Today: Kitchen tour and an easy, gluten-free and vegan black bean dip.

Whew.  We are all moved in (unpacking is another story… but we’re getting there) and settling back into normal life.  One that doesn’t involve Comcast coming over for tea to break and fix things three days in a row.  We were excited to share our new home– and dinner and drinks– with a few friends last night.  I’ve got a super easy, football-friendly recipe to share, but first… a little tour.

Kitchen tour

I am tempted to say the kitchen is my favorite part of our new condo, but I’ve pretty much fallen in love with it all.  Perhaps I will quit my job and start filming a cooking show from our new kitchen.  My target audience would be people who like lettuce and Cheez-Its (but not together).  It would soon be canceled for one of two reasons:

1. No one would watch it (highly likely)
2. I would start a fire while cutting off a finger (equally likely)

I still can’t believe we found such a perfectly us home.

Unpacking our kitchen boxes was surprisingly fun.  There is the perfect place for everything, including our entire wedding registry.  We had put many of our gifts in storage, as space was at a premium in our first condo.  Opening everything for the second time reminded me how lucky we are to have such wonderful friends and family.  I wish we could get everyone together again, eat some cake pops and dance to DJ Sheldon’s jams until we get kicked out th’ building.

Just off the kitchen is our deck.  We have great sunset views and Clark has plenty of people to creep on.  He is a one man dog neighborhood patrol.  We’ll likely wait until next spring to um… spring for new deck furniture, but for now, we’re making do with a pair of old camp chairs and a gas grill (which Nick has used every night since we moved in).

We had a shared roof deck at our first condo, which was lovely, but being able to step out onto the deck each morning with a cup of decaf tea (for me) or Nespresso (for Nick) has been such a great change.  Clearly, the Frenchie approves.

The new kitchen (and the disappearance of morning sickness, hallelujah) has motivated me to spend a bit more time cooking, baking and creating.  Last night, I whipped up a really easy black bean dip to share with Matt, Pam, Tina and Mal, who joined us for dinner.  I grabbed a few ingredients we always seem to have on hand, sort of measured, and threw everything in the food processor.  The result? A really tasty appetizer and the perfect tailgate snack.  It only takes a few minutes to prepare, and can be refrigerated for a day or two in advance.

Easy, gluten-free and vegan black bean dip

Ingredients:

• 1 can or carton organic black beans, rinsed
• 1 small yellow onion, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, peeled
• juice from half a lime
• 1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp chili powder
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Add all ingredients, except for the salt and pepper, to your food processor and blend until smooth.
2. This is a really important step: Pretend that the blended mixture doesn’t look like poop.
3. Taste, and season with additional spices, plus salt and pepper, if desired.
4. Garnish with a sprinkle of cilantro and serve with vegetables and tortilla chips.

Time to head back out on the deck.

Also On Tap for Today:

• Vanilla… or beaver butt?
• A little IKEA trip (I’m nervous…)
• Love this: You can always help the environment, no matter where you are

What’s your go-to game time snack?