Hello everyone!

I hope I’m finding you well on this beautiful day.

Now, as a former 9-to-5er, I know that Mondays can be a less than pleasant experience. So today I wanted to share with you a little something that helped me look forward to my Mondays in the office, as opposed to wanting to call in sick consistently for the entire week. With my previous job starting at what I would deem the crack of dawn (I was getting up to go to work in the middle of the night, essentially) we had our first official break at 9:30am. As this is traditionally more around breakfast-time than 5am for me, my little Monday routine would consist of having a little food and perusing the NPR website. I always started at the performing arts pages and slowly moved to world news. My favorite article, however, was a little feature called “Sandwich Monday.” Brought to you by the same team as “Wait, Wait… Don’t Tell Me!” the weekly posts feature a team of NPR staffers, sampling the most horrendous cuisine you can think of. They are effectively the guinea pigs for mutant American fast food concoctions, complete with candid, unflattering photos and snarky one-liners.  I’m sure you’ve heard that Taco Bell is serving breakfast now? Never fear, their latest review of the Waffle Taco was both informative and terrifying. I’m glad their brave souls could stomach something they described as having looked as if  one “used a taco to pick up something [the] dog left behind.”

So now I don’t have to.

(Screenshot!)

While I’m not entirely sure what thought process is behind their meal choices, you have to give them credit for creativity. For Christmas, they recreated the “Grinch Sandwich.” You know, the one described in the song: “a three-decker toadstool and sauerkraut sandwich… with arsenic sauce.” Arsenic sauce was not handy, so Sriracha was the most appropriate substitute. Also featured are beauties such as the Fritos chicken enchilada sub from Subway, the Carl’s Jr. Pop Tart ice cream sandwich, and the veritable Frankenstein of burgers: the McCamembert. Which is apparently an actual thing in France. Shame on you, McDonalds. Now sometimes their features are not necessarily sandwiches, but let’s be honest, someone has to try that  Mountain Dew A.M. monstrosity. All in all, the voyeur and the foodie in me are both satisfied in one go with Sandwich Monday. Unlike the rest of NPR, it’s sarcastically hilarious while simultaneously lacking a filter and any sense of shame. If I can make a horrible sandwich pun- to me, it’s the best thing since sliced bread.

Now, go enjoy!

Love,

EVA♥

Hello dear readers!

Today, I wanted to share with you a little tradition some good friends of mine have started: Taco Tuesday!

Let me start by saying that, yes, I am aware that it is not yet Tuesday, it is in fact Friday. I am also aware of the fact that while I spend a night in, sipping my Tazo Rest tea and watching reruns on TLC, there is nothing that I would rather reminisce about.

While it’s true that Taco Tuesday has long been a thing, I wanted to share with you my own experiences with it, and how it’s become something that I look forward to every week. I believe it was the brainchild of two of my friends, Jessie and Rachel, who have recently moved in together along with Rachel’s mysterious older brother, and the oft featured Maddie the dog. Thus far, our taco Tuesdays have never featured the same group of people twice, or the same exact range of ingredients twice. This last week, it was just the three of us along with Maddie, so we had a less than ceremonious table-setting and were dressed primarily in sweats.

(I apologize for the fantastic jumble of food (and the random paperclip), containers, and paperwork. I remembered to document the fantastic meal after we had already dug in.)

Jessie is the expert when it comes to creating homemade crispy taco shells- something that I long thought was not possible without magical powers. I’ve watched her craft them several times, and it turns out that all you need are some good corn tortillas, a skillet, tongs, and oil. Gently fold and fry, let them drip off, and voilà! You have delicious taco shells. Our filling of choice is chicken, simmered in broth and spices until it can be easily shredded. Any leftovers make for fabulous lunch additions the day after. This week, we also created instant guacamole: simply mash a ripe avocado with some salsa and add any spices to taste. Along with the main ingredients, we like to include a variety of sauces, cheese, fresh tomatoes, sour cream, and lettuce. There’s a little something for everyone and everyone can create a meal to their own liking. Rachel, in the meantime, often makes a quick and easy margarita by simply mixing tequila, triple sec, and a bit of good limeade (Odwalla makes the best!). Topping your glass off easily with some chunky margarita salt makes it feel extra indulgent.

What makes taco Tuesday so wonderful, aside from the delicious food, is the opportunity to get together and share a simple meal with good friends. I’ve always enjoyed having roommates, having had wonderful experiences sharing many a meal with them, and I often miss coming home to that feeling of community. I feel like I have a bit of that back now, and I so enjoy it. (If you’re reading this ladies, we need to have taco Tuesdays forever! Or, when we get sick of tacos, we can always evolve: Fettucine Fridays, Mediterranean Mondays, whatever!)

So, if you’re out there, occasionally missing a home-cooked meal, grab some friends, throw together a Facebook event, and pick a relatively simple recipe. Good things will happen.

Have a great weekend! I’m off to the Treasure Island Flea Market!

Love,

EVA♥

Hello all!

I have been a long time follower of food blogs. Some of my most favorite recipes have come from the  Smitten Kitchen, and many of us know the lovely Ree Drummond of The Pioneer Woman. I so admire these ladies and their ability to create original recipes, something that I, despite the joy I find in cooking and baking, have never really attempted before. It goes without saying that I’m not counting my childhood forays in to creating my own cookie recipe which resulted in something resembling chocolate chip bread lumps. I have been far more conservatively creative since then. This morning, I attempted to document my own baking adventures, involving a box of questionable cupcake mix. And by questionable I mean that no grown adult would ever attempt to make something so ridiculous.

Step one involved coffee. As in, I needed coffee before attempting to follow any kind of instructions.

Yes, ladies and gentlemen. Watermelon cupcakes.

Step 2: Prepping the work space. Luckily I have an abnormal surplus of cupcake tin liners.

Mixing all the ingredients. It somewhat resembled a science experiment gone awry. And yes, the batter did smell  disturbingly like watermelon.

The pouring of the batter is undoubtedly the hardest part. There was some fallout.

I’m not entirely sure how this happened, but some batter ended up on my floor. Yikes.

After pouring the pink slime, er, cupcake batter, they simply went in the oven for 17 minutes and

Voilà!

We have our watermelon cupcakes!

For the final touch, of course Betty Crocker created a matching watermelon frosting. Also watermelon flavored and very reminiscent of Bubblicious watermelon gum.

Frosting my slightly deformed cupcake that I may or may not have accidentally stuck my finger in. Since I intend to bring these beauties to dinner at a friend’s house, I figured I could reserve the less than perfect cupcakes for a taste test.

The end result! The taste is quite interesting, and vaguely watermelon-like. I now have 24 of these cupcakes at my disposal. Luckily, these are being served as dessert for a weekly Taco Tuesday dinner. I say luckily because I feel like the taste of these will vastly be improved with the addition of  tequila.

Ridiculous or not, simply looking at them makes me happy.

Enjoy your Tuesday, everyone!

Love,

EVA♥