The Food Matters Project: Mexican-Style Fruit Salad w Fish

I had a lot of fun with this week's Food Matters Project. Thank you, Sarah, for picking such a fun recipe! I've been wanting to try out a sweet potato crusted fish recipe I ran into quite some time ago while lurking on pinterest. This gave me the perfect opportunity.

I don't know about you guys but this life is busy. I just tried to schedule hiking with a friend on a Sunday coming up and realized that I have 3 unplanned Sundays between now and SEPTEMBER. That's crazy. I can't wait for it to be true summertime when the sun doesn't go down until almost 10pm and it becomes easier to go play outside after work. Slowing down to plan out a meal, prepare the ingredients and share the results with the people I love best feels so important and so good.

Asparagus, Leek & Bell Pepper Frittata with Sweet Potato Hash base.

I am in love with sweet potatoes. It's no secret. They are tasty and delicious and versatile. You can use them in savory dishes, and sweet. We eat a lot sweet potatoes around here: as hash browns, medallions, fries, etc. I love that they fill you up AND they're nutritious too! Also, a lot of sweet potato varieties are mistakenly advertised as yams at your local grocery store. It's so weird! The only time you'll typically see "real" yams is at the asian market.

This dish was incredibly easy to make. You can substitute any vegetable you have in your kitchen. I often make a mini, non crusted, souffle version of this dish in ramekins or muffin tins to take to work.

Brown Sugar Apple Bundt Cake

I spent yesterday playing outside, baking and chatting with a good friend. Eowyn is a modern day awesome lady. She works outside of her home but still manages to garden, make delicious meals, bake bread, homemake anything that can be homemade, run an etsy shop and be a great mom and wife. You can meet Eowyn here and see her etsy shop here. When I made my way to Eo's after a lazy morning at home I found her just finishing up making sunscreen and about to hang laundry outside in the bright sun. We took a walk around the backyard - checking out the new chickens and the garden beds. Then we had a picnic. I'm not joking when I say this woman does everything. Lunch included homemade yogurt with honey and fruit. It was awesome.

The Food Matters Project: Quick Salsa (and other stuff)

Hello everyone! I just got home from the most wonderful birthday weekend. We started out our weekend early with a very small get-together Thursday night. We barbequed all sorts of burgers (beef/turkey/veggie), roasted some sweet potato fries and ate the most delicious cake I've ever tasted. I am lucky enough to call Jacqui, of Good Things Grow, my friend. The darling birthday cake she made for me is literally the prettiest cake I've ever received.

Strawberry-Pistachio with Cream Cheese Frosted Deliciousness.

photo by scott haydon

We followed up our lovely Thursday evening with a three day trip to Pacific City, Oregon and the always amazing experience of Cirque du Soleil when passing through Portland on the way home. I had such a good time. The weather was great and we could see the ocean from our balcony. I can't think of a better way to spend my 32nd birthday.

Oh, and I forgot to mention it - but I am quite possibly the luckiest girl alive. My boyfriend's birthday gift to me was the creation of "our song". He collaborated with Elk & Boar and came up with a song that pretty much sums "us" up. I'm not one hundred percent sure how to share it with all of you but here's a sound cloud link if you're familiar with that application: http://soundcloud.com/scott-haydon/dark-eyes . Thursday night, in front of a small group of our friends, Scott played this song for me for the very first time. He wrote all of the lyrics down on a large sketchbook and flipped through the lyrics while the song played. It is the single most romantic experience of my life. Sharing that moment with people we love, although a little embarrassing for someone as shy as I am, is one of the best things that's ever happened to me. I love you, Scott Patrick Haydon, and you are my dream.