jumping the gun a bit!

I am so excited I can hardly stand it! Just wanted to share with my foodie friends that I will be in France, ok, not until April!
Imagine the food, imagine the food pics! Reason to go right?
We will be in the south of France in Avignon for several days, then back to Paris for a few days! What fun!
I promise to have food pics per usual before that...
If anyone has any thoughts about must eat places, please share!!

fashion over weather

We woke up this morning to a balmy 24 degrees! As you can see, our daughter is well prepared! All I can think of how is that winter hat going to fit over that HUGE flower!!! Too funny!

baked oatmeal

Ooooh, there were delightful smells coming from our kitchen this morning!
I know mornings are busy, sometimes too busy, so I put this yummy dish together the day before and popped it into the oven in the morning!
By the time you are done in the shower, you to can have this for breakfast.
It is a big hit in our family. Let me know if you would like the recipe! You won't be dissapointed! Did I mention only 10 minutes at most to put in together?

pretty little packages!

We had dinner with our friends Domping and Jie, these beautiful dumplings are the best I have ever had. Even better than the ones we ate in China! Although, that said, I have not had my sister Sallie's dumplings YET! She is a brilliant cook , so perhaps I can persuade her to make some on my next visit to Austin! For those of you in Asheville or pretty close Domping is happy to make them for you, for a party, or just an authentic chinese meal. I adore our dinners with them, I'm spoiled now and cannot eat chinese food unless they are cooking! Just let me know if you are interested and he will be happy to make them for you. Totally organic, whether you want vegetarian, or meat. You will not be disappointed. He's alot of fun to watch in the kitchen. One of the happiest people I know! We are so grateful for them in our lives, especially for our daughter who has been learning chinese from Domping's wife Jie now for 6 years plus! Oh , this lovely dish below is baby bokchoy with tofu. Yum!

lemon chicken

You hear from me all the time! EASY! Trust me about this one too!
This could not be any quicker or any more tasteful.
You may have also gathered , I am going through The Barefoot Contessa's newest cookbook 'how easy is that'. So there you go, this delicious dish is wonderful , serve on top of brown basmati rice, just to soak up all the
lemony / olive oil juices!

Serve with whatever vegetables suit your fancy! This time of year we LOVE kale , just cannot seem to get enough of those greens!

always start with fresh ingredients!

I don't know what it is about fresh nutmeg. I love the colors of it, ever changing as you grate it. Not to mention the flavor of it! This pretty little spice went into the bolognese sauce. Yum!

weeknight bolognese

I love this dish! You know those cold nights when you need comfort food? Well this simple pasta with a bolognese sauce is perfect. So tasty, how could it not be with ingredients like cream, nutmeg, and all the other yummies that go into making a bolognese sauce.
This recipe is from the Barefoot Contessa's cookbook ' how easy is that', trust me, it is easy! Scrumptious too!
As always, if you would like the recipe just let me know!

Fun news!

Happy New Year! Just a bit of news to share with you, for those living in Asheville or close by, or simply go on line and take a look at Verve Magazine.
I was actually featured in an article! Very exciting, since, as you know, food is one of my greatest passions!
Check it out , it's fun and Jess did a great job writing the article! Matt, the photographer was great fun to work with, but if you're anything like me, I am never thrilled about having my picture done! But we had great fun anyway!
Thanks Jess and Matt!