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Easy Entertaining: Yogurt Cucumber Dip

OMG Friday. This has been a looooooooooooooooooong week for me- but I’m excited for the weekend and especially the Oscars! Will you be watching?? I’ve been thinking about inviting a few friends over to watch so I tested out a few quick snacks to make. This yogurt cucumber dip is AMAZING if I do say so myself!  A little bit tangy a little bit sweet, crunchy and creamy all at the same time. Start to finish it took about 10 minutes to whip up- it is so easy!

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Yogurt Cucumber Dip

What you need:

  • 14oz Greek yogurt (I used Fage)
  • Zest and juice of one lemon
  • 2T chopped parsley
  • 2T chopped mint
  • Medium cucumber
  • Pomegranate seeds
  • salt and pepper

Put the yogurt in a bowl. Add lemon, parsley and mint. Peel the cucumber and scrape out the seeds using a spoon- chop to small cubes and add it to the dip. Stir everything all around and add salt and pepper to taste. Transfer to a serving bowl and sprinkle with pomegranate seeds. Serve with pita chips.

Hope you all have a fabulous weekend. What movies do you think will be the big winners? My money is on Silver Linings Playbook ;)


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The Winter Table

It feels odd calling today’s post “Winter” when it feels like straight up Spring today (hello 56 degrees!). But I know this unseasonable weather will be short lived and tomorrow Boston will be back to the ho-hum, 35 degree, foggy, murky mess that is January. And when the weather is at its worst, we need to try our hardest to infuse our days with some cheery freshness. What better than with a dinner party, and a beautiful green and white table? It has the feeling of Spring, but at the same time seems appropriate for winter. Examples:

Green White Table Setting6Green White Table Setting4 Green White Table Setting5 Green White Table Setting2 Green Gold Table Setting2 Green White Table Setting3Green Gold Table Setting

The green and white flowers are key- as are a layering of subtle textures using fancy china and textiles. I’m also loving the interjection of gold in the mix. Here is a quick table setting that I put together to capture the look. What do you think? Do you crave that fresh spring vibe during winter or is it too soon??

A Late Winter Dinner Party

Also if you are looking for some more place setting inspiration- I’ve started an entire board on pinterest called (appropriately) “Set the Table”.


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Easy Entertaining: Bosc Pear with Goat Cheese and Honey

Happy Friday! We made it! Any big plans for this weekend??? Nick and I have a few parties I’m looking forward to and I heard there are some big football games this weekend? just kidding. I may not be the biggest fan, but its pretty impossible to avoid football when living in New England.

Today’s “easy entertaining” I discovered on Bon Appetit as part of their Food Lover’s Cleanse. So its not only easy- its healthy too! Who said that big foodie magazines only have difficult fancy recipes???? This one is so easy you may have already figured it out from the title of this post- or the picture.

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Bosc Pear with Fresh Goat Cheese and Honey

What you need:

  • Bosc Pear
  • 1 oz goat cheese
  • 1/2 T honey

Thinly slice 1 bosc pear, spread the goat cheese on each slice, drizzle with honey. Repeat. Serve.

If thats not easy peasy I don’t know what is! If you want to kick it up a notch, try adding some toasted hazlenuts or maybe a sprinkle of nutmeg. Change up the goat cheese with ricotta or blue cheese for different flavors. The pear provides a great canvas and I think the opportunities are endless!


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A Friday on the Farm

Its no secret I love Instagram. I love it in a way complete different than my other guilty pleasures: Facebook and Twitter. While I would never feel the need to poke around the pictures of a random stranger on Facebook- Instagram presents them in a way that is not creepy- but beautiful- and also informative!  I learn about new ways to decorate, beautiful clothing and jewelry, even delicious food- a 30 second escape from my cubicle to a place I’ve never been to or seen before.

For today’s “Food Friday” I’ve decided to share the pictures of Instagram user @farmert. Tucker Taylor has one of the most enviable jobs in the world as the French Laundry Culinary Gardener. The French Laundry is one of the top restaurants in the world- and it makes perfect sense that their gardens are equally beautiful and amazing.

This past summer when I was feeling particularly down on my job, I dreamed of renting a house on Cape Cod and spending the summer gardening and canning vegetables (and of course blogging about it). Of course I kill common house plants and my dream of gardening will probably never materialize, but I still find so much beauty and peacefulness in the repeating patterns and vibrant colors of nature. Hopefully these images warm up your cold winter day as much as they did mine!

berrieseggplantsVegetable BasketbundlesfarmhenHot Air Balloon over farmleaves7


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Easy Entertaining: Smoked Salmon Pinwheels

TGIF! This was a long week for me so I’m especially happy to celebrate the weekend! I think the word pinwheels definitely conjures up an image of a summer party- but trust me that these ones made from smoked salmon are great all year long! I think they qualify perfect for easy entertaining, because not only are they delicious, but they look SO fancy and impressive for very little effort. Trust me that they would make a perfect snack for a holiday cocktail party or just a fancy breakfast at home!

Smoked Salmon Pinwheels

Smoked Salmon Pinwheels

What you need:

  • 1 package smoked salmon
  • 4 oz cream cheese (trust me and don’t get anything but philadelphia- whipped makes things easier if you can find it)
  • Chopped green onions
  • Juice of 1/2 a lemon
  • Salt and Pepper

Carefully open the package of smoked salmon and gently lift out the thin slices. Arrange the slices on a piece of plastic wrap (its easy to do this if you wrap a plate in plastic wrap first). A lot of them are folded up in the package so make sure to have a SINGLE layer. The idea is to cover as much surface area as possible- with a slight overlap on the edges of the smoked salmon pieces. Its kind of like making a quilt of salmon.

In a small bowl combine the cream cheese, chopped onions and lemon and season with salt and pepper to your liking. Stir vigorously until creamy and all combined.

Now, scoop the cream cheese onto the salmon and gently spread it all around until every bit of salmon is covered. Don’t make the layer too thick- I did this and next time I will be much more careful. If you have extra cream cheese that’s OK- use it for something else, but trust me to not overdo it.

Starting at one end of the salmon begin rolling the entire thing up like a sleeping bag. Don’t do it too tightly or all of the cream cheese will squeeze out. It’s kind of like making sushi. Wrap the salmon/ cream cheese log in the plastic wrap and stick it in the fridge for minimum an hour and optimally, overnight.

When you take the log out of the fridge, cut pinwheels about the width of your pinky finger with a VERY sharp knife- its easy to keep things together if you put toothpicks all the way through the log and then cut between each one. Serve and enjoy!

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