Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure

Please support a great cause. This should be more than enough inspiration...

The Birmingham Race for the Cure is Saturday, October 9th at 9am in Linn Park. Please find a local Race for the Cure event in your community and get involved. Today people.

A tribute ...

to all who serve and have served this country on this Memorial Day! Thank you for your service and please come home safely. Especially you, bunches.

Yes, I know. Its been forever since I have posted. There has been A LOT going on lately (including a trip to Hawai'i) and my schedule has dramatically changed over the last month or so. But, I am trying to be better about posting. So...

Here is to the men and women who serve our country on this Memorial Day,

... and to it not being 3 months before my next blog posting.

CEIMB: Marinated Flank Steak with Blue Cheese Sauce

The recipe this week was chosen by Blair of Deliciously Golden. I loved this recipe and will definitely be making it again. Despite flank steak's tendency to be tough, I thought this recipe turned out very tender. The marinade was great and really flavored the meat. Instead of serving the steak on radicchio, I served with a salad. My only complaint is with the blue cheese sauce - I thought it lacked a lot of flavor and I ended up doctoring it up a bit. Next time, I think I will just make the blue cheese dressing that goes with the buffalo blue cheese chicken salad from a couple of months back.

Thanks for a great pick this week Blair!

My new obsession...

Dark chocolate is good for you, right?

Help support Jonah

While I have never met the Williams family, they have an absolutely precious son, Jonah. Jonah is about to celebrate his FIRST birthday and in honor of his birthday, he's auctioning off some pretty good stuff. You see, Jonah was born with a rare skin condition, Epidermolysis Bullosa, or EB, and all the proceeds of the auction are going to support DebRA (the Dystrophic Epidermolysis Bullosa Research Association of America). Wow! What a great way to celebrate this little man's very special day and help support a fabulous organization that's trying to find a cure for this horrific disease.

You can check out Jonah's auction site here.

Jonah is only one of many children who is struggling with EB. Sam and Tripp as well as many other families and children are fighting this battle. Will you help them with their fight?

Feeling BLUE

I have desperately wanting to do some shopping lately. Unfortunately, virtual shopping is all that is in the budget for this month. I'm loving these lovely blue (slate) finds! Modcloth - Frilly Madison dress

BB Dakota Tatum Stripe Top

Lirola Designs, Etsy

Alloy Asymmetrical Hoodie

Denim skirt with bow, Patkas - Etsy

And, I just can't resist this LBD!

Tier-Eyed, Shabby Apple

Friday Flowers

Because its so unbelievable rainy and gloomy here today, I figured some colorful flowers would brighten everyone's day.

...and this is a lovely Anemone. I wish I had a green thumb and could grow pretty flowers!

Even though I have no plans, I am so looking forward to the weekend! Anybody have anything exciting planned?

CEIMB: Curried Chicken Salad

The recipe this week was super easy to make -- which you all know makes me very happy! I had this for both lunch and dinner on Tuesday and thought it was great. Lunch was on a bed of mixed greens per the recipe and dinner was a chicken salad sandwich.

I ended up using curry paste instead of curry powder. I have only made a couple of dishes with curry powder and I just did not like the way either turned out. I'm curious to see if anyone else had this dilemma and what they decided to use. I'm guessing the powder would have been a milder flavor than the curry paste???

I liked how the chicken salad turned out though so no regrets! ...and I loved that there was hardly any mayo in this chicken salad!

Thanks to Sarah for a great, easy pick this week! It is definitely a fun, interesting way to jazz up chicken salad!

Wish list Wednesday

What I am wishing for this Wednesday:



* Some art for the new kitchen. I think this print would be fabulous. A tribute to my dear black cats AND my love of cupcakes!

* a Dreamcakes cupcake. stat.


* some yummy tailgating food at a Superbowl party on Sunday


* for the un-hung crown molding sitting in the office to magically cut and hang itself in the kitchen, dining room, master and bathroom!



Is it just me or will this week never end! I am so looking forward to a relaxing weekend! Happy Wednesday y'all!

CEIMB: Emerald Stir Fry with Beef

I have pictures to post from this week's recipe but not with me -- so that will be a separate post. The recipe this week was chosen by Alyssa of Alyssa's Two Bites. I was really excited about this recipe because I love me some stir fry! I thought the combination of vegetables was going to be interesting and very different from the usual onions, carrots, green peppers, and broccoli that I normally put in stir fry. I followed the recipe as written with the only change being the addition of some red pepper flakes and garlic to the beef while cooking and adding some Siracha to the sauce.

However, I hate to say that I was very disappointed with the results of this recipe. I thought overall it was very bland and lacked a lot of the richness stir fry usually has. In fact, I made a container of leftovers to eat for lunch yesterday and they are still sitting in the fridge. I opted for a peanut butter and jelly sandwich over the leftovers. Not a good sign.

I think this recipe has a lot of potential it just needs some major tweaking!

CEIMB: Arugula, carmelized onion, chicken, roasted red pepper and feta pizza

So, I had quite a few additions to the recipe this week. I wanted to make the pizza hearty enough to have for dinner and since I am back to "running" I needed something more than arugula and onions. So, I added grilled chicken, garlic, and roasted red peppers. Plus, I used gyro wheat pita bread for the crust instead of just a wheat tortilla. Oh, and I substituted feta cheese for the goat cheese. Result -- I thought the pizza was fabulous. Although it took a little while to get all of the toppings prepared, the pizza turned out very well. I served the pizza with an arugula and tomato salad dressed with a lemon vinaigrette. So yummy! I will definitely be making this pizza again. Thanks Maria for a great pick this week!