Over complication

Tonight I am attending a birthday dinner for a friend if mine. I was asked to bring dessert. 

No big deal, I bake all the time, I totally got this! That what I thought  until I started obsessing over what to make! First I thought I'll bake my famous carrot cake. Then I thought oh! I know I'll make the Texas Sheet Cake I've been wanting to try. Then, I realized the sheet cake was a little too rustic and it's huge! I wanted to do something pretty, since it is a birthday cake. 

So I scratched the sheet cake idea and went back to carrot cake. Sunday night I started thinking I really don't want to make a carrot cake. I don't feel like going through the hassle of icing and decorating the cake. Plus worrying about making sure that the cake doesn't get messed up in transport to the party.

So I had the brilliant idea of making a bundt cake. It's pretty, easy to make and transport in the car, and it requires very little icing or decoration. Problem solved, bundt cake  it is!

All I needed now was a recipe. Which should be no problem considering I have dozens of cookbooks, most of which are dedicated to baking.

This is where the crazy set in! I knew I wanted to make a bundt cake. Not just any old bundt cake would do. It had to be in my opinion the very best bundt cake in the history of bundt cakes. It had to be moist and rich, and packed with great lemony or citrus flavor.

As I went through recipe after recipe I got frustrated none of them seem to have that wow factor I was looking for. I was about to go down the rabbit hole of google searching recipes, when Amanda called.

I explained to her that I spent the better part of an hour looking for the perfect cake recipe. Then I realized how nuts I sounded! I picked the bundt cake because I wanted something easy. I didn't want to be stressed out over baking a cake.

But, here I was stressing myself out anyway. So I went back to the first cookbook I opened and found a simple easy lemon bundt cake and told myself I'll make this recipe end of story. Done.

I was wrong, not done. My mother called and I told her i was going to make the lemon cake. She suggested I bake a 7up cake. That sent me on a whole new hunt for the perfect 7up cake. So by 8:00 pm last night I finally! Finally! Found the recipe I wanted. Made myself put down the iPad and stop the madness.

I am happy to report that the cake is in the oven baking as I type. The moral of story here even when I am trying to make  something easy or simple. I always find a way to over complicate it. Over think it,  and analyze it to death! If I go this crazy over a simple bundt cake, you can only imagine how crazy I can become over other decisions I have to make day to day.

I am taking this whole cake situation as a lesson, in not making things harder on myself then they should be. Simple is good and there is such a thing as having access to too much information!

Still going strong

It's the beginning of week three of the TV diet and I am still going strong. The urge to turn on the TV first thing in the morning is less and less. The hardest times for me to resist watching TV are the afternoons between 3:30 - 5:00 pm I called this the "witching hour" this is the time of day where the temptation to turn on the tube is at its highest! I think this is because my day is winding down by this point. I've usually gone to the gym, and done other errands or chores and just want to relax. I've been able to resist the temptation thus far!

Enough about the diet. I have been working on other things besides my TV viewing habits. For instance I went to a book signing to meet one of my favorite authors last week Jennifer Lancaster. She is most known for her funny memoirs about her life. Her latest book is called the Tao of Martha, where Jen spends an entire year living by Martha Stewart's dictates in an effort to create happiness in her own life.

As someone who loves Ina Garten and who used to watch Martha Stewart every morning before class in college this book was right up my alley! I subscribe to Living magazine and have at least three Martha Stewart cookbooks. I also own all but one Ina Garten cookbook. So I found it fascinating to read about someone who spend a year trying to live like Martha Stewart does.

Oh in the past couple of weeks I've managed to become obsessed with Texas Sheet Cake. I first read about it on the Pioneer woman's blog, then Jennifer Lancaster posted about baking one on facebook. Then while talking to a friend she told me she was having one for her fathers day BBQ. I was raised by Texans and never in my life heard about Texas Sheet cake until now. I think its a sign from the universe that I must bake this cake because I've heard about it at least three times in one month.

I've of course been researching the best recipes for this cake and my friend sent me hers. So I have a feeling Texas sheet will be in my very near future. Along with some other baking bucket list projects I have in the queue. I am really excited about this summer I have a feeling its going to be a good one. Since I've turned off the TV I'll have more time to get out there and enjoy it!

It just got real!

It's 4:34 in the afternoon and I am sitting in my living room listening to Joni Mitchell counting the minutes until I can turn on the TV!

Today has been a particularly hard day on the TV diet. I woke up this morning to a cloudy gray day. Which to me equals cozy TV weather! I managed to fight the urge to stay in bed and watch morning daytime TV. Instead I got up got dressed and headed to the gym then a quick stop at the post office. By the time I got home I was feeling better, more energized and my need to turn on the tube had subsided.

Not watching tv has given me more time to work on my relationships. Today for example I had great conversations with not one but two of my roommates from college. My conversation with one them did consist of our thoughts on the new seasons of RHOOC and RHONJ and other Bravo programing we watch. The conversation wasn't all housewives and reality television. We did manage to have a very amusing conversation about breastfeeding, it was amusing because neither of us have ever breastfed anyone nor do we have any children. It was really great to catch up and to have a good laugh with a dear friend. I would say that conversation was the highlight of my day.

So by noon I was feeling pretty good, and my TV withdraw ls were not nearly as bad as they were when I got out of bed. Next up I had an appointment to get my hair done which would take a up a nice chunk of my afternoon. On my drive home I could hear the siren call of the television. It was like my DVR was calling out to me. Kimberly... Dance Moms is waiting for you... you still have two episodes of the view to watch... Seriously all I wanted to do was come home put on my sweats and zone out to the TV.

I started to play the who cares if you turn it on a couple of hours early, you made it most of the day its okay, rationalization game. I was so close to saying screw this, I am watching TV. Then I thought you have less than 2 hours before you can turn on the TV. Surely you can amuse yourself for two hours? Look around, there are dishes that need to be washed, clothes to iron and laundry to put away. If I turn on the TV now, I know I will start the slow decline of turning it on earlier and earlier everyday.

I worked on the laundry, folding, putting it away and ironing. Thinking, that this will surely take up the last hour before I can turn on the television, I was wrong. Surprisingly I am pretty fast at getting chores done and ironing takes half the time when I am not distracted by the television. So here I am the in home  the stretch of the hardest day yet of my diet and I think I am going to make it.

I am actually pretty proud of myself of not giving into to temptation and allowing myself to be comfortable being uncomfortable.  I also noticed having too much time with ones thoughts isn't always a good thing. That's a different post for a different day.

Until next time...

Gained and lost

I am one week into my TV diet. In some ways it has been a lot easier than I thought it would be and in others it has been a lot harder than I thought it would be.

In this past week I noticed that I really use TV as my company during the day. It's the background noise to my day. I also use TV as a way to get out of doing things I really don't feel like doing. like running errands, answering e-mails returning calls, going to the gym etc... TV was my ultimate procrastination tool.

The big revelation is that I use TV to cope with my emotions. In the same way that a drug addict or alcoholic uses drugs or booze to cover up feelings I use television to escape mine. One day last week I was really frustrated and annoyed, all I wanted to do was turn on the television and think about something else, I wanted the TV to distract me from my frustration. Instead I had to just deal. I had feel frustrated and I had to work through it on my own. I couldn't just bury the feelings under a marathon of True Life on MTV I had to work through them and find solutions to my problems which in the long run turned out to be a great thing.

With any Diet its all about the results right?! What you've gained and what you've lost. So here are my results for week one.

Gained:

• Increased productivity, I am getting A LOT more done now that the television is off.
• Cleaner home, cutting back on the TV leaves more time for keeping up with chores
• Procrastinating a lot less
• Actually dealing with my emotions instead of hiding from them

Lost:

• The guilt of not getting the things I want to get done, during the day because of watching too much television.

This is the one diet where gaining more than I've lost is a really good thing. I am sure as the days/weeks go on there will be more insights and in the process I will learn more about myself. These results aren't i bad for one week. I am happy to say that I have gained a lot more than I've lost! I am excited to gain even more.

New Diet

Summer is upon us, and I've decided to start a new diet. It's not what you think, this diet isn't meant to get me bikini ready or help me fit in my skinny jeans. However, I am hoping this diet will help improve the quality of my life and make me a more productive and healthy individual.

What is this new diet I am on? It's a TV diet, instead of cutting calories I am cutting hours of TV watching. I've noticed in the past year that my TV viewing has increased greatly. Especially since I've started my business and work from home. Even before I started working from home I was a self confessed TV addict but working from home made me a full on Junky!

So yesterday I started my TV diet. Which means, I do not turn on the television until 5pm and it goes off at 10pm.  I realize for most people five hours of television a day is a lot of TV or more than enough TV viewing time. Like I said I am a TV junky. My day starts and ends with the television on. The first thing I would do in the morning is turn on Good Morning America and the TV stays on unless I leave the house. Then when Cory gets home we watch TV together until time to go to bed.

As summer begins I wanted it to be a more productive summer. I wanted to tackle projects I've been putting off. I wanted to expand my mind and learn more. I want to work on growing my business and putting my ideas out into the world. I realized that if I gave my life as much time as I gave watching other peoples lives on TV I could accomplish many of those things. 

Yesterday was Day 1, and like any diet I was excited, I was motivated I was all in, baby. I got a lot more done than normal and I felt good as I went to bed last night feeling positive about this new lifestyle I was undertaking. I did realize how much I use television as my escape and my companionship during the day. So it will be interesting to see how I fill my time this summer with out my bff the TV.

Today is Day 2, I am still excited but like any junky I am having withdrawals. It was hard for me this morning not to get up and start watching my recorded shows from last night. The house is quiet, and now that I  am not distracted by the television I see all the stuff around the house that has been dying for my attention. I think my first order of business this week is get my house in order. Then next week work on more mind expanding projects, like writing more, reading more creating more. 

Hey, watching less television will make me a more active person so this diet might just get me in my skinny jeans after all.  

Amazing Grace

I was raised in a very religious home. My grandparents faithfully go to church three times a week. We pray before every meal no matter how significant or insignifcant. As I got older and moved into my own home I have gotten away from saying grace. Its not apart of my eating ritual anymore.
Lately I got to thinking about what saying grace really means. I think its goes far beyond religion. I think it goes to the core of gratitude and having a grateful spirit. I started to realize saying grace is more than just ritual before dinner, mummbling a few words before you eat. Its really about taking a few seconds to acknolwdege the meal your about to eat. To give thanks for the food on your plate and the people who provided it.
I think its vitual to apprecaiting your meal to say grace. I don't think its about religion, even if you are a non-believer you should take a few seconds to be grateful that you have food. Say thank you to the person who prepared it and to acknowldege all that went into having this meal on your plate. We live in a world where a lot of people have no idea when their next meal will be. It so easy to take our meals for granted.  I think this little act of thanks everyday is a good way to remind ourselves how good our lives are. Because even if you have a bad day the simple act of being able to eat a meal that will sustain you to get up tomorrow and face a new day is something to be thankful for.

Baking with Buddies

I love baking, I find it very relaxing and theraputic during stressful times. When I bake I feel like the world makes sense. Because if I follow a set of instructions I will get a wonderful dessert at the end. Too bad life can't be that straight forward and simple.
Lately I've been baking less at home alone, and started setting baking saturdays with my friends who also enjoy baking. Its so much fun to get in the kitchen with a friend, turn up the music, pour a cocktail and make some cupcakes.

These beauties were baked with my friend Sara right before Valentines Day. They are chocolate cake, with swiss buttercream frosting and mini chocolate chips. Sara found the mini chocolate chips that were the perfect finishing touch for these cupcakes. Funny story about these cupcakes. They were in the oven before we realized we forgot to add sugar to the batter. I blame the cocktails for this oversight. Not to worry we figured out our mistake in time, saved the batter and the cupcakes were perfect! These were perfect Valentines Day treats. Cory took them to work and they were gone before 10 am!

Don't let the simplicity of this cupcake fool you. I baked these chocolate cupcakes with salted carmel buttercream frosting with my friend Katrina, who is my baking mentor! Anytime Katrina and I are in the kitchen you can guarantee there will be a lot of laughter. Katrina is a professonial baker, so when I bake with her I always learn a new trick or technique. Katrina even taught me how to pipe cupcake frosting like a pro!
This chocolate cake is instense, but combine that with a salted carmel buttercream and it is pure decadence! I think is perfect for a cupcake because its the perfect portion size for this rich cupcake. I had to get these out of my house fast. Because I was developing a nightly cupcake habit.

Baking with my buddies has become my new favorite way to spend time with my friends and catch up. I  always learn something new have a good time and go home with great treats!

Happy Leap Day

Today is February 29th a day that only comes along every four years. I'll admit until recently I never really thought much about leap day. It didn't really hold any significance to me just another date on the calendar. Then it dawned on me with the help of 30 Rock. That Leap Day is a bonus day, a an extra day in the year that we don't normally get. If you think about it Leap Day is the gift of time.
One extra day to get closer to accomplishing your goals. One extra day to spend time with the people you care about. One extra day to seize the moment. When I looked at it that way, Leap Day is pretty special. What am I doing today you may ask? Well I am using today to start checking things off my list. To start those projects I've been putting off. To acknowledge the things I've done well and let go of regrets and fears.
We all love getting a bonus of something special. So what could be more special then the gift of a bonus day!

Happy Leap Day Everyone!

Daily Annoyance!

Its the beginning of a new year, and you know what that means? Diet! Everyone I know is trying a new "program" or working going to the gym more to be a healthier/skinner person in the new year. This is not new it happens every January, and I am not immune. I to am trying to loose my twelve pounds of Christmas weight.
So nothing annoys me more than when I am watching TV or a movie and I see a bunch a of skinny people enjoying ice cream, or wine, or a burger or any other type of food I am trying to steer clear of right now. The reason this annoys me so much is because the entertainment industry will have you believe that you can eat whatever you want and still be a size nothing! Which makes me feel like I am being punished because I can't necessarily guzzle a bottle of wine or eat a cupcake right now because my jeans are screaming for mercy.
I know its harmless and the movies/tv aren't trying to make me feel crazy, but it does. I can't belly up to a plate full of veggies while watching someone on tv dive in to pasta. It just feel so unfair!!!! So I guess until I've totally detoxed and my jeans feel a little better, I'll stick to books. Which in the grander scheme of things is better for my brain then zoning out in front of the TV. I feel so much better having gotten this off my chest.
To all of you out there fighting the weight battle good luck, I'll see you all in February when we're back to drinking cocktails and eating chocolate!!!!!

Happy New Year!!!

Its the first day of a new year. I can honestly say that I am excited and a little scared to see what the this year will hold. Its funny how people get so caught up in the "New Year", thinking that January 1st is the only day that one can change their lives or start to implement new habits. When in reality its just another day.
I think real change comes when your tired of your old life and behaviors and ready for something different. That could happen on January 1st or on May 3rd. To me everyday is a fresh start a new beginning a chance to be the person you want to be. I think way too much stock is put into January 1st. With that said, I've been giving a lot of thought lately on not just what I want for the year but what I want for this next chapter in my life. My first instinct was to set out a list of resolutions, that just didn't feel right. Instead I thought of traits I would like to build in myself a way of life I would like to lead and the kind of energy I want to bring to the world around me.
So I am going to work on being more authentic to really stay true to what makes me happy and worry less about what other people think about me. Along with that building a thicker skin to criticism, I hope to one day be fine with that fact that I am going to do and say things people aren't going to agree with and be ok with that.
I also want to take more risk, and not be afraid of failure. I want to push myself out of my comfort zone and let go of all those negative labels I given myself over the years. These aren't things I hope to accomplish over night or even in the next 12 months. These are goals I want to work on daily and keep with me as strive for the life I want to have.
Here's to the next chapter and beyond!
Cheers!!! Happy New Year!!!!

Happy Christmas Eve!

Wow where has the te gone! It feels like it was just Thanksgiving yesterday! Now it's Christmas Eve! I'm happy to report I'm sitting by the fire in my grandparents house. Watching my grandmother bake cakes for Christmas. I will be heading into the kitchen soon to make Mac and cheese and other side dishes for r
Tomorrows meal.
I really love this time of year, spending time with family catching up with old friends! Oh and of course the food! All the wonderful food! This year I bakes literally hundreds of Christmas cookies! So many that gingerbread men are haunting my dreams!
I wish all of you a very Merry Christmas, full of family, friends and good food!

Merry Christmas!

Thanksgiving Post on the way

It was a fun busy Thanksgiving weekend. I had a so much fun spending time with my friends and family. We had good food and good cocktails! I have spent the day recovering from all the cooking and celebrating. I plan to have a full Thanksgiving update out this week, I took lots of pictures of the food and I am working on the best way to organize all the content.

I am a little sad Thanksgiving is over but I am super excited that Christmas is around the corner. My Christmas tree is up and this weekend I am doing my annual Christmas cookie baking day! I'll have lots to talk about and eat in the coming weeks. Let the Holiday Cheer begin!

T'was the night before Thanksgiving

We are just hours away Thanksgiving, I made my shopping list and checked it twice. I have everything I need to make a feast. I spent my day focused on my mise en place. I chopped all my onions, celery and garlic. So tomorrow when I wake up all I have to do is assemble, with very little chopping and prep work.

I also made my mashed potatoes, sweet potato casserole, cranberry sauce and pies. I would have made the dressing too but I ran out of room in my refridgerator so I have to wait until the morning to do that. Most of my afternoon was spent playing refidgerator Tetris.  It was a struggle to fit in all the side dishes, a turkey and the booze for tomorrow. I managed to get it in all in now I am ready for a glass of wine and some shut eye before the big day.

I am wishing everyone a happy Thanksgiving Eve, and Thankgiving! Enjoy the family, friends and food!

P.S. Sorry if this post is all over the place I am exhausted and struggling to keep my eyes open.

2 Days to go!

Thanksgiving will be here in two very short days! I spent my day at the grocery stores again. Tonight I made my corn bread for my dressing and prepared my herb salt rub for my Turkey. Tomorrow will be a busy cooking day for me. I plan to bake pies, make mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes and cut up all my veggies. I am starting to get excited...

Thanksgiving week is here

Its here, Thanksgiving week. This week is all about planning and preparation. I have spent the last few days reading food magazine and watching every thanksgiving cooking special on TV. The one major take away I got from all of them is that planning is key.
I spent the day going through all my recipes and making one very long grocery list. Picking up my turkey and produce at the store. I've learned in past years the way to cut down on Thanksgiving day stress and melt downs (besides lots of wine) is to prep as many of my dishes as I can before hand. So that way on Thanksgiving morning all I really need to do is cook the turkey and the sides.
Prepping ahead of time is great if you have a small kitchen like me. I need as much free space as I can get. I also make a timeline for the day. So I know what's going in the oven when and how much time I am going to need to make sure everything is done at the same time.
Right now I am trying to decide if I should make my own pie crust or buy a crust from the store. I am a baking purest so I really want to make my own. On the other hand I have so much to do and I am making everything else from scratch, in an effort to save my sanity I may just buy a crust.
I a getting really excited and looking forward to spending some quality time in the kitchen cranking out good food.

Off to a good start

Today I made progress on my Thanksgiving planning. I ordered my Turkey, which by the way comes with its on confirmation e-mail and number that I have to present in order to pick it up. I finally finished my menu.
The menu was a struggle because I couldn't decide if I should go high-end gourmet or more basic traditional. What I love most about Thanksgiving is its all about the food. So its a day where doing too much is accepted and expected. Thanksgiving is also a day about tradition and familiar tastes and smells that  bring back great memories.
As I waded through hundreds of recipes and weighed different menu options. I decided to meet in the middle. I'll do traditional but with a few updated twist. So with that in mind I created what I think is a good Thanksgiving fest.
Oh and I will blog about it because next week's food challenge is Thanksgiving recipes. So I will take pictures and document the process. Here's what we'll be having on Turkey day.

Herb Salted Turkey
Shredded brussel sprouts cooked in bacon
Creamy rich mashed potatoes
Yam casserole topped with a pecan crumble
Green bean casserole (Wait for those of you who know me, you know how I loathe the dreaded green bean casserole. I have stated my contempt for this dish for years. I realize what I hate is that god awful cream of mushroom soup and fried onions monstrosity that ends up on most holiday tables. I happened to find a recipe that is from scratch and made with good Cheddar cheese does not use canned soup of any kind so I decided to give it a whirl!)
Parker house rolls
Corn bread stuffing
Bourbon Pecan Pie
Sweet Potato Pie
Chocolate cake (if I have time)

So I am well on my way, next items on the list. Make my shopping list, clean out the fridge so I have room for everything and get the house in order for guest. We are exactly 8 days away from the big meal so time to get  cracking!

Who was I kidding?

I am back from a very busy home. The wedding was beautiful and the shower was success! When I landed yesterday I was hit with the very real reality that Thanksgiving is next week! I knew it was coming but somehow I just felt like I had more time. Between planning a baby shower and traveling and doing a food challenge the time got away from me.
So this week I am going to be all about getting my Thanksgiving game plan in order. This year is going to be my biggest Thanksgiving yet. I will have seven adults and one baby over for dinner. So I need to get cracking.
There is a house to clean, a turkey to order, a menu to finalize and wine and beer to pair. I am excited, I love Thanksgiving because its a holiday that is all about the food. I cannot wait to have a really good meal and have fun with family and friends. This week my plan is to post about Thanksgiving prep and give some tips and tricks along the way that you can use to prepare for Thanksgiving.
My first order of business is ordering my Turkey then finalizing the menu. I'd love to hear whats on your menu. I love finding out what other people are making for their Thanksgiving meal.

Wish me luck!

Busy week

Its Tuesday actually its almost wednesday. I note this because Thursday I am flying home for my uncles wedding and to host a babyshower. The weekend is going to be a busy one forsure. In usual fashion the days leading up to the trip are just as busy.
I haven't been in the kitchen much, this week. I did make a killer pot of chile last night that was so good, I was mad when I got home tonight and found out Cory finished the leftovers. This is after I had eaten the chile for lunch!
The weather has cooled down drastically and a hot bowl of chile hits the spot. Another cold weather treat is a big mug of hot chocolate. I've been craving it non-stop for the last four days, andCory has been kind enough to make it for me. With preparing for a trip and satisfying my cold weather food cravings I haven't had time to focus on my around the world cooking this week. I thought I would beable to squeeze it in. It appears that I am running out of time.
So I'll have to resume next week when I return. I am really looking forward to spending some time with my family and friends,celebrating birthdays, weddings and babies. Who I am kidding I can't wait to get home and eat some awesome food!

Avgolemono

Avgolemono is Greek Egg-Lemon Chicken Soup. I've only had this soup once before at restaurant and wanted to give it try. If you've never had it, its smooth almost creamy chicken soup with a nice tang of lemon. Its a really nice dish to make on a chilly fall night or if your feeling under the weather.


To start I poured six cups of chicken broth into a pot.

The prep for this soup could not be any easier. I cut one small onion in halve, and peeled one carrot. That's it! That's all the prep work that I needed to do! This is my kind of soup! I also needed one bay leaf. Once my veggies were prepped I added them to pot of stock along with a teaspoon of salt.

Once the stock is simmering I add two boneless skinless chicken breast to the pot and let it simmer gently for thirty minutes.

After the thirty minutes are up I remove the chicken and strain the vegetables from the stock. I was lazy and didn't feel like busting out the strainer so I just used my tongs and pulled out the onion, carrot and bay leaf. Seriously the pieces are so big you really don't need to go through the hassle of straining. Once everything was out of the pot I brought the stock back up to a boil and added one cup of long grain.

The rice needs to cook for twenty minutes so while that was happening I juiced two lemons for a quarter cup of lemon juice and I shredded my chicken.

Once the rice is done you add back in the chicken and let cook for a five more minutes. During that time I need to prepare my eggs. This recipe calls for the eggs to be tempered. Tempering is when you slowly bring the eggs up to temperature with hot liquid before you pour them in the pot of hot soup. If you do not temper the eggs first and just put the eggs in the soup the result is scrambled egg soup.  
I find that you should start with room temperature eggs. I had to whisk the eggs until foamy.

Once the eggs are whisked I added the lemon juice. I poured through a strainer to get all the pulp and seeds out. Then I whisked the eggs and lemon juice together.

Now the fun and tricky part tempering the eggs. I took one cup of hot stock from the soup pot and slowly poured it into my egg mixture while whisking quickly to keep the eggs from cooking. I repeated this one more time with another cup of stock until my eggs were warm.

Now that my eggs are nice and warm a I can pour them into the soup. Its amazing hour the addition of eggs changed the soup. Instead of a standard brothy chicken and rice soup. I know had a smooth and creamy soup without the addition of heavy cream. It reminded me almost of risotto. That lemon juice gives it an ice tangy bite that cuts through the richness.

To finish the soup I just added some chopped parseley and its ready to serve! This soup is really good and I can't wait to enjoy it on nice cold night. The day I made the soup it was 80 degrees so I didn't really need the warm cozy effect. Anyway hot or cold outside this soup is really good and makes a great lunch the next day!

This recipe is a keeper, I think it maybe my new go to chicken soup!

I didn't forget

I know its Thursday and I still haven't announced the country I am cooking for this week. Don't worry I haven't forgotten. In fact I made a dish last night that turned out really good and I am excited to post about it. It involves tempering eggs so that brings up the cool factor. 

The country that I am featuring this week is Greece! I love Greek food and I've been known to eat my body weight in hummus so I am going to be eating well this week! Tomorrow there will be a full post on the dish I made. I am not going to say what it is you'll have to come back tomorrow to find out.

Happy Friday Eve!