If you Google “pesto recipes”, you get 34,502,601 recipes for “the best pesto ever”.
If you Google “kale pesto recipes”, you get 5,045,192 recipes for “the best kale pesto ever”.
Needless to say, there’s a lot of pesto out there.
And who can blame these recipe writers. Pesto is freakin’ delicious. Continue reading
I grew up in Tampa, FL. And although I’ve seen snow, I’ve never had to endure a true winter.
Winter for us means a few days here and there from November to March where it gets into the 30’s (sometimes the 20’s) for lows, and into the 60’s and 70’s for highs. Then there are exceptions, like this January day, where we hover around 40 and 50 degrees for a high. Continue reading
‘Twas the 14th of November, and all through downtown
The Oxford Exchange was preparing, for a grand event to go down.
The decorations were hung by the windows with care
In hopes that the Tampa Bay Bloggers soon would be there.
The books were nestled all snug on their shelves
And goodie bags were packed by stylish little elves.
The food was all prepped and the drinks nice and steamy
The whole atmosphere was so festive and dreamy.
At the stroke of 6:30, there arose such a chatter
The doors opened up and welcomed the pitter patter,
Of little blogger feet all sparkly and bright
All ready for an evening of holiday delight!
They mingled, and greeted each other with glee
They ate, and drank, and were definitely merry.
For two glorious hours they took in the sights
They shopped, and they toured; it was a fabulous night!
They feasted on butternut soup and cheesy figs
Nibbled on fancy chocolate, and took coffee and tea swigs.
Two lovely ladies spoke all about their creations
Their family’s hand made candles are cause for celebration!
The night ventured on; the bloggers perused around the shoppe
While others learned all about the commerce club spaces atop.
What makes the Oxford so special is it’s uniqueness and style,
It’s beauty and charm will make you want to stay a while.
With floors of reclaimed wood and a retractable ceiling
And lots of comfy furniture to give guests a warm and cozy feeling.
The shoppe is jam packed with trinkets oh so sweet
It’s the perfect place to holiday shop…and maybe by yourself a treat!
The lights, how they twinkled!
The cookbooks stood neatly!
The candles’ aroma swirled around
And made the room smell so sweetly!
As the evening wound down, and the bloggers grew tired,
They reminisced about all the fun that had transpired.
They wrapped up the night, and expressed grateful words,
And were shocked at the news they had just overheard!
Not only did they leave with a bag full of loot,
But a gift for our readers! An offer none of us could refute!
The evening was fabulous! So glad it was arranged,
I can’t wait to come back to the Oxford Exchange!
Would you like to win a FABULOUS 11oz 7th Avenue Apothecary 100% soy hand poured candle? Leave me a comment below telling me what your absolute favorite thing about the holidays is! I’ll pick a winner on Thursday, 11/21!
Mine would have to be twinkle lights! 🙂
Steph
Disclosure: I was invited to visit The Oxford Exchange as part of the Tampa Bay Bloggers. Giveaway prize is provided by OE. All festively festive opinions are my own.
A few weeks ago, my friend Monica and I got together for coffee one Friday after work. She needed to vent (desperately) and I was happy to lend an ear. Monica’s life is full of adventures, so it’s always interesting to hear her stories. 😉
By the end of the evening, two other friends had joined us, turning a quick after work coffee visit into a 6 hour long girl’s night out.
A few hours into our coffees we realized we all had food on the brain.
We decided to forgo pastries from the Starbucks counter and head to dinner somewhere. Living in Seminole Heights there are always amazing places right around the corner to try out. Sarah and Liz had never been to Ella’s, so before we could think twice, we were there, putting our names down.
By this point it was close to ten. We were hungry and frustrated by the hour and a half wait for a spot. Ella’s has this awesome outdoor patio area and it was suggested that we sit out there and order from the bar. It was a perfect evening, a little cool from after the rain, so we all agreed that would be the plan.
What happened next, no one could predict. No one.
I had known Liz for a few years. But it’s true what they say: You really don’t know someone, until you realllllly know them.
Now don’t get me wrong. I love Liz. She’s become one of my best friends. She’s extremely smart, funny, kind, and there for her friends no matter what. However, Liz was withholding a little secret from us all this time. And until that fateful evening at Ella’s, we were totally in the dark.
I didn’t realize it at first. I mean, I noticed she had decided to pull up a chair to the outdoor booth, but I didn’t think twice about it. I figured she just didn’t want to take a chance of her pants getting wet from the wooden booth. As we ordered beers and munched on appetizers, I started to see her get a bit fidgety, but again, no big deal. Nothing terribly out of the ordinary. But then. Suddenly. Out of the blue. Appeared this uncontrollable, irrational, blood-curdling screech making me think there was a Walker behind me ready to tear my face off. Then, we all watched as Liz did this:
Like a frantic crab running along the shore, Liz left our table, ran over to a nearby barstool and began to climb on top of it. It appeared as though she was escaping some unknown force, but we didn’t see a thing! With panic in her voice she screamed “OVER THERE! OVER THERE! ABOVE YOUR HEAD STEPHANIE! OH MY GOSH OH MY GOSH IT’S HUGE!”
Well, you can imagine my own fear as I envisioned massive blood thirsty bats hovering over my head, waiting to suck my brains out. I looked around, listening to the laughs of Monica and Sarah, assuring me it was nothing more than a small spider, trapezing through the trees above me, minding her own business in the night. Unfortunately, for Liz, this was doom. Apparently, her biggest, most spine chilling fears are driven by those of the smallest kind: bugs. Here’s a picture of the horrid little creature. It’s blurry, mostly because we were laughing too much to stay still and get a good shot.
Well, after much coaxing, and convincing that little Charlotte wasn’t going to end any lives tonight, Liz came back to the table, just in time to calmly enjoy Ella’s famous bacon and egg pizza.
But then. Just when we thought the rest of the evening would be smooth sailing. They appeared.
By the hundreds.
Creeping and squeezing their little shiny, winged bodies through the cracks in the deck underneath Liz’s feet.
Sorry. I couldn’t bring myself to putting a closeup photograph of a cockroach on my blog. Nope, not gonna happen. We’ve all seen them, so at this point, go ahead and create a mental picture of thousands hundreds about 10 roaches crawling around a wooden deck taunting Liz with their creepy little antennae flailing in the wind as they peeked through the separations in the deck.
The rest, as they say, is history.
Liz developed a bad case of indigestion from trying to eat and Riverdance the roaches away from her feet.
Monica, the logical one, attempted to calm Liz with words of wisdom that just went in one ear and out the other.
I spilled pizza all over my work polo, but the spilled pizza toppings came in handy, as I threw them away from our table in an attempt to distract the roaches.
And Sarah? Well who do you think was brilliant enough to capture this all on film for me to blog about? Genius.
Oh and because I’ve thoroughly disgusted you by this point, here’s a yummy recipe for Pumpkin Spice Crinkle Cookies.
There, now the image of a roach eating an egg is out of your head.
Have you ever been to Ella’s? Be careful if you dine outside! It’s wild kingdom, apparently. 😉
Love you Liz!!! <3 Steph
I love spaghetti squash.
I love that it’s tasty.
I love that I can order it as a side dish at Ruby Tuesday.
I love that it looks like and acts like pasta.
I love that I can turn it into a million different recipes. Continue reading
I love throwing casual get-togethers, game nights and well, any excuse to bring my best friends together to dish.
Whether I’m the hostess, or the guest at a gathering, I always make sure to have a few “clean” treats on hand to make sure I stay on track.
Like these little gems. It must be the bacon. Everything’s better with bacon, right?
Sweet and smokey jalapeño bites
A perfect appetizer that will make you the life of any shin-dig! Spicy jalapeño peppers stuffed with cream cheese and a chewy, sweet date, then wrapped in smokey bacon. Baked to crisp perfection making these the perfect sweet, salty, creamy, crispy and chewy bite. You’re welcome.
Ingredients
6 fresh jalapeños, stemmed, seeded and quartered
1- 8oz block cream cheese (you can omit the cheese if your’e strict paleo)
24 dried pitted dates (no sugar added)
12 slices uncured no sugar added bacon, sliced in half (Why uncured bacon?)
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Take a piece of jalapeño and fill it with a small dollop (about a teaspoon) of cream cheese into the pepper.
3. Place a date in the center of the cream cheese and press down a bit so that the date sticks.
4. Wrap a piece of bacon around each and place seam side down onto a lightly greased baking sheet (use coconut oil, olive oil or butter). You can secure each bite with a toothpick if the bacon is unwrapping.
5. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 20-25 minutes or until the bacon is browned and crisp. Serve warm or at room temperature!
*No need to flip these, and don’t worry about the cheese oozing out. Cream cheese bakes up nice and firm on the outside, and stays creamy on the inside! Serves 24 bites!
