beauty. avocado face mask.

You know when you let that avocado go just one or two days past the edible stage? It happens to me often...which I'm sure Nate hates because avocados are expensive down here.

Now I have a fix for it! Inspired by my girl friend, Megan, time for a diy beauty treatment. She almost always has an avocado concoction for something so off I went and goggled 'avocado face mask'...

Here's an easy recipe I found on LaurenConrad.com:

food. homemade butter.

This just happened: homemade butter. Okay didn't just happen, I've been planning on making it since Friday.

Easy and hopefully delish. Recipe to come soon. I was going to add the recipe but thought it would be easier to just point you to the site I found it on. Their photos and steps are a lot better than mine would be.

Homemade Butter on diynetwork.com, submitted by Mick Telcamp.

boozy dessert. pear & riesling pops.

Not sure if boozy desserts is a topic that will stick but we can try it out.

It's hot here in Adelaide. What does hot weather mean in this kitchen? Less red wine and more white wine, obviously.

I recently came across Food & Wine's Pear & Riesling Pops. I gave it a whirl tonight. Recipe and results to come soon.

duke. cougs & dawgs.

No wonder Duke gives us blank stares sometimes...we confuse the shit out of him.

#GoCougs #GoDawgs

 

Don't mind this random code. I'm trying to claim my blog on Technorati.

VQDBQV2TAVJ5

organize. juice.

So much orange!

It's a bit wrong that I write this as Nate and I are opening our second bottle of wine for the night. Let's not think of it as wrong, more prepared.

Juicing...we love it (minus the cleaning of the machine). It's actually kind of hard for me to accept store bought juice now. The layer of sugar on your tongue after throwing down a glass of store bought juice is no bueno for this wanna be blogger.

Regardless of if your two bottles of wine in or not, if you plan to make juice in the morning...prep the night before.

Our routine for carrot, orange, ginger juice:

At night, set out two containers that includes...

4-6 cleaned, chopped carrots

2-3 quartered, peeled oranges

1 good size chunk of peeled ginger

Two glasses and your juicer

We put the containers in the fridge and in the morning, turn on juicer, juice and do a rinse of all your pieces for the juicer.

Have a juice recipe you love? Give us the recipe in the comments, we'll give it a try!

duke. pondering.

I took this photo yesterday. Duke tried to take himself for a walk this morning. I'm convinced he was pondering his escape in this photo...and his desperate need for a haircut.

found. awkward carrot.

Interesting little piece of carrot that was pulled out of garden at work.

food. garlic ginger marinade.

I tried putting this photo through Instagram but I don't think
any filter can make raw chicken on a grill look tasty.
End result was tasty, try the recipe.

Pretty tasty on chicken, Nate thinks this would be awesome on salmon...it's been added to our list of dinners to make.

Garlic Ginger Marinade by Food Network*
Ingredients:

• 1 cup sliced red onion
• 2 tbl minced garlic
• 2 tbl minced ginger
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1/4 cup orange juice
• 1 tsp ground pepper

Directions:
Add all ingredients into a Ziploc bag, add your protein.
Let sit for at least an hour.
Grill and enjoy!

*Click here for the original recipe from Food Network.

date. movies.

Besides wine, the beach and Fringe...there are a ton of outdoor activities available in Adelaide. One of our favourite is Moonlight Cinemas at the Botanic Gardens that happens during summer. It's the perfect date night or family night to end your week with. Some of the perks of the Moonlight Cinemas: bring your own food, bring your own drinks (including alcohol), enjoy some fresh air and on occasion, you could see a shooting star.

Nate and I had an impromptu date night on Saturday - packed a picnic basket with chicken, quinoa salad, cheese, fruit, chocolates and wine and off we went to see Saving Mr. Banks. Friday was kind of a gray day (reminded both of us of Seattle) with rain on and off so we weren't sure if Saturday was going to be a repeat. Lucky for us, sunshine all around and the perfect night to head to the Botanic Gardens.

The movie itself was good, not the family film we thought it was going to be. This time around, we went for the experience of the Moonlight Cinema not because of the movie that was playing. If you're a fan of Mary Poppins, be sure you check out the movie. A fun side note: The author of Mary Poppins grew up in Australia!

If you have yet to check out Moonlight Cinemas, be sure you do before they are done for the season. There are still a lot of great movies to see.

If you don't have an outdoor cinema near you, create your own! Something my dad used to do for us as a kid. Project a movie on a white sheet or move a TV outside, make your own candy bar, have mini sandwiches to munch on and open your favourite bottle of wine.

If it's too cold right now to even fathom the idea of going outside, add it to your list to do as soon as warms up.

A couple helpful links:

• Moonlight Cinemas (for Australia 'peeps)
• Fremont Outdoor Movies (for Seattle 'peeps)
• 25 DIY Ideas for an Outdoor Movie Night via babble.com

Oh, and don't forget your blankets and bug spray.

food. feta sandwich spread.

Not sure how I came across this Food & Wine recipe but it looked easy enough for a lazy Saturday afternoon lunch (most likely on of the hundreds. The original recipe is for a whole sandwich, I'm focusing in on the spread for said sandwich. It looked too easy, which means the screw up factor could be pretty high for me. Fortunately, it turned out really well! I ended up making a second batch to have on hand for lunch this week.

Feta Sandwich Spread by Food & Wine*
Ingredients

• 3 oz feta, crumbled
• 2 tbl mayo (use more or less to your taste, the original recipe is 1/4 cup)
• 2 minced chives