lemon poppyseed cake

my dear friend heather has been making this cake for years.

and since i want to be just like her when i grow up,

i decided to try it out on my own :)

the recipe is super easy. it seemed like a no-brainer.

so i'm about to make the cake one night,

when i realized that i only have black sesame seeds in my cupboard,

no poppy seeds. bummer.

so i make a special trip to the grocery store to buy one thing... poppy seeds.

i make my purchase, come home and mix up this cake.

as i'm putting the cake into the oven i realized

i used black sesame seeds instead (!!!!)

i literally went to the store to by poppy seeds,

and purchased the exact wrong thing which i already had at home.

WHO DOES THAT?

oopsies :)

ANYWAY... while i don't recommend this cake with black sesame seeds,

it wasn't actually all that bad.

but maybe just follow the instructions. LOL :)

recipe via all recipes

ingredients

one 18-1/4 ounce yellow cake mix

one 4-serving size instant lemon pudding mix

4 eggs

1 cup water

1/2 cup vegetable oil

4 tablespoons poppy seeds

juice and zest of 1 lemon

directions

1. preheat oven to 350 degrees.

grease and flour a Bundt pan.

2. combine dry cake mix and dry pudding mix.

add eggs, water and oil and stir until well blended.

stir in poppy seeds, lemon zest and juice.

3. pour mix into bundt pan. bake for 45 minutes.

4. remove cake from oven and let it cool at room temperature for 15-20 minutes,

then invert into serving plate. when completely cool, sift powdered sugar over the top.

stawberry pie cake

i love trying something new.

and HELLO, how cute is this idea?

and so easy.... store bought cake mix,

store bought pie crust... perf.

ingredients

cooking spray

1 18.25-ounce box vanilla cake mix, plus required ingredients

3 cups quartered fresh strawberries (about 1 pound)

1/4 cup granulated sugar

pinch of salt

2 12-inch rolls refrigerated pie dough

all-purpose flour for dusting

coarse sugar, for sprinkling

vanilla ice cream or whipped cream, for serving

(recipe via food network)

directions

1. preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

spray a pie plate with cooking spray.

2. make the batter; pour into the pie plate until three-quarters full.

bake until set around the edges but slightly wobbly in the center, 20 to 25 minutes.

***cook your cake until it's 99% done. if not, it will be kind of mushy in the middle***

3. meanwhile, make the strawberry filling.

toss the strawberries, granulated sugar and salt in a bowl. let sit 20 minutes.

4. unroll 1 piece of pie dough on a lightly floured cutting board.

cut into 1- to 1 1/4-inch-wide strips with a knife. set aside.

5. unroll the remaining piece of pie dough.

cut three 1-inch-wide strips from the middle of the round and press the strips together,

end to end, to form one long strip. (this will be used for the pie crust rim.)

6. transfer the partially baked cake to a rack; cool slightly.

drain the strawberry mixture and spoon it onto the cake,

pressing the berries into the top to hold them in place.

increase the oven temperature to 450 degrees.

7. arrange half of the pie dough strips in parallel rows over the strawberries,

about 1 inch apart, using the shorter strips on the ends.

8. fold back every other strip halfway.

lay one of the remaining strips across the center of the pie, perpendicular to the others.

unfold the strips over the perpendicular one.

repeat, alternating the strips you fold back, to create a lattice top.

trim the overhang.

9. drape the long pie dough strip around the edge of the plate,

on top of the lattice ends. Trim as needed and press the ends together.

tuck the edge of the dough under itself, then crimp decoratively with your fingers.

10. sprinkle the lattice crust with coarse sugar and return the cake to the oven.

bake until the crust is golden, 10 to 15 more minutes.

(cover the pie rim with aluminum foil if it browns too quickly.)

serve with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.

grown up pink lemonade

who doesn't want a pink lemonade with a grown up twist?

this is honestly my new favorite cocktail :)

thank you spoon fork bacon!

ingredients
2 ½ cups good quality vodka
1 (quart size) packet pink lemonade Crystal Light
2 12oz cans diet cherry 7up
1 12oz can light beer

lemon slices
ice

(makes 1 quart)

directions

1. pour the vodka and crystal light into a large pitcher.

2. pour the remaining ingredients into the pitcher and stir.

3. serve over ice with lemon slices.

chocolate covered cherries

i am an extreme procrastinator.

some of you would never know this about me.

and while the hope is that we all keep getting better and better with time,

this particular quality about me is actually getting worse as i grow older.

i've known my passport was going to expire for some time.

it's been on my radar for about 6 months, and every couple of weeks i think to myself

'oh yeah, i definitely gotta do that this week'

sure enough two weeks later... i have the same thought all over again.

well, i became almost panic stricken this week when i realized i am all out of weeks

and that if i wait 2 more weeks my passport will indeed be expired.

so, off i went to get a passport photo.

it's a funny thing getting a passport photo...

you don't want to look like you tried too hard.

i mean, i did just walk into a kinko's on my way to yoga. 

on the other hand, that photo is going to be in that little blue book for the next 10 years!

(i'm going to 38 years old in 10 years!)

anyway. i took a passport photo.

and it wasn't my best look.

but who knows, maybe i'll look back at that photo

and remember that i had just eaten some of

these awesome chocolate covered cherries :)

you never know :)

(inspiration & recipe via not without salt)

ingredients

1 cup high quality white chocolate

(you could also use dark chocolate if you wanted) :)

1 vanilla bean, split with seeds scraped

2 handfuls of cherries

directions

1. wash and dry all your cherries.

2. in a small bowl melt chopped chocolate in a microwave.

3. once melted, stir in vanilla seeds.

4. dip the cherries into the melted white chocolate.

place on a plate covered with wax paper and refrigerate until firm.

5. enjoy!

lemony kale salad

last night i spent over an hour at a local party store

planning for my upcoming olympics party.

see here for a bit of inspiration :)

also, if kale isn't your new favorite thing yet,

i don't know what your problem is :)

honestly, i'm obsessed.

i was actually a little leery of this recipe at first,

thinking this salad would be WAY too hearty and bitter.

it was maybe my most favorite salad i've ever made!

the dressing is perfect, light and lemony,

it it softens the bite of the kale and chard.

AMAZING!

ingredients

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1 tablespoon olive oil

1/2 teaspoon sugar

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

4 cups torn kale leaves

2 cups torn Swiss chard leaves

4 teaspoons unsalted pumpkin seed kernels

1/4 cup sliced green onions (about 2)

1 ounce shaved pecorino romano

recipe via cooking light

directions

1. combine first 5 ingredients, stirring until sugar dissolves.

2. add kale and chard; toss. let stand 10 minutes.

3. heat a skillet over medium heat. add pumpkin seeds;

cook 5 minutes or until brown, stirring frequently.

4. add kernels, onions, and cheese to greens; toss.

(i was generous with the cheese and pumpkin seeds)

5. ENJOY!

glowing green smoothie

last night i sat on the couch, ate ice cream,

watched my new TV obsession on my roku,

and then went to bed at 9:30pm.

i know. you probably want to be juuust like me when you grow up. ha!

good thing i'm on day three of the glowing green smoothie

(made famous by the lovely kimberly snyder)

it's honestly a pretty awesome smoothie.

and you'll feel so great about yourself after drinking this,

you'll feel like that ice cream was just scratched from your record :)

enjoy!

ingredients

1 ½  cups of filtered or spring water
1 head chopped organic Romaine lettuce
8 cups of organic spinach
3 stalks organic celery
1 organic apple, cored and chopped
1 organic pear, cored and chopped
1 organic banana
Juice of ½ organic lemon

{recipe via kimberly snyder}

optional
½ bunch of organic cilantro (with stems)
1/3 bunch of organic parsley (with stems)

directions

 add water, chopped lettuce, and chopped spinach to the blender.
 turn the blender on a slow speed and mix until smooth.
 gradually increase blender speed as you add the celery,

apple, and pear one item at a time.

 if you are using cilantro and/or parsley, add it next with the
 blender still running.

 last, add the banana and lemon juice.

baked breakfast in one

i keep dreaming about my vacation from last week.

it was amazing :)

heather and i got to do some experimenting in the kitchen,

which included this 'kid-friendly' breakfast.

we honestly loved these. super cute and the perfect little meal!

recipe via cooking light

ingredients

2  slices high quality pepper bacon

4 slices multigrain bread

4 large eggs

4 teaspoons grated fresh cheese (optional)

1 teaspoon chopped fresh sage (optional)

salt and pepper

directions

1. position an oven rack in the middle setting.

place a jelly-roll pan on rack. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2. cook bacon until crisp; crumble or chop.

3. meanwhile, cut a hole into the center of each toast

using a 3-inch biscuit cutter or knife

butter your toast.

4. remove hot pan from the oven, and butter generously.

arrange bread slices on hot pan; crack one egg into each hole.

sprinkle eggs with salt, pepper, fresh herbs, and cheese (optional)

5. bake at 400 degrees for 5 minutes or until egg whites are set.

(you want your eggs to be similar to an over-easy consistency. don't overcook it!)

6. sprinkle with bacon crumbles.

enjoy your adorable little breakfast treat! :)

black butte top ten

1. waking up to this view

2. pooltime to the max

3. magazines galore

4. an afternoon bike ride

5. cigars of an evening

6. the famous beer 'goggles'

7. golfing adventures

8. happy hour every night at aspen lounge

9. having my favorite people there!

10. being at the most magical place on earth! :)