'Merica

{david james visuals}

Before I took a shower last night, my wilderness infused self was beginning to smell like a 5'10" walking and talking piece of smoky bacon. (extra greasy)

The best kinds of weekends usually involve wilderness, or smelliness, or bacon. (or grease)

A combination of all three? 

Always a good choice. 

xoxo

{Bon Bon}

Smells Good in Here

Ugghrhahalkdfaljgakhhgaeeeeeeergh, Bloggggggggging. 

Anyone else feel like this lately? {or every other month, or week, or day of the week}

Imagine the average kitchen stove, except this one has about 29 burners. All with various pots simmering, bubbling, overflowing, and scorching. 

Hi. I am that stove.

No, not one of those sleek, shiny, and fancy stainless steel ones. 

Think olive green, 1970s, spattered with marinara sauce. 

I'm a mess. Albeit, a cute mess.  

Stove Bon Bon Deluxe and her 29 burners of husband-son-family-friends-superfluous cookware set off the fire alarm quite often these days. 

Beeping through the smoky haze with a "Hey you, burners #1 (God Stuff) and #2 (Bon Bon Stuff) are turned down real low. Crank those babies up! 

Just don't forget the macaroni on high and light your oven mitt on fire again."

And that's what it boils down to. 

Contentment. Balance. Priorities. Sacredness. Fulfillment. Eternal. Joy. Life. 

Those are the dishes I want to serve best. 

However, the recipes are always a work in progress.

{Daniel and Josiah, the most faithful of taste testers} 

Thankful every day that Grace is the spice in my life. 

Yum.

...

The past few days, I have eaten waaaaaaay to much banana pudding, solved the cold case of the missing Thomas the train, listened to the rain fall while reading a gloomy novel, purchased a meal for a homeless/hopeful man, and, just "was." In those moments, it was taste and see, everything is good. 

What are you guys cooking? 

xoxo

{Bon Bon}

Eat This: CaveGirl Crunch

Due to some recurring health issues, (ongoing for the past 3+ years), Daniel has decided to go Paleo! Even the sweet-toothed side of me has to admit that this bandwagon is somewhat of a fun ride. Not that I was ever much of a, "you know what, this celery stick would be 10x better rolled in high fructose corn syrup, fried in lard, and drizzled with hot fudge," but I am known to have my Paula Deen-esque moments from time to time. Buttahhhhh! And I do sing "Oh My Dayum" every time I eat, smell, see, or think about, Five Guys. 

I'm a terrible person.

This isn't about me though. Shocking, right. This is The Whim Wham Life, not the Bonnie Bon Bon Me me meeeee Look at ME Life. Show. Thing. 

{I am being a good wife and supporting my husband by not eating (too much) dairy, grains, sugar, legumes, and chocolate, and cheese. oh glorious cheese).

Really, not about me. 

For the past two weeks, Daniel has been eating an egg/meat/veggie combo of some sort for breakfast. But, he usually likes to get out the door quickly in the morning, and needed a faster option in his new routine, so I whipped up a batch of granola, oh, nothing special, just the NECTAR OF THE GODS THIS STUFF IS SO GOOD granola! 

So good, you might see me on Shark Tank asking for a million dollars and 27% equity in my CaveGirl Crunch granola company!!! 

Wow. That escalated quickly. 

And yes, I watch Shark Tank.

{P.S. We like to eat ours with almond or coconut milk (you can make your own!), or a handful as a snack. The (primal) Bean likes his with yogurt. Or dumped straight on the floor)

...

CaveGirl Crunch Granola

Ingredients

• Dry Ingredients:
• ¾ cup of raw sunflower seeds
• 1½ cup quinoa flakes (or almond meal, etc)
• 1½ cup of shredded unsweetened coconut
• 1/2 cup dried cranberries
• 3 cups of raw slivered, chopped, or sliced almonds
• 2-3 teaspoons of cinnamon (or ground cloves, ground ginger, nutmeg, etc)
• Wet Ingredients:
• ¾ cups of raw honey (or a mixture of maple syrup and honey)
• Additional options: vanilla, coconut oil, carob chips, etc. 

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
2. Mix all the dry ingredients first.
3. Stir in the wet ingredients. Line baking sheet with foil or parchment paper and spread on a full cookie sheet. Bake for 20 minutes. Remove after 15 minutes and stir. Place back in oven 5 more minutes. Let it cool for about 10 minutes and then dig in! Rawr! 

xoxo

{Bon Bon}

Drink This: Pisco Punch

Pisco is a late 16th century brandy made from the grapes that originated in the Viceroyalty of Peru.

The punch was then invented by Duncan Nicol at a bar named Bank Exchange at the end of the 19th century, in San Francisco. 

 One writer of the day wrote "it tastes like lemonade but comes back with the kick of a roped steer."

...

Long story short: Make this pronto. 

It involves some prep, time, elbow grease, and whatnot, but it is soooooooooooo worth it. That's 12 "o's" worth of so-ness. 

Meaning: Make this pronto. 

My first encounter with Pisco Punch at the Pegu Club in New York City had me falling head over heels in looooooooove.  

Again, with the "o's"

P.S. If you're a lightweight like me, you might want to dilute this recipe a bit...or you'll literally be falling head over heels. *

>>>PISCO PUNCH<<<

Ingredients

Pineapple Pisco
1 750-mL bottle of Pisco Capel
1 pineapple

Lime Syrup
2 limes
16 oz. simple syrup, chilled

Grapefruit Syrup
1 white grapefruit
16 oz. simple syrup, chilled 

Punch
750 mL pineapple-infused Pisco
8 1/2 oz. lime syrup
8 1/2 oz. grapefruit syrup
12 3/4 oz. fresh lemon juice

Instructions

Pineapple Pisco
Cut pineapple into chunks, and put into a covered jar. Add bottle of Pisco. Cover, shake to agitate, and refrigerate for 3 days. Strain and store in refrigerator.

Lime Syrup
Zest the rind of 2 limes into 16 oz. of cold simple syrup. Cover, shake to agitate, and refrigerate for 24 hours. Strain off zest and store in refrigerator.

Grapefruit Syrup
Zest the rind of 1 white grapefruit into 16 oz. of cold simple syrup. Cover, shake to agitate, and refrigerate for 24 hours. Strain off zest and store in refrigerator.

Punch
In large bowl, combine pineapple Pisco, lime syrup, grapefruit syrup, and lemon juice. Refrigerate for at least 3 hours. Place ice block into bowl before serving. Garnish chilled cocktail glasses with pineapple leaves. 

Enjoy! 

*I ended Mother's Day laying on the hardwood floor at midnight, singing those Auto-Tune the News songs. All of them. 

xoxo

{Bon Bon}

Full Circle

{he begs to be outside all day every day. barely have enough time in the morning to drink some coffee before he steals my keys and tries to "unlock" the door}

Once the days get hotter and longer, I'm always reminded of one of my earliest memories...

the soft glow of late summer sun sneaking through my frilly polka dot curtains, while grumbling to anyone that would listen, mainly an audience of Barbies and Polly Pockets, that it was too early for bedtime. Eventually, (usually rather quickly), I'd drift off to dream, lulled by the hum of a lawnmower echoing up and down the country road. With a happy ache coursing from the soles of my feet to the hairs on my head.*

The days are hot and long. 

But the years are short. 

I think the Bean will have some good memories from these kinds of days too. 

Definitely the 11PM trip to Salt & Straw.

xoxo

{Bon Bon}

*Growing up, we had a forest and a huge tree fort in our backyard. And the river and pastures and horses and blackberry bushes and chickens and best friends right down the road. Outside all day long, until either lunch or dinner or bandaid time. Or tattletale time because my brother super soaker-ed me in the eye.

Now We Just Need Chairs

Ever since Daniel and I have been married, (going on three years), we have had a minimal amount of furniture in our repertoire. Everything has either been hand-me down family pieces or Craigslist finds. (I think I bought a bath mat?) Like most twitterpated engaged couples, we had stars in our eyes and couldn't have cared less about what style bookcase would squeeze into 700 sq. ft. of apartment.  

Then our living space tripled, and the rooms have literally been echoing since. 

Slooooooowly it's coming along. Apparently, in today's market, curtains are as much an investment as the house itself! Thus, our spaces will be a mixture of thrift scores, antiques, diy, thoughtful splurges, and cough, replicas, cough. 

Our walls are still bare, (haven't been able to commit to hanging anything just yet) and our living room is 1/47th of the way done, and we don't have any dining chairs yet because our old table was a sky high  pub table style with sky high legged chairs to match. 

But my husband made me a new table! 

And since we saved, oh, probably thousands and thousands of dollars, we can splurge on chairs, right? 

That's how it works? 

...

Seriously though. What kind of dining chairs? Bench? Mismatched? Tolix? Tabouret? Ghost? 

P.S. Simple Dining Table DIY {here}
We used Pine, Ikea Vika Lerberg legs, and Minwax Classic Grey wood stain. 

xoxo

{Bon Bon}

And Then This Happened

{Skin Care Routine}

And it's up on YouTube, which makes me feel all weird inside. 

{Also, if you ever want to feel reeeeeeeally great about yourself, just upload a video of your face talking and then have the privilege, nay, the pleasure, to edit through each and every millisecond of up close and personal} 

Some of those video stills would make young children cry. 

...

>>>I'll post the live link soon. I might need a few mimosas first<<<

xoxo

{Bon Bon}

I Don't Like to Match

Underneath it all, if you get right down to the nitty gritty inner magma encrusted core of who I am, there you'll find that of an old soul. An old nerdy soul. 

Not quite on the Magic: The Gathering level of nerdery. Yet. 
With my past RuneScape account, my present devotion to "A Song of Ice and Fire," and my future LARPing ambitions, well, "yet" is teetering dangerously close. 

Don't be fooled by anything you ever see on this blog or instagram or any other social life facade. 

I used to read the Encyclopedia. For FUN! 

And I also have had ridiculous cartoon crushes on both Captain Planet and Archie Andrews.

You guys, "cool" is not my middle name. 
{It's "Anne." With an "E!"}*

And that's why the window-seat reading nook is one of my favorite spots in our house. 

...

Hopefully we can still be friends?! 
Also, what's the nerdiest thing about you?




FOLLOW ME ON: BLOGLOVIN/INSTAGRAM/TWITTER

xoxo

{Bon Bon}


*P.S. The "Anne of Green Gables" series is one of my all-time favorite things this world has to offer, but have you ever read the "Emily of New Moon" series by the same author, (L.M Montgomery)? They are waaaaaaay darker, more real and less feel-good fluffy and for some reason, I love them over ol' Anne. That must be the dramatic tortured soul in me talking. My favorite book in the 4th grade was "Dear Mr. Henshaw." So deep.