mmmmm, mango.

i made this mango cucumber salsa last night to accompany some grilled fish. it was soooo delicious although i found out after the fact that i had inadvertently used papaya instead of mango. woopsie! regardless, it was da bomb! i seriously have a huge crush on papaya and mango...and pineapple. basically, sign me up for any type of tropical fruit. jader and i went to hawaii on our honeymoon and we had the juiciest, most delicious, dribble-down-your-chin-goodness, mouth-watering papaya and mango. ahhh, hawaii....how i miss you. i hope you to see you again soon.

seriously martha??

i am a huge fan of ms. stewart, and a loyal subscriber to her daily recipe and craft emails. generally, the daily crafts that arrive in my inbox every morning contain instructions for crafts that i enjoy looking at, but would never actually try myself due to the supplies or patience that are required. every once and awhile though, there is an absolute gem that i can't wait to test out. today's craft however, was not one of these gems. in fact, it was straight up disappointing. martha, my girl, you've totally let me down.

i need....

i discovered bake it pretty a couple of weeks ago, and oh. my. gah!! i love it all! i can't wait to find an excuse to get these, and this, and these, and of course, i need these. oh, the possibilities....

smitten.

i made this double chocolate torte last week for a coworker of mine who retired (lucky!) and i have to be honest: it was amaze-balls. i have yet to try a smitten kitchen recipe that i didn't like. i've made this particular cake a handful of times and it always turns out fantastic. a true chocoholic's dream.

howdy.

hi ya! welcome to all things hillart which explores my love of crafts, recipes, design, fashion, wifery, dance, music (not to be confused with muzac), and random life musings. i feel a bit obligated to explain the name of my blog, just on the off-chance someone other than j.smith (hi j!) reads this. i acquired the nick-name "hillart" wwwwaaaaayyyyyy back in high school after my first name, hillary, was inaccurately printed as "hillart" in a school program. my dad loved this nick-name and continued to use it even after i left home for college. i will be the first to admit that "hillart" is kinda catchy. it's fun to say - heck, i refer to myself in the third person as "hillart" quite a bit. once my new-found college friends caught wind of it, i was doomed to be "hillart" forever. which, honestly, ain't all that bad. :)