May Photo Project: Breakfast

The photo theme for May was breakfast, and y'all captured all sorts of deliciousness. Thanks for sending your appetizing photos my way. I took a photo of my Saturday morning cup of tea and a crumble-topped muffin. Here's what you shared:

Amy of Reams Photo captured this carton of eggs.

Lesley of eat, etc... took a photo of her roasted rhubarb bircher muesli.

Daina of New York State of Mind photographed her French toast brunch.

Candice of The Savory and The Beautiful perfected a soft-boiled egg and served it with toast soldiers.

Natalie of Use Your Words, Little Girl took a picture of her new favorite breakfast, a homemade cappuccino and madeleines.

Celia snapped a pic of the home skillet breakfast at a diner in the Catskills.

Wendy of Young Heart Old Soul shared a photo of organic eggs.

And Laura of The Table Wanderer made a batch of maple and bacon buttermilk biscuits

If you want to share one of your breakfast photos, just leave a link below! I'll announce June's photo theme next week.

Converted

I occasionally daydream about living in an old school building or a firehouse. I'm sure these spaces are hard to come by and require loads of time and money for renovation, but there's something so appealing about living in an unconventional space. New York magazine recently rounded up a few converted homes, including a church, a police radio room and a storefront. I've given some thought to the storefront. You could leave your curtains open and call it performance art.

[photos by: Michael Moran, Jenny Westerhoff and Angelika Schubert]

Modern Mix

I'm a sucker for nostalgia, so when the folks at Milktape sent me one of their USB cassettes, I immediately fell for its charm. I've loved making mixtapes and CDs ever since I was old enough to operate a boombox and actually pride myself on my mix-making ability. I'm pretty particular when it comes to choosing songs and, just as importantly, the order they play in. Milktape holds about 15 songs and is a fun blend of modern technology (it's so easy to drag and drop) but still has that same homespun quality of an old-fashioned mix. It's a bit pricey at $15 but would make a cute gift for that special friend who needs a lesson in classic rock.

Weekend in Photos

It was a great long weekend and so fun to have my brother Benjamin in town for a couple days. We had his favorite Magnolia cupcakes, toured our neighborhood, waited in line for an hour to get some Shake Shack, did some shopping in SoHo and enjoyed the weather about half the time since it was so temperamental. I always love when family visits since it's an excuse to eat my favorite foods and motivation to get out and explore the city. How'd you spend the weekend?

Thoughts of the Week

Sometimes one must first eat ice cream in order to shower people with confetti.

Wheat waffles, fun to say and so tasty-looking.

Bright and white home inspiration.

If you want to cozy up on the couch with ice cream, a Neapolitan blanket just makes sense.

How you know if you're in the South.

Improving those sad grocery store bouquets.

I'm still skeptical when it comes to camping, but cute gear helps.

Frozen bananas to go along with this weekend's Arrested Development viewing.

How to help Oklahoma.

And a reminder to send your best breakfast photos my way.

Have a great weekend (a three-day one if you're lucky)! My brother is headed up from Savannah for a quick visit, so pizza and burgers are in order.

[Photo from my instagram feed. You can find me at natalieaerin.]

Cornbread Panzanella and More Feel Good Food

After flipping through Southern Living's new cookbook Feel Good Food, I earmarked several recipes I want to try but decided this cornbread panzanella salad should be the first. It's packed with texture and color and bright flavors, a litte salty and a little sweet and so perfect for summertime. Feel Good Food is filled with great entertaining ideas and loads of recipes, classics and favorites reinvented, and thanks to Southern Living and my friends at The Southern C, you have a chance to win a copy!

Update: Wendy of Young Heart Old Soul is the winner!

Just leave a comment below before noon on Saturday, June 1st for a chance to win. For an additional entry, like The SoHo on Facebook or let me know if you already do. One winner will be chosen at random. Open to U.S. residents only. Good luck!

Panzanella Salad with Cornbread Croutons

Recipe courtesy of Southern Living's Feel Good Food

Skillet cornbread, cooled
1 yellow bell pepper, diced
1 small red onion, diced
1/2 cup olive oil, divided
2 teaspoons lemon zest
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon honey
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
1 pint grape tomatoes, halved
1/2 English cucumber, quartered and sliced
1/2 cup pitted kalamata olives, halved
1/2 cup torn fresh basil leaves

Preheat oven to 400°. Cut cornbread into 1-inch cubes. Bake in a single layer on a lightly greased jelly-roll pan 15 minutes or until edges are golden, stirring halfway through. Meanwhile, sauté bell pepper and onion in 1 tablespoon hot olive oil in a small skillet over medium-high heat 5 minutes or until crisp-tender. Whisk together lemon zest, lemon juice, honey, remaining 7 tablespoons olive oil, and salt and pepper to taste in a large bowl; stir in onion mixture, tomatoes, and next 3 ingredients. Add toasted cornbread cubes, and toss to coat. Serve immediately.

Open Up

I've come across so many beach and sea creature-themed bottle openers that I've decided it must be a trend. They've got me wanting to crack open a cold one in my imaginary beach house.

[spotted here: claw; whale; seahorse; shell; gator; anchor; mermaid; shark; turtle]

Just a Hint

I've been trying to create the perfect soft, chewy peanut butter cookie. I haven't gotten the recipe just right yet, but I have discovered the delicious importance of topping them with sea salt before baking. That hint of saltiness does wonders and seems to be just what peanut butter calls for.

Weekend in Photos

Our anniversary was yesterday, but we celebrated all weekend with our favorite activities: food, movies and vegging out. Our big celebration was a meal at NoMad. It was too dark to capture all the beautiful food, which breaks my food photograph-loving heart, but a perfect roast chicken and a delicious dessert called milk and honey were the highlights. It rained all day on Sunday, but we embraced it with a late brunch and splashed around outside until we spotted our new favorite family. By the way, thanks for all the anniversary wishes! Y'all are the sweetest!

6 Years

Jonah and I are celebrating six years of marriage on Sunday. It feels like the years have flown by, but at the same time, when I look back at our wedding photos, I think, "These people are children." I'm glad we're still growing up together. Have a happy, happy weekend!

Dark Chocolate Banana Smoothie

Apparently, the universe did not want me blogging this week. Not only did my computer need repair, but our cable and internet has been out since Tuesday! (I'm especially bummed about missing the New Girl finale.) All that said, here I am posting from work because I just can't stay away, and I desperately needed to tell y'all about this chocolate smoothie. I'll probably make one this afternoon to console myself while I wait for the cable guy to show up.

You know how milkshakes are like a jillion calories? Well, this smoothie is more like 150 calories. I've found it to be a nice fix for those dessert cravings that you can't justify indulging in, although trust me, I'm a world-class litigator when it comes to pro-dessert arguments. But I love this smoothie because it's guilt-free and still so delicious. I don't even add sugar because with that deep chocolately flavor happening, I don't miss the sweetness. Hope you give it a try!

Dark Chocolate Banana Smoothie

1 ripe banana
3/4 cup unsweetened almond milk, cold
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder (I use Ghirardelli)
4 or 5 ice cubes

Combine ingredients using a blender or immersion blender until smooth. Makes 1 large smoothie.

Weekend in Photos

How was your weekend? I had to take the computer to the shop on Friday, so bear with me this week if I'm short on posts. I feel lost without all my photos at my fingertips. Jonah brought home a box of my favorite chocolates, which improved my mood, we saw The Great Gatsby (Did you see it? Thoughts?), had brunch at Diner and spent the rest of the day wandering around Williamsburg avoiding thunderstorms, we went to Roosevelt Island for the first time to see the beautiful FDR Four Freedoms park and called our moms to tell them how awesome they are. I hope your weekend was equally full of goodness.