Potato & Bacon Frittata

I have always had a great love for eggs in the morning.  This was probably prompted by my amazing father.  Every school morning, while the girls (my mom, sis and myself) were upstairs getting ready, my father would be making us homemade "Egg McMuffins," McDonalds style.  It was a daily routine I always enjoyed, and the perfect amount of thoughtfulness from a terrific dad.

As the years have passed, eggs are still my favorite morning food.  So a few years ago, when I first discovered frittatas at my favorite Brooklyn bakery, I knew I had to start making them at home.  They are the perfect breakfast or brunch menu item, especially when you are hosting guests.

I have tried a few frittata recipes from online, and have been reasonably happy with all of them.  This past weekend, however, I decided to play my own frittata game in the kitchen.  And with a fridge full of goodies, I filled my counters with lots of great ingredients and went to town.

Total time: approximately 1 hour

• 4 small potatoes (boiled until soft, then cooled and sliced)
• 6 eggs, whisked
• 1 cupped of shredded cheese (I prefer combining cheeses such as cheddar, provolone, mozzarella, monteray jack)
• 1/4 cup of grated parmesan
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/2 cup chopped bacon *please consider using Morning Star bacon strips, it gives you all of the great flavor of real bacon!
• 4 Tbsp butter
• 2 scallions, chopped
• 1/8 cup parsley, chopped
• salt, pepper
• 1 tsp. red pepper flakes

First, boil 4 small potatoes (I prefer the taste of butter potatoes for this recipe) for 20 minutes, then drain, cool and slice into thin pieces.  To a large, oven-safe pan, add 4 tablespoons of butter and melt.  Saute the chopped onion until it softens, then add the chopped bacon*, garlic, potatoes, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper.

Meanwhile, whisk 6 eggs together (you may want to add a dash of milk) along with 1/2 cup of the shredded cheese and the chopped scallions.  After the potatoes have browned a bit, pour the egg mixture over the entire pan of potatoes.  Cook on medium heat for 3-4 minutes without touching or moving the mixture.  Finally, transfer skillet to oven and bake at 375 for approximately 20 minutes.

Our Wedding: The Ceremony

Now that we are in the heart of wedding season, I thought it would be a great time to finally share the details of our August 2012 wedding.  As we approach our 1 year anniversary, I look back on our wedding day and realize that it absolutely incredible.  I wish that all of my memories weren't such a blur.. that I had a calmer mind and was able to soak all of the moments in.  But the truth is that it happened in a flash.  Thankfully our wonderful photographer captured some incredibly special moments.

Some of my favorite parts of this ceremony include how personalized we made it.  Our very good friend Dave was our officiant.  Having him share great memories and kind words about us made our ceremony feel so intimate and personal.  

I walked down the aisle to "Sea of Love," originally sung by Cat Power, but beautifully arranged by a duo local called She Hates Me.  They are some of my favorite local musicians, and I was ecstatic that they were willing to play at our ceremony.  

This photo of my father and me was taken just after the bridesmaids walked down the aisle, and about 5 seconds before the rain began to fall.  Looking back, the rain made it absolutely magical.  It started to come down just ask we began to walk.  Between the music, the rain... it was perfect.

Another favorite moment included our friend's reading of the poem, "How Falling in Love is Like Owning a Dog." 

To create a type of time capsule for the ceremony, we purchased a personalized wine box.  Because our venue was also a winery, we used a bottle of their wine.  During the rehearsal dinner, we asked friends and family to write us a brief note to put it inside.  This was a very last-minute idea on my part.  If I would have planned this earlier, I probably would have included this idea into my bridal shower so that we could have collected more keepsakes from our loved ones.  Nevertheless, we're planning to open it on our 5th anniversary.

The beautiful flowers were done by my friend Eleanor, who is actually a landscape architect and runs her own company, Sparrow and Brambles.  We stayed with very traditional colors with only minimal touches of pink, using mostly wax flower, mums and roses.

Naturally, Browny was our ring-bearer.  And I cried a lot.

As the ceremony ended, we walked out with our beloved pup as they sang "Two of Us" by The Beatles.  

Erik's Suit: custom from David Wilson Men's Shop

Location: Sweetwater Farm and Grace Winery

Wine Box for Ceremony: Rustic20 Etsy Shop

Flowers: Sparrow and Brambles

Wedding Paper: Simply Inviting

Dress: from Wedding Atelier

Hair and Makeup: Bauhaus

Wedding Sign: homemade

Hope you enjoyed the photos, I'll share our reception details soon!

Master Bedroom Makeover

Hello world!  I'm back?  Maybe?  So I have major blog commitment phobia and I just can't decide what to do about it.  I haven't posted a thing in almost 4 months, and I think about this blog constantly.  Every day I routinely read so many well-written, well-planned blogs, that I feel overwhelmed and annoyed with myself for not being able to produce great content.  One day I'm convinced that I'm finished with this blog and the next, I'm making mental notes about all of the things I want to share.  The ultimate problem is that life just keeps moving forward and I don't always make it a priority to sit down and reflect on those moments.  I don't want to give that up, but I certainly can't keep it up on a daily basis.  So for now, I do think I'm ready to start posting again.  Outfit posts may be far more scarce, admittedly because I have been focusing on my new home rather than my wardrobe.

So enough talk about my lame internal struggles.  Let's get down to business.  I finally finished decorating our master bedroom so I have some great before and after photos to share.  Here is some quick background.  After renting an apartment for several years, my husband and I purchased our first home this past February.  It's a 5 bedroom colonial in the same town in which we've been living (we love it here in Collingswood).  The house was built in 1905, but was fully renovated just before we made the purchase.  And because this house has become my new favorite hobby, I'm planning to share several other projects that I've completed.  But for now, the master bedroom is the first room to be completely finished.

Before:

After:

Choosing to use dressers in place of traditional night stands gave us a lot more storage, which we desperately needed.  The bold lampshades are my favorite part of the room, and add just the perfect amount of color to this very neutral space.  The only aesthetic thing I'd like to change (but won't) is the ceiling fan.  I'd love to have a bold chandelier in this space, but the function of the fan has proven to be more important than its looks.

Furniture: West Elm's Mid Century Bed Set

Lamps and Shades, Accent Pillow: Target

Quilt: Martha Stewart

Curtains: JCP