Venice

After our quick Disney visit the fam had a whole week left in the Sunshine State. Venice, FL is a spot my family has visited every summer for as long as I can remember. Over time we've developed our usual go to spots, and after twenty something years we've developed so many it's hard to fit them all in. I've been campaigning for a longer vacation to solve this problem, I'll let you know if I succeed. We spent the majority of the trip boating and eating, which makes for a pretty stupendous week in my book.

 

Camera wars.

Captain Dave

Our schedule went a little like this: boat a little, stop for lunch, boat a little, swim a little, boat a little, stop for sunset.

Sharkey's is Venice's only beachfront restaurant and became one of our regular spots early on. Over the past year they have built a whole new fine dining restaurant connected to the old Sharkey's. On our last night in town my parents and I eagerly hit up Fins.

I had some sort of watermelon/tequila/spicy concoction that I can't quite remember, but it was good!

I mean, the grilled watermelon salad was good, but look at that backdrop.

I was so indecisive I couldn't even land on one appetizer, so I just ordered a few different ones and shared with mom. My "main" appetizer was the lobster and gouda nachos.

Both key lime pie and creme brulee are family favorites, so when we saw key lime creme brulee on the menu it was a must. This was gone in a second.

Fins gets two thumbs up and will most definitely be on our go to list from here on out. So sad to have to leave Florida but maybe next year I'll get that longer vacation I'm campaigning for!

XO,

Lo

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Long Weekend

No longer being in school means that you don't have the luxuries of Christmas and summer vacations. Therefore, you have to take full advantage of every long weekend the calendar gives you. President's Day weekend just so happened to coincide with my friend Shayda's birthday, and it's been a solid six months since I've seen her, Katie, and Ceci, so I hopped a plane to Atlanta for a much needed Italy reunion. NYC tried to stop me with its massive snow storm, but thanks to some sweet talkin' by Shayda to Southwest Airlines, I managed to still make my trip. She's a miracle worker.

Friday night we planned a quiet girls' night at Katie's house. Most of our reunions are short with jam packed schedules, so it was nice to have some downtime for once. Katie, ever the perfect hostess, planned a full on spread of none other but Italian food.

 The wine/bellini bar, she knows us well. Don't worry, it wasn't fully stocked yet when I took this picture ;)

 Shayda enjoyed the perks of being the birthday girl while we cooked dinner.

Priorities...

I like to think I'm a decent cook, but apparently they only trusted me with cutting the bread.

Our lovely spread.

Dinner was fresh pasta with shrimp and pesto. mmmmm

For dessert Katie made chocolate covered strawberries and chocolate covered cookie dough balls that were to DIE for. Check the recipe here, you won't be sorry.

The perfect hostess!

After dinner we decided to have some scotch with Katie's dad. Maybe not our best idea ever. Ceci ended up with most of our glasses.

We spent most of Saturday getting ready for Shayda's birthday bash, and a bash it was. It was so epic no one seemed to come out with pictures because they were too busy having fun.

Struggles. This is a usual occurrence when we attempt a picture together.

So happy to have these three to adventure with.

XO,

Lo

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Your New Favorite Cookies

Double Chocolate Espresso Sandwich Cookies w/ Peanut Butter Filling

Brace yourself...you won't be the same after you try these delectable little treats. They combine everything I love about dessert: chocolate, peanut butter, espresso, and cookies. While I wish I could take the credit for these babies, I have to admit that the recipe is from another blog and I found it via Pinterest. You can find the original here. I'll take all of the credit for the making and eating of them though.

Here's everything you'll need for the cookie portion of the recipe.

Mixing all the dry ingredients....

...Now mixing all the butter and sugar

If I'm being honest I had a few spoonfuls of this. The double chocolate espresso cookies are yummy enough on their own, but add the peanut butter filling and it takes it to a whole new level.

Not so patiently waiting for the cookies to bake.

In the meantime here's everything you need for the filling.

The cookies are finally done! Once they cool just spread them with the peanut butter filling, make your little sandwiches, and try to refrain from eating them all in one sitting.

Obviously I couldn't wait to try a bite.

Double Chocolate Espresso Cookies
1 cup flour
3/4 cup cocoa powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
8 Tbsp. unsalted butter, softened
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 large egg
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 cup chocolate chips
1 tsp instant espresso powder

-Whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, salt and espresso powder. Set aside.

-In another bowl, cream together the butter and both sugars. Stir in the egg and vanilla.

- Gradually mix in the flour mixture to the wet mixture, until just incorporated. Stir in the chocolate chips.

-Separate the dough into two and roll them into 2 uniform logs about 12 inches long. Refrigerate it until firm enough to slice.

-Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

- Cut the logs into 1 inch slices and place 1 ½ inches apart on the prepared sheets. Bake for 15 minutes, or until the dough looks just baked. The cookies should be tender, so do not over bake.

Peanut Butter Filling

2 cups powdered sugar

6 Tbsp softened unsalted butter

1/2 cup creamy peanut butter

2 Tbsp milk

-Cream all the ingredients together until well mixed. Use immediately.

XO,
Lo

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