Broccolini and burrata

I have an new obsession with broccolini and burrata cheese thanks to the broccolini salad recipe from Ad Hoc at Home. The burrata is a like a mozzarella but with a softer, creamier center. We discovered that the left over cheese from this salad was also delicious with fresh tomatoes, basil and some olive oil. In the salad- broccolini, cremini mushrooms, red onion, cerignola olives, and of course, burrata with some evoo.

Lobster boil

I think this inspiration board from Snippet & Ink is a perfect rehearsal dinner set up. Love lobster to start, but the personalized bibs and lobster invites really get me. Cute and coordinated but totally casual. It never hurts when the theme revolves around food either.

M&M baby shower

My friends Sarah, Kara and Katie threw a great pink and orange baby shower for two of our college friends while we were back at campus for our reunion. It was super cute, especially considering they had to bring everything into town with them from paper poms and flowers to cupcakes and giant cookies! Included were personalized M&M candies for the mommies to be since their names both start with M.

Each guest brought Molly a book for her baby. The hostesses had sent a label with the invitation to stick inside the front cover with a message for the baby and the new parents. All of the guests then brought Mandy a 2010 artifact for baby to see when she's older. I contributed my copy of Twilight. I think baby might be amused in the future by the phenomenally popular teen vampire craze.

Salade lyonnaise

I was just discussing my love of making and eating lyonnaise salad (and anything with a poached egg- yum, yum ,yum) with my friends over brunch yesterday and saw this NY Times article and recipe this morning, which is pretty much how I like to make it. The only thing I would add is that its easier to poach the eggs if you add a little vinegar to the boiling water.

4 cups torn frisée or other strong-tasting greens, washed and dried

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

About 1/2 pound good slab bacon or pancetta, cut into 1/2-inch cubes

1 shallot, chopped, or 1 tablespoon chopped red onion

2 to 4 tablespoons top-quality sherry vinegar

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

Salt

4 eggs

Freshly ground black pepper.

1. Put frisée or other greens in large salad bowl. Put olive oil in skillet over medium heat. When hot, add bacon and cook slowly until crisp all over, about 10 minutes. Add shallot or onion and cook until softened, a minute or two. Add vinegar and mustard to the skillet and bring just to a boil, stirring, then turn off heat.

2. Meanwhile, bring about an inch of salted water to a boil in a small, deep skillet, then lower heat to barely bubbling. One at a time, break eggs into a shallow bowl and slip them into the bubbling water. Cook eggs for 3 to 5 minutes, just until the white is set and the yolk has filmed over. Remove each egg with a slotted spoon and drain briefly on paper towel.

3. If necessary, gently reheat dressing, then pour over greens (they should wilt just a bit), toss and season to taste. Top each portion with an egg and serve immediately. (Each person gets to break the egg.)

Yield: 4 servings

*image via nytimes

Happy father's day!

Congrats!

Congrats to my brother Zach and his fiancee Bethany on their engagement! I sent them this garland to put up in their soon to be new apartment. Ingredients: sage oval stickers, fino luxe cream scalloped oval cards and green twine.

Scenes from saturday afternoon

Despite the really soggy, sad weather, we had a great brunch for Old Town Art Fair. Our guests were fabulous, especially Ellie (pictured with her dad), who gave us some great smiles for a good 45 minutes straight. On the menu: bacon, shallot and spinach quiche, leek and swiss quiche, wild rice salad, oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, and chocolate cupcakes. We also had sesame chicken skewers and mini grilled cheeses from catering/chocolate on Wells. I love how the cheese and the bread are mysteriously melded together as one in those mini sandwiches... yummmmm.

Friday flowers

Peonies from last weekend's dinner party. We had a super fun time, only were so rushed we didn't have time to take many photos! On the menu: steamed artichokes with lemon aioli, broccolini and burrata salad, homemade fettucini with roasted tomatoes and fennel with prosciutto, and blueberry cobbler.

Today's perfect outfit

The sun is shining, its pleasantly warm and I would like to be wearing this tunic/shorts combo.

Happy flow chart

A good reminder that if something is not working, change it! Unless, of course, you answered "no" to the do you want to be happy question. from here.

Outdoor dining

One of the best things about summer is eating outside. image via elle decor.

Friday flowers

via black*eiffel

Just in case

you need your stationary to double as a disguise. From etsy.

Aged terracotta herb boxes

We've been looking for a fun window container for our new indoor herb garden and the best thing we found were rectangular terra cotta pots at Old Town Gardens. We were hoping for a more antiqued look so we aged it ourselves. We mixed white paint with water and sponged it on for an uneven, watery look. After the paint dried, we used a fine sandpaper to rub off the paint on the parts of the pot (edges) and design that protruded the most and would get the most wear naturally. I think our herbs are happy in their new home!

Good morning!

Hope you all had a wonderful holiday weekend! We made good use of our time off here with some cooking, projects, shopping, farmer's market, general clean up, working out and during yesterday's crazy thunderstorm, some crafting! I got my flower boxes planted, finally. Also, happy anniversaries to my parents and the Fishers!