I'm Not Feeling Too Well...

Which means I'm day dreaming about being in my bed cuddled up with a cup of coffee reading and watching movies.  Oh, how I love my bed.  The tempur pedic mattress, the jersey sheets, the fluffy white down comforter - but I'd just as soon settle for one with a view:



St. Lucia - West Indies



Carribean

  

Boca Ciega Bay, FL



Hollywood, CA

Paris, France

Rome, Italy

San Francisco, CA

Zambia

Auckland, New Zealand

What far off places are your day dreams taking you to today?

Fall Harvest: Spaghetti Squash

Spaghetti Squash with Sauteed Veggies, Fresh Basil, and Feta Cheese



What you will need:

1 Spaghetti Squash, halved and seeded

2 tablespoons of vegtable oil

*1 Onion, chopped (I used 1pkg of Trader Joe's Chopped Onions, Garlic & Shallots (4 oz.)

*1 clover of garlic, minced

1 1/2 cups of chopped tomatoes

3/4 cup of Feta Cheese

1 cup of sliced mushrooms

2 tablespoons of chopped fresh basil

*Instead of the onion and garlic, I used 1 pkg of Trader Joe's Chopped Onions, Garlic & Shallots (4 oz.)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Place squash cut sides down on a lightly greased baking sheet and bake for 30min.

3. Meanwhile, heat oil in a skillet over medium heat.  Saute mushrooms and onion until tender, add garlic and sautee another 2-3 min*  Or, sautee Trader Joe pack and mushrooms for about 5-6 min.  Stir in tomatoes and cook only until tomatoes are warm.

4. Use a fork and spoon to scrape and scoop the strigy pulp from the squash and place into medium bowl.  Toss with sauteed veggies, feta cheese, and basil.  Serve warm.

What I Did This Weekend; Part 2

Remember this is what my finds originally looked like:

And this is what it looks like now (PS my walls are white, not yellow.  Bad lighting/iPhone pic):

This is on the adjacent wall

I found this at the vintage market for $3!  It was a cast iron pot holder, now a decorative piece.

What Did I Do This Weekend?

Well, I ENJOYED doing alot of things by myself this weekend!  (Well, Gamble came along most of the time.)  Maybe the Seattle Freeze is starting to catch on?

I found Maple Jack Daniels BACON JERKY:

Some awesome recycled yarn!  Check out her etsy store here.

And Gamble behaved well enough to allow me to spend some time perusing the covered parking garaged turned vintage market for a bit and I got these:

This picture was taken at the start of a project... I'll show you the finished product tomorrow!

So what did you do this weekend?

Fall Harvest: Butternut Squash

Roasted Butternut Squash-Stuffed Shells
Prep Time: 15 min
Start to Finish: 45 min
Makes:12 servings (2 shells each)

What you will need:
24 uncooked jumbo pasta shells
1 cup Fiber One® original bran cereal
3 cups 1/4-inch cubes butternut squash
1 tablespoon canola or olive oil
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
8 oz lean Italian turkey sausage, casings removed
3/4 cup fat-free ricotta cheese
1/4 cup fat-free (skim) milk
1 cup firmly packed fresh baby spinach leaves, chopped
2 tablespoons chopped fresh sage leaves
1 cup of your favorite marinara sauce
1/3 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

1. Heat oven to 425°F. Spray 13x9-inch glass baking dish with cooking spray. Cook and drain pasta shells as directed on package. Place cereal in resealable food-storage plastic bag; seal bag and finely crush with rolling pin or meat mallet (or finely crush in food processor).

2. Meanwhile, in medium bowl, toss squash, oil and pepper until squash is evenly coated. Pour onto ungreased cookie sheet with sides. Bake 15 to 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until squash is tender. Let cool slightly. Reduce oven temperature to 350°F.

3. Meanwhile, spray 10-inch skillet with cooking spray. Crumble and cook sausage in skillet until no longer pink. Stir in cereal.

4. In large bowl, mix ricotta cheese and milk. Stir in spinach, sage, butternut squash and sausage mixture, tossing lightly to mix.

5. Fill each cooked pasta shell with about 3 tablespoons of squash mixture. Drizzle marinara sauce over all shells; sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Cover with foil.

6. Bake at 350°F 15 minutes. Uncover; bake 5 to 10 minutes longer or until hot.

Too Good Not to Share

Guess who this is?

Ryan Seacrest!

Good Day Sunshine!

Well, actually it's raining here in the Evergreen state (Hence it being 'ever green') but I'm still in that sun-is-shining feel good kind of mood!  Perhaps because it's FRIDAY!

This weekend I'm:

Cleaning with this.

Starting one of these.

Making any one of these.

Hopefully seeing something like this.

Creating and decorating with this.

What are you doing this weekend?

If I Was Stuck on a Deserted Island...

And could only bring one thing?  Easy.  I'd bring a lifetime supply of bacon.  No Joke.  I imagine my island to look something like this:

 

Carl Warner Food Landscape

 It's a pretty serious bacon obsession.  Borderline dangerous.  I almost got hit by a car on the way to work this morning because I had convinced myself I didn't need the most amazing bacon and egg croissant breakfast sandwich from Whole Foods only to change my mind mid-intersection.

As I child, I wished to be whisked away and taken to live in the land of Chew and Swallow.  Every time my Dad would read "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs" my mouth would start watering and my mind, imagining.  Carl Warner's food landscapes take me back: make me feel like I'm really living the "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs" tale.  You should check it out here.

Fall Harvest!



In continuing the "It's Officially Fall!" celebration, here are some fantastic produce that will be available fresh from your local farmer's market.  I love visiting Pike's Place and asking for whatever is in season from the local farm vendors.  Then I search the internet for different recipes to try with my proudly purchased local and organic produce! 



I'll be posting my favorite fall recipes on my blog for the next few days.  Enjoy these fall flavors!

Daddy's Eggplant Parmesean

My mom does most of the cooking in our house.  Dad is only allowed in the kitchen if he's making this famous dish!  He really is culinary challanged.  When I asked him for his recipe he listed the ingredients and then said: "bake according to the temp and time mom tells me."  -- Where would he be without her!

What you will need:

1 large eggplant

1 egg

1 c. flour  -- Or "flower" if you're my dad!

3 T olive oil

1 jar of marinara sauce of your choice

1 (16oz) package of shredded mozzarella cheese

1/2 c parmesean cheese

Preheat oven to 350*.  Slice eggplant 1/4 inch thick.  Drop egg into rimmed plate (pie tin works best).  Dip eggplant slices into egg and then into flour and cover on both sides.  Warm olive oil in frying pan and fry eggplant.  Put one layer of eggplant into the bottom of a 9x12 baking dish.  Follow with a layer of mozzarella cheese.  Cover with marinara.  Repeat.  Finish off with a layer of paremesean on top.  Bake for 30min at 350*.

Fall Picks: Nail Polish

Happy first day of Fall!  Muddy neutral colors are what's "it" this fall in fashion.  Here are my favorite picks to lather on those fingers and toes.

What you need:



(At First Sight, Barefoor in Barcelona, Coney Island Cotton Candy, You Don't Know Jacque!)



What you want:

(Khaki Brun, Khaki Vert, Khaki Rose)

I especially love the colors Chanel just came out with, but at $25/each I think I'll have to stick with OPI.  Well, maybe just one.  The Khaki Rose - ugh I die!

Look of the Day: Pretty Maps as Decoration

I love the cool grey walls as the background for this pastel-popping map as featured on Design*Sponge!

So pretty that I'm actually linking this etsy shop as a reminder to myself.  I need one of these to spruce up my room!  Go ahead and indulge yourself if you will too, but I got dibs on the Butterfly one!

It Starts Young...



I had my first kiss when I was in 2nd grade. A bunch of us were playing house and I being the oldest was naturally chosen to be the mother. My best friend's cousin, Craig, was the oldest boy so he was deemed the father. We were playing in the bushes (why do these kinds of things always happen in bushes?) making some backyard concoction for dinner; our "children" were spying on their oh so in love parents.

"Eww they're kissing!" One of them screamed as she pretended to catch us in the act. They all ran off giggling. I turned red and continued to mix up my mud pie. But Craig sauntered over, pecked me on the cheek and said "Now they have something to talk about," with a charming smirk. Smooth. My God, so smooth! Can you believe this kid's game at 3rd grade?



On Repeat: The Beatle's 'White Album'

Because (as if you really need a reason other than it's the Beatles) it's rainy and foggy and it kind of puts me in a peaceful yet hesitant mood. I love how that hazy blanket seems to slow everything down, but leaves a lingering peculiar feeling.  Listen to "Long, long, long" and you'll see what I mean.  Perfect fog music.  It's soft and ethereal with hints of hauntingness (erratic drums and all that eerie off key moaning at the end?  Odd...)

I'm Getting the Chills...

The days are getting colder, darker.  Storms are starting to settle in.  Wind is getting restless.  Halloween is just around the corner.  It's coming.  Sci-Fi, Thriller, Horror movies season!  I'm not a big thrill seeker: afraid of heights and incredibly over aware of dangerous circumstances (made worse by theatrics and a ton of imagination), but oh how I love Thriller films!  I love how the intensity gets my adreneline going, my blood pumpin', but absolutely no risk involved -- all from the comfort of my own couch (ideally huddled close to a cute Mr.) but I digress!  Here are a few films that I'm anxiously awaiting their release.
  

'Devil' Out Sept 17th -- Tomorrow! 
Five people are trapped in an elevator in an office high-rise, with all attempts to rescue them failing and inexplicable events occurring. Soon the five begin to turn on one another amid suspicions that one of them is the Devil himself.
Did i mention I'm claustrophobic as well?

'Let Me In' Oct 1st.
This is a remake of the 2008 Sweedish cult classic: "Let the Right One In"
It's about a boy who befriends the new girl when she moves in next door only to later realize she's a vampire.  I just watched the original last night and man was it eerie.  The girl is innocent and really helpless, enough so that you kind of feel bad for her even as she's sucking the life out of some poor drunk.  She's just a victim to her own impulses.  But then again... she's a rampant killer -- quite the conundrum.



'Skyline' Nov. 12.
Do they exist or don't they?  Anything alien is scary.  'Signs'?  One of the scariest movies I've ever see.  WTF was that on the roof!?!?  And the Tom Cruise remake 'War of the World'?  Pretty intense too.

'Buried' with Ryan Renolds comes out Sept 24th.  'Case 39' (Oct 1) and Clint Eastwoods 'Hereafter' (Oct 22) make the cut as well.  What about you?  What movies are you looking forward to?



Look of the Day: Going Tribal

Feathers, and moccasins, and tribal prints - oh my!  I'm obsessed with this look.  Particularly the geometric tribal prints that were so HUGE this summer and continue to steal my heart -- just in bolder, muddy colors - perf for fall!

I'm a big fan of these Prairie boots in Chocolate.
Pocahontas would be jealous of this girls feathered headgear.
Some of my fav tribal print pieces:


I want to intarsia knit this scarf.

I bought this.  Forever 21.  So cute with heather gray tights and my brown ankle boots.  I'm in love.

Have You Seen This?

http://www.peopleofwalmart.com/

Because if you haven't, you should.  Do it.  Go there now.

What I've been up to...

Besides obviously not blogging -

- Sick, sick, sick!  I was told I probably had strep throat only to find I didn't.  But they don't know what I have.  Well had.  I'm feeling better now.  But the mystery still eludes me...

- Work has been crazy busy as well - a blessing in disguise.

-Knitting, duh.  And searching for patterns.  And sending my mom patterns.  We're (hopefully) doing this hat together:

But intarsia is proving to be a bit of a pain so I'm just practicing for now... I'll be sure to put a pic of the finished product up!  Assuming I can do it...

On Repeat: New Moon Soundtrack

Alright, alright.  Don't even get me started on how horrible the movies/books are.  The characters are stock, the emotions contrived and melodramatic, the relationships unhealthy at best.  But this soundtrack is AWESOME.  It's very folky, soft, and a little bit haunting.  Oh and there's banjos, which practically radiate amazingness.  Perfect background music for daydreaming about taking an impromptu solitary weekend getaway to the Olympic penninsula? Complete with an empty coffee shop somewhere in the woods, watching rain hit weathered panneled windows, knitting and reading something slow, emotional, introspective and reflective...

Anyways, hope you have a good weekend :)

Fred Savage is Alive!

If you saw this picture during the Emmy's "In Memoriam" tribute and freaked ("No, not Kevin!") you're not alone.  While it does say Corey Haim on the bottom of the photograph, you gotta admit they could have picked a better picture.  It's a spitting image of the Wonder boy himself.  But rest assured, while the Winnie and Kevin romance ultimately met its demise, Fred Savage is alive and well.