Happy Friday!
When I was younger, one of my favorite things about late summer was back to school shopping. I get the shopping gene from my mom, so she would get just as excited to go shopping as I would. I was like her Barbie doll; she would say thinks like “please try this on for me?!” Needless to say, we still love shopping together and even though I am not going back to school, the back to school shopping tradition is still alive. I found some new, fresh fall pieces at my last shopping trip. I am loving this season’s chic minimalist styles.
{Amelia Drawstring Pant: Urban Outfitter| Crop top tank: Urban Outfitters| Sunglasses: Burberry| Wedges: Nordstrom Rack| Fresh water pearls c/o Laguna Pearl}
Looking for an easy but gourmet dinner idea? This scallop and pasta recipe is to die for! I am a huge fan of white sauces with seafood since it really brings out the flavor. Enjoy this recipe, it’one of my favorites!
Ingredients:
1 lb scallops
2 tablespoons butter
2 garlic cloves, crushed
3 tablespoons chopped parsley
1⁄4 cup white wine (optional)
1⁄2 teaspoon salt
1⁄2 teaspoon pepper
1⁄2 cup cream
DIRECTIONS
Melt butter in a pan over medium-low heat; add the garlic, parsley, wine, salt and pepper. Simmer for 10 minutes.
Add the scallops, then simmer for another 5 minutes. While scallops are cooking, boil your favorite pasta as directed.
Once scalloped are slightly browned, stir in the cream. Continuing heating, but do not boil, stirring constantly until sauce begins to thicken.
Serve immediately while scallops are hot. Spoon excess sauce from pan and drizzle it over the scallops. Serve over your favorite pasta!
This summer has been a little different than past summers. With the arrival of Gavin in late May, we have traded fancy dinners for outdoor picnics and resort vacation for pool days in our backyard. I love getting dressed up on vacation so since our background is kind of like our own little resort (right?), I dressed for the occasion with an adorable romper I found on clearance at T.J. Maxx. One of my favorite things about August? Summer clearance! Have you found any good deals lately?
{Floral romper: T.J. Maxx| Fedora: Charming Charlie| Gladiator sandals: Macy’s (also featured here)|}
A perfect night in for me is ordering some Chinese food, grabbing a bottle of wine, and watching a great movie (usually a chick-flick). So last weekend, we ordered 50 Shades of Grey (the hubby was not impressed) and got a nice bottle of wine. I decided I wanted to try this Low-fat General Tso’s recipe I had been eyeing on pinterest and was so impressed with how it came out. I was, however, missing Also, you absolutely have to try the Organic Jasmine rice from Trader Joe’s. I decided taking on the chicken recipe was enough so I took a shortcut and got this rice and it is seriously the most delicious sticky white rice and is ready in 3 minutes. The movie, on the other hand, was just okay. In my opinion, the books are 100x times better.
Ingredients
2 -3 pounds boneless chicken thighs or breasts, cut in strips
1 egg + 2 tbsp water whisked together to make an egg wash
1 cup flour
½ tsp black pepper
¼ tsp cayenne pepper
3 tbsp ground ginger
1 tsp salt
For the Sauce
1 cup sugar
¼ cup water
4 tbsp soy sauce
4 tbsp rice wine vinegar (white wine vinegar is fine in a pinch)
2 tbsp toasted sesame seed oil
2 tsp paprika
2 tbsp hot crushed chilli paste or sauce (use more or less to taste if you don’t like it very hot)
3 cloves minced garlic
3 tbsp freshly grated ginger
¼ cup water
2 tsp corn starch
Instructions
Combine the 1 cup flour, ½ tsp black pepper, ¼ tsp cayenne pepper, 3 tbsp ground ginger, 1 tsp salt. Season the chicken pieces with salt and pepper, then dip them in the egg wash to dredge them in the flour mixture. Place on a lightly oiled baking sheet and lightly drizzle or the tops with a little more olive oil. Bake at 425 degrees F for about 20 minutes. Flip the pieces at half way through the cooking time.
To make the sauce, while the chicken is baking, prepare your sauce. Don’t walk away from this sauce; it gets very hot when making the caramel base and can burn easily so pay careful attention while cooking it.
In a small bowl, mix together the soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, ¼ cup water, toasted sesame seed oil, paprika, chilli paste or sauce, tsp salt, corn starch, cloves minced garlic and freshly grated ginger. Set this mixture aside.
In a medium saucepan or wok, boil together the 1 cup of sugar and ¼ cup of water.
Boil this over medium heat, watching constantly until the caramel starts to turn a light amber color and you can begin to smell the caramel. Do not stir. When it reaches this stage, give the other ingredients in the bowl a quick stir to make sure the corn starch is dissolved then add it all at once to the hot caramel. (Careful: This mixture is very hot and will release a lot of steam at this point!) Be careful at this stage because this sauce can foam up considerably for a few seconds and it is very hot. Simmer for only few minutes and remove from the heat and allow to cool down slightly. Toss the sauce with the cooked chicken pieces and serve over plain steamed rice or Chinese noodles. Recipe from Rock Recipes.
Candy Stilettos 