Roasted Red Pepper Pesto

September 5, 2012 By in In the Kitchen, Main Dishes Tags: , Leave a comment

Hey there, long time no see, right?

I got a recipe for ya this morning, and I hope you try to make it soon!

Pesto is pretty awesome, and I happen to love pesto of all shapes and sizes. Obviously traditional pesto is great. Spinach pesto? Yum! Sun-dried tomato pesto? Fabulous! Basically, if a pasta dish has the word ‘pesto’ in it, I’m game. Today, we have

Roasted Red Pepper Pesto

This is a favorite recipe because you can pull together the pesto in the amount of time it takes to boil the water and cook the pasta. Super easy. Super tasty. The perfect dinner for one.

Roasted Red Pepper Pesto

Homemade Roasted Red Pepper Pesto

1 red pepper, roasted
2 cloves garlic
1/3 cup pine nuts, toasted
2 tablespoons prepared basil pesto
1/4 cup parmesan cheese, grated
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
penne pasta
1/4 cup heavy cream

Start by adding a parmesan, pine nuts, garlic, prepared pesto, salt, pepper, and red pepper to the bowl of a food processor* and combine in short pulses. Thin with olive oil if necessary.

Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain, reserving 1/4 cup pasta water. Return pasta to large pot, add 2-3 tablespoons of pesto, and stir to combine. Stir in heavy cream for a creamy consistency. Add more pesto, cream, and pasta water until you get desired consistency.

Top with grated parmesan cheese, salt, and pepper.

*You can also use an immersion blender, so just add ingredients to a mixing bowl.

Candle Making: An Update

August 30, 2012 By in Around the Home Tags: , , , 4 Comments

In my first post about how to make a candle, I mentioned that there has been a learning curve as far as figuring out the proportion of the oil-to-wax. I’m not sure I’ve figured it out exactly so far, but with each batch of candles that I’ve made, they seem to get better and better. This most recent batch that I made has been my favorite of them all. I used vanilla bean-infused jojoba oil.

Vanilla candles on bedside table

My favorite thing as of late is to group several homemade candles together. It’s so much more romantic to have 4 candles than one. They give off a much lovelier glow!

Vanilla candles on coffee table

Here’s the tray on my coffee table. I don’t like to have a lot of stuff on the coffee table, mostly just plenty of room for feet and glasses and whatever else. My goal is to have as few things out that need to be dusted as possible. Above, a tray my mom gave me several years ago. She didn’t like it anymore so she said I could have it. I love it actually! Also an Annieglass dish with some matchbooks in there, for lighting candles obviously. My sister-in-law (hi Marisa, if you’re reading :) gave me this old French cookbook for my birthday. I’ve yet to cook anything out of it, but there are several things I’d like to make come Fall. Plus, I love to flip through it to find inspiration. Oh, and a vase filled with dried lavender sprigs!

Vanilla bean oil

This is how I made the vanilla flavor if you’re interested. I basically just used some leftover vanilla beans from the vanilla bean simple syrup I always have on hand. Once the vanilla beans have been scraped and lived in the simple syrup for a little while, I just recycled them and pop them into a jar full of jojoba oil. This is probably a super ghetto way of doing this, but it’s worked for me!

Summer’s End

August 29, 2012 By in Travel Tags: , 7 Comments

August beach trip

I love the time of year when it’s about to change seasons. There always seems to be so much possibility in the air, and that’s such a wonderful feeling. As much as I find it frustrating, I also find it exhilarating to wait out the approach of a new season. Obviously at the moment, I have Fall on the brain, but it is kind of sad to end another Summer.

August beach trip

I love Summer. I’ve always been a beach person, and few things compare to swimming in the gulf on a hot summer’s day.

August beach trip

Growing up, my family used to spend an entire month at the beach in our family’s little beach cottage, and it was the thing I looked forward to most every summer. We didn’t have television, no AC, no washing machine, just sand, surf, and monopoly. And you know what, it was awesome!

August beach trip

When I think of Summer, I think of homemade ice cream, made in one of those old-fashioned cranks. Homemade peppermint was always my favorite. I also think about sandals, sundresses, sandy beach towels, the sound of the ceiling fan as it whirls through the hot and humid night air, and a deck of cards.

August beach trip

A windy late Summer evening at the beach. Ignore my goober-y pose.

But as much as I love Summer, I’m ready for Fall. I’m tired of those sandals and ready to break out the boots. I’m tired of summer vegetables and ready for soups. Atlanta humidity is getting seriously annoying, and I’m ready for brisk Fall mornings. I’m tired of my car’s AC and ready for my seat heaters (this is a luxury that I no longer think I can live without. Do you have one? They’re amazing!).

August beach trip

Yeah, I’m hilarious

Rather than soaking up the warmth of the sun, I’m ready to curl up under a cozy blanket.

August beach trip

And believe it or not, I’m ready to watch a little bit of football with this guy. Gasp!

So let’s get ready for Fall, huh?

What Fall activity are you most excited about?

PS-Everyone pray this place doesn’t get washed away in Isaac this week :(

Evolution of Style: Jewel of Eat.Drink.Shop.Love

August 28, 2012 By in Fashion, Style Tags: 3 Comments

I’m so excited to bring y’all another Evolution of Style post today, this time from Jewel of the blog Eat.Drink.Shop.Love. She’s a fellow Atlanta lady with a fabulous sense of style, so I’m thrilled she agreed to help me out with a post this morning! I loved reading all of her responses to these questions, especially because I too loved Cher Horowitz!

Jewel Hazelton of Eat.Drink.Shop.Love

Looking back in your childhood, when was the very first time you remember thinking about fashion and style?

I started thinking about fashion and style at a very young age. I have memories of wearing outfits that my mom would have to rip me out of because I loved them so much I couldn’t take them off. I think it all started with that famous first day of school photo. To this day I have a book with each first day of school photo from my childhood to my senior year of high school. One thing that really inspired my fashion sense was movies. I was in the fourth grade around the time I first saw the movie Clueless came out and fell love with Cher and Dionne’s fashion sense from the movie. That year my first day of school outfit was knee highs, mary janes, a mini skirt and a matching cardigan. I was the best dressed kid in the fourth grade.

Evolution of Style | Jewel Hazelton of Eat.Drink.Shop.Love

Who was the very first person you looked to for style ideas?

My older cousins. I am an only child so I spent a lot of my summers with my older cousins. I idolized them and their fashion sense when I was younger.

Did you have a favorite outfit growing up? One that your mom or dad just could not get off of you?

Yes, a floral print jean dress and a matching vest with cowboy boots.

How would you describe your style now?

Simple but Chic

What sort of things do you consider when putting together an outfit?

Does it look good on me and does it flatter my body type

First Lady Michelle Obama collage

Who do you consider your style icon today?

First Lady Michelle Obama. She’s the Jackie Kennedy for our generation. Women years from now will be dressing like Mrs. O.

What trends right now are you loving?

Right now I am loving the bright color trend. Whether it be a brightly colored dress, jeans, or a cute top. I started noticing last year that my closet was filling up with greys, blacks, and dark blues and needed to brighten up my life.

How do you see your style changing in the next 10 years?

I see my style leaning toward more classic looks and not focusing on trends so much. I want my closet to be filled with timeless looks that won’t go out of style.

What’s the one item in your closet you couldn’t not live without?

The perfect shift dress! I love how shift dresses compliment every body type. They can be dressed up or down for every occasion.

Thank you so much, Jewel! Everybody go check out Jewel’s blog Eat.Drink.Shop.Love! And if you haven’t yet read all of the other Evolution of Style

Have a lovely Tuesday.

Good Morning

August 27, 2012 By in In the Kitchen Tags: 1 Comment

If you follow me on Instagram (carolineinge), you know I went to the beach this past weekend. It was heavenly. It was a last minute trip, and The Roommate and I were in the car for half the weekend, but that one day on the beach was worth every second spent in the car.

Sadly, I am now back in Atlanta with a bit of a sunburn (the tops of my feet, the worst!!) and some extra freckles, but I’m a happy girl.

Easy Pasta

I made this pasta the other week when I was cooking for one instead of two. It was pretty tasty. I basically melted some better, tossed in some garlic and finely diced onion, then threw a zucchini (sliced into ribbons) and the pasta. Topped it with basil and voila! I wish I’d had some parmesan, because that would have made this that much more yummy.

Just easy and fresh summer dinner.

What do you throw together when you don’t have tons of stuff in your fridge and your cooking for just yourself? Have any go-tos?

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