Our family likes to snack.  Well, maybe it’s not exactly that we like it so much as it’s just a necessary part of our daily food rhythm.  On weekdays, I pick up the kids after work and school, we drive home, and all three of us walk in the door ravenous.  By the time we are home it’s well past what we would all prefer to be dinnertime.  And so, snacks buy me time while I prepare our main meal.  However, the kids are like little bottomless pits and it can be tough to keep filling the pit with healthy snacks while still providing variety.  Fruit is almost always first on their plates but, especially at this time of year, there isn’t much in season and we can only eat so many lil’ cuties, you know?  Dips and crackers or pita chips are our next go-to, but we eat them so often, it is always nice to have another one in the repertoire.

This is definitely a new favorite of mine.  The creamy white beans coupled with the spicy sriracha make for a totally addictive snack.  Consider that it is also healthy and takes about five minutes to prepare, and that makes for a perfect snack food in our house.   If you are worried about the spice level, start out with less sriracha and add more to taste as desired.  To us this was only mildly spicy and the kids ate it right up, but we feed them spicy foods often so they are accustomed to it.  Serve with whole grain crackers, pita chips, or assorted raw veggies, and don’t expect it to last long.  It made a quick disappearing act in our house.

In general, I’m pretty good at sharing.  In fact, I think I could be called generous in most respects.  But not when it comes to dessert.  Particularly when that dessert involves chocolate.  Whenever Ben and I go out to dinner and decide to indulge in dessert, we usually split something.  But the more chocolate it involves, the less inclined I am to share.  When it’s chocolate mousse, I don’t even try to pretend.  I’m ordering that all on my own.  But there is definitely something to be said for sharing desserts.  The obvious is at least some semblance of portion control, but also the joy in the experience of sharing with someone you love.  Joking over who will get the last bite (he always leaves it for me…he’s a good one).  These chocolate caramel tartlets are a great dessert for sharing because one is definitely too much to eat solo but when split with someone else, it’s just right.

In case you’re thinking of making a special Valentine meal in rather than going out, this is a fabulous dessert option because it can be made in advance and keeps very well.  The recipe as written here makes enough for six tarlets, so consider sharing the tartlet love amongst your friends so they can enjoy with their special someone.  I think a set of tartlet pans is a second-tier kitchen must-have.  Like, you don’t really have to have it, but I promise if you have them, you’ll find tons of uses for them.  If you would rather make this as a full size tart, you may need to scale back the ingredients slightly, though I haven’t tested a full size version so I can’t say for sure.

Here’s to chocolate and to sharing!

Note: This recipe was developed as part of my ongoing contribution to the Go Bold with Butter blog.  Head over to see my posts as well as more great recipes from the other awesome bloggers involved with the project!

Some recipes come easily, and some take a little more time before they find their way.  This is the latter, but it was well worth the wait.  Red velvet cake is my favorite, if you’re forcing me to choose, and so the thought of a red velvet ice cream seemed pretty great.  However, the majority of the “recipes” I’ve come across are simply ice cream with chunks of red velvet cake mixed in.  No doubt, that classic red velvet flavor isn’t quite going to come through, not to mention that the little pieces of cake stippled throughout a formerly creamy, smooth ice cream seems like a major texture fail.

I dropped the idea until one day it dawned on me – the thing that makes red velvet so good in that way you can’t quite put your finger on?  It’s the buttermilk.  And since I’ve already made a buttermilk ice cream that I happen to love, that seemed like a great starting point.  A small amount of cocoa powder is incorporated into the custard base of the ice cream, just as with the cake itself – a little chocolate, but not too much.  Yep, I had it all figured out last year at about this time but by a series of mishaps, my ice cream bowl was not cold enough and the batter never froze.  Red velvet season (AKA Valentine’s Day) passed so I filed the idea away yet again, but now here we are and it is a finally a reality.  A smooth, tangy treat with a ribbon of cream cheese frosting because really, what is red velvet without the cream cheese frosting?

As you all know by know, I love me some ModCloth.  I actually purchased this brand new zag top back in December and have been wearing the heck out of it ever since.  (Technically they call it a dress, but in my wardrobe it’s a top.)  It is cute, super comfortable, and gets compliments all the time.  I like to pair it withe black leggings and gray boots.

On some other dreadfully cold day back in December, I was so miserable that I went on a cardigan online shopping spree.  I’m all about cardigans anyway, but this winter I’ve been reminded just how much of a wardrobe staple they are for me and that I can never have too many of them.  This particular sweater has become my BFF.  It goes with almost anything, is super soft and warm, and works in almost any situation.  I’ve worn it to work, out on a date night, at home with the kids, and even to hot yoga.

I’m an OPI lover and I fall victim to each new line they release basically every time I visit the hair salon.  Imagine my excitement when I learned online that they had released a Skyfall 007 line.  Say what?!  I quickly made a trip over to the salon only to learn that they had already been basically wiped out of all the shades and wouldn’t be getting more in.  Thank goodness for the internet, right?  I chose Casino Royal, Die Another Day, and Goldeneye.  I really love them all, but I think Goldeneye might be my favorite.  (It’s the polish I wore in these photos – lots of readers loved it too!)

And speaking of nail polish…are you ready for this?  This is a life-changing tip.  (Understand I mean life-changing in a totally superficial, related to nail polish sense.)  My friend taught me this trick.  Apply nail polish as usual (I do a base coat, then two color coats usually.)  Let air dry about two minutes.  Then soak your fingertips in a bowl of ice water for three minutes.  It helps your polish set much, much more quickly than by air drying.  I still let my fingers air dry until the water has evaporated from my fingers but still, this is so, so much quicker.  In the past I would paint my nails, go three hours being ultra careful and then still, the first time I touched anything, they would get blemished.  As a result I probably painted my nails twice a year, if that.  Now I’ve had them painted probably five or six times in the past month and a half.  (Also, I know this sounds really difficult but to me, the first minute is the hardest and after that your fingertips are kind of numb and it’s not that bad.)  I still put on a top coat later, but that never takes long to dry anyway.

No matter how old I get, I’ll never stop giving out Valentine’s Day treats to my friends and coworkers.  I haven’t completely decided on what treat I’ll be handing out this year, but I did buy some fun packaging embellishments from good ol’ Paper Source several weeks ago.  Sadly the adorable stuff I bought is no longer available, but never fear.  They have so many other cute options to choose from.  Last year I made the ever popular soft frosted sugar cookies, decorated them with Valentine sprinkles, and packaged them up with baker’s twine and these cute “XOXO” stickers.

When it comes to baby gifts, I’m normally one to stick to the registry and buy functional items that the parents-to-be really need.  However, those functional gifts aren’t always the most fun to give, so I tend to throw in something else that’s a little more frivolous like clothes.  However, when the baby arriving is a third or fourth child, there isn’t much else the family needs and in that case, clothes it is!  My sweet pal Josie recently gave birth to her adorable twin boys and when I saw these little cardigan onesies from the Etsy shop Haddon & Co., I absolutely could not resist sending her a pair.  This may become my go-to “fun” gift for friends expecting boys…or maybe not.  Wouldn’t want to ruin the surprise for any friends reading this!

As I’ve mentioned in my past few instagram posts, I’ve gotten into knitting.  Like, really into it.  It may come as no surprise that I’ve never been great at sitting still.  Knitting gives my hands something to do when Ben wants to watch a movie, when I’m sitting with the kids in the playroom, when I’m sitting watching swim lessons, etc.  If you’re already into knitting I’m sure you are well aware of Ravelry, but if you are new to knitting or looking to get into it, I apologize in advance for just stealing away your next 24 hours as you save pattern after pattern.

File this under things everyone else probably already knows about, but I finally started using the Starbucks app recently and it is awesome.  My girls told me about it last fall during our trip to CT but since getting our espresso maker, I’ve barely been to Starbucks at all.  However, at the holidays we received lots of Starbucks gift cards (woohoo!!)  I downloaded the app, loaded all of the gift cards onto my account, and now I can just pay with my phone rather than a credit card or cash.  So convenient and quick.

I haven’t had a ton of time for pleasure reading lately, but I did read the book The Round House by Louise Erdrich last month and I absolutely could not put it down.  It covers some interesting themes from, at least in my opinion, a somewhat unique perspective and kept me on the edge of my seat until the very last page.

As always, I have been listening to lots and lots of episodes of This American Life.  I’m going back in time through the archives.  There have been tons of really incredible shows that I’ve heard lately but this one  in particular (Very Tough Love) was fascinating to me and had me Googling afterward to find out more information on the rest of this story.

And now, for your dose of humor, this fantastic video of The NFL: Bad Lip Reading.  When Ben first showed this to me, I thought it was dumb for about two seconds and then we were both laughing to the point of tears by the end.

Disclaimer:  I have no affiliation with any of the products or companies mentioned above.  I’m just sharing things I love with you, because I love them!

So, you know how I mentioned that last week I said goodbye to my 20′s and I was…a little bummed about it?  On my actual birthday things didn’t really improve.  I worked as usual, picked the kids up from school and then on our way home, we were stuck in an unimaginable traffic jam that brought our commute to a total of two hours door to door.  Two.hours.  As a result, I missed my hot yoga class, and well, after two hours in the car with tired, hungry kids (and tired, hungry me), it just wasn’t the greatest day.  It’s okay though.  It got better.

The next evening, Ben arranged a dinner with my brothers, their better halves, and a few close friends.  He packed the kids up and drove them over to the babysitter’s house while I had about 40 glorious minutes in the house to myself – such a rarity.  I did glamorous things like sort mail, clean up the playroom, and take out the recycling.  Ben finally returned and said he had picked up one more birthday present for me on the way home.  Into my kitchen walked my amazing friend Courtney.  All the way from Richmond, VA.  I was floored.  I am supremely difficult to surprise but somehow everyone involved pulled it off and it was amazing.  All sorts of unintelligible shrieks and squeals poured out of my mouth as I jumped up and down.

So, we had a wonderful night out that evening with my family and friends.  We stayed up super late talking while we baked my birthday cake.  The next morning we woke up and did what we always do together – decided to cook something awesome.  Though normally indecisive, it didn’t take long for us to settle on this heck of a breakfast dish.  Eggs in a ranchero sauce with black beans, topped with lots of melted cheese, freshly baked tortilla strips and a mouth-watering lime crema.  Yowza.  Basically, my perfect breakfast, made even more perfect by Courtney’s company.

My already phenomenal weekend was made even more perfect when another of my BFFs hosted a rockin’ birthday party for me the next evening.  She thought of every little detail (hello, margaritas in mason jars!) and added so, so many sweet personal touches.  My other great friend and the best art director in the world Ryan covered a massive chalkboard wall in semi-snarky, tongue-in-cheek graffiti – oh, how he knows me.  (Also, like that center design?  Good, because it’s about to be a t-shirt you all can wear – minus the 30, obvs.  Details soon…)  Tons of my friends came to celebrate and they all contributed dishes made from this very site.  My sweet friend Shanon made the trip all the way from Milwaukee.  The sweet and inspiring Alex and Sonja were there too.  It was truly amazing to have so many people I love all in one place.  So yeah, I’m feeling just fine about 30 now, in case you were wondering.