recipes you want

Hello friends!  Seems like blogging takes the furthest backseat in my life these days, and I'm sad about it, because I miss all of you! 

I'm a working girl now, remember?  I work at Sky Harbor Airport in Phoenix, loading and unloading bags on planes.  But I only have 10 more shifts and then I'm going to start the training classes to be a Gate Agent.  Although I can honestly say that I enjoy the hard work, I will be super happy to get out of the sun, the fumes, the dangerous equipment and the inappropriate language. :)  Did you know that they recently gave me a headset?  I was so pleased about it that I sent this picture to Andrew right away!

Copy That.

For Spring Break, we took the boys to Newport Beach for a few days and stayed at our darling friend Jennie's beach house.  She lives 50 steps off the sand in this quaint little home built in the 50's by her grandparents.  We had the most relaxing and restful time while we there. We even got to witness some dolphins playing one morning.

Jennie is a foodie (a true kindred spirit) and she made us the most delicious salad the night we got there.  It is a MUST for the spring season and will carry right on into summer beautifully.  It's a simple salad, bursting with flavor and texture.  I just know you'll enjoy it as much as I do!

Jennie's Salad

baby spinach
crisp pear, cut in bite-sized pieces and sliced very thin
crumbled goat cheese (I get mine from Trader Joe's) or gorgonzola
sugared pecans (or toasted pine nuts)

Dressing:

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1/3 – 1/2  cup fresh squeezed lemon juice

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp lemon extract (optional)

1/4 cup lemon curd (Trader Joe's or homemade)

2 T honey

1 tsp Dijon mustard

Jennie told me about a delicious new pizza she'd recently tried called the "fig and pig".  I was intrigued to say the least.  I made it for my family a few days later, along with a delicious margherita pizza, (this {recipe} from from The Pioneer Woman) and documented it with this picture on Instagram. (@jillmariemckee)

Mia and her man stopped by the next day and finished it off and loved it!  So with their seal of approval,  here is the recipe!

Fig and Pig pizza

pizza crust of your choice (make your own or use the whole wheat pizza dough from Trader Joes)

roll (or stretch) (or throw it in the air!) your dough out and place it on a greased pan.  Spread Trader Joe's Fig Butter over it, shredded mozzarella cheese, and bite sized pieces of prosciutto.  Put it in a very hot preheated oven (450-500 degrees) and bake until cheese starts to bubble and brown. (10-12 minutes)  Take out of the oven and top with arugula and fresh grated parmesan cheese.  I also sprinkled some toasted pine nuts on top.

It's fancy.  And real good.

I hope you are all enjoying this beautiful Spring!  I can't ever decide if I like Spring or Fall better because I really love them both so much.  I have some honeysuckle vines on my back porch that are blooming and it smells like heaven out there.  Jaci's very talented friend, Tyson French, was in town last weekend to shoot a wedding with her.  {Jaci} did the videography and {Tyson} did the photography.  They are quite the young, talented duo.  On a whim, he snapped some quick pictures of her in our backyard.  I absolutely adore this one.  It might be my favorite picture of her.  Ever.

 

G came over and gave my chalkboard a happy facelift and I made the circle garland to finish it off. 

I just punched a ton of paper circles and sewed them together.  It was a fast, easy, and basically free project.  Even though it's a simple thing, it makes me so happy every time I see it.  I hope every one of you has something simple in your home that makes you happy, too!

your girl,

jilly