I'm baaaack, with a boat load of pictures!

I have been somewhat distant on here…. I mean I’ve been around here and there tweaking and attempting to make this blog prettier for your viewing pleasures. I used the verb attempting only because I am not quite sure I am succeeding. Honestly I’m not finished. But I missed writing and decided I should just go public and do the boring stuff later. During my little hiatus, I have been enjoying what’s left of the summer. Can you believe we’re already in the middle of August?!

Here I’m going to allow these pictures to summarize my summer: 

Pizza... This one stars roasted beets and carrots. Lately I have been really into using pesto as a sauce rather than traditional tomato sauce. It isn't anything wildly new but it certainly lightens up a summer pizza pie, and allowed me to use up garlic scapes and basil we received from our CSA; which is a total win win.

We got family pictures done by Sandra ! 

Michael got a grill for Father's Day so he's been promoted to the grill-er of the family. Pictured is the flank steak we used to make grilled steak tacos with chimichurri; pretty amazing!!

Lydia getting kisses from her big cousin DJ!

  

Bridgefest 2015! We didn't stay long due to exhaustion from arriving at Jersey around 3am; but we did get ice cream at Days... They sell dairy-free ice cream now so I got mocha almond on a sugar cone!

Lydia celebrated her first 4th of July and got to experience fireworks : ) She had no idea what was going on but look how adorable she was with her ear muffs on... I still melt.

Cookies 'n' Cream ice cream on a sugar cone... One of my favorites I've made! I also really appreciated the Salted Rum Caramel ice cream too. I'll try to share the recipe before the summer ends; but who stops eating ice cream when summer ends? ;D

Brunch at Marty's Market in Pittsburgh before exploring the Strip District and then going to Picklesburgh. It was possibly the hottest day in July but we had fun people watching and eating chicken and waffles for the first time! I opted for the bagel and lox which was delightful.

Mom W. removed the nasty weeds and planted beautiful flowers on our front lawn.

I got over my pie baking fear and made this beauty. Classic blueberry pie! 

Lydia loves her wuelo!

I got a haircut!

Aria and I went to Terhune Orchards in Princeton with the babies (I wish we had taken more pictures) and enjoyed lunch, wine and seeing the animals.

Celebrating Michael's birthday with a BANG. We made grilled lobster (and by "we" Michael killed it and I watched in horror and made the garlic parsley butter), yucca fries with mayo-ketchup sauce, and garlicky sauteed green beans. 

Fun fun. As far as blogging goes, I'm going to try my best to set aside time for writing content on here and will commit to a post once a week... Rather than those irregular posts I've been posting throughout the month. It's not fair to you guys! Once a week doesn't sound like much but I don't wanna put too much on my plate. Hopefully I can eventually commit to twice a week? We shall see my friends...In the meantime I hope you all enjoy the rest of your summer!

Pizza I love you

I've always been a huge fan of pizza and always took it pretty seriously. Pizza is one of those simple comfort foods that are either hit or miss. For me the crust has to be thin and crispy but still have some bubbles, the cheese has to be fully melted and the sauce better not be too salty! The bad news is I can't eat traditional pizza anymore due to lactose intolerance and the grease messes with my tummy in more ways than one… No hard feelings to vegans but I’ve had my share of vegan pizzas and could not get over the funky taste of the vegan cheese alternatives. Sure they melted well, but they were incredibly hard to like and looked + tasted a bit artificial. After failing to love the vegan cheese options I gave up on pizza for a while and didn't think a pizza without cheese would be something I could accept.

But then it hit me, goat cheese is real cheese and it melts too! At the time I had been eating a little goat dairy every now and then because it didn't bother my stomach. It's known to be more tolerable for those with lactose intolerance and comes in butter, hard and soft cheeses, yogurts and milk. (I can write for days how many recipes I've revised with goat dairy but, I will keep it short and keep my focus on pizza!) I don't remember my first experience eating goat cheese pizza but I just remember Michael being with me and we both found it to be the best thing ever. With that said we made our share of hearty tortilla pizza's which consisted of homemade sauce, lentils, goat cheese and basil. We also made a hummus and goat cheese pizza which tasted smashing, and once we open up a café we want to have a tortilla pizza menu.  A few nights ago we made a real winner; the crust we used isn't homemade or a tortilla, it was this brand which I really love. The crust added a real nice crunch, sauce added smoothness, the duck bacon added umami and the basil added color and a nice spicy and sweet flavor. It was my first time trying duck bacon and I was pleasantly surprised by its deliciousness!

Until next time,

Jessica