September 7, 2010

Roasted Mangoes & Blueberries

If I was a painter, I’d focus my attention on making abstract paintings with roasted mangoes and blueberries.

Preferred canvas? A big white casserole dish!

My brush strokes would produce bits of fiery orange flesh with rich black dots speckled on top of a deep crimson wash.

Here’s a glimpse at my latest painting.

What do you see?

The juxtaposition of ooey gooey blueberries & baked juicy mangoes masking the reflection of my happy face?

Wow, you’re good! Did you go to art school?

Now that you’ve learned how to make Cinnamon Sugar Tortilla Crisps, it’s time to do something with them! I probably know better than anyone they do just fine on their own (hello! who ate a whole batch?!!) but let’s jazz them up with another recipe! So baked mangoes & blueberries? Hmmm. At first your brain tells you I’M EATING PEACHES (cuz that’s what it looks like) and then your taste buds say WAIT! NO! MANGOES! The combination of the blueberries & mangoes creates something almost raspberry like. So peculiar yet fun & totally unexpected. And let’s discuss that color again! Can I just say that I want this as a flavored lip gloss. Hello Stila? You out there? Please help.
CONTINUE READING

recipes, Uncategorized

September 3, 2010

Cinnamon Sugar Tortilla Crisps

Dear 7 year old Tracy,

I’m watching you. You’re sitting at Taco Bell with your brothers scarfing down cinnamon crisps. At your age, Taco Bell isn’t a scary place. You always order the Mexican Pizza and there’s only like 10 options on the menu. Today there’s a GAZILLION. You don’t even know about that crazy annoying Chihuahua yet! Consider yourself lucky. Do yourself a favor and stay away from this place as an adult. Your parents did the right thing and only took you out to fast food restaurants sparingly. You won’t understand how important that is until later on in your life but I promise it will be worth it. Sorry for the lecture. Apparently you’ve turned into one of THOSE adults. Have I lost you?

Let’s talk about those cinnamon crisps you like soo much! Taco Bell stopped making them. They went through dozens of incarnations, but never returned to what you are eating now. Don’t fret. The 31 year old version of you JUST made some. If I could go back in time and give you this recipe sooner, I would. Sorry-time travel isn’t a done deal yet.

These cinnamon sugar tortilla crisps are crunchy and ooooh so yummy! Your son Cooper LOVED them and your husband, Casey begged you to make some more. Yes, at 31 you will have a son and a husband. So that little M.A.S.H. game you played was wrong. You don’t live in a shack and you aren’t married to Joey McIntyre with 12 kids. Ok, get back to what you are doing. Enjoy your life and keep up the good work!

Love,

31 year old Tracy

p.s. I served some of these with Baked Mangoes & Blueberries. Don’t worry, you’ll learn to like mangoes!

around the home, favorites, Uncategorized

September 2, 2010

Interview @ B R U N C H!

Happy Thursday, Friends!

Wanna know why I’m obsessed with food? What inspires me? My tips on food blogging? What I love for Brunch?

You can eavesdrop on the conversation I had with my dear friend Christine. She’s got a new blog — Brunch!

I’m pretty sure you’re gonna love her new space. I must tell you it’s soo dreamy for a graphic design admirer like myself!

Please check it out!

And a big thanks to Whitney for taking my action shots!

Here I am working our the Scrambled Egg Turnovers!!

recipes, Uncategorized

August 31, 2010

Monkey Bread Minis

I wish alarm clocks had built-in smell alarms. Why haven’t we figured this out yet?! Imagine the possibilities!! You wouldn’t have a problem getting up for a 6am flight if the smell of these cinnamony Monkey Bread Minis assaulted you. Now to think of it…the 13 year old Tracy would have set my brother’s alarm clock to rotten farts at 4am.

OK we NEED to make this happen.

If you are familiar with monkey bread, then you should know that this recipe doesn’t produce a doughy/yeasty pull apart roll. It’s like a hybrid of a cinnamon roll (taste wise) and an old fashion donut (texturally). Yes. DONUT. The best part is that there’s no yeast stress involved. Yup, yeast stresses me out when I’m not properly caffeinated. There I said it. I think little hands would love dipping dough into butter & cinnamon sugar. When I get over my fears of Cooper’s messy sticky cinnamon fingers on our micro suede couch, I’ll totally do it. For sure!

You’ll enjoy putting every last piece into your mouth hole. I know I did.

around the home, Uncategorized

August 31, 2010

The end of summer is near….

Over a week ago, we had a few days of extreme heat in the Bay Area. It was in the 90s in San Francisco!

It FINALLY felt like summer. It’s been a weird year here.

To help beat the heat, Cooper, Casey & I shared the last of my Mango Carrot Pineapple Ginger Popsicles.

They held up really well in our freezer! Wow. They were in there for almost 4 months. Not too shabby!

Coop calls them “eye keem” —as in ice cream.

Poke poke poke.

Tasting…

And…ENJOYING!! I like how he shows concern over the the popsicle drips.

Teetering around with his popsicle while Casey waters the plants.

I’m gonna throw this one in because it cracks me up. MIST!! What a ham.

The end of summer is near…but I am going to enjoy every last drop of it.

Let’s get our fill of berry cobblers & blueberry pies before we enter Fall!

favorites, Uncategorized

August 26, 2010

Quick Cookin’ with Shutterbean!

Today on Modern Kiddo

You’ll find my Southwestern Pizza recipe!

Please check it out here!

p.s- Isn’t this logo the CUTEST?! It’s the fabulous work of draw! pilgrim!

around the home, Uncategorized

August 24, 2010

my love for mason jars

If you’ve been on Shutterbean before, you might notice that I like to drink out of mason jars.

My best friend got me hooked when I lived up in Oregon!! There’s just something about the weight & thickness of a jar that makes me like it. I also know that out of a room full of cups, I can easily spot mine. A few of my jars have the ounces labeled on the side! It’s pretty handy when I need to measure out a drink, or account for how many oz. of water I drank! A huge plus when I can put a lid on one and take it on the go!

I think its funny that people find it weird to drink out of jars. I often get “you’re drinking out of a jar!” As if I didn’t know….

This little delicate little jar/votive ceramic piece has found it’s home in our living room.

It’s a little birthday gift from a good friend. Isn’t it pretty? I can’t wait to see it lit up with a candle inside!