I’m stealing a little idea from my oh-so-amazing client Amy of Evy’s Tree, who does a ‘Food Friday’ column on her blog… so today is our first Food Friday. Yay!!

Today I’m sharing a recipe that is on heavy rotation in our household… roasted parmesan and garlic broccoli. It is one of the best things you’ll ever eat. Seriously. I know, you’re sitting there, thinking to yourself ‘what? no way. it’s broccoli. it can’t be that great. i’ve had broccoli, and…. meh???’ But I promise, try this recipe and you will change your tune. It was even able to convert my mom into a broccoli eater (she wouldn’t TOUCH it before this…).

The other good thing about this recipe is it’s super easy, and you can sort of wing it (I’m not a very precise cook, so that’s a plus for me!) Oh, and it only takes about 4 ingredients, which is awesome too. And I guess it’s pretty healthy (it IS a vegetable, after all…).

So here goes:

Ingredients: A few broccoli crowns, 2-3 garlic cloves, olive oil, 1/3-1/2 cup parmesan cheese, a lemon

Preheat your oven to 425 (side note, I have also cooked this at 400, 375 and even 350 when I’ve had other things in the oven at the same time, and it works ok at those temps too. It just needs to cook a bit longer… see? Told you I’m not real precise:)

Cut up a big bunch of broccoli, enough to fill a glass 9×14 or so glass baking dish. And cut up more than you think you need, because this stuff shrinks when you cook it. You’ll end up with roughly 2/3 of what you started with. You can cut them as small as you like, but I don’t worry about getting them too small, since they shrink and get nice and soft when you cook them.

Also mince up your 2 or 3 garlic cloves.

Put the garlic and broccoli in your baking dish and drizzle with olive oil. You want to pretty well cover everything, and give it a little shake to spread it evenly. Give a generous sprinkle of salt and pepper.

Bake for 40-45 minutes. (I check it once about halfway through and give it another shake to stir it all up… I don’t know if this is necessary, but it makes me feel better:) You want to let it cook until the broccoli tips start to get nice and brown- I like it when it’s really getting crispy, but at least let it get good and caramelized before you take it out.

Once it’s out, sprinkle about 1/3 -1/2 cup (or more, if you’re a cheese fiend like me) of shredded parmesan cheese and stir to melt the cheese. Then squeeze the juice of half a lemon over the top.

And that’s it! It’s super delicious… sometimes we eat just this for dinner. And, another side note, I’ve done the same recipe with cauliflower, butternut squash and brussels sprouts, all of which are really good, but the broccoli is my favorite.

I found the recipe here (that is also their photo above, not mine…), and it’s adapted from a Barefoot Contessa recipe as well…. credit where credit is due!!

Well, after nearly a year of ‘downsized’ living (including two of us living/working from my old bedroom at my parents’ house, living in my family’s motel, etc.) we finally have a house again! This last year has been quite an experience… moving back to the Outer Banks, T starting his business, becoming landlords, learning how to evict someone (not fun, in case you’re wondering), starting my new side business etc. etc….(and you wonder why my blogging fell by the wayside??:)

Anyway, lots of changes, many good, some challenging, but I’m ready to feel more permanent again, so I’m super excited about the house we found! And it gives my inner interior design junkie something to stay up nights stewing over…window treatments? new furniture projects? how to cover up those hideous lights hanging over our new bar? Last night I finally even dove into my new design*sponge book and loved it (instead of feeling moderately depressed about living in a bedroom:) And I have a feeling my pinterest addiction may have just jumped up a notch…

Promise that I will post house photos soon; but until then, just a couple of gorgeous interiors that I’ve been drooling over in hopes that my new place will eventually be as cool and put-together as these…

From the brick house

From this design sponge tour (loving that floor…)

Isn’t that brick wall killer?? From over here

Apparently I have a thing for gray and white bed linens. (Although that probably shouldn’t come as a shock…). And I also have a thing for stripes (again, no surprise there!) Although I LOVE my current bedding setup (also gray and white:) , I really really adore this striped duvet from west elm.

And the room too, by the way. It’s sort of beach and comfy, but modern and clean at the same time… One day in the hopefully not-to-distant future when I have a house again, these may be making an appearance.

I’m feeling inspired lately by all kinds of vintage banners, tags and flags….especially love that typewriter lettering!

natural, texture-iffic giftwrap goodness from design*sponge

a festive mood, all from 100 Layer Cake

love everything about these seating tags…and the photo. also from 100 Layer Cake

an unexpected bathroom bunting…(still lovin’ yellow!) from design*sponge

more beautiful wedding pieces, from where else? 100 Layer Cake (isn’t that ‘menu’ type gorgeous??)

I’m headed to our family’s beach cottage this weekend for a little getaway…so excited to relax on the screen porch with a fruity cocktail:)

hope you all have a lovely weekend!

First, an obsession: Screen printed pieces. I love the graphic-ness, the slight irregularity, the simplicity…

Now, a confession: I took screen printing in college and hated it. I’m generally not a big fan of projects with a time-intensive setup and cleanup, and screen printing is that to a T. BUT, I have really wanted to try it again (my thinking is that being able to do it from home, and not having to spend  4 hours of my Saturday in the art building at school will help my outlook…) and I got a basic screen printing kit for Christmas this year! Confession #2: it’s still in the box. But, since we just moved, I’m hoping that our new place will allow me some space to set up a little area to try this thing again… I will keep you posted!

In the meantime, I wanted to share some screen printed art from Bee Things, who I love. I received this Terns print for Christmas:

And here are some more of their prints- love them!!

I wanted to share my newest web design for Pirate’s Life Charters. It was a lot of fun doing the pen and ink drawings for the site; I have an art background, but it’s not often that I actually get to tear myself away from the computer and do something non-digital!

Ok, I rented ‘Going the Distance’ last night…. movie was ok, had some funny spots (I do have a soft spot for Charlie from It’s Always Sunny, but that’s neither here nor there…). But I completely fell in love with the graphics from the opening sequence. Super fresh, collage-y, fun, vintage-inspired: I loved it so much I took a bunch of pics of the screen (yes, I am a nerd, and I am sorry for the picture quality, but you get the idea…)

So, while the movie was so-so, if you’re like me and can get excited about typefaces and colors as much as you do plot and characters you may want to check it out… it’s at least worth the $1 Redbox fee…. Enjoy!

We were recently asked to design a website for a really amazing new restaurant on the Outer Banks of NC. The Brine and Bottle is a really unique space, with a beautiful salvaged barn wood-paneled bar, an actual record player with tons of vinyl, and tasty beer (and wine, although I’m more of a beer gal…) that’s served in mason jars. Yup, jars… how cool??  Then there’s the food……(oh the food) small plates of southern cuisine with a creative spin. Think shrimp and grits, artisan cheese plates, deviled eggs and bacon jam (sounds weird but is truly amazing!). They do all their own preserving, and sell these pickled vegetables and the bacon jam as well.

So anyway, now that I’m starving…. The site was a really fun project to work on, with lots of texture and images. We really wanted to capture the feeling of being at The Brine and Bottle. Check it out,(here’s the link) and if you’re ever in Nags Head make sure you stop by for a drink and some of that bacon jam:)

Michael McCarthy, Say Goodbye to the Cuckoo

James Welling, Flowers

I have seen two totally unrelated book covers in the past day that I loved…. snapped the first pic in Books a Million last night (sorry for the poor quality…iphone pic:) The second I saw during a catchup session in my google reader this morning…. Although very different styles, I love both designs.