This is NOT my breakfast, I swear. This is the practice pre-Easter roast chicken and potato dish I made earlier this week.
I get really nervous when I have to cook something new for people other than El Hub, Tabs and Connor, so I like to practice a dish one or two times.
I dunno… It’s just that I’m not naturally gifted with cooking. Sure, I can follow a recipe and do OK, but I don’t want people to leave hungry. I want you to come over and stuff yourself silly. That’s my new mission in life, which is why I do things like practice runs of this roast chicken and potato dish, which I think I also talked about in last week’s Saturday Surfing (yes, after 11 years of blogging, sometimes I repeat myself, haha).
It turned out really well! The recipe’s by Laura Vitale of Laura in the Kitchen. Her recipes aren’t fussy, and they’re delicious and easy to follow. This one took me 10 minutes to prep the night before. Basically, you throw the marinade ingredients and the chicken into a bowl, then stick it into the fridge overnight so the flavors can marry. The next day, I warmed up the oven, chopped some potatoes, and added those to an oven safe bowl with some olive oil, salt and rosemary. That was it. So easy! And so delicious.
So that’s what we’re having for Easter tomorrow, and I think I might also make a carrot ? cake.
I just got that Ralph Lauren lemon print tablecloth at HomeGood last week, by the way, and I was so excited to see the colors in the room that I put it on the table right when I got home without thinking about the wrinkles or anything. Of course, Tabs is now obsessed with it… I think he thinks it’s there to make the forbidden naps he takes on top of the table more comfortable.
*sigh* Cats…
Other than Easter prep, I also have to swing by TJs, and oh! — while I’m there, I’m going to have to track down one of the sales associates because I heard through the grapevine that the famous Trader Joe’s Rose Oil Ultra Moisturizing Hand Cream, which I’m putting on my hands right now, by the way, is returning for Mother’s Day, so hopefully that’s true.
FYI, if you live in the Novato area, you better get to the Trader Joe’s on Grant before I do, girl, because I’m gonna clean that shelf out! I got no shame. I’m gonna walk up to the display with my cart and sweep everything into it with my arm in one fell swoop. You think I’m playing, but I’m totally not! 🙂
Alright, that’s my plan, and I’m stickin’ to it. Before I go, how about another coffee and some light reading?
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A few things I recently learned and will now be unable to unlearn forever. 1) That eating placenta for better skin really is a thing (say what?), but that 2) applying it to your skin topically isn’t a thing…yet. 3) That the most common sources of placenta used in skin care products are from sheep and pigs. 4) And that you can currently find this trending in Korean and Japanese skin care.
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Speaking of skin care, Lifehacker recently posted this detailed science-based skin care guide, and it seems to conclude that cleansing, moisturizing and sunscreen are probably all you need.
There’s also a list of active ingredients that, according to the blog, probably do something, and I was glad to see some things in there that my skin likes, like salicylic acid (BHA) and benzoyl peroxide.
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I mean, I spend so much time on my phone already, and now that beauty apps are blowin’ up, it doesn’t look like I’ll be breaking up with my iPhone any time soon. There are apps to help you discover different skin care cocktails to address specific issues (like acne, wrinkles, what have you), which treatment masks are best suited for your skin type, and even oral care apps to help you figure out the best way to get a brighter smile and healthier gums (Ummm… WANT!).
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The “natural” beauty category is growing like a fertilized philodendron. Do you ever wonder what it really means when a line is labeled “natural,” “green,” or “organic,” since there aren’t any legal guidelines that define what truly makes a product [INSERT NATURAL-SOUNDING CLAIM HERE]? I do all the time. Allure recently interviewed five leaders in the space, including Josie Maran, Tata Harper and Tiffany Masterson (the founder of Drunk Elephant), about what it means to be green.
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To quote the great Diana Ross, who just turned 74 years young, “It takes a long time to get to be a diva. I mean, you gotta work at it.” Here are 18 of the most iconic beauty looks from her career so far.
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Didya know you could do this?? When you buy NYX makeup online, you can get it engraved (!).
So this means I can get “Tabs rocks!” on all my eyeshadow palettes. Cool!
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Three dewy skin-loving makeup artists (including one of my faves, Katie Jane Hughes) give their top tips to achieve skin that gleams without venturing into grease ball territory.
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MIND BLOWN! You can clean your beautyblender and your other makeup sponges by sticking them in the microwave with some soap and water.
(Please don’t burn yourself.)
There’s some sketchy history (haha) behind the origins of pencil lead.
You have the ability to improve your mental strength. Here’s how.
I ate this for breakfast a couple times this week and really liked it. It’s easy to prep, keeps me full and is tasty, too. I substitute the stevia for maple syrup or honey, add an obnoxious amount of cinnamon for flavor and top it off with a handful of blueberries.
Keep your fingers, crossed, OK? Because I need more of that Rose Oil Hand Cream in my life, and so do you, LOL!
Have a great weekend and a wonderful ? Easter. I hope to talk to you soon.
You friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
Girl, there’s no shame in asking at TJ’s if they have a case in the back of that hand cream and taking the whole thing! BRB- I’m going to microwave my Beautyblender. 🙂
Well that was a disappointment! My BB came out hot but still stained with foundation. 🙁 I just used the face wash I usually use to clean my brushes and sponges. Maybe you’re supposed to use dish soap or something stronger? Strangely enough some of the pink dye from the BB came out in the water but none of the makeup. No damage done though so it was worth a try!
I am the opposite of you. I can’t apply false eye lashes so they look semi decent and I can’t blend blush worth a darn. But I can whip anything up in my kitchen and have it taste good. I can look at a recipe, write down ingredients, decide to switch them up in the market depending on what looks good and then wing the recipe once I get home. My mom had me helping her out in the kitchen as a kid (she was a caterer) and after almost 50 years of cooking, it’s the one thing that feels natural.
You’re so lucky! I would’ve loved to have helped out in the kitchen as a child, because in my family we didn’t really get the opportunity to learn how to cook. On the rare occasion that my mom made banana bread (which would happen once every two or three years), I would stare with fascination and count down the seconds until I got to do my one job — mashing the bananas. I muddled my way through meals during college and in my 20s, and didn’t really get a good understanding of how to cook simple things until I started watching YouTube videos and reading cooking blogs in my 30s! Thank goodness for the internet. LOL! You are so lucky that you can improvise your meals! Without a recipe I’m lost.
Yes to that chicken dish it looks delish! And bahahaha @ throwing all the hand creams in your cart in one fell swoop. I actually imagined that!
Your dish came out great! Excuse me, while I go microwave some beauty blenders lol!
Oh Karen! I will happily do 99.999999999999% of the things you suggest on your blog because every time I have, it’s been good for me. But raw eggs I cannot do! I’d eat a whole balut first, ironically…
Also, you are so gonna slay at Easter tomorrow. ?
Hi Fern,
So the idea made my stomach turn at first, too. The eggs are pasteurized though so they’re technically OK to eat straight out of the box! I really have to NOT think about it when I eat the oatmeal, LOL!
I get incredibly nervous when I have to cook for other people so I try to avoid it as much as possible – my mother was a caterer and cookery teacher so I felt I could never compete and just gave up!
As to divas, surely Diana Ross looks up to Tabs in that respect? I know I do.
Hi Sarah,
I get nervous too! I think that’s why I feel the need to practice. I really didn’t learn how to cook until I was in my 30s. In my family cooking wasn’t really a thing — my parents always had food on the table but eating a meal was something you just did to get over with. LOL! Thank goodness for the internet… Without it I’d be eating boxed mac and cheese 24/7.