Turn Your Waffle Iron into a Panini Press

I had a hankering for a panini the other day. I'm not talking about a grilled sandwich but a pressed sandwich with golden-brown ripples of crunchy texture. Sweet or savory, a panini press takes an ordinary sandwich and turns it into a melty masterpiece.

The problem was, I didn't have a panini maker. And then a lightbulb went off. What if I could use my waffle maker to toast up my ordinary sandwich?

I powered up my waffle maker on the highest setting (an engagement gift from a lovely Belgian woman- get it?) and put my sandwich together. No butter required on a panini (another plus!), the non-stick surface doesn't need it.

I gave the sandwich a good squish and let it cook until the built in timer went off. After about three minutes, I had this golden-brown beauty waiting for me.

Don't let the waffle pattern throw you, the waffle maker worked just as well a specialized sandwich press. The cheese was melted perfectly and it had that great crunch to the bread. I'm still keeping the panini press on our wedding registry, but in the mean time, this works like a charm!

What kind of panini will you toast up? I see Nutella and strawberries in my future...

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My First Feature!

I just started joining link up parties this past week- where bloggers can share all the great things they've made and done throughout the week. This week my Kale and Mascarpone Ravioli was featured on Momnivore's Dilemma! Thanks so much to Nicolette!

Be sure to stop by and check out her great, witty blog!

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A Visit to the Washington, D.C. Zoo

This weekend, D and I celebrated our two year dating anniversary (and our negative one year wedding anniversary!) and he surprised me with a day trip to D.C. In about an hour and a half we can be in the middle of Washington- one of the big perks to moving here! We visited D.C last year during the Cherry Blossom Festival (see it here) so we bypassed the monuments and headed straight to the zoo.

I've been longing to go to the National Zoo and it was even better than I expected. First off, it's HUGE! We were exhausted after looping through the whole park- and we didn't even see everything. The paths are very well done, there are plants and trees everywhere making you forget you're in the middle of a big city. And they have a ton of animals, many of which I had never seen, and all those you expect. But the best part- it's FREE! That's the great part about D.C.- almost all of the places you want to visit have free admission.

My favorite part of the zoo was the birds. You can always find the birds in their cages, unlike some of the animals. And even if they're asleep, they sleep where you can see them. There were so many kinds at the National Zoo and D and I had fun deciding what they were saying and/or thinking. That's my favorite thing to do at the zoo!

Not all the birds there were cute and cuddly- this guy looks absolutely prehistoric. I would be freaked out if this wound up in my backyard!

Much prettier were the flamingos, their long necks contorted for sleep. 

By far the best part of the bird exhibit was the outdoor aviary- I've never seen anything like it.You walk into this huge, net-covered structure and there are birds on land and water all around you. Even peacocks. 

We turned the corner at just the right time to see this one showing off it's feathers. Just amazing!

The peacock was gorgeous but my favorite bird was this little duck. This pint-sized guy was just so cute that I wanted to take him home in my purse, especially when he was swimming in circles trying to scratch his tush. 

Darren's favorite part was the orangutans. Their faces are so expressive, we had fun putting words into their mouth. And that hair! Surely they were the inspiration for Chewbacca.

The most surprising animal for me was the Komodo dragon. I knew they were deadly but I didn't realize how HUGE they were. I'd hate to see one of those coming after me!

Over all, it was a great park though we didn't see all of the exhibits. I would suggest skipping the Amazon and Invertebrate exhibit or at least saving them for last. They were a bit of a let down and I wish we would have seen some of the other animals instead.

So next time you visit Washington, D.C., remember that it's not all monuments! There are some great animals waiting to see your happy faces.

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Organizing Stationary: Get it Together

I've been going through a lot of my things since I've moved and have realized that for someone who hates clutter, I'm not as organized as I thought! I'm constantly finding things I didn't know I had because I didn't have a good, organized way to store them. If like things are stored together in one place in a way where everything is visible, you'll always know what you have. It's that simple!

I've found a lot of greeting cards that I've forgotten about in the past week- many several years old. I've also lost track of cards I've purchased only days before because I didn't have anywhere to put them. I needed a system quick if I was going to keep up with the increased correspondance that comes with moving far from your family and friends.

So, I went to Staples and found this little guy:

It was perfect for storing cards. It was long enough for those long, skinny cards and about four inches deep to provide ample storage. Instead of having fixed dividers like those accordion files, this box had free floating labeled dividers that allow you to make each section as large as you need it.

Originally my plan was to just organize my greeting cards, but after searching through my boxes of stationary I realized that the problem was much larger. I, in fact, did not need to buy two new boxes of stationary- I already had a ton and had no idea! This is what I had to condense: two photo boxes of miscellaneous stationary, a shopping bag full of personalized stationary for the wedding, and two brand new sets of cards along with all of my greeting cards found all over the house.

First things first, I came up with a list of labels for the dividers after seeing what I had- best to do this on paper first so you don't have to get out the whiteout. I only made labels for holidays I knew I would be buying multiples of. I also designated sections to cards that I would stockpile. Sometimes its hard to find a good sympathy or I just can't say no to a funny birthday card- now I have a place to put my stash. Here's what I decided on for my box:

• Blank- both greeting cards and sationary
• Birthday
• Congrats/Celebrations- includes wedding, baby cards
• Get Well
• Sympathy
• Thank You
• Valentine's Day
• Easter
• Mother's Day
• Halloween
• Thanksgiving
• Christmas

You will save a ton of room and be able to actually see everything if you take things out of the original packaging. My photo boxes were full of boxes of stationary that only had a few cards left and the way they were stacked made it hard to see what was there. I put all of my stationary into the file box with the blank cards, making it much easier to see all the pretty things I had. I only kept cards in the boxes that I could use decoratively later. I stored my personalized stationary in one of the photo boxes for safe keeping.

For the smaller sets of cards, I place the card under the flap of the envelope to keep them together. For larger sets of cards, I simply used a rubberband to secure them so they didn't get mixed up.

In the end, I had a beautifully organized and much smaller stack of stationary! My brain instantly felt at ease.

To finish of my little box, I'm going to tape a printed list of all holidays, birthdays and other yearly occasions on the underside of the flap. I also want to jazz it up a little- maybe a decorative bit for the clasp, some washi tape stripes and a pretty label!

I hope I've inspired you to get organized! How do you organize your stationary?

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Strawberry-Basil Margaritas with Basil Sugar

Even though it's my birthday today, I'm going to give YOU a gift. Behold: the Strawberry-Basil Margarita. This cocktail is so delicious I can hardly stand it. Don't plan on driving anywhere after making these because you will drink the whole pitcher, guaranteed. At least, we did!

We had a hankering for margs the other day and didn't want to by one of those super sweet mixes. I also didn't want a plain ol' margarita- I wanted something interesting to drink! After looking through recipes, it was clear this could easily get expensive. As much as I would love to freshly squeeze 20 limes and buy a nice bottle of Cointreau, it just wasn't in the budget. I had heard of the strawberry-basil combination before but hadn't yet tried it- this was my opportunity to experiment. So I came up with this budget-friendly and simple margarita that is sure to be your go to drink this summer. If you don't have  a pot of basil on your porch already, this is reason enough to get planting!

The ingredients are simple: frozen limeade concentrate, frozen strawberries, silver tequila, triple sec, basil leaves and ice. After a whirl in the blender it resembles something like heaven. The basil works its magic, taming the sweetness and lending its subtle flavor that will leave your guests wondering what the secret ingredient it. That is, if you share!

And then there's the icing on the cake. The basil sugar. Your food processor will take these everyday ingredients...

And turn them into a sophisticated, tasty and not to mention gorgeous accent to your drink. It couldn't be any easier! 

Bottoms up!

Strawberry-Basil Margaritas with Basil Sugar
Makes 4-6 serverings (depending on who pours!)

• 12 oz frozen limeade concentrate
• 2 cup frozen strawberries
• 3/4 cup silver tequila
• 1/4 cup triple sec
• 7 large basil leaves, or equivalent
• 2 cup crushed ice
• For sugar:
• 4 large basil leaves, or equivalent
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 lime

1. Blend ingredients until smooth. Adjust tequila to your liking and taste to ensure adequate basil flavor, add more if needed.
2. In food processor (or blender before the beverages) combine sugar and basil until basil is finely chopped.
3. Run a lime segment around the rim of each glass and dip into basil sugar to coat rim. Fill with margaritas and drink up!

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