June 2014 – Loving Food, Fashion, & Life

Game Day Spirit

Posted on June 30, 2014 by LFFL

Top & Jeans—Victoria’s Secret
Belt—Express

I’m such a fanatic when it comes to the World Cup. Here I was on my way to meet a friend at a sports bar to watch the USA play Portugal.

Though the color red is missing from this ensemble, I thought it was pretty fitting with the white and navy blue stripes for what I grabbed from my closet in such a hurry. Had I not been so excited to leave, I probably would have worn a red belt rather than the gold one. A pop of red could have made the difference.

So, if you have nothing else to do today, mix your team’s colors into your attire before heading out for a fun time.

Take-Away Life Lesson: It’s always better to calm down and give yourself time to fancy yourself up and think through your options so you’re not left regretting that one tiny accessory that could have made all the difference.

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The World Cup Excitement!

A World Cup Watch Party

Posted on June 29, 2014 by LFFL

Bread Pudding topped with caramel sauce; served with vanilla ice cream.

Another World Cup gathering and, naturally, I couldn’t resist having some good food. I started with a chicken quesadilla which was crunchy amazing. I just love a crispy tortilla. Then I had to move on to dessert—bread pudding.

This bread pudding was so huge in comparison to the bread pudding I normally get from my hometown diner. It was wonderfully delicious and helped with my nerves while watching a close game.

USA vs. Germany game outdoors.

Marinated & grilled chicken, onions, pico de gallo, and pepper jack cheese in a crispy tortilla; served with salsa & sour cream.

USA vs. Germany game indoors.

So, if you have nothing else to do today, enjoy a good game with good food along with other rambunctious people.

Take-Away Life Lesson: Loads of good food can always help when your nerves are shot.

Fashion USA Style

Posted on June 28, 2014 by LFFL

JEFF
Recreational Therapist
(At a sports bar)

While out enjoying the World Cup games, there was no mistaking who this guy was cheering on. I’m going to say the clothing speaks for itself.

So, if you have nothing else to do today, take a risk and wrap your country all around you from head to toe while out watching the games—or just because that’s how you want to dress every day. Should be fun times for you.

Take-Away Life Lesson: Your team can always feel the love when you show your support whether near or far.

The World Cup Excitement!

Posted on June 27, 2014 by LFFL

Ready for the game & some good food!

The GOAL dance!! Yeah, baby! Score USA!

I just love, love, love when the World Cup rolls around every four years! I actually wish we could enjoy it every year—I mean, four years is a long time to wait for the World Cup to roll around each time. Geez!

But when it does—I’m all over it! There’s so much excitement and adrenaline going all around. I love it! And to think it goes on for an entire month! I turn into a crazy person hooping and hollering all over the place jumping up and down—some of you would never claim me as your own.

These are times you have to plan your days off work so you can watch the games “live”—because, God forbid, you hear about what happened before you’ve had a chance to watch the game you taped before you get home. That’s the worst part, trying to avoid the media and people around you talking about it when you haven’t even seen it yet! So to avoid that problem—it’s much better to watch the games “live”—and it’s more fun that way anyway.

Vacation Martini made with Malibu Red, Hirman Walker Peach Schnapps, pineapple juice, and strawberry puree.

Potato skins topped with bacon, cheese, and scallions; served with sour cream.

Beef sliders with onions, pickles, ketchup, mustard, and cheese.

Chicken sliders with lettuce, tomato, red onions, cheddar cheese, bacon, and pickles; served with chipotle ranch.

Chicken Quesadilla made with chipotle tortilla with three cheeses, pico de gallo, and grilled chicken; served with chipotle ranch & fresh salsa.

Seasoned hand-breaded chicken tenders; served with macaroni & cheese, and onion rings served with ranch & honey mustard sauces.

Monte Cristo Sandwich made with sliced turkey, ham, and Swiss cheese on yellow bread dipped in egg batter; served with raspberry aioli sauce.

Vanilla ice cream ball rolled in cinnamon & crunchy topping, topped with honey & whipped cream.

Full slab of baby back ribs topped with barbecue sauce; served with loaded mashed potatoes, and macaroni & cheese.

I always hope the USA and England are two of the top 32 countries that make it to the World Cup to begin with—and, if so, I’ll start by following them. If and when the teams I follow drop off, I’ll start “picking” other teams to follow that I’d like to see win.

Sometimes it’s hard choosing because though I like to see the top playing “well-known” teams win, I also sometimes root for the underdog because those teams hardly ever win anything and aren’t as “popular.” I start feeling bad for them sometimes. It’d be amazing to see a small, lesser-known country beat a popular top-playing country that always seems to win. But I’m always USA and England first and foremost.

So far, I’ve been going to local sports bars to watch the games so I can enjoy some fabulous eating as well. As you can see, there was no shortage of food around me—and you know how I love being surrounded by food!

I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves. It was a vision of loveliness.

USA vs. Portugal game.

So, if you have nothing else to do today, pick a team you’d like to see win and follow them throughout the World Cup. If they drop off the map, pick your next favorite team and follow them. Keep doing this till the very end. You may be overly surprised by how much you actually enjoy the World Cup even if you’ve never been a big fan.

Take-Away Life Lesson: When you act like a crazy person over the games, your friends, family, and co-workers may not claim you as their own—especially if they don’t “get” what all the fuss is about. But WHO CARES?!! You’re enjoying life, BABY!

A Sweet Drink At Brio

Posted on June 24, 2014 by LFFL

Blackberry Raspberry Cosmo made with Sobieski citron vodka, black raspberry liqueur, simple syrup, cranberry, and fresh lime juices.

Though I’m not really a “drinker” of sorts, every once in a blue moon on very rare occasions I’ll have a drink with friends while out and about.

Here we had the pleasure of enjoying happy hour at Brio Tuscan Grille. The only drinks I appear to like have to taste somewhere along the lines of Kool-Aid, fruity, or anything really sweet. Alcohol taste is just not very pleasing to my particular palate so I prefer if I can’t “taste” that part of it very much. (Plus the effects of too much alcohol are just not that great on the body and face from my personal observations. So, no thanks.)

We also took the liberty of enjoying the happy hour menu. I mean, who doesn’t love good food for cheap? Of course, happy hour is only during a certain time-frame, but it usually starts late in the afternoon/early evening when most people are getting off work.

But as long as you get your order in before happy hour is over, you can get the appetizers and drinks cheaper than usual. What’s not to love about that?! I had the pleasure of enjoying the Tomato Mozzarella Salad and friends enjoyed the Beef Carpaccio and whatnot.

So, if you have nothing else to do today, go out with your friends during happy hour and enjoy food and/or drinks for cheap.

Take-Away Life Lesson: What’s not to love about life anytime you can save yourself some money and still enjoy good food and drinks?

Prosciutto & Asparagus Strata

Posted on June 19, 2014 by LFFL

Made with multigrain bread, eggs, milk, white wine, dry mustard, fresh grated nutmeg, salt & pepper, extra-virgin olive oil, onions, leeks, minced garlic, asparagus, scallions, Virginia ham, Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, fresh parsley, fresh mint, and lemon zest.

I’m not sure what the difference is between a strata, frittata, and quiche but they’re all the same to me—gunk baked inside some eggs. Once again, I used Virginia ham instead of prosciutto in this recipe.

And I really love those round doohickies of fresh nutmeg, too. I like those suckers so much better than the already-ground nutmeg. Talk about FRESH and POTENT stuff.

Layer onions, leeks, and garlic.

Layer with asparagus.

Layer the meat on top.

Sprinkle with cheese.

Bake till done.

Recipe for—Prosciutto & Asparagus Strata

So, if you have nothing else to do today, make a nice strata, frittata, or quiche of sorts and buy some fresh nutmeg just for the sheer fun of grating it.

Take-Away Life Lesson: Fresh nutmeg can be some powerful stuff.

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Rollin' On Open Highway

Posted on June 14, 2014 by LFFL

I love an open highway. This is right up there with being in a store all by myself—having open highway all to myself. I can never get enough of the simple pleasures of life. This is what you call stress free driving.

Granted, this was super early in the morning—but that’s neither here nor there. It was such a pretty day—car music blaring, the sun was out, the skies were clear, it was beautifully warm outside. Ahhh, my joys.

Does this mean I’m a loaner, anti-social, not a people person just because I like places and spaces to myself? I don’t think so—but who knows? Once again, I was out getting errands and shopping done and you know how I need to be in and out of a place and back home before the whole world wakes up and wants to join me. Oh, the stress of just thinking about the madness that can swarm me at any moment.

Shopping done, errands done and the world is still asleep—now I can enjoy the rest of my day and weekend. Saddle up and ride. It’s going to be a beautiful day.

So, if you have nothing else to do today, take to the open highway at an hour when you can have it all to yourself—and just drive.

Take-Away Life Lesson: Evaluate whether you actually like people or not.