So yesterday was my birthday and I thank you all for the overwhelming amount of love and well wishes! I spent the day relaxing by the pool with some family and close friends. Wanted to share a pic with me and all my special friends : )
No, they aren't mine : ) They are all our closest friends and families children. All under the age of two. From left to right making their Dainty Vegetarian debut are Liat, Jack, Will, Rhys and Finn!
Hope you are all enjoying the weekend!
So I'm still in Nashville and I cannot find the little card reader that attaches my camera to the computer so I can share pictures with you, hence no blog yesterday or today : ( I get back this evening and can get the pictures up then, so please hang on while I deal! I have so much fun Nashville stuff to share!! (love this city!) In the mean time you can check out all my friends blogs in the "sites I love" tag above. Hope you are all wonderful!!
xoxo
Hey Guys, Check out the interview I did for lalawag.com: LaLaWag Article
It's a really great site; you should browse around a little : )
xoxo
We have just arrived in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico! We are down here for a wedding this weekend. I have never been here before and I'm so glad we came a little early because it's gorgeous! There are so many amazing restaurants in Cabo, I can't wait to explore and share! In the mean time, here are some pictures from the property we are staying on. It's right next door to Sammy Hagar's (Van Halen lead singer) house, maybe we'll see him!
I mean come on, right?!
This place is gorgeous!
You cannot take a bad picture of this place! I can't wait to explore town and see what kind of culinary adventures I can find : ) I'll keep you posted!
Stay tuned to see how this adorable shower turned out : )
Leslie Sarna has been featured in:
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In addition, Leslie’s recipes are regularly featured on these websites:
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Leslie Sarna Cooking Reel:
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DFgCXcxmmb0]
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Congratulations, you are married! Now what? Yes, technically you are supposed to be “nesting”, but what does that mean? Well, in the kitchen it means stocking the pantry with “grown-up” items. No more using leftover packets of ketchup and soy sauce. You are married now, buy a bottle! Having a well-stocked pantry is key for cooking and entertaining. In my pantry right now, I bet I could make at least 5 full meals without going to the grocery store. I think of the pantry as the go-to place for last minute home cooked meals and snacks. I also always keep some ingredients to make last minute appetizers in case friends decide to drop by!
So what to have? It depends on what you like to eat, but here are some suggestions that come out of my pantry!
Two easy ingredients to have on hand are pasta and canned tomatoes. Yes, I said canned tomatoes, not jarred tomato sauce. You can do it, homemade sauce is so easy to make and so much better tasting than jarred! There are about a billion recipes online including on my site : ) These two simple items can be a go-to staple on Sunday nights.
* Rice- makes a great base for whatever you happen to have in your fridge. Stir-fry up all those leftover meats and veggies from the week; serve over rice and voila, a perfect and healthy meal.
* Crackers- I always keep a fresh box of these around in case of impromptu entertaining. On the entertaining note, I always have jarred gourmet olives, marinated artichoke hearts, jarred semi-dried tomatoes and jarred roasted red peppers to put together a little antipasto with no effort! Can you imagine how impressed your Mother in law would be if she surprisingly dropped by and you made antipasto in two minutes?
photo source: agoosa.com
* Really good extra virgin olive oil (if you don’t know what really good is, it is because you haven’t had it.) My best advice is to continue to try new brands until you find one that tastes like velvet!
**On a side note, what makes olive oil extra virgin? The term “extra virgin” is the first few presses of the olives; said to have the most flavor. The rest of the presses are used to make regular olive oil.
* Vinegars- I keep like 6 different vinegars around, but it’s probably not necessary to have that many. Just keep whichever ones you like making salad dressing with. I would suggest balsamic or red wine vinegar, these are the most common.
All the things necessary to make chocolate chip cookies! (cause you never know when a craving is going to happen!)
* Dried herbs- Yes, fresh herbs are the best, but when you are putting together a meal with what you have on hand, dried is the way to go. Keep on hand ones that go with what you like to make. I think I might have all of them in my house… Some important ones to have on hand are basil, parsley, oregano, chili powder, cayenne pepper, mustard, ground cumin, paprika and garlic salt.
* Wine! (Need I say more?)
Some of the fresh food staples that I always have around are:
photo source: eats.com
* Onions – I put onions in everything and they have such a long shelf life, it’s nice to always have these on hand.
* Garlic – ditto to the onion.
* Lemons – great to marinade or flavor meats and pastas. Great to use in desserts or drinks. The best part is, as soon as they start going south, I use them as a cleaner. Cut the lemon on half and rub all over your counters and rinse. They are also great to grind in your disposal so it continues to smell fresh.
* Salad “stuff” – I make salads everyday. They are an excellent source of vitamins and nutrients and lets face it, you can never get enough of those!
* Ice cream – just because!
* Frozen fruit – throw some frozen fruit in a small pot with some water and sugar, heat and you’ve got a beautiful sauce to serve over ice cream for a very impressive delightful dessert with little effort! You can also throw these in the blender for delicious breakfast smoothies for when you run out of his favorite cereal, ooops!
* Nuts – I keep nuts in the freezer for a longer shelf life. Nuts can be added to just about any salad, entree or dessert! I love to have almonds, walnuts, cashews and pignoli (pine) nuts around.
What’s in your pantry?
For recipes and more ideas, visit www.lesliesarna.com
Watching the hail, yes I said HAIL, come down in the backyard, I was suddenly longing for those warm summer days. I decided to cheer myself up by making a super summery salad! I remember having a salad like this at a restaurant a few years ago so I decided to do my best to mimic it. It turned out better than I remember it being in the restaurant so hooray! (I also made it vegan, just cause : ) But if you don't have veganaise, go ahead and use real mayonaise.) Here's how it happened:
Creamy Corn Salad
Makes 4 side servings
What you'll need:2
2 ears of corn
1/4 cup diced red bell pepper
1 shallot, chopped
1/4 cup veganaise (or mayonaise)
1 tsp. apple cider vinegar
a small handful of fresh dill, chopped
1/4 tsp. dry mustard powder
salt and pepper to taste
What you'll do:
Boil the corn in water for about 2 minutes (no one likes over cooked corn!). Remove the corn and let cool down for a few minutes. While the corn is doing it's thing, place the veganaise, vinegar, mustard, shallot and dill in a mixing bowl and mix well. Add in the corn and the red bell peppers. Season with salt and pepper and serve chilled.
After I made this, I thought of other fun things to add to this salad and I think fresh chopped mushrooms, or black beans might be yummy too!
Enjoy!
Check out this hail on my new garden:
