family dinner.

yay for three day weekends! this past weekend was spent with family {my two sisters were in town} and good friends {the bff made the long haul from the big city to the ‘burbs} and lots of good food. and a little bit of champagne.

we had a few family dinners, the first of which was done primarily on the grill. we stocked up on fresh seafood- lobster/crab claws/shrimp/clams- added some olive oil, threw in our favorite veggies, and had a mixed grill feast in no time. my sister tossed hers with some straight up pasta… which was pretty life altering. i foresee a lot of this grilling come summer, and it’s making pretty excited.

apples to apples.

last week, a friend & i set out on our first apple picking trip of the season. the weather was perfect- crisp & cool- and the apples were, well, everywhere.  needless to say, i came home with enough to feed a small army… along with 2 pumpkins, which really put me in the autumn mood. and while i love displaying mounds of red delicious & granny smiths as a rustic centerpiece, i thought i should put these apples to use and make my first fall dessert of the season: an apple tart. using a super easy recipe found here, i was able to get some use out of roughly 3 apples… now what to do with the other 25?

put the lime in the coconut.

despite the fact that june gloom has evidently followed me to the east coast, i am in full summer swing. my wardrobe has been switched over with sweaters & jackets tightly packed away, my apartment windows are constantly open, summer tunes are on perpetual play, and my sister and i have settled into the habit of drinking lots of lemonade by the pitcher. so when i felt the urge for something sweet this week, i instantly thought citrus.  and what’s better than citrus? adding a little sugar & deliciously toasted coconut. following this simple recipe {i had every ingredient on hand} i whipped up these chewy bites in no time… now where is the sun??

fun-do.

last year i shared a recipe for yummy dipped marshmallows. they were delicious. and pretty simple to make. so when i found a variety of new flavored marshmallows at a recent 2 hour target trip {sad, true, and a long story} you can imagine my excitement. each flavor takes even more of the prep work out of this treat- providing the sweet flavor in each little mallow bite. all you need to do heat up a some chocolate {or peanut butter, or butterscotch} and dip!

chocolate mint marshmallows

{melted chocolate served in a shot glass… it just tastes better}