Bites of My Life

Summer has been too good for me so far. After getting more settled in the new house, I've loved exploring around Oklahoma City with a new eye. My days have mainly consisted of spending most of the day in the kitchen making breakfast, lunch and dinner or baking, taking a Barre3 class or going on a run, then lounging around enjoying these few weeks with nothing to do!

I mentioned how there are lots of moves going on in the Tucker family. Well, yesterday I got a few things moved into my house in Norman, but now I have to start packing to move again, this time to the glorious Washington D.C. Have I mentioned that I will be interning in D.C. yet? More on that later, but I leave Sunday and will be gone all summer. I can't wait to keep you updated on all the new adventures summer is about to bring!

-My first package at the new house was my second Graze Box! The mango chutney and cracked pepper dippers were so good!

-Stella makes for a great companion while taking a walk down the street to get breakfast!

-Used a recipe on the Barre3 app to make lunch! Whipped up the Spring Kale Salad with Strawberries, Avocado and Maple-Balsamic dressing. Not pictured is the homemade guacamole I made to use up the other half of the avocado! 

-Even with summer's arrival I keep gravitating toward black and white outfits instead of bright colors.

-One of the best breakfast wraps I've ever had at Blue Moon Cafe. The addition of sautéed red cabbage makes it really unique. We had a double birthday brunch in Tulsa to celebrate two of my best friend's birthdays.

-Everyone back together to surprise our beloved Betsy on her 21st!

-I've been on a spaghetti squash kick! One spaghetti squash makes a big batch of "noodles." I used it to make a kale pesto, pea, and tomato dish as well as a veggie almond pad thai! Check my insta for the pad thai recipe!

-Two things I couldn't pass up at Target. A good read and an even better snack!

-Skinny Spinach Artichoke dip for a happy hour snack! I used this recipe. 

Annie

Oh My Darling, Clementine

I have a new favorite website and I have to share it with you. I discovered Clementine Daily after reading Emily's Links I Love post yesterday. She had a link for 5 Skills Everyone Needs To Know. The link took me to Clementine's site and I immediately started browsing around.

Clementine Daily is a women's lifestyle site similar to The Everygirl or The Glitter Guide. What I love about Clementine is how simple and true it is. They have created a space for authentic women to come and get inspired from different leading ladies, fresh recipes, amazing photography and helpful life tips.  

Their manifesto is idilic and I think they were sitting inside my brain when they wrote it. "She loves style,  not fashion. Her best ideas come to her in the shower. She pet-sits for neighbors. Mascara makes her sneeze. She believes that table crumbs are dinner’s confetti. She’s still on the hunt for her signature scent."

Clementine provides different articles to motivate women in the topics of entertaining, style, decor, cooking and gives great advice for everyday life. 

They post amazing and delicious recipes like this spring green risotto. I also have my eye on these french lentil quinoa cakes, pistachio pesto pasta and their idea for a simple breakfast. These delicious fixes are all courtesy of their amazing food editor Julia. 

One of my favorite things about Clementine is how simple, but beautiful their pictures are. The site is streamlined and leaves space for the content to shine through.

I love their articles like to selfie or not to selfie, how to have better posture or 5 ways to be kind to yourself. 

They have a great group of editors and several notable contributors. Here is an interview with everyone's blogger role model and Clementine contributor Joy Cho of Oh joy!

all images via Clementine Daily

So take a few minutes and peruse around Clementine Daily. I now have it bookmarked as one of my daily reads and I know you will too after seeing what Clementine has to offer!

Annie 

Thai Chicken Curry

Thai food is definitely one of my favorite genres of food. It is right up there next to Mediterranean. Since we moved to the city we had to say goodbye to one of our favorite little Thai restaurants in Edmond. 

Also because of the move, I rediscovered a bunch of recipes in old cookbooks that had gone overlooked. I've pretty much been controlling the kitchen since I've been home, so when I found this recipe for an easy chicken curry I thought it would be the perfect dinner and hommage to our beloved Thai restaurant. 

If you plan to make my coconut cake from yesterday, this is the perfect dinner to use up the rest of your coconut milk! The combination of the coconut milk, curry paste and lime gives this curry a really special flavor!

Before and after. The after picture is obviously the way to go, load on the Siriracha!

Thai Chicken Curry
serves 4

Ingredients:
1 1/2-2 lb. rotisserie chicken, shredded
zest and juice from one lime
3 Tbsp. Canola oil
1/4 lb. fresh green beans, trimmed and cut into 2 inch pieces
1/3 cup frozen peas
1 1/2 Tbsp. Thai red curry paste
1 cup unsweetened coconut milk
2/3 cup chicken broth
1 Tbsp. Asian fish sauce
6 green onions, chopped white and green parts
1/4 cup chopped fresh Thai basil (regular basil works great too!)
2 cups white or brown rice, cooked

Directions:
Cook your rice according to the directions on the package. 

Shred your chicken and zest the lime, then set aside. Cook the green beans in the oil until tender, about 2-3 minutes over medium-high heat Add the peas in at the last minute just to warm them up. Remove from the pan and set the veggies aside. 

Stir the curry paste into the same pan over medium-high heat. Stir in the coconut milk, broth and fish sauce. Bring to a simmer and stir, scraping the brown bits that form on the bottom. Stir in the lime juice and zest. 

Add the chicken, green beans and peas to the pan and combine with the sauce. Stir in the green onions and basil. 

Spoon the curry over your rice and enjoy! Serve with Siriracha and soy sauce. Use chopsticks if you really want to be authentic. 

Annie

Four-Layer Coconut Cake

Ever since trying the famous 12-layer coconut cake from Peninsula Grill in Charleston, I've had coconut cake on my radar.  Any time I've seen a recipe, I pin it or bookmark it. My mom and I pretty much drooled over the coconut cake at Peninsula, so I knew she would love a coconut cake for Mother's Day. Any holiday should be celebrated with cake. 

A full 12-layer cake sounded a little daunting, so I opted for a four-layer, 6 inch cake. This recipe uses spring form pans, which makes getting the cakes out the pan a snap, but if you don't have spring forms you can find 6 inch round pans at most craft or baking stores. 

Four-Layer Coconut Cake
serves 8-10, adapted from Momofuku For 2

Ingredients:

For the cakes:
1 3/4 cups flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup shredded coconut (I used Bob Mill's brand)
12 Tbsp. (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 1/3 cups sugar
2 large eggs, plus 2 large egg whites
3/4 cup unsweetened coconut milk
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

For the Frosting:
1 cup granulated sugar
4 large egg whites
24 tablespoons (3 sticks) unsalted butter, softened and cubed
1 tsp. almond or vanilla extract
1/4 cup shredded coconut

Directions:

For the cakes:
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Parchment line two 6 inch spring form or round pans.

Whisk the flour, baking powder, salt and coconut in a large bowl then set aside. Cream butter and sugar in an electric mixer until fluffy. Add eggs and egg whites one at a time, beating after each addition. In a small bowl combine the coconut milk and vanilla extract. Turn mixer to low, add a third of the dry ingredients, then mix. Add half of the wet ingredients, then mix. Add another third of the dry ingredients, followed by the rest of the wet ingredients, then finish with the dry. 

Divide the batter evenly into your two pans. Bake for 45 minutes. Do a toothpick test to make sure your cakes are cooked through. Cool completely.

For the Frosting:
While your cakes are cooling, whisk egg whites and sugar in a double broiler (A metal bowl over a pot of simmering water). Continue whisking until you can't feel the sugar granules when you rub the mixture between your fingers. 

Transfer the mixture to an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Whip on high until it turns white and doubles in size. Add the extract. Finally, add the butter cubes at a time. Add the coconut. It may take a while to come together but once it does, store in the fridge until you are ready to frost. (Because there is so much butter it can get kind of melty).

To assemble the cake:
Using a serrated knife, slice each cake in half. Layer one slice of cake topped with about 1/3 cup of frosting. Continue to layer and frost until you have four layers. (Make sure you save enough frosting to cover the whole cake.) Frost the top and sides of the cake. Garnish with a sprinkle of coconut around the edges! Keep in the fridge for a nice cold and firm cake until you are ready to serve!

Did anyone ever learn that "I'm a Nut" song at summer camp? With all this coconut talk its pretty much been stuck in my head the whole time while writing this post. 

"I'm a little coconut, sitting under a coconut tree. Everybody steps on me, that is why I'm cracked you see. I'm a nut, in a rut, I'm cra-a-zy."

Annie

Bites of My Life

I'm baaaaack. We are all moved and working on getting settled in our new house. I had a friend tell me last week that she did not like the fact that I was taking a few days off from the blog. She said didn't know what to do without Take a bite in her life! Bailey, if you're reading, I'll do my best to make sure it doesn't happen again! But know that it totally made my day to hear you care so much about my posts!

Last week was the official start of summer! I have two weeks to do nothing as well as do a ton to get ready to move to DC. I'm savoring this time of having a full kitchen to myself, so expect a lot of foodgrams and recipes posts coming up!

-Running out of class because it's officially summer!!!

-I found this new caramel macchiato flavor of Dannon greek yogurt and was very intrigued. Tried it, didn't love it. 

-It wasn't much of a welcome home when I come in to find a room full of boxes.

-Two days later my little room was completely empty. I should be sad, but I'm not. For being such a traditionalist, I'm loving the new adventure of my parents moving to a new house.

-Had to make a trip back to Norman to celebrate two of my favorite, now, 21 year olds!

-We have an abundance of mint at our new house, so I made my favorite salad for lunch on Saturday with mint instead of basil. 

-A delicious and easy side dish composed of eggplant, pine nuts, basil, balsamic and feta! Be looking for this recipe coming up. 

-Any holiday should be celebrated with cake, so I made a four-layer coconut cake with swiss meringue buttercream frosting for my momma! P.s. I love the way food photographs on our new marble countertops. 

-Some of the components for our brussels sprout salad we had with dinner on Sunday night.

Annie