Sunday Cooking: A random assortment of photos

The corn is coming into season. Repeat: the corn is coming into season. Let the joy spread across the land!

I did not buy from this vendor at my farmer's market; there is something about the abundance of varieties they have of everything that makes them seem sketchy. I never see a sign proclaiming which farm they are from, they sell too many vegetables that are out of season in the Midwest, and their signs are always perfect and printed. I much prefer to buy from the people across the aisle with the price of their cherries hand-written on a cardboard flap who only have the 3 main seasonal items available. Thank goodness, one of those items was their first crop of corn. I didn't want to have to buy from the generic/supermarket vendor, and I really, really wanted some corn.



The farmer's market also had some lovely hanging plants, which I did not buy but I should have; we already killed the plant Hubby bought on Memorial Day. Didn't even make it 6 weeks!





It was so dead the leaves crunched into powder when I touched it. Sorry, little plant! I think I might try that big white one next.

While we were there, we stopped at the local cigar store for Hubby. He loves going there because the inside is lush and full of leather chairs and big TVs, and on Sunday they don't charge sales tax on cigars or tobacco. As taxes are now 38% for tobacco, that's quite a sale. (I know, it's not good for him. I'm working on it.) But the cigar store has an actual cigar store Indian. You don't see those around much!





I was dressed for the casual, hot weather. Even wore my new coral New Balance walking shoes!


Target bird top from 2011, Lands End white knit shorts 2011, brown crossbody bag 2011, my beloved Ralph Lauren aviator sunglasses. Those have paid for themselves over the last 3 years; the first expensive sunglasses I ever bought, and the only ones I wear.

When we got home, it was time for some quick cooking. Like Helen said she was doing a couple of weeks ago, now that it is grilling season I am really trying to limit the Sunday Cooking so I am just prepping veggies, salads and marinades, and the rest we are grilling or eating cold. But I am also finding that lunch is a struggle without prepping something else, so this week I made a "breakfast casserole", also known as a frittata, egg dish, or crustless quiche. This particular version was inspired by this recipe from Kalyn's Kitchen, but you guys know I love my quiche and I love mixing up different flavors.



Even here I didn't stick completely with the recipe. I cooked off the bacon in the microwave, then put the mostly-cooked pieces in the skillet so they would crisp up and render a little bit of fat. Then I removed the bacon and tossed a large onion sliced into rings into the skillet to cook down until it was soft and browning. THEN I removed the onion, added the chopped kale and wilted that. Chopped the bacon, mixed all of those ingredients together and placed in the bottom of the Corningware dish. (Best kitchen purchase I ever made. So perfect for casseroles in the oven, for serving at the table, and because I also bought the glass and the rubber lids they store and stack in the fridge too. Hunh, except for the ramekins, I think I have this whole set.)

ANYWAY, then I mixed in the eggs and cheese (I did add all 10 eggs which is 4 more than I usually put in my quiche), and seasoned it with some Worchestershire and Northwoods seasoning from Penzeys.



When it came out of the oven, I was so enamored by the high puff. It looked like a loaf of bread! It did flatten a little but it stayed pretty puffy. I definitely had to cook it longer than 20-25 minutes recommended in the recipe. In my experience and my oven, breakfast casseroles always take 40 minutes. Otherwise they don't finish in the middle.




I also made another batch of blue-cheese coleslaw. With fatfree sour cream, a bag of shredded coleslaw, and a container of blue cheese, it is super-easy and pretty healthy to make. Way better than anything you would buy at the deli counter! I season it with a couple of shakes of apple cider vinegar, kosher salt and pepper, celery seed and some Wall of Flavor, but the blue cheese really does all the work to give it such a deep, cool taste. Make it the day before you serve so the cabbage has time to soften and soak up the dressing.



And that was all I needed to feed myself lunch for a few days!



Bonus: a couple of outfit photos from Monday and Tuesday!

Phillip took Monday's photo in my office.



The new Gap white pants (which are completely gone from the website, alas. They stretch out a lot, I should have gotten a size smaller), my turquoise Clarks sandals from last year, a new hot-pink cami from Lane Bryant and a cute pink-and-turquoise print Target top. Which you may never see again since I ripped a hole in the front, DAMMIT.

On Tuesday, Hubby was home so he took the photo while I was rushing out the door.



Purple Old Navy blouse worn open, new white Target sleeveless tee, silver circle pendant necklace from Loft Outlet, black Gap pants and olive Clark sandals.

Lesson learned from both of these photos: never ask a man to take your outfit photos. Both lowered the camera to unflattering angles, Hubby chopped off the top of my head, and neither told me to unwrinkle myself so I and my clothes looked their best. Men!!

Next up: grilling on the 4th of July!

Weekend Catchup

Happy 4th of July! I hope everyone had a lovely weekend. I feel very smart because I took Tuesday off too. The only thing better than a 3-day weekend is a 4-day one. :)

ANYWAY. I did go to work on Friday. I said to my sister that morning that it was just a black Target dress but I really liked the details of the outfit, so she reminded me to take photos of those. Which I did for once. :)





New LOFT necklace, brown Kohls cami. (On purpose this time!)



Orange Clark Long Pond sandals, orange Essie polish. So fun!

Saturday I wore a repeat of this outfit. And I got a much needed haircut. LOVE it!



Sunday I threw a 4th of July cookout for some friends. My friend J took this shot of me in my red, white and blue outfit. Between the goofy expression on my face and George jumping up and putting his white belly on the glass, it's a wonder the picture worked at all.



White LOFT tee, bright blue Lands End knit shorts, silver Hive & Honey bracelets from Piperlime, red cutout Target flats.

Sunday has been a little slow after an evening of sausage, fresh salmon and vodka lemonades. :) J stayed over and we went to the local 4th of July parade. I had a red striped Gap tee on with my stone Lands End shorts, but we didn't quite get a whole picture of it. But I got this one!



LOL! I did manage to get our whole faces at least. Pretty smile-y for a pair of tired women!



Boy I cannot wait to be off again tomorrow. I am beat!

30 DoC: Day 18

Today is a quiet day at my sister's, mostly just babysitting her while she recovers from arthroscopic knee surgery. She's dozing on and off this afternoon, and so am I, so I thought now was as good a time as any to do a "what I packed" post.

This was a short trip, only 4 days, but the forecast said it was going to range from 60 to 85 with rain some days and sun on others. Plus I knew I would be in a plane, which is always cooler than in regular places. Lastly, while it was for a casual trip taking care of various family members, I wanted to wear and enjoy some of the new summer clothes I bought.

I brought:

2 pairs of shorts in tan and brown, and 2 pairs of jeans (one faded longs and the other dark rinse for flats). I could have been fine with one of each, but I really wanted to wear both pairs of jeans this weekend, and the dark ones have a tendency to stretch after one wearing. I'm not going to lie; I just really really wanted to wear the faded jeans this weekend. I love them so much!
Weekend tally so far: brown shorts could have stayed home, everything else has been worn at least once (tan shorts have been twice, faded jeans will be twice after tomorrow).


6 tops. In fairness, the white in the middle was included so I could pass it on to my sister. This is usually where I like the most variety, and tend to overpack.
Weekend tally so far: I ended up wearing two tops on Thursday, so by tomorrow all will have been worn.


3 sweater/jackets: olive knit cropped Gap jacket, blue cropped Gap cardigan, grey asymmetrical Marshall sweater. Each one was added in case of the cooler weather range, and their color schemes took each of the tops in different directions, so after dithering while I was packing on Thursday, I reminded myself how cold I was a month ago on the same trip, and included them all.
Weekend tally so far: the grey sweater has been worn with my pajamas every morning but the other two have done unworn so far. I would still bring them on a different trip. You never know in Connecticut!


Accessories:
-coral scarf, multi-weave clutch, silver bracelets
-necklaces galore (I can never decide so I always take waaaaay too many)
-orange tall wedges, mustard Keens and grey Privos (the talls had to come to go with the faded jeans, the other two because they're awesome.)

Everything fit with plenty of room to spare in a weekender bag (the soft over-shoulder ones, not the rolling suitcases. So much easier to deal with in this day of tiny planes/overhead bins and fees for checking bags.

I also put outfits together as possibilities, and compared it to the final result.

This was what I wore on the plane on Thursday (plus the orange wedges).



This was ready in case the airport AC was set to chilly, but there wasn't a need.



It was hot when I got to my parents, so I changed into something cooler and more sporty:




Friday I wanted a funkier look.


I ended up switching out the necklace to a matching stone one, ditching the sweater and adding the yellow sandals and clutch.



Like I said, today has been a slow day just bumming around the house with my sister.



About the same, minus the blue sweater (may be added back tonight when I head back to my parents for dinner on the patio.)



Based on what's left, I think tomorrow will be the remaining unworn cream top, faded jeans, orange wedges, and a funky necklace. The blue cardigan will at the top of the bag just in case. Let's see if that comes to pass!

Ooops, my sister is up, time to go!

30 DoC: Day 16 (Dad and the garden photo shoot)

I am back in Connecticut, and all the plants and flowers that my Dad had just started to put out are bloomimg like crazy! He and my sister are wonderful gardeners; I am the odd man out in the family with my black thumb.





My dad's not feeling too great right now, but he's still funny as ever, and always game for a fashion blog visit.





Coral-peach tee from ON, tan knit short from Lands End. Like my outfit matters among all the pretty flowers. Love the purple clematis behind me.





What's so funny?



My dad overseeing the photo shoot. He suggested where I should pose, helped me think of a way to secure the gorillapod, and then started giggling right in the middle of my posing. His laughing made me start.



He didn't think his outfit was fashionable enough for the blog. It was a free t-shirt from a casino -- as he was proudly showing me their logo. Hahahahaha.

He also wanted to make sure I got a picture of his wooden whirligigs; he found them in Branson Missouri, and admired the craftsmanship. They have never found them anywhere else as well made, so the last time they drove to Arizona they made sure they drove through Branson to get more of them. I like the rooster one the best.



I am in Connecticut all weekend, so expect more photos like this. Or not quite like this, as it is raining pretty hard this morning (Friday).

30 Days of Creativity, Days 4 and 5

Saturday was an errands day, which doesn't open itself up to many creative moments. BUT, I did manage to finally come up with a good makeshift tripod for outside shots on the patio!

This



takes this.



HEE! Good thing we live in Chicago, where we NEVER put our snow shovels away in case we jinx it. (Also because we are lazy and garage-less and thus have no place to put them.)

Yes, that is a repeat of Friday afternoon's outfit; it worked so well then for the blistering temperatures I wore it again when Saturday was more of the same. This time I added my Gap tote (from last year) and my new mustard yellow walking sandals (Keens, can you believe it?).

Which leads me to Sunday's creative endeavor: a photo essay of this year's sandals.



I love, love, love sandals and wear them pretty much nonstop from early May to early October. I don't have what Angie at YLF calls "fussy feet", but I do know when it's hot out that if my feet are even a little hot the rest of me is miserable. Put me in shorts and tee and socks and sneakers, and I will sweat profusely because my feet are so hot. Sandals let them breathe and keep my temp better regulated, a critical issue when having to layer up for meetings or cold air-conditioned offices. So a great collection of sandals, for work and for home, is important for my closet.

I started building this collection at the tail end of winter, shopping around based on recommendations from YouLookFab and Barking Dog Shoes; both sites are excellent for comfortable, pretty sandals selection ideas. Sandals are the one area where I don't waste time looking for sales; the best styles and color combos tend to go fast so I snap them up as soon as I find one that works. Since I buy them months before it's time to wear them, I keep the collection in a stack of boxes in my bedroom, and I only remove them and throw away the receipt when I am wearing them for the first time. There have been many times that what I thought would be great in March turns out to be wrong in June, so I will return.

Let's start from tallest to highest:


The orange Clarks Long Ponds were my first sandal purchase of the year, recommended by YLF way back in February. I first ordered them in chestnut but they were too dark and heavy, so I returned them for the original orange. They're still a heavy-looking shoe, more appropriate for skinny ankle pants or under bootcut jeans than with dresses, but I love how chunky/cool they are.



The Katie & Kellys from DSW also started life in my box stack as a neutral color, but when I realized I had two neutral sandals and no blacks while getting ready for my friend's bachelorette party last month, I ran to DSW and exchanged them. I like the black in this strappy look because it doesn't look heavy (and the lighter sections of the faux croc pattern helps too), so these do work nicely with dresses as well as pants or jeans. These are also surprisingly very comfortable; the wedge is a platform all around so the slant of the angle is low, almost like you were wearing flats.



The last of the heeled sandals are my Clark Laguna Reefs, an exact duplicate of the same ones I wore to death last year and snapped the strap on in April. Thank goodness Clarks brought the style back this year; they are the definition of the perfect nude work sandal.



Now it is on to my more casual, flat sandals. I scored here too, big time!


The Clark Privos were a revelation this year; I wanted to get a funky pair of Privo sneakers for yoga Saturdays, but when I saw these in the store you could probably see the skidmarks as my plan abruptly reversed itself. They have the awesome Privo soles, but a grey patent straps on top. My feet could be unsweaty AND well supported for long walks! SOLD.



The mustard Keens sat in their box the longest as I was unsure if I would actually wear them much. I know, it seems crazy doesn't it? But once I got the Lands End shorts I realized I would need at least two flat walking sandals to go with them, and out they came. I wore them in the above outfit, and again on Sunday with jeans and a cute lilac top, and they looked perfect with both. They're funky casual, and you know that color is just too much for me to ignore. Barking Dog Shoes are to thank for this one, from way back in February!



Lastly, these Clark flip-flops were an impulse purchase their outlet store last month with Jessie, but I have been amazed how much wear they are already getting. They are the perfect pedicure shoe, but also for around the house or short errands in jeans or shorts. So much cuter and real-shoe-looking than rubber flip-flops, aren't they?



What I like best about my collection this year is the variety in colors and styles; I have a couple of neutrals for my patterned dresses, but the rest are great unexpected colors that add a nice punch to a neutral outfit. And each one has its own purpose, so I can rotate them nicely through all the roles I play each summer day.