cooking attempt #118: mediterranean food.

I grew up eating strange food. As you can obviously see, I'm not a size 6, so that should go to proove that food has a lot to do with my culture. I'm Argentine so with that being said, we are of Italian, Spaniard, German, and Middle Eastern decent. In my family it's very common to cook, not only Argentine cuisine, but also Italian and Middle Eastern. I'm 4th generation Italian on both sides of the family and we've always believed we've had a touch of Greek, Armenian or Palestine somewhere up our crazy family tree. At my parents house, you'll find my dad making red sauce from scratch, cooking Gnoochi or munching on prosciutto crudo. And some days, mom will be cooking Dolmas with meat, eating baklava for dessert or making fresh tabouli. The point is, we eat A LOT of Italian and Middle Eastern food.

Tonight, I decided to make Falafel with a greek salad, hummus and pita bread and dill yogurt dipping sauce.

Ladies and Gentlemen...SUCCESS. The Falafel mix was store bought (obviously I'm not at expert mode yet, dude) but SO easy to make. Everything was mouth watering and fresh. I feel so mature for making such a delicious meal! I was a little "ish" about
first making it; I honestly thought it would take me a year and half. Yes, it takes a little time to prepare the mix, prepare the yogurt dipping sauce and cleaning up during prep time (I HIGHLY recommend to clean while cooking for this meal, because it gets pretty messy!. All in all, it came out fabulous and I can't wait for Michael-baby to try it. He, of course, is at work tonight. I have no idea who is playing at House of Blues tonight but if you get curious and research it, let me know.

If you'd like the recipe(s) please email me at menabriz@gmail.com

Stay tuned for tomorrow, I may not cook so hardcore but I'm sure I'll have atleast ONE interesting to say about my day.

weekends CAN be successful..say it with me!

For once, Michael and I were off of work at the same time. With him working at House of Blues, his schedule is usually way different than mine; he works late night weekdays and weekends and I work at Hard Rock Monday through Friday during the day. We both LOVE our jobs but it sucks that we hardly ever get to really spend an entire two days together.

Saturday we went to Joshua to hang out with Michaels parents while his dad fixed something in his car. I always have the best time with my mother-in-law to be. Our visit to Joshua was diiferent this time because we brought baby Winston with us! He's never spent the night with us over there. By the end of the weekend, he felt that house was his and was beyond terratorial. It was the funniest thing ever!


Saturday evening, I told Michael that I finally found us a photographer for engagement pictures. See, the thing you have to rememeber about Michael is that he's not a details kind of guy. When it comes to photographers and wedding party gifts, he's not really in to it. Now food for the reception, rehearsal dinner location and wedding registry..i might as well get out of the way for that! So when I broke the news about engagement pictures, I nearly died of laughter when he asked, "is it normal to get someone to take your engagement pictures?" That's just Michael Babbitt.

So now I guess the next step is figuring out where we want to take our pictures. Downtown Dallas? Botanical Gardens? I have no clue. And surprisingly enough, Michael has been giving his ideas for it too. I just don't know how cute an engagement picture would look if we were standing on the X where Kennedy was fataly shot, in Dealy Plaza. No joke, it went through his mind.

Help with ideas! And check out our photographer's website at renmorrisonphotography.com

Oh and today I got my first "Family Circle" Magazine. Hey! It said 'Easy Recipes' on the cover. But that's for the next post. xo

I'M ENGAGED..now what?

It's finally happened. Who would have known that I would have EVER found the love of my life? That I would have EVER gotten engaged in Argentina? That I would have ever made it a key point to attempt cooking on a weekly basis?

Well friends, that's the real deal.

Michael and I will be Mr. and Mrs. in October of 2011 but there's sooo much to do until that day. Dress: check. Venue: check-ish. Million other things to do:..blank..

I'm so excited but so overwhelmed about wedding planning, that I decided to blog about it. Most every girl goes through this moment of their lives. Some have it way too easy with wedding planners and budgets that could feed atleast four countries in South America. But ladies and gentlemen, I promise you, I'm the real deal.

I won't be writing "woe is me" poetry. I won't be complaining and sharing moments of utter anger with myself and/or my Michael. I will, however, be sharing the most realistic things that every girl goes through with planning THE BIG DAY. I'll be sharing cooking attempts [because if you know me, you know I'm awful at being in the kitchen], clutsy moments and beautiful success stories that will lead to October 21, 2011.

Give me your comments, advice, high five or sigh; I'm just so excited to sharing all this with you.

OH MY LORD, I'M GETTIN' HITCHED!!