The Garden Collection [H&M]

I am dying over this collection & its affordability, as well as environmentally conscious approach.

Must... get... hands... on... red... dress.

More information here.

Olive Oil Granola

As a baker, you get a lot of praise, because well, you make things that people love and then that love transfers over to you. Nice huh? Well with that said, sometimes I feel like a cheat. Most of the time I use recipes rather than making things of my own doing because baking is a science and one that I haven't particularly mastered yet. I know, I know!

It makes me sad to say I do not whisk these ideas up in my own head and I nod my head in shame when people say, "I love YOUR recipe." Well, thanks but no thanks because it's not my recipe, but that's fine by me too because the joy of spreading good recipes is a reward all in itself. My favorite kind of recipes are the ones you can change to your liking, that way I can feel like the recipe has just a little bit of me in it.

For example, this olive oil granola. I don't even know the path this granola took to find me but the last hand off was Shannalee of Food Loves Writing and boy I'm glad I was next in line for this one! I don't usually eat granola often. Granola bars? Yes. Oatmeal? Yes. Regular ole' granola? No. After reading Shannalee's awesome blog post on this beauty, I knew I had to make it. Well, I did and guess what? I simply love it. Wholesome and filled with all kinds of customizable goodness. Add/ subtract/ change what you'd like, and even with all that math, you still end up with some good eats!

Olive OIl Granola

Yields: about 5 cups

Adapted from here.

3 cups old fashioned rolled oats

1 cup chopped walnuts

1/2 cup almonds, roughly chopped

1 cup coconut flakes

1/4 cup flax seeds

3/4 cup pure maple syrup

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/2 cup light brown sugar

1 tsp. kosher salt

1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp. ground cardamom

heaping 1/2 cup dried apricots, chopped

heaping 1/4 cup dried cherries, chopped

Preheat oven to 300 F. In a large bowl, combine the oats, nuts, flax, coconut, maple syrup, olive oil, brown sugar, salt, cinnamon and cardamom. Spread mixture on a rimmed baking sheet in an even layer (use parchment paper or a silpat to make it easier to transfer the mixture later). Bake for 45 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes, until golden brown and toasted. Transfer granola to a large bowl and add apricots and cherries, tossing to combine.

RIP Nujabes (Jun Seba)

A tremendously great artist who will be missed. Sadly, he died at the young age of only 36 in a tragic car accident in Tokyo. {Article here}

Here are some of my favorites:

{Feather}

{Flowers}

{Aruarian Dance}

{Reflection Eternal}

{Kumomi}

{The Final View}

Tailored Tuesdays & Just A Penny

Mmm glamour, all wrapped up in a cozy cardigan.

1. Aubin & Wills 'Scarisbrick shrunken cable knit cardigan'

2. Marc by Marc Jacobs 'Striped silk bustier top'

3. Diane von Furstenberg 'Pareses cropped pants'

4. Miu Miu 'Large sequined leather tote'

5. Miu Miu 'Satin platform pumps'

all images can be found at net-a-porter.com

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Just wanted to give a short introduction to Just A Penny.

It's nothing much; just a modest little inspiration blog filled with things that make me smile or think or whatever things like this do (link also to left).

Hope you enjoy & follow!

Matcha Pancakes

GOT MATCHA?

I've got matcha. I've got lots of matcha. In the form of fluffy, pillow-y pancakes to be exact. Joy the Baker knows pancakes. I mean she's created a few dozen types and recipes that are literally to-die-for. I fell completely in love with her Chai Spiced Pancake recipe. Literally, they are perfection. Fluffy and light, and ever-so-slightly spiced.

So, with that, I decided to use her yummy recipe as a base for a creation of my own doing. Matcha pancakes. Minus a couple ingredients here, add a couple ingredients there, tweak some things here and there and voila! Matcha pancakes. I added quite a bit of Matcha powder which just gave the pancakes a hint of that earthy, green tea flavor. It's really hard to get a prominent Matcha flavor but the suggestive flavor is really beautiful.

Matcha Pancakes

Yields: 20 - 30 medium sized pancakes

Adapted from Joy the Baker, which can be found here.

2 eggs

1 cup flour

1 cup whole wheat flour (you can use all regular flour)

3 tbsn. sugar

2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

2 tbsn. matcha powder (or more, for more matcha flavor)

1 1/2 cups buttermilk

1/2 cup water

4 tbsn. butter, melted and cooled

1/2 tsp. vanilla

oil or cooking spray, for cooking

In a large bowl, beat the eggs. In a small bowl, mix the matcha powder with the water until well combined. Add the buttermilk, matcha mixture, butter and vanilla to the eggs and mix well. Add the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Mix until smooth, let sit for a few minutes. Heat pan over medium heat. Add tsp. of oil or spray with cooking spray. Once pan is hot, pour two tbsn. of batter onto the pan and cook until bubbles start to form on the top, about 1 - 2 minutes. Flip over and cook another 1 - 2 minutes or until golden brown.

It ain't easy being green:

A Kreativ Blogger Award!

Thank you, thank you, thank you Howard & Sylvia from A Baked Creation!

What a great way to start a Sunday morning! It's such an honor to receive an award, especially a creative one. Woo hooooooo is mostly all I can say, pretty speechless to say the least!

Rules of the award:

1. You must thank the person who gave you the award.

2. Copy the award logo and place it on your blog.

3. Link the person who nominated you for the award.

4. Name 7 things about yourself that people might find interesting.

5. Nominate 7 other Kreativ bloggers.

6. Post links to the 7 blogs you nominate.

7. Leave a comment on each of the blogs to let them know they've been nominated.

Seven things you might find interesting about me:

1. I must always, always, always finish a meal with something sweet.

2. I'm a Biology major.

3. I'm one of those people who make noises when they eat/ are enjoying delicious food. What can I say? It's a passion.

4. I smile every time I get a comment (makes me happy to know I have readers).

5. My biggest love right now is my dog, Baba Ganoush.

6. My most feared animal is the shark, which is why it's imperative that I watch Shark Week. After all you must keep your enemies close, right?

7. I'm graduating college soon, something that exhilarates me and scares the crap out of me simultaneously.

Nominees:

1. Judy in her Natural Habitat: The Kitchen, if cupcake heaven exists, it's here!

2. Picky Cook, vegetarian-smegetarian, his blog has great recipes, period.

3. Milk and Honey Cafe, where good design and delicious eats clash (in a very good way).

4. Rants & Craves, a new favorite and now my directory to LA eats!

5. Melanger: To Mix, my favorite place to peruse some

6. Shared Sugar, a baking story of two friends; it had me at hello.

7. So Good and Tasty, I simply adore her food photography; simple and straightforward yet undeniable delicious.

Mixtape

Enjoy, my loves!

Just some things I'm a bit obsessed with.

As a sidenote, much thanks to David, a reader of this blog, for introducing me to Bibio and Local Natives! You all know I love to share music but I also looove when you guys share music with me. So anything you'd like for me to give a listen to or think that I'd love, please send my way :)

*Ack, seems like I will not be able to post mp3s anymore, will figure these issues out!

St. Vincent {Save Me From What I Want}

The Dirty Projectors {No Intention}

Bibio {Lovers' Carvings}

The Hood Internet {The XX Gon' Give It To Ya - The XX vs. DMX}

Vampire Weekend {Giving Up the Gun}

Local Natives {Airplanes}

Four Tet {As Serious As Your Life}

[NOTE: these photos are not my own, all images were found through Google images and were edited by me]

Tailored Tuesdays

Perfect for the nondescript weather we've been having lately.

1. Missoni 'Lurex crochet knit scarf'

2. Stella McCartney 'Sheet silk satin shirt'

3. Helmut Lang 'Slouchy cotton blend shorts'

4. Nancy Gonzales 'Extra large crocodile hobo bag'

5. Alex Monroe '22 karat gold plated key necklace'

6. Miu Miu 'Wedge leather espadrilles'

all images can be found at net-a-porter.com

Steamed Sea Bass in Black Bean Sauce

It's Friday, and for me that means fish fridays. Well not always fish fridays, sometimes cheese pizza fridays, or fruit-filled fridays or crusty bread fridays. Basically, no meat fridays. In the past, I haven't been so good with finding good meals to eat on Fridays that consisted of no meat. Well those times have changed...

Mmmm steamed sea bass. We have a similar dish like this at the place where I work so when I had some sea bass on hand, I decided to try it out. This recipe is INCREDIBLY simple and easy to boot. I highly recommend it if you are short for time and want a delicious dinner!

The results were simply fabulous. Tender, perfectly flaky fish with some great delicate flavor. Some reviews said that they didn't like this dish because it wasn't full of flavor but that's what I like about it. It's a beautifully light fish with the perfect amount of flavor, just really simple and yummy.
Steamed Sea Bass with Black Bean Sauce

Yields: 4 servings

Original recipe can be found here.

1 1/2 lbs. sea bass filets, about 1/4 inch thick

3 tbsn. black bean sauce

1/2 inch ginger, cut into matchstick pieces

2 green onions, cut into 2 inch pieces

1 tsp. peanut oil (I used sesame oil)

cilantro or more green onion (to garnish)

In the bottom of a steamer, add 1 inch of water and place the steaming rack on top. Heat over medium high heat to boil the water. If you don't have a steamer, place 1 inch of water in a wok or frying pan and place a rack on top of it. Place the fish in pyrex dish and spread the black bean sauce over it. Then scatter the green onions and ginger on top. Drizzle the oil over the fish, then place the dish on top of the rack. Cover and steam for 12 minutes or until fish flakes easily. Remove from steamer and garnish with cilantro. Enjoy!

Perfectly flaky sea bass!

Mmmm I love Fish Fridays!

Simplicity at its best.

Favorites of the Moment

Some of my recent favorites paired with my favorite lyrics from the songs in visual form, and I'm absolutely in love with the video below! That intro is one of the reasons why the strings are among my favorite instruments.

The Morning Benders {Excuses}

Yours Truly Presents: The Morning Benders "Excuses" from Yours Truly on Vimeo.

Dan Black {Ecstacy}

Dan Black {Cocoon}

Yeasayer {Ambling Alp}

* If you didn't know, downloads are located in the {}*