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Food, Recipes

Pumpkin Bread Pudding

December 6, 2016
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So, I know what you’re gonna say – it’s Christmastime…she’s a little late for a pumpkiny posts! Well – pish posh! Yes, I’m a little late, but it IS technically still fall, and let’s be real here – I keep eating pumpkiny things all the way through Christmas! 🙂

So, this recipe is one I’ve been making for the past few years, and I absolutely love it. It all started when my friend and I ordered pumpkin bread pudding at a restaurant near us that we LOVE called Westside Tavern – they do this ridiculously decadent dessert the best (in my opinion) way possible: served steamy and hot, with a yummy salted caramel sauce and big scoop of cinnamon ice cream on top. I can still remember those first bites…mmmm! Eating this just warms you up from the inside out, and just tastes like heaven on a spoon!

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Featured, Food, General, Recipes

Spiced Nuts

August 29, 2016
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Well, we’re coming up on close to a year now, since I wrote part one of this post – and in another couple of months, it’ll have been a year since I’ve posted at all. I took a little time off from blogging – because well, I let life get in the way, to put it most simply. A lot has happened over the last year – some good, some bad – but mostly good. And the bad is ok because, in the end, it has mostly turned to good because it has helped me to grow – helped me become stronger, and to be the woman I am today. But that’s all apart of life, right? A string of experiences that shape us and mold us, and that give us opportunities to either grow and learn, or fall and ignore those opportunities. I prefer the former though – how about you?

But I’m back! And I’m so excited to be! I know I left you all on the edge of your seats, with an unanswered question…what should I put in those awesome Fido mason jars that I got?

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Featured, LA, Music

The Bluegrass Situation

October 20, 2015
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Corn hole. BBQ. Beer. Good music. My favorite LA music venue. This is what the 5th annual The Bluegrass Situation festival, hosted by the Greek Theater this year, encompassed. The festivities of Saturday, October 3rd were a great way to say farewell to summer. I went to the second day of the two-day event that was last year’s LA Bluegrass Situation. Although it was a lot of fun, it was held at an indoor theater, which wasn’t quite as conducive to the fun things that this years’ festival offered.

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Featured, Food, Recipes

Peanut Butter Banana Bread

October 4, 2015
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I am a sucker for pastries – all kinds…breads, muffins, croissants, scones, cupcakes, cookies, brownies, donuts, pancakes, waffles, biscuits—I love them all! I’ve got both a sweet tooth and a love for carbs…Which is partly why this Whole30 diet I’ve been on has been a liiiitle difficult! (but necessary!) I made it to the end, though! Hallelujah! Now that I am able to eat these tasty treats again, I’ve learned that my body does a lot better when I lay off the sweets…much to my tastebuds’ dismay…and therefore, I’d love to not fall back into the habit of eating sugar-filled of a diet as I used to. Am I vowing to never eat another slice of chocolate cake again? Forbidding myself to grab a blueberry muffin when I’m out to coffee with a friend? No! But, I do want to make better choices for my body on a more regular basis, and of course, still treat myself every now and then with the not-so-healthy, but oh-so-good sugary treats.

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Featured, General, Travel

Yosemite 2015 | Part II

September 27, 2015
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Alright, I last left you on the edge of your seat, about to tell you about an experience in Yosemite that made it one of the best trips up there out of my 27 years of going there!…Well, the wait is now over…Part II, as promised:

Typically, my family likes to stay within the valley, and once we are there, it’s hard to get us to leave for the duration of our time in Yosemite. But, this trip we decided to venture out and take a drive after an early dinner one night up to a lookout called Taft Point. I had never been before, but apparently it was a hidden secret that my dad had been keeping from my sister and I, and recommended it to my sister’s friend, when he’d asked for ideas of things to do on a trip he’d made to Yosemite the year before. Sunset was the time to go, he had concluded, as it overlooked the northwestern part of the valley, making it ideal for watching the sun go down. We were game.

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Featured, Food, Recipes

Sweet Potato Hash + Eggs

September 20, 2015
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Fall is (almost!!…come on, weather! Cool down, would ya?) here and I couldn’t be more thrilled! It makes me smile just thinking about it! If I HAD to choose, it’d be my favorite season – it’s full of too many things I love (both food and non-food things): root vegetables, every kind of pumpkin food, squash, the weather cooling down and being able to wear scarves, boots, and sweaters (because here in LA, we’ll take every opportunity we get to act like we have seasons like the rest of the country!), leaves changing colors, Thanksgiving spent with family and friends, and of course, prepping for Christmas (my absolute favorite holiday)! It’s just a magical time of year, and what better way to bring in the season than to make a savory sweet potato hash for Sunday brunch?

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Featured, General, Travel

Yosemite 2015 | Part I

June 19, 2015
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Do you have a place somewhere in this great big world that you go to where it just feels so nostalgic that you feel like you could burst from the overwhelming feeling you get when you think about it, let alone are actually there? A place where memories flood back to you around every corner, every cherished spot within that location? This is Yosemite for me – the vast valley that is surrounded by giant granite rock formations and shimmering waterfalls, and only about a 6 hour drive from LA. This is my escape from the hustle and bustle of the city—from feeling like I always need to do, do, do. And although it couldn’t feel more different from my City of Angels, I feel just as (if not more) at home there.

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Featured, Food, Recipes

Sugar Snap Pea + Ricotta Toast

May 28, 2015
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I’ve recently become obsessed with peas. I’ve never thought much about them, was never forced to eat them as a child, and therefore, have never had any sort of aversion to them (unlike many people I know), but this spring, I especially was excited about the sweet little green guys, and couldn’t get enough of them, ordering anything and everything on a menu that had them in it, including everything from peas and poached eggs, to sugar snap pea salad with brown butter and almonds. English peas and sugar snap peas are my favorites. Buying them fresh and in the pods is the best way to go…more work than the shelled peas, but so worth the effort in the end. Nothing like fresh peas to make you fully aware and conscious that spring is here.

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Featured, General

Welcome to The Common Counter!

May 20, 2015
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This blog has been an idea I’ve had brewing for awhile now, and I am incredibly excited, thrilled and nervous all at once! Thank you to those who have encouraged me to dive on into this and who believe that I have even an ounce of capability to do so!

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