Day 266: Fresh Squeezed Orange Juice

"Fresh" from my trip to the French and Italian Riviera, I fell in love with yet another European breakfast staple. When you order the drink, the bar keeper will pull out fresh oranges and make the juice right on the spot. You can't get more fresh than that!

When I got home, along with croissants, I longed for the sweet tang of those morning juices. Packed away in the back of my kitchen cupboard is a simple manual squeezer with a glass jar attached to it. I pulled it out of it's retirement and put it work!Though it looks very nice, I found that my wooden lemon squeezer and a good old fashioned fork were more effective.  

I got four large naval oranges and cut them in half, not along the core but perpendicular to it. With the four oranges I got about 12 ounces, or a serving and a half. It was juice enough to quench my thirst, but to enjoy more I may have to resort to buying it from the grocery store!

Day 245: You do you

Happy September! With Fall right at our fingertips, it's a great time to take inventory of your wardrobe. I'm someone who doesn't follow trends, though I like to window shop and gather ideas from my favorite fashion magazines. I came across this in the latest issue of Marie Claire. This is so true for me, even from when I was a teenager.  It's so important for you to do you!

Day 234: DIY friendship necklace with tassels

Homebound for a few days, and tired of coloring in my meditative coloring book, I decided to make a friendship necklace.  I got a multicolor pack from Target, and some latches from Wal-mart and viola! The final product is a long necklace with multiple tassels that can be worn as is or doubled up!

Day 222: Travel must have

When traveling internationally, packing light can be a challenge. I consider myself pretty low key when it comes to beauty essentials, but I find the most frustrating things to pack are hair accessories. To get it under control my thick quick-to-frizz hair requires either a large barrel curling iron or a high quality straight iron. And even when I do pack these hair tools they often go unused because I can't find time (or space) to do my hair properly, or because of voltage issues.  

Enter the CHI Escape Cordless Hair Iron.  With a 220V plug it can easily be used while on the go or when traveling internationally. Though the battery doesn't stay charged for too long (about 20 minutes) it has enough juice to clean up your tresses in no time! Not to mention it's cordless, so you can do it anywhere. Travelgram, here I come!

CHI Escape Cordless Hair Iron, $109.99 at ulta.com

Day 210: Vintage that never gets old

Something about fall, and the back to school sales makes me want to get a new pair of sneakers. Though my school days are long gone, I get tempted every decade or so by one of my school time favorites. These Converse Chuck Taylor Shoreline kicks were on sale, and since I already have a pair of neutral tan ones, I got them in turquoise. They have enough of a pop of color to seem interesting, but pleasantly go with most of my outfits and pair well with jeans. And who doesn't like a bright clean pair of shoes at the start of a new school year?

Day 158: Jamie Oliver's Steak and Chips

I tend to watch a lot of cooking shows while I'm traveling. I'm not sure exactly why. Maybe because I don't get the Food network at home, nor do I have time to watch it! But I've stumbled across some of my favorite recipes from celebrity chefs while channel surfing in hotel rooms.

I've never tried a Jamie Oliver recipe (though I've gotten many of his cookbooks as gifts for friends.) Like most of his recipes, it's meant to be simple, economical and for the most part, healthy.  I have also never made steak before and it was super easy on a cast iron skillet.  It came out super yummy for the first time I'd ever made steak!  

Ingredients:

800 g baking potatoes
olive oil
optional:  2 sprigs of fresh rosemary
1 small onion
100 g button mushrooms, or whatever you can find
50 ml cream
1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
400 g frozen French beans
4 cloves of garlic
500 g flank steak

1.  Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 Celsius). Halve the potatoes and slice them into wedges. Put in boiling salted water for 4 minutes, then drain and tip into roasting tray. Drizzle oil over it, adding salt and pepper per taste. Toss with rosemary leaves (if using) and roast for 40 minutes or until golden and crispy, turning over occasionally.

2.  Peel and slice the onion along with the mushroom. Put the vegetables into a medium pan on medium heat with salt and pepper to taste and a drizzle of oil. Cook for 10 minutes or until lightly golden, then add cream, mustard and a splash of water. Lower the heat and simmer, adding water if needed.  

3.  Put the frozen beans into a large frying pan on medium heat with some oil. Stir to help them defrost. Peel and slice the garlic, adding to the beans once all the liquid has evaporated. Lower the heat and cook for 5 minutes until crispy and golden.

4.  Season the steak with salt and pepper, rubbing with a little oil. Pound with a mallet to flatten and tenderize. The steak should be flat now, about 1/2" - 1" in thickness. Sear in a cast iron skillet (or hot frying pan) to a high heat. Turn every minute for 5-6 minutes for medium-rare, or until cooked to your liking. Add thyme or rosemary for last 2 minutes. Remove to a board, letting it rest for 2 minutes.  Add any resting juices to the mushroom sauce and season.  Spoon the mushroom sauce over the steak and serve with potato wedges on the side.

Source:  https://www.lifestylefood.com.au/recipes/23043/secret-steak-and-chips-with-garlicky-green-beans

Day 126: Cinco de Mayo! Sippin' on some Virgin Margaritas!

I have to admit, I'm not the biggest fan of Mexican food. But somehow I planned a playdate on May 5th, and thought why not have a Cinco de Mayo themed playdate? Aside from sombrero related crafts, I thought my mom friends might like to kick back with some virgin Margaritas and let our kids make their own soft and hard tacos.  

Here is one of the recipes I used! I even rimmed some of my plastic Ikea cups and let the kids have a bit!

Recipe:

1 lime

2 cups orange juice

4 cups limeade

4 ounces simple syrup*  

1. In a large jug, squeeze the juice of one lime.  Set aside to use latter to rim the glasses.

2. Add the orange juice, limeade, and simple syrup.  

3. If a blended drink is desired, add orange juice mixture to a dozen ice cubes in a blender and blend on high speed until completely blended.

4. To rim glasses, take the lime halves and trace them over rims of glasses.  Spread sugar over a small plate or saucer.  Then put the glass face down in the small plate, covering the rim neatly with the sugar.

5. Pour mixture over ice in rimmed glasses, or from blender into rimmed glasses.  Sip and enjoy! 

Serves 4

* This can be easily made by adding equal parts water and sugar and heating up in a sauce pan on the stove