Some real winners this month! Making amazing food is even more fun than making mediocre food!! Thanks to my new obsession with Pinterest, I have a whole new way to flag and organize beautiful food.

This salad was amazing. I made it no less than 5 times this month.

After tasting gazpacho for the first time in Spain, and in my summer abundance of cucumbers and tomatoes, I thought I should try making my own gazpacho. It was ok— could've been smoother, but that may have been because, in classic Danny-subsitition-style, I *swapped the almonds out for pistachios.

A Pinterest find! These were a lot of fun to make but ultimately I thought the noodle>sauce>cheese ratio was a little noodle heavy!

Recently, a favorite local bar changed their menu, cutting their list of amazing infused liquors. So I decided to take matters into my own hands! After cucumber, I moved onto basil vodka, ginger rum. I liked the cucumber best!

Yes, I used Tortellini vs. Ravioli here. I don't think it hindered it. Mmmmmm.

It's a week of infusions—though oil s a little messier than liquor! I was at a potluck where someone made watermelon gazpacho which was incredible. I think the watermelon cooled down the acidity of the tomatoes. This was like the salad version of that. *I totally used Feta and it was still amazing.

This was my one big bummer of the month. First off, I don't like frying things ever. And whenever I try cooking eggplant it's a big fat fail. There's two restaurants in town with amazing eggplant napoleon— I think i'll leave it to them.

Burger of the Week #20

If the arches were actually made of gold this may be what we'd find inside. These were designs done by Amy Moss for a pop-up McDs at fashion week—which leads me to wonder... is this what the models ate?

What's the power of packaging? Does it taste any better when it comes wrapped in plaid?

Cool Infusions

Earlier this week I stepped into the world of liquor infusions.

In honor of taste-testing, I had a small Cool as Ice gathering yesterday, with a sampling of infusions and a buffet of frozen treats. It was a beautiful saturday, perfect for celebrating the fleeting days of summer.

Thanks everyone for hanging by the pool with me and giving me infusion feedback!

Burger of the Week #19

It was just my birthday people. Where was my cakeburger??

This beautiful cheeseburger birthday cake was for a very lucky 4-year-old.

A Girl could have Worse Problems.

So it's August, and the garden is in full force and it seems that every year I face the same struggle—cucumber overload.

I've made pickles. And cucumber tomato salad. And experimented with gazpacho. And now I'm venturing into cucumber infused vodka.

Unfortunately I won't be able to taste this concoction for another 3 days. So sit tight, And when I found out how fabulous it is, I'll invite you all over for a toast!

Oh, and if you're in need of a cucumber (or 5), skip the market and give me a ring!

Cheers!

Burger of the Week #18

It's not nearly Fall or pumpkin patch time yet. but that doesn't mean I can't plan ahead! It's a pumpkin burger! Is it me or do those tomato seem huge??

Found this beauty on Pinterest!

Pixel by Pixel

Living Portraits are nothing unseen these days. With crowds at football games spelling out words and the everyman celebrity in local Lip Dubs, our lives have become a series of portraits.

But in 1917 the idea was something of a novelty. These amazing portraits were taken by Arthur S. Mole and John D. Thomas WITHOUT the aid of a computer in the early 20th century. Best known for their wartime propaganda, the duo was extraordinarily precise in their placement of these human pixels.

Think about what creating one of these would entail. The Statue of Liberty image for example, contains 18,000 men, but because of the perspective, the flame contained 12,000 while her head and body contained only 2,000. (click image to see it enlarged)

The logistics and choreography required to organize a group of this size absolutely blows my mind. I learned about this historic American treasure in an article* from July 2007's Martha Stewart Living. Now I'm on a mission to find a postcard-size reprint at a flea market. It's time to go hunting!

*This isn't the article I read (Patriotism in Formation by Marion Roach – Which I couldn't find online) but it gives a similar history if if you're interested in more information.

Delicious Creativity

There is a delightful Alexander Maksik essay in this month's Martha Stewart Living, which brilliantly mirrored a conversation I was having last week with a coworker. The essay begins:

"My mother taught me to cook by making her kitchen a place of experimentation, where nothing was forbidden, where nothing was frightening. While I'm certain she warned me of the dangers of knives and fire, I don't remember those warnings. What I remember is the possibility. Here are the tools, and here are the ingredients: Make something."

This is what I've grown to love about cooking. The kitchen has become a new studio for me—a place where experimentation leads to delicious possibilities. As someone who sits in front of the computer all day (and night), I love coming home from work and doing a little hands on creating in the kitchen.

It's 30 minutes, away from the glow of the screen, mixing colors and textures and flavors. It's straying from the instructions and discovering something original. It's the taste of joy... and I made it.

Burger of the Week #17

Coolest Pouffe EVER.

Rub-a-dub-dub, try this amazing scrub

As part of my vegan dinner party, I made a lemon tea sugar scrub as a takeaway. I got the mix from The Big-Ass Book of Crafts by Mark Montano. I was skeptical when I was originally mixing it, but it worked miracles!

I had heard that caffeine is also good for reducing signs of cellulite*. Putting it on your skin, not drinking it. By putting coffee grounds on the skin, the caffeine plumps up the skin, smoothing the texture areas with cellulite.

I found this peppermint coffee sugar scrub. It seems to work well, smoothing out the appearance of cellulite. Plus it smells amazing. However, when the shower water hits the scrub it turns coffee brown, and suddenly I'm standing in my favorite beverage. The grounds stick to the shower walls leaving a big mess. I think in the future I may simply add the peppermint oil to Montano's original tea mixture!

Here's another Lemon Scrub I found via Pinterest— It looks simple and may have potential! But first, I think next up, I'd like to try homemade soap!

*Reducing appearance, not it's actual existence.

Tiles of the Alhambra

Another recurring theme on our spain tour was artful tilework. This was first evident in destination Barcelona with the intricate mosaics of Antoni Gaudí.

But there was no finer example than at the Alhambra in Granada. The 13th century palace–fortress was the last stronghold of Moorish presence on the Iberian Peninsula. An architectural gem, it is the most visited attraction in Spain with an average of 6,000 visitors a day.

(click to enlarge)

As Islamic tradition dictates, art may contain no depictions of humans or animals in order to prevent idol-worship. So detailing utilized geometric forms, and woven floral and calligraphic designs.

Inside the Palace, colorful tiles and elaborate epigraphy decorate the walls. Combined with the gardens of Generalife, and the vistas of the city of Granada, the palace is serene and grand, a triumph of Granada.

Interested in adding some tile work to your own home? Here's some great decorating ideas.

Want to read more about Alhambra? Apparently, Washington Irving spent some time in Granada and wrote Tales of the Alhambra—an "original classic".

Burger of the Week #16

Lego of my Burger!!! Love the drippy ketchup!

Pinterested in my Time Suck of the Week?

A friend introduced me to Pinterest last week and I am absolutely hooked!

Pinterest is a virtual bulletin board where you can post pictures of all the things you love. You can browse your friends boards and follow people with similar interests. It's like twitter but images rule over words!

Want to see what I collect and love? Follow me on Pinterest!