One of the reasons I’m so in love with the CSA we joined this year is that we (and by “we” I mean my husband) are kind of forced into using things that we normally don’t have on hand all of the time. My favorite lately has been the basil. So. much. basil.

It means that my husband makes lots of pesto and I love his pesto. I decided to add it to my (limited) repertoire because he promised it’s easy and the end result is kind of impressive.

My husband makes pretty much the best hummus in the history of ever. Any time there’s a party or some sort of family get together, it is specially requested (especially if my mother or sister have anything to do with it).

I keep telling him he needs to bottle that stuff up and sell it, but he has absolutely no interest in the effort it would take. So I did the next best thing. I made him teach me how to make it. And since I love you so much, I’m showing you how to do it too!

It’s no secret that I’m not exactly Betty Crocker. My husband is the chef in our house and my daughter will be the first to tell you that Daddy is good at making “food food” and Mommy is good at making sweets (ie throwing together a box of ol’ Betty Crocker’s brownies and adding in some chocolate chips for good measure).

My husband keeps telling me how easy all of his delectable concoctions are. I think he’s trying to hint that maybe I could get my ass in the kitchen once or twice a month if I follow a couple of his simple recipes.

Normally, cooking together would go under my list of the worst cheap date ideas ever. Mostly because (like my six-year old), I don’t really enjoy doing things that I’m terrible at (I’m talking to you, bowling). And let me tell you. If Bobby Flay saw my chopping skills, he’d be horrified. I also don’t enjoy my husband telling me that I’m doing something wrong. At all.

Still, I put on my big girl panties, braved it and actually learned how to make some insanely delicious homemade tortillas.

So, um, how did Memorial Day sneak up on us so fast? Weren’t we just complaining about how cold it is? And now we’re only a little over a week away from the unofficial kick off to summer. I’m not sure I’m prepared.

In my little world, the best way to get myself prepared is drowning myself in pretty pictures and party planning inspiration. Plus, it’s way more fun to throw a cyber party than spending endless hours cleaning the house and handcrafting adorable table decor that no one else will notice (not to say that I don’t do that sometimes too 😉 ). So, let’s party!

At this point it should be pretty clear that I’m obsessed with green smoothies, right? I drink one for breakfast just about every morning and sometimes have them as snacks. Like most people, I was a little skeptical about them at first and was both thrilled and pleasantly surprised when I finally cracked and tried one.

And I’m not the only one who is crazy about these things. In fact, one of my most popular posts was one on smoothie recipes. Since it was posted, I’ve had readers (strangers, friends, family, just about anyone) contact me to ask me to share some more.

I experimented a little and am totally excited about what I came up with…