Settling In...

Well, we have officially lived in our house for 12 days, and I am absolutely in love with it. Although we were unpacked and organized in 2 short days, I took last week off from work (my first full 5 days away from work EVER!) and had a staycation. It was such a wonderful week, but now I am craving a vacation to a sunny destination. My week went something like this:

Monday: Searched for the perfect color of turquoise pillows to accent our master bedroom comforter. I ended up finding them at Pier 1. They were marked at 20% off, and I was able to use my 20% off coupon on top of that, making them a great price overall. They were exactly what I was looking for :)

Tuesday: Headed out by myself for a day of shopping. I went to the Christmas Tree Store, Garden Ridge & Old Time Pottery. Words can not express my love for OTP. Everything is so inexpensive, and they have a wide variety of styles to suit any one's tastes. For dinner I decided to make up a recipe in order to get rid of the eggplant I had sitting in my fridge. I coated the eggplant in flour, pan fried it in olive oil, and served it on top of penne rigate with homemade tomato sauce. It was easy, healthy, and very tasty!

Wednesday: Spent the morning at the gym with my mom, then treated her to a light lunch. We spent the rest of the day cleaning around the house, taking the dogs for a run, and talking about anything & everything. I love her.

Thursday: Ran some errands with B's Aunt. Later, she and her partner came over for dinner, and I made a 4 course meal. We had fondue as an appetizer, followed by a Ceasar salad, creamy chicken & mushrooms with angel hair pasta & garlic green beans, and finished with chocolate bread pudding with vanilla bean ice cream & an orange sauce. It was all delicious, if I do say so myself, and they stayed until midnight dancing in our kitchen and playing scrabble. They are a riot!

Friday: I treated my Dad to lunch in exchange for his assistance hanging up hooks and shelves. Two of my girlfriends then came over that evening for a few cocktails, followed by sushi at our favorite restaurant. We were supposed to go out afterwards, but we decided to stay in and relax at my house. Lame, I know ;)

Saturday: B and I headed downtown Indy to explore the Superbowl festivities. It was insane. There were so many people, lots of great food, and even better entertainment. We had a blast!

We followed up our evening by eating at a fabulous restaurant where I experienced the best sweet potatoes of my life. I have a weird obsession with sweet potatoes, and these made me very, very happy!

Sunday: SUPERBOWL! Not that I am a huge sports fan, and I definitely didn't care about either of the teams, but I am always ready to cook/entertain for my family and friends. We had 3 couples over that evening, and the menu was as follows:

• Cream Cheese Wontons


• Stuffed Baked Potatoes


• Hooters Wings w/ Blue Cheese


• Queso & Tortilla Chips


• Baked Macaroni Bites


• Vegetable Platter


• Chocolate Chip Chunks

Now that my vacation is over, I am catching up on things at work, and already looking forward to the weekend. Hope everyone has a happy Thursday!

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 :)