FOTD: Au Naturale

My first FOTD comes to you from a little double date night out last weekend where I went for a natural "oh I'm not wearing any makeup" makeup look focusing on amping up my eyes by using black liner along both upper and bottom water lines. I usually don't use much black eyeliner for fear of over doing it but I think this imparts the look of fuller lashes, which is always a win in my book.

The skin is kept light and fresh with a dollop of Ulta's factor 70 sun screen (its in a small bottle with a shaker bead inside which reminds me of the much raved about Chanel Vitalumier Aqua; yet another foundation I really want to try) with a small squirt of MAC Pro Longwear concealer in NW25 mixed together for a custom tinted moisturizer. Light concealing was done with the Body Shop's concealer stick in 04 (which I'm obsessed with!). I also highlighted the high points of my face with Benefit's Watts Up highlighting stick. For blush I went with Joe Fresh's Hydrangea blush (matte pale pink) to balance out all the glow provided by the highlighter. 

The lips were kept simple with a slick of Nuxe Reve de Miel lip balm and NARS velvet matte lip pencil in sex machine. The two lip products are new to my collection and I can already tell they will be on daily rotation!  The lip balm has a cult following and for good reason because its the only thing that has stopped my lips from peeling this winter! Hooray :)

Xo,

Alexa 

I ❤ FOOD: A Quiche on the Cheek

The crisp fall air is just the excuse I need to dust off my apron and get to baking. A few days ago I whipped up a Gruyere, Bacon, Leek, and Kale quiche that had both Adam and I reeling for seconds (and dare I say, thirds!).  Recipe below!

Yes, I rolled out my dough with a wine bottle.  Classy, right?  A girl's gotta be resourceful - lack of a rolling pin is not an excuse not to make your own delicious flaky pie crust! (;

For two 8 inch pies, you will need:

For the crust:

2 sticks of cold butter (cut into half inch cubes)

2.5 cups of flour

1 tsp salt

1 tsp sugar

4 tbsp ice cold water

For the filling:

1 package of bacon sliced

1 Leek sliced

1 bunch Kale sliced into bite size pieces

14 Large Eggs 

1/2 cup of milk

a few dashes of nutmeg

freshly cracked black pepper

Start by pre-heating your oven to 350 F.  In a large bowl, mix your dry crust ingredients until blended then cut the cold cubed butter into the flour by pinching it together until it forms a mealy mixture almost like cornmeal.  You can use a food processor too if you have one (I do not).  Add the ice cold water slowly while kneading the dough until it is incorporated and holds together.  Roll into a ball, cut the ball in half and form into two disks.  Wrap the disks in plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for at least an hour.  You can store your dough for up to three days in the fridge if you are making it in advance.

While the dough is chilling, start on your filling.  Crack all of your eggs into a bowl and beat them together with 1/2 cup of milk, pepper, and nutmeg.  I skipped salting the eggs since the bacon and Gruyere cheese add all the salt I care to consume!  Refrigerate the egg mixture while you prep the rest of the filling.

Fry up your sliced bacon and set aside on a paper towel.  Drain most of the bacon fat from the pan but keep some to sautee your leeks and kale. Once the kale has wilted slightly in the pan, add the bacon back in and sprinkle with black pepper.  Grate some Grueyere into the mix and stir until combined.

Hopefully an hour has passed and you can now roll your dough out and place them in pie tins.  Partially bake the crust for about 10 minutes (give or take depending on your oven) until slightly golden brown.  Let cool then add your sauteed bacon/kale/leek mixture to the center of both pies.  Grate some more cheese over top then pour your egg mixture in almost to the top but not quite. It is okay if not everything is completely submerged -- the egg will puff up when cooked so beware of over filling!  Add a little more cheese on top of the egg and bake it off for 40-50 minutes at 350 (or until cooked when the middle of the pie is no longer runny).

I love to serve this for breakfast on a Sunday morning and have it for lunch for the rest of the week.  Quick, simple, and a great way to make use of eggs since we buy them in bulk!

Enjoy!

xoxo

Alexa