Wednesday, July 15, 2009

shepherd's pie

this is a thursday night recipe, when it's toward the end of the week and you have a bunch of leftover vegetables in tupperware in your fridge that won't be touched over the weekend.  it's also very inexpensive and uses ingredients that are already in your cupboard.

jake glanced at my laptop when i was creating this post and asked why i had pictures of dinner pulled up.  i told him that sometimes i post recipes.  he was all "why?  do people want them?" and i was all "i dunno but it's my blog and i'll post pictures of our dinner if i want to" and he was all "if you're going to post recipes why don't you post them of something good like your spicy roasted vegetables not like something plain that anyone can make" and i was all "that's a backhanded comment i've never heard you complain about my shepherd's pie and i've never seen you make it either" and he was all like "whatever" and i was all like "whatever" and he continued into the kitchen to refill his glass of iced tea and i hit "publish post."

ingredients
1-2 lbs ground hamburger or turkey
1/2 onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tsp. beef bullion granules or 1 beef bullion cube, dissolved in 1/2 cup water
4 cups instant mashed potatoes, prepared according to directions
cheese
paprika
seasoning salt
garlic powder
pepper
vegetables*

*you can use any veggies that you have in the fridge.  really, anything goes.  corn, carrots, broccoli, zucchini, squash, peas, cooked, uncooked, anything.  if you don't have any veggies sitting around, add two cups of frozen mixed vegetables.

directions
brown the ground hamburger or turkey in your largest nonstick skillet, along with the onion and garlic.  drain grease and return to pan.  add beef bullion and a dash each of garlic powder, pepper, and seasoning salt to taste.  add veggies and stir to combine.

here we have corn, carrots, green beans, and zucchini.

while the ground hamburger or turkey are browning, mix up your instant mashed potatoes.  add an extra dash of garlic powder for good measure, and don't skimp on the butter.  you can always boil potatoes and make real mashed potatoes, but this is thursday night and who wants to mess with that on a thursday night not me i have laundry to fold and aislinn just dumped an entire package of bendy straws onto the floor.


oh, i forgot.  pretend i already told you to preheat your oven to 350.

now spread the meat and veggie mixture into a casserole dish:

and spread the mashed potatoes over the top:

then sprinkle a little cheese on the top, and dust with paprika:

throw it in the oven and bake for 20-30 minutes, until the cheese is melted on top and everything is bubbly.

mmmmmmm.  serve with salad and crusty bread spread with butter and jam.
delicious.

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

rebellion

i quit plucking my eyebrows a few months ago. i have no idea what precipitated this. nothing, actually.  i was just too busy to pluck them, and then it got embarrassing but i still never got around to it, and then it got downright out of control and i became intrigued so i went with it.

i haven't decided whether i'm going to go back to my old hyper-manicured ways. one minute i feel unkempt and shabby and the next i feel european and self righteous. who knew tweezers could instigate such emotions? who would have thought i'd ever blog about my eyebrows?

 when i started this blog did i contemplate sharing my grooming habits with the world? 

is there any more leftover tabouli in the fridge?

Sunday, July 12, 2009

sunrise photo shoot

what do you do when your ten month old wakes up at five a.m. on a balmy sunday? you throw a dress on her, plunk her down in the dewy back yard, and start snapping away in the pretty morning light.








swimming





Saturday, July 11, 2009

10 months

here are a couple of videos of kitten being kitten, for those of you who don't get to see her often.




Friday, July 10, 2009

without further ado...

...a few fourth of july pictures.




Thursday, July 9, 2009

anniversary

today is the four-year anniversary of our first date.  four years ago today it was a saturday.  i was still asleep, completely ignoring the looming bar exam.  i went to get a vegetarian reuben at wild oats, and then i went back to my apartment pool and lounged around with my best friend brooke, drinking bud light and listening to john mayer.

by the time early evening rolled around i was sunburned and did NOT feel like showering and drying my hair.  i almost cancelled, but didn't.  my other best friend mark helped me pick out an outfit remotely via cell phone from louisiana.  i was worried about my shoes (gold strappy heels), he was worried about my top (green tunic).  i wore some skinny size four GAP jeans that i will never fit into again.  i still have the outfit.

we met at friday's on 41st street.  we're thinking about going there again tonight.  funny thing is, neither of us really likes friday's, and we never go there.

anyway.  happy anniversary, babe.