Made these pieces for two friends’ birthdays.

Haven’t made jewelry in a while, so it was fun going back to something I ♥!

Have a lovely weekend!

For my next Eat Your Vegetables** project, I decided to try oven-roasting some cauliflower. I’ve only really enjoyed this vegetable in curry, especially that Indian favorite, Aloo Gobi. I suspect it’s because it absorbs much of the flavor of whatever it’s cooked in—and curry is one of my favorite things! Cauliflower is pretty much a bland vegetable. But recently, I’ve been reading a lot on how high oven heat caramelizes the sugars in this versatile vegetable and transforms it into a satisfying, nutty-flavored dish that’s a perfect side for the season’s grilled staples. I wanted to try roasting it to see what cauliflower really tasted like on its own. 

I also learned a new way of preparing the vegetable. I used to lop off the thick stem and then cut out the florets from whatever stem is left behind. But I found that quartering the cauliflower, then slicing the thick stem off at an angle allows me to break down the florets easier. Some of you may have already known to do this, but I just recently picked it up. Saves so much effort!

I had some leftover red new potatoes and decided to throw those in with the cauliflower for color. I then tossed good olive oil (you will need about 1-1 /2 tbsps olive oil for each pound of vegetables) into the happy mix with some pepper and salt. That’s all this dish really needs. Sometimes simple=epic!

Roast on a foil-lined sheet in a preheated 400-degree oven for about 30 minutes until tops change color. Some will be golden, others will have a bit of char (but don’t worry, they’re still delicious!)

Serve warm with a sprinkling of grated Parmesan cheese (if you wish) on top. Do I hear a “yum?”

Oven-roasting is now my favorite way to prepare cauliflower. So quick and so good! It will be quite a ways before I decide to enjoy this in curry again!

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**Eat Your Vegetables is a new project on The Girl With A Curl. As a promise to eat healthier, I plan to discover new, yummy, non-gag-inducing vegetable recipes every week. They’ll be a big part of my packed lunches at work and will be an interesting way to see how many different ways vegetables can be prepared. As a meat eater, vegetables are something I haven’t paid attention to in my years in the kitchen, but that’s something I’d like to change. From Artichoke to Zucchini and everything in between, here’s to healthy eating at its most delicious!

A little sewing

A little beading

A little Julia

I hope yours was lovely!

Whoa! Aaaahhhh! Whaaaatttt?!? No!!! Yesssss!!!!

So yeah, those were all the things that went through my head when my friend S. handed this box to me this morning. She’s just gotten back from Paris, and with her thoughtfulness brought me a box of the ultimate French treat. I was speechless. Especially because she put the box in my hands with the words, “These came from the bakery that made the pastries for that film Marie Antoinette.” *gasp!*

I took these photos in my office with my phone. I know posting all of them is a bit excessive, but I kind of felt like those geeks, you know? Those Apple fanpeople who love their Macs so much they post “unboxing” pictures? This is me being a food geek unboxing MY macs! (Heehee.)

Ladurée was established in 1862. It was the Parisian institution that brought the “salon de thé,” or tea salons, to life. These were places where women could gather freely as they grew more confident in roles in society.

I shared these morsels with friends, though I have to admit I ate three all by myself! I had a coconut one, a strawberry one and a vanilla one to cap off my trio of treats. Not all one after the other, though! I stretched those tastings over several hours, their intense sweetness lingering on my tongue long after the last delicious bite.

S. said the line at the Ladurée shop on Champs-Elysées was out the door, and the pastry chefs had to keep bringing in trays and trays of macarons to keep up with the demand. I want to be in that line someday!

And apparently, a Ladurée shop is where Carrie Bradshaw spent some time during her stay in the City of Lights during the last few episodes of SATC.

Aside from these legendary little cookies, they also make the prettiest pastries! *sigh.*

And they come in the loveliest boxes.

Someday, SOMEDAY, I will eat my way through Paris and have dessert at Ladurée. In the meantime, I will keep this box forever. I even asked for the crumpled-up shopping bag from S. Haha. Such a dork, I know.

Délicieux! May you dream in macaron sweetness tonight!

A lazy picnic at the park

Made some tissue paper bloom into roses to top a friend’s birthday gift

Picked my dad up from the airport! (Those are the new, alien-ish light fixtures at LAX’s Tom Bradley.)

How was your weekend?

Rowan thread collections inspired by Amy Butler’s “Love” and “Soul Blossoms” fabric sets

They look good enough to eat!

And you, Girl Who Gets To Pretend-Hand-Sew That Awesome Amy Butler Quilt, I kind of hate you. Haha.

Have a lovely weekend!

Tell you what.

Why don’t you….

cook a box of orzo…

in the meantime, dump a big bag of fresh baby spinach into a bowl…

drain the orzo when it’s done…

add it to the spinach and toss together so its heat wilts the leafy greens…

add some feta (the fat-free kind if you’re feeling guilty!)…

maybe a drizzle of olive oil, salt, pepper and a few squeezes of lemon juice to taste…

stop yourself from standing over the pot and eating it secretly in the kitchen while your boyfriend watches Star Trek in the living room…

step back and hug yourself! You’ve just made a simply good, highly addicting pasta side that’s perfect, hot or cold, to go with any dish. A healthier alternative to plain rice, too!

Seriously though, I ate obscene amounts of this while making it because it’s sooo good! I hope you have better luck than me!