Fun Finds Friday #105

What a neat peacock shirt from the 70's!



YOU GUYS. This washi tape.



A chalkboard "watch"! Silly... or genius?

+ 100 years of women's ideal body types. It's interesting to see what else this has affected - the pharmaceutical industry and the creation of weight loss groups, mostly.
+ Did you know there's a Netflix-type service for books?!
+ The best wrong number text ever!
+ Virginia's abandoned renaissance faire... SO COOL.
+ Yeah, man! Tell it like it is!
+ Now I want to make my own button-up shirt blanket. Psst. Check out the rest of the refashions - there are some really neat things there!

Happy Friday!!!

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I can no longer claim to be a baker who knows nothing about cooking. Ever since delving into the world of line cook-ery, I've felt inspired to cook more intricate meals at home. As my creativity in the savory side of the food world slowly expands, stuffed peppers have quickly become a staple in our household. It's true, I can't seem to step away from the oven. It's my comfort zone!

Stuffed peppers are great because they make it easy to feed a group of people, with minimal effort. While our "group" is usually just the two of us, that just means that we get to be creative with leftovers. The filling reheats super well and we've used it as taco filling, meat sauce with more rice or with pasta, or just on its own for a quick bite around lunchtime.


I actually made the poblano crema to go alongside some fried fish tacos I made last week, but I made so much of it that we've been enjoying it with all of our dinners. Of course, I forgot to garnish these peppers before taking a photo because I made the peppers in the afternoon in preparation for dinner, so I took photos after stuffing them but then refrigerated them until later in the evening when they would actually be consumed. Hence, naked peppers. But, regardless of the missing photographic evidence, make the poblano crema!!! Trust me, it's delicious.

Turkey Stuffed Peppers with Poblano Crema

inspired by this recipe from Blue Apron
serves 4, with extra filling left over
1 pound ground turkey (I use turkey burger meat)
1 cup rice, cooked
4 bell peppers
1 poblano pepper
4 cloves garlic
1 large yellow onion
4 tablespoons tomato paste
4 teaspoons cumin
1/4 cup water
1/2 cup shredded cheese (I use Trader Joe's Mexican blend)
1-2 limes
1/2 bunch cilantro, chopped
2/3 cup sour cream
1/3 cup good mayonnaise

- Preheat the oven to 500 degrees. Once the oven reaches 500 degrees, roast the bell peppers and poblano pepper with a drizzle of olive oil and a pinch of salt and pepper. Roast them just until the skin starts to darken and peel, about 20 minutes. Turn the oven down to 400 degrees and set the peppers aside to cool.
- While the oven is preheating, mince the garlic and dice the onion. Heat a little olive oil in large frying pan and cook the garlic and onion until soft and almost translucent. Stir in the tomato paste and cumin. Then, add the ground turkey, stirring occasionally until cooked through.
- Once the turkey is cooked, turn off the heat and season with salt and pepper to taste. Add the rice and water and stir until everything is combined. Then stir in the cheese.
- Use a paring knife to core the bell peppers. Cut an opening around the stem and remove the seeds inside the pepper. Use a spoon to fill the peppers with the turkey and rice filling, making sure to pack as much filling in as you can. Top with additional cheese, if desired. Put the stuffed peppers back in the oven for 15 minutes.
- While the peppers are baking, make the poblano crema. (You'll need a food processor for this.) Remove the core and seeds from the roasted poblano pepper. Chop the poblano into large chunks to help the food processor break it down more easily. Add the sour cream, mayonnaise, and juice of one lime to the food processor and run until the pepper is completely broken down. Add more lime juice if the consistency is too thick.
- When the stuffed peppers are done baking, place each one on a plate, top with poblano crema and a sprinkling of chopped cilantro, and enjoy!

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U.S. National Arboretum

After my trip to the French embassy, I had a few hours to kill before rush hour started, so at the suggestion of my friend and her fiance, I decided to spend some time at the U.S. National Arboretum. (FYI, all of the "tourist attractions" in D.C. are free, so it's worth it to check at least one place out if you're in the area!) The arboretum is huge and most of the gardens were not in bloom, so I just visited the Bonsai garden, the herb garden, and the Asian forest. Deep in the Asian forest there is a little trail that takes you down to the river, so of course I checked that out too! It was 90 degrees that day, but the tree coverage kept everything pleasant. I'd love to go back in the spring when more gardens are in bloom!

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Project 365, 244-250

244/365: I had to take a trip down to D.C. to renew my (French) passport. Originally, I had rented a nice place in Maryland through Airbnb for Shawn and I to stay at. Sunday night, Shawn decided he wasn't feeling up for another trip so soon after all the traveling we did for my friend's wedding over the weekend, so instead I linked up with an old friend of mine from high school and spent the night at her place right in the city. We hadn't seen each other since high school, so there was so much to catch up about! (Specifically, the fact that she and her boyfriend got engaged a mere 24 hours before my visit!!) Her second bedroom was absolutely lovely and a welcome place to spend the night on such short notice. So much natural light! Not that you can tell one bit from this photo...

245/365: I made friends with her very chatty cat, Colette. I'm always taken aback by how much smaller female cats are compared to male cats. Lloyd and Sylvester seem HUGE in comparison to all of my friends' cats! On a non-cat note, since I've made prior-mention of feeling stressed out about my trip to the French Embassy, it's worth saying that I had absolutely nothing to worry about as the whole experience of renewing my passport was positive overall. I was very confused the entire time about what to do and where to go, but in my short span thus far as a real adult, it seems to me that feeling confused 85% of the time is just part of being an adult. ... Were those last two sentences confusing? See what I mean?

246/365: Just the Bear being a bear.

247/365: I made olive oil lemon bars with some meyer lemon olive oil I have.... they're incredibly rich and lemony! I would post the recipe, but I just followed this one to a T. Adding a little lemon zest to the crust is brilliant!

248/365: Mike Lorenz plays jazz covers of classic rock songs every Thursday night where I work. He came out with a record! It's cat-approved. Uh, and in case you were wondering... that's a drawing of a vag-eye-na.

249/365: These guys have been all over us since we've been back. I can't say I mind it one bit though! Oh, actually, this photo was to show the first time they've both used the new cat tower at once! Mission accomplished.

250/365: Recipe for stuffed peppers coming this week! It's a staple meal here at Casa de Hill.

Whew! That was a lot packed into just a few days. Between Amy's wedding and my D.C. excursion, I drove over 500 miles in just four days. It was worth it though! I got to catch up with a few old friends, fell in love with rural New Jersey again, and dipped my toes into the greatness that is Washington D.C.... definitely need to go back! Preferably not when I'm on official foreigner business though.

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Psst... I'm on Poshmark!

I hate having stuff in my sidebar, and this didn't seem like the sort of thing to just add at the bottom of another post... so here's a quick post to say that I'm selling some of my clothes and jewelry on Poshmark. I don't necessarily like the whole social media and sharing aspect of it, but it seems to be the place to go if you're looking to sell gently used clothing online. So if you're the same size as me, yay for you! There's some Anthropologie and GAP stuff there, amongst other things - check it out!

Shop more of my closet on Poshmark

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