Gift wrapping gone for good?

It seems like since the acceptance of gift bags as gift wrapped, we hardly ever see a paper wrapped gift! I don't know about you, but since I noticed the gift bag trend growing, I have put a strong effort toward paper wrapping all of my gifts. I love wrapping paper. It is so fun! Plus opening a wrapped gift is much more fun than pulling a gift out of a bag. :-D

Check out this gift I just wrapped for my boyfriends 10 year old niece! 

So long sweet summer...

As summer comes to an end, I feel a little sad because I will have to wait another whole year until I get to do the summery things that I love doing. Hanging out on the beach...working on my garden...soaking up the sun - I will miss you summertime! 
My absolute favorite summer thing to do is to have a late night bonfire at my parents cottage in Northern Michigan. I love to look up at the stars and look down and see a toasty fire. And you can't have a fire without s'mores! I think the only reason I love s'mores so much is because you can only have them when you have a cozy bonfire. 

What are you favorite summertime foods? 

What are you going to miss about summer?

My sister and I toasting marshmallows to make s'mores

A Mediterranean Twist on Stuffed Peppers

After an entire summer of attempting to grow grape tomatoes, they finally turned red! YAY! I wanted a recipe that really showcased their flavor. I know they are just tomatoes, but it took a whole 'lotta TLC to get these babies to grow for some reason. Anyway, I found a great recipe that showcased their flavor and had a ton of WOW factor. I would definitely use this kind of recipe when I have company over to be majorly impressive with very minimal work. These peppers have great (what I like to call) "food porn" value. The presentation is awesome with these yummy stuffed peppers. I served one per person with a side of warm pita bread. This recipe creates a lot of juices that are good for dipping the bread in.

Mediterranean Stuffed Red Peppers (a Martha Stewart recipe)


Ingredients
2 small red bell peppers (5 to 6 ounces each), halved lengthwise through stem, seeds and ribs removed
1 heaping cup cherry tomatoes - I used grape tomatoes
1 1/2 ounces feta cheese (preferably goat's milk), crumbled
1 teaspoon fresh thyme, coarsely chopped
8 basil leaves, torn into pieces
Freshly ground pepper
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil


Directions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees, with rack in top third. Place bell pepper halves, cut sides up, in a baking dish. Toss together tomatoes, feta, thyme, and basil in a medium bowl; season with black pepper. Fill each pepper with tomato and feta mixture, dividing evenly. Drizzle each with oil.


Bake stuffed peppers, covered with aluminum foil, until they begin to soften, about 30 minutes. Remove foil; continue to bake until tomatoes begin to burst and cheese turns light brown, 13 to 15 minutes more. Remove stuffed peppers from oven, and serve warm.

Below are pictures of my own stuffed peppers:

A Day at the Farmer's Market!

Hey guys! Here's what I got today at the Farmer's Market. Enjoy! 

Fourth of July 2011 - Favorites Things!

Besides the fireworks, friends, and s’mores- I had a few other favorite things this Fourth of July that made my holiday that much more enjoyable!

#1) My big holiday plants

These Fourth of July plants would make anyone jump for joy! I found these gigantic flowers at a local nursery and honestly, there were so many amazing choices that it took me over an hour to pick out 2 that I liked. Seriously…I had my cart stolen twice because I took so long! Ha ha! I popped two American flags in these babies and I couldn’t be happier. We have had people slowing down in front of our house as they drive by and I like to think its from my plants.

#2) Festive Candy Bags!

I made these candy bags for my cousins and family friends who are much younger. It’s amazing how cute something so simply can be! All I did was get some clear candy bags and Gingham ribbon from Michael’s.  I went to a very COOL candy store called Sweet Thing in Birmingham and filled up on Red, White, and Blue bulk candy. I literally picked through all the colors and took out the ones I wanted – the employees must have hated me! But I am happy with how they turned out. And I am sure the little ones will be happy to have such a big ‘ol bag of sweet!

What cute encounters did you have this Fourth of July?

Yummy-ness to go!

Headed up north for the Fourth of July and I was freaking about all of the fresh groceries I had in the refrigerator. It seems like almost every time we head out of town, there are awesome groceries at home and I dread them going bad. So today, before we left on our long drive, I took most of out yummy groceries and made snack bags. Instead of eating unhealthy fast food, we snacked gourmet style all the way to Northern Michigan. For dinner, I made us these delicious Caprese Panini’s.

I started with the amazing bread we had ordered all the way from San Diego! It sounds silly, but this bread was so good we had to get some! The bread is a whole grain with a sourdough base. Very deeeelish! I topped one side the sandwich with pesto and stacked each sandwich high with tomato, mozzarella, and fresh basil from my garden. I sprinkled it with a little salt and pepper, oiled the outsides of my bread, and dropped her on the Panini press!

After these Panini’s cooled down, I wrapped them up and took them on the road. It was a great way to enjoy the road trip. Follow that with a dessert drink from Starbuck’s and I was Queen of the Road!

Enjoy the long weekend :-) 

Why use Grapeseed oil?

Thanks for your comment JD. Here is my answer:

Grapeseed oil provides more benefits to your body than olive oil.

Grapeseed oil has HALF of the fat as olive oil.

It increases your good cholesterol.

It is packed with omega-6 fatty acids.

It is full of Vitamin E and other antioxidants. 

There are theories that Grapeseed oil slows down the aging process.

Also, Grapeseed oil does not have as strong of a flavor as olive does for cooking.

It has a higher smoke point than olive oil so you can saute things better.

It also is great for dressings!

Thanks for you inquiry!