So Pretty is as Pretty Does.

Nov 18

Breakfast Bars {Quinoa + Chia + Cranberry + PB}

Mornings that begin with smoothies are on the decline here in Pennsylvania as it is frightfully cold. It’s really not all that bad. I’m still in an adjustment phase and by late December I’ll hardly whine at all. My go-to breakfast in the depths of winter is a toss up between steel-cut oatmeal or sleeping in the middle of my bed under several comforters with my cat huddled next to me for added warmth. If you want to go the oatmeal route I’ve got a post for that. If you want to go the amorphous bed blob route you’re on your own, but I suspect you can figure it out. For these moderately chilly mornings where I can still get out of bed with relative ease, I wanted something more portable, but still nutritionally substantial – enter the quinoa breakfast bar.

Oct 21

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Sriracha Lime Popcorn

After enjoying one of my favorite snacks for the what must be nearing the 100th time while watching one of my favorite movies, The Philadelphia Story, I thought it high time to share. Here it is:

Part of what makes this quick recipe a favorite is its simplicity, the other part is Sriracha which is an absolute staple in my house.

Oct 17

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Homemade Hummus: Part II

I’ve been making hummus for a couple of years and as I’ve been honing my skills, I’ve learned a few tricks to overcome obstacles that can make this process annoying, time-consuming and on occasion mind-numbingly boring. The obstacles I’m referring to are as follows:

I routinely forget to soak chick peas overnight.

I eat a lot of hummus and don’t enjoy cleaning up garlic skin and gooey tahini each time I want a snack.

Hovering over my kitchen sink to remove even one more chick pea husk places me in imminent danger of losing my mind.

Just a few issues, nothing major. With a little practice and experimentation, I’ve identified dilemmas, found solutions and made making hummus an easy part of my meal plan.

(Side note: It’s possible that not all of you are excited by the notion of perusing an article detailing solutions specific to hummus preparation. That’s okay. For you, I have included at the end of this post a moderately amusing image of a packaged food item I recently discovered, photographed and from which I have removed an apostrophe.)

Hummus Explosion

Oct 14

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Merhaba! {Traveling Istanbul}

If you’ve read my last post, Turkish de Light, then you already know that I was in Istanbul last month. It was such a vibrant city; fantastic sights, ridiculously good food (though I’ll admit, a little tough when you’re gluten-free), and incredibly friendly people. Here are a few photographs highlighting the aforementioned attributes of this ancient city.

(overlooking the Bosphorus in the morning}

Oct 10

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Turkish de Light

Last month, my husband and I took a couple of weeks and traveled through parts of Europe that we’d been itching to see since before college graduation. After quite a bit of planning, we created an itinerary that hopped along the southern coast, starting in Istanbul and winding up in Barcelona. Our time in Istanbul was gorgeous, vibrant, entirely different from our cultural norm, and wildly inspirational. As a souvenir, we had a Turkish mosaic pendant shipped back to the US and this weekend we completed our first mini-project inspired by our trip by installing our new light in a room that desperately needed a fixture update.