Happy (VERY belated) birthday, America!

We love July 4th over here in our house! Something about the holiday just screams summer. We're so fortunate to have met a great group of friends when Mr. K first moved to DC after he graduated from Elon (I still had a year left). Mr. K lived with a group of the guys for three years in a row home close to the National Zoo, and they threw some of the best parties. July 4th was one of the biggest, if not the party of the year! As everyone grew up and out of the house, we thought we should carry on the tradition. We decided to cut out bobbing for airplane bottles and setting off fireworks in trash cans, and instead went for chalkboard signs and corn hole. A "1665" party can never be complete without a singing of 'Happy Birthday, America.' Oh, and red, white and blue jello shots, of course ;) (Hey Nicole!)

Happy Birthday, America!

So, this year, we gathered with some family and friends from all walks of life, and it was a blast! I was able to tap into some creativity/Pinterest-love, and turned our tablescape into something fun.Oh, and yes, we built a patio at the beginning of the summer! I'm a little late on showing that part of the house transformation ;)

My dad saw me taking pictures of the house and said he had to take one of me in front of it. Here you go!

Hey Dev!

Pre-Ada!

Thanks, Pinterest.

I think he was enjoying the So Icey Boys cake from the wedding!

Date Night Dinner Series: Appetizer

Cooking in our kitchen, eating in our house is the highlight of our weeks more often than not. Mr. K is an amazing cook (can I say chef?), and he loves cooking. The kitchen is what really sold us on this house, and we've made every penny count since we moved in. One of the biggest ways is cooking new things at home instead of going out to restaurants for date night. Believe me, we do love a fun time out, but perusing Harris Teeter's specials, wandering the store for new things is exciting to us.

We're also finally in town for a few weeks together which is a joy, and makes me so happy. We've been traveling a lot for a few reasons and we haven't been able to spend too much time together at home. When we do get a night or two, we brainstorm fun dinners to cook (for Mr. K to cook, and for me to photograph and drink wine).

Tonight's wine of choice was Alamos Malbec in honor of Pope Francis being in town this week! My father's family is from Argentina, so having an Argentine Pope is even more special. My parents attended the Mass outside of the Shrine this week and they said it was so special. More on that later. Let's get to the food!

First course was mussels and gazpacho! We're channeling the summer weather that's slowly on its way out. Both were so delicious. Mussels were steamed in a lemon, wine, cilantro sauce.

All serving platters are most likely from Home Goods :) That's our go-to spot during our free weekends to try and find new things. 

Zest of one lemon 

3 cups white wine (2 for the mussels, one for you!)

3 cloves garlic, minced

2 tablespoons grated, crushed ginger

1/2 of one shallot

2 tablespoons of butter

A handful of Cilantro (once you pull the mussels out, toss the cilantro in and mix 'em up)

Melt butter in the pan, throw in the garlic, shallot and ginger. Sautee for for 30-40 seconds, add in the wine (don't forget to sip some along the way, too). Boil the wine. 

Throw in the mussels, channel your inner T Swift and shake it off (shake the mussels in the pan a bit). 

Toss in the cilantro, mix up a bit, and then put everything into a bowl, and serve. Don't forge to put the wine mixture in the bowl too. Enjoy! 

Appetizer #2: Gazpacho

In typical Mr. K fashion, he didn't actually follow a recipe. That's a large part of the reason why it either takes me forever to actually write a food post, or why I don't post them at all... because he adds his own twist to every single thing he makes, he combines a bunch of recipes, or just thinks of things on his own, and says he's going to tell me everything but never actually does ;) So let's give it a shot with the gazpacho... 

2 lbs roma tomatoes

1/2 vidalia onion

2 poblano peppers 

3 gloves garlic

1 cucumber peeled and diced 

1/4 cup sherry cooking wine (and some actual wine ;)) 

1/4 olive oil 

1 tablespoon Paprika (if you want it a little smoky) 

1 tablespoon of cumin (again, we really like this spice) 

Chop everything, put into a bowl, let is sit out for an hour, puree with a cup of whipping cream (we like it creamy, but if you don't, use water instead). 

Then put it in the fridge for 2 hours, up to a day (we didn't keep it in the fridge for two hours because we started late, but it was still good. It will probably be pretty awesome tomorrow, filled with even more flavor). 

Top with raw, fresh ingredients, like chopped tomato, cucumber and onion. Add croutons if you like, too :) 

Serve and enjoy! 

Zucchini Carrot Oatmeal Muffins

All day long yesterday I was really in the mood for some sort of a muffin but after our vacation, I knew I had to eat healthy. To my Pinterest board I went, checked out the "healthy board" and saw this recipe. I edited it a little bit, but didn't take any pictures besides the final product because we had a guest over (hey Devon!). It goes to show how simple this recipe is (read: no Kitchen Aid required). If you look past the sugar that's in here, it's a pretty healthy breakfast option. Pair one muffin with a yogurt or banana, and you have yourself a delicious, hearty (and pretty filling) breakfast. I hope you enjoy!

Ingredients:

1/2 cup rolled oats (I used Quakers Old Fashioned Oats)
1 cup all purpose flour
1 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 1/2 cup sugar (I know, I know, it's a big much)
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
3 eggs + 1 egg white
3/4 cup oil
1 cup grated zucchini
1 cup grated carrot
optional: 3/4 cup raisins (I didn't use these - I thought I had a box at home but I didn't. They still turned out really good)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Mix dry ingredients in a large bowl and set aside. In a separate bowl, whisk eggs and oil. Stir in grated zucchini and carrots. Add to dry ingredients and stir until combined.
3. Fill muffin cups about 3/4 full and bake for about 15-20 minutes. They are done when a toothpick (or knife, or fork) comes out clean and tops spring back when lightly touched.

Enjoy for breakfast, afternoon stack or even dessert!