Spring Sunday Dinner: Duck Confit at Home

Duck confit is such a treat, such a decidedly restaurant-ish treat, that I was nervous our attempt to recreate it at home would fall short.

I'm happy to report that this recipe truly is really easy, and while it's surely still a treat, it's not actually that extravagant. I bought a whole duck, and Peter broke it down into breasts and legs so we had not one, but two fabulous meals! Plus, a ramekin of left over duck fat that I've been slowly rationing out for amazing roasted potatoes. Twenty dollars very well spent.

Spring Sunday Dinner: Duck Confit at Home

• Melissa Clark's really easy duck confit
• Ginger rice with mushrooms, sugar snap peas, and asparagus
• Sugar snap pea and cucumber salad
• Coffee cardamon ice cream (using Jeni's ice cream base, of course - I just added in 1/4 cup of coarse ground coffee and 8 crushed cardamon pods, strained out before churning)

Noanet Woodlands Hike

I've said before that I'm not much of a hiker, but a few weeks ago, I found myself talking Peter into a trip to Noanet Woodlands for a little walk. If I refer to it as a "walk," I feel less intimidated. Ha!

I asked Peter if he would have carved our initials into the tree if we had been dating in high school, and he said, "Ummmm..." Rule following above romance! Peter, if we were dating high school, I would have tagged a barn with our initials. Oh yes, I would!

That's the Boston skyline up there, do you see it?! And those people below had a really impressive picnic with lots of snacks - I was jealous.

We did a three mile loop up to the summit - pretty easy, and really pretty. I'm basically an expert hiker now.

Herb Turkey Meatballs with Goat Cheese and Figs

Happy almost weekend, everyone!

I don't usually cook with ground turkey (I always sort of feel like, what's the point when there's beef?). But this post about herbed turkey meatballs inspired me to try it out. And look at my cute herbs up top - they are just begging to be used in meatballs, no?

Herbed Turkey Meatballs with Goat Cheese and Figs

You will need
1 small onion, roughly chopped
2 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
8 fresh sage leaves
8 large fresh basil leaves
leaves from 4 sprigs of thyme
1/4 cup italian parsley
1 large handful of arugula roughly chopped
1 pound ground turkey
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon coarse sea salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 egg
10 baby bella mushrooms, sliced
2 oz. goat cheese
4-6 dried figs, roughly chopped

Preheat the oven to 350. Combine onion, garlic, herbs, arugula, and olive oil in a food processor until finely chopped. In a bowl, lightly beat the egg, and add the turkey, herbed mixture, and salt and pepper. Use your hand as a claw to combine everything, but don't get too aggressive with it. Form into one inch balls (use an ice cream scooper, if you want), and place on a baking sheet. Bake for 30 minutes.

While the meatballs are cooking, add the mushrooms to a skillet and cook on low heat (no need to add butter or oil - they will slowly release their liquid this way). Shake them around every 5 minutes or so. After about 15 minutes, add the sliced figs and cover until the meatballs are finished.

I served this on polenta, but you could do pasta, quinoa, grits - anything, really. Just put the grain at the bottom, then spoon the mushrooms and figs on top. Then add the meatballs, and add the crumbled goat cheese (feta or blue cheese would also be great, I'm sure). Add a few clips of fresh basil, and you are good to go :)

Berkshires Bathroom: Before and After

Much like my bedroom in the Berkshires, we were very stencil-happy in the upstairs bathroom. After we finished painting the bedroom, my mom and I decided to go ahread and repaint this room the same color for a little continuity (plus, we had extra paint!). They are down the hall from each other, so it's not super matchy-matchy.

Muuuuuuuch better, right? We moved the towel rack to over the toilet, and picked up the shower curtain and bathmat at Home Goods. A quick and easy make-over!

Cinco de Mayo Fish Tacos

Happy Cinco de Mayo, friends! I hope you're having a fun weekend so far. Our Derby party yesterday was a success! We even had some surprise littles in the house, which was such a fun treat. (I think I'm finally over my party hosting fear...)

Cinco de Mayo is admittedly a fake-ish holiday, but we all need an extra excuse for tacos, right? So just in case you're looking for a holiday themed dinner to make, I wanted to share these. Slightly strange ingredient list with the carrots, but it was inspired by this awesome salad.

Throw in a margarita  and you'll be in a full-on celebration mode!

Mahi Mahi Fish Tacos

You will need:
1 lbs Mahi Mahi (I buy pieces of frozen fish at Trader Joe's - perfect for fish tacos!)
3 carrots, sliced on the bias into bite sized pieces
6 scallions, cut into one inch pieces (white and green pieces)
1 lime
1 ripe avocado, cut into one inch pieces
4 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1 large garlic clove
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon thyme
1/2 cup cilantro

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Using a mortar and pestle, combine the olive oil, vinegar, garlic, cumin, thyme, and some salt and pepper. Toss the carrots and scallions in the marinade on a baking sheet, along with half of a lime. Roast 10-15 minutes. Let cool, then squeeze the juice from the roasted lime on top. Gently combine the roasted carrots with the avocado pieces and 1/4 cup of chopped cilantro in a bowl, and set aside.

Heat a pan to medium high heat. Sprinkle the fish with salt and pepper, and cook a little bit of oil, 2-3 minutes per side (depending on the thickness of your fish - mine were thin!). When all the fish is cooked, put it in a bowl and squeeze the juice from the other half of the lime and add the remaining cilantro. Break the fish apart using two forks, until flaky and well-combined.

Serve with rice and warmed tortillas.

Derby Day Party!

(via Life)

I thought it would be fun to invite a few people over to watch the Derby this weekend, and it's expanded into quite a fun group! Here's my menu I'm planning on:

• Mint juleps & honeymoon punch
• Cheeseball, deviled eggs, bacon wrapped dates
• Dill and sweet corn salad
• Radish and grain salad
• Pulled pork & fried chicken (bought fried chicken - I'm not totally insane), with biscuits

I'm not worrying about sweet stuff since a few people have offered to bring desserts (though of course, I always have "emergency" candy on hand, just in case...).

We'll definitely plan on organizing the first betting game listed here, and possibly the second one, too - after that, the math gets confusing. Aaaand I really hope my Target is stocking these cute straws.

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Children's Literature Favorites, Part Two

As promised, here are a few final children's literature favorites. With the exception of The Giver and Part-Time Indian, these were all new to me. And I loved them so! Even Coraline, which I thought I would hate :)

And now I have a few blissful weeks of grown-up reading ahead. I'm going to read this and maybe this. Have you read anything good lately?! Please share!

Springy Stuff I Want to Buy

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Happy Monday, friends!

Here are a few springy items on my wish list. Sometimes you just need do a little fake shopping, no? I actually did buy the top - Real Simple declared it the best striped shirt, and when Martha speaks, I listen. And I spent this gorgeous weekend inside, working on my final paper for my children's literature class, so I felt like I needed a prize for that. Ha! Maybe the bag will be my prize when I get my final grade? I think I could potentially drag this out for a while...

P.S. You know you live in Boston when your spring wish list includes a jacket, scarf, and pants!

Charleston and Savannah Exteriors

I snapped so many pictures of the pretty houses, doors, and window boxes in Savannah and Charleston that I just had to do a separate, picture-heavy post to share them all! The flowers, the colors, wrought iron - I love it so. 

Low Country Trip Notes

This is a completely frivolous post, in light of what's happening in our backyard this morning. But it was a nice distraction to put all my notes together from our recent vacation. Maybe this will serve as a nice distraction to you, too. Thanks to so many of you for calling and writing and texting - we are completely fine, but jittery, like everyone else in the area. XO!

After Nemo struck in February, I was desperate for a vacation. I scoured travel sites looking for an inexpensive flight somewhere - anywhere! - south. Austin, Nashville, and New Orleans were all on my short list, but then I found an incredibly cheap flight to Charleston. Sold!

We flew down to Charleston early Sunday morning, and decided to rent a car and see Savannah, too. We got to Savannah around noon, and met right up with Savannah Bike Tours. The tour was about three hours long, and we got such a great introduction to the city. Highly recommended. Seeing a city by bike is so pleasant and vacation-ish!

We had a quick drink at Moon River Brewing Co. (pretty patio with lights!), and then went to Cotton Exchange Tavern. We had a few fancier meals planned for Charleston, so we wanted something easy and fun. The peel and eat shrimp and fried oysters were fab - actually one of my favorite things we ate the whole trip! After dinner, we went to the Olde Pink House Tavern for a fun drink and listened to the live piano player. Next time we're in the town, I want to come here for a snacky dinner.

The next morning, we headed over to wait in line at a Savannah institution - Mrs. Wilkes. We arrived around 10:45 a.m. and were seated at about 12:30 p.m. - totally worth it! The fried chicken was wonderful, but what really stands out are all the sides. It's almost like Thanksgiving (if your family was able to make the most incredible sweet potatoes, squash casserole, potato salad, corn bread, etc.). We walked around a bit more - pretty squares and gardens around every corner! - then hopped back in the car and drove up to Charleston.

Charleston was love at first site for me. We walked down to the Charleston Waterfront Park, and it was so sunny and warm - after months of winter, it was heavenly. Then we headed to The Gin Joint. Do I need to tell you that this was a serious favorite?! Fantastic cocktails, a great happy hour deal ($5 drinks and a special $5 snack), and a lovely patio space underneath a kumquat (?) tree. LOVE.

Monday was Peter's 30th birthday, and I had made reservations at FIG about a month before. They were so wonderful to us! Every thing was delightful, from the first sip of prosecco to the last bite of sorghum cake (with a candle!). If you want a fancy dinner in Charleston, this is a great pick. After dinner we went to Blind Tiger to hear a bit of music.

The next morning, we grabbed coffee at Gaulart & Maliclet (French pressed coffee to go!), and did a self-guided walking tour through town, popping into churches and graveyards and shops along the way.

We popped over to Husk just to check it out, and were happily able to walk-in for lunch. The dining room is lovely and airy, and it was great to be able to try the amazing food here. Peter had a shrimp and grits dish, and I had a smoked meat sandwich (sort of a Southern-style Reuben) - yum.

Peter needed to earn his history teacher gold star with a trip out to Fort Sumter. The ferry ride is really fun - great views of the city from the water, and then you're on the island for about an hour before it goes back again. It was nicely done, and I learned a lot, but I might recommend something else if you aren't really into Civil War history ;) We had dinner in the window bar at Pearlz, and ended the night with a drink at the Rooftop Bar.

The next morning, Peter indulged my strange college visiting habit with a trek up to the College of Charleston. Such a beautiful campus! We walked down King Street, and then went back to the waterfront to visit the Edmondston-Alston House. The photo above is in the gorgeous courtyard. I loved this place - it was amazing to see inside one of the beautiful old homes after walking by so many.

For our last vacation meal, we popped into Magnolias - another beautiful spot. This is hardly a novel travel tip, but going to the best restaurants in town is far more doable for lunch instead of dinner! This time I got seafood and grits, and Peter had a fried green tomato BLT. I went to Charleston Cooks for a bag of grits to take home and stopped at River Street Sweets for a praline before we headed to the airport. 

Low country, I miss you already!