Celery Root Mash - Foodie Friends Friday with Farm Girls Glitz and Glam

I (would like to) think I am a fairly low-maintenance girl.  I'm a wash-and-go hair kind of girl and normally only ever manage to slap on some BB cream and a little mascara before I leave the house.  But the one thing I love?  Any body lotion or bath gel or scrub that smells like vanilla.  I use and abuse my legs every day bike commuting so I like to pamper them a little to show off what I've worked hard for!  This week Foodie Friends Friday is being sponsored by Farm Girls Glitz and Glam, who are giving away Lavender Scrub to the top votes!  (Which means you should probably come back to vote on Sunday if you love a good scrub...)

Today's recipe is a super fast substitute for plain old mashed potatoes.  Peel and chunk a celery root and a couple of potatoes, boil it up, and mash.  The only thing that takes a little time is cleaning up the root, be sure to have a very sharp knife to avoid any slippage while handling that hunk of root.  After I mashed it up, I already had the oven going so I put it in a little souffle cup, sprinkled with a little parmesan cheese, and baked for a few minutes to brown the top.

Easy peasy, just like linking up to our party!

Avocado and Tomatillo Soup

One of the best parts of sticking around DC after graduation has been having most of my friends from college still here.  A few weeks ago, a bunch of us went out to the new Mike Isabella mexican restaurant Bandolero to catch up, have margaritas on tap, and enjoy Top Chef alum fare.  And it was GOOD!  Duck confit in the queso fundido, crazy delicious tacos, and the dish that completely caught my eye tomatillo and avocado gazpacho.  It was a cold and creamy soup with tiny pieces of tequilla-soaked watermelon and orange sprinkled throughout like jewels.  After the soup got passed around the table for everyone to try, I finished it slowly because I knew I wanted to recreate the dish myself.

I was reminded of the dish a couple of weeks ago when Bandolero was doing demos at the Dupont farmer's market so I picked up some fresh tomatillos and got to work!  After taking off the outer husk, I removed the core and then used my food processor to buzz them all up.  I strained the pulverized tomatillos through a sieve and then used a stick blender to add avocado, sour cream, lime juice, and garlic.  Topped with teeny pieces of watermelon and orange supremes, it was a beautiful and healthy dinner without the trek to M street!

Girls night is headed to dim sum soon, expect barbecue pork buns to follow that one!

Hangover Hash: Foodie Friends Friday Linky Party #6

I think your body gets moving amnesia.  That is I never seem to remember how stressful moving is until it smacks me in the face (ugh, and back) again.  Maybe it was the rapid fire move in and move out every semester in the first two years of college that have given me the ability to black it out and think of it positively until I'm in the throws.  The place is coming together little by little, but since my room is slightly smaller this time around and I am missing one last bookshelf to put the little things away I feel like I'm living in a large treehouse surrounded by trinkets.  Tea light holders, camera equipment, beach reads, belts and sunglasses in cloth shopping bags, they all still need homes.  And even though the kitchen is together, the concept of making yet another mess in the place is daunting.

But this recipe, oh it was worth it.  It solves the ever present problem - what to do with leftover french fries?  This has been floating around in my head ever since a ladies beach weekend when we were all making breakfast after wine and barbecue the night before.  Some of the ladies had brought home their leftovers, including fries and delectably smoked meat, and wanted to put it in their breakfast.  The fries didn't turn out as hoped and the idea of fry-based hash popped into my head to solve the problem (and has been floating around ever since...).

The worst part about leftover fries is how soggy they are, so I thought I would use rendered bacon fat to bring them back to life.  After cutting them into home fry sized pieces, I added them to a pan of onions and bell peppers also cooked in the bacon fat.  After the fries had been revived I added super spicy salsa, avocados, the crisped bacon, and a little cheddar cheese.  Topped with a sunny-side egg with a delicious runny yolk, this breakfast will cure anything that ails you!

Ps Ladies, this recipe serves two so it would be perfect to seal the deal with that new guy the first morning he stays over (get it, girl).  This is my answer to engagement chicken, the "be my boyfriend" breakfast.

This week's hosts for the linky party are:

Tracy at Busy Vegetarian Mom

Robyn at Robyn's View

Angie at A lil Country Sugar   

Sarah at Everything in the Kitchen Sink

Michelle at From Calculus to Cupcakes

Marlys at This and That

Lois at Walking on Sunshine

Lindsey at Family Food Finds  

Cindy at Cindys Recipes and Writings

Keira at Luscious Delights

Tami at Food Forays

R Dawn at Spatulas on Parade

Amber at Mama's Blissful Bites

Ericka at Chef Picky Kid