Polished Wednesdays: How to Polish Silver

I'm just kidding.  I don't know how to polish silver, but judging by the comments on the many pins I've seen - it must be a pain in the butt.

This is actually a simple recipe* for an easy salad (that your guests will be sure to polish off - did you see what I did there? #nerdalert)  My sister made it for us when we went to see her for our fun Wax Museum date, and I fell in love with the taste and its' simplicity.  I always ask for dressing on the side not because I'm watching my weight, but because most places tend to have a "would you like salad with that dressing" ratio than a "would you like dressing with that salad" one.  In fact, whoever is in charge of determining the ratios of ingredients to dressing should probably be fired.  End rant.  Oh wait, I forgot to tell you the part where I hate balsamic vinegar, and thusly all vinaigrette's) another reason I love this recipe. So, without further ado.....

Spinach and Strawberry Salad with Olive Oil dressing**

Salad:

2 Cups spinach
1 handful of strawberries, sliced (or 5 handfuls, depending on how well you like strawberries lol)
1 handful of cashews, chopped (see above)

Dressing:

1 T olive oil
1 pinch dried basil
2 turns of the pepper mill
1 pinch of salt
A little less than half of a lemon or lime, squeezed (of course)

Stir dressing ingredients together with a fork, drizzle over spinach (you did put the spinach in a bowl, right?, toss (the salad.)  Top with strawberries and chopped cashews.  Eat it.

*I'm not a professional chef, cook or baker.  I am however, a professional suburbanite who watches every season of Top Chef, loves eating food, and loves this salad recipe.

**Recipe adapted from Loren Cordain's The Paleo Diet Cookbook, copyright 2011

Perfect Fridays: Apple Pie

I'm not a pastry chef.  I'm not a baker, not a cooker; I'm just a girl who loves a good dessert.  The Dr (my little brother, recently graduated and returned home) invited us over for a BBQ.  If you ever get the chance to meet The Dr, you will understand how this all came about.  He's fun, he's adventurous, and when he gets an idea in his head, there is no stopping him.  We planned the menu (he decided to grill one of every single kind of meat - in every cut as well - in existence.)  We had salmon, lamb, four different types of steak, and glazed carrots (and some others I'm sure I am forgetting!)  My contributions were black bean chipotle burgers and the dessert.  Remember when I said I wasn't a cook?  I mistakenly thought I could use half a can of chipotle peppers in my burgers..........people bravely ate it (saved by the Lamb sauce, sigh.)  I threw mine away.  Lesson learned.

The Apple Pies though.......(capitalized to show my deference and pride in creating, lol!)

Triple P Apple Pie

8  apples, washed and dried, room temperature
1  lemon

½ C brown sugar*

½ C walnuts*, finely chopped
2  tsp cinnamon

½ oats*, chopped

4  T butter, cut into small pieces

Combine the sugar, nuts, cinnamon and oats in bowl and mix thoroughly.  Cut-in butter pieces.  Being sure not to puncture the bottom of the apple, core the center and make a nice little space for the filling.  Squeeze a little bit of lemon juice over/in each apple.  I don't have a melon baller, so I used my Pampered Chef grapefruit knife and a spoon.  Fill the apples to the brim with filling, place on baking sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 30-45 minutes (depending on the tenderness of the apples.)  I grilled mine (laying down a piece of foil), at approximately 350 degrees for about 20 minutes.

*I used ½ cup coconut sugar instead of brown sugar the second time around - it worked well.

*My favorite is pecans. After all, no one has ever heard of Walnut Pie.......

*Oats are optional, of course

Feel Good Wednesday: A Recipe (sorta.)

For Mother's Day, The Mr bought us me a brand-spanking-uber-wattage-recipe-book-included tool blender.  There really isn't anything it can't do (but I like to baby it, lol!)  But this post isn't about my blender.  This post is about the drink.

Years ago, while honeymooning in Rome, we became acquainted with "Bubbles, or no bubble?"  One "bubble" for me, please.  One of my favorites (the other is sparkling pink lemonade) is homemade, fresh-as-can-be ginger-ale.  While the recipe is not mine to share (don't want to get into any trademarking trouble,) I can tell you that it's super simple with just four ingredients (plus the Sparkling; I might try the lemon sparkling water next time!)

How do you treat yourself on Hump-day?

*This post brought to you in part by Ozarka Sparkling Natural Springwater

TripleP in the Kitchen

Join Dine & Dish and Cookin’ Canuck for the California Avocado 4th of July Blast, 

sponsored by the California Avocado Commission.

Baked Avocado Fries

(adapted from this recipe, which was adapted from that recipe, which was adapted.......)

Source: morethanmary.com via Erin on Pinterest

¼ C all-purpose flour

1 tsp salt

2 large eggs, beaten

1 ¼ C Italian Seasoned bread crumbs

2 perfectly ripe California Avocados, pitted, peeled and sliced into wedges

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees (Fahrenheit.)

Dredge the avocado wedges in the flour (coat them real well,) dredge in beaten egg (coat them real well, again,) and then dredge them in the bread crumbs (you got the real well part, right?)  Lay on a baking sheet (I rubbed a little bit of olive oil on my pan.)  Sprinkle a little bit of salt over the wedges, and then lightly sprinkle olive oil over them (I placed my finger over the opening to "sprinkle" because I'm fancy like that. Haha.)  Bake for about 15-20 minutes (Mine were almost burnt at 18 minutes.)  Take them out of the oven.  Eat them.  I forgot to take pictures.

Even my children ate them.  That is a miracle.

Have you ever watched the Food Network (or Cooking Channel) and they have those awesome videos of the food bubbling up in the hot oven? No?

My kitchen is one of the most well-used areas of our home.  I spend a lot of time cooking, cleaning, baking, cleaning, hanging out, cleaning, playing games, cleaning, entertaining and more cleaning in my kitchen.

Top, Old Navy.  Pants, JCrew.  Necklace, Forever21.  Bracelets, thrifted (similar here) and Target.

I read an article the other day about bloggers appearing to be perfect (sorry, I can't find it or I would link to it - it was a good article!)  I know, I know.  I even use the word in the title of my blog.  I know I am not perfect.  The title of my blog is about what I wish I was, what I am always seeking and what I love; it is my search for all things pretty, polished, and otherwise perfect.  I've got a number of photographs that are far from pretty, my dishwasher could use a good polishing and look!  My kitchen isn't perfect:

Did I mention I spend a lot of time in the kitchen.......cleaning?