Sprout & Pea

When I arrived at work on a recent Mon­day morn­ing, my com­puter wouldn’t turn on so I took it as an oppor­tu­nity to finally flip through the beau­ti­ful cook­book that I had scooped up at a recent book give­away. It turned out to be a per­fect way to start my morn­ing. Recipe after recipe after beau­ti­ful photo, my mouth began to water and I grew inspired to play in my kitchen when I returned home that night. Read more:

There’s no telling what is in store for 2012 and frankly I find that excit­ing. I do know that my last days of 2011 and first days of the new year were spent in sun­shine with loved ones and good food, and if that’s any indi­ca­tion for the direc­tion this year is headed, I’ll take it. I flew down to Miami to ring in the new year with my best friend Farah, her new hubby and their gor­geous new house. When Farah started talk­ing about menu plan­ning, I imme­di­ately took the reins and tossed out dishes that I was itch­ing to con­tribute. She wanted to make an orzo pasta salad and I took that as an oppor­tu­nity to give myself a lit­tle cre­ative chal­lenge. Read more:

In addi­tion to some beau­ti­ful zuc­chini, I came back from vis­it­ing my par­ents with some per­fect green toma­toes and an herb that I couldn’t wait to use– pineap­ple sage. When I arrived home from work last Thurs­day, I wasn’t really in the mood to cook which is rare for me. I wanted some­thing quick and I wanted the prepa­ra­tion to be easy, but the gor­geous veg­gies and herbs that I had picked from the gar­den were star­ing me in the face say­ing please use me. So, I suc­cumbed to the greens while still keep­ing my meal very sim­ple. Read more: