Sweet & Spicy

I LOVE sweets.
I LOVE spicy food.
I'm discovering that I quite like them together.  I love the bite of ginger mixed with chocolate.  But pepper is surprisingly yummy too!  I had forgotten about a very tasty holiday cookie I made in 2011 featuring crystallized ginger, black pepper and cardamom when I had a cayenne pepper mousse at Estebans when I shared tapas with my boss.  It inspired me to buy a little bar of dark chocolate with sea salt and black pepper a while ago at Trader Joe's.  And then I let curiosity overcome me when we were out for our anniversary and I saw "Hot Mess" on the cocktail menu at Firefly: Stoli Hot, watermelon puree, agave, fresh sour.  It was amazing!

Here are some interesting recipes I'm dying to try!
Stoli Hot Starlet (Stoli Hot N’ Juicy)

Chocolate-Black Pepper Cookies

Mexican Chocolate Mousse

Are there any odd combinations you like that are unexpectedly delicious?!

Four of Fifty-two

1) carefully writing and drawing in a super teensy notepad
2) smeared with chocolate frosting, having fun at a birthday party

The Weekend

I met one of my husband's friends at the Venetian.  Her friend was having her first evening of bachelorette festivities at Tao.
Tao wasn't any better than the last time I'd been.  But it's cool looking inside and it was fun to chat up the old friend.  Plus, any excuse to pile my hair onto the front of my head for another Thandie-Newton-bun-knock-off.

Yawn

Damon and I stayed out late to celebrate our anniversary a little bit ago.  Also, my hair is big and crazy.  Enter a new look I'm hoping really catches on: zombie chic.

Coat: H&M
Scarf: Target
Top: Sparkle & Fade via Urban Outfitters
Necklace and bracelet: NY&Co
Pants: Top Shop via Nordstrom
Shoes: very old Nine West

No Problem

I believe kids need to wear undershirts in the wintertime.  But I have lanky kids.  I bought Bauer the smallest undershirts I could find and they are of appropriate length, however I can grab a fist-full of fabric on either side, and the collar can almost hang off of his shoulder.  They do not fit too neatly under his clothes.
Le sigh.
He does have a 3 pack of Carter's 18mo onesies from last winter that have perfect arm length and collar and waist circumference, and without diaper bulk, were even long enough.  Problem being that they're onesies and he can barely get up on the toilet by himself, let alone finagle crotch fastenings himself.  So I cut the snaps off.
Viola.
I don't think it *needed* hemming since knits don't tend to fray and unravel, but I decided that I'd prefer it to look a tad more finished and also, I haven't used my sewing machine in months and needed to prove to myself that I could actually still operate it.  I can.

Three of Fifty-Two

1) "working out"
2) shop shop shop!

Casados

I've always been a fan of Latin food so my trip to Costa Rica and my thorough enjoyment of "casados" renewed my love for beans and rice.  It's really such a cheap, easy, and tasty meal.
I like making it all in one pot and making enough for plenty of leftovers all at once.  I think the secret to an especially delicious rendition are a well seasoned meat and "sofrito:" a blend of garlic, peppers and onion sauteed down to almost a puree.  Yum.

Jalapeno chicken sausage starred in this weekend's dish

Cooking down the sofrito

seconds {or maybe 3rds}