Summer Party

My girlfriends and I threw a party in honor of our friend turning 24. 

Our theme was summer time simple. And it was delicious.

our menu consisted of:

+ grilled chicken & shrimp kababs

+ fruit salad

+ pasta salad

+ apple walnut salad

+ and my favorite...

+ red wine sangria.

it was perfect when paired with the summer foods & warm weather; it made the dinner!

i am definitely going to be using this recipe a ton during summer.

i encourage all of you to try out this recipe immediately.

perfect for the weekend :)

 

we of course topped our night off with strawberry meringue buttercream cupcakes.

the menu choice was just right. nice & light yet still very fulfilling.

what are some of your favorite summer recipes?!

 ...

have a relaxing next few days!

xx

Holiday treats!

hi + hello

long time no write :(

who's excited for memorial day?! 

me.

bbq's, parties, friends, the sun, lots of food, the start of summer.

all good and tasty things :)

thinking about making these 

{except with raspberries} 

as a morning treat before all the goodness starts.

maybe i'll make some as a "test run" as i plan the festivities with some of my favorite girls.

happy Wednesday!!!

{muffins}

Friendly meals

one of my most favorite things to do is cook for friends.

i cannot think of a better way to spend my Monday evening than try out new recipes with yummy wine + fantastic friends.

[especially since we were all needing an anything but ordinary meal after a long day in the rain & at work]

I made this delicious chicken, which I will be making again and probably as a regular in my repertoire of recipes! I liked it because it was so crunchy and full of flavor but not too fattening [in the sense that it reminded me of a great alternative to fried chicken].

Daniel made a scrumptious anti-pasta salad with amazing dressing [i'll have to nab the recipe from him]. I haven't been into dressings since the beginning of summer [I basically gave up any and all dressings because they are so so bad for you] so this was a fun treat!

Then to top it off and as a minor celebration [for Daniel's little soccer success], I made this lemon-mint cake. I am usually not a cake person; they're just so heavy and blah. This cake was so fluffy and moist on the inside, yet a little crunchy on the outside. Instead of icing it called for simple syrup -- it was perfect!!

[next time, i'll opt for plain simple syrup versus the lemon flavored, too much lemon!]

I cannot get over how light this cake was.

so fun :)

Birthday Brunch

for my aunt's birthday, i decided to host a small brunch for her

mimosas and everything :)

i made the pumpkin bread again

[i just can't get enough of the stuff!]

& i made my first quiche!

[it was so simple it was ridiculous]

it was the perfect go to dish

[i over slept and had to whip everything together very quickly!]

not too shabby

:)

Don't pretty pictures of food put you into a calming mood?

  {eggs}

 

{milk}

 

{berries}

 {tart}

 

{beverage}

{marshmallows}

Have a fantastic Saturday

xoxo

Weekend Treats: Pumpkin Bread

On Sunday morning I made this pumpkin bread. I was inspired after spending quite sometime perusing blogs such as honey & jam -- I just can't get enough. {I've also found a couple other blogs worth swooning over but more on that later!}

I loved how moist this bread was and how it made the house smelled heavenly. So many wonderful spices are put into this bread. If you don't like pumpkin, at least make it to make your house smell scrumptious!

 

 

It is almost like a cake! Just as good without the glaze so if you do not have a huge sweet tooth maybe opt no glaze.

When paired with eggs & coffee this is a delicious brunch treat!

Which is just what I did

:)

How was your weekend??

happy weekend

hope you have a great weekend!!

{picture}