Had the honor of helping a friend do stuff for her bridesmaids.

SS rollo chain, Swarovski AB crystal channel links and drops in 4mm and 6mm, SS 2.5″ ear threads (box chain), SS mini lobster clasp.

P.S. The reality of photographying jewelry: It took me +20 shots just to narrow it down to these two.

P.P.S. I didn’t make the cookies. All I did was provide a recipe and kitchen supplies. And take pictures. =)

This is my second time making goulash, and also my second time making spaetzle from scratch. Except this time, I actually had a spaetzle maker, and it made all the difference in the world. Previously, I had pushed the spaetzle dough through 1) a colander, 2) cheese grater, etc. and nothing worked. It was too sticky and too frustrating. And I wasn’t about to slice it off the cutting board like the German grandmas would do. Too much work as it is. So I was determined to get myself a spaetzle maker.

You place it over a pot of boiling water (next to the goulash, simmering nearby):

Making the spaetzle dough:

Placing some of the dough in the spaetzle maker:

Running it back and forth, it pushes the dough through the holes and into the boiling water below:

Finished meal (sorry for the yellowing picture - the sun went down by then):

I have to say, I wasn’t paying too much attention when I was making the meal (I had friends over, and I suck at multi-tasking). I didn’t measure out the flour accurately when making the spaetzle, so it wasn’t as soft as I would like it. But next time I make it, I’ll pay more attention. And I forgot to brown the meat ahead of time to seal in the juices, so the meat wasn’t as tender as I would want it to be, but nevertheless, it was still good. Will do this again one of these days, especially when the season changes and the weather gets cooler.

** Thanks to Les who used my camera to take pictures for me while I was cooking. =)

This past spring, Hubby planted 4 varieties of tomato plants. They have been literally bursting with tomatoes. Below is only 5% of what we picked.

I love tomatoes, but there’s only so many tomatoes I can eat. So we gave some away. With the remainder lot, I made quite a few tomato dishes. Here are a couple of my personal favorites.

Soup:

This recipe is from my Williams Sonoma Soup and Stew cookbook, one of my favorite cookbooks.

Caprese Salad:

One of my favorite salads, and one of the easiest to put together. It takes tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, basil leaves, olive oil + balsamic vinegar. That’s it! A refreshing taste of summer.

Homemade spaghetti sauce:

There’s something so homey and comforting about a hot plate of spaghetti noodles slathered in chunky spaghetti sauce. Definitely a comfort food and an all time favorite of mine.