Pimento Cheese Spread

What I love about pimento cheese is that it somehow manages to fit the menu at both a Super Bowl party and your grandmother's DAR luncheon. I'll keep myself busy snacking on this, while Jonah cheers on his precious Seahawks this Sunday. Thank goodness for the food that goes along with football.

Pimento Cheese Spread

2 cups grated extra sharp cheddar cheese
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon paprika
1/4 black pepper
4 ounces of diced pimentos, drained

Place the cheddar cheese, cream cheese, mayonnaise, Worcestershire sauce, garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, pepper and pimentos into the large bowl of a mixer. Beat at medium speed until combined. Serve with bread or buttery crackers.

Portable Potables

A bar cart is one of those pieces of furniture I aspire to own, but I have yet to take the leap. I love the idea of using one to display my prettiest bottles and barware, and with so many stylish options available right now, it could be hard to resist much longer.

[spotted at: West Elm, Nannie Inez, Etsy, Crate and Barrel, Anthropologie]

Coconut Milk Hot Chocolate

It's 70 degrees in Austin, but I'm thinking of my Northeast pals getting pummeled with snow, so I decided to heat up a pot of hot chocolate as a sign of solidarity. This coconut milk-based recipe is creamy and decadent, and I love adding a dash of spice with cinnamon. If you've got a second can of coconut milk handy, you can top off each mug with coconut whipped cream.

Coconut Milk Hot Chocolate

1 13.5-ounce can unsweetened coconut milk
1 ounce finely chopped chocolate (I like bittersweet)
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

Heat the coconut milk in a saucepan until hot but not boiling. Add the chocolate and stir until completely melted. Add cinnamon and vanilla extract and stir. Serves two.

Thoughts of the Week

I know a little guy that deserves to be wrapped in love.

Apparently, I'm going to need some cauliflower.

Hoping to have a dining room one day that looks a little something like this.

This cake is adorable and also sounds super delicious.

I need a tiny plant for this tiny planter.

Cheese: the great equalizer.

I never knew duck boots could look chic.

It's been a rough week around here with a sick dog and three days of cold and rain, but the pup finally seems to be feeling better and things are looking up. Hope you have a wonderful weekend and the sun is shining wherever you are.

Lip Service

My mother-in-law included one of these tubes of lipstick in my Christmas stocking, and I've been enjoying it ever since. It's a sheer color made with moisturizing beeswax, avocado oil and other good things, and the packaging is so adorable that there's no need to hide it away in a makeup drawer.

Three Months

Harrison is three months old today so I thought I'd share a bit about him and our life as of late. It feels like just yesterday that we brought him home, and at the same time, I can't remember what life was like before him. Amidst the blur of feedings, diapers and every baby-related Google search you can imagine, I'm finding such joy in motherhood. Harrison is smiling a lot now and getting noisier, and it never gets old. If we're lucky, we can get a grunty little laugh out of him, which usually requires us making fools of ourselves.

We're slowly working towards getting him on a schedule. Naps are unpredictable at this point, but at night he'll sleep from about 11pm to 5:30am, which I'm enormously grateful for. He's been sleeping in a bassinet in our room, but I think he's about ready for the transition to the crib. We're all about swaddling as flailing arms are the thing that consistently wakes him. And since he Houdinis his way out of them, the double swaddle has become our go-to method.

He loves his car seat and has proven to be a great traveler with a 17-hour car ride to Savannah and a flight from Austin to Seattle. We haven't snuck him into any Oscar-nominated movies, but Jonah and I have taken advantage of this portable infant stage. Early dinners at restaurants and coffee outings on the weekends are our primary entertainment these days. Harrison generally sleeps while we sit and stare at him or look at pictures of him on our phones. We're pretty much head over heels around here.

Where to Stay: House vs. Hotel

I've always loved a good hotel. A pool, room service, tiny shampoos, they're all part of the joy of vacation for me, but more and more, I find myself drawn to vacation rental homes. Over the holidays, we took a quick trip to Portland and stayed in an adorable 2-bedroom bungalow we found on Airbnb. It was so nice to have extra space, especially with the baby and all his stuff in tow. A full kitchen, washer and dryer and multiple trash cans (to keep the dirty diapers away) were all important amenities I hadn't even thought about. Plus, if you're traveling with family or friends, a house quickly becomes the more affordable option. Where do you prefer to stay when traveling?

Seasonal Sweet: Clementine Sorbet

I love clementines as a midday or late night snack, but I decided to put a crate of them to use in a slightly more involved manner. Enter clementine sorbet. If there's such a thing as a happy flavor, this is it. It's cold, creamy, citrusy deliciousness, and the color is pure sunshine, just what I need to counteract those wintertime blues.

Clementine Sorbet
Recipe adapted slightly from Serious Eats

20 chilled clementines, peeled and broken into segments
2/3 cup honey
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

Chill whole clementines in refrigerator. Peel then purée clementine segments in a blender or food processor. Pour purée through a fine mesh strainer, pressing down on solids with a spoon, into a large measuring cup until you have 4 cups of strained juice. Rinse blender and combine strained clementine juice with honey and salt on high speed for about 30 seconds. Poor mixture into ice maker and churn for 25 minutes or according to manufacturer's instructions. Serve immediately or transfer to a container and chill in freezer for at least 4 hours for a firmer texture.

Color Collection

I've realized I have a problem. If something is small, ceramic and colorful, I want it. These striped vases are no exception.

Piece by Piece

Last week, a friend of mine posted an Instagram of her housemates and herself working on a puzzle. It reminded me of how much I loved puzzles when I was a kid -- it was always a good activity at grandma's house. This 1000 Colors puzzle seems like a worthy reintroduction. Every piece is a different color and they fit together in relation to each other. Sounds fun, right? Or am I just a huge nerd?

Collins Quarter Cafe

The last time we were in Savannah, we stopped in for a weekday breakfast at the recently opened Collins Quarter. The menu is interesting, the space is charming and the lavender mocha is downright dreamy. I'm looking forward to return visits.

Verbal Courage

Some form of being healthier and happier always seems to be my New Year's resolution. I'm thinking one of these prints from The Motivated Type would serve as a good reminder for the rest of the year.

Long Weekend in Photos

Happy 2015! I hope you had a great New Year's and weekend. I've never been much for New Year's Eve and an 11-week-old baby gives us a good excuse to stay home. I stirred up a couple of red currant and champagne cocktails and made hoppin' john on New Year's Day. Over the weekend, we ventured out to some coffee shops, including the charming Seventh Flag. We're still on a caffeine kick after our time in the Pacific Northwest, and it seems that a latte a day keeps falling asleep on the couch at 9pm away.