this little piggy had roast beef...

when i was little, my dad's specialty was garlic-rubbed roast beef, served with homemade gravy.  and for some reason, i found myself craving the stuff last week.  so i hit up my mom for the instructions (she'd told me how to make it many many moons ago, but i'd forgotten) and headed into the kitchen.  it's almost silly to blog about it, considering how simple it was to make, but whatever.  i haven't done many cooking blog posts lately.

i peeled and crushed a few cloves of fresh garlic:

rubbed it all over the roast and sprinkled it liberally with kosher salt and cracked pepper:

popped it in the oven, and when the temperature read...whatever it's supposed to read (i never remember unless i'm looking at the thermometer), i pulled it out and poured the drippings through a strainer to get the gunk out.

i browned some flour in melted butter, added some beef bouillion and water, and stirred it nonstop until it looked like gravy.

and it was delicious!  the cut of meat we had on hand wasn't necessarily the most perfectest one for roast beef, but the flavor was pretty spectacular.  i served it with some mac & cheese and veggies, and it was quite a hit.

switching topics, i finally hit up the ginormous whole foods that's right across the street from work.  i'd been resisting it, because it's so dang expensive in there, but i wanted to look for some healthy, organic snacks for the girls.  and i did find some, but i ended up snagging some not-so-healthy yummies for me:

i decided to sample those smoked salt caramels first.  they were so pretty and perfect, i hesitated - but only for a moment.  heh.

so good.  and i savored every morsel, considering the fact that they cost quite a pretty penny:

in case you were wondering, that vosges gianduja mini bar was FABULOUS.  to. die. for.  full of my favorite stuff:  deep milk chocolate, candied hazelnuts, and crunchy chopped almonds.  oh, it was delicious.  although at $2.79 for that tiny bar, i think i'd better save those for special occasions.

like, you know, MY BIRTHDAY IN ONLY THREE DAYS!  hee.