Birchbox

Who doesn't love getting snail mail. Better yet, who doesn't love getting a little present every month?

Enter, Birchbox.

I heard of Birchbox about a year ago, but it took me some time to actually sign up. Now I'm a true believer. For $10/month, the Birchbox team sorts through the gazillion beauty products out there in the world and sends out samples of their top picks. (No worries gentlemen, Birchbox carries mens products too, but I'd probably just recommend signing up your special lady friend because she deserves it and you will get major points). 

I mean, I'm sure there are some people out there who can commiserate with me on buying a full size of something mediocre at Sephora and not liking it and not using it. Lame. 

Now I can try out the fancy pants stuff to see if I love it before committing to a purchase. 

Oh the suspense.

A description of each sample, how to use it, and what the full-size price is.

The box is always wrapped up super cute.

The goods! It makes me happy...

3 years ago: A little wine perhaps?

2 years ago: Inside Roma's Mind

1 year ago:  Eggplant

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The Kenai, in Style

We got some fabulous weather this weekend. What a nice departure from the last couple rainy weekends! Ross and I took a roadtrip to the Kenai to try our hand at catching Reds since we got snuffed last weekend. We stopped along the way at my favorite photo spot.

Ross's buddy, Taylor, invited us to stay at his parents beautiful "cabin" on the Kenai. The Wellman's stay here during the summer months and then live in Arizona for the winter months (we call it snowbirding).

Here's what my house is going to look like down the road...

Do you recognize some of the animals from our African Safari? We have a Kudu and a Gemsbok at the taxidermist right now :) Hopefully, we'll have a Dahl Sheep on the wall soon.

We ate well at the Wellman's and I copied down a couple recipes, including their smoked salmon secrets!

Mamma Wellman thinks the male salmon is best for smoking because it's firmer.

We went out to fish at 10pm and then woke up at 3:30 in the morning to get an early start and beat the fish guides to the coveted spot on the bank. It paid off! We came home with 18 fish and our freezer is now stocked!

I had a good streak of luck this weekend-- 9 fish!

We watched the sun slowly come up. It was shady on our side of the bank, until it was time to leave of course. 

Our crew took up a pretty good stretch of the bank, only accessible by boat.

River rocks.

The boat.

The river was multi-colored as the sun came up.

Taylor and Ross.

The boys in the fish "filleting" hut.

Get 'em Joe!

3 years ago: A little wine perhaps?

2 years ago: Thai Basil Chicken

1 year ago:  Eggplant

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Dad and Jeff Go to London

My brother, Jeff, starts med school in a couple weeks and as his last "Hoo-Rah" he accompanied my Dad on a business trip to London. Jeff went a couple days early for some extra exploring and was able to sightsee while Dad was in meetings. Here's what Jeff had to say about the trip:

"Trip was great. Glad I was able to go. It was a perk staying in Dad's hotel (awesome location). I used the underground many times, and was able to get around quickly to many different places. Dad and I were able to go to Churchill War Rooms (underground bunker where British WWII decisions were made). On my own I saw Westminster Abbey, St. Paul's (favorite), Tower of London and Old Globe Theatre (saw Taming of the Shrew there). We also saw the musical Wicked on one of the nights (Good performance, plot was a stretch). I went to olympic park, but could not get very close. 

I really liked London. It was obviously looking its best due to the olympics.  I want to go back again!"

Jeff's Commentary is included in the picture captions.

Dad admiring Greek statue at British Museum.

Dad's favorite dessert called "Eton Mess" (lots of fruit with fruit ice cream fruit sauce and meringue pieces) 

White Tower at the Tower of London 

St. Paul's Cathedral (went to top of dome-awesome 360 view).

Westminster Abbey

Westminster

View from top of St. Paul's 

London "City"

Dad in front of U.S. Embassy -Eisenhower Statue 

New tallest building in Europe, "The Shard" 

Tower Bridge

From Hotel Room window. The batmobile for The Dark Knight Rises premiere.

3 years ago: Girl Weekend

2 years ago: Babies, But not Mine

1 year ago:  Eggplant

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Salmon Two Ways

Even though we only caught one Red last weekend, we certainly enjoyed it :) I love eating fresh fish, BEFORE it's frozen and de-thawed. It's night and day kinda difference. We picked two different preparations so that we could stretch out 1 ingredient into 2 seemingly different dinners. I love coming home from work to a pre-prepared dinner, don't you?? Especially on a Monday. Ewww Mondays.

We were supposed to have the late softball game last night (8:45-9:45!!), but it got cancelled because the fields were too wet. I did a happy dance and sang a happy song. Horrray!

Check out Bobby Flay's Grilled Oregano Salmon with Avacado Tzatziki AND Cook's Illustrated Grill Smoked Salmon.

The winner was the Smoked salmon! Unfortunately, I couldn't find the recipe online and I'm too lazy to type it out. The other recipe is below.

Roma is always trying to get her Omega-3's!

Grilled Salmon with Oregano Oil, Avocado Tzatziki Sauce and Grilled Lemons
From Bobby Flay's "Grill It!"
Makes 4 servings

1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons fresh oregano leaves
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 (6-ounce) salmon filletes
2 lemons, halved
Avocado Tzatziki (recipe follows)

Heat your grill to high. Combine 1/4 cup of the oil and the oregano in a blender and blend until smooth. Season with salt and pepper.

Brush the fillets on both sides with some of the oregano oil and season with salt and pepper. Grill the salmon for about 3 minutes per side, until slightly charred and cooked to medium, brushing with more of the oil every 30 seconds.

While the fish is grilling, brush the cut sides of the lemons with the remianing 2 tablespoons olive oil and grill, cut side down, until lightly golden brown, 2 minutes.

Serve the fillets with a dollop of AvocadoTzatziki and squeeze the juice from the grilled lemons on top.

Avocado Tzatziki
Makes 1 cup

2 ripe Hass avocados, peeled, pitted and chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 serrano chile, chopped
1/4 cup Greek yogurt
Grated zest and juice of 1 small lemon
1/2 English cucumber, finely diced
1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves
Kosher salt and freshly gorund black pepper

Put the avocados, garlic, serrano, yogurt, lemon zest and lemon juice in the bowl of a food processor and process until somooth. Transfer the mixture to a medium bowl, stir in the cucumber and parsley, and season with salt and pepper. Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes and up to 2 hours before serving.

3 years ago: Girl Weekend

2 years ago: The Fate of Wild Salmon

1 year ago:  Dress Up

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Anchorage Food Scene

It can take a fairly substantial amount of time of living in a city before one can properly size up the food scene. Exploring Anchorage's restaurant scene is less laborious than Houston, but it took us about a year to really get a handle on our favorites...

1. Jack Sprat- located in Girdwood, about 30 minutes south of Anchorage. I don't know whether it's the use of locally grown, fresh ingredients or the beautiful patio with lots of windows that keeps me coming back.. Who am I kidding, we all know it's the Yam fries with jalapeño aioli.

The seafood Cioppino is another excellent reason to hit up Jack Sprat for dinner. See those King crab legs?

2. Crow's Nest & Marx Bro.- Do you need a romantic date night, some really good food, and are feeling like you need to burn some moo lah? These 2 places are tied. Crow's Nest has an amazing view of the Cook Inlet. I mean gorgeous because it's on the top floor of the Captain Cook Hotel. But Marx Bro. has been around for ages and has a whole lotta charm in a little itty bitty house. Now that I know how to make their famous Caesar Salad, we might not go as often :)

3.  Moose's Tooth- I think this place is written up in every Alaska guidebook there is, and rightfully so. The "off the beaten path" pizzas are delicious. Chipotle Steak and Santa's Little Helper (no bacon) are two of our favorites. The crust is fresh and fluffy.

Oh, and for the gluten challenged folks, their salads are huge and amazing. My favorite is the Mixed Green Salad with grilled chicken.

4. Glacier Brew House- It's not going to win atmosphere points if you're trying to have an intimate dinner because you really can't hear very well in this joint, but I mean it's a brewery whatcha expect? However, they have a good selection of microbrew and the ahi tuna is pretty good. I'm pretty sure I order it every time, unless they're out.

5. Simon & Seafort's- This place has a stellar happy hour, but I just don't do that many happy hours. They also have dependable seafood, so they're my go-to for a date night when I'm feeling like some King crab. Or when my Dad comes into town and treats me to dinner... :)

6. BEER- I'm leaving this category wide open. There is so much good beer in Alaska, it's hard to choose just one brewery! I think the craft beer (and pizza) scene ballooned here because it's so cold in the winter and you need to put on some extra pounds to stay warm. Of course my favorite brewery is located in my own garage... curtesy of Ross! A couple other favorites are Midnight Sun and King Street Brewery.

Post-run beer.

Ross took a keg of homebrew to our softball game. Fasten that seatbelt, safety first!

6. ?

Just because?

3 years ago: Girl Weekend

2 years ago: Spicy Shrimp, Inception

1 year ago:  Kenai River Adventures

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