House Beautiful

Monthly Archive for November, 2014

Thanksgiving Goodness.

Happy Thanksgiving!!  Hope you’re posted up somewhere cozy like this today… sipping your morning coffee (or afternoon toddy)…

Inhaling something that smells like this…

Sitting down to Thanksgiving dinner at a table like this…

And wearing something like this…

As for me & Karrie (!)  …Let’s be honest.  It’ll be more along these lines:

Cramming as much turkey & cream-of-everything as we can in our little pot bellies… Probably watching this later…


And eating these Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Walnut cookies I just made:

…the batter bowl of which I just licked for breakfast – and washed down with half a can of French fried onions.  I so wish I were kidding.  I also wish My Fitness Pal app would stop asking me to log my breakfast.  It’s like the bastards know.

In any case… God, who doesn’t love Thanksgiving???  Can I rap a short list real quick about what I’m grateful for?

1.  Parents who kick ass. My sweet dad – aka Stevie B – who is like a cross between Elvis and a cowboy and a warm, fuzzy grizzly bear.  And my mom, who just sent me leaves and acorns and some other interesting treats in a care package, because she knows Fall is my favorite time of year at home.  The best part?  A “ps” in the card that said something like: “Helpful Hint!!  You can surround these cinnamon candles with the Fall foliage as a neat Thanksgiving centerpiece (!)”  Bahahah – Jayne.  God love er.

2.  Having had the gift of Grandparents…  the last of which, Bud, we just lost this Spring.  I was so lucky to have 3 of them I was close to for a very, very long time – well into my 30’s.  I don’t know many kids who are as lucky in that regard as I have been.  I feel like they taught me so many of the things I know – whether they meant to or not – about how to sew, how to bake Christmas cookies, how to build things… about what’s really important and how to be a good person to the people around you.  Now when I think back on my childhood and on the time they were all here, it almost feels like magic.  I miss sweet Bud, Ruth and Nanny Jam all the time, but I also kinda always feel like they’re still here.  And I’m so grateful for that, too.  Those are sweet Bud’s tooties under the Thanksgiving Day table at our house in Columbus 2 years ago.

3. OMG – GUS (!&$#^!!!) So grateful for the most insane, sweet pup full of unbounding joy who ever lived.  Did I tell you he’s flying home for Christmas with me?  Yep.  Pass the tranquilizers.

4.  Friends who are family. I’m lucky enough to have innumerable ones… including but not limited to that gaggle of hookers, my Burris K-12-ers, and my volleyball family.  I’m also grateful for my bestie and co-blogger, Karrie, whose fam I’m spending Thanksgiving with today.  This is what a lot of our snort-worthy convos look like:

5.  Living in this gorgeous place and finally having bitten the bullet and gotten out of my own way so I could start doing what I love this year.

Hope you guys have a GREAT holiday weekend with family & friends!!  Cheers to lots of naps, Scrabble and Christmas movies on TNT…  and decorating tomorrow.  OMG it makes me so happy I could pee.

Much love to you!

Recipe of the Week: Autumn Ingredient Salad

Since I moved to Cali 9 months ago, I’ve dropped about 15 pounds and 2 dress sizes… and not (really) on purpose.  Of all the times in my 20’s when I did crazy sh*t like the Master Cleanse, or yo-yo’d between strict lose-10-pounds-in-a-week diet stints and stints when I would wake up with Papa John’s cheese sauce in my hair & cookie dough in my cleavage – this time, I didn’t go on a fad diet.  I haven’t been deprived, and it hasn’t really been hard at all.  My lifestyle just changed for the better, and then a few layers of sludge melted off.  I’ll post separately about it, because I feel 9 million times better and do have some great tips to share, but more than anything, what helped me was to start incorporating really healthy recipes into my arsenal that are as delicious as they are filling.

This past Sunday when I was STARVING and plopped down to refuel at True Food Kitchen, I stumbled on a dish for the record books.  This. salad. is. DIVINE.  I think the addition of the butternut squash, the little dried mulberries (which tasted super fancy and exotic to me cuz I never eat them) and the horseradish vinaigrette are what made it for me.  I ate this as my whole lunch meal – which you can do (and add a protein to, if ya wanna), but it would also make a great side dish for Thanksgiving.  #nomnomnom

Happy Cooking!!

xx,

AUTUMN INGREDIENTS SALAD (Gluten Free & Vegan)

serves 4-6
Recipe on video via | Photo credit via
Ingredients Amount
Cauliflower Florets 2 cups
Butternut Squash Slices 2 cups
Brussels Sprouts Halved 3 cups
Canellinni Beans Cooked and Drained 2 cups
Dry Pom Seeds 3 TB
Dry Mulberries 3 TB
Dressing
Champagne Vinegar 3 TB
Prepared Horseradish 1 TB
Minced Garlic 1 tsp
Minced Scallions 2 tsp
Chili Flakes 1 pinch
Salt 1 tsp
Extra Virgin Olive Oil 1/2 cup
Procedure
1.  For the dressing, combine all ingredient except the Olive Oil and wisk to combine.
2.  Slowly drizzle in the Olive Oil while wisking, set aside.
3.  Toss the Cauliflower in a little Olive Oil, season with salt and pepper and spread evenly on a cookie sheet in a single layer.
4.  Roast the Cauliflower under the broiler until well caramelized and softened, about 10 minutes.
5.  Roast the Squash and Brussels Sprouts using the same technique as the Cauliflower.
6.  Allow the vegetables to cook to room temperature, then combine them in a large bowl with the Beans and dried fruits
7.  Toss in the dressing to evenly coat everything.
8.  Salad will keep marinated for up to 2 days in the fridge.