Hotel on the Corner of Bitter & Sweet

One of my favorite things about vacation (and especially Aruba), is getting to spend a lot of time reading. I'm a pretty big reader as it is...I try to take my train time in the morning for this glorious activity.

Reading is good.

Right now, I'm reading The Hotel on the Corner of Bitter & Sweet by Jamie Ford.

Has anyone else read this? I received a couple of recommendations on this, so I decided to give it a whirl. While I don't find myself rushing to read it everyday, when I do break it out on the train I do thoroughly enjoy it.

It follows the story of Henry, a young Chinese-American boy living in Seattle following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. In a world where all Japanese are suspected of being spies and are evacuated to internment camps (can we take a moment for the scariness of that statement?), Henry befriends a Japanese-American girl, Keiko. The story switches back and forth from Henry as a boy and as an old man with a grown son of his own.

It's sweet, it's sad, it's educational for a person like me who, I'm sad and sorry to admit, doesn't know very much about this time period in relation to Japanese-Americans. Overall, I am enjoying it!

Questions of the day:

What are you reading now?

How do you find time to get your reading in?

psst...Kimberly's blogging abou the fun parts of unemployment over on The Peach & The Pit...check it out!

Finding Inspiration

Good morning all! Last night I had a slumber party with my sisters at Kimberly's apartment. It was complete with red velvet fro yo, mullets and blog talk. You are definitely going to want to head over to The Peach & The Pit to see some pretty funny pics of yours truly and read all about Christine's leaving for college tomorrow! {sad face}

As a blogger, busy career woman, wife, home owner, recipe creator and craft lover, I'm always on the lookout for inspiration. And it doesn't always simply stare me in the face, either. Especially when it comes to writing this blog. There are many times that I feel totally inspired to create delicious and interesting things to share, and other times when...I just don't. There are times when I feel so ready to tackle my never-ending to do list. And times when I'm ready to simply pick up a paint roller and get crack-a-lackin' on decorating our apartment already.

But sometimes...I don't. 

What do I do during those times?

I try my hardest to look for inspiration in lots of other places, including the world around me.

Blogs. I read a lot of them and am constantly impressed by them. I adore finding new ideas, looking atpretty things, and simply reading about other people's journeys and how they stay inspired. The blogging community never ceases to amaze me. Check out my Blogroll for just a handful of the blogs I read everyday.

Magazines. I love 'em. From People & Entertainment Weekly to Self & Marie Claire, I'll happily read the lot of them. Shaun got me a subscription to Food Network Magazine, Cooking Light and Real Simple. I love these mags. When it comes to food and organization, it's hard not to want to get to it when reading these guys. My good friend Kristen had the wonderful idea to create and even helped me organize a giant recipe binder to keep track of all my tear out pages. I'll give you the tutorial sometime if you are interested.

TV shows. I know I'm a crazy pop culture junkie, but I love TV. It makes me happy. And it's hard not to get lost in the worlds that these brilliant writers have created. Or to want to be great friends with the characters. I just named my fantasy football team after something from Breaking Bad. It's lame and silly but it makes me happy and giggly inside when I log in and see the name with the funny icon that I found. If you remember, I also went on a mission to create black and white sandwich cookies after seeing them in an episode of Shameless. Call me crazy...or inspired.

Friends & Family. My friends and family never stop amazing and inspiring me. Everyone leads fascinating lives, many of which are different than my own. I love seeing how my friends have decorated their homes, created recipe binders, organized their closets. I love seeing the latest table centerpiece that my mom created for my cousin's engagement party this weekend. I love getting new make up tutorials and rundowns from my sister Christine. And I love taking tips from Kim on how to manage my to do list. My dad inspires me to never stop being ambitious. And Shaun inspires me to love and be happy every single day.

Pinterest. I get excited every time I sign on to Pinterest because I can't wait to see what those I'm following are pinning that day. It makes me happy to see what things makes others happy. And I love borrowing their ideas. Most of all, I love having a place to catalogue my own inspiration so that I can refer back to it when I'm feeling not-so-inspired.

So there you have it. Just a few places where I try to find inspiration when I'm just not feeling it!

Question of the Day:

Where do you look for and find inspiration? 

Crispy Pie Chips + Strawberry Mint Chutney

Yesterday looked like this:

I actually didn't mind. This summer has been so bananas with busy-ness that I was secretly excited to simply spend the afternoon at home. It made me a tad excited for Fall, when Sundays at home are a staple.

And with an afternoon at home, I love to get down with some cooking! I haven't really been cooking lately. I've mostly been throwing together super quick dinners. I was so excited to get back in the kitchen and get cooking yesterday. When I realized that I had some strawberries on the verge of going bad, I decided to make a little jam with some of the mint leaves from our urban herb garden.

As for what to dip in the chutney? I had saved a cute recipe from Food Network Magazine for baked chips made out of leftover pie crust scraps. Genius, no? They were the perfect vehicle for this strawberry chutney. I used limited sugar in both of these recipes, so for a sweeter chutney or a more 'coated' chip, go crazy on it. You can also use melted butter in place of the cooking spray on the chips. Hope you enjoy!

Cinnamon Pie Chips + Strawberry Mint Chutney
for the chips:
*adapted from Food Network Magazine
1 pre-made refrigerated pie crust (like Pillsbury)
1 tbsp granulated sugar
2 tsp ground cinnamon
cooking spray

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cut the unrolled pie dough into strips (I used a fluted pastry wheel, but a basic pizza cutter will do the trick). Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray. Lay the pie pieces on the sheet and spray them with cooking spray. Sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon. Bake about 15 minutes.

for the chutney:
1 1/2 C strawberries, hulled & quartered
juice of 1 lemon
1 tbsp fresh mint leaves, roughly chopped
2 tbsp granulated sugar
1/2 tsp cornstarch (optional)

Place strawberries, lemon juice, mint and sugar in a small saucepan over medium heat. Let cook, stirring occasionally. Once the strawberries start to release their pectin, turn the heat to low and simmer until thickened. If you have limited patience (like me), add the cornstarch for a quicker thickening. Let cool and serve.

The chutney is thick and super strawberry-ish. I love it. It's so fresh, light and summery. For a sweeter version, add more sugar!

Questions of the Day:

What do you like to do on a rainy day?

Do you ever use leftover pie crust for anything?

psst...today I'm blogging about some fun eye candy getting me through this Monday morning over on The Peach & The Pit. Head on over to check it out!