these five

January 8, 2016

These Things1My brother in law Kurt gave me the most fantastic DVD for Christmas this year. Waking Sleeping Beauty is interesting, thought provoking and above all inspiring. It is everything you would expect about a documentary that showcases the artists who made up Disney during it’s animated movie revival years. I remember the rise…from The Little Mermaid to The Lion King and thinking wow, no one does it like Disney. This DVD portrays that it’s not all roses in the creative department, yet when the dust settles those unforgettable characters prevail above all else. Must see for any Disney buff./2Another gift that is blowing my mind is the Hario pour over coffee system my mom gave me. I was not sure what to think at first. I’m a french press gal and have been for years. This thing takes filters and patience…2 things I own little of. Well, mom knows best in this scenario because the coffee that comes out of this wacky system is flipping awesome. Clean, crisp, smooth – the best coffee I have ever made bar none. Try it. Love it. And use your old system when you are in a rush./3I love me some festive ceramic plates and while I have Christmas and Halloween covered I do not have Valentine’s. Crate & Barrel always has cute options…if I catch these bad boys on sale they are mine!/4It’s winter, there’s snow on the ground and everything. Soup everyday, all day with this easy potato version being a weekly guest./5Jettie and her dad cracking peanuts and sharing stories is one of my all time favorite Rammel household traditions. It’s a mess this time of year but I truly don’t care. My only wish is that she remembers doing this with him when she gets older.

Cheers!

brandyjsig

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grapefruit & avocado spinach salad

January 7, 2016

grapefruit and avocado spinach saladYesterday I posted grapefruit cake…totally yum but not even remotely guilt free. Today I’m making up for my naughtiness by throwing this power fruit on a salad. It’s not cake (obviously) but it is crazy delicious with added “feel good about eating it” bonus points.

I really do love salad but in the chillier months they have to be extra amazing in order to tempt my taste buds. This one fits the bill in so many ways. It’s beautiful, full of texture and bursting with flavor. Who wouldn’t want to devour that?

grapefruit and avocado spinach salad grapefruit and avocado spinach saladFeel free to play with the ingredients by swapping out citrus, nuts or cheese. Keep that avocado though. There’s something so special about the creaminess of an avocado mixing with the tartness of citrus…it’s salad happiness.

Enjoy!

brandyjsig

 

5.0 from 1 reviews
grapefruit & avocado spinach salad
 
Print
Serves: 2
Ingredients
  • For the dressing:
  • 1 garlic clove minced
  • 2tbsp honey
  • 1tsp Dijon mustard
  • 1tbsp grapefruit juice (from fresh grapefruit)
  • 3tbsp balsalmic vinegar
  • ¼cup extra virgin olive oil
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • For the salad:
  • 10 to 12oz fresh baby spinach leaves
  • 1 grapefruit peeled and segments cut out
  • 1 avocado, peeled, pit removed and diced
  • ¼cup toasted walnuts
  • ¼cup crumbled feta
Instructions
  1. Place all dressing ingredients in a bowl and whisk vigorously together. Set aside.
  2. Place spinach in a large bowl and top with remaining ingredients. Top with desired amount of dressing and toss.

grapefruit and avocado spinach salad
Posted in healthy eats, recipes, vegetarian | Tagged | 3 Comments

grapefruit & champagne bundt cake

January 6, 2016

grapefruit and champagne bundt cake“It’s a bunddddtttt…..”

Every single time I am near a bundt cake I think of My Big Fat Greek Wedding. Aiden’s mom (that’s his name right?!…SATC FOREVER!) brought one to his future bride’s parents home. The only sad thing about all of this is that the bundt seemed to be frowned upon. Maybe they needed some booze in theirs.

There is absolutely nothing sad about this bundt. It’s light and fluffy and bright, with a hint of champagne. We are still celebrating the New Years after all, correct?

grapefruit and champagne bundt cake grapefruit and champagne bundt cakeAnyone else’s husband call this baseball cake? Anyone else not figure out what the heck he was talking about until a good 30 seconds after he said it? Duh Brand…

grapefruit and champagne bundt cake grapefruit and champagne bundt cakeThis was my virgin tryout of the bundt and rest assured I will be making more. I’d love to do a raspberry champagne version…or raspberry grand mariner…or lime tequila. The booze cake options are virtually endless.

Cheers to baseball cake!

Enjoy!

brandyjsig

 

grapefruit & champagne bundt cake
 
Print
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
 
Serves: 8
Ingredients
  • for the cake:
  • 2cups all-purpose flour
  • 1¾tsp baking powder
  • 1tsp kosher salt
  • 1&2/3cups granulated sugar
  • 1tbsp grapefruit zest
  • 2 large eggs, room temperature
  • 1 cup milk, room temperature (I used almond milk)
  • ½cup sour cream
  • ¼cup vegetable oil
  • 1tsp vanilla extract
  • for the syrup:
  • ½cup champagne
  • ½cup grapefruit juice
  • ¼cup sugar
  • for the glaze:
  • ¾cup powdered sugar
  • 1-2 tbsp grapefruit juice
  • 1tbsp of grapefruit zest for sprinkling (optional)
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven 350ºF. Grease and flour a bundt pan. Set aside.
  2. Sift flour, baking powder and salt in a large bowl.
  3. In a stand mixer with a whisk attachment, place sugar and grapefruit zest and rub together with fingers. Add eggs and whisk on medium speed until it is creamy, about 3 minutes. Keep the mixer running and slowly add the milk, sour cream, vegetable oil and then vanilla. Turn the mixer down to lowly and slowly add the dry ingredients. Mix until just incorporated.
  4. Pour batter into prepared bundt pan. Bake for 35 to 45 minutes or until toothpick in the center comes out clean.
  5. While cake is baking make the syrup by placing champagne, grapefruit juice and sugar in a small sauce pan on medium high heat. Stir until sugar is dissolved. Once the mixture is bowling bring it down to simmer and allow to simmer for about 10 minutes. Take off heat and let set to cool.
  6. When cake is finished baking set on wire rack still in the pan and allow to cool completely. Once cooled remove from pan by turning upside down. Take a fork or kabob stick and carefully poke holes allover the top of the cake. "Paint" syrup on very liberally with a brush.
  7. Make the glaze by combining 1cup powdered sugar and 1tbsp grapefruit juice in a bowl. Stir until mixture is thick yet still pourable. If too think add a little more juice. If too runny add a little more sugar.
  8. Pour glaze over cake and garnish with zest if desired.

 recipe slightly adapted from The Baker Chick

grapefruit and champagne bundt cake
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2016 winter hair

January 5, 2016

Blogger hair, mom hair, Kardashian hair…call it what you want the lob is holding strong. Meanwhile I am holding onto the same long hair I have had since before my children were born. Aka the official 2009-2013 “blogger, mom, Kardashian hair”..you know, before everyone started lobbing.

I am not sure whether or not I am ready for the scissors. Last time I made a dramatic cut was based on the drastic haircut of someone who was married to Tom Cruise at the time. Clearly she was not in her right mind…so yeah, copy her hair…that’s a wise decision. Truthfully, I didn’t hate the cut. My heart wanted a change and change is what I got. My heart hasn’t felt that same need since, yet I am beginning to feel like my long tresses are a bit of a drag for everyone who has had to look at them the last 8 years. Myself included at times…

So here I am again, kind of drooling over hairstyles yet not officially committing. Lauren’s messy bob is everywhere and would be perfect for those of you wanting to go shorter with your lobs. I love the fringe but the maintenance of the bangs makes me hesitate. I do not have the face to pull off blunt bangs with long hair like Cece (I know her name is Hannah but she will always be Cecei to me) but somebody out there reading this does and should. If my hair was naturally straighter I think a blunt lob would be fantabulous. (I think a longer version of this would be even better.) The flipped crop gets a big “oh hell no” from me but you know who you are…you delicate faced, look like Tinkerbell’s biological sister….please do this so the rest of us can admire you. And lastly the deep part with sleek, straight hair. Polished is supposedly coming back for 2016 and I for one wouldn’t mind the change. (But I hate straightening my hair.)

2016 Winter HairstylesThere you have it. 6 amazing styles I will most likely not be rocking. I fully expect a “same old long hair for umpteen years” intervention from my friends and family at some point.

What are you going to rock this winter?

xo,

brandyjsig

Posted in beauty, hair | Tagged | 1 Comment

house sweaters

January 4, 2016

Over the holiday break I spent sometime cleaning up issues I was having on the blog …things that were making posting more time consuming yet I didn’t have the time to actually fix them. My mindset was that I’d be going into 2016 with efficiency…all was well until our heater went on the fritz. Next came the internet failure. We had a repairmen in the basement and our service provider on the phone. Fun Monday.

Efficiency plans were foiled but I did not lose my cool over any of it. After 2 weeks of watching “the real” Cinderella (human version) I decided more grace could be added to my life. Of course I am not sure anyone could be as kind as Cinderella in real life (except for maybe Joanna Gaines) but I’ll give it a shot. I’m sure I can keep on track for at least a week…

One great thing about your heater going out is covering your living room in every blanket you own and snuggling hard with your kiddos. We of course didn’t sleep here but someone had to be available on Monday to make sure the repairman could get through the door. I thought the kids would be miserable but they both loved it. Who wouldn’t love a blanket cocoon and movie marathon? If anything we snuck in one extra day of break with our fantastic heat snafu.

Regardless of whether we have heat or not, our house always gets a little chilly this time of year. Now that winter has really set in I am finding myself living in huge chunky throw on sweaters. I like to call them “house sweters” because I rarely wear them outside of my house. Not because I don’t love them…more so because they are so big that I do not have a giant enough winter coat to throw over them.

Nonetheless, they are an essential item to have. Here are some picks for any of you in the market for your very own “house sweater”:

2016 House Sweaters1ASOS coatigan in boucle with hood/2H&M knit turtleneck sweater/3Chicwish oversized turtleneck sweater/4Halogen wool & cashmere drape front cardigan/5Forever 21 marled open-front cardigan/6Old Navy curved hem pull-over sweater

Okay…yes, some of these would be easy to wear under a coat but I added them anyways only because they looked so dang comfy.

A word of warning on oversized sweaters though…they do add nonexistent mass in photos and videos. Be on alert for anyone holding up a phone while wearing. Nothing ruins a cozy mood more than unapproved social media postings where one looks larger than one actually is.

Enjoy your sweaters!

xo,

brandyjsig

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