Best (And Easiest!) Ever Piña Colada Cake

Friendships were much easier to come by when I was younger.  It seems like the older I get the more I have acquaintances rather than friends- and that kind of makes me sad.

Well...lets be honest...the part of me that likes hanging out in my PJ pants with my family and not making plans is ok with it for the most part.

But having friends to laugh and talk to is important too.

My husband may be my best friend, but sometimes I need some girl talk and a cheese plate!

Anyway, I've been working on fostering friendships- I'm well aware of the fact that like any relationship friendships require intentional attention.

Let me just say guys...while I may not have the wide group of friends I had in my youth the friends I do have are pretty freaking spectacular.

I am blessed.

Easy and Flavorful Homemade Cherry Jam

I can't believe how cheap cherries have been lately and I have been taking full advantage and buying huge amounts of them.

HUGE amounts.

I mentioned this obsession over a month ago and it has definitely continued.  I jokingly referred to myself as "Cherry Belly" after stuffing myself silly with them one day and my son thought it was so funny he just refuses to let it go and keeps sneaking it in and giggling.

"Ok Cherry Belly, heeheehee..."

Anyway.  Lots of cherries around here.

I finally did end up hitting my cherry wall- I just couldn't eat another one.  I still had a full bag of cherries left that I didn't want to go to waste and I wasn't sure what to do with it.  I didn't really want to make a dessert that my daughter wouldn't eat and my husband would have to eat by himself (I really wasn't up for eating any more cherries).

What was I to do....

Sheet Pan Shrimp Fajitas

When my parents came to visit last month I tried to menu plan and I ended up with 5 pounds of shrimp in my freezer for various dishes I intended to make.

And then didn't.

Oops.

So yeah.  Five pounds of shrimp.

Had to do something about that.

I used some of them making a batch of Fresh Vietnamese Spring Rolls last week, a pound of them last night in the Flounder Mediterranean- yet I still have more.

What to do, what to do...

Sheet Pan Shrimp Fajitas, that's what.

Flounder Mediterranean- Best. Fish. Ever.

I have a backlog of so many recipes to write about that I've made lately that just keeps growing.  With school back in session for the kids and about to start for me life has been a little hectic and I seem to be falling a little behind with the blog.

lol I'll be taking 17 credit hours this semester, sooo...my guess is there will be more of that in the coming months- just a heads up.  :-)

I've had my eye on this recipe for awhile and just hadn't gotten around to making it.  You know that generally speaking I don't care a great deal for meat but seafood is another story- I definitely have pescatarian leanings.

This dish starts with a sauce made from fresh tomatoes, and is packed with the most amazing flavors- onion, garlic, capers, kalamata olives, and more.  It smells AMAZING while it's cooking, seriously just super fragrant.  I love that this dish is done- start to finish- in about 45 minutes yet it really is a dish that I'd be proud to serve at a dinner party.

Sriracha Honey Pizza And Memories of Doogie Howser

Do you remember those old episodes of Doogie Howser that always ended with his typed diary?

I totally just had a Doogie Howser flashback moment a second ago as I stared at the blinking cursor on this blank screen and tried to decide what to write.

I started once.

And deleted.

I started a second time.

And deleted.

Then I just sat here and stared at this blinking cursor and somehow came to the conclusion that the best tie-in to today's recipe was a childhood memory of Neil Patrick Harris.

I dunno, your guess is as good as mine when it comes to my thought process on that one.

It's been a long day of eating my kids' favorite pizza (hello elliptical tomorrow) and working up the energy to get in the pool.

I know...woe is me.

Oatmeal Sourdough Rolls and Learning New Tricks

This weekend I was talking to my sister-in-law about our mutual love of sourdough bread.

Not just any sourdough, though- the really tangy good stuff that lives up to its name.

The stuff I really haven't had outside of California, to be honest.

Crusty, chewy, air hole-filled, sour sourdough bread.

For all of middle school my lunch consisted of a turkey breast sandwich on sliced San Luis Sourdough bread with yellow mustard and a Snapple Peach Iced Tea.

Every day.  Because perfection.

Anyway, never having baked sourdough bread myself I really don't know what it is that makes most commercially produced sourdoughs outside of California so different from what I grew up with- I mean, of course there's a difference in yeast.  There's probably also a desire to tone down the flavor for a larger audience?  I don't know.

Chicken Noodle Soup (In Which I Protest Fall)

I refuse to believe that Fall will be here soon.

I'm protesting.

Do you hear me?

PROTESTING.

I will use up every last day in our pool before the weather gets cool.

I will continue to make ice cream and grill out and make warm weather food.

I literally don't own a pair of pants that fits me right now as I lost weight over the summer and I'm just flat out refusing to buy any until the weather is actually cold.

Do you hear me?  Jeans and Chucks may be my cool-weather uniform but I'm not giving in and admitting defeat and to the end of summer just yet.

While I'm normally starting to get just a wee bit excited about blog planning for Fall meals and cool-weather treats by this time in the summer I'm just not there yet.

Not at all.

Yet...today I made chicken noodle soup for dinner.

Fresh Vietnamese Spring Rolls and A Very Old Picture

I've spent today scrubbing my house and cleaning it top to bottom, doing laundry, and trying to get back into the swing of things around here following a long visit from my parents.  The floors have been mopped, the carpets vacuumed, the counters scrubbed, the bedding changed, the laundry is in the process of being washed.  We've definitely spent more time off enjoying each other and having fun over the last couple of weeks than we have staying on top of housework!

It's so hard to believe that summer break is coming to a close, first for the kids and then for me as I'm actually headed back to school myself this semester after a long....loooooooong...break from college. You may have noticed, as some have asked me about, that my Etsy shop is on vacation and the link at the top of the blog has vanished- lets just say that between family and school there probably won't be much time for popcorn-making anytime soon!

I've tried to make the most out of this summer before school craziness consumes us.

I think I've done ok.  :-)