Labor Day Recipe Roundup

Posted on August 26, 2013 by natalie @ wee eats

I can’t believe that summer is almost gone already and Labor Day is only a week away. If you haven’t planned your menu yet, here are a few ideas…

My personal favorite for every get-together, the infinitely adaptable antipasti platter. May I mention that you can buy great cheese and cured meats at Trader Joe’s for SUPER CHEAP?? True story. I spotted this beauty over on Aida Mollenkamp’s blog.

Make sure to include some prosciutto, fig jam, and mascarpone and you can have your guests build their own prosciutto and fig bruschettas.

Or this amazing goat cheese platter from the lovely girls over at A Beautiful Mess.

If you want something with a bit more heft, give these nacho loaded potato skins from What’s Gaby Cooking a shot:

No cookout is complete without coleslaw, and A Farmgirl’s Dabbles has the most perfect-looking coleslaw I’ve ever seen.

I’ve always been a bit obsessed with cucumbers, and have been eyeing Food Taste Good’s herbaceous cucumber salad.

And throw that boring potato salad out, because Elephant Eats has a great recipe for pesto potato salad that will wow your guests and help you use up that big bunch of basil you’ve been fretting over.

Or keep it vegetarian with these hearty, summery avocado caprese wraps from FoodieCrush, which would be equally delicious (and probably even more cute) in slider form.

You could even turn these teriyaki chicken sandwiches into bite-size teriyaki chicken sliders instead!

Cool off with a refreshing sparkling blueberry lemonade, you can even serve it out of a gorgeous pitcher like the ladies over at Spoon Fork Bacon do.

Or, if you need something with a little more kick, Movita’s dark and stormy cocktail should do the trick.

Or this refreshing (alcohol-free) cucumber cooler from Chez Us, I won’t judge you if a splash of vodka or gin falls in, though. Let’s stick to ginger ale for the kids, though. 😉

Biscoff chocolate chip gelato for dessert, anyone? You could even sandwich it between two grahams or cookies to make it a little more portable.

You could even serve it alongside some blackberry-peach pie from Hummingbird High.

Or skip the pie and opt for some very portable, very delicious black plum mini-streudels from A Periodic Table.

Or keep cool and get your s’more on with this fabulous s’mores icebox cake. Seriously, it’s SO GOOD.

If you guys have any favorite Labor Day recipes, feel free to share them in a comment below! 🙂 <3

4TH OF JULY ROUNDUP

Posted on June 30, 2013 by natalie @ wee eats

Independence Day is rapidly approaching, and if you’re still trying to think of what to make for your annual BBQ, I’ve got a recipe round-up just for you!

Appetizers & Sides

Fig & Prosciutto Bruschetta or Flatbread

Cucumber Guacamole from A Periodic Table

Artichoke & Roasted Garlic Dip with Flatbread Sticks from Spoon Fork Bacon

Loaded Baked Potato Salad from FoodieCrush

Chopped Antipasto Salad from The Right Recipe

Caesar Wedge Salads from Some Kitchen Stories

Buffalo Chicken Mac & Cheese from Elephant Eats

Mains

Homemade Brioche Burger Buns – have some fun and make them mini for sliders, or stretch them out for hot dogs!

If burgers are on your menu, you may want to check out Saveur’s guide to the perfect burger

Cheddar Bacon Onion Sliders from The Little Kitchen

BBQ Chicken Sandwiches from TheKitchn

Tenderloin & Red Onion Kebabs from Tasting Table

Desserts

No-Bake S’mores Bars

4th of July Cookie Bars from A Farmgirl’s Dabbles

Tie Dye Cake from Sally’s Baking Addiction

Lemon Sorbet from Movita Beaucoup

Drinks

Strawberry Lemon Spritzer (Alcohol-Free) from Dine & Dish

Watermelon Limeade (Alcohol-Free) from Serious Eats

Strawberry Pimm’s Cup Cocktail from Brown Eyed Baker

Blood Orange & Thyme Paloma Cocktail from Aida Mollenkamp

Summery Mojitos from A Beautiful Mess

thursday things

Posted on May 23, 2013 by natalie @ wee eats

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 …

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 🙂

Cinco de Mayo Recipe Roundup

Posted on May 3, 2013 by natalie @ wee eats

Hi guys,

I’ve been super busy lately, so I’m sorry that I missed our Thursday chat, but I hope to make it up to you with some stellar Cinco de Mayo recipes for you to make this weekend.

Cinco de Mayo is technically Sunday, but I’m pretty sure you can celebrate starting today (I know I will!)

We wills tart with the easiest (and most delicious) salsa you will ever make from yours truly right here at Wee Eats

Cilantro Lime Hummus from Elephant Eats

Cheesy Mexican Corn Dip from Kitchen Simplicity

Bakes Southwestern Egg Rolls from Nutritious Eats

Loaded Chicken Enchilada Soup from A Periodic Table

Achiote Roasted Pork Tacos from Gonna Want Seconds

Achiote Grilled Fish Tacos from Spoon Fork Bacon

Salsa Verde Chicken Tostadas from Skinny Taste

Chicken Enchilada Pizza from Gimme Some Oven

Nachos with Strawberry, Mango, and Avocado Salsa from FoodieCrush

Churros from Annie’s Eats

Tequila Watermelon Popsicles (you could call them “paletas”) from Love & Olive Oil

Blood Orange Margarita from Honest Cooking

Strawberry Margaritas for One from Pass the Sushi

Agua Fresca (for the Alcohol-Free crowd) from How Sweet Eats

thursday things and an easter brunch roundup

Posted on March 28, 2013 by natalie @ wee eats

I caught that pic while the BF and I were driving to the store. Not too shabby for a weeknight sunset in the city, eh?

It’s the last Thursday Things for the month of March, and this weekend will be the last March (Cake) Madness recipe (although, not the last cake recipe by far). I seriously can’t wait to share it with you. As soon as I bit into it I was like, “Aw crap…” Which doesn’t SOUND like a good thing, but it was just because after overdosing on confetti cake, and then making Oreo cupcakes, the last thing I wanted to know was that I had made another delicious cake.

To refresh our memories, here is March (Cake) Madness so far:

Oh yeah, that last one… that one is for this weekend. Trust me, it’s worth the wait.

I’m salivating just thinking about it… I don’t know why I just told you that.

Don’t mind me…

Here’s what you missed this week, BF and I made some delicious pizzas on the grill for dinner on Sunday. Mine was pepperoni, pepperoncini, and like a bajillion types of cheese. Oh, and wanna know my secret ingredient? Bolognese for the sauce. Yup. Delicious.

I have a post here about how to make your very own delicious pizza from the comfort of your home.

I know I’ve been slacking on adorable kitties lately, but here is one heck of a gif that is bound to make you smile. And laugh. And make it painfully obvious that you’re not doing work-related things while you’re at your computer.

This one is not a kitty, but it’s still hilarious.

Oh, and if you’re still hunting for the perfect Easter basket… I saw the cutest candy-holders ever at Walgreens (I swear, that place has everything).

I kinda just want to buy like 100 of them and put them all over the house as “decoration”…

I can’t think of a single reason why that would be a bad idea.

This weekend the BF and I are packing our bags and heading on our first vacay (of 2013) – hittin’ the road to Cali! Neither of us has ever been to California and I CAN’T WAIT TO GO!

That being said, things may get a little quiet around here next week. If you start to miss me too much, you can always check in on me via Instagram or Facebook to see what I’m up to. 😉

Although I’ll be eating out this Sunday, if you’re hosting Easter brunch this weekend, here are some ideas for your party… And now, I present to you