disappointment has a name.

but it's not heartbreak warfare. 

it's my life as of about...ten minutes ago. 

augh. i need to get my life together.

for the days i am off.

tuesdays are my day off from being a nanny. this is my day to catch up on tv, sleep in, and do pretty much whatever i want.

lately however, i have had been experiencing the itch to cook. a few weeks ago, i made a lime mesquite chicken with caesar salad. holy moly--it was delicious. since then i've been making simple dinners for usually my father and me.

yesterday while exploring stumble upon, i found a recipe for chicken and black bean salsa. i am not the expert cook in the family but this recipe was simple enough that even i could do it. i think it is absolutely phenomenal. of course, it's a weeknight so my mother is at a meeting and my father is still working in the city. i had a lovely dinner date with myself and kramer, the oldest dog in the world.

i highly recommend this dish--it is super easy and great for a summer night.

chicken and black bean salsa: 


ingredients:
salsa:
1 cup canned black beans, rinsed and drained.
1/2 cup fresh corn kernals
2 tablespoons chopped red onion
2 teaspoons lime juice
2 teaspoons extravirgin olive oil
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground coriander (optional)
6 grape or cherry tomatoes, quartered.

chicken:
2 teaspoons butter
cooking spray
2 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
dash of salt
dash of freshly ground black pepper
lime slices (optional)

to make the salsa, put all the ingredients from the salsa recipe in a bowl. combine.

for the chicken, heat the butter in a nonstick skillet pan coated with cooking spray over medium-high heat. sprinkle the salt and black pepper on both sides of the chicken. each side took about 7 minutes to be done. but obviously, cook yours as long as it takes.

the original recipe suggested to eat the chicken just with the salsa. however, i also got some tortillas, sour cream, and lettuce. this made a taco/fajita/burrito thing. whatever you want to call it. also, i can't even believe i am about to say something like this, but i noticed that it really made all the difference in the salsa using fresh lime juice over the bottled. dashing the lime juice over the chicken was excellent as well.

i hope you like it as much as kramer and i did!

the best academy is a mother's knee.

what it really comes down to at the end of the day is that everything good i have learned in this world i have learned from my mother. she is my inspiration, my guidance, and my hero. the yellow brick road of life has placed a lot of broken bridges, curves, and bumper to bumper traffic jams on her path but she keeps on cruising with more grace than anybody i have ever met. 

living at home this summer has been a joy because i have been able to come home most evenings and find myself in conversation with my mom. we talk about any topic you can imagine. most days, she listens to me vent about the kids i nanny and the petty drama of being a nineteen year old girl. but she also lends an ear when i am planning my future. when i came home everyday with a new career in mind during the month of june, my mom told me exactly why i could succeed doing whatever i had decided. 

that seemingly insignificant detail is exactly why carol connerly szabo is the most wonderful mother i could have asked for. she believes in me without a doubt, one hundred percent, unfailingly. i know that a lot of children/young adults/grown ups could say that about their parents but i'm lucky because with everything i have put her (and my father) through, the certainty in me is still there. 

when reading my blog yesterday, my mom made a small remark on how i had stated that my sisters mean everything to me. while that is absolutely true, i never meant to make my mom think that i did not feel that way about her. 

so thank you mom. thank you for being my "mad men" buddy. thank you for taking personal days to spend with me, just because you knew that's the best medicine i could have had. thank you for putting on dr. laura schlessinger, even though you knew it drove me nuts. thank you for painting my nails that one day when i had a tummyache. but mostly, thank you for allowing me the honor of being your daughter. 




"i know you were on my side,
even when i was wrong.
and i love you for giving me your eyes.
staying back and watching me shine.
i didn't know if you knew but
i'm taking this chance to say,
that i had the best day with you today." 
-t.swift. 

hey soul sister.

as the youngest of three girls, i am constantly looking up to my sisters for guidance and inspiration. while they (and some readers) might not see that as being too cheesy, i do have to say that they mean everything to me and i wouldn't know who i was without them.

anyways, my middle sister, erin, is just about the most wonderful baker/cook that you will ever come across. from cupcakes to cookies to brownies, she can take even the most simple recipe and turn into something to be devoured. lucky for readers, she is also an avid blogger. find her here at: the baking brunette.

during a conversation with my mother the other day, we were reminiscing on how as a pre-teen, i desperately wanted nothing more than to be just like erin. everything she did was absolutely the cat's pajamas. since adding a few years onto my belt, the clothes stealing and makeup "borrowing" has ceased but the innocent attempt to follow her has not.

so here is my first recipe in honor of my favorite 25 year old for y'all to try out:

chocolate chip cookcake.

this is a mixture of america's favorite cookie dough combined with a cupcake. simply delicious.

ingredients: (makes 24 cupcakes)

cookie dough:
1 1/2 cups of all purpose flour.
1/4 teaspoon baking soda.
1/4 teaspoon sea salt.
1/2 cup butter, softened.
1/4 cup white sugar.
1/2 cup brown sugar.
1 egg.
2 teaspoons vanilla extract.
1 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips.

cupcake batter:
1 (18.25 ounce) box yellow cake mix.
1 1/3 cups water.
1/3 cup canola oil.
3 eggs.

to make the cookie dough, whisk the flour, baking soda, and sea salt. once completed, put aside. beat the butter and both sugars in a large bowl with an electric mixer until smooth. add the 1 egg and vanilla extract and continue to beat until smooth. add the flour mixture until everything is just mixed together. fold in the chocolate chips. create tablespoon sized balls and place on a baking sheet. freeze until solid (or about 2 hours).

after two hours has gone by, preheat an oven to 350 degrees and line 24 muffin cups with paper liners. beat the remaining 3 eggs with an electric mixer. add the cake mix, water, and canola oil. beat for 2 minutes on a medium speed setting. 

then spoon the mixture into the already prepared cupcake liners. make sure it is only about 2/3 full. place a frozen cookie dough ball on the top center of each cupcake.

bake for about 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out of the cake portion of the cupcake completely clean. when removed from the oven, leave in the muffin pan for about 10 minutes before placing on a cooling rack.

if you want, you can ice the top of the cupcake, preferably with chocolate frosting. however, i think they are sweet enough on their own. enjoy!

recipe found at: all recipes.

fabulous, no matter what.

maybe the third time is the charm.

after two previous blogs (one mildly successful and one complete failure), i am hoping to achieve great things with this page. i never have a direct subject that i focus on. a lot of people have really amazing blogs that are about baking, or cooking, or photography that are absolutely phenomenal to read. you won't find that here just because that is not how i am.