I could, and did, eat this salsa with a spoon. It’s that good. The combination of tomatoes and avocado is one of my all-time favourites, and the mango adds a really nice, sweet twist on this dip. While it’s great with chips, I really hope you’ll try it with chicken or fish – takes what could be a bland weekday meal and transforms it!

Ingredients

1 mango, peeled and diced
1 avocado, peeled and diced
1 plum tomato, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 jalepeño, seeded and diced
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro*
2 tbsp fresh lime juice
1/4 cup chopped red onion
1 tbsp olive oil
Salt and fresh pepper to taste

Combine all the ingredients and let it marinate in the refrigerator 30 minutes before serving. Serve with pita or tortilla chips or spoon on top of chicken or fish.

*Cilantro is one of the few foods on this planet I cannot stand. I omitted it from my version, but left it in the recipe above in case you want to add it!

Source: Gina’s Skinny Recipes

The idea behind the event was for fashion bloggers from this part of the world to get together to meet and share information about our blogs. We ended up with a group of seriously beautiful, talented, stylish, interesting ladies that I loved getting to know.

Here are some Instagram snaps I took during the weekend!

Details :: Chelsea

Some details of my outfit from night one

Details :: Kristin

Details :: Barb

Mimosas :: The Middle Spoon Desserterie & Bar

Looking up :: The Middle Spoon Desserterie & Bar

Fashion East (Beauties)

Some new goodies I purchased in Halifax

Again to the organizers of this event – thank you, thank you, thank you.

Here’s a list of the weekend participants – check out their blogs!

Kate: O My Heart!
Chelsea: Atlantic Style Diaries
Kristin: Doll Parade
Barb: barbbarbbarb
Krista, Meghan, Melissa, Christina, and Bianca: Fashion East
Jessica & Erin: Haute Halifax
Danna: You Look Fiiine
Mo: Curvy Geekery
Sorren: Classic Noise
Tosan: For the Love of Prints
Kayla: Short Presents
Libby: House of Winchester
Ashley: Fashion Roadkill

]]> http://brilliantsugar.com/?feed=rss2&p=1048 4 http://brilliantsugar.com/?p=1043 http://brilliantsugar.com/?p=1043#comments Wed, 25 Apr 2012 00:11:19 +0000 admin http://brilliantsugar.com/?p=1043 Continue reading →]]> Hey :) I say this about pretty much every recipe I post, but … you have to make these. The fact that one of my girlfriends is vegan has pushed me to try so many new recipes (thanks, K!) and I truly think these are better without the egg & butter. They’re super moist and chocolatey but not too rich at all. I made minis and was easily able to eat four in one sitting :) You could also make them full-sized of course. Perfect little treat for a party!

Ingredients

1 cup soy milk (I used chocolate)
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup canola oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract, chocolate extract, or more vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup cocoa powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 350°F and line a muffin pan with paper or foil liners. Whisk together the soy milk and vinegar in a large bowl, and set aside for a few minutes to curdle. Add the sugar, oil, vanilla extract, and other extract, if using, to the soy milk mixture and beat until foamy.

In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Add dry ingredients to wet and beat until no large lumps remain (a few tiny lumps are alright). Pour into liners, filling 3/4 of the way. Bake 18 to 20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Transfer to a cooling rack and let cool completely.

Source: Adapted from Chow

Happy Monday! As promised, here’s another group of photos taken by the lovely Amy of PickettFence Photography. What I loved most about the shoot with Amy was how she took my outside my regular ‘blog photo’ box. I feel like I have my poses down to a science and rarely try to think of anything new or innovative to do. When Amy suggested we take photos in this tool shed, I was all for it :) Though it was really all her when it comes to the creative light & composition in these photos. Thanks A. ! XO

See more of Amy’s work here:
www.amypickett.com
http://www.facebook.com/PickettfencePhoto
https://twitter.com/pickettfence

Necklace: Le Chateau | Sweater: Old Navy | Vest: Urban Planet
Fur stole: Joe Fresh | Pants: H&M | Boots: Aldo
(Bracelets in the fourth photo are Spike the Punch, J. Crew)

Ingredients

1 brick cream cheese at room temperature (I use light)
1 ½ cups shredded cheese (use cheddar, mozzarella or a combination of the two)
1/3 cup mayo (again, I use light)
Bacon bits
Green onion
About half a red pepper, chopped
Clove of garlic

Saute bacon bits (use your judgement on how many you want), garlic and chopped red pepper. Mix the cheeses and mayo, and add in the sauteed items along with chopped green onions (again, use your judgement). Bake at 350 until bubbly, about 20 minutes.

The dip also works well as stated above but without the red pepper, or without the bacon (I’ve made it this way lots of times to be vegetarian friendly). You can also skip the red pepper & green onions and use sauteed spinach instead – or try flavoured cream cheese! So many combinations and every one that I’ve tried works. Happy cooking!

Hello! I am so excited for today’s post. Amy of PickettFence Photography and I recently teamed up for an afternoon of wintery photos and I couldn’t be happier with the results! Amy is one of my closest gal pals and she’s not only super talented but also an absolute sweetheart to work with. She had a glass of wine ready for me when I arrived for
photos :) And she came up with some neat ideas – things I wouldn’t normally think of when taking blog photos. I think I loved that most!

I’ll be talking about PickettFence again later this week and sharing more exciting news :) For now though, visit Amy at www.amypickett.com, find her on Facebook here http://www.facebook.com/PickettfencePhoto and follow her on Twitter here https://twitter.com/pickettfence.

I also highly recommend you visit the site Amy runs with her husband Jordan – www.twoautumnsago.com – where each week they share a piece of art (photos by Amy, words by Jordan). Their pieces range from sweet to sad to quirky to hilarious.

Happy Monday :) Thanks for reading! XO

Hat: Unknown | Jacket: Le Chateau | Sweater: Jacob | Necklaces: Je Suis Prest, Joe Fresh
Tights: Hue | Boots: Le Chateau

I don’t have measurements for this recipe. You have to taste test! Combine:

Plain Greek-style yogurt (I use fat free)
Cloves of garlic, minced
Lemon juice
Dill (Chopped and fresh is best!)
Cucumber, peeled, seeded & grated
Salt & pepper

The sauce tastes best when you let it sit, refrigerated, for at least an hour. Serve this at your next get together with pita, olives & chunks of feta – such a nice alternative to regular dip & cheese plates! XO

Hat, boots: Aldo | Scarf: Le Chateau | Bracelets: Spike the Punch, H&M
Top: Unknown | Sweater & belt: H&M | Jeans: Winners

Thank you to J. for taking these photos on an especially frigid day! Love!