Just one bite.

This is my new favorite trick to satisfy that "I want dessert" craving.

A little peanut butter, chocolate chips and sea salt.

It is like a big peanut M&M, only better.

Don't knock it until you try it.

Tomatoes, basil and garlic.

Simple recipes are sometimes the best ones. This one has six ingredients. The key to recipes with only a few ingredients is to make sure you use only the highest quality items. There is no place for poor quality ingredients to hide.

Lovers Tomato Bruschetta

 

Ingredients

• A bunch of tomatoes (I used Romas), deseeded and diced
• Fresh basil, chopped
• A few garlic cloves, chopped
• A couple of tablespoons olive oil
• A little balsamic vinegar (I used what we bought at the beach the other weekend)
• A pinch or two of sea salt

Serve on grilled baguette.

The cute couple.

My brother and his fiancé, Natasha, recently got engaged. To celebrate, they had a party at their home last weekend. I can't take credit for any of these details (except the bruschetta) but they were too cute not to share. 

Food & Drinks

Natasha works at a marketing agency. I love how she incorporated these Pantone color chips into the cupcake toppers. 

For the champagne bottles, they removed the labels, made hearts using a glue gun, then sprayed them with gold spray paint. Love this idea!

Decor

Activity

They set up a fun activity for their friends. Guests could write notes to the couple and hang them on the room divider. 

Friends

There is nothing like getting a group of your best friends together and celebrating the love of two of them. My brother gave a sweet speech that kind of made my heart melt. Love him. And I love Natasha.  And I really love the two of them together. 

 

Me & my baby brother. Congrats bro! Love you. 

Cheater cheater, enchilada eater.

When Carson was born, my girlfriends set up a meal train. It was a life saver. I love the idea of doing this for other new moms. My go-to meal of choice to bring someone is my layered chicken enchiladas (also know as cheater enchiladas in my family because they are so easy).

Ingredients 

• 1 rotisserie chicken, shredded 
• 8 oz Monterey Jack cheese, shredded
• 12 oz salsa verde
• 4 oz diced green chilies 
• Corn tortillas

Preparation

• Pour a little salsa verde in bottom of baking dish (it is nice to get one of the throwaway kinds with a lid for easy transport and recycling - new moms really appreciate stuff like this) 
• Add a layer of tortillas, then chicken, cheese, chilies and more verde sauce - repeat twice
• Add a top layer of cheese and sauce
• Bake at 425 degrees for 30-45 or until cheese bubbles and browns
• Serve with sour cream, salsa, chips and Mexican beer

Where the wine flows like water.

There are a ton of amazing wine events going on in Portland this week and next as part of the Classic Wines Auction. The main event, a black-tie dinner and auction, takes place next Saturday but today I’ve got a secret event to share with you...

On Monday, February 25 more than fifty wineries from Walla Walla Valley will be pouring tastes at Walla Walla Wine @ Pure Space. Tickets are $60 and include hors d'oeuvres from one of my favorite caterers, Vibrant Table. This is sure to be an amazing evening but sadly it’s on a Monday, which can be tricky for us. So, if you are like me and Monday nights out aren’t your thing, you can get a sample of the action on Sunday by attending a pre-tasting event at E&R Wine Shop. About half of the wineries at the larger event will also be pouring at this smaller, Sunday afternoon affair in John’s Landing from 1-4. Tickets are $20 and can be purchased by calling E&R at 503-246-6101. 

We are actually planning a trip to Walla Walla in April and I couldn’t be more excited. Brent and I were religiously making the trek up the Gorge every year but had to take a two-year hiatus during my pregnancy and Carson’s first year. Babies and excessive wine tasting don’t really go together. I’ll be sharing more details about our plans for that trip, including my favorite Walla Walla wines, as we get closer to April. In the meantime, I'll quench my thirst this Sunday at E&R.

You've got mail.

Some friends and I are planning a shower for our dear friend Megan who is getting married in a couple of months and the invites for the party went in the mail today! 

I could literally spend hours online trying to select the perfect invitation for an occasion. The invitation sets the tone for the entire event, so choosing wisely is important. Also, when hosting a party for someone else, you want to make sure the invitation reflects them and their style instead of yours.

I won’t reveal the winner (you’ll just have to watch your mailboxes!) but here are some of my favorites that I considered for this special event. 

 Top two from minted.com. Bottom two from weddingpaperdivas.com.

Let them eat cake.

This simple cake is equally easy and delicious. The beauty of it is you can adapt it to any fruit you happen to have on hand. For the cake in the photo I used plums, but I have also made this with apples and pears. You could even do a mix of different fruits or use frozen berries. The options are endless here, folks.

The recipe calls for a cast-iron skillet. If you don't own a skillet, you can use any 8 inch cake pan.

Skillet Cake recipe from Martha Stewart:

Ingredients

• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for skillet
• 1 cup all-purpose flour, plus more for skillet
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• Coarse salt
• 3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 cup low-fat buttermilk
• 2 ripe medium plums/apples/pears/apricots/peaches, thinly sliced

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Butter an 8-inch ovenproof skillet (preferably cast-iron); dust with flour, tapping out excess. Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Beat butter and 3/4 cup sugar with a mixer on medium speed until pale and fluffy. Beat in egg. Add flour mixture in 3 additions, alternating with buttermilk.
2. Pour batter into prepared skillet, and smooth top with an offset spatula. Fan plums on top, and sprinkle with remaining 2 tablespoons sugar. Bake until golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 35 to 40 minutes. Let cool slightly.

A juice a day.

My little family had a cold the entire month of January. I think even the dog was sick. To help fight it, I went on a serious juicing kick.

Here is the perfect cold-busting and energizing recipe I came up with to get us back to health.

Ingredients for about 24 ounces or two juices:

• The juice of two freshly squeezed grapefruits (about two cups)
• 1 large head of kale, chopped
• 2 frozen bananas, sliced
• 2 tablespoons of coconut flakes

Preparation:

Combine juice, kale, bananas and coconut. Blend well. Sip and enjoy.

You can buy Happiness.

I recently attended a glassybaby roadshow event at Bodyvox Art Commons (note: Bodyvox has a pretty awesome event rental space). 10 percent of the sales from the event were donated to The Nick Wilson Charitable Group (more info about NWCG is at the bottom of this post).

Every glassybaby is a unique hand-made piece of art and each shines with its own signature glow when lit. Did you know it takes four Seattle artists, three layers of molten glass and two thousand degrees to make one glassybaby? I’m kind of obsessed. 

After much debate, I walked away with Happiness (a bright shade of red with orange undertones) and Kumquat (a bright shade of orange with yellow undertones). They've found a nice home in my kitchen.

I also recently was given True Love (a deep shade of fuchsia pink) as a gift from my mother. It is living with my tea service set. 

The Nick Wilson Charitable Group (NWCG) was founded in 2005 by Nick Wilson’s family, whose hope was to help other families like their own, by providing financial support to families with children undergoing cancer treatment and blood and marrow transplantation at Doernbecher Children’s Hospital in Portland.

If you missed the event and are interested in donating to NWCG through the purchase of a glassybaby, the organization has partnered with glassybaby to come up with a special set that is available online. 10 percent of the sales are given to the organization.