thursday things

So you know how it’s impossible to get in and out of Target without spending less than $50?  Like, IMPOSSIBLE.  Even worse when the BF is in tow, because he gets sucked into that “impulse buy” / “cheap deal” area right by the doors, going through all the bins talking about why we need every single thing.  So he picked these out – matching owl luggage tags.  Pretty much the most adorable luggage tags ever.  Now, we just need to go back to Target for some suitcases.  Clearly I was in no place to resist.

Last week  on my lunch break at work, I was slumped over a picnic table in defeat  chatting with mom on the phone enjoying our last not-bajillion-degree day when I looked up and saw this

tree face instagram

My first thought was that it needed sunglasses.  I mean, it’s bright out!  And we don’t have much shade around here… It took ALL of my self-control to not put giant sunglasses on him.  (Yes, CLEARLY it’s a “him”)  Sure this sounds like something that wouldn’t take that much self-control, except that our office is currently decorated in a “beach” theme of some sort, which involves pairs of giant sunglasses hanging all over.  Torture.

Every day I look out the office windows at the blinding sun and shed a tear for our poor tree.  For we have so many giant sunglasses and he has none!  Poor tree.

In less depressing news I finally found my one true love.

pb pop tart

For awhile I was pretty sure that they didn’t really exist, then (at Target of course) there they were.  Waiting for me.  Then, I had to make one of the hardest choices of my life, peanut butter pop tarts, or peanut butter & chocolate pop tarts?  BF innocently suggested that I get both, but I knew how dangerous that was.  So, I chose the plain peanut butter, AND THEY ARE SO GOOD!  It seriously takes like eating a peanut butter cookie … filled with peanut butter.  I didn’t get to toast it (because I ate it at work, where we don’t get to have a toaster and trees don’t get to wear sunglasses) but it was SO DELICIOUS!

The only thing I didn’t like is that IT ONLY COMES WITH THREE POUCHES!  Although, that’s probably for the better.  I still couldn’t help feeling cheated when I opened it… after opening boxes of Pop Tarts all my life and seeing four pouches of toaster pastries in there, THREE!?  What kind of garbage is that!?

passion tea

Since it’s summer out and nothing quenches thirst like a freaking iced tea lemonade from Starbucks (you’d think I’m some sort of commercial, but I’m really not, I just love their passion tea lemonade… Especially when it’s 100+ out.  Even BF agrees and he thinks that all tea “tastes like leafs and twigs”… except this one.  So when I found out that I can buy this at the store I snatched it up quick (along with the green tea one, which BF would NEVER drink… because, ya know, “twigs” or whatever) and now BF and I have been making our own passion tea lemonade!

And I don’t know what has gotten into me because I’m not big on mac & cheese, but apparently if you put Mike and Sully on it I will sell myself out and buy it by the palette if I can.

19176AB6-BA2D-4526-97C7-F75B1F761395

I realize that at some point I will have to actually eat it, but I will love every bite while I masticate the crap out of those adorable little guys.  Anyone else excited for Monsters University?  No?  Just me?  Nevermind then…

I’ve been working out again (to work off all the pop tarts and mac and cheese) and when I work out I look for pretty much any reason not to.  For example, I almost turned around and drove back home when this happened.

headphones

But I spent a whole like three minutes in the car untangling them instead.  I’m so proud of myself for persevering.

Because when you persevere through a workout, you get to eat these for dinner:

meatball slider instagram

And who doesn’t love meatball sliders?

 

thursday things

another sunset
Sometimes “Thursday Things” has too many words and not enough things.  Here is what you have missed in my life lately…

I went to get my s’more blizzard (which was delicious, btw) … then I walked in and saw this and almost had to change my mind…

oreo blizzard

 

I was like, “A BLIZZARD!? IN A CONE?!”

I want it.  I need it.  But not today.  Today was s’more blizzard day.  Although, now that I’m calm and my head is clear, I realize that I could have gotten my s’more blizzard in a cone…

Oh well, I’ll have to come back for you, blizzard in a cone.

And apparently I’m on an ice cream kick because I paid a bajillion dollars for a little taste of home available at our local grocer…

jenis ice cream sandwich

Worth it.  You can find your own here.

In other news, I made a mug cake…

instagram mug cake

Well, kinda.  Turns out the size of the mug is important (who knew?)

Spoiler alert: Mug Cake recipe incoming.

Double spoiler alert: There will be volume measurements included, so that the above doesn’t happen to you.

Totally ate it anyway.  Even spread this magical goodness on top.

instagram ikea chocolate spread

Yes, that’s chocolate spread with crunchy caramel bits in it.  Yes, it is delicious.  Yes, it is dangerously addictive.  My BFF tried to warn me, telling me to throw it in the trash immediately.  If only I’d listened…

I also got this at Ikea.

ikea pasta

Because everyone needs moose-shaped pasta, right?

Hopefully there is no moose in the pasta.   JK – they specifically stated that all of their meat is USA-sourced (aka horse-free).  They did not say that about their pasta, though (gasp!)

In non-horse related food news, my big dinner win this week was these:

instagram char siu taco

Char siu pork tacos with sriracha and asian slaw.  So good.  I’m excited to have to make it again so that I can post the recipe on the blog.

Don’t miss this month’s free desktop calendar from Some Kitchen Stories.  It looks absolutely delicious.

And I do have to use some words to tell you about this thing.  I’m, like, medium obsessed with it.  Especially this awesome “pantry” page that shows you all their pantry staples, along with recipes to feature them in!  Bottom line – AMAZING.  Check it out.  Seriously.

Oh, and this heart-warming video of little baby ducklings being rescued by a police officer.

 

 

thursday things

I love homemade pizza, like, love it.  We usually make it using a pizza stone and our grill, which turns this

into this

and eventually into this beautiful piece of art

instagram pizza pep

You can totally do that at home by the way (you can see my tutorial here), but now… this exists, which is going to change the game of homemade pizzas forever.

I’ve been following this baking steel since its kickstarter campaign.  I was even more convinced that I needed it when The Pizza Lab tested it out.  Now that it’s available for purchase, my feelings are a little hurt by the steep price tag, but maybe I can ask Santa for it this December…

In other food news, since the BF and I were both off on Memorial Day, I tried to be nice and make him his favorite breakfast – waffles.  Those of you who follow the Wee Eats Facebook page already saw the results…

waffle fail

Apparently our neglected waffle maker was having feelings of resentment and didn’t want me to succeed at this seemingly simple task… By round four (and our last bit of batter) I was finally able to make him something that resembled a normal waffle…  I spent at least 5 times as much time scraping waffle out of the iron than we did eating the waffles… Of course, this could always be my excuse to get a new waffle iron… right?  I think that’s how it works… Yes, let’s blame the iron…

The BF texted me today at work to let me know that this exists.

dairy queen smore

He gets me.

Some of you may be too classy for blizzards, and it’s ok, I get it.  Sometimes we all need a bit of artisan ice cream or hand-scooped gelato.

Nothing wrong with that.  But do you know the difference between ice cream and gelato?  Would you like to?  Not me, I can still get down and dirty with some DQ.

It will be like I am this cat.  And the beanbag is a s’more blizzard…

Just like that.

Speaking of cats….

This jerk(below)’s new favorite activity is preventing me from getting any sleep.  Apparently staring at me all night and attacking me every time I fall asleep is an exhausting job, because she then needs to sleep all day long.

Which is basically just a slap in the face like “look at me, I can sleep all day no matter how much light and sound there is in the house!” … What a jerk.  Anyone want a free kitty?  (Just ignore all that stuff about her not letting you sleep).

Oh, and the best part?  She leaves the BF completely alone.  She walks all over my pillow, steps on my throat, paws at my face and bites my arm – she even learned how to pull the blanket off of my arm so that she can bite my bare skin to wake me up!  But the BF?  Nope.  Won’t touch him.  Gets to sleep like a baby while I’m being assaulted.

Jerks.

Sorry, I’m probably just cranky because I’m sleep-deprived.

Time for an honorary Thursday Things half-recipe?  How about some stromboli?

It’s so easy.  You can use store-bought or home-made pizza dough or even white bread dough.  I followed this tutorial for the pretty braids, and just filled them with leftover antipasti fixins – some pesto, provolone, salami and ham.  Brush with some egg wash and sprinkle some crunchy sea salt on top.  Bake it at 375 or 400 degrees for about 20 minutes (or until it’s golden on top)

Sidenote: medium obsessed with this site at the moment.  Check it out.  Seriously.

thursday things

strawberry shortcake ice cream 9834  strawberry tart 1  strawberry cookie 9886

In case you haven’t noticed, I’ve got strawberry fever.  Not to let the cat out of the bag or anything, but it’s not over yet… If you too are suffering from this affliction, here are a few more recipes you can check out …

roasted strawberry buttermilk ice cream drumsticks   strawberry cupcakes

strawberry bread 2943 strawberry buttermilk cake strawberry galette

It’s almost Friday!  I don’t know about you, but I personally can’t wait for this week to be over… Not just because it’s a holiday weekend either!  Although, working in travel, holiday weekends make for busy weeks because apparently everybody thinks they can wait until the last minute to make a reservation… here’s a tip for all of you out there -

BOOK IN ADVANCE! FAR FAR IN ADVANCE! ALL THE TIME!

That’s my PSA for this week.

Luckily there are things like this to keep me goin’ …

Like this video of a cat eating ice cream… for some reason it amused me to no end, which led to a further internet search of cats eating ice cream, which ended (as far too many searches do) on Buzzfeed.

Nothing too exciting going on in my kitchen (totally almost wrote “catchen”… cats on the brain!)  I did make this super tasty pasta, which may resurface as a real “recipe” in the future, but it’s so easy and tasty I thought I’d give you a breakdown of it in case you’re in a pasta-y mood

Basically just cooked some penne in some salted water, then in another pan I heated some sun-dried tomatoes (with their own oil) along with a glove of garlic until heated and extremely fragrant, then I added some chopped leftover grilled chicken breast, just until heated through, then I added the cooked pasta and a scoop of pasta cooking water and let that cook, tossing, until it formed a nice sauce.  Sprinkled some feta cheese and fresh cut basil on top and voila- dinner! Then I drizzled some balsamic glaze (or a sweeter-aged balsamic would do the trick).  I know it’s a good one when the BF seems surprised at what he is eating lol.  He took a bite, “MMM! This is good!”.

It’s Arizona Restaurant Week and the BF and I tried out Searsucker last weekend.  The food was pretty tasty, but I was bummed that the menu listed on the ARW site didn’t match the one they actually had in the restaurant. *tear

I wrote up a tiny bit of a “review” (more of a pros/cons type deal) which, if you’re interested in trying the restaurant at some point in time (There is one in San Diego & one in Austin, TX) you can check it out.

You may remember for Restaurant Week last year we went to BLT Steak for the first time…. and have gone back about 5 times since then because it was SO GOOD.  I even made their popover recipe!

In non-food-news….

Also, I may be alone in this, but I CAN’T WAIT for the return of Arrested Development.  Do you watch?  If not, you should.  All the old episodes are on Netflix just waiting for you.

Even though all of the episodes for the new season will be available at once, I think I will pace myself and draw it out over a few weeks.  Really give myself time to savor it, ya know? ;)  Plus, now that I have no more of The Following or The Americans to watch, I really need to pace myself on the few shows that I have left.

Sorry that this particular Thursday Things was extra scatterbrained, my original Thursday Things was eaten by the internet, so there almost was no Thursday Things!  But I managed to pull through :)

thursday things

pb poptart

So, I saw these on Foodbeast and had two reactions:

1. OMG PEANUT BUTTER AND CHOCOLATE POP TARTS!?

2. Wait, they existed 27 years ago? Which means that they already did exist, and then were discontinued shortly after my birth?  WTH!?

It was probably for the best, I probably would have weighed 300x the amount I did as a child if these things were around.

Third thought: is it acceptable for a grown up to eat pop tarts?  I’m gonna go with yes on this one… I seriously CAN’T WAIT to find these things in stores.  Can’t.  Wait.  Ima be all

Oh, did I tell you that I just recently realized that after migrating my site to the new server I CAN NOW POST GIFS?

Oh yeah, Thursday Things is gonna be on a whole other level from now on guys.

ON. ANOTHER. LEVEL.

Meanwhile, on the Kitchn, they showed me this magical gem, which every snack addict needs

JUST THINK OF ALL THE SNACKS YOU COULD STORE IN THERE!! Sandwiches… and combos… and just about anything!  Although I imagine it probably gets pretty hot in there… so I don’t recommend using it to store chocolate.

I made this tart for mother’s day.  I’ve made it several times before, but somehow have yet to post it on the site.  I CAN’T WAIT TO SHARE IT WITH YOU because it’s so easy and so delicious.  Seriously, the best.

instagram strawberry tart

In other news one of my favorite blogs of all time is back, or at least came back for a couple of days to explain her absence.  If you’ve seen the “___ All the Things” meme, then you should know it is from an amazingly-written blog called Hyperbole and a Half.  Please do check it out.  This girl can even make depression entertaining.

One last thing that I can’t help but mention is a local restaurant that has recently been getting a lot of attention…

On Thursday something magical happened.  The BF told me about a restaurant that we had visited awhile back that was going to be on Chef Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares.  We don’t usually watch Kitchen Nightmares, but we were excited to see how this particular restaurant played out.  Unless you have been under a rock for the last week, you undoubtedly know where this story is going.

Basically, after poor yelp reviews from “internet bullies”, this poor delusional woman called Chef Ramsay to come and redeem her restaurant and show the world how amazing their food is.  Needless to say, Chef Ramsay did not tell the world that her food was amazing, and she basically had a meltdown.  You can watch the trainwreck here.

Following her TV meltdown, there was an even greater social media meltdown, where their social media sites were filled with negative comments from “internet bullies” (to be fair, this time they really were internet bullies), but also with their own super classy replies.  Unfortunately, I cannot post any of their replies here, as they are not really… “appropriate.”  Eventually, they claimed that they didn’t post any of the retorts on Facebook, that their Facebook had actually been hacked, and that the FBI was working on finding who was responsible.  Which makes sense, since I heard that Facebook hacking is really high on the FBI’s priorities.

In closing, more GIFs!  Because… RED PANDAS!

 

 

And we all know how I feel about red pandas.