Pickles!

This past weekend I made spicy homemade pickles, based loosely off a family recipe my mother-in-law gave me. Her recipe was for bread-and-butter pickles, which aren't a favorite of mine. I prefer spicy or dill pickles, and I combined the two into my recipe.

I can't taste them until 8 days from now (pickling time is 10 days from jarring), so I'll have to let you know if it was a best or bust!

Here's how they look:


I added fresh dill, several chile de arbols, black whole peppercorns to the usual pickling recipe of vinegar and sugar. I also added several of my favorite spices.

Results soon!

Check Up & Granola

A few weeks ago I posted a small list, and I think it's about time to check up on my progress!

1. Blog More (At least 6 times before the month is through.)(DONE)
2. Call my Sister & Mom (I need to check up on them more often.) (MAKING PROGRESS)
3. Go to the gym or spin class every week. (Both.) (MAKING SOME PROGRESS)
4. Return Andrea's message on Facebook. (DONE)
5. Utilize my pantry for this month's dinners. (So many rices, quinoas and lentils!) (MAKING PROGRESS)

I'm beginning to blog more, but I feel like most of my posts are frivolous. I'm good on quantity, but not exactly quality. That's my new goal.

Finally, I've been taking a hard look at my pantry, and am trying to use some forgotten ingredients. A few weeks ago I made a lentil dish, and I've been incorporating rices into many meals. Today, I made a cinnamon almond granola with the old-fashioned oats and agave nectar that I had sitting in the pantry.


The result is fabulous! Also, I was able to utilize an ingredient that I've never used before: wheat germ. I've heard of it, but never really used it. It's similar in texture to bread crumbs or steel-cut oats. It tastes nutty. A great addition to crunchy granola.

Simple Gift

A friend at work left this on my desk this morning.



Such a sweet and thoughtful gift. The coworker remembered from back at Christmastime that I had owls on my wish list. Every day gifts are sometimes the best ones.

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

How are you celebrating?

To this Texan, Cinco de Mayo is always cause for celebrating the Mexican influences in my life, i.e. Mexican food, colorful fabrics, the Spanish language.

So, tonight, a group of friends and myself are going to Rosa's!
Hooray for sloppy, cheesy, yummy food!

Recap!

Here we are in May, and I haven't shared since the middle of last month! I'm not keeping my posting promise very well, am I?


At the end of April, Michael and I went down to Houston to join the celebration for our friend from college. She is(has) leaving for veternarian school in the Caribbean, and we were sending her off. Sounds like a dream to me! Anyway, we had dinner and drinks at Bodega's Taco Shop (a must if you're hanging around the Museum District in Houston), and then went back to Hotel Zaza (where Michael & I stayed) for drinks and music. The hotel was fabulous, and they even gave us sparkley rings to wear in the dark! How thoughtful.

We took too many photos that night, but this is one of my favorites.






Last Tuesday Michael won tickets to the Texas Rangers game! If you know me, you know I'm not that thrilled about baseball. Being the AWESOME wife I am, I went anyway! We lost the game, but got a fabulous photo out of it! (You see where my priorities lie.)


I can't wait until the next weekend!