Who knew?

All these years and I didn't know there was a national margarita day!


Mark Feb 22 on all your future calendars!

XX

I am not old. I am not old. I am not old. I. am. NOT. old!

My firstborn turned 20 two days ago - no longer a teenager and officially an adult. How is that even possible?! Um, I'm only 29. I'm actually not one of those who say they're younger than they are or hate their birthdays I love ME days! It's just that I think I'm younger than I am ... likely a hallmark of immaturity. But hey, attitude and positive thinking go a long way, right?! There's that whole mind-body connection thing. Work with me

I love my daughter ... she is the best of my and hubby's qualities plus her own sweet sassiness. She is confident, motivated, loving, bubbly and bright. She is currently a brunette, but was born a tow head and it comes out in her many "blonde moments". She's fiercely loyal to those she loves and has a soft spot for animals, kids and the elderly. Studying to become a respiratory therapist, she will undoubtedly achieve everything she sets out to and make the difference in countless lives. She is my buddy in movies, Olympics watching, mani/pedis and shopping.

Favorite eats: Caesar Salad, Fettucine Alfredo, steak, broccoli and junk food
Favorite people: bestie Abby, boyfriend Steven and her baby, Mittens
Favorite shows: Kardashians (sigh), Game of Thrones, Walking Dead and True Blood
Favorite places: her room, Chipotle and the mall

I am excited to see what lies ahead for Sassy's 21st year!

Busy baker

I have been in my happy place the last two weekends ... baking. First I was inspired by this post to make something special for one of my valentines (Hi Mom!). These turned out delicious but next time I'll make them much smaller ... they were about 2" in diameter and so addictive you couldn't just stop at one or two. Before I knew it they were gone! It didn't help that Abbie the wonder dog had a nice big snack while I turned my back for three minutes gee whiz, a girl can't even go to the bathroom around here without having to lock up the goods ... she was literally in the doghouse.

Yesterday I whipped up vanilla cupcakes with Nutella frosting for Sassy and then because I had a whole bunch of frosting leftover I made vanilla macarons.

 I have been trying to perfect the macaron for over a year now and finally achieved success! I would feel incredibly accomplished except I know this could be fleeting ... macarons are notoriously temperamental. While I was at it I made a batch of cranberry pistachio biscotti. A certain someone has dropped some not so subtle hints that they needed restocking. And finally I made hubby a special treat with this recipe for copycat Shamrock Shake... fantastic!

Camelback Vortex

The Polar Vortex is back ... for the third time. As I write this the temperature is -3°F with a windchill of (feels like) -22°F.

I can't believe I left this to come back to the arctic!

I was in Scottsdale, Arizona for a work conference earlier this week. It was also a mini getaway ... beautiful resort and awesome food. I went with a work colleague and she convinced me to hike up Camelback Mountain the first day we were there. Holy moly rocky is that climb a beast and going down isn't any easier! The view was beautiful when I was able to catch my breath long enough to look at it (the following photo is my coworker Jen, not me).

I made it half way up ... someone  told me I was 3/4 up but I finally saw the markers and was pretty pleased that 1) I made it up as far as I did and B) I hadn't seen the markers before I did or would have stopped sooner. Jen made it all the way to the top and said it was really hard as you had to climb jagged rocks with your hands. Maybe I'll go back some day and make it up even higher. For now I will let the memories of a warm beautiful sunny day climbing a mountain carry me through the latest vortex.

Bullets & Links

What I'm loving:

• My treadmill ... I do 30-60 minutes a day with a break here and there for commitments/laziness. This is major for me. I even broke out in a jog ... twice ... on two separate occasions. Who would have ever thought?! Yay me and since today is Tuesday I'm counting this as my first Take It Off Tuesdays post of the year because this is my blog and I can do what I want here (within reason of course)
• A smart, sexy man who loves his wife and kids, isn't afraid to show it and knows how to use curse words to emphasize a good point
• Only 15 days until the XXII Olympics ... where's the torch? 
• I made homemade caramel sauce and feel like I conquered Mt Everest ... how beautiful are my apple crostatas with salted caramel?! They taste even better than they look if you can believe it.

What I'm not loving:

• Cancer ... my friend's mom has it, two of my friends have it and it sucks. Big time.
• Food waste ... this is provocative and I am on a mission to be more conscientious. On that note, I used leftover half & half singles and sugar packets from a recent catered office event for the crusts of my crostatas above ... I sort of feel like my great-grandma who took sugar, creamer and jelly from restaurants

Trouble on the Tundra

This was the title of a local newspaper article about our weather. We're getting hit hard here in the Midwest, but so are lots of folks (except the coasts).

On the bright side, the winter Olympics are in 32 days and summer is only 166 days away!

Leftovers

What do you do with leftovers from the Christmas Eve veggie platter and the last four clementines? Make a feast that's what! This is what was for supper tonight:

Flank steak - simple marinade with lime juice, S&P
Roasted potatoes with onions and red/green peppers
Roasted sweet potatoes
Brussels sprout salad - shaved sprouts, shallots, olive oil, apple cider vinegar, Dijon, S&P
Cauliflower with almonds, raisins and capers 
Clementine & Almond Cake

The cauliflower recipe was a whim and though a lot of steps the outcome was delicious.

The cake recipe was in the new cookbook, Jerusalem, I received from my sister-in-law for Christmas. An absolute winner! I've seen a similar cake from my original girl crush, Nigella Lawson, so will have to make hers and compare as I believe the recipes are slightly different. I had both fine almond flour and a grittier almond meal on hand and really liked the texture of the two mixed together. Next I'll be roasting leftover grape tomatoes for a "naked" tomato sauce.

And because I love to cook then eat what I make I have a lot of leftover jiggly body bits. So ... the newest member of our family is a NordicTrack treadmill. I'm bribing paying Chunky to set it up before the end of New Year's Day so I can start the New Year out right. Another leftover to be resurrected in the new year is Take it Off Tuesdays. Stay tuned!