Summer in Austin

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Austin, list, summer, Texas, to-do list

Since Saturday was the first day of summer, I decided to make a list of summer habits to create, goals to accomplish, and new-to-us ways to explore Austin. What do you hope to do this summer?

1. Dine al fresco at least once a week.
2. Develop our 2014 signature summer cocktail. (Past summer favorites: Pimm’s Cups and homemade Margaritas)
3. Take walks after dinner.
4. Make friends with someone who has a boat and explore Austin’s lakes.
5. Take a weekend trip to Fredricksburg for wine tasting, and stay at a dog-friendly B&B.
6. Tour the Texas State Capitol.
7. Go out for soft serve….often.
8. Make our own crudo/tartare/ceviche.
9. Attend summer concerts – there’s no better city than Austin for this.
10. Plan a fall vacation!

P.S. Since we attended our first concert of the summer on Friday night, I started a hashtag – because, why not? – to chronicle our summer adventures. Follow along on Instagram at #brehmersummerlist.

Heirloom Tomato Caprese Polenta Panzanella

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caprese, gluten-free, healthy, mozzarella, recipe, salad, summer, tomato

I’ve found my favorite summer salad of the year! It makes use of the abundant tiny tomatoes our garden just started producing, contains mozzarella (a necessity, obviously), and is also gluten-free. I have been obsessed with polenta in all of its many forms this year, and this is a delicious way to use up leftovers. For this recipe, I make the polenta a day ahead so I don’t have to wait for it to cool.

Recipe after the jump!

Five Piece French Wardrobe: May Update

Tags

2014, fashion, five piece French wardrobe, spring, summer

May:

• Investment: J Crew Hooded Fatigue Jacket (almost sold out in this color – similar here, here, here) – while it’s true that I live in Texas and won’t be able to wear this until November, it is a classic piece that will be perfect for the cool mornings that will someday be back.
• Basics: Can we talk about RueLaLa for a second? I have had the best finds there. They have quality brands, a user-friendly site and app, and the items ship quickly. This month, I snagged the gray Splendid maxi dress below. It’s so soft and super versatile. I also picked up these Ted Baker sunnies, which I found at Nordstrom Rack. It’s true…I love my bargain shopping. Last thing on the list this month was a second J Crew Linen V-Neck Pocket Tee – officially my favorite t-shirt of all time.

Take a look at all my Five Piece French Wardrobe posts here.

 

Spring Rolls with Peanut Sauce

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avocado, gluten-free, healthy, homemade, peanut sauce, raw, spring rolls, summer rolls, tofu, vegan, vegetarian

I love this time of year. The longer days when the sun stays up well past 8pm lead to higher energy levels and seemingly more time in the day. With the natural light that lasts much later into the night comes inspiration to prepare pretty meals to share here. I hope these leave you inspired to try something new in the kitchen!

Spring rolls are something I can rarely say no to on a menu, and I have always wanted to try making my own. They took a little prep work, but were ultimately SO easy! I used this tutorial as a guide, and stuffed these with kale, cucumbers, cellophane noodles, lightly fried tofu, carrots, and avocado. I made two dipping sauces – tamari with a small splash of sesame oil, and a homemade raw peanut sauce (recipe after the jump).

Wish List: Gold Accents

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accessories, fashion, gold, style

If you took one look at my dresser (where I keep my jewelry), you’d know right away that I have a thing for gold. Here are some picks that I’d love to add to my wardrobe.

• Ban.do Twist Scarf: This has been on my wish list forever. At only $20, I’m not really sure what I’ve been waiting for. Check out this cute video for some of the ways you can tie it!
• J Crew Palm Tree Tee: This would be another great pick for the tropical getaway I blogged on Sunday – and it’s 25% off with code PACKME through May 24. It also comes in navy with white trees.
• Kendra Scott Rayne Necklace: I think I’m the only girl in Austin who doesn’t own something from Kendra Scott, who is based here. This is the piece that’s on my wish list – I’ve been really into long necklaces lately.
• Rifle Paper Co. Clear Lace Phone Case: Technically this is clear unless you have a gold iPhone, but I love how this case plays off of the iPhone’s gorgeous color and construction. She also makes one for iPhone 5c – I love how the pink looks, too.
• Coach Utopia Flat: You had me at gold lobsters. This is another item I’m hoping for a sale on, although the $158 price tag is actually pretty reasonable. I would love these for fall.

Tropical Getaway Packing List

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beach, Hawaii, honeymoon, packing list, pool, summer, travel, tropical vacation

My husband has been in Hawaii for the past few days for a work team building trip – how cool is that?! Of course, that’s left me with the weekend to myself to catch up on important things, like a long-overdue pedicure, mango margarita testing, and dreaming about what would be on my packing list if I was heading to a tropical locale.

• Bracelet: This Stella and Dot Renegade Cluster Bracelet has been on my wish list for quite a while. It reminds me of a sea urchin, which in my opinion makes it the perfect accessory for a beach trip!
• Tank: This J Crew Stripe Linen Tank says classic seaside to me, and J Crew’s linen clothing is particularly luxurious. It’s also on sale through May 24 with code PACKME.
• Tote: While my Kate Spade bag is perfect for everyday, I think it would be a little heavy for the tropics. The Kate Spade Aria Tote pictured here is a little steeply priced for a straw tote (although it is on sale). I also love this one and this one.
• Suit: I think this Tory Burch Tomino Suit is the most perfect one-piece ever – I’ve done a ton of browsing, and haven’t found anything that compares. Hoping for an end-of-season sale on this one.
• Dress: I’ve mentioned this Resort Maxi Dress before. I haven’t purchased it (yet), but it comes in huge variety of colors and comes highly recommended.
• Sandals: These DV Daffodil Sandals would go with variety of outfits and seem sturdy enough for sightseeing, so you wouldn’t have to pack many other shoe options.

Five Piece French Wardrobe: April Update

Tags

2014, basics, fashion, five piece French wardrobe, spring

April:

• Investment: I wasn’t planning on buying another pair of sandals this year, but sometimes the right purchase comes to you. I had been eyeing this style of Joie sandal all year, and Rue La La had a Joie event. You can guess what happened next! This is an impulse buy that I’m so happy with – it’s an amazing sandal. The leather is so soft, they’re incredibly comfortable, and they go with everything. Similar here, at Nordstrom.
• Basics: Just a couple this month – a mint tank from J Crew (I also have it in black – it’s so soft!), and this Madewell belt that I’ve been in need of for months.

Onward: I’ve been searching for the perfect new maxi dress ever since my dog decided to eat my favorite Ella Moss maxi dress last summer (wahh). I keep coming back to this Pink Stitch Resort Maxi Dress – now I just need to decide on a color! Which would you choose?

Take a look at all my Five Piece French Wardrobe posts here.

 

Fresh Fettuccine

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easy, fettuccine, fresh pasta, homemade, pasta

Some of my fondest childhood cooking memories are with my Aunt Mic. Whenever we would visit, we would always cook something together. She always encouraged me to choose something that seemed (to me) as if only professionals could cook it. Fried rice was one of those items – and my first foray into Asian cooking. Fresh pasta, which we made one day for the whole family, was another. She showed me that just because something was unfamiliar or seemed really hard, doesn’t mean I couldn’t try it out (and be really successful at it!). Aside from gnocchi, which I mastered thanks to this recipe a few years ago, I hadn’t made fresh pasta since the day my aunt and I made it. That was at least 10-15 years ago (does anyone else feel totally strange when you realize you can vividly remember that many years ago?). When I was recently inspired to make this angel food cake, which uses 12 egg whites, I couldn’t bear to let 12 yolks go to waste. Pasta was the perfect answer! I used this pasta dough recipe – which makes quick work of the dough by using a food processor – and dug out our pasta maker, which Tim bought for me four years ago and I hadn’t quite gotten around to using. I had remembered homemade pasta being an undertaking, but everything came together surprisingly quickly – more quickly than the angel food cake, actually. The recipe made a ton of pasta, so I formed most of it into “nests” and froze them for another time. I quickly boiled the rest and tossed it with salt, pepper, and olive oil (see above). Let’s just say…I think this is the start of a beautiful relationship with my pasta machine!

Wedding Wednesday: Little White Dresses, Spring 2014 Edition

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bachelorette, bridal shower, dress, engagement party, little white dress, reception dress, rehearsal dinner, wedding, what to wear, white dress

Wedding season has officially begun, at least based on the flood of bachelorette parties, bridal showers, and weddings themselves that have been gracing my Facebook and Instagram feeds over the past few weekends. One of my more popular Wedding Wednesday posts was this one, all about little white dresses, from March 2012. Since it’s been a few years, I decided to do an updated version. These dress options would be lovely for a bride-to-be, but brides aren’t the only ones who can wear a little white dress! (Just don’t wear one to someone else’s wedding event).

1. Soprano Textured Lace Tank Dress ($46 @ Nordstrom) – I love an attention-drawing back, and the lace makes it particularly bridal.
2. LOFT Embroidered Bodice Dress ($49 @ LOFT – that’s half off with code MUSTSHOP) – This one comes in tall, regular, and petite – and the embroidered front is really pretty.
3. Adrianna Papell Lace Shift Dress ($189 @ Nordstrom) – I wore an Adrianna Papell dress with similar lace for our engagement shoot.
4. JOA Flower Lace Dress ($62 @ Revolve) – I absolutely love this dress and just added it to my spring wish list…because the best part about little white dresses is you don’t have to be a bride to wear one! I’m particularly liking this one for a tropical vacation.

Angel Food Cake

Tags

angel food cake, cake, dessert, healthy, shortcake, strawberry, summer, whipped cream

I have always been a huge angel food cake fan. I’m sure it started with my love for strawberry shortcake, which has been lifelong thanks to my grandma. Angel food cake is basically egg whites, with a little sugar and flour, so it’s relatively healthy compared to other cakes. What I really love, though, is the texture – it’s like a cloud.

Before this past weekend, I had never made an angel food cake – as they are so accessible in the grocery store’s bakery section, I had always just picked them up there. Never again. Homemade is so worth it. I used this recipe from Alton Brown (and used vanilla extract instead of orange), but next time I’ll try less sugar, like in this recipe. Topped with some homemade whipped cream (1 cup heavy whipping cream, a little less than 1/4 cup powdered sugar, and 1 teaspoon vanilla, whipped to stiff peaks) and some sliced strawberries, this is the perfect summer dessert.

This would be a great end to a summer barbeque, but I’m not going to lie…my husband and I ate almost half of this just between the two of us the night I made it!