This new take on a grilled cheese sandwich sounds divine!  I love every single ingredient!!

Green Goddess Grilled Cheese Sandwich

Ingredients

2 slices bread (we used a white bread, but one filled with lots of different whole grains and seeds would be *awesome*)
2-3 tablespoons Green Goddess Herb Pesto (recipe below)
2 slices mild white melty cheese like mozzarella
handful fresh baby spinach
¼ avocado, sliced
2 tablespoons goat cheese, crumbled
olive oil (and butter if you’re so inclined)

Directions

Spread about 1 tablespoon of Green Goddess Herb Pesto onto each slice of bread (2 tablespoons total, but if you’re sensitive, go light, the pesto is STRONG).

On one slice of bread, add 1 slice of cheese, sliced avocado, crumbled goat cheese, spinach, second slice of cheese, then top it with second slice of bread. Press together gently.

Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a frying pan over medium low heat. (If you want to use butter, add it to the oil and let it melt). Add the sandwich to the oil and cook until bread is golden brown. Press down on the sandwich lightly, then flip the sandwich over and cook until second side is golden brown.

Green Goddess Herb Pesto

Ingredients

1 clove garlic
1 (or 2 if you’re ballsy) anchovy fillet (in oil)
½ small shallot, chopped (about 1 tablespoon)
1 teaspoon lemon juice
handful chopped fresh Italian parsley
handful chopped kale
2-3 tablespoons chopped fresh tarragon
1 tablespoon chopped chives
¼ cup olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Pulse garlic, anchovy, and shallot in food processor until chopped. With the food processor running, add lemon juice, parsley, kale, tarragon and chives. (It won’t process very well yet, don’t worry).

Very slowly drizzle in olive oil until kale and herbs get sufficiently chopped and everything is the consistency of a pesto. You may need more or less of the olive oil depending on how big a “handful” of herbs is to you. You can also turn off the food processor and push herbs down the side of the bowl with a spatula every once in a while.

Season to taste with salt and pepper (You probably won’t need too much salt if you used 2 anchovies).

recipe and images via tastespotting

This weekend is Mother’s Day, so I hope that you’ll be spending time on Sunday lovin’ on your mother.  I certainly plan to!

For now…here’s what caught my attention this week!

I’m such a sucker for “food art”!

I’m smitten with Kristine Mays’ Garment collection.

Paula Hayes’ gigantic terrariums are magnificent!

This pork tenderloin recipe with fresh herbs looks divine!

Here’s what 2000 calories looks like…

Does this stress anyone else out besides me?  Slow down, people!

I recently heard Andy Andrews speak.  Now I want to read every one of his books.  Best speaker ever!

Show your mom your love!  The very best gift…make her think you’ve sealed your love permanately….then make her happier by showing her that it’s temporary!

Ahhh, Paris!

I want to stay here.

Have a great weekend, lovelies!  XO!

Your little ones might be more excited to eat their breakfast if it looked like this…

via likecool

What’s your favorite way to play with your food?

Stack it right and it will last up to four days!  What a great way to bring your lunch!

Stacking order:

1) dressing

2) Hearty items: tomatoes, beans, onions, carrots

3) Then lighter bits: quinoa, sunflower seeds, mushrooms

4) Lettuce or spinach

When it’s time to eat…shake and enjoy!

via likecool

I know this is weird, but I love Brussels sprouts!  Isn’t this one of those veggies that most love to hate?  Well, I think they not only taste good, but they’re so pretty!  

It was my love of Brussels sprouts that made me notice this healthy recipe for a quick salmon and brussels sprouts extravaganza!  How can this not be delicious?

Salmon and Brussels Sprouts with Ginger-Scallion Sauce

Preheat oven to 450°F. Slice a 1 1/4 pound salmon fillet into 4-ounce pieces as shown above. Trim and halve 2-3 cups of brussels sprouts and in a bowl, toss them with 1 tablespoon of oil (olive or vegetable), salt and pepper. Place sprouts on a foil-lined cookie sheet and roast for 15 minutes, tossing half way through. Nestle salmon filets among the sprouts and roast another 10 minutes. Serve with ginger-scallion sauce.

Ginger-scallion sauce (adapted from Momofuku cookbook)

Combine the following in a small bowl: 1 large bunch scallions (green and white parts), chopped; 2 tablespoons finely minced peeled fresh ginger; 2 tablespoons neutral oil, such as canola or grapeseed; 1 teaspoon soy sauce; 1/2 teaspoon sherry vinegar; salt and pepper to taste.

via dinneralovestory

Do you like brussels sprouts?  What’s your favorite way to make brussels sprouts?  Do you like something that the majority of people don’t like?

first image via

Ever wonder which Girl Scout Cookies score the most sales?

via wired.com

My favs are Tagalongs… which has me wondering how wonderful homemade Tagalongs would be!

This recipe for Homemade Tagalong Cookies looks delish!

What’s your favorite Girl Scout cookie?

I don’t own a bread-maker and I’ve never even considered making homemade bread because I’m petrified of trying anything with yeast.  I usually buy Spelt bread from Whole Foods, so this recipe from Anja’s Food 4 Thought caught my eye.  I immediately looked for the yeast in the ingredients and there was none!  That means I would actually try this recipe!  It’s quick and easy…just like the name of the bread!

———————————————————————-
Preheat oven to 200C/400F. Line loaf tin with parchment paper.

In a bowl, combine spelt flour, oats, salt and baking soda. Stir in mixed seeds (keeping 1 tablespoon aside). Form a well in the middle of the flour mixture. Add buttermilk and gently stir until well combined. Transfer batter to prepared loaf tin. Level the top and sprinkle with remaining seeds. Bake for 30 minutes or until cake tester comes out clean. Let cool for a few minutes in the pan, then cool completely on wire rack.

image and recipe via Anja’s Food 4 Thought

I have some exciting news to share!  I will be participating in the latest temporary venue at Dallas Market Center this weekend with three of my most creative friends…Dana Pugh (Tattered Style), Gloria Burson (A Modern Glo) and Lisa Johnson (Cut and Paste).  This creative temp show is called Vintage Home FINDS and you don’t want to miss what we have in store for you!

We will be showing under the name of my vintage line’s name, Stash {vintage finds} and you’ll find us in the North Hall, along with other vintage dealers and Trailer Cakes in their vintage airstream!  We hope to provide interesting industrial pieces perfect for you to use as display in your store, as well as art to resale.  We’ll be available to help you come up with one-of-a-kind display and styling to give your space a facelift for the new year!   If a personal consultation is what you need, just ask, and we can arrange a visit to your retail space.

To make FINDS even more fun, all buyers are invited to participate in the “On The Road To FINDS Giveaway”!  Participants can pick up FINDS “Road Maps” at information booths, Red Rooms and registrations areas to start on their journey though the Temp Show. To qualify, buyers must visit three different FINDS locations (one must be FINDS in Market Hall) and drop their completed forms at a FINDS information booth for a chance to win great prizes. Highlights of prizes include: a Stella Scooter; Kindle Fire Full Color 7” Multi-touch Display with Wi-Fi; Bose QuietComfort® 15 Acoustic Noise Cancelling Headphones; Garmin 4.3” Portable GPS Navigator with lifetime map & traffic updates; Flip Video Camera; Sofia Cashmere Travel Set; Gift Certificate towards a luxury luggage set; Agloves, mobile device friendly gloves; and a “Build Your Own Road trip” including rental car, gas, restaurant gift certificates, and hotel expenses.

We can’t wait to share our finds with you!  Please share this exciting information with your friends that have a retail store and may be coming to market this weekend!  (Talk them into bringing you with them!)

We have your shopping bags ready to be packed with ‘Stash’!

Some of our favorite friends will be part of FINDS too!  Bud Royer is bringing his pies, candles and latest hit, Royers recipe card box!  Would this collection of over 100 of the cafe’s recipes make a nice addition to your inventory?

Our friends from Dwell With Dignity will camp out right next door to us!  They’ll have a space full of donated goods that will be professionally styled much like we saw at last year’s Thrift Studio!

Will we see you there?

One of my new favorite blogs is Yummy Mummy!  She recently posted a detox salad that I can’t wait to try and couldn’t wait to share it with you!  Cleanse away, my friends!

I’m so excited to share this recipe with you!  This is my friend and neighbor Amy’s (of the blog, House of Wentworth) mother’s recipe.  Her mom makes this every Christmas for her family’s friends and these rum cakes have become well known, and highly anticipated, in Odessa.  I’m so glad that Amy is starting that tradition here in Dallas and I’m especially happy that Amy lives three doors down and I get mine warm…fresh out of the oven!

I couldn’t believe it when I found out that this recipe is made with a box cake mix!  It’s so moist and tastes like it took all day to put together…

Amy’s Mom’s Famous Rum Cake

2 loaf pans

1 box of Duncan Heinz butter cake mix

Pam for baking to spray pans (oil & flour)

1 package of Jello instant vanilla pudding mix (smallest size box)

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup vegetable oil (Crisco pure vegetable oil)

1/2 cup light rum (not dark)

4 eggs

pecans (optional)

Glaze:

1 cup sugar

1 cup butter

1/2 cup of rum

Mix all ingredients with mixer and add eggs one at a time.  Beat for 4 minutes after eggs are added.  Spray loaf pans with Pam and flour.  Optional:  Chop pecans and spread a thin layer at the bottom of the pans.  Pour in batter.  Bake at 325 for 1 hour.  When done let stand 3 minutes while you heat glaze on the stove.  Poke deep holes all over the cake.  Pour glaze over the cake and let stand 20 minutes to soak.

Prep time:  1.5 hours

Makes 2 cakes.

You will not believe how moist this cake is!  I swear you could literally squeeze rum out of it….mmmmmm….it’s delicious!  Your friends will love it!  I think I’ll start my own rum cake tradition!

Do you have a recipe that you make every Christmas for your friends?