May 2012 Free Giveaway Winner!

A bit behind on this announcement {please forgive my lateness!} as between birthdays, Father's Day, home projects, end of school projects and such, life has been quite BUSYCRAZYFUN!

So, I am super excited to announce our winner for our "May 2012 Vibrant Free Giveaway"! Her comment on my May post about the Amazing Stenciled Table HERE {just commenting on any of my posts gets you entered to win!} was great, and she is also super creative by renewing and repurposing a former entertainment center into a fun play kitchen for her daughter in her own post HERE!

CONGRATULATIONS goes out to Stephanie Chunko!
Thanks you for your great comment and idea to repurpose that entertainment center! In doing so, you created something so DARLING and are setting a great example for your kids to be creative, compassionate and considerate of our world! As I will see you soon, you can expect to receive something lovely to keep all of your creative and crafty ideas in place.   

Reaching out and giving back to our world by preserving and repurposing goods, materials and reusable items involves ALL of us. Our world is AMAZING! It's huge and majestic, but also fragile. Simple steps taken by EACH of us in our own little corners of the world contribute GREATLY to caring for it. From recycling plastics and paper, donating gently used items to those in need, repurposing items and recreating great "something" from "nothing" items by reusing seemingly tossable materials (wood, metal, fabric, glass, etc.) can create really fun and FABULOUS items like these :    
   

LOVE all three of these!

Ruffles on ANYTHING looks feminine and pretty!

Canning jars - So dually rustic and elegant!

Repurposed wood is beautiful!

Cilantro-Lime Marinated Flank Steak

I have this unbelievably BEAUTIFUL and incredibly well-traveled friend, Rachael, who discovers TO-DIE-FOR foods filled to the brim with deliciousness as she jaunts all over the world for business and pleasure.  What a great life, right?  She is always on the go, always somewhere amazing, and always eating something exquisite, so when I received a text from her about this seemingly simple flank steak recipe from the blog, For The Love Of Cooking, a blog which is right up my own cooking alley, I KNEW she had found a BEYOND FABULOUS way to create sheer magic out of a simple flank steak, herbs and seasonings... as in the first bite, you will see that she is SPOT-ON!

The flavor is INCREDIBLE! She has also used the marinade to dress salads.  Of course my brain is REELING at the numerous ways it can be enjoyed! I know it would be fantastic atop fish and shredded cabbage tacos, over shredded chicken taco salad with fresh salsa, as a dip for beef and veggie kabobs, even dolloped atop summertime hamburgers, mixed with a bit of sour cream for a creamy, zesty topping to trump ketchup ANY day!  Make it and enjoy!  I look forward to hearing what you love about it as well!

 photo courtesy of fortheloveofcooking.net

 Ingredients:

1 C of fresh cilantro
1/4 C of freshly squeezed lime juice
2 1/2 Tbsp olive oil
4 cloves of garlic
2 green onions, chopped
1 Serrano chile, chopped, seeded if desired
3/4 tsp sea salt
1 pound flank steak

Directions:
To make the marinade, place the cilantro, lime juice, olive oil, garlic, green onions, Serrano chile  and sea salt together in a food processor/blender or bowl, using an immersion blender to blend until smooth. Place a flank steak into a large Ziploc bag and pour half of the marinade into the bag. Squish the bag so the marinade is completely covering the flank steak. Refrigerate and allow to marinate for 3-4 hours. Reserve the other half of the marinade as a dipping sauce. Remove steak from refrigerator 30 minutes prior to grilling. Preheat the grill to medium high heat. Brush grill grate with oil and grill the flank steak, covered, for 2-3 minutes per side for medium-rare. If using a grill pan, heat the pan over medium high heat and coat with cooking spray. Place the flank steak into the pan and cook for 3-4 minutes on the first side, flip and cook for 2-3 minutes on the other side for medium-rare. Transfer to a cutting board, allowing steak to rest for 5-7 minutes before slicing and serving with reserved sauce for dipping. Enjoy!