What I Baked on Sunday

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Or cookies. Chocolate chip cookies to be exact. But not just any chocolate chip cookies - How Sweet It Is Brown Butter Oatmeal Chunk Cookies which incorporate two of your favorite things: oats and cinnamon.

Then eat the cookie dough for dinner and the baked cookies for dessert. And realize that all your doubts have gone away. Happy baking!

The Friday Five

1. What I'm Reading:

From Amazon: Three women arrive at the local airport, observed by Josh, a Nantucket native home from college for the summer. Burdened with small children, unwieldy straw hats, and some obvious emotional issues, the women-- two sisters and one friend--make their way to the sisters' tiny cottage, inherited from an aunt. They're all trying to escape from something: Melanie, after seven failed in-vitro attempts, learned her husband was having an affair, and then discovered she's pregnant; Brenda embarked on a passionate affair with an older student that got her fired from her prestigious job as a professor in New York; and her sister Vicki, mother to two small boys, has been diagnosed with lung cancer. Soon Josh is part of the chaotic household, acting as babysitter, confidant, and, eventually, lover.

2. What I'm Eating:

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I've been adding Zoes Kitchen Spice of Life to it. So good.

3. What I'm Listening to:

OneRepublic's new album. It's easy listening. 

4. What Recipe I'm Bookmarking:

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Pan Fried Brussel Sprouts with Sriracha, Honey and Lime

Two of my favorite things in one dish!

5. Things I'm Loving:

And this article.

Happy Friday!

Thought on Thursday

Recent Eats

Julia Child once said, "People who love to eat are always the best people," and I couldn't agree more. One of my goals for this year is to take advantage of all the city has to offer and eat at new places. In the past few days, we have tried 3 new places. I'd say that's a pretty good start. 

On Friday, we took an office field trip to YoCake. The owners combined the frozen yogurt and cupcake crazes. Basically, you pick your cupcake flavor, frozen yogurt flavor, and whatever toppings you want. I went with the red velvet cupcake and cake batter frozen yogurt. It was good but I think I prefer the two things separately. 

Saturday, Marg, Chloe and I overindulged at Farmers, Fishers, and Bakers for brunch. The amount of food consumed was ridiculously large. Not only do they have a full buffet with just about anything you could dream of having at brunch but they also pass around other options to the tables. The menu included but was not limited to: omelets, french toast, fruit and yogurt, pimento cheese, chips and guac, tacos, pizza, sushi, and the list goes on and on. My favorite thing was the biscuits they brought to the table. 

Our conversation that afternoon sums up the day pretty well. 

Monday, we went to the Nats game where I had my first taste of Ben's Chili Bowl. Nothing says baseball season like a hotdog and chili cheese fries. 

If you need me the rest of the week, I'll be at the gym. 

What I Baked on Sunday

Gnocchi Edition

I have a new favorite food. It's gnocchi. I bought the potato gnocchi from Trader Joe's last week on impulse and it proved to be a solid choice.

I kept it simple the first time I cooked it and made a Brown Butter Sauce from How Sweet It Is. On the side I had chicken sausage and roasted green beans. They don't photograph well but these green beans are my favorite. Toss them in olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt, pepper, and a sprinkle of sugar. Bake at 400 degrees for about an hour. They sugar caramelizes and the beans get crunchy and delicious. Try them soon!

I still have some gnocchi left and want to make this Crispy Gnocchi with Basil Pesto from Two Peas and Their Pod this week. 

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Who knows, my next cooking endeavor might be making my own gnocchi!

Fun Facts Friday

1. Continued prayers and thoughts for Boston, West, TX, and everywhere else. What a crazy week. You should go read Charlotte's prayer at the end of her post.

2. Holy moly pollen. While I am loving the spring weather, my allergies are revolting. I thought I had outgrown them last year but apparently not.

3. Trader Joe's finally came out with their own version of Sriracha. I'm pretty excited about it since I put it on just about everything. Things got tense the other night when my roommate was cleaning out the fridge and tried to throw my half-empty bottle away.

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4. I have 0, yes zero, unread emails in my work account. This has not happened since I started working here two years ago. Now I am on a mission to keep it that way.

5. I am also making a conscious effort to do better about managing my to do list and actually taking the 5 minutes to complete a task instead of writing it down for later.

6. This song pretty much sums up last weekend. I also like the video. 

7. You know the song "My Life is a Country Song," well sometimes I feel like my life is a television show, especially this week's episode of Modern Family and a recent episode of New Girl.

8. This truck with an advertisement has been driving around our office for the past two days. I hope the driver is getting paid well. There is nothing worse than sitting in DC traffic and for days on end.

9. This week has reminded me of two things: 1) the Lord works in mysterious ways and 2) faith in God includes faith in His timing.

10. If you can't tell, my thoughts are all over the place today. At least it is Friday. Have a great weekend!

Thought on Thursday

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And all the helpers.

Weekend Recap

This weekend was jammed packed but so much fun! Rebecca flew into town on Friday night and we met her old co-workers at the Rooftop Bar in Arlington. It was chilly outside, so we ended up moving inside before ending the night out in Georgetown.

Saturday, we played tourists and went shopping on M Street before walking to see the cherry blossoms. 

Saturday night, we traded our tennis shoes for our dancing shoes and attended Taste of the South. It was such a fun night filled with great friends. I'm glad I was able to go this year. 

Sunday, we had brunch at Old Ebbitt Grill before the White House Garden Tour. I would highly recommend going on this tour if you can. It is only twice a year and is weather dependent. We lucked out the entire weekend with gorgeous weather. 

After the tour, we wandered over to Capitol Hill and hung out near Eastern Market before Rebecca's flight. It was so fun having her here. If only she could visit more often and we had black tie parties to attend every weekend. 

Fun Facts Friday

1) Being back in the office this week has been rough. Everyday felt like Friday. Thankfully, it finally is.

2) Spring is here! Although with highs in the upper 80s/lower 90s, I feel like we skipped straight to summer. I am ready for a beach trip.

3) I have been on a huge spring cleaning kick this week. I threw out a bunch of stuff over the weekend and made a pile to take to Goodwill. I love decluttering.

4) I was trying on dresses to figure out what I wanted to wear this weekend and I found my toast from my sister's rehearsal dinner. I thought I'd lost it but it was in the pocket of the dress I wore.

Such a special night. 

5) Margaret and I went "whaling" last night. We both won free happy hours at Sign of the Whale.

6)  I'm really looking forward to this weekend. Lots of fun things planned.

7) I thought I had more to share when I started this post.

8) Happy Friday!

What I Baked on Sunday

Salmon Edition

I used to be hesitant to cook salmon but after pinning multiple recipes that looked delicious I decided to give it a try. It is so easy, I don't know what took me so long. 

Last weekend I made this Broiled Spicy Brown Sugar Salmon from How Sweet It Is. Make sure to keep an eye on the salmon. I got distracted and the sugar caramelized a little more than it should have but it still tasted great.

This past weekend, we made Barefoot Contessa's Panko-Crusted Salmon. I loved the panko/dijon combination. I served it with Creamy Shrimp Risotto minus the shrimp.

I have one more piece of fish left in the fridge. I am thinking of making something with Sriracha. What's your favorite salmon recipe?

Lately

I apologize for being so MIA lately. Here are some photos to catch you up on everything that has been happening.

I made Shugary Sweet's Spring Blondies. I would highly recommend making them if you can still find Hershey Chocolate Eggs.

I was quite the jet setter last week with my trips to Nashville and Chicago. 

I fell in love with Chicago and this room at the Union League Club:

It was such a gorgeous venue.

We had another great hospitality spread at church.

The cherry blossoms bloomed!