Picnic at the Bluffs

Days off are awesome. They are even better spent with people you love. A good friend was in town and we went to a great lookout park and had a picnic centered around Quinoa Salad.

Bree and Liz casually take in the view. Optimistically, I brought a frisbee, but it was just so hot that I got lazy and ate food instead. Fine by me.

Mixed berry Tassies in Miniature

A local bakery makes something called "tassies" that look like tarts to my untrained eye. I'm sure I'd be able to get away with either name, but will go with "tassies" since they sound foreign to my ear and, therefore, more fancy! Additionally, they looked easy to make and I like that.

Scones or Biscuits?

Wait a minute, these scones look just like biscuits!

The name definitely depends where you live in the world.

Quinoa Black Bean Salad

Cold grain and bean salads work really well with warm summer days. Additions of spices are limitless, really. Yesterday I chose quinoa, black beans, green onions, cilantro and corn.

According to me (and this Wikipedia entry) Quinoa is a really special "grain" (in quotes because it isn't technically a grain, I learned) because of its intense nutritional value. It's a complete protein with lots of dietary fiber and, when cooked,  it looks like each piece has a cute little tail!