Leftover tortillas = baked tortilla chips

I'm not sure why I haven't thought to do this before, it's so easy to make tortilla chips at home. If you're anything like me you have tortillas on the counter or in the fridge all the time. Yesterday I noticed I had 2 cilantro-jalapeno tortillas, a couple regular and a few wheat tortillas hanging around. So I cut them up into little pizza-like slices, brushed olive oil on both sides and sprinkled salt on them. I stuck them on a cookie sheet in a pre-heated 400 degree oven for five minutes on each side and there you go, homemade tortilla chips! 

Vintage Octochair - Rehabilitated

I found this chair at an antique store in CenPho. As you can see it had a pretty hideous covering on it when I got it, but I loved the lines and the octagonal shape. After some serious sanding, a couple coats of stain, and then searching high and low for the perfect fabric, I ended up with a beautiful little accent chair. 

My Pattern Obsession

Since I've started my new hobby, refurbishing furniture, I've become even more obsessed with patterns, I love patterns. I went on a pattern hunt the other day, literally, went to 3 different stores to find the right one. It is a little overwhelming, I think Joann Fabric has about 100 thousand sample fabrics to choose from, but, I've managed to narrowed it down to three. The new chair I'm working on is a retro 60's octagonal-shaped chair, so I think it's important to have a retro geometric pattern to keep the feel, but not too overwhelming. I'll post it up when it's finished, but until then, here are some fun swatches to check out...

OVO Party

I was invited to OVO's anniversary party last week. They do really nice work, thanks for the portfolio book guys, it turned out very nice.

Redesigning Christmas

I was listening to archives of one of my favorite NPR shows this morning, Studio 360. One of the topics (since the show was from Dec. 5, 08) was to redesign Christmas. Kurt Andersen (host) asked the design firm Pentagram to re-brand the holiday. One of the first things Michael Bierut at Pentagram suggested is to get rid of green and red, yes! The official color of Christmas will be white, and shades of white. That's what I usually try to stick to when doing Christmas-related design, and am happy to have some backup!















Here is the podcast, it's a fun listen, whether or not you agree.

Sneak Peek Wedding Pics

Diana sent me some of the wedding pics, they are looking gorgeous. Here is a little sneak peek, the rest should be posted by tomorrow, I'll send a link out!

PAPERSHAPERS

Did anyone catch the PAPERSHAPERS exhibit in LA that just ended? Well, it was put on by Scion and GiantRobot. It looked really cool, here are some of the submissions I found that I thought were inspirational.

Layers of intricate xacto-knifing, Hunter Stabler has some pretty amazing paper work.






















There is a special place in my heart for these little miniature buildings by Ana Serrano. My college roomate was an artist who made miniature ceramic buildings and furniture, we always had them around the house. I love the satellite dish, nice touch.

My favorite new cookbook

I was at Barnes and Nobel the other day looking for a baking book and while searching through the aisles of cookbooks, this one caught my attention. I picked it up, loved the feel of it, it is a lot lighter than you would think. The cover is a creamy linen, so it makes it feel really down home. I love the layout, styling and the way it's organized by seasons. The content it really nice as well, he not only gives you recipes, but explains how to grow some of the ingredients. The wood-cut graphics add to the organic feel of the book and the photography fits in perfectly.

By the way, the book was $40 at BnN, but I found it on Amazon for 15 bucks.

1954 Vintage Chair - Rehabilitated

I like to take old ordinary things and give them new life.

I found this old chair at an antique shop in downtown Phoenix, originally built in 1954, it's obviously been very used. It took quite a few hours to complete this guy, mostly sanding all the previous paint and crud off. I stained it with an ebony stain, replaced the cushion fabric and spray painted the metal plates on the feet, that were gold, silver.

I reupholstered a chair like ten years ago, all I had then was a staple gun, I have since acquired a few more tools and skillz. Here are some of the tools I had for this project...

Yummy Low-Fat & High-Protien Turkey Chili

This chili is savory, flavorful, low-fat and healthy, but you can't really
tell how good it is for you. If you're not concerned about those types
of things, you could garnish with cheese, sour cream and top with
tortilla chips (I recommend Tostidos multigrain chips).


















Ingredients:
1 tbsp olive oil
1 yellow onion - chopped
4 garlic cloves - thinly sliced
1 can mixed beans (kidney, pinto, black beans) drained
1 can diced roasted tomatoes
1 lb ground turkey
1 adobo chili - chopped
1 c chicken stock
1 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp cumin
1 bay leaf
salt and pepper to taste

Heat the olive oil for a minute or two add the onion and garlic and "sweat" for a few minutes. Then add chipotle chilis after a few minutes to add heat and smokiness (use more or less depending on what you like, can eliminate it completely if you want). When the onions and garlic are looking translucent add the ground turkey and cook through, using the back of a large mixing spoon to ground the turkey into small pieces, to cook faster.

When the turkey is looking about done, add cinnamon, cumin, salt n' pepper. Add chicken stock, to your liking, I kept it at about a cup to a cup and a half to keep it from being too watery. Add drained tomatoes and drained beans, toss in a bay leaf and let simmer for 20-30 minutes. Finished!

Garnishing options:
Cilantro
Cheese
Sour Cream
Tortilla Chips

Fresh Little Black Bean Chicken Cilantro Salad

So fresh and so green.



















Ingredients:

1 grilled chicken breast
1 15 oz can of black beans (drained)
1 8 oz can of yellow corn (drained)
1/8 c chopped up red onions
1 small chipotle chile
1/4 c cilantro chopped up
salt and pepper to taste
2-3 dashes of red wine vinegar also to taste

This is so easy, do I even need to explain? Okay, well put some sort of dry rub on the chicken breast, at the least, salt, pepper and some ground cumin, pound out the chicken breast and grill. Let cool and cut into little chunks. Combine the first 7 ingredients together (everything but salt, pepper, red wine vinegar), then add salt, pepper and red wine vinegar to taste.

Eat this little salad solo, or stick it in a tortilla with cheese, salsa and sour cream.

Makes 2 servings.

Homemade Strawberry Lemonade

Could the weather be any more perfect for strawberry lemonade? Strawberries and lemons are in season, and are super cheap, the only other ingredients you need are sugar aaaand club soda, for some fizz!

What you need:
1 c fresh squeezed lemon juice (4-5 lemons depending on the size)
2 c quartered strawberries (cut out the white middle too)
1 c sugar
2 c water
1 tbsp lemon shavings
1 can club soda
1 shot of citrus vodka (optional)

Start by boiling the water, add all of the sugar, then reduce the heat and simmer until the sugar is totally dissolved, then add the lemon juice (strained) and lemon shavings. Remove from heat and let cool.

Cut up the strawberries, blender them until smooth. Also stick in the fridge to cool.

Once everything is cooled down, combine the strawberry puree and the lemon juice concoction together in a pitcher, and add your can of club soda. Pour over ice in a glass, garnish with strawberries or lemon wheels and enjoy!

This recipe also makes a great cocktail, I suggest citrus vodka.

Super Easy And Scrumptious Chicken Chipotle Salad

What you'll need...

Salad:
1 chicken breast (grilled and cubed)
4 c. of butter or bibb lettuce (you can also use romaine)
1 c. cherry tomatoes - halved
9 oz can of corn - drained
15 oz can of black beans - drained
1/3 c. chopped up red onion
1 avocado diced
ground pepper to taste
salt to taste

Dressing:
2/3 c. light sour cream
1/3 c. chopped cilantro
4 tbsp. lime juice
1 chipotle pepper - chopped up
1 tsp. cumin
1 tsp. chili powder
pinch of salt

Okay, so mix all the salad stuff together. Mix the dressing stuff together.
Mix the dressing into the salad. Serve.

See, easy.

P.S. The dressing makes a lot, so add it a little at a time until it's to your desired dressingness.

I Finally Made Eggs Benedict And Didn't Completely Screw It Up!

Our favorite brunch spot for Eggs Benedict closed a couple weeks ago, so I thought I'd try my hand at it. At first I just made poached eggs with some english muffins. The next time I tried it out I added the canadian bacon and hollandaise sauce, but he sauce didn't turn out quite right.
I had the heat up a little too high and accidentally cooked the yolks, oops. Sooo, I tried again today and it was a success!
























It is a bit time consuming, but hopefully after making it a couple more times, the process will become a little smoother.

Some of the utensils you'll need are a big pot to make the poached eggs, a little frying pan to heat up the bacon, a stainless steel bowl and a saucepan to simmer some water for the sauce, a couple ramekins for egg poaching and a whisk.

The ingredients you'll need are pretty simplistic (makes 8 little benedicts):
4 egg yolks
8 eggs
1 tbsp. freshly squeezed lemon
1/2 c. unsalted butter, melted (1 stick)
pinch cayenne
pinch salt
8 slices of canadian bacon
4 english muffins
1/4 c. white vinegar (poaches the egg faster so it doesn't spread in the water)

I started out by making the hollandaise sauce. First melt the butter in the microwave, then start the sauce by separating the egg yolk, over a bowl crack the egg in half and go back and forth with the yolk until the egg whites have fallen off the yolk into the bowl and add the yolks to the stainless steel bowl.










Whisk the egg yolks and lemon juice together until fluffy then move over to the saucepan with simmering water (not boiling). Whisk in the stainless steel bowl vigorously over the simmering saucepan and slowly add melted butter until nice and frothy. Remove from heat and whisk in salt and cayenne pepper. When the sauce is it done, you can keep it warm for a half an hour and even then if it starts to thicken, just whisk in a couple drops of warm water.












Now for the rest of the eggs benedict. Poaching eggs is waaay easier than I thought it was going to be. Get your big pot boiling, add 1/4 c. white wine., not crazy boiling, just a good amount of bubbles. Put an egg in each ramekin and slowly slide into the water. I wouldn't cook more than two at a time. After about a minute and a half, if they need to be reshaped, use a slotted spoon to shape it back together, cook another 2-3 minutes depending on how runny you like your yolk, four minutes if you like it hard. Start toasting the english muffins, and heating up the bacon now, so everything comes together at the same time. Set eggs on a towl as they come out, cause they will be really wet when they come out.

Get ready for plating; muffin, bacon, egg and then topped with hollandaise sauce. Next time I think I'll try adding some chipotle peppers to the sauce!

Southwestern Spicy Chicken Stew

Last night we made a nice n' healthy stew, with a little kick. It's super easy, pretty much just throw a bunch of stuff in a pot and garnish. This is easy to alter too if you don't like something in it, it's not a big deal to omit some of the ingredients, or add something (maybe some green chilis? I've done that before too) you can pretty much adjust to your liking.

This makes a pretty good amount of stew. Two people could probably eat for dinner and lunch the next day.
















2 chicken breasts - grilled & shredded
1 yellow onion - chopped
1 zucchini - cubed
1 red bell pepper - roasted under the broiler, deseeded and skinned
3 c. chicken stock
1-2 garlic cloves - minced
1 cup grilled (preferred) or canned corn
28 oz. can of diced tomatoes (drained)
1 small can of tomato paste
1 adobo chili (find in the mexican food isle) - chopped up
1 tsp. fresh ground pepper
salt to taste
bay leaf
1 tsp. cinnamon
2 grilled chicken brests
cubed or shredded cheese
tortilla chips
Cilanto - minced


In a large pot add the chopped onions and minced garlic to some olive oil and sweat them for about five minutes. Add 2 cups of chicken stock, zucchini, corn, tomatoes and paste, roasted bell pepper, adobo chili, salt, pepper, bay leaf and cinnamon. Add more chicken stock if needed. Bring to a boil then reduce to simmer for 20 minutes.

Put a dry rub on the chicken and grill it while the pot is stewing. Cube the chicken add to the stew and serve! Add some cheese, cilantro and tortilla chips on top. You could also garnish with sour cream or chopped up red onions.