Prepare to have your tastebuds blown

I was shopping at Trader Joes yesterday on my lunch break shopping for the dinner Spencer I would be making that night.  I was walking around frustrated that they didn't have what I needed, and annoyed that I would have to go to Safeway as well.  Then I saw the woman at the sample cart sampling something called cookie butter.  It looked like peanut butter and was spread on gingersnaps.  I was skeptical, but tried it anyway and was amazed at how good it was! The woman giving out the samples said she wishes she didn't know about it because now she eats so much of it! It's ground up gingersnap cookies mixed into a peanut butter-like consistency.  It's like cookie dough, but better and you aren't risking getting sick when you ear it.  She suggested putting it on apples, which sounded great. At Safeway I picked up some nice, crisp gala apples, in addition to what else I needed for dinner. 

After our grilled chicken, asparagus risotto and grilled squash on skewers, I surprised Spencer with the cookie butter.  He was instantly hooked and after a few spoonfuls, I brought out the apples.  What a great combo!  This stuff is dangerous!

Wine, anyone?

As a craft-minded person, I am always trying to think of ways I can reuse things that most people just throw away, such as blank CDs, Altoid tins, and wine corks.  I recently started collecting corks and family and friends joined in on the fun! They started saving their corks for me too, and my collection was growing quite slowly.  Then, Spencer's sister found a huge bag of free corks in the "free" section of a new mom's group message board she belongs follows.  She snatched them up for me and I was instantly inspired! There were enough corks to do any/all of the cork craft projects I had been researching online and thinking of myself.  I went out that day and got some wicker wreaths from the dollar store.  I came home that night planning on finishing one wreath, and ended up making two!  They take about 1.5 hour each and require a lot of corks, so a big bag like the one Jennifer got for me definitely helps! Thanks, Jenn! (PS- She is getting one of the wreaths as a "thank you", but she doesn't know it yet)

For your viewing pleasure

I wanted to backtrack and post pictures of somethings I have made recently before starting this blog.

This one has proved to be one of my boyfriend, Spencer's, favorites.  Marinated Greek chicken kabobs with lemon orzo and dill yogurt dipping sauce.  Very easy to make and tasty!

This steak salad was Spencer's idea and it turned our great! I used my new indoor grill pan to grill the steaks.

Lemon mousse with blackberry garnish has a lot of steps, but is overall an easy recipe for a refreshing, light dessert. 

I think this fresh berry cobbler is going to be a new favorite! It's very simple to make, tastes great and is a good excuse to use your favorite vintage bakeware!

Spencer's ultimate favorite thing that I make is my chicken parmesan.  This picture isn't great, because I didn't think to take one until we had already dug into the chickem parmesan! But if you look closely you will see the watermelon pink vintage Pyrex baking dish that I picked up at an antique store earlier that day.  I couldn't wait to use it!

Welcome!

I have been thinking about writing a blog for a while, but it wasn't until this week that I really felt inspired to start one.  I have been following Jeni on her blog http://incolororder.blogspot.com/ and she really seems to share my affinity for cooking, vintage kitchenware and creating things. Not to mention she has a great eye for color and pattern and is extremely talented at sewing!  That is the one shortcoming in my domestic diva-ness, but learning to sew is on my list of things to do before I turn 30!

This won't be a place to complain about the stresses of daily life (although there are plenty of those, that's for sure!). Rather, this will be a place to document my "wannabe homemaker" activities: trying new recipes and craft projects, adding to my collection of vintage Pyrex and decorating.  And maybe occasionally some unrelated other fun stuff, too.  My goal is to focus on these things I love and feel most fullfilled doing, but I still have to spend my days in a cubicle.  At least for now.  I was talking to my brother about this yesterday as I was showing him my most recent vintage Pyrex haul from a thrift store.  I said that I know a lot of women hated their lives 50 years ago and had to take Prozac because they got depressed staying home all day and caring for their home and family, but I would have loved that!  He said, "Sounds great.  The women were at home taking drugs and the men were at work drinking all day." While it's true that the world depicted in Mad Men isn't all flowers and rainbows by any stretch, I do fantasize about living in a time when cooking something from scratch didn't make people say, "God, she's trying to be so Martha."

Anyway, I'm excited to start posting my recipes and projects and look forward to writing about how I manage to make time for it all! Maybe I can inspire someone or even just help someone decide on what to make for dinner!

Today I love the..Smell of: Pizza
Sound of: Sarah and Vinnie on Alice 97.3
Taste of: Canteloupe
Sight of: Sun
Feel of: Cozy scarf

Good Things about Today:
- The weekend starts soon!
- Rummage sale preview sale tonight
- No huge demands on me at work
- I get to plan appertizers for a dinner party tomorrow night

Now Reading:
The Art of Mending, Elizabeth Berg