cranberry walnut crostinis

cranberry walnut crostinis :: one of the many yummy treats we made for our open house party.  these cranberry walnut crostinis are super easy to make and make wonderful little appetizers for any occasion.  since we moved into our new house that has a rosemary bush, i have been searching for new ways to use rosemary and these crostinis are definitely my new favorite use for the herb.  

ingredients ::

1 baguette of french bread

8 oz of crumbled goat cheese

2 cups of cranberries

2 cups of walnuts

2 sprigs of fresh rosemary

honey

what to do::

1. slice baguette into 1 inch pieces

2. toast pieces at 350 degrees for 10 minutes

3. let toasts cool

4. spread goat cheese on toasts

5. top with walnuts and cranberries

6. sprinkle rosemary on top

7. drizzle honey 

enjoy!

summer cookout

last night we had our friends the daniels over for a last minute sunday supper.  we had told them at church all about our new grill and our first night grilling, so we decided to pull our sunday suppers together and dine al fresco with one of our favorite meals :: grilled portobello burgers.  the recipe was adapted from here and it is amazing.  highly recommend you add it to your grilling rotation this summer!

beer, bourbon, and bbq fest

what a title! probably not the first place you would think to find me on a freezing (did i mention freezing) saturday afternoon.  when tyler's bestie from work invited us earlier last week to atlantic station's beer, bourbon, and bbq festival i texted tyler back saying "sounds fun, but it looks like snow on saturday".  we both shrugged off the weather man's predictions with ideas of "it rarely snows in atlanta" and "i'm sure they will have heaters" and "it doesn't matter, it will be a lot of fun".  while the latter was true, it did in fact snow some and atlantic station was not prepared for the low temperatures.  sure, they had tents that were bearable, however, all of the food trucks were out in the open breeze.  if it wasn't for my love of hand cut fries and for our friends, i think my tears would have frozen right there on my face.  in the end, i am so glad that we went and got to experience a fun event that makes atlanta so great.  plus, our favorite brewery was there representing.  after we left the freezing, snow flurrying cold, we topped off the night at antico with some warm and delicious pizza.  you can see more photos here - caution, they will make you hungry. enjoy!

sunday afternoon | westside

 happy rainy tuesday everybody. when is it every going to be sunny again? my weather app says thursday. so, thursday it is! as a photographer, i am constantly checking the weather and hoping for bright, but overcast days.  well, this weekend was surprisingly pleasant outside and we got to spend sunday afternoon with sister and her bf.  i always enjoy showing people around my city and eating at yummy restaurants.  maybe i missed my calling in life on being a tour guide??  anyways, we brunched at west egg, and then walked around the westside, taking everything in.  i have been trying to be better about taking my camera places so i can always be prepared to capture anything.  having my camera in tow allowed me to persuade sister to model for me - see more here, and get some sweet pictures of her and her boyfriend.  i am also so thankful for the new picture that i now have of husband and me together.  it captures both our personalities well! and it has our city in the background. a real winner. besides having the camera for some family shots and blog material, it also allowed me to do something very special for complete strangers.  while we were sitting at west egg brunching, a proposal occurred right behind us!  i had my back to them, so i unfortunately didn't get any pictures of the fiancé down on one knee.  i did, however, snap some really sweet ones of them hugging, laughing, and looking at the engagement ring.  it was such an honor to capture that moment - and the bride-to-be was convinced that her future groom had it all staged! it was great. reason #348,209 why i love my job.

eating our way through athens

 

last weekend some friends and i hopped over to athens for the day to hang out and basically eat a lot. athens has some of the best restaurants ever, so we indulged. a lot. first up was ike and janes for some doughnuts. then it was off to brunch at big city bread.  most of the photos above are from there.  after brunch we stopped by jittery joes roastery and picked up some coffee.  then, my camera died so i have no more photos to support my type. so, you will just have to take my word for the rest of the day :) we shopped in all of the boutiques and i found some fabulous pieces at agora, which was really exciting.  sister joined in on the downtown fun and we relaxed at trapeze/high wire with snacks and drinks.  we then took a break from downtown and cheered on the Gym Dogs in a victory against Alabama.  all of the previous Gym Dogs were back in town for a reunion, so we got to see our old faves and reminisce on college days.  we topped off the day with last resort, and then waddled home after our fourth meal of the day!  it really was a perfect day, friends.

west egg for brunch

after visiting piedmont park and perusing the farmers market, 

we headed over to the westside to one of our favorite brunch places ::

west egg.

if you haven't been yet, go. tomorrow.

everything is good.

i highly recommend the brown sugar bacon, 

the eggs benedict,

and the skillet potatoes.

yum.

piedmont park farmers market

 

we had some visitors this weekend all the way from texas! we took our sweet friends to piedmont park saturday morning to show off our beautiful city.  it was a perfect fall morning with a crisp breeze and lots of golden leaves all around.  we enjoyed all the sites of the piedmont park farmers market and i changed everyone's lives by introducing them to the best iced coffee in the land :: blue donkey's summer almond.  definitely a hit.  hopefully coming to whole foods soon! more on our weekend, soon.

pumpkin chocolate chip muffins

fall is in the air and i am trying to eat slash drink as much pumpkin as possible!  my sweet friend chane over at what the hart likes makes the most amazing pumpkin chocolate chip muffins.  she made them the other day and since we don't live in the same city any more, i decided that it was time i learned how to make them myself.  after getting home from the store and realizing that i didn't have enough oil, i knew it was time to get creative and test out the applesauce for oil trick.  thankfully, it worked! so, here is my take on the best pumpkin chocolate chip muffins in the world!

mix together in a large bowl::

3 eggs

2 TB oil

1 C natural, no sugar added applesauce

(i used the vermont organic brand)

1 can pumpkin

2 C sugar

2 C white flour

1 C whole wheat flour

(3 C white if you don't have wheat)

2 C chocolate chips

1 tsp ground cloves

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp nutmeg

bake at 400 degrees for 15 - 20 minutes

makes about 24 muffins

yum!

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