I’ve missed you guys!  I have always felt like there is no reason to apologize for the time you need away.  We all have lives and sometimes everything is just too much.  I have three busy kids, a full time job, am enrolled in a Master’s degree program and just generally sleep-deprived and busy!  I am not afraid to admit the amount of take-out we eat on a weekly basis right now.  My focus lately has been simple family favorites that don’t take a lot of time, ingredients, or effort.  But I miss you guys and I miss the focus on new ideas and new food.  So here I am with a great fall recipe (stick to your ribs and turn on the oven)!  I have a few new ideas coming up for you guys as well as some Nespresso give-aways.  So stay tuned!  I’m still here and I can’t wait to tell you what’s in store!

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photo courtesy of Nespresso

The 34th America’s Cup Final race begins September 7th and I’ll be watching.  I was lucky enough to visit San Francisco recently to watch the teams race in the Louis Vuitton Cup Finals and it is truly an amazing sport.  Nespresso was named the official coffee of the America’s cup and the Nespresso Bloggers got a chance to sample some of their Race inspired recipes at the new San Francisco Nespresso Boutique.  If you’ve never heard of the America’s Cup I would encourage you to check out their YouTube channel.

photo courtesy of Nespresso

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It’s summer!  Finally the season has arrived for strawberry salads and garden tomatoes, cool soups and no-cook meals, and sandwiches for dinner and peach pie and cherry pie and watermelon.  Every summer I plunge into gardening with such enthusiamsm that I typically kill off everything I have planted within a few weeks.  Apparently vegetables don’t appreciate my particular style of helicopter parenting.  Basil is especially challenging because I want to pick and prune a little here and few leaves there until the poor thing is one tall nude stem.  This summer I have practiced much restraint and so far have been rewarded with a big bushy basil plant that I have not killed yet.    

I received a new food processor for my birthday and to celebrate both my bushy basil and my new kitchen appliance (squee!) I made my first batch of pesto in many summers.  I like my pesto with walnuts (they’re cheaper than pine nuts and I can toss the extras on a salad) but feel free to use pine nuts if you are a purist.  Click here for the recipe »

Congratulations Suzanne!  Please check your email for further information.  Thank you all and I hope everyone had a wonderful Mother’s Day.

Being a Mom can be tough.  Heck, life is tough.  And then you became a Mom.  One of my favorite moments in the day is the quiet bit after everyone is off to school or tucked into bed and I get to enjoy a few minutes all to myself.  It is my chance to do something just for me-to reset and unwind.  I brew my favorite espresso, gently froth some milk and honey, and crack open my feed reader for some serious me time.  It never fails to leave me with a honey foam mustache and a “Mmmmm, that’s good” exhale.  I sit in the garden and watch this or this and suddenly I am me again.   In honor of all the Moms out there who wrangle, cajole, nag, and work wonders daily,  Nespresso would like to giveaway one U Pure Cream machine and an Aeroccino Plus milk frother to the coffee lover in your life (is it you?).  Click here for the recipe »