okay, if i’m being 100 percent honest, i couldn’t care less what kind of pie is made at thanksgiving. i don’t even really love pie. or dessert. i mean, sure i’m eating a chili dark chocolate bar right now, but that’s not dessert. that’s chocolate.
i digress.
the best part of any pie, is the way it looks. and my favorite, favorite, favorite part about pie is the decorative crust.
for mila’s first halloween, we wanted her to be her favorite thing. and we’re pretty sure our dog mochi is her favorite thing. she smiles and laughs when he comes in the room. she loves to pet-pet-pet his head, and is learning not to pull his hair as much. so, i searched the internet for a golden retriever costume for babies.
if we dressed mochi as his favorite thing, though, it probably wouldn’t be mila. : )
our new favorite little piece of d.c. may be the national bonsai + penjing museum inside the national arboretum. it’s a hidden gem in the city — an outdoor museum, surrounded by grass and trees. it definitely doesn’t feel like it’s in the middle of our nation’s capital, which is probably why we love it so much.
poke is totally taking over the fast casual scene, and for good reason. it’s cheap for restaurants to put out and they don’t need a full kitchen to produce — just refrigeration. but there is so much more to hawaiian food than poke bowls. musubi, for example!
i wrote all about the growing hawaiian food trend in today’s herald-dispatch. check it out! and follow the jump for a how-to on this hawaiian staple. spoiler alert: you gotta buy some spam!
hi there, mila!
i can hardly believe you’re eight-months-old. weren’t you just in my belly yesterday? you’re so big and strong and smart. and you’re more and more fun every day!
wait. there are people who didn’t spend their weekend on million dollar sailboats?
so last year, our friends bill — who has amazing taste in just about everything, and had curated a home full of gorgeous furniture and decor — got rid of everything he owned and bought a sailboat. that he lives on.
we love having friends over for dinner. selfishly, i love it because it forces me to clean the house (lol but really). for steven, it’s much more of an emotional thing. cooking is his love language. it’s how he tells people: you’re special to me. whether it’s an intimate pasta dinner for four, or a rowdy chicken and waffles brunch for twenty — being in the kitchen is his happy place and he loves sharing his food and heart with friends.
wow, that got sappy fast.
if you’re having friends for dinner and really want to impress them with your culinary prowess, this grilled octopus appetizer / salad / lunch dish is the way to go. just $4 at h mart, 1/2 a pound of baby octopus goes a long way when you add fresh baked bread grilled into toasts. and not to be all ina garten, but we also grew that thyme and parsley — and steven made the pottery it’s plated on.
this may be the easiest, quickest dinner i’ve made since becoming a mama. and it is so delicious, despite being married to a chef who can whip up anything my heart desires at any given moment — we’ve had this twice in the last week. i think that’s saying something.
it takes about 35 minutes to put together, and 25 of those are minutes spent in the oven. totally doable with a seven-month-old crawling around at your feet, pulling the dog’s hair when you haven’t taken a shower in three days and the coffee is cold and your husband is still not home from work and you have a couple deadlines you’re about to miss, but like, you’re really hungry. am i complaining? oops.
dear mila,
seven months looks so good on you. you’ve grown and developed so much in the last couple of months — weeks even. it’s hard to believe you’re the same tiny baby who used to sleep non-stop. you’re always awake now, and always so active!
you crawl.
you stand.
we think you’re getting ready to walk.
it’s awesome, and amazing and terrifying all at the same time.
if you didn’t drink at least a case of rosé this summer, do you even exist?
though any somm will tell you rosé is good year round, it is the quintessential summer drink. i wrote a little about the pink drink a while back for the herald-dispatch newspaper and thought i’d share it here. i also met a really awesome vintner and wine distributor working on this story, who i really enjoyed speaking with. what a wealth of information!
food | life | baby
food | life | baby
chef meets girl 