As you probably know by now, Rob and I have moved several times. What you might not know is that by this point, it sometimes feels as though we have friends or family in almost every city in the country. Between the friends we've made in our many homes and the friends from home who have moved to other cities, we really can travel to a wide variety of places and meet up with people we grew up with, or people we've come to know and love more recently.

All of this is to say that over the years I've become a big fan of traveling and then staying in with friends for a cozy dinner now and then.

And of course, blogging makes the world a lot smaller. I feel really lucky to have been introduced to not just great friends, but creative colleagues in Annie and Kristan. Getting together last month to host our autumn lunch in Sonoma was so fun that it barely felt like work, and it also felt like no time had passed since we all met up to do the same thing in Seattle.

The night before we headed to Sonoma, we stayed in San Francisco--at a seriously gorgeous apartment in the Mission. There were five of us (Ozzie and John, our photographer and videographer/Kristan's husband), so it made more sense to rent a place than to get a couple hotel rooms.

We stopped at a nearby market for some flowers and snacks--we joke that The Cheese Board is really our thing, and for a good reason! We always manage to put together the most delicious cheese and charcuterie platters whenever we're together--maybe because we don't want to cook when we're hanging out, but also probably because we're usually drinking wine (as usual, we opened a couple bottles of La Crema's Sonoma Coast Chardonnay and Pinot Noir) and what goes better with wine than cheese? Grapes, olives, prosciutto, nuts, and just a little bit of chocolate--it's one of my favorite meals.

We spent an hour puttering around the kitchen, plating food, taking photos, sipping on wine, and as we brought everything outside to enjoy our happy hour party on the patio, suddenly it dawned on me that none of us actually lived in the city we were entertaining in! It's easy to make yourself at home when there's food, wine, and good company.

Annie and Kristan and I put together a list of tips for hosting a happy hour on the fly (especially if you're traveling), and you can check it out today on the La Crema blog! 

Many thanks to La Crema for sponsoring this post (and my amazing travels to and from Sonoma)!

Photos by Oguz Uygur.

It's not a big secret that I'm very firm in my No Christmas Music Before Thanksgiving beliefs. This is not the case, however, with holiday cards. I love sending them soon after Thanksgiving, but that means you have to order them before then. Being ahead of the game has never been one of my strong suits, but when it comes to ordering pretty stationary, I'm always on top of it. Maybe it's because we've moved around a lot and while the holidays have looked different for us almost every year since we started moving, this is one constant tradition we do no matter where we are (like a Thanksgiving race--it started with the Turkey Trot in Roanoke every year for as long as I can remember, then last year we did a 10K in Charlotte, and this Thursday we're running another 5K; but this time in Silicon Valley).

Anyway, life has been a little busy lately, and I had no idea that the family photos we took with our friend Rémy this summer in Charlotte would be gracing this year's holiday cards, but here we are. I had big plans to go to Baker Beach and get some new photos of us in front of the Golden Gate Bridge, but I guess that'll just have to wait until 2017.

I'm excited to be partnering with new-to-me-sponsor Tiny Prints this year--it was so sweet of them to send us these glamorous glitter holiday cards (and if you're wondering, no they don't make a mess--the glitter stays put)! They also have laser-cut designs, both personalized and stamped foil cards, and some super cute ornament ones, too. I'm really happy with the design I picked, and I can't wait to hunker down this weekend and write some notes to our friends and family on the East Coast!

And finally, from now until December 2, you can enter to win a $100 credit to Tiny Prints, right here on Freckled Italian (winner will be notified by December 16). Just use the widget below: 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

I was selected for this opportunity as a member of CLEVER and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.

In the past, I haven't really made a lot of fish at home. We've lived in a few apartments and for some reason I always feel like it stinks up the whole place, so I'd save it for nights when we planned to grill outside (or I'd just order a seafood dish at a restaurant and not have to clean up at all!). While I was writing my cookbook, the fish chapter seemed like it was going to be the hardest for me--but after a bit of experimenting I learned that preparing fish at home is actually super easy and quick.

I'm excited to welcome Bumble Bee to the blog once again--I always love it when they ask me to cook for them. This time I tried out their new Bumble Bee SuperFresh® product--they sent me the Tilapia with Lemon, Pepper, and Herbs and it was so easy to prepare that I whipped up a green bean and potato side dish to compliment it.

Green Bean Potato Salad with Garlic-Lemon Butter

Ingredients: 

• 1 pound of fingerling potatoes, washed and sliced in half
• 10-12 ounces of green beans, cut into halves or thirds (depending on the size)
• 3-4 tablespoons of butter
• Zest and juice of half a lemon
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced or sliced thinly
• Salt and pepper, to taste

Instructions:

1. Cook the potatoes in boiling water for about 10 minutes, or until they're fork-tender. Steam or boil the green beans just until they turn bright green but still have some snap to them, about 4-5 minutes. Drain both and add to a large bowl.
2. In a small bowl or saucepan, melt butter and mix with garlic and lemon zest. Give it a stir and add the lemon juice. Stir to combine and then drizzle over the green bean and potato mixture. Toss to combine and season with salt and pepper.

A couple of messages from Bumble Bee:

“Bumble Bee SuperFresh® smells and tastes amazing. No fishy smells here. Because you prepare Bumble Bee SuperFresh® straight from the freezer, there isn’t any smell associated with thawing fish. And our frozen protein has stayed that way from harvest to your oven unlike most of the “fresh” fish you find at the seafood counter. That means it is fresh tasting, and fresh smelling.”

“All our seafood is no mess, and no fuss; just pure perfection, time after time. Our premium Salmon and Tilapia come with their own parchment paper baking pouch and go from freezer to table in under 25 minutes. High in protein, richly seasoned with pure and simple ingredients that let our fish shine through! ”

This is a super easy dinner you can make with minimal dishes, which I always love. The fish only takes 18 minutes, so you can preheat the oven while you prep the veggies and then cook everything at the same time. Talk about 30 minutes or less! I've been eating the leftover green bean and potato salad all week, reheated slightly with a generous grating of fresh parmesan. Delicious.

Check out the Bumble Bee SuperFresh® store locator here or order with Amazon Fresh here.

I was selected for this opportunity as a member of CLEVER and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.