Thanks to Kellogg’s for sponsoring this post.
Salmon Tzatziki Canapés
Remember that time I was Ina Garten’s BFF? Well, the time I was invited to her house for a cookie swap, anyway. It was basically the coolest thing that’s ever happened to me. And the one thing I wanted to ask her was how she manages to host a million dinners and cocktail parties and breakfasts without breaking a sweat, all in a gorgeous white blouse without so much as a hair out of place. Right?! She’s magical.
Giant Skillet Lemon Sugar Cookie
Nothing makes me more hopeful and more determined (and in some ways, more frustrated) than listening to my 13- and 14-year-old students put on their heavy armor at such a young age. The other day I was grading tests with a few girls in my room during lunch. They had a Taylor Swift song playing in the background and we were chatting about the music video when one of them said wistfully, “She’s so pretty.”
I walk a careful line at this juncture. Even after years of reading, thinking, learning, feeling, it’s still a tightrope.
Brownie Blackout Mousse Cake
I wrote this post as part of the Plugrá Butter Brigade. Thanks, Plugrá, for sponsoring this chocolatey amazingness and for making my favorite butter!
Let’s talk COFFEE. I need advice.
To preface, I’m new at this whole coffee thing. I started drinking coffee in May because I was in Europe with a group of 9th graders and absolutely exhausted (I know, poor me! Gallivanting around Italy with all expenses paid! Tiny violin.) It also just seemed to be the European thing to do, right? To sip a cup of strong espresso alongside my breakfast of hard boiled eggs and cheese. And I’m nothing if not très European (just ask the waiter who tried his hardest not to laugh at my French-with-a-Southern-accent.)
Anyhow, I’m hooked now. But I’m also clueless.
Salmon Tacos with Cilantro-Lime Slaw
This post is going to be a midweek sob fest, so let me reassure you before we begin: there’s a taco recipe at the end! And the tacos are super quick and so delicious that Mike and I have eaten them for dinner four nights in a row! It’s all gonna be okay!
Now for the depressing story. I love Susie’s Senior Dogs, an organization that advertises senior rescue dogs on social media to increase their chances of getting adopted. Yesterday they shared Kooper, a deformed dog with many health issues at the overwhelmed and underfunded high-kill Miami-Dade Animal Shelter. Kooper immediately won my heart because of how sweet he seemed despite his unhappy circumstances.
Lemon Cheesecake Kuchen Bars
My 9th graders complete a year-long travel project where they research and plan a trip to three European cities, embark on an in-depth study of travel writing, and then actually take their trip and travel write for themselves. It’s an incredible capstone project for their last year at our school, which currently ends at 9th grade.
This year they’ve chosen to travel to Barcelona, Venice, and Florence. Last year’s group also chose Florence (along with Rome and Paris), so this will be my second time there. I’m tremendously grateful that this year’s group is taking me back, because I have a loose end to tie up: I have to climb Il Duomo.
