Pecan Coconut Cranberry Granola made it onto the blog this week. I also shared photos from my dinner party featuring a massive pan of seafood paella. I’m just so proud! Topped off this last week with milkshakes and burgers, and some light baking.

Starting off the week on a slow note, I indulged in a delicious smoked salmon salad followed by a cup of turtle coffee. What is turtle coffee? Coffee, Hazelnut and caramel all in one.

Remember how it snowed last week? Well, it took me about a week to get my car to the car wash. Does anyone else feel an immense sense of anxiety when pulling forward to the car wash, trying to get your tires to align with the track? Maybe it’s just me …

Posted! My Pecan Coconut Cranberry Granola. I promise you won’t be disappointed.

Afghan Bistro is a little gem. After countless work lunches here, I saw the restaurant was featured both in the Washington Post and Washingtonian Magazine. It’s pretty much impossible to get a table without a reservation. Not because they’re arrogant, but because the restaurant space is so small, they can’t accommodate more people.

I always burn muhallabiyeh on the first go-around. Don’t ask me how, or why, but I do. So I know that I need to have enough milk and sugar for at least double the servings. Maybe it’s because I get bored of stirring and I get distracted on my phone. This week was no different. I was trying to get ahead for my dinner party, and I ended up spending double the time standing in front of the stove stirring warm milk, cornstarch and sugar. It was well-worth it though, because everyone loved the muhallabiyeh.

After months and months — okay, one month — of planning, I finally hosted my dinner party! The main attraction was seafood (fully vegetarian) paella. I essentially fused together two (maybe more) recipes to come up with this beauty. If you want the recipe, shoot me an email (contact@measuringcupsoptional) and I’ll send it over to you. Thankfully it was a hit, because I may or may not have accidentally burned my roasted eggplant side dish to a crisp and had to come up with Lebanese green beans on the fly. Thank god for additional freezers.

With the opening of the revamped Springfield Town Center (mall for short), a whole slew of new restaurants opened up, one of which is Zin Burger. I won’t say no to a burger place. Try the Salted Caramel Milk Shake. Pro tip: The sakes only come in large. If you’re going with a friend, ask them to split one milkshake in two.

I’m not sure why I didn’t come up with this before! Lots of Turkish coffee, lots of cardamom and lots of chocolate coming to the blog soon.

Until next week …. follow along on Instagram