Our Trip to Los Angeles

Hi hi,

I hope you are all doing well. Our trip to the Los Angeles turned to be a lazy weekend. How did this happen? I guess after the long work week this is what we needed. Earlier this afternoon, we got lunch at The Farmers Market -which I must say is the best part about The Grove-  

We walked around the market and enjoyed all the colors, the amazing smell from all the little restaurants and finally got to visit Top Shop,Top Man. We were only out for about two hours and we were ready to go back to our hotel room, and just enjoy the afternoon (in other words, we were too full to walk around in the hot sun)

I hope you all enjoy the pictures. Thank you for reading.

Sincerely

K.

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A Tribute To Aunt Dolly.

Hi hi,

I hope you are all doing good. I'm wonderful myself. I decided to make chapatis the other night and this is truly a tribute to my aunt Dolly. What can I say about my amazing aunt...she probably was the one who taught me everything I know about cooking. Now that I'm an aunt myself, I just hope I can inspire my lovely nieces as aunt Dolly inspired me.

So here is aunt Dolly's Chapati recipe:

 First, let me explain what chapati is, for anyone who doesn't know. It is pronounced just as it is written as are other Swahili words [chuh-puh-tee]. This is a flat-bread made from whole wheat or all purpose flour (I made half and half), water, a dash of salt and a few tablespoons of oil. It is a staple in South Asia and was introduced to East Africa by the Indian settlers -who call it roti-. Now Chapati has become a staple among the Swahili speaking people of East Africa and is eaten by almost all the tribes in Kenya including my tribe, a tribe called Quest -just kidding-!! I'm from the Meru tribe which is in the Eastern Province.

What to do:

-Mix all the ingredients together to form a firm dough.

-Separate the dough into small portions and roll out into tortilla like discs.

-Oil the discs and roll. (Now this is the part aunt Dolly does it different from others), refrigerate for about an hour.

-Heat a heavy bottomed pan on medium high, using a rolling pin, roll out the small dough portions into discs again and toss in the preheated pan.

-Cook both sides, and using a brush, oil each side of the chapati. 

Happy rolling and thank you for reading.

Sincerely

K.

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Blueberry & Strawberry Compote + Movie Night In.

Hi hi,

Count a few Sundays back to Father's Day..I spent the day with Chris' family and his mommy made this gorgeous blueberry compote over vanilla ice cream (I think) and It was to die for. I have never made this before but we had blueberries, sugar and that other stuff I needed. The recipe is pretty easy, add all the ingredients in a heavy bottomed pan, (Oh add water too) and cook it all up until the blues get plump and the liquid mixture gets syrupy. 

We watched Hugo and it's so cute. We never like the same movies..Chris is more of an Indie Movie, documentary, anything that's boring type and I'm more of a comedy, cute flicks type. Funny story, a few months back we got a copy of Entertainment Weekly in the mail and it had a list of 100 worst movies ever made, I own like twenty of those movies. 

I served these in tea cup sets.

I hope you all enjoy making this. Thank you for reading.

Sincerely

K.

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.....And Two Years Later....

Hi hi,

I hope you are all doing well. I'm doing very well myself, I can't complain. This one will be a short one. About two years ago I met this this guy at a dive bar which shall remain unknown. I had a date night with my cousin and he was on a man date with his two friends.  

I thought he was a jerk he says he wasn't, I do not remember him buying me a drink but he swears he did. He threatened to sue me if I bailed on our first date, and to make it worse he was an hour late to our first date! Ai yai yai!!

But to my surprise he did bring his A-game and I was blown away. He is my ying and I'm his yang -literally-. 

Here is to two more years!!

Sincerely

K.

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DIY Burlap Place-mats

Hi hi,

I'm hoping you are all doing fantastic so far, I'm doing very well myself. It's been so lovely outside lately it makes me so happy. So, we attempted to go out for some late afternoon garage sales on Saturday to pick up a few things to incorporate in our decor-I believe that one man's trash could truly be one girl's treasure-but we were too late, we got to Kensington and everyone was closing down shop. Uggh!! I need to find frames. Better luck next time.

My white shabby dinning table is a stain magnet. We made pulled pork the other night and as we were picking at it the juices kept dripping and staining our table. I'm so over cleaning it all the time that I decided to make place-mats with some extra burlap fabric I had. It took me about twenty minutes to make four of these and they were so easy and so much fun to make, since I just used stuff I picked up around the house and some borrowed buttons from Chris' mommy.

These are perfect for our outdoor table for when we have dinner outside.

I hope you all have fun making these and let me know how yours turned out or what you did different.

Thank you for reading.

Sincerely

K.

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SEVEN DAYS OF RECIPES; DAY SEVEN: Recipe Co-Blogging Fiesta!!

Hi hi,

I hope you are all having a fantastic weekend. Today is the last day of the 'Seven Days of Recipes' and as much as I want to keep this on forever I can't. I still need to finish putting our cottage back together. 

This is my first co-blogging fiesta. What is a blogging fiesta you may ask? This is a way for me to connect to other blogs or links I like. So for my seventh day post I linked up some of  Kyla's favorite dishes. 

This girl is an inspiration who came from not knowing how to cook to being a passionate home master chef.  Read her story and her journey below.

Meet: Kyla of  Eat-Blog-Repeat:

"Two years ago I realized that cooking was another form of creativity...and thus I started to learn how to cook. This came from the help of my boyfriend (who had some experience already, got me watching cooking shows on TV, and inspired me to critique my food so that I could understand what I wanted out of food), the cooking classes that I signed myself up for at Hipcooks North Park, and from my own curiosity and passion for creativity.
I found that for me the best way to learn how to cook was to: 1- Cook with two ingredients per week that I have never worked with, 2- Cook one way that I have never cooked before per week OR use a kitchen tool I have never used before. Bake, slow cook, broil, sautee, pan fry, use an ice cream maker, a juicer, a mandolin, etc.. And 3- Of course, taste it every step along the way to make sure it comes out the way I like. I keep this blog as a photo journal of my progress of learning how to cook and I hope this blog inspires you like all those blogs out there inspired me!"

Note: All pictures in this post belong to Eat-Blog-Repeat

Thank you for reading.

Sincerely

K.

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SEVEN DAYS OF RECIPES; DAY SIX: Bacon, Avocado, Arugula and Golden Tomato Sandwich

Hi hi, It's official...it's summer again. I'm so excited. So in the next few weeks we will be in Los Angeles, NYC, and San Francisco ....I'm most excited for New York and I'm seriously counting down the days. I can't wait to eat all the good food and just enjoy The Big Apple. 

Chris has single handedly planned this amazing trip, and my favorite part of this entire trip is spending time time in Brooklyn and shopping the flea market. If anyone has ideas of where we should go please let me know.

This is so easy all you need is everything in the title. Put it all together and ta-da!! Enjoy these hassle-free snacks that are perfect for summer.

Thank you for reading.

Sincerely

K.

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SEVEN DAYS OF RECIPES; DAY FIVE: Paprika Popcorn

Hi everyone, I hope you're all having a great week. I have been so busy the last couple of days with work and personal life, I'm beginning to fall behind on a lot of things. But I managed to squeeze in day five of my "Seven Days of Recipes" chapter.

I know, it's just popcorn, but now that I'm addicted to Suits I had to make a snack. Make popcorn like you would normally do add paprika, Sriracha, melted butter, some peanut oil and mix together. Enjoy!!

Happy Popping...thank you for reading.

Sincerely

K.

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SEVEN DAYS OF FOOD: DAY FOUR: Easiest Brussel Sprouts Recipe

Hello Everyone,

Happy Thursday.

I remember a few months ago, I was not a big fun of brussel sprouts until Chris made some, forced me to eat them and I ate them for like two weeks straight. Now every time we go out to eat we always want to try them anytime they are on the menu. I must say, I'm still not sold on some of the ones I have tasted. Some have wasabi, that combo to me just doesn't work. So I have since just settled for what I like.

They are so easy to make, you only need 3 ingredients: 

1. The Brussel Sprouts

2. Bacon

3. 1 clove garlic.

WHAT TO DO:

In a large pan, cook up the bacon, for about 3 mins, add garlic and brussel sprouts. I like mine a little charred.

Happy cooking. Thank you for reading.

Sincerely 

K.

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WANT vs. NEED

Hi Everyone,

Happy Wednesday.

I just thought I should take a break from all the recipes and die for these shoes. Don't we all crave these Giuseppe Zanotti sandals? But at $695 no thank you....How about we save on these other babies I found...Say hello to Lenny. 

1. Want: Giuseppe Zanotti  $695 at Madison Los Angeles

2. Need: Lenny $139 at lulus.com

Happy shopping.

Sincerely

K.

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SEVEN DAYS OF RECIPES; DAY THREE: Shrimp and Pasta

Hi Everyone,

Happy Tuesday.

Yesterday I had to rush and get my action plans ready since I was having a sit down with my new boss today. I will tell you, it's always nerve wracking when you know your team may be costing a company lots of money and I seriously wasn't looking forward to this since my business has been down all year. I mean, first impression is crucial. All in all everything went extremely well.

Any way, I have been making this shrimp and pasta dish for a long time now and it is so yummy and easy to prepare I had to share it. It takes me about 15 minutes to throw this together..I think the pasta takes the longest.

YOU NEED:

-Flat Italian parsley

-Flat anchovies in olive oil

-Capers

-Cherry tomatoes

-Raw Shrimp (cooked/with or without shells - it's really whatever you want)

-1/2 cups olive oil (this is the sauce so again use as much as you like)

-Garlic

-Spaghetti

-Salt and Pepper (this is optional, anchovies are salty so I did not need this)

WHAT TO DO:

1. Cook your spaghetti like you would normally do-nothing fancy

2. In a medium sized pan, add garlic and anchovies and cook until all the anchovies are melted. Add olive oil and mix for about 5 seconds.

3. Add the shrimp, capers and cherry tomatoes and cook until shrimp turns pink. Remove and serve over spaghetti. Garnish with some Italian parsley.

Enjoy!

Thank you for reading.

Sincerely

K.

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SEVEN DAYS OF RECIPES; DAY TWO: Poached Egg & Pea Salad.

Hi Everyone,

Happy Monday

I hope you all got to try the French Toast Skewers. Please let me know how yours turned out or what you did different.

Okay, do you guys remember the little birds outside my dinning room window..well, they attacked me. Those f@#$%ers are vicious!

..........................................................................................................

So the other day I attempted to poach an egg...it was my first time and I believe I nailed it. The secret to a perfect poached egg is to add vinegar to your water, bring your water to a boil and spin the hell out of the water before you drop your egg.

I have been watching a lot of the "F Word"..another one of the billion shows by Gordon Ramsay. He did a pea salad with a poached egg that seemed so easy that I wanted to try it.


YOU NEED:

And that's it.....

WHAT TO DO:

1. Cook the bacon until crispy, take out and drain on a paper towel.

2. In the same pan, recycle the bacon fat and shallow fry the potatoes until golden brown. Take out and drain on paper towel as well.

3. In another clean pan, add olive oil and garlic and cook for about 2 mins, add peas (use fresh peas if you can), spinach and arugula mix and cook for another 10 mins.

4. Poach your egg...and now you can eat.

Happy poaching. Thank you for reading.

Sincerely

K.

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