Kitty Deschanel | Food, Wine, and Travel Adventures Across the USA

My plan for today was to share a long, detailed Seattle story with you. However, I'm still sick (aaaargh!) so that post has been switched out with one that's shorter and faster to write so that I can get back to bed. A few days ago, I had a fever of almost 103F. Now, I have vertigo. It's worse than that though. It feels like I'm seasick (!!!) even though I haven't been anywhere near the ocean since last Sunday. The water wasn't even rough on our cruise. This is getting ridiculous. Anyway, Sexy Nerd and I love Seattle. Despite its rainy reputation, we're always fortunate to have the sun shining when we visit. We walk everywhere in Seattle and enjoy the unique shopping, museums, and restaurants. Albuquerque just doesn't measure up. One thing we do not love about Seattle, however, is the overwhelming number of homeless people. That's a very hard thing to write without seeming mean, but hear me out. There's someone passed out or panhandl...

Sexy Nerd and I spent last week as guests on the Holland America Oosterdam, sailing roundtrip from Seattle with stops in Juneau, Sitka, Ketchikan, and Victoria. By the way, the name of the cruise ship is pronounced like 'Oh-sterdam', not 'Awst-erdam', like we'd been telling everyone. Whoops! We're cruiseaholics. This was our 8th cruise in the 5 years since we got married. The first thing I did when we got back home? Kiss Pica and Biscuit and look online for new cruise deals. The best part of taking a cruise? The food!! Here is how each day typically went: 8:30am - 9:30am : Breakfast in the main dining room My everyday order was juice, coffee, a chocolate croissant or two, an English muffin, a greek yogurt fruit parfait, a sliced banana with blueberries and, depending on how hungry I was, an omelet with all the fixings, french toast with strawberries, and/or a breakfast sandwich. The waiter would usually suggest I get some ham, bacon, and hash browns ...

We're overdue for a trip to Costco. While craving the sweet and salty yummyness that is s'mores with pink Himalayan sea salt , I opened our pantry door and discovered a horrible, terrible thing. No graham crackers! (As the very person who'd polished off the graham crackers a few days earlier, you wouldn't think I'd have been so surprised, but what can you do?) Instead of ignoring my s'mores craving in favor of, say, a stalk of celery, I improvised and created a new kind of s'more. Some (Sexy Nerd) will tell you it's better than the original. Others (me) will tell these new s'mores that they're cute, and even that they make a tasty snack, but not to bet on a recurring role in my kitchen. My heart belongs to graham. Pretzel S'mores Recipe Ingredients: (self explanatory, but I'll get questions if I leave this out!) Mini pretzels Chocolate chips Mini marshmallows Peanut butter (optional - this way is Sexy Ne...

Thanks to everyone who offered recipe ideas for Sexy Nerd's birthday! I was having a tricky time deciding what to make, but luckily a great idea occurred to me. I asked him what he wanted! It's such a simple concept, right? Pretty! Do men appreciate pretty when it comes to their food? He said anything would be fine and that he's sure whatever I made would be delicious, which is sweet but also so very not helpful! After a little pestering, he decided on green chili chicken enchiladas. Here is the menu: Chicken Enchilada Casserole I plan to make the enchilada casserole using fresh green chili (one of the perks of living in Albuquerque) and this chicken recipe: Shredded Chicken for Enchiladas, Tostadas, Tacos... Chips and Black Bean and Corn Salad Dip Cheddar Chive Scones Which will be served with Super Easy and Delicious Zucchini Butter I was going to make these sweet potato fries as well, but sweet potatoes were not on sale t...

I've been meaning to write a new blog post for a few days. With everything going on in my life right now, there's simply no time. By "everything", I mean the exact same routine as always. That sounds so much more lazy though! We did recently have our move to Omaha plans squashed (boo hoo) and my insomnia has been worse than usual over the past week, so I think I can get away with a blogging repost this week. No? There's never an excuse for a repost? But it's such a funny one! At least I'm being honest instead of trying to pass it off as new material. (The darn date on the picture gave me away!) As mentioned before, Sexy Nerd gets up insanely early every day (See the time written on the photo? INSANE!) By the time Zombie-me makes it out of bed, he's been at work almost 2 hours. When I came downstairs the other morning, there was a doggy-related message waiting for me on our chalkboard door. Where's the "All of the Above" op...

First, I'd like to begin this post with a traumatic TMI story. The other night, I was in the bathroom (TMI?) and a spider FELL FROM THE CEILING, landed ON MY BARE LEG, and - this is truly the stuff of nightmares - BIT ME! (!!!!!!) Now my leg is itchy. Okay, on to the meat of this post. Are there any bug enthusiasts out there? (You people are CRAZY, but to each their own, I guess.) We have this weirdo moth/fly thingy in our loft and I've never seen an insect like it before. Geez our windows are dirty. The last time they were cleaned was...by the previous owners of our house (I assume). Also, what is this thing??