Etsy's Special Delivery

Etsy is sponsoring a fab event this Valentine's Day. They are currently accepting handmade Valentine's Day cards and partnering up with City Meals on Wheels to distribute a meal and card for VDay! So fun!

I'm not the best writer so I borrowed a verse from the internet and handwrote it in each card.

Read more about it from Etsy's Storque!

Valentine Goodies

Simple yet still a bit playful.

Sunday.

Sunday Breakfast
A few years ago my Mike & I went to Australia and had possibly the best times in our lives (besides getting married of course.) One of my fondest memories was of a day trip we took to see some caves. It was a long excursion and although seeing the caves was pretty cool; we almost deemed it not worth it until we made a pit stop at a small little shop for some scones and tea. It was very English which was a bit odd but those were the absolute best scones I've ever tasted in my life...

American scones just don't cut it I'm afraid. Anyway, I finally attempted to make Joy of Baking's scones and it wasn't as hard as I thought (considering I'm not a baker.) Fortunately I didn't need to use the kitchenaid for this which was great because I don't really know how to use it. I did ask my husband to prepare the Mock Devonshire Clotted Cream last night so we would have it nice and cold this morning. The scones came out quite well and was perfect accompanied with the cream & preserves we bought back from out Catskills Hiking Trip.


Served with English Breakfast Tea

Sunday Lunch + Dinner

One of our buddies were gifted two boxes of Omaha Steaks over the holidays. Lacking cooking skills & a grill, he brought the steaks over and handed it over to me. I'm not great with the grill but I did my homework and I think it came out well. I'm sure that the fact that the steak itself was of high quality had a good deal to do with it.

A good steak must be accompanied by some good sides right? For two hours, I multitasked over the stove and made Elise's Pefect Mashed Potatoes, Good House Keeping's Bacon Maple Brussel Sprouts, and Ina Garten's Maple Roasted Bacon. The roasted bacon was a hit! It was super easy to make too! Also pictured below is a small side of kielbasa + sauerkraut. We had an unexpected guest so I thought I'd add it to the table just in case.

Peter Luger's Steak Sauce is the best! I never eat steak without it now.

Tacos + Tortilla Chips

Authentic tacos are so yummy! I decided to give it a try last week.

The spread: Corn Tortillas + Grilled Chicken + Cilantro + Raw onions + Lime + Homemade Sofrito + Store Bought Salsa Verde + Homemade Spanish Rice (simple recipe of Sofrito, olive oil, tumeric for color and rice)
We ended up with a lot of leftover corn tortillas (like 95 tortillas!) So I made tortilla chips. I also squirted some lime on the chips for an extra zest. In less than 15 minutes, we snacked on a bowl of healthy and hearty chips! The husband approved!

I served it with store bought salsa & guacomole. We tried a new brand of salsa and we both didn't like it. In fact, I've never bought a jar of salsa that I liked. I much prefer to make my own. The guacomole was really good though!

Show Your Gratitude - Free Shipping

Now is the perfect time to say thank you for all of those wonderful holiday gifts and meals you shared! Sending a handmade card is a beautiful way to show your gratitude. The shops featured below are offering free domestic shipping on their thank you card sets from January 5 through January 15.

Please check my Handstamped Gift Set section for my current selection of Thank You sets. Domestic shipping has already been removed from these listings. Please click on Etsy Greetings for other Etsy sellers participating in the "Free Shipping" Offer!

Oui Oui

I'm starting off 2009 nicely with a trip to Paris. Ah, the city of lights. It's been two years since I've been there back when the hubs proposed. We will be back in March travelling with a good friend and his wife. Here are the preliminary plans: frolick in Paris for 3 days then head out to a few one day trips outside of Paris. We hope to visit the Palace of Versailles, Palace of Fountainbleau and Castle of Chantilly. We've had talks of visiting Mont Saint Michel which is beautiful and would be awesome to go to but it's a bit far. Not sure if we can make that happen.

Paris is really beautiful. I'm not a history buff so I'm not good with remembering names and places. In fact if my husband wasn't so knowledgable of so many facts & trivia, I'd be quite lost.. What I love most about Paris is how it made me feel. I love how old the city is. I loved the feeling of walking on cobblestones and discovering cozy little shops. I loved walking along the Seine and soaking in the Parisian life. We got lost a few times just walking around and we were just fine. Of course, I loved the sweets: eclairs, crepes, macarons and washing it down with cafe creme is the best!

The travel bug in me keeps growing. I just can't help it. In an economy like this, I really ought to be saving my money but hey, you have only one life to live, right? I leave this post with a few quotes that ring very true for me taken from travelbliss (how appropriate!).

“All journeys have secret destinations of which the traveler is unaware.” - Martin Buber

“The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page.” - Saint Augustine

“Tourists don’t know where they’ve been, travelers don’t know where they’re going.” - Paul Theroux

“If you wish to travel far and fast, travel light. Take off all your envies, jealousies, unforgiveness, selfishness, and fears.” - Glenn Clark

“I see my path but I don’t know where it leads. Not knowing where I’m going is what inspires me to travel it.” - Rosalia de Castro

“Like al great travellers, I have seen more than I remember and remember more than I have seen.” - Benjamin Disraeli

Why do you travel?

Paris photos of my last trip here, London/Paris 2006

I'm currently searching for restaurant recs, good & affordable, anyone?

Food for the Gods

Santa (aka hubs) was very good to me this year. He gifted me a bunch of great things but amongst the loot of goods, he spoiled me with fancy schmancy gourmet chocolate & Dark Chocolate Drink from Marie Belle. I've never had really good Hot Chocolate before. It's so thick and delicious - too decadent to have everyday though. The chocolates are so good - it melts in your mouth. I have a month to eat it before it spoils and unlike most Chocolate lovers who usually gobble it up in one sitting, I like to savor mine. Life is good.

A New Year!

How quickly a year has gone by. 2008 has been a fun ride and I look forward to what the New Year will bring. I haven't really thought about any resolutions for '09 but I can happily say that the ones I made last year was a success! Forward and onward - wishing you and your family a Happy, Safe & Prosperous New Year!