Side Dishes

Sherry-Dijon Roasted Brussels Sprouts and Onions

December 4, 2013 by Erica

Thank you so much for all your sweet comments on Monday’s post! They mean so much. Nate and I could not be happier. Life is good!

I hadn’t counted on starting wedding planning quite so early, but venues book up fast! We had to start looking if we wanted any chance of getting married in 2014… and we may have found a place! Fingers crossed, but I think we will be getting married next fall. Hooray!

I wasn’t really looking forward to all the planning – I usually procrastinate this kind of thing until I’m completely dreading it. Luckily I have my mom, who so far is the world’s best wedding planner. How I would plan this thing without her, I have no idea. It turns out wedding planning is a ton of fun when someone else is doing all the work!

I hope you’ll put up with occasional wedding talk on here. I am slightly worried I’m not going to be able to talk about anything else for the next 10 months.

And this is the part when I transition seamlessly from wedding talk to Brussels sprouts.

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50+ Thanksgiving Potato Recipes

November 22, 2013 by Erica

50+ Thanksgiving Potato Recipes

…alternately titled, 50+ Thanksgiving Potato Recipes That Are More Exciting Than The Same Mashed Potatoes You Made Last Year.

Yes, your Same Old Mashed Potatoes are good. They are traditional. But why not embrace your inner culinary genius on this food holiday of all food holidays and wow your family with something new and improved? Here are 50 super exciting, mouthwatering, unbelievably delicious potato recipes for your Thanksgiving table. From soup to nuts, as they say! Because it’s Thanksgiving, and you gotta have some potatoes.

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Nutted Wild Rice

November 11, 2013 by Erica

Nutted Wild Rice

Good morning! It’s Monday again, isn’t it?

Well, I take that back. Some of you lucky folks probably have Veteran’s Day off, making this just another day in a niiiice long weekend for you. Well hurumph. The rest of us have to work.

Nutted Wild Rice

It’s finally hitting me that Thanksgiving is right around the corner. Just two and a half weeks! My whole family is coming out to Salt Lake this year (minus one sister and brother-in-law! we will miss you Cait and Ben!), and my grandparents get here in less than two weeks. Cah-razy. I am psyched to have everyone out here. I am also realizing, though, that I’ve been considering Thanksgiving as an informal deadline for having our apartment totally put together… and that has not quite happened yet. Do you think we should finally get a living room rug after 3 months of living here? Let me think about that, better put it off a little longer. Not. Time to get on all of that.

Luckily, even with family visiting, I won’t be doing all of the Thanksgiving cooking. My parents and aunt and uncle are renting a house, where prepping a Thanksgiving meal for 20 will be much more successful than it would be in my minuscule kitchen, which boasts all of 20 square feet of standing room. (Think about that for a second, lucky homeowners and even fellow apartment-dwellers… 4 feet by 5 feet.) Anyway. I get to play sous chef to my mom, which is a relief, as I would definitely be terrified of coordinating a whole Thanksgiving dinner myself. Once my parents get into town, we’ll kick things into high gear with grocery shopping, pie making, and turkey brining. A holiday centered around food is a holiday well-celebrated in my family!

Since I’m starting to get in Thanksgiving mode, I thought I would share one of my favorite holiday side dishes with you all.

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Mashed Butternut Squash

October 9, 2013 by Erica

Mashed squash may not be the most romantic-sounding dish. This I know. But trust me, it is up there with the tastiest!

Each week for my CSA, I get an email containing a few recipes for this week’s ingredients. This was one such recipe, and I knew immediately I had to try it. It sounded quite similar to the spiced butternut squash soup I made last winter – one of my favorites. Butternut squash, onions, apples and spices in yet another spoonable form? Yes please!

These are the squashy version of mashed potatoes. And if you like mashed potatoes, let me tell you how you will feel about mashed squash: you will FREAK OUT. Unlike potatoes, with butternut squash there’s no need to add cream (just a little bit of butter!), because it already has plenty of moisture. Instead, the focus is on flavor. Apples and onions and maple syrup, oh my! Plus a hint of warm spices to round out the dish and make it absolutely heavenly. Seriously. I swoon every time I reheat a serving of these. They are just THAT good.

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Sweet and Savory Farro Salad

October 2, 2013 by Erica

Farro Salad with Roasted Cherry Tomatoes, Raisins & Celery

Good morning! Not only am I posting another salad today, but it also has “sweet” in the title… just like Monday’s. I didn’t plan it that way, but sometimes you just need a week full of salads, you know? Especially after a weekend in Vegas.

Can I write about the weekend on a Wednesday? I didn’t have time to do it for Monday’s post, so let’s just go with it, even though it’s hump day.

I was in Vegas this past weekend on my company’s annual trip. Vegas is not really my scene, especially given the 7-hour bus ride each way, but I had a really fantastic time! There was a lot of food, a lot of wine, and a lot of fun bonding time with co-workers. And the weather was also gorgeous, which was a perfect break from the cool temps I’m still not ready for here in northern Utah. But I have to say that the highlight of the weekend was this celebrity sighting:

Sister Wives

Just Kody and Janelle out for date night on the strip! If you’ve ever watched Sister Wives, you’ll understand why I was so excited about this. Also, as a side note, I originally posed on Kody’s other side, but he asked me not to stand next to him for the picture. What?! This must be some sort of agreement he has with his wives… bizarre.

Another weekend highlight was actually the batch of Bloody Marys that a co-worker made to enjoy on the bus ride down. I had one (toward the end of the bus ride – not when we left at 6 am!) and I have to say it might be the best Bloody Mary I’ve ever had. I got the recipe from him and, although I’m a very inexpert mixologist, I’m determined to bring it to a blog near you sometime soon!

Anyway, I came back from the weekend with a very full tummy and a very sore throat, and am still digging myself out of the depths of my sleep deprivation. Vegas will do that to a girl! I’m excited to get back to my normal eating, sleeping, and (lack of) drinking routines. This salad, followed by nine hours of sleep, is very much needed!

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