Friday, Y’all (And Kevin’s Graduating)!

17 Friday May 2013

Posted by in Kevin, Cool New Stuff

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We have an exciting and celebratory weekend coming up at the Keller house: Kevin graduates from Wake Forest Business School with his MBA! Wahoo! (I’m SO proud of my husband for all his hard work over the last two years.)

To help us celebrate this momentous occasion, my in-laws and my parents are coming in town (Saturday and Sunday, respectively), and we can’t wait to see them.

In preparation for their visit, I’ve been busy prepping several favorite recipes — yum! I haven’t been baking as much lately, and it’s been fun to get back to it over the past couple of days.

I’ll have more to share after our festivity-filled weekend, but in the meantime I’ll leave you with some favorite finds of late (which have absolutely nothing to do with graduation — sorry, Kevin!). Some of these I’ve tried and some I’m just lusting after:

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  • Cover Girl Lip Perfection Jumbo Gloss Balm: I picked this up (I went with “210,” which is a fun pink) as an impulse buy at CVS a few weeks ago and adore it. It goes on smooth like a gloss — as the name promises — but includes a pop of color.:

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  • These black leather wedges from Emerson Fry: Yes, please.:

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Happy (almost) weekend! What’s everyone else up to?

Raw Berry Pie + Weekend Round-Up

13 Monday May 2013

Posted by in Cool New Stuff, Food Stuffs, North Carolina, Springtime Adventures

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I’ll admit I was a little skeptical of this “pie” at first. The crust is made of just dates, walnuts, cinnamon, and vanilla extract? Hmm. But, as it turns out, the stuff is delicious! It tastes clean, simple, and delightfully fresh, and I’m sure I’ll be making variations of this treat throughout the summer.

It was great to (finally!) have a whole weekend that felt like springtime, and this was a perfect way to end things on Sunday night.

Ingredients

  • 1 cup raw walnuts
  • 1/2 cup pitted dates
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • Pinch of sea salt
  • 4 cups frozen berries (I used a mix of dark cherries, blueberries, and raspberries)
  • 1 Tablespoon agave nectar

Directions

  • In a food processor fitted with an S blade, combine walnuts, dates, vanilla, cinnamon, and sea salt until smooth. Press mixture into a pie crust and refrigerate for about an hour (until crust is hard).

crust

  • After the crust is set, blend the fruit and agave nectar in a food processor (again using the S blade). Press fruit mixture into the crust and refrigerate for at least two hours before serving.

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  • (Note: I think next time I might try freezing the crust to be sure it sets really well before adding the fruit. Though this pie was delicious, it didn’t slice especially well and kind of ended up looking like a cobbler more than a pie once it was served. That didn’t stop me from eating two pieces last night.) :)

Other notables from the weekend:

  • On Saturday, we headed to Jamestown, North Carolina, to check out Furnitureland South with our friends Allen and Mary. They just bought a house and were looking for a few things for the new digs. Luckily, Allen has a relative who works at Furnitureland South, and he was able to guide us around. That place is massive, and puts all other furniture stores to shame. (Check out the sweet dresser out front!) Kevin and I saw several pieces we liked, but didn’t purchase anything this time (though we were slightly temped by a lovely piece of marine art):

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  • After building up an appetite with all that furniture shopping, we ventured into downtown Jamestown for lunch and were incredibly impressed with this little town. They had a couple of great restaurants, an imports-only wine and beer shop, a French press coffee shop/record store combo that features live music most nights, and one of the coolest bars we’ve ever seen (photos below). It was a mostly outdoor set-up with cozy tables, really cool decor (think old wrought iron gates and lots of beads and curtains), and a shuffleboard table. As Kevin said, it’s like one of those amazing looking establishments featured in a movie that’s supposed to be in a small town and you think, “Yeah right. There’s no way a place like that exists in that town.” And yet, in Jamestown, it does:

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  • It’s finally springtime in Winston-Salem! Let’s hope it sticks around…

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  • Before we enjoyed our pie last night, Kevin and I took advantage of our new grill and cooked up some pre-marinated Trader Joe’s bool kogi Korean beef (YUM!). While Kevin was acting as grill master, I made our new favorite side dish: haricot vertes with sliced almonds and pearl onions. We added some Caprese salad (complete with fresh basil from our garden!) and — of course — some of that to-die-for black pepper Parmesan Whole Foods bread and were pretty pleased with our dinner selection:

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A successful weekend indeed!

My (Rather Anti-Climactic) Week Without Caffeine

09 Thursday May 2013

Posted by in Food Stuffs, Health & Wellness, This and That

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I’ve been drinking coffee since I was about one.

Not every day when I was a kid or anything — don’t worry — and always more milk than coffee, but still. Caffeine and I go way back, is what I’m saying. We’re old friends.

coffee

I’m not sure if it’s because I started drinking coffee so young or what, but I can never recall a time when I was sensitive to caffeine. I can drink two cups of coffee at 11 p.m. and go immediately to sleep, no problem.

Since I don’t ever feel any of the effects of caffeine, I never paid much attention to how much of it I was consuming. I typically drink coffee at home in the morning, and then drink several cups of black tea throughout the course of the work day.

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But I got to wondering — even though I don’t feel like I’m being affected by caffeine, maybe I am. And even if I’m not, it would probably not be a bad idea for me to start being more aware of how much of it I’m drinking. (I’m sure my heart would thank me for it!)

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And so, last week I embarked on a week without caffeine to see what might happen. The result? I didn’t really feel different at all. I did get a slight headache on Monday afternoon/evening which must have been related to the lack of caffeine (because I NEVER get headaches), but that was it. (I told you it was anti-climactic!)

I did like being more aware of how much caffeine I was ingesting though, and plan to keep that awareness going. (I’m drinking much fewer caffeinated beverages so far this week.)

How does caffeine affect you? Have you ever tried giving it up and, if so, what was the result?

(Side note: I also gave up sweets last week, which I missed much more than caffeine!)

The Greatest Grilled Cheese Sandwich Ever

07 Tuesday May 2013

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Okay, the title is maybe a little hyperbolic — but perhaps not. The sandwiches I made for Kevin and me for dinner tonight were stupid good. As in, I wanted another one when I was just halfway through the first one. (Don’t worry — I just ate one. I’m just trying to illustrate their deliciousness.)

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Plus, with this gross, gray weather we’ve been inundated with lately (spring — where ARE you?), it was most definitely a grilled cheese kind of night.

The secret? First of all, the bread. Have you tried Whole Foods’ homemade black pepper Parmesan bread? It is ridiculously tasty. They typically just bake it on Tuesdays, but it’s the special bread for the month of May (!!!), so they’re baking it daily AND it’s cheaper than usual. Double score.

Next up: The cheese. I’m a big believer in multi-cheese grilled cheese sandwiches. As in, I think you should use at least two varieties of cheese. So on tonight’s sandwiches, I included both sharp cheddar and Jarlsberg. Yum.

Additional ingredient: Tomatoes. If you haven’t tried a grilled cheese and tomato sandwich yet, please change that. It totally takes things up a notch.

Finally, I replaced butter with coconut oil this time around. I’d read recommendations to make that substitution, and I’m sure glad I did. Delicious — especially for a coconut lover like me. (It wasn’t too coconutty, just added a little extra flair.)

So, yeah. Spread coconut oil on one side of each slice of bread. Put the bread coconut oiled-side down in a pan heated to medium-low, add cheese, tomatoes, and second slice of bread on top of the first slice. Cook on each side for about four minutes — and enjoy!

A Quick Update: Canadian Travels, A New (Temporary) Pup, Grilling, And Beer

04 Saturday May 2013

Posted by in Cool New Stuff, Exploration and Adventure, Food Stuffs, Fulton-pup, Kevin, North Carolina, Springtime Adventures, This and That

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I know, I know. I’ve been a truly terrible blogger lately. Poor little Curiouser and Curiouser has faced a lot of neglect in recent weeks. With that in mind, I thought I’d bring you quickly up to speed via a handful of photos from the past few weeks:

toronto

Two weekends ago, I traveled to Toronto because the ad agency I work for was filming a commercial up there. I was thrilled to get to attend the shoot, and even though the trip itself was a bit of a whirlwind (we were there midday Saturday through Monday morning), we still squeezed in a good amount of Toronto fun. I caught a show at Second City Toronto (so very funny), I did a little bit of shopping, checked out the Hockey Hall of Fame, and enjoyed a wonderful Italian meal. Also, the people are SO NICE in Canada. Seriously — everyone we came in contact with. It was bizarre in a quite amazing way. I can’t wait to go back to this city again at some point and explore (and shop and eat!) even more. (Disclaimer: This photo is a bit deceiving, as I didn’t travel to the top of the CN Tower. The view from the ground up is fun, too, though!)

pups

My good friend Watson is out of town this weekend, so we get to hang out with her pup, Punkin, while she’s gone. We’re smitten with this sweet Boxer, and so is Fulton! He loves having a buddy to hang out with all day. I think Punk is having fun, too. She was so excited for this picture she couldn’t even sit still! (Kevin quote: “I’m a tiny bit sad Fulton and Punk can’t have puppies, because I think they’d be awesome.” Yep, I’d say he’s a fan!)

grill

So, I came home from work this past Tuesday night, and Kevin had an errand in mind: grill shopping. I mean, sure! Let’s mix up Tuesday night a bit — why not? We already had (and love) a charcoal grill, but Kevin had been itching for a gas grill for some time now, knowing that we’d be able to grill much more frequently if we had one. He’d done some good scouting and obligatory Consumer Reports research first, so off we went to Lowes to purchase our new Char Broil gas grill! Isn’t it pretty? (We christened it last night by making steaks, which were pretty okay, but we know once the grill is properly seasoned things will start tasting quite delicious indeed.) Winston-Salem friends: Anyone want to come over for a cookout? :)

beer tasting

Winston-Salem: Get excited — there’s a new bar coming to town! Small Batch Beer Co. plans to open in August in the space on 5th Street where Copper Kitchen used to be (the sign is still there), and I’m pumped. Today, Small Batch hosted a beer tasting at City Beverage, and this stuff is good. (I especially enjoyed the lemon-y IPA.) Bonus: Winston’s newest food truck — Camel City Grill — made an appearance, too. I tried the spicy pimento cheese burger — yum!

Eating Sriracha Burgers In The Mountains

14 Sunday Apr 2013

Posted by in Exploration and Adventure, Food Stuffs, Fulton-pup, Kevin, North Carolina, Springtime Adventures

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Kevin and I traveled to Brevard, North Carolina (near-ish Asheville), to spend this past weekend at our friend Mary’s dad’s gorgeous mountain house. Mary and Allen have been so generous with this place, and this is the third trip we’ve taken there. This time, we were joined by another couple, Knox and Kathleen (who drove up from Atlanta), which made things even more fun.

We lucked out with amazingly perfect weather this weekend, too, which was awesome. We spent some of Saturday morning in adorable downtown Brevard, then took Fulton and Roark for a swim. (Actually, Roark went swimming and our rather water-shy Fulton opted to hop around in the shallow water until Roark came to shore and then pounce on him. It was pretty entertaining to watch.) Then Mary and I took Fulton and Roark on a walk through the neighborhood (TONS of hills!) while Knox, Kevin, and Allen golfed.

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We decided Saturday should end with some grilled deliciousness, so we went with a slightly modified version of this easy-but-delectable recipe from Serious Eats: Sriracha burgers with blue cheese sauce.

Ingredients

  • 3 pounds ground beef
  • 1/4 cup soy sauce
  • 10 Tablespoons Sriracha
  • 4 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
  • 2 large sweet onions
  • 2/3 cup blue cheese dressing (I recommend the Naturally Fresh brand, in the refrigerated section)
  • 8 sesame seed buns
  • 1 large tomato, sliced
  • Arugula or romaine lettuce
  • Olive oil (for sauteing onions)

Directions

  • In a large mixing bowl, combine ground beef, soy sauce, 5 Tablespoons Sriracha, and pepper. Form the mixture into eight patties and set aside in the refrigerator.
  • Preheat grill to medium-high heat.
  • In a skillet, slice onions and saute in olive oil over medium-low heat for about 20 minutes (until they begin to caramelize).
  • Grill the burgers, turning once, for 4-4 1/2 minutes on each side.
  • While the burgers are cooking, combine the blue cheese dressing and remaining 5 Tablespoons Sriracha in a small bowl.
  • Time to assemble! Spread blue cheese sauce on buns, add the burger, then garnish with tomato and arugula or romaine.

Alas, I didn’t take a photo of the burgers, but here was our view while we enjoyed dinner. (Not too shabby, huh?)

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Thanks again for a wonderful weekend in the moutains, Mary and Allen!

The New Michael Bolton Starburst Ad (And Other Recent Commercials I Think Are Awesome)

11 Thursday Apr 2013

Posted by in Advertising, Cool New Stuff

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After previously associating Michael Bolton only with uber-cheesy music and a shared name with an Office Space character, I’ve recently developed new respect for the singer since he was such a good sport on SNL a couple of years ago:

 

Good stuff, right? So is the new Starburst “unexplainably juicy” campaign that just launched. Two of the four lovably bizarre ads feature Bolton serenading fruit that then becomes juicy Starburst. See for yourself:

 

This ad for Wheat Thins’ new Spicy Buffalo flavor is, admittedly, overplayed, but I love it every single time. It’s so delightfully random. The yeti? Ted from next door? Love it:

 

(I think it’s worth including these other awesome Wheat Thins ads as well. Shout out to Wheat Thins for some good stuff in recent months):

 

 

While I really enjoy the Kayak ads that are on air, I especially like this spot that didn’t make the broadcast cut:

 

Speaking of travel sites, I can’t get enough of Travelocity’s Roaming Gnome. Come on — he’s adorable! Have you seen their new “Go and smell the roses” campaign? I’m a fan:

 

Let’s end on a heartwarming note, shall we? Subaru’s “Love. It’s what makes a Subaru” campaign, which launched three years ago, has produced several wonderful ads (I particularly love “Baby Driver” and “Best Friend” — you can watch the collection here), and one of their latest, “Cut the Cord,” keeps the awesome going. Just look at how adorable this little girl is! (As a bonus, here’s a great AdWeek article that gives more insight into the campaign.):

Kitchen Tools Wish List

05 Friday Apr 2013

Posted by in Food Stuffs, Uncategorized

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If you’ve read more than one of my blog posts, chances are you’ve gathered that I enjoy spending time in the kitchen. And, while our little kitchen is pretty well-stocked with various appliances and tools (we just got a mandolin over the weekend to add to our culinary collection — wahoo!), I still have a wish list of items I’d love to have on hand at some point. Some are pretty pricey, and others are quite affordable. Here goes:

  • Some kick-ass knives: We have a pretty decent set of Giada knives right now, but eventually it would be great to upgrade to something even nicer (along with a quality sharpener, of course). Perhaps some from this highly rated collection?:

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  • More Silpats: These things make SUCH a difference when baking. (Actually, I refuse to bake cookies without using mine.) The trouble is, though, I only have one at the moment and would like to have an assortment on hand so I can keep batches moving a little quicker:

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  • Chopper: Lots of my baking recipes call for ingredients like chopped nuts or chocolate, and it can be a bit tedious (and messy — those pieces can fly everywhere!) to handle that on a cutting board, and sometimes pulling out the food processor for such a little job can feel like overkill. Enter the perfect solution: the chopper. This Williams-Sonoma option looks pretty excellent:

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  • Mortar and pestle: It would be great to have one of these on hand for grinding spices, combining herbs, and more. Plus, isn’t it pretty?:

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  • Pineapple slicer and dicer: These are SO COOL. I love fresh pineapple, and feel like I’d buy more of it if I had this handy dandy device. (Bonus: You can use the pineapple base intact to create fun pineapple cups for delicious tropical beverages!):

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  • Butcher’s block: I’d LOVE one of these for food prep. It would not only offer more functional counter space, but I think they look gorgeous, too. Unfortunately, we don’t have the space for a butcher’s block in our current kitchen, but one day I’d like to have one that looks, I don’t know, something like one of these, maybe?:

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butcher block island the fresh cottage

  • Ginger grater: Whoa. This looks awesome. I would like one, please:

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  • Mango slicer: Don’t you hate slicing mangoes? I really, really dislike it. But I really, really like mangoes. I feel, then, as though something like this would be an excellent tool:

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Fellow cooks  and bakers: What else should I add to my kitchen tools wishlist?

10-Year High School Reunion + Two Book Recommendations

25 Monday Mar 2013

Posted by in Exploration and Adventure, Holidays and Celebrations, Kevin, Springtime Adventures

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Kevin and I trekked to Indianapolis this past weekend to attend my Center Grove High School 10-year reunion. (Crazy that it’s been a decade already!) Since my parents don’t live in Indy anymore (we moved back to Atlanta — where I was born and lived until I was 11 — the summer after I graduated from high school), I rarely get to see my high school friends, so that was the main reason we made the trip.

Highlights include:

  • Getting to meet my wonderful friend Mal’s new fiance, James (they’ll get married this September!) and staying at Mal’s beautiful house.
  • Spending Saturday morning in Zionsville, Indiana, where Kevin lived when he was in elementary school. (His parents live in the Atlanta area now, too. Small world, huh?)

kevins house

  • Hanging out with my awesome friend Staci, her equally awesome husband, Alex, and their incredibly adorable (and well-behaved!) 6-month-old daughter, Selah.

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selah

  • Consuming lots of delicious sweet stuff, including a yummy almond cupcake from The Flying Cupcake’s food truck and a scoop of the BEST frozen custard of all time — Ritter’s!

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  • Saying hello to my old house on Fox Moor Place (it still looks the same!).

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  • Attending my reunion, and catching up with even more sweet friends (plus having Kevin there, too).

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  • Having breakfast on Sunday with my high school friend Megan Martin, who I haven’t seen in years and years. (That makes us sound really old. It’s been forever, though!)

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  • Listening to two books on tape (one on the trip to Indy and the other on our drive home to North Carolina) that we LOVED and that I highly recommend: The Perks of Being a Wallflower (by Stephen Chbosky) and The Fault in Our Stars (by John Green). Both are adolescent fiction books and both were completely wonderful (and well read, if you’re into audio books). Now we can’t wait to see the recently(ish) released movie version of The Perks of Being A Wallflower.

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All in all, a pretty excellent weekend (and trip down memory lane). Anyone else have fun high school reunion experiences?

Coconut Quick Bread (Because I Adore All Things Coconut)

20 Wednesday Mar 2013

Posted by in Food Stuffs

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Just like I’m a sucker for all things pumpkin in the fall, I have a similar affinity for coconut in the summer. (Well, pretty much any time of year, actually.) Which is convenient, since it seems coconut is the new pomegranate. Everything is coconut flavored! Score for me.

And so, when I saw Smitten Kitchen’s most recent post for a coconut quick bread, I was immediately on board. Not only did it look amazingly delicious and right up my alley, but I’d also just purchased some Trader Joe’s shredded coconut and was waiting for the perfect occasion to break it out. I felt like it was meant to be used on this bread — and I was, in fact, correct.

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Ingredients

  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 1/4 cups milk
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 2 1/2 all-purpose flour
  • 1/4 teaspoon table salt
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 1/2 – 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 1/2 cups sweetened flake coconut
  • 6 Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
  • Nonstick spray for pan

Directions

  • Heat oven to 350 degrees.
  • In a medium bowl, sift together flour, salt, baking powder and cinnamon. Add sugar and coconut, and stir to mix.
  • Make a well in the center, and pour in egg mixture, then stir wet and dry ingredients together until just combined.
  • Add butter and stir until just smooth (don’t over mix!).
  • Spray a 9×5-inch loaf pan with a nonstick spray. Spread batter in pan and bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean (mine baked about 50 minutes, but Smitten Kitchen said it could take more than an hour so just keep an eye on it).

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I recommend enjoying this warm, if possible, with butter. Yet another glorious coconut recipe to add to my list. YUM!

Anyone else have other favorite coconut-themed recipes? Please share, if so!

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