Summer Fun

Another month has passed by, and I can't believe summer is coming to an end. Fall will be here before you know it, and then I'll be getting our house ready for our first Christmas as homeowners! But, for these next few weeks, I am going to take advantage of the hott weather, have a few more bbq's, & enjoy every last sip of my margaritas.

This summer has included many of those things and more. B and I decided to go some place close for our vacation this year, and we chose to visit his parents in Milwaukee. We took one glorious week off of work, and it was a much needed break. We celebrated my 25th birthday, went to the lakehouse, saw The Roots perform at Summerfest, and ate some delicious food all while spending some quality time with friends and family. 

We are back to our regular routine now, but our time was well spent...

celebrating AJ's 30th birthday at the Milwaukee Ale House

riding an electronic pepper after stuffing my face with Mexican food on my 25th

 

watching the sun set on the Milwaukee River while sipping on adult beverages

 

spending lots of time on a boat with this cutie

and most importantly, creating memories that will last a lifetime.

Here's to many more of those beautiful summer nights!

Closing Time

Well, we are officially homeowners! Our closing went great and even though we were supposed to receive the keys on Monday, we got them on Saturday at 1:30 PM. The first walk into the house was surreal. I couldn't believe that this was OUR house. Ever since then, each time I open the garage door, I remind myself to be grateful, and to enjoy every minute of it!

Our big move with all of our furniture isn't until this Saturday, so we have been moving small boxes, painting, installing new light fixtures, and got our carpets steam cleaned yesterday. My parents surprised us and bought a brand new, energy efficient washer and dryer, so we were SO excited/thankful. Our realtor (B's Aunt), also surprised us and purchased some of the new light fixtures for us. Here is the chandelier we picked out to hang over the kitchen table...

And we chose this light to put at the top of our staircase... Tonight we will be doing some more painting, and then tomorrow I am cooking our first meal at the house, and we are introducing the pups to their first house together!

This is normally how our time with the dogs goes...

Tink is being the perfect gentleman, while Bucky is outta control crazy, haha. You've got to love them, though! P.S. Please ignore me looking like a hot mess. It was Tink's 3rd birthday party, and I was the party planner for our celebration at that park! :)

Hope everyone has a fabulous rest of the week!

The Christmas Pig

These past few weeks have been a blur, filled with fun memories and lots of great food! On my last post I left off at discussing B's birthday weekend. That Friday I surprised him and we ventured to Christmas at the zoo. We both have a huge passion for animals, so I thought this would be a fun thing for us to do together.

We looked at the animals and light displays, and shared a few sweet treats from The Outpost.

We then went to the White River Gardens and explored the beautiful greenery and flowers they on display for Christmas.

On Saturday, I confirmed our reservations at The Melting Pot, and we enjoyed a delicious, three course meal of the following:

Fiesta Cheese Fondue


Shrimp & Sirloin in Court Bouillon


Chocolate S'more Fondue with strawberries, cheesecake, rice krispie treats, marshmallows, and pound cake




It was a great birthday weekend together, and I look forward to many more with him!

The following weekend we headed up to Wisconsin to celebrate Christmas with B's family. We had a wonderful weekend, and received lots of items for our house. Since this is our first home, we are needing a lot of the basic necessities. To name a few, we received a crockpot, food processor, spice rack, extra spices, mixing bowls, blankets, wine rack, etc. We also went to a beautiful steak restaurant called Mr.B's. I was a little concerned about what I was going to order since I rarely eat meat, but I was happy to find a pasta section and tried their eggplant rigatoni with a side wedge salad. It was AMAZING. It was so creamy and flavorful, and I would definitely order it again. We also went a little early before our reservation and hit up the happy hour. I am so glad we did this because we were able to try the duck fat fries and steamed mussels for a fraction of the cost. I paired mine with a gingerbread flavored cocktail, and it was delicious.



This past weeekend was Christmas which was celebrated at my parents house. It was a pretty eventful weekend as I had offered to help babysit/foster an adorable piglet named Bacon. He came from a neglected household, and I could not possibly turn him down. Knowing nothing about pigs, I offered to help care for him, and quickly fell in love. However, the day before I picked him up, his foster mommy bathed him in puppy shampoo and he had a severe allergic reaction. Two days later, after waking up to him with a fever and seeing his small little body covered in bright red/orange blisters, I called her up and asked if she would nurse him back to heatlh. Because she was a vet tech at an exotic animal clinic, I felt she was much more equipped to care for the little guy, and emotions aside, I had to do what was best for him. That being said, I took him back to her house on Christmas morning, and cried the whole way home. This week, I am spending some time looking for a happy home for him, and can't wait to see him grow into a healthy young boar.



Here are two more photos of Bacon with my parents dog, Duke. They were the most unlikely pair, but became good friends in a few short days.





Anywho, that is what I have been up to the past few weeks. I have also tested/created some yummy dishes in between those weeks, and promise to post more recipes on my next post. Hope everyone has a great week, and a very happy and safe new year!

Big Ten Game & Lots of Food

Happy Tuesday, everyone!

It's another busy work week for me! Even though I have Friday off so we can celebrate Christmas in Wisconsin, I will still be working 40+ hours, on top of finishing up Christmas shopping, wrapping last minute gifts, running errands, and cooking things for my office to enjoy. I must admit, however, that despite the insanity, I do love this time of year.

Anywho, a few weeks ago we had family down from Wisconsin. The University of Wisconsin was playing in the Big Ten Championship football game, and we of course had to celebrate and cheer them on. It was great to see B's family and friends, and we had a wonderful time showing them around our town. This picture was taken outside in the cold while we were tailgating and watching the Marquette basketball game. They are such troopers! ;)



The morning of the game, I made a big breakfast consisting of a variety of juices, muffins, fruit salad, blueberry skillet coffee cake, and a creamy potato casserole. Everything tasted delicious, and it kept us full until we ate later that day.

The Blueberry Skillet Coffee Cake is a Paula Deen recipe, and is super easy and tasty. The recipe can be found at http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/paula-deen/easy-blueberry-skillet-cake-recipe/index.html or here:



Ingredients:

Streusel Topping:
1/4 cup slivered almonds
1/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) of unsalted butter
2 1/2 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Coffee Cake:
2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) of butter
1 tablespoon light brown sugar
1 (12-ounce) tube buttermilk biscuits
1 cup blueberries

Directions:

For the streusel topping: Combine the almonds, sugar, butter, flour, and cinnamon until large crumbs form.
For the coffee cake: Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
In a 9-inch cast-iron or other ovenproof skillet, cook the butter and brown sugar over medium heat until melted. Arrange the biscuits in a single layer in the skillet. Scatter the blueberries over the biscuits, and then distribute the streusel topping over the berries. Bake until the biscuits are golden, about 30 minutes. Allow to cool slightly and serve from the skillet.

The potato casserole was the perfect accompaniment to the coffee cake. I prepped it the night before, and popped it in the oven right before serving. I got the recipe at http://www.plainchicken.com/2011/11/creamy-potato-casserole-aka-football.html , and have also listed it below.

Ingredients:

1 (28-32oz) bag frozen shredded hash brown potatoes
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can cream of mushroom soup
16 oz sour cream
1 tsp pepper
1/2 cup butter, melted
2 cups corn flakes, crushed
1/4 cup butter, cubed

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375. Mix all ingredients, except corn flakes, and spread into a lightly greased 9x13 pan. Top with crushed cornflakes and dot with cubed butter. Bake uncovered for 45 minutes.

Tomorrow is B's 28th birthday, and my mom wanted to have him over for his favorite meal. This past weekend I took him to Christmas at the Zoo on Friday, and the Melting Pot for a 3 course fondue dinner on Saturday. We had a wonderful time, and I am so lucky to have him as my partner. More pictures to come later :)

Italian Dinner, Upcoming Vacation, Food Trucks

Well, it is finally Thursday. This week has seemed to drag on and on. After work today I am taking photos with a friend to submit in a contest. The photos are supposed to accentuate your eyes, and all proceeds go towards the campaign for preventing blindness. If you feel inclined, you can vote for me at https://www.360photocontest.com/page/viewIndex/secure/on/contestId/108/clear/1 as soon as I submit my photo.


These past few weeks have been a whirlwind, and I find myself rarely at home, and always going to bed way too late. You only live once, right?! Here are few updates:

-It has been 1.5 months, and we still have not heard anything back regarding the short sale house. We did, however, find another house we are very interested in. This house is located in the same neighborhood as the short sale property, and we concluded that we would wait 2 more weeks, and then consider putting an offer on the other house.

-My mom's birthday was last week. On Sunday, I made a big fat Italian dinner for my parents, B & myself. The menu included:

Appetizers: Mozzarella Tomato Tartlets, Olives Imported from Italy
Entrees: Chicken Parmesan, Tomato Basil Pasta
Sides: Ceasar Salad, Garlic Parmesan Breadsticks
Desserts: Raspberry Torte, Limone Biscotti

Everything turned out delicious, and I set up the table using Italian fabrics/products. It was a cuter version of this...



-I, along with my mom, will be visiting my dad's mother who lives in Pennsylvania the second week of October. We will be staying at my half-sister's (yes, that is a real word. she is my dad's daughter from his first marriage) house in Maryland. We are going up for a 4 day weekend, and we will be spending all day Saturday in New York. I am so excited to see my family, shop, & eat some delicious cuisine!

-My latest obsession in the world of food are food trucks. Food trucks are relatively new to Indy and to my knowledge, there are 12 trucks. Although they aren't always inexpensive, they serve up a variety of dishes and flavors, and are always made right to order. To date, I have tried 2 trucks, Scratch and West Coast Tacos. I have decided to do a reveiw of sorts, and will report back more after I attend the Food Truck Fest on October 7.

I ate at the Scratch truck a few weeks back. I had the spicy chicken cone and hand cut fries, with basil lemonade. I was impressed that the menu had such a variety of options such as a burger topped with arugala & gorgonzola cheese, a BLT with pancetta, and a pork meatball sandwich. The chicken cone was very good, but I felt it could have used some more greens or rice, or something else besides chicken in a tortilla shell. The french fries were served piping hot, and the lemonade was very good, even if it was basil flavoring instead of fresh basil. All in all, I would give this truck a B+, and am definitely looking forward to trying more of their fresh creations.

A co-worker and I ate at West Coast Tacos yesterday afternoon. I settled on the sesame chicken burrito, and my friend got the pulled pork burrito. Overall, I was quite disappointed. Although I enjoyed the spicy flavor of the burrito, both of our burritos were very dry, and needed to be topped with a salsa or sour cream. I was also disappointed that there were so few options available. There were 4 different types of burritos, but they offered up no side dishes or interesting drink options. I had high hopes for this truck, but because of the well combined flavors, I would still give them a C+.


Well, that is all for now. Back to work I go! Stay tuned next week for some quick and healthy recipes!