Summers = Stovetop Clambake

Ah...Joanne of Week of Menus must know how to read my mind! I first discovered stovetop clambakes last summer, and have been wanting to try it out ever since. I feel like summer is halfway over, and I've barely done any summer-ish things. I've been avoiding the heat and staying indoors since it triggers my pregnancy-induced migraines. (Sigh...when is the 2nd trimester bliss going to kick in?!) Eating a boiling pot of goodness would sound absolutely DELICIOUS right now if it only wasn't 100+ degrees outside! What's with this nationwide heat wave that's going on?! It's been darn right ridiculous, and the end is nowhere in sight! Anyway, feast your eyes on this pot of loveliness. What's on your list of summer to-do's?

Source: weekofmenus.blogspot.com via Cindy on Pinterest

Summers = Corn on the Cob

Joanne of Week of Menus just posted a recipe for mouth-watering ELOTES! This reminds me of my trip to Cafe Habana in NYC. Their elotes are to die for! Every recipe I've tried from Joanne has been delicious. I'm going to have to try her elote recipe one of these summer days. Doesn't she make it look SO good?!

Source: weekofmenus.blogspot.com via Cindy on Pinterest

Oh my...she also has a recipe for Warm Elote Salad.

Source: weekofmenus.blogspot.com via Cindy on Pinterest

Christine's Bow-Tie Baby Shower (Part II: The Spread)

[Decorated the light fixture w/ a mini garland of Japanese washi tape and
covered my existing wall art with color coordinated tissue paper and washi tape]

[Christine, the new mom-to-be]

[I wrapped boxes w/ kraft and tissue paper to add height to the spread.]

[Garlic Ginger Honey Wings–recipe from Week of Menus]

[Bruschetta made easy with Costco's crunchy Panetini]

Sweet & Sour Glazed Chicken

I discovered this amazing food blog, Week of Menus, via Pearls & Green Tea. Joanne is the incredible chef behind Week of Menus. She gives detailed instructions along with photos of every step of the way. It made cooking a breeze! I just tried one of her recipes for the first time the other night, and it was a smashing success!

I made her Sweet & Sour Glazed Wings (I only had drumsticks on hand.) The soy sauce mix was so delicious. This recipe is definitely going to be a keeper! Check out Joanne's website for her recipes!

Feast your eyes on this: Teri Lyn Fisher Photography

I just discovered Teri Lyn Fisher's photography site via Sally of Shim+Sons. Her photography is absolutely gorgeous! Oh how I would love to be able to photograph like this! I wish I knew how to style photos too. Check out her photography in all its full size glory here and her blog here.

New Year's Eve + a Rainbow Cake

We celebrated a low key New Year's Eve with friends, a potluck, and an always-entertaining White Elephant gift exchange. I made Cranberry (and raspberry) Brie Bites and helped my friend, Christine, make a fabulous Rainbow Cake. The lemon meringue buttercream frosting was light and delicious, and the inside was vibrantly bright. I don't think either of us will be making this cake again anytime soon...especially with all 6 layers...because it was quite labor intensive. We only had 2 baking pans, so we had to bake the layers in 3 shifts. Yikes. But the end result was a pretty fun cake.

[Getting the eggs ready for the batter. There were LOTS of egg whites.]

[colored cake batter waiting to be put in cake pans]
[baked and ready to be assembled and frosted – love the vibrant colors!][the husbands tried their hand at frosting the cake][We're almost done! Christine's just trimming the parchment paper.][TA-DA!!! A plain-looking white cake reveals a color explosion inside.]
[raspberry + brie bites: not the prettiest, but they were tasty!]

A Sweet & Thoughtful Client

Gayle is the sweetest and most thoughtful client EVER! I designed this dinosaur party invitation for her son's 1st birthday. Since she was thrilled with the invitations, she asked me to design a few more paper goods for her. I'll be showing those in the near future. As a thank you, she sent me this care package all the way from Hawaii! Isn't she so sweet?? She sent me her favorite honey glazed macadamia nuts along with some chocolate covered ones and 2 bags of Hawaiian coffee!. Mmm...I can't wait to try everything! You're too kind, Gayle!

A Weekend of Eating in NYC: Part 2

Continuing on with my food adventures in NYC...

I'd heard so many things about the burgers at Shake Shack and the long lines. So it was definitely on our list of restaurants to try. Since we had a very late dinner reservation, we decided to stop by Shake Shack to share a couple burgers as a pre-dinner snack. Luckily, we only had to wait in line for about 10 minutes. I must say, the burgers were pretty tasty. I really liked their buns. But I wouldn't be willing to wait in line for 1-2 hours for them!

Then we had dinner at the Momofuku: Ssam Bar. We ordered the Bo Ssam dinner (since we had a party of 6-10.) It consists of pork butt, a dozen oysters, kimchi, rice, & bibb lettuce. The pork butt was quite tasty. It just came right off the bone. But overall, I thought the Bo Ssam was just ok. I really wished we had tried the pork belly buns. :(

The next day, we had sullongtang at Gahm Mi Oak for brunch. Mmm... Hot soup, perfect for a chilly day.

Then the husband and I walked through Times Square to get to The New World Stages to watch Avenue Q, the musical. I was pleasantly surprised by the puppets. It was pretty entertaining and funny.

We went to Brooklyn to visit the husband's cousins. They took us to DUMBO (Down Under the Manhattan Overpass.) They have a lovely, new park there. Afterwards, we had Grimaldi's pizza to go. It's another NY restaurant where there are long lines. (What's with NY and long food lines?? You don't see that too much here in Chicago.) I really liked the thick slices of pepperoni. It would've been even better fresh!

A Weekend of Eating in NYC: Part I

The husband & I have been talking about visiting NYC again for months. We finally made our way there last weekend, and we ate our way around Manhattan. Gosh, there are still so many other places I want to try. I guess that means I'll have to go back!

Mad for Chicken had the most delicious, double-fried Korean chicken wings. They were tasty and crispy...even the next day!

We had breakfast at Penelope's, a quaint, little restaurant near my SIL's apartment. Our dishes were yummy! Then off to Soho we went for some shopping.

We took a shopping break and got a snack (or two...or three.) We were SO looking forward to eating the elotes at Cafe Habana again. We went there before a few years ago on our first visit to NYC, and have been dreaming about the corn ever since then!

Mmm...rice pudding at Rice to Riches. We had the vanilla pudding. Absolutely heavenly. Pricey though.

Since our stomachs weren't stuffed to the max yet, we stopped by my SIL's favorite taco place, La Esquina, for some scrumptious tacos. The steak taco was my favorite.

As you can see, we seriously ate all weekend long. The day wasn't over yet either! I still have dinner#1 and dinner #2 to show you from that same day! I'll continue with more pics from our trip soon.