So, two pictures of the raisin poppyseed twist I made for breakfast. I thought it was just that pretty. And it was delisious, too. Not too much raisin, which I was a bit worried about, not being a fan and all, but it was just right. I kinda wished there was more orange flavor, but my dad said there was just the right amount, and more would have been overkill. It's so pretty, though.


Thanks for holding my dinner, Mom ;) This was a spinach and mushroom strudel that was featured on the cover of Vegetarian Times magazine for November. Mine didn't come out quite as firm, but I had some time issues going on. I didn't realize what time it was, and then I was 30 minutes behind schedule. So, not wanting to get my girls down too late for bedtime, I rushed through this and the chicken. But it still tasted good!I can't say much about the chicken since I didn't have any of it, but it did smell really good. Garlic cloves between the meat and the skin, lemon, onions and rosemary in the cavity, and kalamata olives strewn about while it was roasting. I do wish I had saved myself a couple olives, though.

Since my parents are in town, they offered to watch the girls so my husband and I could go out to dinner. I totally forgot to take a picture of my shrimp cocktail, but here's one of the caprese salad. A little shy on the basil, but it was still very delisious. Extra points for using heirloom tomatoes if you ask me!For dinner I ordered butternut squash ravioli. I know, I really ordered it more for the amaretto cream sauce. It was so good! Totally made the dish. I was only going to eat a little of it, but c'mon- ravioli so doesn't heat well... and I forgot my cooler... and the sauce was so good!
No, no, no. Not another edible arrangement ;) I liked the first one so much, I decided to recreate it! I saved the skewers and basket from the arrangement I got earlier in the week, and viola, a homemade one! My kale had gone a little limp, but other than that, it came together well. The girls loved eating another one, and my parents thought it was a beautiful breakfast.
Yum! This salmon with martini sauce was so good! It's the first recipe I"ve made using the Susan Spicer cookbook I was given back in September. It looked like the perfect recipe; just what I was looking for. My parents are visiting for the week and I wanted something easy the first night, but really good. Of course, I forgot to pick up the gin, so I had my dad bring some on his way over. The olives really were so nice in this- and I didn't think they would taste that good together. Such a doubter am I.
The day after Valentines day found me eating leftovers. To save you from a duplicate picture, here's the girls' McDonalds dinner. Normally we don't have McD's for dinner, but I'd been doing the groceries and was already 30 minutes late on serving dinner, so fast food it was. The girls did not complain.
Valentines dinner wasn't anything spectacular. I made a red curry "chicken" dish, which I had been looking forward to. It was my first time trying pretend chicken, since I am not a fan of teh real chicken taste to start with... nope, didn't care for the fake stuff either. It was alright, but I think I would have preferred it with just more real veggies instead of the cutlet thing.
On Valentines Day, what to my wondering eyes should appear? But a wonderful edible arrangement!! It really was beautiful, until my children attacked it with such ferociousness... they don't attack grocery store fruit in the same manner... though, I must say, it does lose some of it's luster packaged up in clear plastic. This wonderful bouquet was from my husband. He also ordered a box of chocolate covered strawberries, knowing the girls would devour the ones in the bouquet. It really made a beautiful picture with the light from the window shining in.