Calligraphy Class Numero Dos

I signed up the second I heard Lauren was coming back for another round of her Blue Eye Brown Eye Calligraphy workshop! I had such a blast the first time, I couldn't wait to "advance my skills" and learn the basics of uppercase letters and using color ink. 

We got to use neon pink ink (and take it home) which was pretty much reason enough to want to take the advanced class. 

The first thing Lauren taught us was how to mix our own gouache. Gouache is what colored calligraphy ink is called. it comes out of a squeeze bottle about the thickness of paint. You then water it down and mix it to get the perfect ink consistency.

Here is Kat stirring vigorously at her gouache. The class was filled with some new faces and some familiar faces from my first class. We all had similar interests in art, blogging, workshops, paper goods etc. I had a great time chatting away with the other creatives in the class. 

Before Lauren started teaching us uppercase, we played around with the colored ink and refreshed our memory on lowercase letters. I'm so mad I've been so busy and haven't had much time to practice.  I am making a promise to myself from now on to practice at least once a week. I don't want to lose the skill now that I've finally started learning. 

I'll be honest I got a little frustrated in this class. I was having a bad writing day and couldn't ever get my letters flowing. I also kept getting globs of ink all over my paper. I'm determined to keep practicing to get my letters up to speed. 

Lauren was such a great teacher and encourager. She kept calling me "famous Annie" because she has had so many people in her classes know me. I had so many people ask me about the class after the first time I took it, so I loved being able to refer them to Lauren to have their own chance at learning! Besides calligraphy she had great advice for starting a business, networking and working hard to get what you want. 

And now for a quick peek at some of the goodies at Chirps & Cheers (the host of the class). This store seriously puts me in the best mood every time I visit. Partially because of the amazing products, but mostly because of the owners, Sweet Sami and my shop mom Susan!

Now I'm off to practice my writing.

xo annie

Bites of My Life

Last week was cold in Oklahoma. We had 3 rounds of snow and average temps in the 20s. I had a test, a project and a big stack of homework. Looking back, it was still a great week. I was able to cook a lot, so I have lot's of food pictures. After a few birthday celebrations this weekend, I drove to Edmond on Sunday for an advanced round of a Blue Eye Brown Eye calligraphy workshop!

I'm hoping for warmer temps this week and plan on getting in lots of Olympic watching! Here's a quick recap from last week.

-I couldn't stop thinking about chocolate one night when I was studying so I had to make a quick run to Sprouts. I went for a mix of dark chocolate covered blueberries and cranberries.

-My friend's mom makes the best chocolate chip cookies, but her version with mini chocolate chips and crasins are my favorite. It made my day when my friend brought a bag back for our room.

-With the freezing temps all I wanted to eat was soup. I made this 5-ingredient white chicken chili for a snow day dinner.

-A friday morning coffee date at my favorite local coffee shop, Crimson & Whipped Cream.

-I don't know if you saw, but during the Grammy's, Oreo started a hashtag #sendmeoreo. If you were one of the first 20,000 to hashtag it, Oreo would send you an email asking for your address then they would send you one of their new flavors to try. Lucky me, I made the 20,000 cut and got their chocolate chip cookie dough flavor delivered to me on Friday! They are yummy and have a slight butterscotch taste. My next mission is to try the new golden oreo rice crispy treat flavor.

-Spaghetti squash carbonara for dinner during the opening ceremonies. I used this recipe, but subbed the bacon with pancetta.

-I had leftover pancetta from the carbonara and had been wanting to make a version of this fried egg salad. I did spinach, crispy pancetta, grape tomatoes, homemade vinaigrette and a fried egg on top for Saturday's lunch!

-Learning uppercase letters and how to use color ink at the advanced Blue Eye Brown Eye calligraphy class. Thank you Lauren for another amazing class!

-Taste testing an Arbonne protein shake at get together to learn about the products. If you haven't heard, Arbonne has a new nutritional line with great benefits.

-Harpers Bazaar launched their emoji app. You can download them in the app store. My favorites are the Valentino heels and the soul cycle bike.

Check back this week for more on my calligraphy class and some Valentine inspiration!

xo annie

Snow Day Soup

This recipe is so easy and so yummy! I love chili, especially white chicken chili. With all the snow and cold weather we've had, it was the perfect snow day dinner! I used Gimme Some Oven's recipe and it turned out perfect! 

White Chicken Chili
serves 4

Ingredients:
6 cups chicken stock
4 cups cooked shredded chicken (a rotisserie chicken is perfect!)
2 cups salsa verde
2 (15 oz) cans of Northern beans
2 tsp. cumin
optional avocado, cilantro, green onions and cheese for topping

Directions:
Put the first 5 ingredients in a pot and simmer on medium until the soup is warmed through. Takes about 15 minutes. That's it. Really it's that easy. I strongly recommend topping with cilantro and avocado! 

Here is a look at the original recipe. Make this soup tonight and enjoy it while watching the Olympic opening ceremonies!

Annie

Few of My Favorite Things: What's Your Flavor?

"What's your flavor? Tell me what's your flavor?"  Time for the second installment of my "Favorite Things" series. (Here is the first post about my favorite movies). Today I'm talking about my favorite flavors. I have very specific flavors that I love and you can guarantee I will order if one of them is included on a menu. I'm also posting a link for a recipe including each flavor!

1. Almond: Almond extract, almond butter, almond milk, actual almonds, I love it all. A few local coffee shops have almond syrup and almond milk for coffee drinks and it makes for the best latte. I'm just waiting for Starbucks to jump on board. I was first introduced to almond extract when I started making my sugar cookies. You use the extract in the icing and I promise it's the flavor that sends them over the edge. I add almond extract in addition to vanilla to almost everything. (It's really good in granola, especially when almonds are in the mix)

Recipe: I just discovered the food blog The View from Great Island.  I spent about an hour going through her archives and now these white chocolate almond butter bars are high on my baking list. I'm also a lover of white chocolate.

2. Coffee/Espresso: Coffee is magical by itself, but I love coffee flavored things. I used to be able to finish a pint of coffee Haagen Dazs ice cream as an after school snack. Coffee or mocha flavored cupcakes are usually my go to and I love adding coffee to any chocolate recipe.

Recipe: These coffee bacon sandwiches, I can't even. My sister and I made them a few years ago and I can't believe we haven't made them since. They are the most interesting amazing thing in the world. Such a good way to incorporate coffee.

3. Vanilla: A skinny vanilla latte is always a go to order if I can't decide what to get. And when using vanilla extract I always double or triple the amount the recipe calls for. Vanilla scented candles, vanilla body lotion, mmmm I love it! 

Recipe: Been dying to try chia seed pudding and this one uses almond milk and almond extract.

4. Ginger: This is a new favorite, but I feel like it hasn't been used much until recently. I love putting fresh ginger in my smoothies and ginger cookies have always been wonderful. I recently had a peach and ginger scone that was insanely good.

Recipe: Shameless plug for my ginger cookies!

5. Lemon: Lemon squares, lemon cupcakes, lemon chicken etc. Once the weather gets warm I like lemon in all forms! I've recently been having the largest craving for lemon squares.

Recipe: My good friend pinned this recipe for skinny lemon bars that seem just perfect enough to feed my craving!

So what's your favorite flavor? This post inspired me to make a board dedicated to my 5 favorite flavors. Maybe one of them is yours too!

p.s. Pumpkin is also a favorite flavor, I'm just trying to stay seasonal! Pumpkin has it's own Pinterest board dedicated all to itself.

xo annie

Rodeo, Ranch and Recipes

Yesterday I shared a few bites about my weekend, but it was such a good couple of days away I have to share more! This past weekend I let my inner cowgirl come out. I went to the rodeo, a country concert and a ranch. Just call me the Pioneer Woman! A bunch of my good friends and I spent the weekend down south in Fort Worth. The city is so fun and I fall in love every time I visit. Luckily one of my best friends is from "The Fort," so I have excuses to take trips there.

The rodeo was Friday night. The fact that we had our hair done and make-up on was enough to make us stand out amongst most of the crowd. There were trick riders, barrel races, bull riding etc. 

After the rodeo we went to Billy Bob's Texas. The country bar calls itself "the world's largest honkey tonk." My friend's mom was so excited to show us one of her favorite singers. Sadly, it was his last concert because he is retiring from the music life. Josh Weathers put on quite a last show. I danced all night to songs I didn't know as well as some of his amazing covers like " I Will Always Love You."

After a "big night in the city" we headed 90 miles outside Fort Worth to my friend's ranch house. We did nothing but eat (A LOT), play games and sit by the fire. Apparently the rule is there is "no diet at the ranch," so we behaved the rules.

This brings me to the recipe portion of this post. My friend's mom and I love talking recipes and cooking when we are together. She shared an awesome orzo chicken salad and this layered hummus dip with me this summer. Today I'm sharing a recipe for Avocado Verde Dip and Onion Soufflé. The avocado dip could probably qualify as healthy, as for the onion soufflé, not so much. It's so dang good though you just can't think about it.

First up the avocado verde dip.

Avocado Verde Dip

Ingredients:
2 avocados
16 oz store bought verde salsa (we used this brand)
a bunch of cilantro
juice from 1 lime
1 garlic clove

Directions:
Put all the ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. Serve with tortilla chips or as a topping on tacos or enchiladas. 

Onion Soufflé

Ingredients:
3 packages cream cheese
1/4 cup of mayonnaise
2 cups parmesan cheese
1 bag frozen onions, thawed and squeezed dry

Directions:
Combine all ingredients then transfer to a pie dish. Bake at 400 degrees until the top begins to brown. This can be made ahead and put in the fridge until it's time to bake.  Serve with Triscuits! 

All of this was followed by our enchilada dinner. Mini chocolate chip cookies, ginger snaps, coconut bon bons and chocolate toffee were passed around for dessert. Like I said, there is no diet at the ranch.

After our dip frenzy some barre exercises were a must. It was hilarious doing push-pulls around the 2 ft. x 2 ft. countertop.

Here's to wishing it was still the weekend!

Annie