"Roam if you want to...

...roam around the world." Roam by The B52's

The next thing that I love, love, love about traveling is...eating out! I am totally one of those people who dress up so that we can take cute pictures of us eating in distinct little restaurants and cafes wherever we go! I love local flavor.

This is at the Cafe on the Square after I *ahem* snarfed down a sandwich. Ask for the Dulin toasted. Um, YUM!

And in case you didn't get enough of my luggage obsession yesterday, I found these two delightful posts featuring some truly delectable bags.

Mrs. Lilien on the art of luggaging.

Beeee-yootiful hard-side luggage.

Much love!

"Day's dawning, stop yawning...

...and begin to join me in my song." Early Bird by Shirley Temple.

Hello lovelies!

Let's talk about breakfast.

Our Bible Study was having a little potluck dinner thing this week for our final study of the year, and our fearless leader decided it was going to be a "brinner" potluck (breakfast for dinner). Also, we wanted it to be finger food.

My simple solution: muffins!

However, through a series of unforeseeable events, I needed to bring a second dish, and when I heard what else was coming, it seemed that something egg-y or savory was called for. I only had a few hours to come up with my second offering...and suddenly I was struck with a bolt of sheer genius!

Frittatas! And not just casserole style...mini, bite-sized frittatas! So here's the recipe, as they turned out darlingly.

Ingredients:

8 eggs (if desired, 2 eggs and 6 egg-whites)
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup milk
1 cup (or so) cubed or thinly sliced and chopped ham
2 cups cheddar cheese
chopped chives or onion to taste
Green chili to taste (optional)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Whisk eggs, salt, pepper, and milk. Add chives and green chili, mix in, then add ham and cheese. Spray a mini-muffin tin with non-stick cooking spray, and fill each up with the egg mixture just below the top. Cook for about 10 minutes, or until a knife inserted at the center comes out clean. Gently run a knife around the sides of each frittata before popping it out with a fork. Serve warm. Makes about 36 mini frittatas.

If you care to garnish, a little whip of sour cream is lovely with the green chili, especially if you used very much, or serve with pita triangles for a little bready-goodness with your eggs.

Variations: If you want a casserole style frittata instead, just melt a pat of butter in a frying pan and cook up the egg mixture in that till it's lumpy but still quite runny, then transfer to a greased casserole dish. Any cooked sausage or bacon or breakfast-type meat can be substituted for ham, and any herbs and veggie can be substituted for green chile - spinach, mushrooms, rosemary, tomatoes, etc. Cheeses may also be substituted (I like a dash of asiago on top in addition to the cheddar for a special treat).

Love!

"You must have been a beautiful baby...

...cuz baby, look at you now!" You Have Been a Beautiful Baby by Bing Crosby.

Hello, lovelies!

Remember that tea party/baby shower I did recently? As a part of that, a friend came over and helped me make cake pops! It was super fun - and though ours did not turn out like Bakerella's, they were still cute and oh-so-tasty!

Besides that, we also made pennants out of paper doilies to make it even girlier and fancier.

Chocolate-dipped pops, not decorated yet.

Pretty icing-drizzled pops.  

Pink and blue (because the parent's aren't "peeking" to see if it's a boy or girl!)

White-chocolate dipped pops.

Irony holding the doily-pennants for me.

Irony loves helping with decorations. 

These are the instructions we followed for the cake pops. 

The doily pennants are so ridiculously easy and cheap - I bought packages of 40 at the dollar store (for $1) both round and square. You can do every other, or as I did, one string of round and one of square and then I hung them complimentarily to each other. Slice each doily in half, then string or tape it on. I used a large needle and crochet thread and did a sort of long running stitch through the doilies pre-cut holes because I wasn't sure if I'd need to add more on or have some string with no doily to run behind things, etc, and that way I could slide the doilies along like beads on the string. Either way, taping it will ensure the doilies don't buckle with gravity or air conditioning. Hang your new pretty party decoration, and voila! (I would love to try this with bright colored doilies for Cinco de Mayo or some other mexican-themed party!)

Much love!

"Pretty little angel eyes, I really love you so...

...Angel eyes, I'll never let you go." Angel Eyes by Curtis Lee, 1961.

Hello, lovelies!

I found this blog lying unfinished, and I though I'd go ahead and send it out. The pictures are of the wedding I did two months ago with my peeps over at the Cafe, and the musings were very appropriate for the time - and the book (which I draw from, below) was excellent all the way to the end. Enjoy!

All Photos Mine

All decorations by me (created along with a crew of amazing helpers!) going along with the bicycle theme of the wedding. I love all the tiny flags and pinwheels on the cupcakes! (And by the way, if you ever happen to be near the The Cafe in Columbia, KY, stop into the cafe for any of their baked goods - especially the cupcakes or cheesecakes - ok, actually, any of their food! Your life will never be the same.) All the pennants are white cotton, or, around the cake table you can see little paper roadmap pennants made out of maps courtesy of AAA - they went perfectly with the purple and pastel green color scheme!