As the Propeller Turns

Atlanta Part 2

2011-05-29T23:57:00.000-07:00

In an effort to log the remainder of our time in Atlanta together without crashing the internet, I am going to try bullet points for the remainder of the visit (with one exception).

Thursday:
*Mexican Lunch with Jay, his sim partner & their teacher. Jay and I were worried since we love our AZ Mexican food, but it wasn't too bad.
*Ground School with Jay - they let me go to Flight Safety sit in & it was great! Made me really miss flying & learning.
*Pool - the perfect time of day for sunshine at our hotel pool was about 1:30-3:00.
*Shopping - I had a coupon I wanted to use! Jay bought $8 chapstick.
*Dinner at Pura Vida. Jay had picked this place out (main reason - so he could try chimichurri sauce) and guess what? It is owned/operated by another Top Chef Season 6-er - Hector Santiago. It's a tapas restaurant & overall the food was very very good. My favorite was the Steamed Coconut Buns (smoked pork belly, tamarind sauce, shaved cabbage, cilantro & pickled chiles). It might have been Jay's favorite too (the bun itself was incredible) though we also got some chorizo & cheese empanadas which were so. good. (again, it was the dough on the outside we loved - so flaky). Unfortunately I didn't get any pictures of our favorite dishes, but did get this one of the Mofongo con Carne Frita (green banana mash with pork cracklings, berkshire pork carnitas and pork jus espuma) because it looks so cool with all the foam on top. I picked this dish totally based on the term "pork cracklings". Though it was good, we didn't love the banana mash and I didn't find any cracklings (expecting them to be crunchy?), so the coconut buns totally won.

Friday:
*Pool - I did laps!
*Ordered pizza for dinner. Yum.
*We got news from our mortgage broker that we are getting the house we put an offer on in March (gotta love short sales!)!
*I couldn't sleep due to thinking about house stuff

Saturday:
*Smoothies for breakfast
*Lowes - picked out appliances for the kitchen
*Jason's Deli for lunch - we were happy to have some fresh, healthy food
*Groceries

**back to regular blogging for a bit**

Sunday morning we got up early & were out the door by 6:30 to head to Savannah. It was only about a three and a half hour drive & totally worth it! What a cute city!

We started our visit by having lunch at Vics on the River. This place had a great view of the river and that's why we picked it. The actual restaurant is on the 4th floor, so these are pics from the balcony up there.

The food was ok. Jay had a Fried Shrimp Po Boy and I had a Fried Green Tomato BLT.

Next up was Tybee Island. I wanted to see the ocean & put my feet in the water! It was only about a 20 minute drive & again, totally worth it.

After a little driving around looking for a place to park (we didn't have any change with us for the meters), Jay found this spot with nearly 2 hours left on the meter!! Score!

Who's da Man?

The first thing we did was go Tybee Time which was recommended by our server at lunch. Lots of daiquiris to choose from & are supposedly a staple along the strip. They already had alcohol in them with the exception of a virgin Strawberry so that's what I got. Jay got the grown-up Strawberry & we were on our way to the pier.

I love the ocean!

Did I mention how HOT it was this day? The humidity, though not as bad, reminded us of our honeymoon in Mexico. Sticky hot.

Next up was the beach. I can't believe I tried to take a picture of my feet in the water:

Not so successful. Haha.

These turned out better :)

My dress got pretty wet in the water so we took a walk along the beach to let it dry out. Let's just say there was great people watching on this beach! And on the way back to the car, I got the best compliment ever! This lady approached us & told me that I looked classy. How nice is that to hear from a total stranger? Made my day...

...and so did what we found upon returning to our car:

I love spotting VT plates and am always tempted to leave a little "Hello! Small world! I'm from VT too!" note on their cars, but never do. Made me smile though.

Our final stop on Tybee Island was the Lighthouse.

A sweet couple offered to take our picture:

And I just had to get this one!

It was way too hot & I'm way too pregnant to take the stairs to the top of the lighthouse, so we headed back to Savannah.

Jay wanted iced coffee, so I referenced a bookmarked site on my iPad that recommended a few good places. Guess what?

Yeah, the two cute, locally owned coffee shops I wanted to check out were both closed. Gotta love the South. So Starbucks it was. We took a nice little rest there & made our plan for the rest of the afternoon.

One thing I wanted to do while in Georgia was to tour an old estate. The Owens-Thomas House sounded like the perfect choice & it's located right in the heart of Savannah.

The house was designed by an English architect (very unusual & prestigious at this time) and built between 1816 and 1819.

The tour started in the Slave Quarters. We couldn't take pictures inside any of the buildings, but the slave quarters had a very cool (original) blue ceiling which was painted by the slaves that lived there. It was common for ceilings & doors to be painted with this indigo-based paint (called "haint") in order to repel evil spirits and keep the building's occupants safe. Apparently it's the only building known to have original "haint" left in the area.

The view from the house looking across the gardens at the slave quarters.

On our way out:

I had to snap a picture of the famous porch where the Marquis de Lafayette (a general in the American Revolutionary War) addressed the residents of Savannah against slavery (which was funny because he stayed as a guest in the house during his visit. During his stay, the owner hid his slaves & had his children help out knowing that the Lafayette was against slavery - he didn't want the general to know he was a slave owner himself).

Jay and I both enjoyed the tour and were very impressed by the architecture - particularly the fake doors and windows (symmetry was very important back then) and the bridge on the second floor.

After the tour, we headed to the Olde Pink House for an early dinner. We had called earlier in the day for a reservation & the only time they had open was 9:30pm (on a Sunday!), so we decided to wing it & get there upon opening at 5pm in hopes of at least a spot at the bar.

They were very accommodating & we were seated at a nice intimate table on the lower level in what used to be the home's kitchen & laundry area. One thing that really impressed me was that the whole room was lit by candlelight - candle sticks - instead of little votives that I'm used to. It was quite romantic!

This historic house was built in 1789 and was one of the few buildings in the city to survive the big fire of 1796. In the 1800s it was a bank (the vault is now the wine cellar) and now it's a restaurant! One of the coolest things about the property is that it is supposedly haunted. Our server took the time to tell us some great stories.

Jay ordered the Crispy Half Duck with black vinegar BBQ glaze, crispy onions, seasonal fruit and vegetable crepes.

And me? I was going to get the Deep Dish Chicken Pot Pie or the Braised Pork Shank, but after being highly recommended by our server, I decided on the Crispy Scored Flounder with Apricot Shallot Sauce instead. Yes! I ordered seafood & am sooooo glad I did!

It came with two sides I wasn't crazy about (grits & collards), so I substituted asparagus and macaroni & cheese instead. Everything was DELICIOUS. The coolest part? The way they prepare the fish is so it's easy to eat. Each of the little squares on top "popped" off the bones & was the perfect sized bite.

And then when you're done with one side, you flip it over & there are new squares on the other side. AND! AND! When you're done you get this!

(Tricia, are you proud or what?)

Now for dessert, we had to try Leopold's Ice Cream - a local landmark & old-fashioned ice cream parlor.

Everyone that worked there was very friendly & helped me decide on a safe, nut-free selection of their all-homemade ice cream. I ended up with coconut ice cream with, yes, house-made chocolate fudge sauce to top it off. Delish.

After such a fun-filled day, we decided to head back to Atlanta rather than spending money on a hotel. That is, not before a quick detour to the South Carolina border so Jay could check a state off his list:

We drove past the sign, turned around & came right back to Georgia. Fun times.

"Home" by 11ish, it was a fun-packed day that I will say was probably my favorite of the whole two weeks! Thanks honey :)

**Back to our bullets to wrap things up**

Monday:
*Thumbs Up Diner for some chicken & waffles (they sold Vermont Maple Syrup if you wanted to upgrade as I did)
*Sent off our mortgage docs!

Tuesday:
*Waffle House for brunch. Duh. WH in the south is like Dunkin Donuts in Boston, or Starbucks in Seattle. There were 3 of them within a mile stretch of the road our hotel was on. So we made a point to stop in for our "scattered, smothered, covered & diced" (hash browns for you WH virgins), a chocolate chip waffle (and eggs, and toast, and bacon, and OJ) for me, and cheesy eggs (and bacon & a egg sandwich) for Jay. We ate our hearts out.

Wednesday:
*Headed home. Jay is not far behind!

He's back! Well, kind of (Part 1)

2011-05-24T19:41:00.000-07:00

Instead of coming directly home to AZ from work this time, Jay headed to Atlanta for a month's worth of training. Luckily, I was able to come out to visit him for two weeks since I finished up with work about a month ago. I'll try & break the visit up into a few posts so as to not bore you all in one sitting!

I flew in Thursday the 12th and after less than an hour visit (including picking up the milkshake I was craving at the time), he had to get back to training for the night. I walked to the local Ruby Tuesday for dinner that night being glad that Jay called as I was on my walk over to be my phone escort - our hotel is not in the nicest area of town being near the airport & all... The food wasn't that great, but I made "friends" with one of the waitresses (pregnant also) while I sat there & ate my salad.

Friday Jay didn't have to get to work until about 12:30, so we spent some time at Target & the grocery store picking up some supplies for the week (sunscreen & groceries), and getting lunch (philly cheesesteak & buffalo wings) before he went in. Jay is here training with another guy, so the three of us grabbed some pizza for dinner & I spent the rest of the night in the hotel setting up the room, unpacking & taking a nice nap.

Saturday we slept in & then searched for a coffee shop we could go to (in a nicer area of town) & study a bit. I spotted this place called Drip & thought it sounded cute. The reviews were good, so that's where we headed! Just a short drive from our hotel (north), we found ourselves in a very cute neighborhood called Glenwood Park. The staff at the coffee shop was great & I decided apple pie and an iced latte was the perfect breakfast to get the weekend started. Jay ~~was boring~~ took the healthy route & got quiche & an interesting locally made yogurt with hot pepper in it. Yum.

In between studying & fantasizing about how cool it would be to live in a neighborhood similar to where we were, Jay mentioned that the place looked like the coffee shop from the movie "Hall Pass" that we watched in the theatre together last time he was home. I kind of brushed it off at the moment, but as we were heading out, Jay asked one of the workers there about it & he said that it in fact was where those scenes were filmed! I'm looking forward to watching the movie again to see the guy we talked to in the background "behind the hot chick"!

Side note: Jay is amazing. How does he do that???

Happily satiated & going on a walk in Glenwood Park.

We decided Saturday night was date night. I had asked friends on Facebook to give us some suggestions of places to eat in Atlanta & one of my old high school friends suggested the Woodfire Grill. After doing our homework & reading the reviews, we called to make a reservation. The only time available was 9:30pm! Seeing as we'd been up late the nights before (Jay worked until late & I was still adjusting to the 3-hour time change), we figured why not?

Just a few points about this restaurant. It is in an interesting neighborhood speckled with cute restaurants, strip clubs (big fancy looking ones with valet - they could easily fit in in Vegas I'm telling ya), and home dec stores. Very strange. But the good part? The chef/owner is Kevin Gillespie from Top Chef Season 6 (Las Vegas). He came in third & cooks amazing food. He was there the whole time & I could see him working his magic (checking each & every plate before it went out) from my seat. This is the best picture I could snap before heading inside.

We had a great table & opted to order ala carte instead of going with the tasting menu and were glad we did. For our appetizers, we had the sweet corn soup which was topped with chili oil and crab meat & the fried green tomatoes with shrimp. Both Jay and I thought the corn soup was the best course of the night. It was so good our eyes rolled back into our heads each time we took a bite. For our second courses, we had the green garlic & leek risotto and the salmon croquettes. The risotto was delicious & Jay said the salmon was pretty good (though he felt it necessary to tell our server JR that they looked like "balls"- nice). For our main course, Jay had the duck breast with some sort of yummy butter on greens & I had a filet with mashed potatoes and asparagus. Of course we had to get dessert. Jay had a hazelnut semifreddo (hazelnut sponge cake, orange caramel, cognac milk chocolate ganache) & said it was ok. I think the texture threw him off. I had the banana pain perdu which was banana bread (nut free!) topped with ice cream, salted caramel sauce and candied bacon. It was delicious!!

We even had great entertainment - a young couple at a nearby table had eaten their meal & realized they didn't have a way to pay for it. The maitre d' was at their table for a while & they were working out a plan. We felt so bad for them because they were clearly on a date, but the staff was very forgiving & they got something worked out. Kids.

Overall it was a wonderful experience & I'm so glad we got the recommendation. I was very impressed with their service. When I called to make the reservation, they asked if there were any allergies & I told them about mine. They made sure they didn't serve our table one of the breads they make with nuts and even used fresh knives to cut the bread they did serve us. I was equally impressed (and excited!) that the banana bread used in my dessert did not have nuts! At many nice restaurants we've gone to, I have found that 80% or more of their desserts are "tainted" with nuts & I'm left with a sorbet & maybe a chocolate cake to choose from. Not at Woodfire & I love them for that!

I was upset that we (I) forgot to get a photo of us at dinner, so we took one ourselves when we got home at 1am!

And we decided to include baby Edward in this pic:

On Sunday, we woke up around 11am and were starving, so we looked up directions to Cafe Intermezzo (again, recommended to us via Facebook - this time by my sister's sister-n-law Amy) for brunch. Amy recommended cake & tea for dinner there, so let's just say the cake was something I had to scout out before we ordered. They had a huge Cheesecake Factory sized case of cakes to choose from and even a special "tour guide" to describe them all when we were ready to order. But first we had to have brunch. They have a gigantic menu of drinks to choose from & Jay decided on the Turkish coffee. This coffee was crazy. It came in a special little copper pot with a handle on it...

...and is made by boiling finely powdered beans. As you can imagine it's quite strong...

...and creates quite a sludge. Jay liked it. Me, not so much.

I had this delicious little creation - a Caffe Bach - decaf espresso with butterscotch syrup & homemade (unsweetened) whipped cream. Delicious & very fancy.

For brunch, I had a panini made with chicken sausage & egg and Jay had the Intermezzo omelette with bacon. For dessert we decided to share a slice of ginger cake with lemon cream cheese frosting which hit the spot. I would love to go back to Intermezzo some day to try some other coffees & cakes!

After brunch, we drove around for a little while to explore the city. On our way to the Little Five Points area to find Jay his own pair of Five Fingers, we came upon a motorcycle accident only seconds after it happened. The poor guy was lying on the ground spread out with his motorcycle on top of him. We stopped & Jay helped some other guys move the bike to the side of the road. Luckily the guy was responsive & other bystanders were in contact with his girlfriend. We stayed until the police arrived & then went on our way.

Little Five Points is an alternative area of town lined with vintage clothing stores, coffee shops, and hookah lounges. We spent a good hour or so in the shoe store & left with a new pair of shoes for Jay! I must say I think it's a record - usually he takes MONTHS to purchase a pair of shoes, so this was a very successful trip!

I'll leave you off there for now because Jay's laptop is about to die! More to come soon...

The Coons Visit

2011-04-03T20:37:00.000-07:00

I am so bad. I've had these pictures uploaded for a post for nearly a month now!! While Jay was home Julie, Michael & Finley came to visit. We had such a great time - all squished into a few days!

Jay quickly took Finley duty. They became good friends.

We learned a very important lesson. Do not mention one of Finley's favorite foods unless it's in front of him. We said "Macaroni & Cheese" just once & didn't hear the end of it for about an hour until we made it to the Cheesecake Factory for dinner. As you can see, he was thrilled to finally get what we promised him.

Me & Julie! I have missed my "Lovah" so much!

The men:

The boys (see, I told you they became best friends):

On Friday afternoon, Julie & I had "girls day". We started off with lunch at Arcadia Farms on the patio - what a perfect day to be outside! Then, we headed to the mall for a bit. We ended up doing some serious walking & a little shopping! I got Edward his first outfit - this cute ensemble from H&M and the aviators from Baby Gap. I just love it!

Then we headed across the street to Sprinkles Cupcakes for dessert. And water. Can I tell you that I was sooo thirsty I thought I was going to die? I was. And that bottle of water couldn't have come faster. I love how the detail on the window behind us looks like a heart :)

And the cupcakes? Delicious. The one on the left is Lemon Coconut & on the right was Irish Chocolate. Both were delicious but we decided the Lemon was the best.

After Sprinkles, we headed to Dolce for a manicures & massages. Divine. We were spoiled. So spoiled that we decided to continue the awesome day by meeting up with the boys for In-n-Out. It was here that Finley discovered his love for ketchup.

On Saturday, we headed to Hohokam Stadium to see the Cubs play a spring training game. The weather was perfect for being outside (though a little warm) and we had a great time! I love this family picture:

Jay helped make sure Fin didn't get sunburned. He's going to be such a great daddy!

We were so glad to have such a great visit with friends from back east. And I think they were happy to be able to come here & thaw out a little bit!

Well, there you go folks. Better late than never! Until next time!

From Our Kitchen: Valentine's Day

2011-03-13T19:55:00.000-07:00

For Valentine's Day this year, we decided to replicate a burger from Kuma's Corner that we didn't get to try while in Chicago last month. If you forgot how amazing these burgers were, that post is here.

Anyway, before I get to that, let me tell you that when I got home from work that day, Jay greeted me at the door & led me to a drawn bath. I soaked in a bathroom adorned with candles while Jay prepped the meal. And, to top that off, he came in & gave me a foot scrub/massage in between chopping & sautéing!
I know - I am one lucky girl :)

After the bath, I joined Jay in the kitchen to help prepare our delicious meal. We decided to replicate the burger called "Lair of the Minotaur" from the menu here. He started by cooking up some pancetta in the cast iron pan.

Then the burgers were seasoned & ready for the grill:

One of the key ingredients to a meal at Kuma's is their delicious homemade ketchup! Jay found the secret ingredient - Gardiniera - at our local Italian deli & I helped mix up a batch!

The burgers were topped with the crispy pancetta, pears cooked in bourbon, caramelized onions & brie. We used challah bread for the bun.

I think it looks just as delicious as Kuma's and we didn't have to wait for a table!

And the taste? Can't be beat. It was drip down your arm delicious!

Thanks honey for a very special Valentine's Day!

Chicago Part Deux

2011-02-16T06:01:00.000-08:00

Saturday we got up, grabbed breakfast, then headed back to Midway to pick up our rental car. We had a quick drive to Schaumburg and were excited to see some of the Feltis family upon our arrival! The funny thing is they barely recognized Jay with his beard!!

The ceremony & reception was at Maggianos - just down the street from our hotel. They did a great job of decorating & the food was delicious!!! Here are some pictures from the night!

I love this one:

The father & mother of the bride. I just loved Anne's dress!!

Ryan with two ladies by his side:

Bride & Groom! You certainly can't tell here, but Sarah is pregnant too - just 4 weeks behind me!

Ryan, Jay & I go way back to our flight school days. It's always nice to see him!

Beard love:

This dress was nice & stretchy for my bump!

Kisses!

More kisses!

Goofball:

And the ever-so-fun act of trying to get a good picture. Jay has too much fun trying to mess it up. First try:

Second try:

There was a third try even before I got frustrated:

...and THERE we go :)

We had a great time at the wedding - the Feltis family is...well family to us, so it was such a treat to spend so much time with them!

Sunday the bride & groom hosted a Super Bowl party at their house. Ryan had promised me a "surprise" upon arriving there & I was more in the mindset that it was a cookie or something like that. Well, it was way better! Brett came out from VA to surprise us! It was sooo nice to see him as it had been way too long since we'd last seen each other! (and I'll admit that I even cried when I saw him)

Friends from Westwind...

Goofy as usual...

The couch was packed!!

More beard love:

The two prego ladies before heading off to sleep. It was a crazy, long weekend!!

Jay's Home - Chicago Trip!

2011-02-11T11:42:00.000-08:00

Jay arrived home from work on January 25th! It has been wonderful having him here and we are really enjoying our time together!!

After a week of getting over jet lag, we headed to Chicago for our friend's wedding reception. We decided to get there a little early so we could enjoy the city and are glad we made it in ok after the "Storm of the Century"! We flew into Midway with no problems & took the train downtown. After walking a few blocks in the freezing temps on the barely cleared sidewalks, we were happy to warm up in our first hotel of the trip. We stayed at the Affinia Chicago - a great hotel that we really enjoyed (and another great deal from TravelZoo). Here is a quick little tour of our room:

After dropping off our bags and layering up, we got back on the train and headed to Kuma's Corner. I found this gem from the list here of Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives & was not disappointed!! The funny thing is that we walked about 10 blocks on the not-cleared sidewalks from the metro to the restaurant! It was such a fun adventure climbing on piles of snow & watching people still digging out from the storm. We finally made it & our bellies were ready!!

WHERE IS MY BURGER???? (BTW - he's an operator)

Happy to be inside & warm!!!

Our first course was this delicious bowl of homemade macaroni & cheese with prosciutto & peas.

Then came the burgers which were all named after heavy metal bands. Coordinating music was pumping in the restaurant the whole time as well. Jay had the "High on Fire" which included Siracha Hot Chili Sauce, Prosciutto, Roasted Red Pepper, Grilled Pineapple & Chili Paste:

Please note the ketchup. This was not your everyday ketchup - it was amped up with Giardiniera. Jay and I just LOVED it.

I had the "Brujeria"which included Cheddar Cheese, Charred Tomato Salsa, and Cream Cheese & Chorizo stuffed Jalapeno Poppers on top. OMG LOOK AT THIS THING.

THEN guess what we did? We took the easy way to the train (bus) and made it back to our hotel for a 4 HOUR NAP. And when we woke up? We were still full. Our plan was for Gino's pizza for dinner, but the place closed at 9pm that night (and we were too full for that anyway), so instead around 10ish we went downstairs to C-House (with head chef/co-owner being Marcus Samuelsson from Top Chef Masters) for dessert & a drink. I got this absolutely delicious hot cocoa with homemade marshmallows:

And one of my most memorable dishes of the weekend - this homemade coconut donut. It was topped with coconut mint ice cream & a cajeta (caramel) sauce. It was sooooo good.

Jay got the Salted Sage Flan - with brown butter pears, hazelnuts & maple/pear sorbet:

Let's just say all we did on Thursday was travel & eat. My kind of a day!

Friday morning we got up to a beautiful day. Jay being the amazing husband he is got up & braved the cold to get me coffee & breakfast from the bakery down the street. Another delicious treat - this cinnamon crunch muffin. Divine.

Then we showered & hit the Magnificent Mile for some shopping. It was cold outside, but we worked up a sweat! After some time in the shops, we looked forward to heading outside for some fresh air!!

Jay got a shirt & tie to wear for the wedding & I got a top. We were both pretty good!!

And then it was time for Gino's East. One of the famous deep dish pizza joints in the city happened to be conveniently located next door to our hotel, so we stopped in for some pizza. I had worked up such an appetite shopping/walking that we got some meatballs & breadsticks to start!

You should see this place. It's COVERED in graffiti. So of course I added our own little touch:

(writing on white-out type substance wasn't easy)

And then the pizza arrived & we scarfed it down. Delicious!

Guess what? After that? It was nap time. Are you surprised? We enjoyed some time in the room & after a recommendation from our Gino's watier & some other research, went to Old Town Social for dinner (via cab which was nice!). This restaurant features their own homemade pork/meat products from their own butcher shop on site. I restrained myself from taking pictures of all our food (it was dark & never comes out right in that lighting), but here is what we enjoyed:

*Apple & Parmesan Salad (with Arugula & Lemon Vinaigrette)
*Selection of homemade meats: Summer Sausage, Cotto Salami, Pate de Campagne, Toscano Salami, *Selection of delicious cheese: Grafton, VT Cheddar & Wisconsin Grueyere.
*Milk Braised Pork Shoulder with Creamy Polenta & Brussels Sprout Leaves
*Homemade Paparadelle Pasta with Butternut Squash, Roasted Chicken, Escarole & Peccorino
*Brussels Sprouts side dish made with homemade Pancetta
*Homemade Donuts with Cinnamon Sugar and a Marscapone Sabayon Sauce
(had to take a picture of the donuts seeing as it was the 2nd night in a row with one of my favorite treats):

I promise we didn't just eat this day but pictures of us shopping isn't nearly as fun as seeing our yummy treats is it?

One more Chicago post to come - stay tuned!!

Coming Soon...

2011-02-10T17:50:00.000-08:00

This little bundle of joy will be joining us early August!! We are thrilled!

Date Night: Posh

2010-12-05T17:46:00.000-08:00

We have made it a tradition of going out for a nice dinner before Jay goes back to work. We were going to go back to Coup des Tartes (see post here) but decided to try something new.

I was flipping through Phoenix Magazine and reading out ideas to see what peaked Jay's interest. After reading this...

"Unique in the Valley, this sleek restaurant serves up 'improvisational cuisine.' There's no menu; just tell Chef Joshua Hebert what you like and don't like, and he'll invent knock-your-socks-off dishes like uni panna cotta or popcorn soup."

...we were intrigued...so Posh it was.

They start by giving you a "menu" that is a list of all the available proteins for the night. Everything from NY Strip to Halibut to Frogs Legs. You cross off anything you absolutely do not want them to serve you. You also decide here how many courses you want. We decided to go big & picked 7. Jay added the wine pairing to his list as well. Then, there are a few lines where you can write things that you are allergic to or that you really like so the chef can get a taste for what you like. I wrote in that I was allergic to nuts & soy and didn't like mushrooms, mayonnaise, mustard and bleu cheese. I don't think Jay wrote in anything!

Here are the main components of our dinner - at least what we could remember after all those courses:

Amuse-Bouche

Cinnamon Caviar with fried taro root

1st Course

Amie: Salad with red onion, radish and tatsoi

Jay: Salad with chicken liver, sherry dressing

2nd Course

Amie: Raw tuna, cucumber caviar

Jay: Fluke (aka flounder), mushrooms, bok choy

3rd Course

Amie: Monkfish, cucumber

Jay: Breem, mushrooms, parsnip puree

4th Course

Amie & Jay: Bruleed foie gras, fig, pomegranate seeds, mango puree, apricot chutney

5th Course

Amie: Duck, carrot/ginger puree, beets

Jay: Frog legs with horseradish

6th Course:

Amie: Venison, chick peas

Jay: NY Strip, cauliflower puree

7th Course:

Amie: Deconstructed s'more, espresso beans, edible flowers

Jay: Panna cotta

Everything was really delicious. My favorite course was the 5th and Jay's favorite was the 4th. We had a really fun time guessing what was next and the service was very good!

More importantly, we had a wonderful night together. And in my attempt to make it even more perfect for Jay, we checked the Husker's score a few times on my phone & I resisted from "always taking pictures everytime we go out" - hence the lack of a photo. Next time, I'm having the waitress get paparazzi on us when he's not paying attention :)

Weekend Update: Friends Visit!

2010-11-20T21:51:00.000-08:00

Last weekend Tori came in town for a quick visit. She came specifically to get Adam's (surprise) Christmas present, and we were lucky enough to spend some QT with her while doing so :) In order to preserve the nature of the surprise, I'm not going to mention any details of Friday, but let's just say we had a fun time!

Saturday morning Tori found that her flight home got cancelled, so after dropping Jay off at Sun Devil Stadium for some good ol' fashioned tailgating, we headed to one of my favorite places in Scottsdale - Kierland Commons - for some shopping. We had a great lunch, caught up on everything in our lives, and of course, shopped! I found some great sweaters in Anthropologie (best store ever - I think we spent 2 hours in there alone) & thanks to a birthday gift card from my dad, I bought two!

Later that afternoon Ryan flew in, so Tori & I picked him up from the airport (very handsome in his uniform I might add) and then headed to ASU to pick up Jay. We all had a great night. Ryan's mom was in town on vacation as well, so the 5 of us went to Crust for dinner & drinks. Tori & I shared the Arugula & Prosciutto pizza that was so amazing we couldn't stop gushing about it! Anne, Jay & Ryan shared the Chicken Bruschetta pizza which was yummy as well.

Anne & the boys:

Westwinders Unite!!

Guess what? I'm now caught up with my blog posts! One more weekend update to go and then it's Thanksgiving! What are YOU thankful for???

Weekend Update: Family Visit

2010-11-18T19:03:00.000-08:00

Jay's parents came to visit the second weekend we were home & we had a great time!

This is what a good chunk of the weekend looked like - comfy on the couch watching football - specifically Nebraska beat Missouri:

Saturday night we went to the Roaring Fork for a delicious dinner! It was soooooo good. We started with their famous kettle of green chili pork with hot buttered tortillas...yum! Then for dinner I had the Sugar Cured Duck Breast with onion jam, sour cherry mustard and little cabbages. Jay had the RF Mixed Grill which included baby back ribs, rotisserie chicken, shrimp and sausage.

Ed had issues with the chair. Memorable moment...

Saturday before heading out to dinner, I started working on Pioneer Woman's Cinnamon Rolls. I had wanted to try the recipe for a long time and decided this weekend was the time to go for it! It wasn't until I started mixing the ingredients that I re-read her blog post & realized that the recipe made 7 pans!!! Yikes!

As you can see they did turn out quite delicious & I had enough to share with my friends at work and even freeze 2 pans for later!

After we stuffed our faces with doughy deliciousness, we headed over to Desert Botanical Garden for a little walk. It was a gorgeous fall day & perfect weather to explore. I had been telling Karen & Ed about the Chihuly exhibit that I sadly missed out on a year or two ago & I was pleasantly surprised to see that they had one installation left. Here you can see the beautiful "Desert Towers" project that the garden is raising money for so it can be a permanent fixture. Can you believe it's glass??

Awww. Happy to have my husband home!

I loved this particular cacti. Can't remember its name, but it had the word "button" in it. Super cute polka dots :)

With it being Halloween, there was a big Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) celebration going on. This lovely skeleton drinking a beer greeted us.

Pretty flowers that remind me of home for some reason:

Gorgeous sundial that had flowers/plants set just right to tell the time (and it was accurate!):

Handsome husband among the Saguaro:

Who says the desert isn't green??

Thanks Karen & Ed for a great visit! We really enjoyed seeing you!!

Weekend Update: 2 Weekends Ago...(part 2)

2010-11-07T16:30:00.000-08:00

Friday night we ate dinner at the hotel - Jay got a panini and I had a sandwich of some sort. I can't remember the exact details because we shared a side of macaroni & cheese and omgitwassogoooood.

There was a wedding going on at the pool outside of our room, so while we talked ourselves out of crashing it, we watched movies and I danced around the room and the patio to the tunes.

Saturday was my birthday & we got up very early thanks to my alarm on my phone (and forgetting that it was MONDAY, not Sunday). Not my favorite part of the day, but I did enjoy putting on some long sleeves since it was a cloudy & chilly morning, and heading over to Koffi across the street for some pastry & coffee. We sat there & watched the old people reading their newspapers and the M-F workers grab their cuppa Joe before work. I always love that reminder of being on vacation - these other people are going to work & I am not.

It was now time for our massage! Jay suggested a couples massage which was a nice treat! Afterwards we enjoyed the sauna for a bit before heading back to the pool. Even though it was still a little cloudy, I think we got the best part of our tans on this day. It was a great time to read & people watch...but soon enough we were hungry again & I was craving a burger!

We found this place online called Tyler's (can't find their website but this blog post explains it pretty well) and set out to downtown Palm Springs to find it. After a few wrong-turns, we finally found this cute little place in the middle of a parking lot. I got sliders (delicious!), Jay got a cheeseburger and we shared a basket of fries. The lemonade was homemade and hit the spot. I loved the patio seating and the casual location.

We were so full we decided to take a walk. The downtown was super cute. Described by Jay as "Spanish Revival...1920s & 1930s..."(don't act like you aren't impressed...). I liked the Walk of Stars - just like in Hollywood...names like Elvis Presley & Bob Hope lined the streets. There were old photos of Rock Hudson & other celebrities enjoying the area from several decades ago. Palm Springs definitely prides itself on its history which was really nice!

We got back to the hotel around mid-afternoon & had a coffee break at the hotel's casual restaurant.

It was very diner-like and I liked it! Plus, how cute are the creamer & sugar containers? And these stools?

I started feeling artsy. I need to learn bokeh on my camera. I want to really bad. Maybe my friend Joe will help me?

Heading back to the room, Jay actually smiled for the picture but all I got was this...

Room 531. You walked through this wooden door to our patio & then into our room. I loved the door.

Aren't the fixtures cute? Rustic. I like that too.

And then it was time for dinner! I was so excited because the place we selected - Castelli's - was highly recommended to us by the CFO at my work. She goes every year and gave it rave reviews. We were definitely not disappointed! We shared the Fried Artichoke Hearts to start and then for the main course we each had one of their specialties. I had the Fettuccine Alfredo with chicken and Jay had the Osso Bucco. Both were delicious!

And the wine. Ahhhh the wine. It deserves it's own paragraph. We splurged on a bottle of Bolla Amarone and I was in heaven. It was absolutely delicious. Yummy. Just thinking of it is making me salivate.

It made Jay feel sexy...

And why do I love my husband so much? Because he isn't afraid to splurge on the finer things in life and he makes me laugh. A lot.

For dessert Jay had the Creme Brulee (of course) and I ~~had~~ attempted eating a slice of cheesecake. We shared two different glasses of port wine and some coffee before calling it a night. Our fabulous waiter gave us a tour of the restaurant (I was ready for a mobster to walk out of the shadows at any minute) and then handed us a check along with a shot each (including himself!) of Sambucca. What a night!

Thanks hun for a wonderful birthday!!!

Weekend Update: 2 Weekends Ago...(part 1)

2010-11-07T15:25:00.000-08:00

Two weekends ago, my husband came home!! It had been a long, LONG time, so it was so nice to see the countdown on my phone get closer and closer to the big day :) Also interesting to note: Scottsdale had rain on 10/21?!

Jay came home Friday afternoon & we enjoyed a nice little late night dinner at Crust. Saturday I had acupuncture & then Jay went to yoga with me! Of course, after watching some Nebraska football!

Sunday morning we got up, packed, and got on the road. It was a nice slightly overcast morning and the drive to Palm Springs just flew by. Ok, it really didn't. It sucked. It felt like it took forever.

But we made it! We had gotten a great deal via TravelZoo (have you ever tried it? We got a great deal for our Montreal trip here too) at the Ace Hotel & Swim Club.

The hotel is an old-school motel that has been renovated into a funky retro hotel. We had a patio room that felt very "surfer" to me...

I loved that we had our own private patio to enjoy...

And can you tell that it's a party hotel? They had quite the stash available to us...

Once we checked in, we immediately got into our bathing suits to lay out by the pool. They have a pool party on Sundays with a DJ, so we laid out a bit and Jay got us come cocktails. The drink menu had some interesting items on it so Jay started us off with a drink called a Figa. It's made with house-infused fig vodka, earl grey tea & honey tangerine. Um. It was gross. So guess what? Jay drank both of them.

Then, he ordered me a Caphirina (cachaca muddled with lime & kiwi) and I didn't like that one either. So...Jay drank it! I thought it was pretty funny:

(I'm wearing a beautiful shirt that Jay brought home for me! I look super fat in it here, but it's real cute in real life!)

And THEN, I ordered a margarita (below) and was happy! Jay, on the other hand...was drunk :)

Lesson learned: Order the margarita.

Weekend Update: Trouble x2

2010-09-14T20:09:00.000-07:00

Jay was nice enough to book me a trip to Kansas City for Labor Day weekend. I was so excited to see Liam & Xander (and Todd & May too!) - we hadn't seen them since Thanksgiving!!

Todd picked me up late Friday night so I woke up Saturday morning to the sounds of two 2.5 year olds requesting "Jay TV". It was so great - walking downstairs to some big hugs and "Aunt Amie!". Melted my heart!

May had to work Saturday morning, so Todd & I took the boys to Costco & Toys R Us to get some errands done. In the afternoon after their nap, we took them to Deanna Rose Children's Farmstead. This place is amazing! It's huge and has tons of animals and several different play areas. This is the best picture I could get of Todd, Xander & Liam before we entered the park.

Xander peeking over the fence at the geese.

Liam was most interested in the play areas. Check out that static hair!!

When we got home I tried wrangling the boys together for a photo. This was the best I could get!! (notice a trend??)

Saturday night May was nice enough to let Todd & I head to the bar to catch some of the Nebraska game. It was the first of the season & we kicked butt! :) I'm so used to being with Jay to watch the games, but Todd - thanks for being the stand-in - I had a great time!

I had purchased some finger paints at Toys R Us Saturday morning & Sunday before bath was the perfect time to give them a go! It made me think of their first birthday when neither of them was very pleased to have cake on his hands. The paints had the same effect. That is...until Liam got pissed and smeared it all over (Go Liam!!!):

(don't you love how artistic Liam looks holding the paintbrush like that?)

...and until we gave Xander a paintbrush.

Sunday after nap, Todd & I brought the boys to Wonderscope. What a cool place! It's an old school converted into a kids museum with all these different themed rooms for the kids to enjoy.

This room was called "Small Wonders" and was probably the boys' favorite. It had bridges, tunnels, stairs, and all sorts of things they could play on.

Liam liked playing with the Legos in the underwater-themed lego room:

It was equipped with submarines made out of legos!

Xander liked to push all the buttons!

Everything inside was even made with Legos - even the coffee maker, fridge & microwave in the below picture!

Sunday night was girls night! I was excited to go out with May and her friend Wendy for their weekly escape :) We had dinner & drinks al fresco - the weather was just perfect! It was great getting to know Wendy & honestly, getting to know May even more as we have never gone out together alone before! Thanks May for inviting me out - I had a great time!

Monday we just hung out around the house which was really nice. I once again attempted to get a good picture of me & the boys:

Xander wasn't too pleased, though it looks like Liam thinks it's funny!

Slowly wriggling out of my lap...

Checking to make sure the girls are still contained (they got set free on Saturday during our first photo shoot):

....and we're spent. Maybe next time :)

Thanks Todd & May for having me! I had such a great visit & can't wait to get back over there!!

Weekend Update: Rocky Mountain High

2010-08-08T12:20:00.000-07:00

Last weekend Jay and I went up to Colorado to see his family and get some fresh mountain air. We flew in early Friday morning and grabbed some breakfast before heading to Estes Park. It was a beautiful day and the drive was perfect for all of us to catch up.

Me & my Mountain Man. You should have seen how long that beard got before he started his new job :)

Karen & Ed

It was 48 degrees up at the top of Rocky Mountain National Forest! It started raining just as we arrived at the top. The altitude was killing me, so we didn't stay up there too long before heading down into Estes.

We did see a few elk on the way down.

On the way up there was this beautiful view that we decided we'd stop at on the way down (it wasn't raining at the time). Well, of course on the way down I insisted we get out & get the picture! Jay wasn't too happy about getting wet, but it was so fun running out to the spot as it was thunder & lightening! We just giggled the whole time! A special thanks to Ed for being such a trooper & taking the picture for us!!

There is a Huskers store in Estes, so I had to get a shot with Herbie. Go Big Red!

Friday night we arrived home, freshened up & then braved the torrential downpour to go out for a nice dinner at Union Bistro. The kahlua chocolate bread pudding was pretty delicious!!

Saturday morning Jay and I went into town to the Farmer's Market with Craig, Mary & Erin who was visiting from NYC. We walked around the shops and just enjoyed some more nice weather. The rest of the day we just hung out at the house and relaxed. Shawn came down from Denver just in time for some beers on the porch!

Mary, Craig & Karen

Erin & Ed

Someday we'll get out to visit you Erin!

Jay and his BFF. We love it that we get to see Shawn every time we go up there!

We had an amazing steak dinner (I still need to get Mary's recipe for those potatoes - they were such a hit!) with everyone and just an overall great time.

Sunday we got up & went for a nice little hike right near the house. We had beautiful views of the Rocky Mountains and got to see some amazing houses from up there as well!

We went to the outlet mall to look for butter bells (they were $40 at the Rocky Mountain National Park gift shop - $12 at the outlets) and then did some grocery shopping in the afternoon. Ed made Alton Brown's ribs for dinner and Karen made her famous Blueberry Pie! Both were so delicious and the perfect way to end such a great weekend.

I am so glad to be a part of such a great family! Love you!!

July Update (i.e. craziness)

2010-07-19T20:09:00.000-07:00

Life has been crazy to say the least!

Not only did we move July 4th weekend, but Jay also accepted a new job after 7 years with the same company. We both had been patiently waiting for the right opportunity to come along for him and it finally did. There are going to be a lot of adjustments to make for both of us - sacrifices really, but we both feel excited and confident about what the future holds with this new opportunity!

Jay left a company that has become family to us over the years. He started at the bottom flying the smallest planes and worked his way up to management. He did such a great job, gained some great experience, and made many friends that we both will cherish for life. I was the only lucky lady invited to his little going away gig, so took a few pictures:

There was such a great turnout and I even got a little sappy thinking about all the great memories we've made with these guys (typical me, I know).

To Jay!

One night we went out to celebrate before Jay left for training. We've always wanted to try Coup Des Tartes and finally booked a reservation! It's the area's longest running BYOB restaurant, so we brought a bottle from our wine fridge that we'd been saving for a nice dinner.

The food was DELICIOUS. I tried taking pictures of the food, but unfortunately they didn't turn out very good so here's what we had - picture this in your head:

Brie Brulee - Brie covered with caramelized apples and bruleed to perfection. Served with toast points and seasonal fruits.

Fire & Ice Salad - A fresh tower of watermelon dusted with cayenne pepper and topped with organic tomatoes, finished with toasted pistachios (which we did without), and a drizzle of aged balsamic glaze. (this was soooooo good. It sounds strange, but it was the perfect combination!)

Filet Mignon (Jay) - topped with fresh herb butter. Served with pesto, mushroom, and parmesan stuffed tomato and pomme frites.

Mahi Mahi (Amie - yes, I ordered fish!) - Oven roasted & topped with a green gazpacho sauce, served with a medley of Isralei cous cous, sugar snow peas, asparagus tips, and grape tomatoes. (can I tell you it was the best fish ever! I am going to crave this dish!)

Chocolate Fleur de Sel tarte - I can't find it on the online menu but let me just say that I took a small piece of crust home that I couldn't finish and ate it for breakfast. It was divine!

It was such a perfect date night - we talked about all that the future holds, laughed, and found a new favorite spot.

...and while he was at training I bought a $100 garbage can.

The end.

xoxo

Weekend Update: Dinner and a Moving....

2010-06-28T19:15:00.000-07:00

As most of you know, we are in the middle of a move. It has been lingering over our heads for a few weeks now & we finally did some REAL packing this weekend. We are stacking things up where our dining table used to be & will be out by Saturday morning!

We are excited about our new place - it is bigger, closer to work, and in a nice quiet neighborhood close to all the fun that Scottsdale offers! I'll be sure to do a post once we've moved in to show you around.

Saturday night we decided to get out of the house & use a gift card that one of Jay's pilots got him...luckily it was to the Melting Pot - a place that Jay has never wanted to try (why pay a premium to cook your own food??). I was surprised and excited that we got a reservation at the last minute.

We started with the cheese course. Jay picked the Traditional Swiss Cheese option. Check out his dipping skills....

After our salads, we shared the "Pacific Rim" (included teriyaki-marinated sirloin, white shrimp, marinated pork tenderloin, breast of duck, breast of chicken and potstickers) and "The French Quarter" (included filet mignon, breast of chicken, and shrimp, all seasoned with cajun spices, and Andouille sausage) with the Mojo Style broth (caribbean-seasoned bouillon with garlic & citrus flavors) to cook it in. It was all very good.

For dessert, I picked the "Cookies 'n Cream Marshmallow Dream" option which was dark chocolate topped with marshmallow cream, flambeed, swirled together and garnished with crushed Oreos. Need I say more?? We also ordered a Ruby Port - one of my favorite after dinner drinks to have with a chocolate dish. Delicious!

It was such a great night and as some people say "Just What the Doctor Ordered"...and Jay did admit that it wasn't too bad of a date night after all.

xoxox

Weekend Update: A Visit with the Murphys

2010-06-17T06:38:00.000-07:00

While Jay was out galivanting in Mexico this past weekend (no photos - that would be evidence!), I was in Williamsburg, VA visiting my sister and brother-in-law. It was such a great trip!! Here is a recap:

Tricia picked me up Friday night and we went right to dinner. I had to get a picture of her and the purse I made her for her birthday :) It was funny because we were both searching in our big bags to find our cameras as we sat down!

After dinner, we went to the house and painted our toenails in preparation for a day of sunning on Saturday. We also made delicious cookie-brownie bars topped with none other than Ben & Jerry!

Saturday we got up and headed to the beach. Instead of taking an hour-long drive to Virginia Beach, we stayed close and went to Yorktown beach on the York River. It's close enough to the ocean that the water is salty, so to us, it counts as a beach :) We walked through the farmer's market looking for one of Tricia's friends. This darn cooler was so annoying - I had to get a pic of it. Don't worry, I had my turn and pulled it UP the hill on the way back to the car.

Getting some sun!

Looking north to the Coleman Bridge.

This beautiful ship was setting sail just as we got there.

After the beach we picked up some sandwiches and headed home. At this time I gave Tricia & Sean their shower present since I am not going to be able to make it home for the shower next month. This is my fourth quilt I've made and I'm so proud! It has frogs on it for Tricia and orange for Sean.

Saturday night we went to The Marina for dinner.

And this was a big deal. I had FISH for dinner. I was determined to have fish because I was a) on the coast and b) with Tricia & Sean who love seafood. So I had this delicious blackened catfish. I seriously LOVED it and gobbled it up!

Tricia was a little excited about shrimp with Old Bay. Geez!

So as we were sitting at the marina & just had our food delivered, Mother Nature delivered the storm I had been asking for. The wind picked up real strong and quickly it booted us off our table and under cover by the bar since the marina didn't have an inside area for us to sit.

We sat at the bar shoving down our food and holding onto everything that was blowing around until the restaurant decided to CLOSE due to the weather. The staff threw a bunch of to-go boxes at us and urged us to finish up quick while they pulled down all the metal "shades" around the bar.

Does Tricia look pregnant here or WHAT?

Lame. A nice night on the water turned into a fast dinner on the water. But it was worth it to feel that breeze and smell that rain!! :)

We got home & had our brownies & ice cream (of course) and then played a little Wii. Of course I had to document that I won Smarty Pants at one point. My huge brute of a Mii was so proud. (Seriously - for some reason she was HUGE and bow legged...I couldn't fix it)

Sunday morning we got up & headed into Williamsburg to do a little walking around. This is the first place I saw:

Needless to say I did not go inside!!

Colonial Williamsburg was pretty cool. We didn't pay for entry into the buildings but instead just walked around & sweated our butts off!

This horse just wanted my Dunkin Donuts iced coffee (I don't blame him - it was HOT!):

These steer were HUGE! I think over 2500lbs each!

Belly!

Required Colonial Williamsburg shot outside of the courthouse:

Duke of Gloucester Street:

Pretty brick building with pretty flowers:

The Governor's Palace (Thomas Jefferson lived here!)

It was a nice morning, but man were we HOT. I am just not used to the humidity anymore! We stopped into Baskin Robbins to have some grape/apple Pop Rocks sherbet to cool off.

On the way home we stopped at the fabric store and got some scraps for Tricia to practice her sewing on. I taught her how to read a pattern, pinning tips, straight stitching, backstitching, turning corners, pleating, and more!

It was a lot of fun & she did a great job!

We went to Tricia & Sean's favorite restaurant for dinner Sunday night - Bonefish. Of course I had to have fish again & this time I wasn't as lucky. I decided on Arctic Charr (on a cedar plank) after the waitress said it was a mix of salmon & trout. I know I don't like either of those fish, but she did say it wasn't nearly as strong. Plus I thought the chorizo on top would balance out the flavor. Let's just say I didn't love it, but I did eat about 2/3 of it anyway. Not too shabby. The potatoes au gratin were heavenly though!

One quick snapshot of us before we headed out!

Sean & I got up around 4:15 so I could get to the airport (about 1 hour away) by 6am. Tricia even groggily got up to say goodbye. I was sad to go, but thankful for such a great visit! I love you Tricia!!!

(For her version of the trip, click here.)

Weekend Update: A Few Weekends Real Quick

2010-06-09T20:57:00.000-07:00

Let's just say things have been busy these past few weeks so here is a quick recap of a few highlights:

Tori arrived in town on May 27 for a few days. It was a last minute trip, and we're so glad she came! We went out on Friday night and stayed out till the wee hours of the morning!

I made popovers for the first time. My mom got me the special pan for Christmas (or my birthday?) and I finally gave it a shot! Our family friend Sarah gave me this tried & true recipe.

They were so yummy! I had mine with butter and then maple syrup on one half and apricot jam on the other. Jay had butter & jam on his. They were delicious and pretty easy so I can't wait to try them again with guests!

Last weekend, we had to stop by Jay's work on Sunday to welcome the Brasilia (airplane) to his base. It (and pilots) arrived in the afternoon so I "enjoyed" some time on the ramp at Sky Harbor during a 110 degree afternoon waiting for Jay to finish up welcoming the pilots and showing them around the base.

I'm guessing it was about 120 on the tarmac that afternoon!

Good thing we had a POOL PARTY to attend! Kiera's birthday party was that afternoon, so we arrived at Krista & Angelo's just in time for mai tais and delicious hawaiian pork, fruit, and even hawaiian pizza! Krista was such a great hostess and the birthday girl had a great time!

Oh and I thought you'd like to see how great Jay and I look. We've been working out, ya know :)

From our Kitchen: Homemade Granola

2010-05-23T16:57:00.000-07:00

Remember a few weeks ago when my friend Emily spent the night? Well, we had asked her what she usually eats for breakfast so she'd feel right at home in the morning (and be energized for a full day of travel home). She said usually granola with yogurt. Jay picked some up at the grocery store that afternoon and since Emily left without eating any of it, Jay enjoyed it throughout the week.

Fast forward to a week later when we're at the grocery store. Jay is about to throw some in the cart & I realize that we have everything we have at home to make our own! And guess what? It will be cheaper AND we can make some that even I can eat (no nuts)!

I found this recipe that I used as a guideline and got started.

Here is what you'll need:

Oats (not the quick kind), maple syrup, raw seeds or nuts, chocolate, and dried fruit. The one thing I'm missing in this picture is the butter. You'll need some of that too.

Mix together the oats, raw pumpkin seeds (pepitas), raw sunflower seeds and nuts if you are going to use them. Then melt 2T of butter and mix with 1/2 cup of maple syrup. (Please don't even THINK about using that nasty fake stuff). Slowly drizzle the butter/syrup mix into the dry components and stir until they are coated.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and spread out the mixture.

Bake at 325 for 30-40 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes or so. The longer you bake, the crunchier it gets. WARNING: Your house will smell REALLY good at this point.

Put the pan on a cooling rack for about 10-20 minutes until cool. Then layer on the fun stuff. Here I used things that were already in our pantry - raisins, dried apricots, chocolate chips and a few butterscotch chips. You really don't need much of these ingredients - keep in mind that you want to have a nice balance of sweet & salty, crunchy & soft.

Then mix it all up until it looks like this.

I put into a labeled ziploc freezer bag so that we know which one is mine (no nuts) and Jay's (w/almonds).

Since it's warm in our place, I store it in the fridge so the chocolate & butterscotch chips stay firm.

This really is such an easy recipe and it's great to have around the house! So far I've eaten it like cereal (w/milk & sometimes strawberries), mixed into plain yogurt (with or without strawberries), or just by the handful. It would also be really good on ice cream!!

Enjoy & have a great week!!

xoxo

Weekend Update: And We're Still Alive

2010-05-18T19:46:00.000-07:00

It has been a crazy past few weeks so sorry for the lack of updates! I've also been horrible and have barely taken any pictures so this is likely to be a quick post.

Jay's friend Shawn came to visit from Denver last week. It was so nice to see him and he & Jay had a great time working out, catching some rays, and drinking beer :) We had some great dinners and even made our homemade pasta again but this time with homemade pesto (and homeGROWN too - our basil plant needed to be trimmed!) and chicken. It was very good!

I was outside reading on Sunday afternoon and glanced over at our tomato plant to see this tiny little fruit growing! It was very exciting and I couldn't wait to show Jay that all his watering has been paying off!! I can't wait until we see a few more pop up!

Last night, Jay's cousin Erin and her friend stayed over. They had spent a few days at the Grand Canyon and were flying out this morning. It was a very short (too short!) visit, but so nice to see Erin's smiling face and to make plans for a longer visit!

This morning after saying goodbye to Erin, I headed to my first day at a new job. I'm very excited about this new opportunity and had a great first day! Of course it was overwhelming with all the new information to absorb, so I'm sure to sleep like a baby tonight.

We hope everyone is doing well & I promise to be back to the regularly scheduled program soon - I have a From our Kitchen post up on deck!

xoxo

Weekend Update: I Can't Think Of A Smart Subtitle...

2010-05-04T21:01:00.000-07:00

Just a few randoms from this past weekend for you!

Saturday we headed to Joe's Farm Grill for a birthday lunch with Krista! It was so nice eating farm fresh food & celebrate her joining the 3-0 club! The weather was perfect for sitting outside - so nice that we ended up spending a few hours there! Happy Birthday Krista!

After lunch, we grabbed some groceries and made it home just in time to drop them off & head out to pick up Emily from the car rental return at Sky Harbor. She had been in Tucson for a business meeting & was flying out of Phoenix on Sunday morning. It was such a treat being able to spend some quality time with one of my best friends from Vermont! Jay and I made our homemade pasta & sauce along with delicious garlic bread and Pioneer Woman's Blackberry Cobbler. Emily and I caught up on everything but Jay & I especially loved hearing all her stories about her 2 year old daughter Sophia (Soph) who is quite the sass!

We had to get up at 5am on Sunday in order to get Em to the airport in time. It was rough for a little bit but once we got back home, we felt awake enough to get ready & head over to 7am mass. Let me just say, this mass is not my favorite because it's music free, but we were up so it was nice to get the day started.

One of the bonuses of getting up & out early on a Sunday morning? We were one of the first to arrive at the Farmer's Market that starts at 8am (and apparently will start opening earlier & earlier as it gets hotter & hotter). Here is this week's fresh & LOCAL bounty:

Carrots, peas, green onions and ginger. We also decided to try some local grass-fed beef from Red Mountain Cattle Company that is less than 20 miles from our home!

We had the T-Bone steak that night with grilled tomatoes & sweet potato fries as sides. Let's just say that the grass-fed beef will take some getting used to. It definitely has a stronger flavor (more gamey?) than the corn fed stuff, but it's so much better for us, so I'm going to keep trying it!

Last night we made Martha's Crispy Ginger-Lime Chicken Thighs with the ginger & green onions and then had peas as the side. We both enjoyed the flavor, but for some reason the broiling method that Martha recommends didn't get our skin as crispy as we like. I think next time we'll bake at 400 like we usually do & see how they crisp up then.

Well that's about all folks! We hope you have a fantastic week & stay cool!

xoxo

From our Kitchen: Leaving us Speechless...

2010-04-27T21:15:00.000-07:00

Shane & Erin came over on Sunday with something that Jay was very excited to cook for us. Does anyone have a guess what was on the menu?

No? Well, let's have Shane & Erin give you a hint:

Now do you have an idea?

Right there amongst the veggies (yellow carrots from the farmer's market!) and grilled ciabatta (freshly baked that morning also from the farmer's market!) is BUFFALO TONGUE.

Oh yeah you heard right. We had tongue for dinner on Sunday. Shane & Erin bought 1/8 of a buffalo recently and were oh so very kind to share this delicacy with them. Can you hear my sarcasm?!

We all agreed that the sauce - a recipe Jay found online - was quite delicious. But the tongue? It was tough. Tough to chew and tough to eat more than one bite. So that's all Erin & I could manage.

But man, was that bread good.

Weekend Update: The San Francisco Treat! (Part Three)

2010-04-25T20:00:00.000-07:00

We woke up early Saturday morning, grabbed some coffee, and headed down to the end of the cable car line. We decided to travel San-Fran style to Fisherman's Wharf to find bikes for the day. It wasn't too much of a wait to get on board:

This was way better than walking like we did on Friday!

When we heard them announce the Lombard Street stop, we decided to get off early & take a stroll down one of San Francisco's crookedest streets:

It was a nice walk downhill from there to the wharf. We had done a little research before we left, so we knew of this one small rental place that had much cheaper rates than the one most of the tourists use. We walked through some small neighborhoods until we found "Wheel Fun" in a parking lot near the marina. We hopped on our "vintage" tandem bike and were on our way to the Golden Gate Bridge:

We had gorgeous views in all directions and as you can tell the weather was perfect!

I took most of these pictures while "on the go":

Don't worry - I was still pedaling :)

Taking a quick break to enjoy the view:

And back on the bike for the remainder of the 1.7 mile ride across. If you look real close you can see Jay's head in the bottom corner of this picture:

After a very steep (and scary!) ride down the hill on the other side, we were welcomed by some more great views:

We pulled off onto this fishing pier to get some pictures and saw some huge sea lions swimming for lost bait! It's hard to tell, but they were so big!

We then rode into Sausalito and parked so we could walk around a bit: Can you see our bike?

We chose this really cute restaurant - Piccolo Teatro - to sit & have a bite to eat:

They had the best lemonade!!

I had this yummy ravioli with sweet peas and leeks:

Jay had a portobello sandwich and tomato soup:

We did a little exploring and then headed back to the city via ferry:

It is THE way to get back - there was no way I wanted to ride UP those hills we rode down on the way in!

Sausalito from the water - it's so pretty & reminds me of what Italy might look like:

Must-take pictures of us & the bridge:

Bye bye bridge...

We went right past Alcatraz & talked about how crazy it must have been for the inmates there...so close yet so far...

And we were back at the Wharf:

The Wharf is such tourist craziness that we rode right through it back to Wheel Fun to return our bike...but not before getting a picture!

We then grabbed some water from Safeway across the street and then hung out at the park for a rest. Everyone was enjoying the weather!

Upon returning to our hotel, we asked the concierge for a recommendation for a restaurant near our hotel. He suggested Fish & Farm - a chef-owned restaurant within walking distance (sorry 30 Bus!).

We were there a little early, so had a drink at the bar. Jay had a mint julep (it was one of the specials). On the right side of this picture you can also see the appetizer we ordered - bacon tater tots. Oh my were they GOOD!

And I had my new favorite - a margarita:

No pictures of our food (gasp!) but I had the most delicious rib eye (Jay even said it was one of the best steaks he has ever had) and Jay had salmon. The dessert menu didn't really strike our fancy, so Jay decided to introduce me to the Thai dessert of sweet rice & mango with Thai iced tea. Thai restaurants make me nervous with all their peanuts but it was a tiny little place & I felt safe. Jay was a very happy husband eating this stuff:

We were having way too much fun to go to bed, so we searched for an Irish bar for some Guinness. Mmmmmmm....

And then we just got goofy:

We even did Blue Steel:

Ahhhh Johnny Foleys...you got the best of us that night. You even got my purse as I left it there. Thankfully you are awesome & locked it safely away until the next morning. I have a love/hate relationship with Johnny Foley.

Let's just say it was hard getting out of bed on Sunday morning. And I wasn't thrilled to be back in the bar, but I was very happy to get my purse (and camera!) back!

We sadly left San Francisco & grabbed the BART back to the airport for Phoenix.

It's trips like these that I just love! Spontaneous & fun-filled, but most importantly it was some real quality time with my very best friend.

xoxo

Weekend Update: The San Francisco Treat! (Part Two)

2010-04-23T18:23:00.000-07:00

After our afternoon nap, we headed back out for more fun! We took the 30 Bus to the Cow Hollow district to find some bars that Jay had read about online. This one - La Barca - was known for its famous margaritas.

They had two different types available - a traditional version and another version that is made more like a martini. I opted for the former, Jay for the latter. I think I'm now a true margarita lover because I liked both! Jay's was definitely stronger, but just as delicious!

Next we walked to City Tavern because we heard it was the place to be - that is for the under-30 crowd! We figured we'd still give it a shot & it ended up being a great atmosphere with cheap beer for happy hour!

After City Tavern, we decided to walk around and check out the neighborhood. We walked by some very cute shops & boutiques before stumbling upon Jovino - a quaint wine cafe. We took a seat at the bar & ordered our drinks. I saw that they had a "famous sangria" so asked the bartender about it. He warned that it might be too sweet so gave me a sample. Wow. It was like melted sherbet. Not really what I was looking for, so Jay picked out a nice red wine for me and he had a beer. We chatted with the bartender and then decided we better head back towards the North Beach (San Francisco's "Little Italy") district for our dinner reservation.

Here we are on the 30 Bus again. It was THE bus for us - if we weren't walking, we were on a cheap $2 ride on the 30!

Our reservations were at The Stinking Rose restaurant. This restaurant is famous for it's abundant use of garlic. They use over 3,000 pounds per month!

I loved the area they sat us in. We had our own little private booth along this corridor:

For our appetizer we had "Garlic Soaking in a Hot Tub" which is garlic cloves, roasted in olive oil & butter with a hint of anchovy (you couldn't taste the anchovy - I swear!). It is served in a hot skillet with fresh focaccia bread to spread it on.

For my main course, I had Garlic Roasted Prime Rib...

...and Jay had the Silence of the Lamb Shank:

Both were delicious!

For dessert we of course had to order the garlic ice cream. It's strangely good and comes with a caramel mole sauce that we got on the side.

It was the perfect way to end such a wonderful day!

Day 2 coming up soon!

xoxo

Weekend Update: The San Francisco Treat! (Part One)

2010-04-21T20:13:00.000-07:00

The story goes like this:

Sometime Sunday afternoon

Jay: Don't we have those non-rev tickets from Lynn somewhere? I think they are expiring soon.

Amie: Oh yeah - they're in that box over there....

Jay: Here they are - and yeah they expire May 6. So where do you want to go?

Then we talked for a few minutes about Seattle, Portland or San Francisco for a weekend getaway sometime soon.

Tuesday-ish

Amie: So when do you think we should go? Two weeks from now?

Jay: I was thinking we should go this weekend....

Amie: Oh sweet! I probably should talk to work about getting a day off...

Jay: Let's wait a bit...I'll check on hotels, etc.

Amie: We can always go Saturday and come back Monday...or Friday and come back Sunday...

Thursday Morning

Jay texts Amie: I'm thinking San Francisco!

Amie texts Jay: Awesome! When are we going? Friday or Saturday?

Jay texts Amie: I was thinking Friday...

Amie tells work she won't be coming in the next day.

Thursday Night Before Bed

Jay books hotel.

Friday at 7am

Amie and Jay's flight departs to San Fran for the weekend!

Ok, now that you have the scene set, here's the first installment of our trip!

Arriving at the BART station & pimpin' it....

It was a PERFECTLY sunny and warm day which can be rare in this city with all it's fog! We had a nice & pretty short walk to check in at our hotel. We booked at the King George Hotel from a deal we found on TravelZoo. By the way, I love TravelZoo - it's where we got our hotel for our Montreal trip too. It was a great rate for this last minute booking and the King George was a really cute boutique hotel - I liked that it had character :) Jay and I called it the "Georges a Cinq" the whole weekend ala the movie French Kiss. Just pretend we're saying it with a nice strong French accent....

A quick freshening up and we were off! Well, more like UP! We decided to walk up the street our hotel was on - Mason Street - up towards Nob Hill. It was a fantastic workout!

At the top of the hill were beautiful views of the city along with Grace Cathedral...

It was built with serious inspiration from Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris and is also famous for it's Ghiberti doors (which I remember learning about in Art History class!).

Magnificent inside:

After our visit to the Cathedral we started looking for a place to have lunch. One of my favorite things about San Francisco are the flowers that most corner shops have for sale on the sidewalks! There is fruit in most of the windows too! I can just imagine living here and walking by my favorite shop every day buying an apple and maybe some daisies...ahhhh....

Back to reality! We had worked up a serious appetite by this point and ended up having lunch at Nob Hill Cafe - a tiny Italian restaurant located right near the top of Nob Hill. We got there just as it opened, so we had a cozy little window table which was perfect! I had a white cheddar, apple and pancetta pizza and Jay had pasta with garlic tomato sauce. Both were very good! The only thing is that the pictures we took inside were pretty dark, so instead you get a picture of the outside...

Our next stop was Chinatown which was such an adventure!

We found our way to this tiny alley in search for something in particular....

The Golden Gate Fortune Cookie Factory! It is tucked away with a tiny little entrance that we didn't even realize was "the" place until an old man motioned for us to come inside! It was very cramped quarters and VERY hot! We had to pay 50 cents for each picture, so since I paid $1, I'm getting good use of them & posting both for you!

This poor lady must have been so hot! She didn't even flinch having us right up there in her personal space to take the picture. I'm sure she's thinking, "Darn tourists..."

We went on a search for Durian. Those of you who have watched "Fear Factor" (hello 2001!) or "Bizarre Foods" might have heard about this stinky/yucky fruit. We were hoping to be able to find a place where we could try a piece of it...

...but it took us several fruit stands before we even found them! And they were up on this shelf with this dusty alarm clock. We decided to try Durian some other time....

We stopped at this tea shop for a free tea tasting. The lady there was awesome! She brews tea so fast and was full of knowledge about the benefits of each type of tea. Some were really good (rose!) and some were nasty (Angel!).

We ended up picking 3 of our favorites and left $50 poorer....(oops!)....

After a long day, I needed to sit down!

We walked by Union Square Park on our way back to the hotel for a much-needed nap. They had a beautiful installment of these heart sculptures that were so pretty I had to snap a picture!

More to come soon - the day is just halfway done!!

xoxo

From our Kitchen: Delizioso!

2010-04-15T20:36:00.000-07:00

Since nobody guessed what we purchased at the outlets a few weekends ago, I figured I might as well give it away....

...we bought a pasta maker!

Making pasta is ridiculously simple. It's flour, a little water & egg:

You slowly mix it up until it forms a nice firm dough:

Then let it rest for about 10 minutes.

It was fun putting it through the "machine"....

...but let's just say it was a learning curve. We think we put the pasta through the spaghetti side when it was a little too thick because it stopped working. So we then switched to the fettuccine side which worked just great. Later on Jay tackled "fixing" the spaghetti side:

at least the fettuccine side still works

Here is our beautiful spaghetti all ready to be cooked:

And in the pot - a little of both! It only takes a few minutes until it's done!

While we were making the dough and testing out the machine I also made some homemade sauce (simple, easy & yummy recipe!)...

...and topped it off with our homegrown fresh basil!

Ok, I admit we did purchase the parmesan!

We loved the fresh pasta & recommend you give it a try sometime! Even if you don't have a machine, you can just roll it out real thin & then slice it with a knife.

Now THAT is delizioso!

From our Kitchen: Maple Muffins

2010-04-10T18:41:00.000-07:00

My mom sent me The Official Vermont Maple Cookbook a while back & since I received it, I've wanted to try these Maple Muffins (of course among other delicious dishes!).

You start with the dry ingredients - flour, baking powder, salt.

The main sweetener is - you guessed it - Vermont Maple Syrup!

FYI: You're not a true Vermonter unless you have it in enormous quantities:

Gently mix the dry & wet ingredients - the key word is gentle (or as my mom used to warn me - you'll get pointy, tough muffins) - and then spoon the batter into muffin tins.

And after a short time in the oven, here they are their yummy goldenness:

I chose to top my fresh-out-of-the-oven breakfast with our homemade butter and a tiny drizzle of maple syrup. Delicious!

I'm trying a new thing here, so bear with me if it doesn't work, but....Click here to print out the recipe!

Date Night: Take Me Out To The Ball Game!

2010-04-08T20:09:00.000-07:00

Tuesday night I scored some sweet tickets to the Diamondback's vs. Padres game. Remember this post from last year? Well, how could I turn down tickets for the same seats & valet pass?!

It was a beautiful day,but with the roof open, it was pretty windy and chilly once the sun went down. It was funny hearing ourselves (and others around us) talk about how "cold" it was - realistically it was probably in the high 50s or maybe even in the 60s, so it wasn't THAT bad, but I definitely wish I brought another layer!

Somebody was in a rather goofy mood that night:

Besides the valet parking (seriously - you park right at the stadium - can't get any closer!), my next favorite part of these tickets was that each one came with $10 "DBucks" which means it was money that could be spent at any of the vendors, the bar below us, or with our waitress. That means $20 to spend and to top it off, Jay wasn't hungry!?

I was hoping to get another hot dog panini like last year, but it's no longer on the menu, so I started off with Gordon Biersch garlic fries. Anyone that knows this place knows how delicious the fries are! I was worried about stinking out the people around us but luckily (for me at least! poor Jay) the couple next to us got them too! Later on in the game I got a hot dog & soda, and right before we left I got a giant bag of cotton candy to take home.

::sidenote:: I do not recommend eating an entire bag of cotton candy in one sitting as I did today at work. B-A-D idea.

Unfortunately the Dbacks didn't play too well and lost 3-6. There was a true win that night though because we had a great time! (yes, I'm a dork).

And just for fun, let's compare last year & this year:

Hope you have a great date night planned!

xoxo

From our Kitchen: Kale Chips

2010-04-07T14:12:00.000-07:00

Since I first fell in love with the superfood Kale, I have wanted to try making kale chips. I came upon this recipe & gave them a shot!

It's super easy. Trim off the stems of the kale, then wash & dry. Toss in olive oil & salt, then spread out on a cookie sheet like this:

Then bake them in a 300 degree oven for about 20 minutes until they look like this:

They are very fragile chips and practically turn to "dust" if you handle them too roughly, but they taste really good are good for you! Next time you see kale at the grocery store, give these a shot!

xoxo

Weekend Update: Easter

2010-04-05T19:00:00.000-07:00

We started this weekend off with some grocery shopping & errands on Friday night. It was great getting the errands out of the way so we could relax the rest of the weekend! One of the stops we made was to the library & Jay picked out this book. We got home & he made himself comfortable on the couch for most of the night reading about everything from building a 1-acre farm to canning to composting to raising pigs.

I got The Help and am really enjoying it! Today I looked forward to going to the park to read a few chapters!

Saturday we had a pretty lazy morning before deciding to go for an afternoon drive. When heading out to the car, I noticed that birds had built a nest up under our roof. You can barely see it here (of course the birds put their heads down as I was taking the picture!), but it's right under that top branch of the bougainvillea up in that corner. I'll have to check back some other time to see if I can get a better picture.

So, we decided to head south and check out Casa Grande first. There really isn't much there except for some outlet stores that we stopped in. We picked up something perfect for a future "From our Kitchen" post. Anyone have any guesses?

Next we headed to Eloy to relax a bit at the airport. Can you believe from this sign that it's one of the busiest in the world?

Well, for this it is:

Can you see 'em now?

Just as we arrived, 20-30 skydivers jumped out of a plane above us.

They look really slow until they speed past you in the landing area.

According to Jay (as you know he's usually right w/these things), Eloy is one of the (if not THE) busiest skydiving airports in the world. Both of us used to fly down to Eloy during flight school for various training flights (hi Ryan!).

We had a beer and appetizer at The Bent Prop Saloon and then sat out on the lawn for a while just watching all of the activity while another round of divers made their way down. It's definitely a hang out spot for people other than skydivers - it's most likely the only place where anything is going on in this very small town!

Next we headed to Coolidge - another town we've both flown into. Let's just say there wasn't much going on in downtown Coolidge on this Saturday afternoon. I wonder if everyone goes up to "The Big City" on the weekends? It was like a ghost town.

We also went to Florence which might as well be the same picture as above. Florence had a bit more character though as (I think) it's a bit closer to Phoenix.

Sunday morning, Jay slept in (till 9!!) while I got up at 7. Talk about role reversal! Due to that, we went to the 10:30 mass. Well let's just say that next Easter, we're going to the 7:00 or 8:30 options! It was crazy packed & we had to stand the whole time. It was a beautiful service & we both really enjoyed the homily.

We saw Erika & Raelyn along with the Coy family in the courtyard afterwards. Erika was gracious enough to invite us over for a bit and it was so nice catching up! I wish I got a picture of Erika & Raelyn but did snap this great picture of Kelly, Chris, Lyla and Jacob.

As soon as we got home, I got to cooking. We made ham, corn, these homemade rolls, potatoes, and for dessert, Pioneer Woman's pineapple upside down cake!

Lets just say the cake didn't TURN OUT quite as we planned. Get it? TURN OUT. (I know, I'm hilarious).

It tasted real good but what a sticky mess to clean up! That cast iron pan is just so heavy & next time, instead of trying to help Jay do the flip, I think I'll just let him do it all himself :)

We hope you and your families had a wonderful Easter weekend and took some time to remember the reason we celebrate it every spring!

xoxo

From our Kitchen: Our Butter is Better

2010-04-01T16:00:00.000-07:00

One of the many things that we made this past weekend was butter. Jay was curious about it and I remember making it as a girl scout (shaking a baby food jar filled with cream & a marble!), so why not?

You start off with some heavy cream:

Look how excited Jay is about the cream! Truth be told, I once again caught him off guard with my paparazzi prowess - (hey there US Weekly! let me know if you need any help!)

Pour it in the handy stand mixer that you got off your wedding registry (thanks mom!):

And then start whipping:

And whipping. And don't add sugar when the temptation hits you because thats what I wanted to do. This is how whipped cream is made! No. You add a touch of salt and keep on whipping past the beloved whipped cream stage:

Until you get to something like this. It doesn't look very appealing, but that's when you know you're done. It's amazingly yellow compared to the white cream you start with.

Pour off the excess cream (save that for your coffee the next day - Jay said it was good) and catch the butter in a cheesecloth.

Wrap that cheesecloth real tight, squeeze out any excess moisture, and you end up with this pretty ball o' butter:

Then squish it into a nice airtight container & there you go!

But wait! Before you put it in the fridge, scoop some up like this and spread it on some of that delicious high fiber bread that you got at the farmer's market! (or better yet, make your own bread and put it on that!)

And then take a bite of something so delicious...

...and amazingly simple...

That you gobble it all up before you know it.

A Fly On The Wall During The Palm Sunday Pancake Breakfast

2010-03-31T10:18:00.000-07:00

Amie: So hun, what do you want to do for Easter dinner this year?

Jay: I dunno.

Amie: Well, I know you're never too excited about ham, so maybe lamb? Or we could be really crazy and get duck!

Jay: How about goat?

Amie: ::silence::

Amie: I think duck sounds so good! And we've never cooked duck before!

Jay: I hear goat is really healthy and we've never cooked it before.

Amie: ::silence::

Amie: But where do you even BUY goat? It's not like Safeway has it over by the pork & beef?

Jay: There's that mediterranean place where we got that really good hummus. I bet they have goat.

Amie: Really? But doesn't duck sound soooo good?! I love duck! And that lamb we made a few years ago was delicious!

Jay: Ready to go? The let's go to the Farmer's Market while it's still early....

10 minutes later at the Farmer's Market we come upon this sign:

Jay: 1 Amie: 0

And I must say I'm surprised nobody noticed the Goat Loin Chop in the last post...

I don't think we're going to have it for Easter Dinner, but we will be having it soon, so stay tuned for details...

Weekend Update: Home Sweet Home

2010-03-29T19:47:00.000-07:00

On Thursday night, Jay and I looked at each other in shock once again realizing that we'd be home together for another weekend. I know it's probably sounding old to you by now, but for us it really is nice to be home together! Especially after last year.

Friday night after work we headed directly to Chino Bandito to meet up with not only Jeff, Tara & Alistair but also our friends The Jarmans who were in town from the L.A. area. We had yet to meet little Liam, so it was such a treat getting to meet him and to catch up with Angie & Chad.

Liam & I got along very well!

The must-take photo with Chino's mascot

Saturday morning after relaxing at home, we headed to the local nursery to find ourselves some pepper plants! My dad made us some hot sauce last year and Jay wants to try to make (and grow!) his own! It was a beautiful day to be at the nursery - being there reminded me of family trips to Claussen's in Vermont when I was growing up!

Look at the smile I caught on Jay! He was strategically trying to avoid the camera, so I think this is a pretty good catch!

The flowers were beautiful! I look forward to the day we can have our own gardens. Flowers out front and a big vegetable garden out back!

We ended up coming home with a habanero plant and a tomato plant. We were told that both would do well in big pots since we don't have a real yard to plant them in. The other pots in the below picture include seeds (that I found in my storage - they're old though, so not sure if they'll "work") for cilantro, green onion and rosemary.

Look at Jay tending to his habanero. The guy at the nursery gave him some tips as to how to make them extra hot, so we'll see how that works out!

Remember this post from a few weeks ago when we got cheese curd at the farmer's market? Well lookee what we made here for dinner on Saturday night! I call it Arizona Poutine since we used jalapeno cheese curd. I think it turned out pretty good - not a huge fan of the gravy as I've been spoiled with the homemade stuff my whole life, but overall, I say it was pretty successful! You definitely can't buy this in Phoenix!

And from the farmer's market this week, here's our bounty:

I have decided to do a few "From our Kitchen" posts related to what we get at the farmer's market throughout the week. Hopefully I'll be able to keep up with all the yummy things we make!

Until then though - you know it's fresh and local when you get oranges that look like this! It's pretty enough to be in a Sunkist commercial or something!

Can you believe we went to church, enjoyed the annual Knights of Columbus Palm Sunday Pancake Breakfast afterwards (we love it), AND hit the farmer's market all by 11:00am? It was so nice to be up & out and have a full day ahead of us afterwards! We ended up enjoying some sun at the pool for a bit and then got in a workout at the gym as well. We actually worked out both Saturday and Sunday evenings. And tonight too. It feels good to get in some exercise! It also makes me feel less guilt when eating things like this delicious homemade pesto & chicken pasta (made with our very own basil!) that Jay whipped up for dinner last night:

We did a bunch of other cooking this weekend as well so I'll get some fun posts together for those soon!

Have a great week!

xoxox

Weekend Update: Celebrating Spring

2010-03-22T22:01:00.000-07:00

Jay and I had another wonderful weekend at home. It started Friday afternoon when we met up with Ryan for lunch at Pita Jungle. He had such a great time with us that he spent the rest of the afternoon with Jay and let us (Jay) cook him dinner! I had to work and then got my hair cut (like my summer "do"?), so the guys made sure dinner was ready when I got home. What a treat!

On the menu - Pioneer Woman's Macaroni & Cheese. The only words I can describe this dish is a piece of heaven. And the fact that I didn't have to cook it? Priceless.

It was so nice having our special dinner guest. Especially since he's now living so far away in Jersey. He's not in this neck of the woods very much anymore.

You know what's weird about him though? He puts ketchup on everything. Even on PW's Macaroni & Cheese. But that's ok. We still love him.

I can't believe we almost ate the whole thing!

Saturday morning we headed to downtown Chandler to attend the city's 1st annual "Barbeque Throwdown". It was the perfect day to be outside and we were both anxious to taste some award winning barbeque. There were all sorts of set-ups from "Big Green Eggs" to huge smokers like this team below:

I stayed "green" and held onto my fork. It ended up being a good thing because forks (and eventually samples) were hard to find as the day progressed! I think all of the vendors were surprised at the attendance & weren't quite prepared for it.

We both got more sun than we had expected! Jay got a red neck (hehe) & I got a little burn on my chest. Next time we won't let that morning breeze trick us into thinking it would be "not too hot" out.

One of the coolest parts of the day was that we ran into Myla who was there with a bunch her friends!! It was such a treat - she lives on the complete other side of town, so to see her there was a very happy but unexpected surprise! We ended up spending most of our time with them (and Jay took stroller duty for her friend Jerilyn and baby Talon (sp?).

After we had our fill, we headed to El Zocalo for some drinks & basketball. I had a delicious margarita and Jay had a beer. It really hit the spot soooo.......you remember our last update where I called us old? Yeah, well, look at what we did the remainder of Saturday afternoon:

And of course, we had to get this delivered later on to round it all off:

Ahhh just like the good ol' days! I guess I spoke too soon about the getting old thing. :) It really was such a blast. We watched basketball, I did laundry (I will admit - the beers made it not so bad), and we just had a nice time at home!

Sunday morning after mass, there was a group from Bethlehem selling carvings in the courtyard. They come every year or so & I've always wanted to purchase a nativity scene from them. Well this year, we finally caved and brought this home with us:

It is hand-carved from genuine olive wood in the Holy Land. The group of Christians that sell these pieces are able to stay living in Bethlehem by selling these carvings throughout the year. I just love it & look forward to bringing it out during Advent later this year.

Once again we headed to the farmer's market after church to get some veggies for the week. Here's our bounty:

We made a delicious bruschetta for dinner with the tomatoes (and basil from our new plant!) and a salad with those fresh greens in the back. Jay also made a yummy tangelo vinaigrette to top it off! So fresh & of course it felt great to know we were eating from (and supporting) local farmers! Later this week we're going to make one of our favorite sides by roasting the beets, carrots & turnips.

Phew! Once again we packed in so much fun stuff into just a few days! Spring is definitely in the air!

Hope you have a great week!

xoxo

a WONDERful St. Patrick's Day

2010-03-19T20:41:00.000-07:00

St. Patrick's Day isn't what it used to be. For me at least. I mean, back in college it was Taking Beer In Your Coffee Mug To Class Day. Either that or Spend The Day Drinking Green Beer At The Bar Day. I'm not sure if we celebrated this way because we were all a bunch of Irish Catholics or if that's just how everyone did it, but all I know is I'm way too old for that now.

And if I'm too old for that, Jay might be too. (I'm just sayin')

Anyway - my grown-up tradition has been to enjoy Corned Beef & Cabbage for dinner on St. Patrick's night. If Jay got as excited as I do about it I'd probably try making it myself, but he could take it or leave it so I just get take out instead. AJ's is a fancy-schmancy grocery store here in the Phoenix area & they always put together a great meal that I pick up on my way home from work. It's way better than going to a crowded bar & waiting for an order to be ready. Or even worse trying to find a parking spot.

Jay had to work until about 6:00, so I enjoyed most of this meal by myself before he got home. I pretty much inhaled the first few bites of the meat because it's oh-so-good and I only have it once a year. All that fat - delish! There was so much of it that even after Jay had a few bites, we had some left over for Thursday night.

After dinner, we enjoyed a nice mid-week date & caught the new Alice in Wonderland in IMAX 3D.

It was on the biggest screen in Arizona - towering a full 6 stories high! Pretty cool! I hadn't seen a 3D movie since I went to Disney World back in the '90s so it was quite the experience. Expensive popcorn & soda was the icing on the cake.

Of course we had to get a picture to document our H-O-T glasses (Jay suggested the serious pose):

Well the weekend is here and we're both home AGAIN (!!!!) so stay tuned for another fun-packed weekend update!

xoxo

Weekend Update: Home at Last!

2010-03-14T19:17:00.000-07:00

Jay and I were both home at the same time this weekend! Can you believe it? I still can't get over how nice it was to have a "normal" weekend at home with my love :)

Saturday morning we slept in and then made our way to the mall to get Jay some new shoes for work. We finally got him a nice pair of Ecco's that will hopefully last way longer (and be more comfortable) than the cheepies he usually picks out!

After that, we decided to enjoy the beautiful spring day and go for a little hike on South Mountain. I really wish I brought my camera because it was SO GREEN from all the rain we got this winter. Anyway, when we got back, Jay decided to go out & do some pull-ups on our patio while I did some push-ups inside. I heard a big THUD and went outside to see an injured husband. Instead of doing them like he usually does like this (notice his head placement):

He did one facing the other way and brought his head right up into that wooden beam. Ouch! Check out ~~Scarface~~ the damage:

We did a little First Aid at home and then made Southwestern Butternut Squash Soup thanks to this recipe that Leah sent me on Friday. It's so easy! You start by browning some onion & garlic with spices, then add broth & chunks of peeled squash:

Then you puree it in batches in a blender before returning to the pot to add black beans, tomatoes & corn:

It is good just like this, but if you want to go crazy...

...you can add some tortilla chips or sour cream if you like that kinda thing. It was so smooth & creamy and very filling! We definitely recommend this recipe for something quick & easy! It also makes quite a bit, so you will have enough to freeze for later!

Today after church we went to the Ahwatukee Farmer's Market. It's right around the corner from our house & always has a great selection! This time we ended up coming home with all these local yummies - sauce tomatoes, jalapeno cheese curd (I'm thinking of making poutine!), bacon, and a sweet basil plant that Jay just HAD to have! Let's hope that he's better with plants than I am!

After the Farmer's Market, we headed to the pool to catch some rays. It was just barely warm enough out for bathing suits and a nice nap by the pool.

Oh yeah, while we were out we also picked up a version of Alice in Wonderland at Blockbuster to watch since we plan on seeing the new one in Imax 3D this week (it's sold out this weekend). Unfortunately they didn't have the cartoon version & the version I got was just not right. I wanted Jay to see the original! Oh well. I could only get through about 30 minutes of it before getting annoyed and turning it off. We'll find the cartoon one some other day for Jay to watch.

And just now, well, we just finished enjoying White Russians we made with our homemade kahlua! So delicious!!

And now we're heading out to get some dinner with one of Jay's friends that is in town for work, but has the night off. Have a great week!

xoxo

Weekend Update: Sleeping Beauties

2010-03-08T20:33:00.000-08:00

Late Friday night Jay and I got on the open road and headed to San Diego to see Tori's girls in their first (and hopefully not last!) musical - Sleeping Beauty. It was a rough drive out there since it was so late, but we made it and groggily arrived around 2am.

The play was put on by Christian Youth Theatre and was held at a local school. We attended their 8th (out of 9!) show on Saturday afternoon and can't even express how impressed we were! We knew the girls would be great - they had been rehearsing for months - but on top of that, the set and effects were outstanding!

::sidenote:: did you know that the earliest copy of the story was written by a Frenchman named Charles Perrault in 1697?

Now let me introduce you to Salt and Pepper - two of the twelve spinning fairies in a newly updated version (though based on one of many past interpretations) of the classic:

Isabel was Pepper and Serena was salt. All of the fairies had "flavorful" names including Chicory, Clove and Paprika and were dressed in colors that matched their name.

We are so proud! They did a fantastic job!

The whole family - look how big Noah is now (turning 3 next month)!

After the play, we dropped Noah off at the babysitter so us adults could get some q.t.. We picked a place in Pacific Beach for snacks and drinks and felt old with all of the college kids that were out & about!

We found out at the very last minute that Adam was going to be in town and were glad that he was able to make it home!

It has been quite a while since we've gone out just the 4 of us & it was so nice to catch up! It's crazy to think that we all met at flight school....Tori & I as the students and Adam & Jay as the instructors! How time flies, eh?!

xoxo

Weekend Update: While the Husband's Away...(part 1)

2010-03-01T18:28:00.000-08:00

...the Girls will Play!

Jay was in Orlando for most of last week to work/attend the Women in Aviation Conference. I had planned on going with him to get some FL sunshine (which turns out there wasn't much anyway) but due to my last minute travels home the week before, I decided to hold down the fort at home. So without further ado....

I was so excited to host Girls Night on Friday night! I ran home after work and made this cake that I've been dying to make! Since Jay isn't much of a cake person, what better time to make it than when he's gone? Believe it or not, it's all baked & ready to go in this picture. All that yumminess that's dripping off the edges? That's the AMAZING frosting.

The theme was "Craft Night", so we all sat at the table and made a project that we all agreed on beforehand. Krista, Kiera, and Kathy were in attendance...(pretend Tara is in that 4th chair - Alistair was sick, so she had to stay home = sadness)
The project of the evening was....drumroll....coasters! We made them out of travertine tiles (I picked that kind not because they are fancy schmancy, but because they were the only unglazed ones I could find!). We stamped & sealed them and then stuck felt on the bottom to protect furniture. What a fun project! Here are mine:
Krista's:
Kiera's:
...and Kathy left before the photo shoot, but hers were just as awesome of course!

After dinner, I made this delicious drink - Dulce de Leche Coffee - again courtesy (photo too) of Pioneer Woman:

I don't have pretty clear glasses like that, but I will say that it was very tasty & indulgent. I think the homemade whipped cream (that I almost didn't make) was key....in case you decide to try it yourself.

I hope this is the first of many craft nights at my place! I have a ton of projects all saved up & ready to go!

xoxo

Weekend Update: A Quick Trip Home

2010-02-25T19:47:00.000-08:00

I had to make an unexpected trip home last weekend for Merwin's funeral. I am still having a hard time coming to terms with the fact that he's gone, but I know in my heart that he's always with us and that he's probably much happier (and more comfortable) now. He will be greatly missed. It was a beautiful service and absolutely wonderful spending time with the whole family - talking about all the great memories we were able to build together over the years!

In an effort to keep this post (and myself) as positive as possible, I am going to recap the more fun parts of the trip.

I flew into Manchester on Thursday and drove directly to Essex to visit with Emily & Sophia. I hadn't seen Soph since she was a few months old, so it was great playing with her as she's about to turn 2! She is such a little diva! She took pictures of us with her camera (Em's old one that still works - she LOVED this!):
And then she put on her tutu and we danced all over the living room! She sang to all the songs - it was the cutest thing ever!
Afterwards, we tried to wind down a bit - here is my new friend on my lap with her iTouch watching Curious George (I'm amazed at how easily she uses it! She's TWO!):
Friday morning, I woke up to the sounds of a 3 year old! Stacy brought one of "her boys" Rocco over to visit with us. It is not unusual for me to talk with Rocco on the phone when Stacy's working. He is just so cute - I just love his curls! (hey there - stop looking at my creepy smile/eyes - look back at that cute kid next to me!)Anyway - he wanted to take our picture & I think he did a pretty good job, don't you? The fingers kinda make a nice little frame....
We went out to lunch with Donna & Arika at our favorite local joint - Al's. Tricia & I settled for macaroni & cheese and grilled cheese sandwiches (and of course their famous fries!) since we were being good about not having meat on Friday - yes, Lent has begun! It was hard not to indulge in a burger or hot dog, but Lent is not about indulgence, so we behaved.

Saturday before the service, we got together with my dad & Patti for breakfast at Libby's Diner - another local place that I try my best to hit when I go home. You just gotta love this sign that was posted on their door:
I had a WONDERFUL nap after returning home from the service & reception and then we all realized we hadn't gotten a good picture of all of us girls together. So we all put our tops back on (pjs still on the bottom) and got a few:
Sunday morning, I got up early so I could visit with Julie, Michael and Finley over in New York. The lake is still frozen and the ice fisherman had already settled in as I crossed into South Hero.
I walked onto the ferry and Julie picked me up on the other side. It was so nice to see her! And once again, I hadn't seen Finley since he was about a month old, so check out this "grown up" 6-month old I was greeted with!!
Look at that face & those eyes!! He really is one of the cutest, happiest babies I've met!
I got a nice big hug from my Jules before heading back to Vermont.
Monday I headed back to Manchester and then endured a 6-hour direct flight back to Phoenix. It was a short trip, but I am happy to have packed in as many good things as I could to balance out the sadness. I will never ever forget Merwin or the happiness he has brought to not only myself but everyone that had the opportunity to know him.

And to all 10 of you that read this blog - I love you and don't you forget it!

xoxo

Weekend Update: Well, a couple weekends ago...

2010-02-24T17:52:00.001-08:00

My whole plan to do multiple posts wasn't very successful! Here's a quick recap of the rest of 2 weekends ago:

We celebrated Kate's 1st birthday! Here is a snapshot of what I made for her gift- a skirt, matching onesie & a little stuffed kitty. Hopefully we'll get a picture of her wearing the ensemble :)
Kiera did a WONDERFUL job with the party - with the piece de resistance being this fabulous cake!
Of course the decorations were top notch:
And check out how cute the birthday girl was! Her grandmother made her the perfect outfit!
Mmmmm....cake.....

Friday night, Jay and I went to dinner with my friend Rick from work & his wife Suzi and had a great time. We went to The Rokerij - if you haven't been, we definitely recommend it! Awesome ambience and delicious food! We started with a bulb of roasted elephant garlic with cheese & chiles (and crostini to spread it on). I can't even describe how good it was! Then for our main courses, I had the Red Chile Osso Bucco and Jay had 3 small plates (one of which, of course, was beef tartar). After dinner, we all went around the corner to Luci's to enjoy dessert & coffee and more conversation. It was such a nice evening - we look forward to getting together with Rick & Suzi again - they have great taste in restaurants AND in friends :)

On Sunday - Valentine's Day - we went to our friends house for his annual Daytona 500 party. The house just gets more and more over-the-top each year:
There were several STRONG beverages to choose from:
And we all got to pick a driver (for $2) before it started. Jay picked #5 and I picked #48. I think my guy was Jimmie Johnson. I can't remember Jay's driver. Regardless, neither won after all those left hand turns!
It was a crazy busy weekend, but packed with friends and lots of fun!

I hope everyone is doing great! More to come soon.

xoxo

Weekend Update: Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious

2010-02-16T18:03:00.001-08:00

I've decided to split this Weekend Update into a few sections since I don't feel like sitting down for the whole evening to write my normal long post! Plus, breaking it up will be fun, don'tcha think?

Friday night was part two of my wonderful Christmas present. Jay took me to ASU's Gammage theatre to see Broadway Across America's Mary Poppins. We got there way too early (we thought the show started at 7, but it was actually 7:30), so we ~~embarrassed~~ entertained ourselves a bit:

I don't know about you, but I think Jay pulls off a male version of Mary quite well. Practically perfect in every way...

The show as a whole was entertaining, but we both were a little disappointed in how much they changed the story (especially compared to Annie which, though it strayed a little, had most of the original story in place). There were also 7 brand new songs which for lack of a better way of saying it...was just weird. I don't know why they spent the time & effort creating new songs when the original version had so many great ones (and is probably one of the reasons most people wanted to see the performance?!).

The effects in Act 2 and a quite enjoyable tap sequence to "Step in Time" did make up for most of the disappointment in the other stuff.

I'm obviously not a professional theatre reviewer, so if you're interested in going, here's a review by the New York Times that I think sums it up nicely.

Let's just be honest though - it could have been a horrible show put on by amateurs and I still would have enjoyed every bit of my date night with Jay. (Disclaimer: I'm currently questioning myself in this statement as he has the movie "Cool as Ice" playing on the tv right now - not enjoyable. at. all.).

xoxo

Thanks Mom!

2010-02-11T16:56:00.000-08:00

There is nothing like coming home from a bad day at work to see a package at your door. Last night, it was this Valentine's Day package from my mom! Homemade caramel corn, sugar cookies and snickerdoodles! Delicious!

Thanks Mom!!

Weekend Update: A Bowl of a Weekend

2010-02-08T17:43:00.000-08:00

Well, it was a great weekend that we jam-packed with fun! Friday night we stayed in & watched a movie. Oh how I love nights like that!

Saturday we got out of the house & did a few errands including a trip to Ranch Market. Jay frequents this Hispanic grocery store for breakfast & lunch since it's so close to his work, but I don't get out to that area often, so it was a treat for me! We had tacos and horchata for lunch and then stocked up on jalapenos for our Super Bowl appetizer.

Jay got in some guitar practice. He's definitely improving!

Saturday night we went bowling with a bunch of people including Shane & Erin! Let's just say that 3 or 4 people out of the group had their own balls and shoes! Yikes!!

Jay bowled over 100 for both games. What a show off!
I got a 66 (ouch!) and then a 103.
I tried getting a good picture of Jay & I...
...but as usual, he had other plans...
...so I decided to join in!
...and so did Shane!
Sunday brought the Super Bowl! We went to Krista & Angelo's house for a fabulous party! Tara & Jeff were there with Alistair:
Kiera & Joe were there with Kate:
and there was lots of great food! Here are our cheese-stuffed and bacon-wrapped jalapenos that were quite a hit:
I admit I didn't watch nearly as much of the game as I had planned, but the great time with our friends was what it was all about! Weekends like this are just another reminder of how lucky we are to have this great "family" of friends here in Arizona.

xoxo

Weekend Update

2010-02-01T18:10:00.000-08:00

Why hello there! I fell like I've been MIA for a while now, but I guess it has been less than a week, so not too bad.

We had a very nice weekend at home. On Saturday morning, Jay went mountain biking with a friend who drove down from snowy Flagstaff while I enjoyed the beautiful weather with a nice walk/run. We all then met up for a delicious lunch at one of my new favorite places - The Hillside Spot - a neighborhood restaurant (not a chain!) that just opened a few weeks ago.

That night, Jay and I went to his company's unofficial holiday party . It was a long night (we closed the place down!) but we had a great time! Jeff & Tara, Shane & Erin, and lots of other friends of ours were there. I'd upload more pics, but Blogger isn't cooperating tonight, so this is all you get:
Since Saturday was jam-packed, we spent Sunday at home in our pajamas. It was great spending the day catching up on our DVR, snuggling, and eating!! We had pancakes for breakfast and made this recipe for a late lunch.

We both LOVE Cafe Rio's sweet pork barbacoa burritos (enchilada style, please) & since the one nearest to us is closed, we were happy to find a recipe that claimed to be pretty darn close. Well let me tell you, we were both rolling our eyes with excitement as we had our first taste. It's nearly identical! I had planned on doing a full "From Our Kitchen" post with pictures & everything, but due to my sheer excitement, I was a bit distracted. Maybe next time.

I'm heading off to New Mexico tomorrow for a few days while Jay holds down the fort here at home. We have another fun weekend ahead (bowling, Super Bowl, etc), so stay tuned!

xoxo

From Our Kitchen: More Pioneer Woman

2010-01-27T18:43:00.000-08:00

I have rarely used a cookbook as much as the one Tricia got me for Christmas this year - Pioneer Woman Cooks. It's good homestyle cooking that is nicely illustrated with pictures of each step.

I recently made Chicken Spaghetti.
It turned out to be similar to one of my favorite chicken casserole recipes that I've been making for years. No wonder it sounded so good!

One thing that was a little different was pimentos in the recipe. Remember one of my last posts about how the date was under-appreciated? Well, I was all excited hoping to say the same thing about pimentos. I mean, first of all, look at them in this cute jar....
...plus, they are the pretty orange filling of one of my all-time favorite snacks: olives. But, that's where the excitement stops. They are just a pretty face. I really thought they'd have more flavor, but was disappointed to find they are pretty neutral. I'm guessing Pioneeer Woman chose to use them in this recipe for color only. Oh well, live & learn, right? (Next time I think I'll use red pepper instead.)

But, they DID look pretty nice here all chopped up with green pepper and onion...
...and peeking out of the final product which by the way was quite delicious!
Maybe a week or so later, I made Simple, Perfect Enchiladas from the same cookbook. I usually make enchiladas with the recipe on the enchilada sauce can (and with chicken), but let me tell you, the few extra steps in this recipe were well worth it. The thicker sauce, the green chilies in the ground beef, and the fresh cilantro on top...mmmmm...

And you know what else made these dishes so tasty? The very lovely baking dish that I cooked them in. Don't you just love it? My sister Stacy carried it in her backpack all the way across the country to give it to me for my birthday. It's from Bennington Potters - one of my favorite places to shop in Burlington. I can't wait to use the matching pie plate I got for Christmas - don't you worry - I'll share the pics of course.

So there you have it. A few more bits of deliciousness coming out of our kitchen these days.

Rah Rah Raelyn!

2010-01-25T17:02:00.000-08:00

I apologize on my lack of posting lately! I have a few in mind that I'm hoping to get up this week, so hopefully you won't boycott! :)

A little over a week ago, Jay and I went to cheer on our favorite cheerleader Raelyn at her school district's Cheer Showcase. She is in 6th grade and this is her first year cheering. We got there pretty early (to get good seats of course!) and waited with mom Erika for the show to start!
Raelyn was a "flyer" for her very first showcase! Here she is up on top showing school spirit! I was just happy she ended up back on her own two feet soon after this!
Her team (squad?) posting after the show. They were the youngest group at the event and did such a fabulous job!

Jay and I - proud of our friend Raelyn and the great job she did! Thanks so much for inviting us - we look forward to seeing more performances in the future!

Weekend Update: A Little Late

2010-01-13T18:40:00.000-08:00

Did I tell you that Jay bought 30 POUNDS of lobster last week? Well, he did. That's a heck of a lot of (partially frozen) lobster and man does it stink up your house like nothing else. Anyway, all these creepy crawlies were filling up our freezer and he was soooo excited to eat them, so we had some on Wednesday night for dinner. I only had a tail as I'm not a huge fan in the first place. Not bad. Jay had 3 that day.

By Sunday, he was ready for more so we went over to Shane & Erin's house to cook some up and watch football.

Lobster was everywhere and the boys just stood there around the kitchen island eating until they were all gone. I think they went through close to 10! I had a salad.
My favorite part: we ended the meal with chocolate chip cookies and cake. Yum.

Weekend Update: You're Never Fully Dressed Without a Smile

2010-01-06T18:32:00.000-08:00

I got to enjoy the first of my 2 Christmas gifts with Jay this past weekend! On Sunday afternoon, we saw:

It was a great show and since it was at 2pm, the audience consisted of many young girls all dressed up in their party dresses, tutus, etc. It was so cute!! We got in trouble for taking the above picture on my camera phone so snapped this one on the way out in front of ASU's Gammage:
After the show, we headed up to Scottsdale for dinner at Cowboy Ciao. If you live in the area, we definitely recommend you check this place out! The ambiance, food, and wine were fabulous!

For our appetizer, we had the Buffalo Carpaccio. I had trouble taking photos due to the low lighting, but bear with me. Here it is - rolled in a cumin/espresso dry rub, seared, and then topped with red onion/honey marmalade, greens (arugula?) and goat cheese (I think - it just says "chevre" on the menu). SO GOOD!
We each also enjoyed a flight of wine. They have 3 generous 3oz. pours per flight:
::sidenote:: I just adore Photoshop! I'm still learning, but it totally saved the above photo! I thought it was way too dark to even fix, but with a few tweaks here & there, I just love how it turned out!

For dinner, Jay had the house specialty - Exotic Mushroom Pan Fry. Nine different kinds of mushrooms in an ancho cream over double-cooked polenta topped with grilled portabellini, avocado, tomato and cojita cheese. He loved it! And get this. I tried it too. I ate mushrooms and didn't gag! They were actually pretty good (it's the texture that gets me) but that sauce was amazing! I think it would be delicious with pasta & chicken. Or really anything!

I had the New Zealand Lamb Loin - pepper crusted, grilled medium-rare, with roasted tomato/anise butter, served with roasted artichoke risotto cabernet demi-glace and vegetables. The lamb was amazing as was everything else but the risotto. I think I was expecting it to taste more like spinach-artichoke dip or something, but instead it tasted...well....the only way I can describe it is that it tasted like a hair salon? Like how I think Aveda products would taste if you could eat them. Clean? Fresh? Anyway - it wasn't my favorite, but mixed with the demi-glace, it was a-ok!
What is date night without dessert?? After much deliberation, we ordered some coffee and the Cuppa' Red Hot Chocolate (sort of). Basically it's a big hot chocolate mug filled with a chocolate-ey, cinnamon-ey, cayenne-ey fudge-ey YUMMINESS (it's cold though - the "hot" in the hot chocolate is due to the cayenne), topped with this creamy goodness (to look like the froth on the hot chocolate), and is served with 2 spice cookies. Can I say again - DELICIOUS. I have been salivating for more of both the Buffalo Carpaccio and this dessert ever since we got home. I want more.

So there you go. Christmas Date Night #1. Awesome. I can't wait for the next one - just a few more weeks (and a Spoonful of Sugar)! :)

Happy New Year!

2010-01-02T17:40:00.000-08:00

Once the sun set and the Blue Moon was high in the sky, Jay and I started our 2009/2010 New Year's celebration.

We were initially planning on going to a bar to just "chill out" but ended up going to a friend of Shane & Erin's house party which was such a relief to me! I wasn't thrilled about the idea of being in a crowded bar for the whole night. Anyway - Jay and I brought some take & bake pizzas as a snack. Normally this wouldn't be a problem, but you should see the oven in this beautiful kitchen (which, by the way I swear looks like it's straight out of HGTV - beautiful!) - it was so TINY! We all joked & called it an Easy Bake Oven - the pizza barely fit (touched the sides) which resulted in it smoking most of the time it was in there. I tried to get the smoke on camera, but instead got a bunch of goofy guys hanging out around it waiting for it to be done:
Jay and I were taking bites in the kitchen and one of the girls at the party had to take our picture - she said we looked like a commercial for DiGiorno - because we were enjoying it so much - haha!
I am posting this picture simply as a reminder to Jay and I of this moment. Let's just say he passed around a picture of something rather disgusting on his phone to a bunch of strangers that night. Love their reactions...
Almost midnight!
Welcome 2010!!!!
Shane got a little love from the Davis':
You think I had too much Diet Coke or what? I love our friends!!
Once all the kissing and hugging was done, Jay put on "Party in the USA" and everyone sang & danced. Wow do we sound lame, but let me tell you - it was hilarious! I have a video of Shane that I should get up here but until then, here's a pic:
The rest of the night was a mix of Rock Band, board games, and conversation! Jay & I didn't get home until just after 3am!! We did continue the "party" Friday afternoon with lunch at Chompies with the same group of people before spending the rest of the day on the couch in our pjs - just what the doctor ordered!

We both look forward to 2010 and all that it will bring and want to thank you for sharing with us in all our adventures!

The Year of Travel

2009-12-31T06:00:00.000-08:00

Jay and I have dubbed 2009 as the Year of Travel. It seems like we were gone most weekends and for a while I think our local friends thought we had disappeared for good. The reasons for these trips? Everything - from work, to weddings, to birthdays, to vacation - whatever it was, it took us somewhere else.

I thought it would be fun to put it all into perspective. Collectively we've been to 19 states this year.

Create your own visited map of The United States

That's 38% of the states in the Union in one year. And Mexico & Canada. Not too shabby, eh?

Now just for fun, lets take a look at specific destinations (again, this is a collective list):

Baltimore

Boston

Burlington

Casper

Cheyenne

Chicago

Cincinnati

Dallas - 2x

Denver - 4x

Flagstaff - 2x

Indianapolis

Jackson Hole

Kansas City - 2x

Laramie - 2x

Las Vegas

Los Angeles - 2x (more if you count all of Jay's out & back flights for work)

Montreal

New Mexico

Plattsburgh

Puerto Vallerta

Raleigh

Salt Lake City

San Diego

Seattle

Sedona

Wow, I'm exhausted just writing that!

The point is, it was a busy year! We truly have enjoyed ourselves and have the memories & pictures (and blog) to look back years from now to remember when we were able to travel so freely.

We look forward to all that 2010 will bring and can't wait to share our new adventures with you!

From our Kitchen: A Christmas Tradition (does that rhyme?)

2009-12-29T17:52:00.001-08:00

One of my favorite Christmas traditions growing up was cinnamon rolls on Christmas morning. I'm not completely sure of the origin of the tradition, but I do know that those lovely Pillsbury Sweet Rolls my mom baked up were quick & easy on mornings when the usual focus of food switched over to what Santa brought.

The past few years, I've been able to hold onto this tradition in my new family. This year however, Jay wanted to make them from scratch! I pointed out to him that the whole point of the cinnamon rolls was (besides their yumminess) how easy they were to make, but he wouldn't have any of it. We made Martha Stewart's Truck Stop Cinnamon Rolls several years ago & he pulled out the recipe.

In order to expedite the process in the morning, I spent some time on Christmas Eve measuring out everything we'd need. I wish I took a picture because I just know you'd roll your eyes. Everything was measured & labeled & ready to go. I was very careful to have it all measured just right because we cut the recipe in half (which worked fine, but next year I think we'll make the whole batch & give some away).

Jay had been up for about an hour or so by the time I dragged my butt downstairs. He had already mixed up the dough and it was rising nicely.

Once it was ready to roll, we rolled it out nice and thin & sprinkled on the melted butter, cinnamon & sugar. If you make this recipe yourself, it will seem like a TON of sugar & cinnamon (and it is), but use it all. Trust me on this.
After it's all sprinkled, roll it up nice & tight and then slice it up. We cut it into 8 equal portions.
Don't they already look delicious?? Just you wait - it gets better!
Then you put the pretty little rolls facing up on a buttered cookie sheet, cover & let rise for a little longer.
Put them in the oven & smell your house fill with the most beautiful, mouth-watering scent imaginable. They look like this when they're done (ok, maybe next time we'd cut a couple minutes off the cooking time).
Now, whatever anyone tells you, DO NOT stop there! Even if the recipe says they're ready to go (ahem, Martha) and even if someone (ahem, Jay) says they look good as they are.

Make the glaze.

Just make it. I know, it is a lot of sugar, but it is just not a cinnamon roll without it. I didn't use a particular recipe but you can if you like. Or just eyeball it: mix up some confectioners sugar, a little milk and vanilla until its the right consistency. Then you just pour. it. all. over.

Let it soak into all the nooks & crannies until they look like this.
Now they are ready to eat. And it may be lunchtime by then, but that's ok too.

Weekend Update: Christmas!

2009-12-27T16:40:00.000-08:00

We had a lovely Christmas! It started out by spending Christmas Eve with Jeff, Tara & Alistair. Tara was working until about 7, so when we got there, I helped get dinner ready. We had steaks on the smoker, stuffed shells, chicken parmesan, brussels sprout hash, and bread pudding for dessert. It was all just delicious! After dinner, we opened presents. We got a beautiful framed finger painting from Alistair as well as a donut ornament. Tara also painted us a nice "D" for a collection I'm working on!

Alistair was a little tired at first, but then I told him that Santa was coming & that got him to smile!

Can you believe this is our 8th Chrismas?? I sure can't!
We left Jeff & Tara's around 10 so we could make it to midnight mass in time to get seats! We got there just in time & really enjoyed the service. It was packed - standing room only!

Since we went to church on Christmas Eve, we got to sleep in on Christmas Day. I think we were up by about 8:30. Jay had started breakfast (I'll do a separate post on that later), so we opened our stockings (Jay got me chocolate covered coffee beans, Necco wafers, and butter mints and I got him wasabi/soy almonds, Necco wafers and his favorite shaving cream). Funny about the Necco wafers because my mom sent me 3 bags as well! Then onto our gifts from family & each other. Jay got me....
...and.....
!!!!

I just love his drawings! We're going to see the Broadway Across America showings of Annie (you like how he even drew Sandy the dog?!) on January 3rd - next weekend! - and Mary Poppins in February. I am so excited because both are going to be date nights and who doesn't like dinner & a show?!

I got Jay a very fancy wine key that he'd been eyeing for a while. It's something that we will have forever and help us enjoy many bottles of wine together with :)

We were planning on staying in all day, but made a quick trip to Blockbuster to get some movies. We watched District 9 and Julie & Julia. I really enjoyed the latter while District 9 was ok. It wasn't what we expected, but was entertaining nonetheless.

Saturday we watched the other two movies we rented: Away We Go and Inglorious Basterds (both were pretty good). We also hit the mall and really enjoyed ourselves believe it or not! We were prepared for it to be packed, so just took our time in finding a parking spot and strolled around for a while. We're still on the hunt for Jay's perfect shoes...it's a mission that I'm determined to accomplish in 2010!!!

Today was another lazy day. I got some sewing finished and Jay is on his way home from golfing with friends. Oh, there he is now - time to go - we're heading to the bar to watch some football & get something to eat :)

Stay tuned for our Christmas breakfast yumminess!

Yes, He's Real

2009-12-25T00:25:00.000-08:00

I recently stumbled upon this very lovely letter from an 8 year old girl questioning Santa's existence and thought today would be an appropriate day to share it with you.

Sit down for a couple minutes (it's not very long) and take a read. I think you'll enjoy it.

Weekend Update: Ugly: ugh-lee. very unattractive or unpleasant to look at; offensive to the sense of beauty; displeasing in appearance.

2009-12-20T18:10:00.000-08:00

Friday night was Joe & Kiera's 4th Annual Ugly Sweater Party. It is hard to imagine that people actually buy these sweaters for full price and wear them in public. The only thing I can start to pretend to understand is that some of these ugly-sweater-wearers are teachers. You know what I mean - young kids need that over stimulation of the senses by looking at bright! colors and textures like pom poms! and bells! Right?

The girls and I surely did a great job of finding just the right ugh-lee sweaters to wear for this occasion. I think these parties are becoming more common as neither Savers nor Goodwill had a trace of an ugly sweater on their racks. Kiera saved the night and let Jay & I borrow from their growing stash.

Check out us hotties in our very unattractive sweaters.
The McNeills did a great job of finding something displeasing-in-appearance to wear. Jeff also donned that 'stash to punctuate the look. (Alistair - good call on the striped PJs though they certainly are not ugly. I think it's hard to put someone as cute as you in something ugly, so we'll let you slide until next year).
The Blechs - as usual Joe's imagination rocked the house. Dickey!!! I think this qualifies for offensive-to-the-sense-of-beauty, don't you? (Kate - you will be mortified one day when you're 18 & see this picture. Just know - your parents do love you).
Kathy with her dates Elijah and Josh. The boys picked out their own unpleasant-to-look-at tops to wear.
And here we are in our omigosh-are-they-really-wearing-that sweaters. At least we're smiling, right?
So as you can tell, the party was a great time! Jay and I stayed up way past our bedtime and didn't get home until 1:00am!! It was so fun hanging out by the fire talking and listening to stories. I just love our friends!

The rest of the weekend was nice & quiet. Saturday we went to In & Out for burgers and then did a little grocery shopping. Oh, and I baked those date bars that were so yummy. Today...well, let's just say that I haven't changed out of my pajamas and it's nearly 8pm. It's THAT kind of day. I made beef stew in the crock pot (so good!), sewed & did laundry while Jay watched football & did some research online. We talked about all the exciting things we have to look forward to in 2010 as well. I just know it's going to be a great year!!

Christmas is just a few days away & we're all ready to celebrate. We wish you and your families a very blessed week!

xoxo Amie