Father's Day Cookout

Jesse, me, Josh, Pam, and Joe

This past Sunday to celebrate Father's day we invited the fam for a cookout as we did last year. We made smoked chicken thighs with our smoker. We also had smoked white fish with greek yogurt dill sauce, hummus and baba ganoush with flatbread, spinach and feta spanakopitta, and greek olives (all brought to you by Costco).

Mediterranean Spread

After chowing down we spent lots of time chatting on the screen porch until I was able to drag everyone out for a rousing game of horseshoes. We called it a day once everyone had a sufficient number of bug bites.

Father in law Jim and my Daddy-o Joe

Jim and Christopher

Another work trip

I must travel for my job. Now, I love to travel to new places, but these aren't your typical conference/networking work trips where lots of downtime is anticipated. While Dallas in April turned out not to be as traumatizing and exhausting as my month long escapade to a particularly southern town last year, working eleven days straight plus overtime aint no walk in the park. 

Lake Caroline

It was pleasant at times though. I managed to scrape time together here and there to log 3 runs (go me!) This photo illustrates why it was easy to convince my sleepy body to lace up my running shoes.

Here is an example of how weird I am (don't worry, Chris thoroughly makes fun of me when I do this).

Exhibit A

Exhibit B

One thing that I can usually count on with these trips is that I will get to try some good local food. Well, no such luck in Dallas. Maybe I just wasn't going to the right places, but the best food I had was from Marriot's room service.

Some scary things happened while I was away that made me wish I could hug my family. The Boston marathon bombing for one, and then a few days later, the fertilizer plant explosion in West, Texas. One was purposeful and one was seemingly an accident, both are awful for having occurred. It was scary how close the plant explosion was to where I was working, and it put everyone I was working with on edge because of the work that we do.

I did make time to meet up with some family that live nearby in Burleson; my husband's cousin Will and his wife Kristina, and cousin Rick and wife Wendy and their rambunctious children, Morgan, Miles, and Mia! Here is Mia bouncing around at dinner, she is hilarious.

Rick and Mia

Now you might think that when I returned home I would've put on my yoga pants, flopped on the couch, and started in on a Girls on HBO marathon. Well I didn't do that for two reasons. One, it would've been rude because I have a standing date with Kristina to watch Girls. And two, I wanted to go backpacking! So off we went to the George Washington National Forest!

More on that later...

Pear, Brie, and Wildflower Honey Crostini

It's no secret that I love cheese, it's becoming a problem for our food budget. Thank goodness my husband shares in the obsession.

Fruit, nuts, and cheese plate

Cowgirl Creamery is an artisan organic cheese shop in the Penn Quarter neighborhood of DC. Their signature is their triple cream Mt. Tam named for Mt. Tamalpais in San Francisco Bay.

This amazing cheese shop also serves sandwiches, among other things. My favorite was the Blue Ridge for awhile, with Fra'Mani Turkey Galantine, Torregio cheese, and herb mayo with local field greens. Before I caught on that they have that one every Thursday, I would be forced to try alternatives. A few Tuesdays ago I tried their vegetarian for the day, the Morning Dew sandwich. Wow. With local pears, Mt. Tam, wildflower honey, and local field greens, it was quite delicious and refreshing. Depending on the time of year, the pears might be subbed out for a different seasonal fruit.

Cowgirl Creamery's Morning Dew was the inspiration for this crostini I put together for a vegetarian brunch we hosted last weekend. And I found myself making it again as an after work snack just a few days later, it's that good.

Pear, brie, and wildflower honey crostini

I'm sure that this crostini would taste great with any brie, but if you can get your hands on Mt. Tam you will be in for a treat. If you're in the DC area, follow them on twitter @cowgirlcheesedc to find out what sandwiches they have each day. Of course if you're lucky enough to live in San Francisco where they're based out of, you can visit them there as well.

Money shot

Pear, Brie, and Wildflower Honey Crostini

Ingredients:

• One fresh baguette, sliced thinly at an angle
• Several organic ripe Bosch pears, peeled, core removed, and sliced about 1/8" (If pears aren't in season, you can sub another fruit, such as apples)
• Fresh organic spring mix
• local wildflower honey
• Mt. Tam or other good quality triple cream brie

Prepare your ingredients, or "mise en place" if you want to get all fancy and french. You can toast the sliced baguette if you'd like, but I did not. Spread a generous portion of wildflower honey on each slice of bread. Gauge this on how sweet you'd like the crostini to be; you want to taste the honey but it shouldn't be the dominant flavor. Place a few sprigs of spring mix on top of each, then a slice of the cheese, and lastly about three slices of juicy pear. Marvel at how wonderful your cute little crostini look, and enjoy! Then continue making this great snack or appetizer until you run out of supplies.

Pretty & Glittery

Can someone please throw a fancy cocktail party for the holidays so I can wear one of these cute outfits? THANKS! I couldn't find the perfect lime green leather clutch to go with my second look, got any suggestions?

Evan Picone Women’s Red Peplum Surplice Cap-sleeve Dress ($79.99): overstock.com

Pleated Fabric and Chain Necklace ($39): newport-news.com

Pink Studded Clutch ($120): abas.net

Ed Hardy Batu Pumps, red plaid ($46.99): overstock.com

Jones New York Metallic Floral Lace Dress - Champagne/Silver ($119.99): overstock.com

Resin Colorblock Necklace ($88): jcrew.com

Lime Leather Envelope Clutch ($??): ????.com 

Ego & Greed, Svan Lake Wedges - Grey Yellow ($114.95): solestruck.com

Oh, hai there.

It appears that I've neglected this blog project all summer! I have a good excuse though. Instead of blogging I hosted a Father's Day brunch, cleaned the house, planned a huge Graduation party, threw a spring backyard BBQ, cleaned the house, had a summer BBQ & home-brew party, cleaned the house... rinse and repeat. You get the idea. Mix in a handful of long weekend trips to the beach and the lake, and you've got my summer. Now that the weather's cooling off a bit you'll be hearing much more from me.

A Great Reason for a Party

Our dining room

Has your house has been looking a bit chaotic and messy lately? Well, have I got the solution for you! Invite all of your friends over for a party. That will give you the kick in the pants you need to whip your home into shape. You should always procrastinate until the last possible day though, because that is the most efficient way to get things done quickly. And be sure to discuss the game plan for a few hours with your husband in between episodes of Kitchen Nightmares. Make a list of exactly how long it will take to complete each task, and then leave yourself only that much time to do it. Now get to it, happy cleaning! Oh yea, and see you guys on the 18th.