Saturday, May 22, 2010

Delicious Roasted Beets

Image via Southern Living This image is slightly different from what I describe below, I used green onions instead of red onion!

I have always loved beets, but until recently I had never tried to make them myself. After a quick search at my "go to" foodnetwork, I realized that it was actually quite easy. While its not great for a weeknight dinner, because they need to cook for 45 min to an hour, then rest for 10-15 minutes before you peel them. I don't know about you, but I usually don't get home till almost 7, and eating dinner at 8:30 doesn't work for me, but if you make them ahead they are just as good cold.

The first time I made them, I had them simply with goat cheese, a little bit of olive oil and salt and pepper. It was quite tasty and very easy. Then, Thursday night I went to Bar Jules, a fabulous restaurant in Hayes Valley. It is a small restaurant and the menu changes daily according to fresh local foods. I have been there twice and each time it has been DELICIOUS! Thursday, I started with a butter lettuce salad with green onions, golden beets and avocado. It was so good, I decided I had to make it myself.

I bought golden and red beets. To roast them, pre-heat the oven to 375. Lightly coat the beets in olive oil, and a little bit of salt and pepper. Wrap them in tinfoil and place them on a baking sheet. Roast them for 45-60 minutes. Pull them out and check if a knife goes easily through, they are done. Be sure to check smaller ones after 45 minutes. Once you remove them from the oven, let them rest for 10-15 minutes, as this makes them easier to handle and remove the skin. I use a spoon to peel the skin off and then slice then into wedges.

I bought a spring mix, and next time I would definitely stick with the butter lettuce. I made a quick sherry vinegar- olive oil, sherry vinegar, dijon, salt and pepper, and tossed it with the lettuce, avocado and green onions, then placed the beets around. It was delicious, I quickly grilled a center cut boneless pork chop and dinner was served!

Shopping

Hello! Yes, it has been forever, I am sorry, I have been traveling every weekend this month, I am finally home and am spending my weekend catching up on all the things I have missed. So there will likely be several posts this weekend! First though, I want to talk about all of the great websites I receive emails from that have the best shopping. While I can't indulge on a regular basis, I have found some great deals!
3. Swirl by Daily Candy

I have bought things from Gilt and Rue Lala, and they are great, the shipping time tends to be a little longer with Gilt Group, but all three have great sales.

I also love Daily Candy- each day they send a great snippet about a new boutique, restaurant or store opening. They also have a weekly travel edition and "what to do this weekend." They have different editions for different cities, when I found it when I was living in Boston and switched my edition to San Francisco when I moved here.

I am sure these sites are familiar to most of you, but just in case someone missed one, I had to share!

I have several more post ideas so I will be returning soon....happy weekend!
xoxo

Friday, May 7, 2010

Mother's Day

Hello! I have been MIA, I have been fighting the same flu for almost two weeks, ugh. I am also still working on figuring out the photo thing. There have been several things I wanted to post on, my fabulous new white VINCE jeans (couldn't find a photo), the sequin tunic I bought to go over the top and the newest thing I am looking for- the perfect pair of nude pumps. Alas, I haven't yet mastered finding photos on the web and transferring them here. I likely could read directions somewhere, but that would be too easy. I also am in dire need of new camera ( I could at least then take some of my own photos) and the iphone camera just doesn't quite cut it.

I digress....the original point of this post was Mother's Day! I am thrilled to be able to fly home to see my Mom, my grandma and my step-mom ( you have no idea how many cards I need to get). Being a mother is a challenging, amazing and sometimes thankless job. I am so lucky to have all of the wonderful women in my life who have supported, prodded, laughed, cried and grown with me. To all the Mom's and Grandma's- you are amazing and loved!
Happy Mother's Day
xoxo