Hello friends! We’ve made it to another Friday, and I can’t believe it. Tonight, Jeff and I head to London to visit Rebecca for 9 wonderful days!!

Before I head to the airport though, I wanted to share a couple things that I’ve been enjoying from around the Internet:

1. First, I am sure you’ve seen around here our beautiful illustrations from Megan Roy, my good friend who I dragged into working for us on the regular. Well, she’s got an Etsy shop and it’s amazing, and if you ever want to see her non-food related work, you should check it out.

2. Completely unrelated, President Obama is doing something about the bees, you guys!! I am so excited to see that we’re finally taking the pollinator problem seriously.

Photo from Graylin Porter

3. I went to yoga this week and my teacher had us try this new pose (to me) “Super Soldier” and I didn’t think I was going to be able to do it. But I could. I mean, not perfect let’s be real, but definitely got further in the pose than I thought I would.

4. I just finished reading “Into Thin Air” by Jon Krakauer and I am equal parts obsessed and horrified. I couldn’t put it down, but I never want to go to Mt. Everest, and I never want to go anywhere that has “Icefall” in the name.

5. London! We leave in a few hours, as I mentioned. Any suggestions for when we’re there?

Happy Memorial weekend, chickadees!

You guys, I made some thumbprint cookies this weekend, but they sucked so hard. I took the recipe from the Internet, and I had never made thumbprint cookies before so I just kind of trusted the recipe, even though the cookie dough was basically just rosemary butter. It wasn’t right.

ANYWAYS but this isn’t about those terrible cookies. It’s about this funfetti cake I’m reposting because I wanted to give you sweet cookies and instead they were the worst so instead I’ll give you a cake! I posted this about this time last year for Mary’s birthday, and since it’s coming up next week, I thought it appropriate!

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Whoever invented sprinkles was really onto bottling happiness right up. We love sprinkles over here at GMS, and we’re always itching to put them on anything we can get our hands on…or IN anything. So a funfetti bundt for Mary’s birthday? Definitely doable.

For this bundt, we made our normal vanilla bundt (sans vanilla bean and with vanilla extract instead) and then we added an entire cup of sprinkles. The recipes we found kept saying “add a third of a cup” or “add a half of a cup” but let’s be serious, is that enough? Absolutely not.

Then, we decided that we needed some perfect white frosting so we used one teaspoon of vanilla, some powdered sugar, and then added heavy cream until the frosting is JUST starting to run – it should be about two tablespoons of heavy cream for every cup of confectioner’s sugar.

Here’s my advice about the frosting, you guys. Are you listening? THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT. OK: When you make frosting, start small. Start with one cup of sugar. See if that’s enough. If it’s not, make another. But don’t think you need three cups and then make three cups worth and then have leftover frosting. Because you know what? You don’t use that leftover frosting. You leave it in your fridge for too long and then you waste it. So, start small.

Here’s what your delicious sprinkle cake will look like on the inside. It’s a party in your mouth. It’s a party on your plate. It’s the perfect birthday cake.

All your friends will love you probably, if you make this cake, even more than they already do, which will be hard.

What’s your favorite way to use sprinkles? In a cake? On a cake? Donuts? Let us know – we have a jar of them now, so maybe we’ll use them on a suggestion!

Wedding season means two things. That I get to share in the joy and happiness of my friends and loved ones. And I get to pound appetizers like I’ve never been out in public. This past year has brought a lot of love and a lot of appetizers into my life.

These smoked salmon, goat cheese, endive gems are easily my favorite app. My lovely cousin Martha (New Yorker, penguin-lover and fellow gluten-free-er) makes these every Christmas for our annual family gathering and I consume them like they’re binge watchable on Netflix.

Jennie and I made these with ingredients from one single Trader Joe’s run and then downed the entire batch in one sitting during the most recent GMS cooking day.

It’s in honor of Martha’s coming nuptials and excitement for her engagement that I thought to make a GMS version of her now traditional recipe. She’s the coolest, classiest girl I know and the best cousin a girl could ask for, a fantastic, inventive cook herself. Sending you all the well-wishes and congratulations from across the country, Marth!

Ingredients

3 endive heads
1 package herbed goat cheese
1 package smoked salmon

Directions

1. Cut the ends off the endives and pull the leaves apart.
2. Spread goat cheese on endive leaves.
3. Place salmon slices on top of goat cheese. Try not to eat them as you go…this is very, very hard!

Make these for your next party or busy afternoon cooking or just for dinner – you won’t regret it.

I’ve written smoothie recipes before for you guys, but the truth is smoothies are one of those foods I just throw into the blender when I don’t have the energy to make anything else. I find what I have lying around, try to balance the veggies and the fruits, and off I go.

I almost always add ginger and lemon because why not, and I love my smoothies on the earthy side, so if you don’t, add spinach instead of kale, or more berries, etc. I love using avocado as the base for my smoothies because it just is so creamy and amazing, and it cuts down on the dairy (which doesn’t always settle right in my stomach!)

Serves: 2 medium smoothies

Ingredients:

1/2 cup orange juice
1/2 cup yogurt
1/2 lemon, juiced
3/4 avocado
8-10 medium strawberries, sliced
1/4 cup blueberries (like two handfuls)
4 kale leaves, chopped
ginger

Directions:

1. Add your orange juice, yogurt, lemon juice, and avocado to a blender. Mix well.
2. Add in your strawberries, blueberries, and kale, and mix until smoothie.
3. Add in fresh ginger to taste – I grate mine with a microplane fresh from the freezer!
4. Serve immediately, or put in the fridge for up to two days and drink for a snack or breakfast!

Sometimes, I just want an easy lunch that’s no fuss. For me, I like a salad that’s filling but has a lot of different ingredients, something that’s colorful and doesn’t need any dressing because what’s going on is so perfect. I tend to avoid dressing because I feel like I’d rather my calories come from cheese, or avocado, or some delicious nuts and seeds, then have greens and a thick layer of vinaigrette.

This salad was just made by what I had lying around – I love the balance of rich, creamy avocado with sweet strawberries and the crunch of the radish. Texture in my salad is a must – I prefer to have more toppings then greens, really!

Serves: 1 (perfect for a lunch salad!)

Ingredients:

2 cups kale
5-8 strawberries
1/2 cup cashews
2 radishes
1/4 avocado
oil/vinegar

Directions:

1. Chop your kale, strawberries, cashews (if whole), radishes, and avocado. Pro tip: Pull the leaves off of the rib and chop those. Then, mince the ribs, too, and throw them in for some extra crunch!
2. Add all to a bowl and mix well, dressing with oil and vinegar if you so desire. That’s it!