{mexican queen}

I have this talent of creating pretty tasty dinners just by throwing things together. Of course, I make meatloaf and lasagna every now and again, but mostly I try to avoid using recipes (all that darn measuring!), plus I rarely plan ahead. So, on my cooking days I usually find myself going through the fridge and cupboards searching for items that would constitute something meal-like, relying on experimentation and images left over from watching Mom cook to come up with something edible. I do make some blunders; for example, turkeyloaf is not so good. But usually I'm pretty successful.

Then there are the days like today when I make something Mexi-tastic! After last week's burritos and today's taco salad, both made up from lack of proper ingredients, Paul has determined that I am the Mexican Queen. Not that I have a lot of competition...have you tasted the Mexican food in Cincinnati? Anyway, here's what I threw together today to make awesome--and fairly healthy--taco salad.



Ingredients:
Crispy lettuce (I used Romaine, but you could also use iceberg)
Red and green peppers
1 can corn (or frozen corn)
1 can pinto beans, drained and rinsed
tomato
shredded cheddar cheese
onions (to taste--about 1/4-1/2 cup chopped)
1 pound ground meat (I used 99% fat free turkey, but you could use beef or 80% turkey, or even chicken)
1 package enchilada seasoning or taco seasoning
1/4 cup water
Mild, finely chopped fresh salsa (I got mine at Trader Joes)
sour cream (I used regular, not low fat)
olive oil

Directions:
Brown your chopped onions in a skillet, for a few minutes. Then leave them in the pan and brown your meat. When that's done, drain any fat as needed and leave in pan. Then add 1/4 cup water and package of seasoning. Mix throughly. Set aside.

In a small bowl, mix some salsa, sour cream, and olive oil until it has a dressing-like consistency and tastes good.

Mixing everything but the dressing in a big, fat bowl.

Serve, and bask in the glory of your husband's praise.

{s-l-o-w}

It’s the Friday before Memorial Day and the week after an 11-day break from work. Could this day get an slower? I feel I’ve been sitting here (reading blogs and generally avoiding doing any work, but still...) for eternity. On the upside, we got new vending machines at work while I was on vacation. I went down yesterday to check out the selection and look what I found:



Yippee!! They also have drumsticks (the ice cream kind not the chicken kind) and turtle pies. But, on the downside, dang!, I’m going to fat this summer!

{italy recap}

Well, I suppose my penance for enjoying a deliciously beautiful trip to Italy is taking the time to blog about it. So here it is, my Italy recap.

Our itinerary commenced in Rome, giving us one whirlwind afternoon at all the top tourist locations: Spanish steps, Trevi Fountain, the Roman forums, and Colosseum among other things. I was totally enamored with the view of the Colosseum, taking photos from every angle. The dichotomy and juxtaposition of ancient and modern in that area of the city is an amazing sight. I left not so much a fan of Rome, but I think if we had to time to really get to know it I would have come to really enjoy the city.

Obviously, the Colosseum

Our itinerary took us on to the small town of Assisi, home of St. Francis, the next day. As we wheeled our suitcases up the road to our hotel, getting our first real peeks of the town and breathing a sigh of relief having left the crowds of Rome behind us, I thought, "Now, this is what I dreamed Italy would be like." Assisi is a quintessential Italian town with pinkish stone buildings lined up along cobblestone roads. Laundry flaps in the wind, drying on lines and the whole city offers view of Umbria below. And, unlike Rome, breaking out the Italian-English dictionary is often required. Sure, Assisi, as a destination for Catholic pilgrimage, is teeming with tourists--but they're all Italian, making all our experiences "authentic."

View of the hilltop fort, from Assisi


Basilica of St. Francis

After a morning stroll through the quiet streets of Assisi, and stop for a delicious cappucino, we took off for nearby Perguia to pick up our rental car. Navigating the Italian highways was a breeze; navigating the narrow, hilly, one-way, streets of our next stop--Montepulciano--not so much. Montepulciano is a small town known for a wine called Vino Nobile. The Nobile did not disappoint, and we picked up two bottles after a day of wandering streets and tasting wine in local shops. My favorite meal of the trip--Tuscan wine, a gaint ravioli stuffed with ricotta and mushroom truffles, followed by the most fabulous tiramisu ever--preceded a favorite afternoon strolling up and down the cobblestone roads, sans map, peeking in the hilltop town's churches and taking in the breathtaking panromic view of the Tuscan countryside.

View from Montepulciano

After two days in the country and a bit of an adventure trying to locate the Hertz rental, the train dropped us of in the center of Florence. Expecting something more along the lines of Montepulciano, only bigger, I was instantly overwhelmed and taken aback by the bustling, noisy, crowded, dirty city that greeted me. Plus, those darn Americans were everywhere! I warmed up to Florence a little bit after crossing the Arno River and leaving some of the crowds behind, and also discovering the best gelato of the entire trip. My most enjoyable parts of Florence always seemed to be the places that overlooked it all, including Boboli Gardens--a giant park, filled with grass, and trees, and quiet. Our afternoon trip to Fiesole, a hilltop town just outside of Florence (and birthplace of my new leather purse), was also a highlight of the trip, with a tiny park offering a breathtaking, panoramic overlook of the city.

The Duomo; the dome is in the background

To sum up the trip: It was a good time, with highs and lows of course, laughter and exhaustion, relaxation and stress, blisters and delicious mouthfuls of food. After having been to so many other wonderful places in Europe that I will forever love, I can't say Italy is my favorite (Paris has stolen my heart, and won't give it back), but it was a nice time away and fun to explore a new place.

And if you're interested in more, Paul has promised to detail the trip here: http://paulandkristingotoitaly.blogspot.com/

Ciao!

{roman holiday}

I'll be taking a couple weeks off from the blog. Paul and I are taking a time out from life and seeking rest and pleasure in the most perfect of places...Italy! We'll be making quick visits to Rome and Assisi, then settling into our stay in Tuscany (home of fabulous wine and Renaissance art). Excited would be a bit of an understatement for Paul, who's never been overseas, and I'm looking forward to a nice vacation and a new country to see.

Stay tuned for photos and stories of our adventures in a couple of weeks!

{making my bed and lying in it}

In case you haven't been keeping track, Paul and I have been married for almost seven months. That means that I have also been living in my house for seven months. Well, I finally finished a room. The bedroom, when it's clean, is now a haven I've dubbed "modern organic." Paul, an outdoor guy, loves the green and the natural ("organic") elements, and I love the calm and contemporary style:





To make a long story short, this room--actually the easiest to finish--involved some decorating drama. We painted the walls a rich mocha color way back last summer. After living in the room for a while with all the chocolate brown pillows and linens and honey-colored floors and no curtains, I decided the room was too dark. I was going for cozy but was left with cool and cave-like. So I set out to warm up with room with color, specifically a nice cool blue to go with the duvet cover we got as a wedding gift. What an exasperating process! The blue on that comfortor was THE most impossible color to match--somewhere between lilac and sky and only to be found at Restoration Hardware and, oh, too bad the sheets that match are $200. Aargh! So then I sad "forget it!" and sought out totally different colors like these:



I made a pair of curtains, found a really good deal on some throw pillows and accessories and thought I could call the room done. Yeah right. The colors, while gorgeous, seemed disjointed with the rest of the white and blue in the room and disconnected from the rest of the house, which is green (including the wall of the room that I can see while I'm sitting in bed). But after making a whole set of curtains I just couldn't justify changing schemes. But I also couldn't rest. I'm not a perfectionist by any means, but I can be a little (okay, a lot) obsessive when it comes to home decor. Anyway, I was perusing HomeGoods and found a gorgeous sheet set for $35. Hmmmm, these would make great curtains...



The wheel started churning and I ended up with a new room in time for my parents' arrival last weekend. So I threw a little money down the drain; totally worth it! The new room is a calming oasis. And with cozy white sheets, we feel like were vacationing in a hotel every night.

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P.S. I'm a little sad about the discarded curtains (they're really cute!) ...if anyone wants them (for FREE!) let me know. They're made with the brown/magenta/blue/red fabric above.