Roasted Brussel Sprouts

Alright.  I made these because the people pinning this recipe were all:

"I LOVE brussel sprouts. 

Roasted brussel sprouts are DELICIOUS! 

Roasted brussel sprouts are going to save the world!"

Actually, no.  That's not true.  I made them because the recipe mentioned serving them with garlic aioli.  And that, my friends, is the only reason I made brussel sprouts.

And truthfully, that is the only reason I ate these brussel sprouts.

Because I discovered what I knew all along: 

Brussel sprouts will not save the world.  They aren't that good.

They do, however, serve as a good delivery vehicle for garlic aioli.

They also photograph really well.



Recipe adapted from Savoring Life with Anna Costa
Brussel Sprouts:
20 Brussel Sprouts, quartered
olive oil
salt and pepper

Preheat your oven to 400
Line a baking sheet with parchment and toss the quartered brussel sprouts with the olive oil, salt and pepper until coated.
Bake for 15 minutes or until lightly browned

Garlic Aioli:
6 Tbs mayo
1/4 tsp finely minced garlic
1 tsp lemon juice
1 Tbs flat leaf parsley finely chopped (I used dried, it was fine)

Mix all your ingredients together and serve alongside your sprouts.

Happy aioli shoveling!

What is That?

Ever get that unsettled feeling? 

You start scanning.

Racing back through your mind...

"Okay.  Okay.  No.  Not that.  Okay.  Yup, I'm good there.  Huh.  What IS it?"

Sometimes I just feel so... so... submerged.

Yes.  That's it. 

Submerged.

I'm underneath all this stuff that keeps perpetually moving me forward.  And it leaves me so unsettled.  Almost with this mid-life crisis-y feel. 

Maybe it's the mundane.

Mundane.

The 'setting up the pins' to just knock them down again.  Sometimes as I stand there washing the millionth dish I'm like "Really?  Really?  They couldn't have put this in the dishwasher before I ran it?"  And then I tell myself "In the grand scheme of things this doesn't matter"  And then myself tells myself "Well, yeah, it kinda does because you could be sitting down at 9:30 at night instead of washing dish number 1 million and one."  And that's when the mundane strikes.  The "Ugh, I'm going to do this all again tomorrow."

And then I day dream. 

About opening an amazing little restaurant in Hawaii. 

Because really.  Shouldn't life be really LIVED.

(And shouldn't you be really tan while doing it?)

And sometimes that is the feeling.  The desire to do something radical.  To live life wide open.

Wide Open.

Unbridled, free, full throttle, passionate.


Who wants to live in Hawaii with me?

Spring Chicken

I have a gray hair.  I had no idea gray hairs were so wiry.  And they also really stand out against Not Gray Hair.

Actually... I did have a gray hair.  I pulled it instantly.  And if two grow back I will pull them both, instantly.  And if I find three.  I will color my hair.  Instantly.

This getting older thing is a bummer.

When Holland hopped out of the car, after her kiss and 'I love you Mom', I watched her walk away with her seventh grade sister (who did not kiss me goodbye) and I teared up a little.  Sometimes it just becomes very real watching them get older.

When looking in the mirror these days it's becoming very real watching me get older too.

And for the record, I may have been against plastic surgery of all types in my 20's, but in my 30's? 

I'm really warming up to the idea.