A way to spend a warm evening...

    

Garden-Fresh Bean & Tomato Salad

This super fresh salad is a refreshing summer side. It was inspired by a similar recipe that I read about. I tweaked it, added some ingredients and went on to create my bean and tomato salad.

1 small can, 12 oz. or so, cannellini beans
1 large handful grape or cherry tomatoes
handful basil leaves
the juice of one lemon
3 T. olive oil, extra-virgin is best
fresh ground peppercorns
salt to taste

Chop tomatoes in half (note: I like to use red and yellow tomatoes. It makes the salad even more colorful), drain and rinse beans, and chop the basil into thin strips. Mix those ingredients in your serving bowl. In a small bowl, whisk your evoo, (extra-virgin olive oil), lemon juice, salt and fresh ground peppercorns.  Pour over the salad, mix and garnish with a sprig of basil. Enjoy!

-Leah 

The BEST Pesto in the World

Pesto is one of my favorite foods. Consequently, I have tried many different recipes. This one is by far the best!

2 cups fresh basil
1/2 cup parmesan
1/2 cup olive oil
2 TBS romono
2 cloves pressed garlic
3 TBS softened butter
2 TBS pine nuts

Blend first 4 ingredients. Take out of blender. Add butter and grated cheeses.

This makes enough for one pound of pasta. I like to make a double batch and freeze what ever I don't use, it keeps in the freezer for a long time!

-Emma

Small Plates... Detroit

Oh my gosh!  We went to this AMAZING restaurant in Detroit called Small Plates.  Basically, you order several dishes to share amongst your family.  This way, you can taste-test each dish.  Whoever came up with this idea of ordering food is brilliant—a genius… Anyway, Small Plates was marvelous!  We (four people) ordered:

Classic Caesar Salad [Crisp and scrumptious]           

-Crispy croutons

            -Shredded parm

                                    

Hand-Cut Fries [Oh so good]

            -Homemade ketchup

            -Malt vinegar

            -Garlic aioli

Garlic Shrimp [Fabulous!!]

            -Nuked (as in heated) w/

            -Garlic & white wine sauce

            -Spicy herbs

            -Sliced French bread

Crispy Calamari [Tender and delish]

            -Tender calamari w/

            -Paprika

            -Garlic aioli

            -Chopped lettuce and green onions

Asian Lettuce Wraps [Delectable chicken]

            -Veggie and chicken mix w/

            -Romaine leaves

            -Soy/Asian sauce

      I really have no clue WHY OH WHY I always bother using words like “scrumptious” and “delectable.” I could simply state that everything was fabulous or divinnne.  However, I don’t always do/say things the easiest way.  (People who really know me know that…)  Oh gosh, don’t these pictures make your mouth water? I mean, really!  Plus, a major plus ;) of Small Plated was the dishes’ presentation.  The plain white china really finishes off the perdy (cowboy pretty) food.  Mmm…GOOD!!

     

      Love always,

Leah

Portland--The City of Roses

4/5/10

Dear Readers,
I'm sitting at our place in Portland, enjoying the fantabulous (fantastic/fabulous) view of the city out the clear--slightly dirty--windows.  Gosh, it's a nice view over la ville (aka "the city").  Nonetheless, it's spitting rain like heck and that's about the only thing I DON'T like about Portland.  The rest....is history.  What I really mean is that the rest is great.  The Tri-Met, train-of-sorts, goes all over the city and its surroundings (Lake Oswego, Gresham, Beaverton, etc.) and the price is GREAT (even though no one ever checks and sees if you buy a ticket).  An awesome thing (another, I know!) about Portland is that there are so so many Minis tootling about.  They're made by BMW, they're sticks and they're cute and brightly-colored.  Oh boy I love Nordstrom.  I mean Nordstrom Rack...I can't afford full-priced Dolce & Gabanna clothing (or half-price) or ditto with BCBG clothingwear.  There's a Norstrom and Nordstrom Rack really close to us and we can get off the Tri-Met right where it is.
Good grief, I'm running out of words to type... here's a car like the bug i saw...

(This picture is from speedace.info.com)

A Note on Makeup...

The point of makeup is to make a person look younger.  So why do 11, 12, 13, 14 year olds wear like, an inch of eyeshadow?  I humbly admit that I wear eye shadow on special occasions, a lot of girls do, but I do try to wear it in short.  Sure, I wear mascara when I can find my tube and get around to it.  I like the ULTA brand of this swell sparkly eye pencil.  I like makeup...and don't.  I like it when people wear it right.  Consider these tips:


--If you are light-haired, wear a brown or colored mascara.  Sometimes, black is a wee bit overpowering, unless you're going for a "stare-at-my-eyes-only" look.  
--I personally think that a purple-ish-blue eyeshadow looks gorgeous on a tan or darker skinned eye/person.  
When my grandma died, we got all of her makeup and there is this gorgeous eyeshadow compact by Princess Morcella Borghese.  


My favorite brand of makeup brushes are the Eco-Tools.  I've found that a lot of people are beginning to really like these...they're soft, well-prices and easy to find.  I bought a set of five brushes in a cute case with a mirror for $10 at ULTA.  I Love 'em!

New Jeans

Like my mom often says, I can go into a clothing store and try on 20 pairs of jeans and not ONE of them will fit.  They're either too flipping short or too flipping big in the waist and barely long enough... Thanks to my cousin, I have three pairs of perfectly-perfect jeans, that I simply adore, and a pair of brown cords (essential) and a pair of black Hudson jeans.

I am so very truly lucky and spoiled and all.  The most recent pair of pants are Genetic Denim jeans... Woohoo! I love them...They are absotootely perfect in every possible way.  I know you're jealous.  I know I'm spoiled. :)