Getting Ready for the Holidays with Zazzle

We’re not the family that gets holiday portraits done every year. In fact, I don’t think we’ve ever had a professional portrait done of us! I think that needs to change soon. We also don’t have tons of pictures of us around the house mostly because figuring out what photos to print and actually PRINTING photos can be a long arduous process for me; I get easily distracted. You should see how long it takes me to create a holiday card every year. I think I spent 12 hours on it last year. You think I’m kidding? I’m not.

I’ve wanted to get some of my favorite photos printed, when I was offered a gift certificate from online photo printing service Zazzle , I went for it.

recipes

November 11, 2013

Bacon Cheeseburger Pizza

The one thing that is guaranteed to make me really excited in life is FOOD. SHOCKER, isn’t it??! I spend most of my free time thinking about food and reading cookbooks. Thoughts of food combinations, flavor profiles, textures, and cuisines all litter my head. If only I could channel this thought process into more productive things like cleaning up all the piles of crap around my house. But…. that would be no fun.

In this crazy brain of mine I’ve had this idea to combine two of my husband’s favorite things together. It’s been on my mind for weeks and I finally did it! Whenever we are out for burgers, he ALWAYS orders a bacon cheeseburger with jalapeños. He then proceeds to put Tabasco on said burger as well as his fries…and I think he does the fries part just to mess with me cuz I WILL STEAL ALL OF HIS FRIES. We’ve been together for 14 years. He knows this and I know that I must suffer through Tabasco on my fries if I want to indulge in my carb fantasies. I digress…

Here we have the realization of my husband’s/my food fantasy. A pizza that taste like a burger. A burger that’s presented in pizza form. Instead of using marinara as the sauce, we have a ketchup & mustard combo. It’s sweet. It’s tangy! It’s smokey and spicy. It’s so good that I caught Casey standing in the kitchen late at night like Nigella Lawson (sans sexy/silky robe) eating some over the sink.

my everyday life, Photography

November 9, 2013

My Everyday Life: Week 45

Here’s what this past week looked like:

I woke up above the fog.

November 8, 2013

I love lists, Friday!

I love when Matt shares the behind the scenes of his work.
My week felt just like this. Except I didn’t have the perfect soundtrack…
Photoshop is crazy, yo.
No. Just. NO.
You hate the dentist??! Have you thought that maybe the dentist hates YOU?
This is funny because it’s true.
The Anatomy of a Compliment. Your article is wonderful!
Am I too old for this eye makeup? Please say no.
Next year I’m gonna pretend I ate all of Cooper’s Halloween candy. Wait…
Why do pictures taken at just right the angle excite me??
What I want to make for appetizers this holiday season!
Things that Lady Gaga looks like. *snort*
It’s that time of year where we bing watch ELF. Here are some Elf Facts.
ALWAYS BE SOAKING! Nice tips, Isa Chandra.
Procrastination+ CATS. I may have posted this once before but WHO CARES.
The Misspelled Names at Starbucks crack me up. They get mine wrong a lot.
12 Piece No Brainer Fall Wardrobe. YES.

It’s Hard to Eat & Cry— the title of our latest Joy the Baker podcast! This week we answer your quickfire questions! Also…I do some photo mashups of Joy that I’m pretty proud of…

Tres Chicas Morenas made my Baked Caramel Apple Doughnuts

Tasty Artichoke made my Sriracha Mac & Cheese

Despite My Pancreas made my Spinach Tortellini Soup & Banana Walnut Granola

Use Real Butter adapted my Baked Dark Chocolate Doughnuts

Thoroughly Nourished Life was inspired by my Broccoli Kale Slaw

The Cheesy Kitchen made my Sausage Sweet Potato Soup

Forbidden Rice Blog adapted my Raisin Focaccia

Blah Blah Birds also adapted my Raisin Focaccia

Stir and Strain was inspired by my Orange Ginger Toddy

featured, recipes

November 6, 2013

Baked Maple Bacon Doughnuts

Putting bacon on Baked Maple Doughnuts is kinda like ordering a Diet Coke when you get a double double with animal style fries at In & Out Burger. Or maybe it’s like getting your burger protein style (lettuce instead of bread)? I dunno. Baking a doughnut is just one simple way of sparing the littlest of calories. What happens is that it tricks your brain into eating more…and you know what. THERE’S totally JUSTIFICATION in that.

I give you permission to make these for your friends. I give you permission to be the cool one at the office who brings in the best treats. I give you permission to use the “But they’re baked!” line because sometimes you have to help people see the beauty in balance.

I give you permission to eat one and then turn that into two because you really want to appreciate the nuance of maple glaze with bacon. It’s like a doughnut was put on a plate of pancakes with a side of bacon then someone who doesn’t mind their foods to touch let it alllll happen. It’s everything right.

Lastly, I give you permission to blame your sudden weight gain on me. But that now means you have my permission to buy a cute oversize sweater to cover said weight gain cuz DOUGHNUTS!

Inspiration, Outfitting

November 5, 2013

OUTFITTING: Navy & Gold

ONE/ TWO /THREE /FOUR /FIVE/SIX /SEVEN /EIGHT /NINE

I’ve been thinking about what I’m going to wear to Thanksgiving. I usually end up looking like a hot mess because I’m too busy cooking or rounding the troops up to go over to my parent’s house. But this year I’d like to look less frumpy cuz maybe we’ll take some holiday pictures…I dunno. We dress somewhat casual on Thanksgiving so I put together a “holiday” outfit I’d wear in a heartbeat. I love Navy & Gold together because it’s a nice balance of warm tones with cool tones. Drapey fabrics are the way to go during big meals. You need room to grow!

recipes

November 4, 2013

Carrot Coconut Soup

I made this Carrot Coconut Soup twice in one week. That’s how good it is. It wasn’t because I had a ton of carrots to use up. Nope. I’m just clearly obsessed. Make it. You’ll see what I mean.

It was the sweet & spicy kick that I kept craving. The subtle hint of coconut reminds me of my favorite Thai soup.But! I didn’t have to go to a restaurant to get it…which means I didn’t have to get dressed cuz I’m allllllll for pajamas.

I also have all of these ingredients at my disposal most of the time and this soup took almost no effort. WIN.

Hooray for simple/satisfying soups. We have the holidays coming up, I say we make things easy on ourselves starting NOW. Can we make things even easier and tell everyone they can come to Thanksgiving in their pajamas? Cooooooool.