Guest Blogger Goes Rogue!

Sure you think that Abbi is fashionable now - but she came by it honestly, she's always been particular about what she wore.    Granted, when she was young I got had some control over what she had on  - but she has always had a definite idea of what she wanted to wear.  Sometimes it was dictated by having to match her sister or cousins!  When I questioned her choice of long pink cotton prom-type dress and high-tops on the way out to high school one day, she accused me of "not letting her express her individuality".  And I have to say - I am glad I held my tongue (most of the time anyway) and let her be creative - she does have a certain flair for fashion!  I love you Abbi!

Tomorrow Abbi gets her internet back and she takes back over her blog - but Haley and I have had fun being her guest bloggers and we are honored (aren't we Haley?) that she trusted us enough to fill in for her!

Abby and Haley in matching nighties, courtesy of Grandmas in NC!

 

Abbi has always like pockets and Haley has always loved her big sister.

Summer Jean and Abbi getting married - I think?!

Big bows were the style and dig the balloons in my hair!

Singing in the rain - Abbi still loves raincoats - she wants to look cute in any weather.

Check out that whale sprout hair do and giant cow on her sweater.

The year of matching Christmas outfits - they were cute!

 This is what EVERY librarian was wearing on "The Hill" that day.  And somehow Abbi made it look good!

Ceasar Salad

     My eyes were opened to the intricacies of a good Caesar salad by our mom's best friend, Sari.  Rather than just tossing lettuce into a bowl and pouring dressing over it, she showed me how to make a paste of garlic cloves and anchovies and smear it around the bowl before adding the lettuce so that each bite of salad would have that same bite of garlic and salt of anchovy.  The salad dressing is from Martha Stewart's Good Food Fast (a book so popular in our family, it is commonly known as "the bible").  The recipe suggests adding anchovies to the dressing, but I omitted them because they're used in the actual salad.  The way you interpret this recipe is really up to you: if you like garlic, add more garlic, if you like anchovies, add more anchovies.  One thing I beg of you, however, is to use fresh-ground black pepper; there really is no substitute for the subtle heat of coarse ground pepper and using pre-ground pepper just does not do justice to this spice. 
     I made this particular salad for my weekly dinner at Aunt Nesi's.  I didn't add as many anchovies as I would have liked (I have a strange fondness for canned, cured fish), but the salad ended up being a perfect compliment to the hot wings that Nesi made for dinner, a way to cool down our mouths after eating copious amounts of spicy deliciousness.  One tip for this salad is to microwave the lemons before slicing and juicing them; they will yield a lot more juice. 

Materials:
     For Salad:
Romaine Lettuce
Garlic Cloves
Anchovies (I prefer flat fillets packed in olive oil, but rolled fillets with capers are equally delicious)
Parmesan Cheese (to garnish)
Black Pepper
     For Dressing:
Lemon Juice
Low-fat Mayonnaise
Garlic
Grated Parmesan Cheese
Black Pepper

To prepare dressing, combine equal parts lemon juice, mayonnaise, and Parmesan cheese in a blender.  Add one garlic clove.  Blend until smooth.  Add black pepper to taste. 

To prepare salad, smash 3 anchovies and 2 large garlic cloves into a paste in the bottom of a salad bowl using any flat-bottomed glass.  Tear a piece of lettuce and use it to smear the paste all around the bottom and sides of the bowl.  Leave that piece of lettuce in the bowl, and cut and add the remaining lettuce.  Squeeze the juice of one half of a lemon over the lettuce. Mix the salad to more evenly distribute the anchovy-garlic paste, garnish with Parmesan cheese and black pepper.  Enjoy!

Olives or Dinosaur Eggs?

To channel Abbi......

Earrings:  Macy's
Sweater: Gap
Skirt: Sampson & Delilah
Shoes:  Ecco

So....I wasn't going to do a fashion post - but after I bought this skirt I changed my mind.  We have a FANTASTIC Farmer's Market here in Urbana, Illinois.  They have produce, meat, cheese, baked goods and they also have some lovely handmade items.  I have been going by the Sampson & Delilah (www.sampsonNdelilah.etsy.com) booth for two years now and finally made the plunge to get a skirt from her - LOVE IT!  Her stuff is adorable; she even has a skirt with bacon and eggs on it!  She appliques on skirts, jackets and such and has a really great quirky sense of style. The skirt fits perfectly, is just the right length and is SO much fun!  I wore it Monday (which some of you know was my birthday) and it just seemed to make the day more festive.

I did have a question, though...since it has olives on it (which immediately makes me think MARTINI), is it appropriate to wear in the children's department of a public library?  I mentioned this to a colleague and he said he thought they were dinosaur eggs!  Problem solved - when I wear my skirt to work, those round green things are dinosaur eggs, when I wear it out with adults, they are martini olives!

The shoes are librarian shoes fo' sho' - but they are cute, and most importantly comfy. While living in Bethesda, with no car I might add, I came around to the comfy shoe philosophy.  I judged my shoe purchases on the whether I thought I could walk to dinner in them or not.  These passed the test!