baby becca lee

i would love to introduce you all to one of my best friend's newborn baby...rebecca fay lee. she was born january 11 {yup, she has the coolest birthday ever...01.11.11}. congrats to brittany + james! she is so precious and amazing and we love her!

happy birthday becca

me and becca

so precious!

aric and rebecca

momma + baby girl

two weeks later...

last sunday i needed to see the baby girl again, so i headed down to the lee's to see rebecca! she was such a great baby while i was holding her!

homemade pickled red onions

after eating pupusas out of a food truck a couple of weeks ago, {which might i add they were freaking delicious}, i was determined to make my own pickled red onions. here is where i found my recipe i used:

INGREDIENTS

1 lb red onions (about 2 med or 1 large), thinly sliced

1 1/2 cups white vinegar

1/2 cup sugar

Spices

1/2 cinnamon stick

5 cloves

1 bay leaf

1 star anise

Dash red pepper flakes

More spices (optional): Fresh ginger slices, allspice berries, oregano, garlic, cumin seeds,

mustard seeds

*of the optional spices, i used oregano + garlic

here is a star anise!

METHOD

1. blanch red onions in a saucepan of boiling water for 2 minutes. drain in colander.

2. while the water is heating in step 1, in a separate saucepan combine the vinegar, sugar and spices. bring to a boil, reduce heat to simmer, cover and simmer for 5 minutes.

3. add blanched, drained onions to the vinegar mixture. simmer for 1 minute.

4. transfer to a glass jar. allow to stand until cooled. will keep several weeks refrigerated.

makes 1 1/2 pints.

and will make your house smell incredible!

yummy yummy dinner!!!

for christmas, one of my favorite presents from aric, was a cookbook by my most fav ever, jamie oliver!

last night, i made my first dish from the book, and might i say, it was delicious + different! i've never cooked with curry before - so this was a first for me.

QUICK SALMON TIKKI with CUCUMBER YOGURT

INGREDIENTS

2 naan breads
1 fresh red chilli {i used a serrano chilli}
• ½ a cucumber
lemon
4 tablespoons natural yoghurt
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
a few sprigs of fresh cilantro
2 salmon fillets, skin on, scaled and bones removed
1 heaped tablespoon Patak’s tandoori curry paste
olive oil

DIRECTIONS

Preheat your oven to 225°F
Pop your naan breads into the oven to warm through
Halve, deseed and finely chop your chilli
Peel and halve your cucumber lengthways, then use a spoon to scoop out and discard the seeds
Roughly chop the cucumber and put most of it into a bowl
Halve your lemon and squeeze the juice from one half into the bowl
Add the yoghurt, a pinch of salt and pepper and half the chopped chilli
Pick the cilantro leaves and put to one side

{i would double the yogurt part to have extra - it's really good!)

Slice each salmon fillet across lengthways into three wide slices
Spoon the heaped tablespoon of tandoori paste into a small dish, then use a pastry brush or the back of a spoon to smear the tandoori paste all over each piece (don’t dip your pastry brush into the jar!)
Heat a large frying pan over a high heat
Once hot, add a lug of olive oil, put the salmon into the pan and cook for about 1½ minutes on each side, until cooked through

Place a warmed naan bread on each plate
Top each one with a good dollop of cucumber yoghurt and 3 pieces of salmon
Scatter over a little of the reserved cucumber, chilli and cilantro leaves and finish with a squeeze of lemon juice

other than our house smelling like curry, it was a successful + healthy meal! have you all ever cooked with curry before?

a sooner in denver gets a makeover!

a new year marks a new change in "a sooner in denver." it was time for an upgrade so i designed a new logo + changed out the background!

also, check out the custom logo i did for my friend megan's blog here!

want a custom header for your blog? email cari@mpresscards.com!

our new bar

ever since we moved into our house, i've been wanting a bar in our dining room. we have the perfect place to put one, but never the furniture for it.

while snowed in this past weekend, i decided to re-arrange the house! doing so, i had an extra piece of furniture that i knew would work perfect for our bar!

check it out...

love it! now we finally have a place to put our vase with all our corks in it!

one of my favorite elements - the lovely key bottle opener from anthropologie that was hiding in my stocking for christmas!

one of aric's stocking stuffers from me - a vintage keystone shot glass!

more christmas presents! i love our OU cocktail glasses that aric got me! and next to them - from the porters - our fabulous polka dot tall glasses! we love these! thanks again benny & blake!

have a favorite drink recipe? send to us and we'll make it!

happy cocktailing!