Anyway, just wanted you to know that not only is the recipe delicious, it’s quite simple, despite the fact it is classic Gourmet Lindsay.  Thanks again, Lindsay and Aaron!

I’ve been cooking corn on the cob in the microwave for years.  Wrap it in plastic wrap (or put on a plate covered with plastic), pop in the microwave for a few minutes and you’re done!  But I have to admit, cooking the corn in plastic in the microwave makes me a little nervous.  So, the other night with cobs of corn in hand, I got out my big pot and started boiling some water.

I did a little research online and found this unbelievably SIMPLE method on Epicurious. Of course it takes longer than the microwave, but it was just as easy and the corn came out perfectly.  So, without further ado, my “new” favorite way to cook corn on the cob!

Corn on the Cob
Adapted from Epicurious
Bring pot of salted water to a boil (enough to cover the corn). Drop already husked corn into water. Cover pot, return to a boil, then turn off heat and keep the pot covered. Corn is ready in about 5 minutes. Voila!  (You can keep additional ears of corn warm in the water for up to 10 minutes without it getting tough.)

This giveaway is now closed. Thank you!

Remember pingg?  We all know I love them. In case you have not heard of pingg, it is a fantastic online invitation and event management website. With a focus on great design and advanced management features, pingg makes inviting online with style super easy.  I love their designs, which is saying a lot coming from a picky graphic designer like me.  Speaking of which, they also provide the option of uploading your own designs or photos, which I have used for many of my events.

pingg is also the only online invitation company that offers a print feature.  That’s right, you can order prints of your online invitation and pingg will stamp and mail it to the guests you select from your list.  And it’s only $1.50 per card (plus postage)!  It’s perfect for friends and family who prefer more traditional invitations, but you still have the advantage of managing your event online.  Every printed invitation has a unique URL, so guests can reply online once they have received their invitation in the mail.

Which leads us to today’s giveaway!

TEN (yes, 10!) lucky readers will receive 20 FREE printed cards (a nearly $40 value)! Big thanks to pingg for such a great giveaway!!

Leave a comment on this post by Midnight PT on Monday, May 11, 2009. 10 winners will be randomly-selected and announced on May 12.

You don’t have to wait to win the giveaway to enjoy the benefits of pingg.  Online invitations are always free and can be sent to anyone via email, sms/text, the web, Twitter, and Facebook.

I honestly think my favorite part of pingg is being able to use my own artwork and photographs.  I love this feature SO much.  And I’ve also used them to send “Save the Date”-type invites and e-cards, just by turning off the RSVP function.

Good luck with the giveaway!  I’m jealous TEN of you will get FREE printed invitations.

Click ‘more’ to read a little ‘more’ about pingg.
(more…)

Recently, Nate and I drove by this large lake on the way to Half Moon Bay.

That particular morning the air was beyond still.  The lake was serving more as a mirror for the sky than a body of water.  Neither of us had every seen so much water sit so quietly.  It was stunning.  Nate had the presence of mind to pull over so I could jump out and get a quick snapshot or two.  I’m so thankful he stopped because on our way home the glass was gone, the water returned to its ripply self.

I know that has nothing to do with food, but I just had to share it with you!

So, what shall we eat this week?  (Be sure to read Wednesday’s menu item!)

MONDAY:
- Aaron & Lindsay’s Chicken Tortilla Soup Extravaganza!

TUESDAY:
- Chicken Stir Fry

WEDNESDAY:
- Chicken Paninis (Cate has been requesting these a ton lately…and not just the sandwich kind. Yesterday at Target she was BEGGING for a panini in the swimsuit department. No one-piece swimsuits for her, apparently. She particularly liked the string panini. We compromised with a tankini, which is most certainly not as delicious.)

THURSDAY:
- Leftovers

FRIDAY:
- Spaghetti
- Salad

SATURDAY:
- Eat out

SUNDAY:
- Some yummy flavor of sausage, on the grill
- Veggie of some sort
- Zatarain’s Rice & Beans

Please take a moment to post your menu for the week, no matter how fancy, simple, complex or incomplete!

A few post-scripts: Thank you to all who have been linking to recipes in your weekly menus – it’s so helpful!  I’m sorry to those of you who don’t live near a Trader Joe’s, I keep tempting you with their delicious goods…but you really should consider moving.  And I love all the first-time menu posters – keep it coming!