giada inspired

Every couple of weeks, I like to try out at least one new recipe for dinner. I like the variety and have found some recipes that have become favorites rotated into my recipe repertoire.

Up this week, I tested out a recipe from Giada de Laurentiis’ “Giada at Home” cooking show: Tenette with Eggplant and Basil Pesto.
Anything with pesto and pasta sounds appetizing to me, so I thought I’d give it a try.

I had to alter the recipe a little, as I couldn’t find trenette pasta, so I opted for penne instead.

The recipe calls for a homemade pesto made with toasted pine nuts, two cups of fresh basil leaves, salt, pepper, olive oil and Parmesan cheese, combined in a blender or food processor. Honestly, I tend to shy away from recipes that use a blender or food processor just because of the added cleanup, but this was completely worth the extra time. Having only made fresh pesto in my Italian cooking class during my semester abroad a few years back, I’d never tried it on my own, but wish I had sooner. Alex called it a burst of flavor in his mouth – the taste was so intense and fresh!

Because I don’t always have a ton of time to cook dinner during the week, I’ve been trying to do prep work over the weekend. In this recipe, I was able to make the pesto ahead of time and stick it in the fridge, which saved a huge chunk of time.

After making and tasting the pesto, I was so excited to test out this recipe. And with the pesto ready to go, all that was left was cooking up the eggplant and the pasta, which made for a pretty quick meal. Once both were cooked, I mixed everything together, topped with Parmesan cheese and presto!

I was so inspired by the episode of “Giada at Home,” I decided to also try out a recipe for bruschetta with fontina and greens, slices of grilled bread topped with sautéed spinach, topped with fontina cheese and broiled until the cheese melted over the spinach and bread.

It was so quick and easy and a great way to eat more greens. Both recipes are definitely keepers.

bathroom redo coming soon

When Alex and I purchased our first home in August of 2008, we spent the first few months cleaning, painting and unpacking. But planning for our wedding took up a huge chunk of our free time and the house got put to the back-burner. Now that things have settled down, I’m anxious to get back to the house and our long to do list.

My next project will be the downstairs bathroom. It’s pretty much a blank slate right now with neutral walls and nothing much else. My vision is to make it warmer with a pop of color, hang some art on the walls and add some small touches to make it more “us.”

To get started on any design project, I feel pretty lost until I come across the perfect inspiration piece. So I’m still on the lookout for my “inspiration.”

Until then, I’ve been gathering ideas online and in magazines. I think I’m sold on painting the walls a nice warm gray color with crisp white picture frames. If I’m feeling adventurous enough, I may try painting the oak cabinets white as well.

For a splash of color, I keep going back and fourth on accenting with an aqua turquoise or yellow.


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Even though this isn’t a photo of a bathroom, I like how the turquoise and gray work together. The colors really look warm, but I wonder if it might be too dark in the small bathroom. The small window does add a ton of light into the room though, which might work with darker colors.


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I like the brightness of bringing yellow into the room. This bathroom only has a tiny pop of yellow, so I think I would add a few more to brighten the room.


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I like the combination here with yellow, gray and beige.

I’ve always liked the color combination of yellow and gray and could definitely see adding smaller touches with the turquoise color. Up next is finding that perfect inspiration piece to pull it all together.

the napa experience

One of the things I love about visiting Napa Valley is that it doesn’t matter how much or how little you know about the wine-making process – you can take in as much information about wine as you want and get tons of chances to test out what kind of wine you like. And with tons of wineries in the valley, there are plenty of wineries to choose from that specialize in whites, reds or champagnes.

When I began planning our weekend in Napa, I wanted to be sure to hit a variety of wineries that would make it fun for everyone in the group. We ended up visiting four wineries, but the top three included Sterling Vineyards, Peju Province Winery and Mumm Napa.


Sterling Vineyards

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This was our second visit to Sterling and our first stop of the day. Even though the previous day was so windy they had to close the gondola rides up to the top, it was perfect weather when we visited.

Sterling sits at the top of the hillside, which makes for gorgeous views of nearby vineyards and the Spanish-style estate. The cost includes a gondola ride up to the winery, Sterling wines to taste and a self-guided tour through the barrel rooms, out to the balcony overlooking the valley and ending in the tasting room.

What I like about Sterling is that you can take the tour at your own pace, stay in each of the areas as long as you like and the balcony makes for a perfect backdrop to snap some photos.

The great: the spectacular views; visiting Sterling is an experience that any Napa goer should visit at least once
The good: the self-guided tour lets you go at your own pace through the complex process of wine making
The could have been better: the price; for the price, you get a lot – wine tasting, gondola ride up the hillside, a tour and a great view, but compared to other wineries, it’s a little pricey

Peju Province Winery


Peju is a smaller, family-owned winery, but I think that’s what makes it such a nice place to visit.

When you first walk in, you enter their shop where they open up their mustards and chocolate sauces for tasting. We ended up liking their Raspberry Cabernet Fudge so much that we bought a jar, took it home and have used it to top vanilla bean ice cream.

We must have arrived during their busy time of day because the shop was packed with shoppers and people waiting for a tasting. Because of the short wait, they came out with a free sample of one of their rose wines, which was a nice surprise.

During the wine tasting, we got to taste five or six Peju wines. The tasting expert was so interactive with the group, letting my husband Alex taste the difference between two of their zinfandel wines. Alex liked one of them enough to buy a bottle of their 2004 Estate Bottled Zinfandel – our first bottle of wine purchased in Napa!

The great: lots of tastes for a reasonable price; there were so many tastings, it was hard to keep up with the group
The good: the grounds; with a fountain in the front and statues through the property, it was gorgeous
The could-have-been-better: the size; part of its charm is its smallness, but the entrance was a little crowded

Mumm Napa

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This was our last stop of the day and worth the wait.

Known for their sparkling wines, Mumm Napa offers about a dozen bubblies. Having never been there, I wasn’t really sure what to expect. As you walked up to the front, it had more of barn-like look than a winery, which added to its charm. But inside, the glass walls of the tasting room offered a beautiful view of their vineyard.

Our Scottish wine expert was not only so funny and personable, but she told us that buying two bottles of champagne would save us some money instead of each of us purchasing individual tastings. She told that her now American winemaking husband was the reason for her making the move to the states and we could tell she loved her job.

After a quick tasting, we opted for two sparkling wines. One of them was like nothing I’ve never had – Sparking Pinot Noir, a sparkling red wine.
We got to Mumm shortly before their closing, and were one of the last groups to leave, but it was a nice way to end our wine tasting tour.

The great: our wine expert not only knew her sparkling wines, but was entertaining and honest about what would be the best deal
The good: trying something new; their Sparkling Pinot Noir was not only a gorgeous red color, it tasted refreshing
The could-have-been-better: more time; this was mostly our fault as we got to Mumm near closing time