The Mobile Morrisons

Supper Sunday (6/52)

2012-02-12T20:11:00.000-06:00

2012 Week #6

Sunday— Bacon and Butternut Pasta

Less meat, more flavor; the bacon in this dish really served to setoff the other flavors well. We also used an organic butternut squash, and it truly tasted a lot better than a regular ole butternut squash--worth the investment. The best part of this dish was that it tasted just the same the next night for dinner, and it was even good as a lunch the day after that.

Monday— Leftovers
Tuesday— Pistachio Crusted Eggplant Cutlets

First off, I cut these wrong. The cutlets, I am pretty sure, should be round--not the spear shape I created. But the taste was really nice: the sun-dried tomato-roasted red pepper-garlic paste had a nice flavor. One that I think could work on a lot of other things!

Wednesday—Leftovers
Thursday—Sobremesa-BBQ Pulled Pork Sliders w/ Coleslaw

We tried out a new collection of low calorie slow cooker recipes by giving this BBQ pulled pork dish a try. It was a hit (judging by the fact most of it got eaten). And while it was not too saucy, it was tasty and moist.

Friday—French 75s/Parade/Art Walk/Dinner out
~~Saturday~~ Sunday breakfast—Breakfast Pizza

A favorite breakfast staple... enough said.

~~Saturday dinner—Buffalo Chicken and Rice~~ Parades and Lunch leftovers
Weekly cocktail— Jamaica Coffee

Since A's mom was in town for the weekend, we decided to use two of her favorites -- coffee and kahlua. Pretty simple, and not bad for a coffee cocktail.

2012 Week #7

Sunday— Buffalo Chicken and Rice
Monday—Chili Bean-Stuffed Peppers
Tuesday— Leftovers
Wednesday—Sesame-Ginger Turkey Wraps
Thursday—Leftovers
Friday—Dinner with Friends
Saturday breakfast—Mushroom, Bacon and Swiss Strata
Weekly cocktail—Salty Chihuahua

February 11, 2012

2012-02-12T18:07:00.004-06:00

Beads drying from the night before-this is just the tip of the iceberg. We already had boxes of beads, trash bags full of stuffed animals, tons of footballs, what seems like a million plastic cups, and bags (and boxes) of moon pies and we were only four days into parades.

Our friend has made it his personal goal to cover this light by the end of Mardi Gras. I'm pretty sure he'll succeed.

McGruff is here to let us know afternoon parades are about to start,

Hey, did y'all know there are parades in Mobile, Alabama right now? Yeah, sorry but they've taken over our lives so yes they are taking over the blog too.

Took the picture too late but this "poor" man jumped the barricades and his way back got both feet stuck. He literally had to be picked up. He was probably embarrassed but we enjoyed the "show".

He was lucky he wasn't taken away in the paddy wagon like Mickey.

It was COLD and WINDY but we braved both to watch the Maids of Myrth

And the Order of the Butterfly Maidens

And mom and Dad still had smiles on their faces so I guess the enjoyed it despite the less than desirable weather.

February 10, 2012

2012-02-12T17:55:00.000-06:00

Another day of parade watching with my parents. Friends came over again and we had drinks, snacks, and good discussion/laughs. Unfortunately, it was rainy so we spent the majority of our time inside waiting on the parade. That is a perk of the balcony though. No going out until the parade rolled, so we were all dry and happy.

Christine and Teddy came over after the parade and before they headed to a ball. Here Christine is wearing her rain jacket, has her heels in hand with flip flops on her feet, and is crowned with a glow stick necklace. I'd say she's ready.

February 9, 2012

2012-02-12T17:48:00.001-06:00

My parents came to visit and were introduced to their first Mardi Gras parade-Order of Polka Dots. The weather was good, the floats impressive, and throws abundant-beads, cups, frisbees, stuffed animals, and of course moon pies.

They were also introduced to our Spanish Dinner Club friends and their spouses/significant others. I truly enjoy spending time with this group so I was very happy they were my parents first impression of Mobile hospitality.

February 8, 2012

2012-02-12T17:42:00.002-06:00

T loves Jeopardy and of course I had to watch with him when my alma matter was on one of the college episodes. T had no faith in the North Texas girl going into final jeopardy. I knew she could do it.

And she did. Sorry Cal Poly and Columbia. Go Mean Green!

February 7, 2012

2012-02-12T17:39:00.000-06:00

The Mobile allergies strike again. This, plus three other allergy medications filled today, better take care of things because I'm tired of being run down, stuffy, and miserable. Gulf Coast mold is just not my favorite thing and I'm ready to finally beat it.

February 6, 2012

2012-02-12T17:34:00.003-06:00

Do y'all remember that T, has in the past, passive-aggressively tried to get me to quit my Diet Dr. Pepper habit by "forgetting" to buy them when we go grocery shopping? Well...I have him fooled with the new(ish) job because there is a coke machine in one of the rooms I use to treat kids...I win!

February 5, 2012

2012-02-12T17:30:00.003-06:00

Despite all the fun of Mardi Gras, there is a dirty side. And this year it is our balcony. They often throw bags of peanuts which break on impact and then people inadvertently step on them. This leaves us with tons of broken peanut shells to sweep. Watch out below!

Supper Sunday (5 of 52)

2012-02-05T20:42:00.003-06:00

2012 Week #5

Sunday— Dinner at M & M’s
Monday— Vietnamese Pork Tacos

Our usual MO when it comes to pork in a crockpot is Latin. So when we came across this Vietnamese taco--a play on the classic Bánh mì--we chose to shake up things a bit. It paid off. The pork was very tasty (cooking all day in a mixture including fish sauce) and, of course, even better the next day . . and the day after that (for lunch). But the veggies, especially the carrots we pickled, really did it.

Tuesday— Leftovers
Wednesday—Hashbrown Casserole with Bacon, Onion and Cheese

I love hashbrowns; I absolutely love them. So when A. added this to the list as a filler--not expecting much--I was at least happy I was getting hashbrowns. Well, we were both surprised how good this was. I mean, it didn't set the world on fire. But, if you are in the mood for breakfast for dinner--or want to use this as a breakfast--it was solid; absolutely solid!

Thursday—Leftovers
Friday—Carnival Kickoff/Buffalo Chicken Dip/Shrimp Dip

Speaking of getting outside of your comfort zone . . . that is exactly what we did when it came to making a few dips for our Carnival Kickoff party (first Mardi Gras parade of the season). We tend to always make some sort of spicy queso with sausage. But, for this party, we wanted to make some Mobile staples (from the Mobile Bay Monthly cookbook we picked up a few Art Walks back).

And if you look closely above, you will not see one jalapeno or block of Velveeta!

First up, we have a shrimp dip . . . kind of like a Gulf version of a Tex-Mex seven layer dip. Very tasty.

Next up, is a pretty standard buffalo chicken dip. This was not as unique as the shrimp dip, but it balanced it out well. (And we were a little shocked that so many of our guests Friday night actually have shellfish allergies; we just figured that such an allergy couldn't exist for residents of Mobile! So having this dip handy was appreciated.)

COW—Beer margaritas

Ok, back to our roots . . . this is a pretty standard beer margarita recipe. It packs a punch, and if you have never tried beer ritas, you should, especially if a regular rita is usually too limy for you. The beer really does mellow out the lime taste, nicely.

2012 Week #6

Sunday— Bacon and Butternut Pasta
Monday— Leftovers
Tuesday— Pistachio Crusted Eggplant Cutlets
Wednesday—Leftovers
Thursday—Sobremesa-BBQ Pulled Pork Sliders w/ Coleslaw
Friday—French 75s/Parade/Art Walk/Dinner out
Saturday breakfast—Breakfast Pizza
Saturday dinner—Buffalo Chicken and Rice
Weekly cocktail— Jamaica Coffee

February 4, 2012

2012-02-05T17:54:00.000-06:00

If y'all get tired of Mardi Gras pictures y'all may want to check back after the 21st! The parades are basically in our backyard so we have no choice but to embrace it. It's a good thing that we truly enjoy them though.

Saturday came with three more parades. We had neighbors and a couple of friends over to watch and it was another good day/night of ringing cow bells (to get the paraders attention), catching throws, and eating moon pies (well, not by me-I haven't caught any peanut butter or mint ones yet).

T thought this shirt was hilarious.

Christine just moved here from New York a few weeks ago so this is her first Mardi Gras. So glad we get to be a part of it with her.

Okay, well give you a break from parade pics for the next couple of days. Next one isn't until Thursday so we get a breather before they go non-stop.

February 3, 2012--the 600th post!

2012-02-05T17:39:00.001-06:00

Getting ready for work I needed to multi-task. T thought it was funny and immediately went for the camera. Of course he did.

Parades have finally started and we were lucky enough to have these friends over to help us celebrate the first one.

Andy was happy with the random stuffed animal he caught.

The bands are always a favorite of mine.

Obviously Andy wasn't the only one who caught a stuffed animal. We all piled up our loot at the end to see how much we caught. As you can tell, we didn't do too shabby (I have no idea what we're going to do with all this stuff at the end of the season. I know the pile is just going to keep growing so we need to figure out something.)

Now that the season has officially started we finally topped the tree. Well, actually James topped the tree. We were all hanging out after the parade and I looked over and he was finishing the tree for us. I thought it was funny and I was really happy he did it. What is the topper, you're wondering?

Mr. Joe Cain. BTW-Thanks goes out to Ariel for making it for us.

Happy Mardi Gras and Happy 600th post!

February 2, 2012

2012-02-05T17:17:00.003-06:00

Most of you know I drive quite a bit for work now. I've enjoyed getting to see a little more of lower Alabama and the sights I see are...um...interesting.

February 1, 2012

2012-02-01T20:35:00.001-06:00

February 1, 2012

Look closely.

We got a new hook to hang our Mardi Gras door decoration.

Using the longer one caused the decor to hit the door knob. And while we were afraid it would mess up the decoration, let's be honest, it was annoying when we opened, closed, and locked the door.

Lesson learned; Sometimes size matters.

You may recall this isn't our first encounter with this life lesson.

By the way, did y'all know the shorter the cork in a wine bottle the worse the wine? I know, random, but the size of the hooks made me think of our post from last year and that little fun fact. You're welcome.

January 31, 2012

2012-02-01T20:19:00.002-06:00

January 31, 2012

A former colleague of mine texted me a simple message last night, "Are you watching???". No context what-so-ever. I don't want to tell you what show she was referring to or how I knew exactly what she was talking about because we have four degrees between the two of us and we should be ashamed to watch something like this. That being said, of course, my answer to her was "Yes!!!!". We continued to give each other our analysis/opinions of the show and ended with making plans for me to go to her house next week to meet her new 1 week old baby boy. Pays off to watch trash TV ~~from time to time~~ because now I get to spend some QT with my friend and her precious new addition.

BTW-We blurred out part of the message because I texted her son's name and we try not to put kids names on the blog.

January 30, 2012

2012-02-01T20:04:00.004-06:00

January 30, 2012

So A. always complains that I keep it too cool. I may. But in my defense, with the way the temperature fluctuates in Mobile, it's hard to keep up. However, A. was right . . . it was cold (the picture was taken after it warmed up).

And while it wasn't quite like this:

Which was the temperature in our house in Dallas when we moved out in February 2010 (in the middle of a regular Texas snowmageddon) . . . it "felt" close to it.

January 29, 2012

2012-02-01T19:52:00.002-06:00

January 29, 2012

So, can you get in trouble walking down the street with a pitcher of beer margaritas and a baggie full of lime wedges? While I doubt, especially Downtown and during the lead-up to Mardi Gras, luckily, we did not run into the law on the way to M&M's for dinner.

January 28, 2012--Top of the Hops

2012-01-30T19:58:00.002-06:00

January 28, 2012

Round Two of this past weekend consisted of traveling to Biloxi for the 2nd Annual Top of the Hops Beer Festival . . . it forced us to rally on the heels of Osiris, and we were paying for it come Sunday (and Monday and, likely, will be on Tuesday-laundry doesn't do itself if you don't do it on the weekends)

But it was a lot of fun; it was also, no lie, a great learning experience . . . three words folks: Bayou Teche Biere (not to take anything away from great local options like Lazy Magnolia or Heiner Brau or, even, Alabama's own Back Forty) . . . just stay clear of the Bud Light Lime, folks.

Our friend James, taking his beer judging role seriously

Supper Sunday (4 of 52)

2012-01-30T19:41:00.001-06:00

2012 Week #4

Sunday breakfast—Breakfast quesadilla

This week, we paid our old pal Hungry Girl a visit--she typically has some pretty decent low cal breakfast options. And, not to take anything away from HG's intellectual property, I refuse to call this things by the name she gave it: "Nice to See Ya! Quesadilla" . . . anyway . . . it was good. But we screwed up a little by using too small tortillas (and we used real eggs). A. was actually even okay with the use of the sour cream because it was all mixed up

Sunday— Onion Soup and Caesar Salad (from Chef Supreme, a tribute to Martin Ginsburg, see here and here)

My dad gave me Chef Supreme for Christmas (do yourself a favor and listen to the NPR story behind this cookbook, see first link above). I knew Martin Ginsburg, who died in 2010, was one of the best tax attorneys in the country and someone who didn't take himself too seriously (see below, excerpts from his infamous, I think, Georgetown Law online bio):

“Professor Ginsburg attended Cornell University, stood very low in his class and played on the golf team. He graduated magna cum laude from Harvard Law School which, in those years, did not field a golf team.

“Professor Ginsburg entered private practice in New York City in 1958. He withdrew from full-time practice when appointed the Beekman Professor of Law at Columbia Law School and moved to Georgetown University in 1980 when his wife obtained a good job in Washington. …

“In 1993, the National Women’s Political Caucus gave Professor Ginsburg its ‘Good Guy’ award; history reveals no prior instance of a tax lawyer held to be a ‘Good Guy,’ or even a ‘Decent Sort.’ …

“Professor Ginsburg’s spouse was a lawyer before she found better work. Their older child was a lawyer before she became a schoolteacher. The younger child, when he feels grumpy, threatens to become a lawyer.”

Of course, his wife is Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg (who, in 1980, was appointed to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals--which most folks consider to be, effectively, the second highest federal court in the land). His daughter is a well-respected law professor in her own right. Anyway . . .

He was also one heck of a cook (a self-taught cook, whose wife didn't cook . . . sound familiar?).

The two recipes we attempted were two of the easiest in the book (he has a four-page recipe for beignets!). The results were great, and the process very well explained/easy to follow. We will definitely try to use the book again . . . when we have the time to really dig in; it's an old school time suck!

Monday— Leftovers
Tuesday— Crock Pot Chicken Enchilada Soup

We will definitely add this to our regular rotation of crock pot soups and stews. Very good. And very painless . . . perfect week night combination.

Wednesday—Leftovers
Thursday—~~Fettuccine in Black Pepper Chardonnay Cashew Nut Sauce with Asparagus, Red Bell Pepper and Spinach~~

I swear we will make this recipe . . . just couldn't fit it in this week.

Friday—Osiris Ball

A picture like this always seems to crop up after the Osiris ball (scroll all the way to the bottom)!

COW—French 75

This was excellent . . . it was pretty easy to pull off and, even better, it actually tasted like the real thing! Here's the deal--fill your champagne flute with ice; combine 1 oz. cognac, 3/4 oz. simple syrup (dissolve equal parts sugar into hot water), and 1/2 oz. fresh lemon juice and shake in a cocktail shaker; dump out your ice; fill your flute; and then top with champagne.

Since the color turned out to be a nice yellow/gold, we chose to top them with blackberries. So, we ended up with a Mobile Mardi Gras-appropriate color scheme! (No green in Mobile's MG palate.)

COW Lagniappe— Blood Orange/Winter Sangria

Yet another sangria recipe! Easy to pull off . . . but we over did it with the strawberries (way more than the recipe called for) . . . and too many strawberries can be a bad thing; it actually gave it a little of a syrupy taste . . . which we resolved by adding vodka . . . kind of sounds like the Old Lady Who Swallowed A Fly.

2012 Week #5

Sunday— Dinner at M & M’s
Monday— Vietnamese Pork Tacos
Tuesday— Leftovers
Wednesday—Hashbrown Casserole with Bacon, Onion and Cheese
Thursday—Leftovers
Friday—Carnival Kickoff/Buffalo Chicken Dip/Shrimp Dip
COW—Beer margaritas

January 27, 2012-Osiris Ball

2012-01-29T16:33:00.000-06:00

January 27, 2012

Isn't this door decoration gorgeous? On Thursday, the lady that we rent our unit from asked if we were interested in one. T told her we wanted a purple and gold one and gave no other requests/specifications. The very next day she dropped by with the above that she made the night before. It's amazing! Plus, she was so sweet and actually tried to drop by to put it on our door as a surprise.

However we, and some of our friends, were at the place...um, well...as Ariel put it "warming-up".

We had a masked ball to attend! Ari and Cai didn't bring masks. Tsk. Tsk.

We all had to take pictures in front of the tree.

I love this picture but am sad that the tree isn't completely decorated yet. Ariel is helping me make the tree topper and I need more moon pies (I never ever thought those words would come out of my mouth-y'all know I've officially embraced life in Mobile, Alabama now).

Fun note-Twelve years ago Lesley and I attended a formal event together which involved Mardi Gras masks and us pre-partying at my apartment beforehand. Funny how life repeats itself in unexpected ways.

Just like last year, the members of Osiris asked that no one take pictures inside the event*. Just know there were elaborate table dressings, open bars, dancing, blue blow up aliens, confetti, gifts for the guests, and of course more feather boas (T did not get asked if he got into a fight with a bird when he turned in his tux this year though). We only made it home with two of the five masks we brought and one of those two somehow ended up on the blow-up alien which I think has a new home in West Mobile now. But our friend did place the last mask on our tree as a reminder of a wonderful night and fabulous kick-off to the season.

*Of course someone in our group did sneak some pictures inside again this year. I obviously won't post them but I can't wait to see them!

January 26, 2012

2012-01-26T20:21:00.000-06:00

January 26, 2012

This has to be the most "unique" Mardi Gras flag I've seen . . . what's the word? Whimsical? (Now to figure out how to hang it.)

January 25, 2012

2012-01-26T20:17:00.000-06:00

January 25, 2012

For longtime fans of the blog, you will remember this post (from before we moved here). It's kind of a fun song, and Dylan is one of my favorites (not in concert). But the significance of the picture above is that it was the first song to pop-up on Pandora that morning for me (totally random)!

However, being "stuck inside of Mobile" isn't so bad . . . especially when, at the end of the day, you are doing some last minute shopping after learning that you will be hosting a little pre-party for a Mardi Gras Ball Friday night . . .

January 24, 2012

2012-01-26T20:04:00.000-06:00

January 24, 2012

And the State of the Union is . . . well, a tradition in our household. See here . . .

For the record, check out the NY Times' factcheck of the speech; not one of my favorites of his, but hey, it's an election year, you have to lower your expectations!

January 23, 2012

2012-01-23T19:34:00.001-06:00

January 23, 2012

On my way home from a comfortably productive work day at the beach, I was greeted by a rainbow. You won't hear any complaints from me. Life is good.

January 22, 2012

2012-01-23T19:24:00.000-06:00

January 22, 2012

Today's life improvement task was to straighten up the pantry (and, yes, we still absolutely love having a dedicated pantry). While we did not take any "before shots," when we moved in it looked a little something like this (scroll down); I'd say we have expanded!

And here is a gratuitous "Extreme Couponing" shot . . . notice the economy collection of paper towels!

Supper Sundays (3 of 52)

2012-01-22T12:56:00.000-06:00

2012 Week #3

Sunday— Dinner with friends: Frito Pie and Jalapeno Cornbread

This was just about the perfect recipe for chili to be ladled over fritos for that Texas classic, The Frito Pie (we called them "Frito Chili Pies" growing up, but I guess Frito Pie sounds more sophisticated). Anyway, we were worried at first because the chili was a little runny, but it cooked down nicely. The only thing I would consider changing is cutting down a little on the clove (I may have inadvertently put in more than the recipe calls for) and--if we were having this at home without guest--upping the heat slightly; not too much though.

The finished product, with the requisite condiments! (As with a good bowl of pho, the "condiments" are what makes the dish here.)

A. found this random recipe online, and I had my doubts. But it was very good. The recipe calls for 3 jalapenos deseeded, and while we stopped at 3, we did not deseed two of those. We also added cayenne pepper to the dry ingredients and a dash or two of Tabasco to the wet ingredients. The result was good heat, but not too much for our non-Texan guests!

Monday— Leftovers or Frozen Pizza
Tuesday—Enchilada Casserole ~~and Spicy Black beans~~

This was interesting . . . I know, I know . . . it just looks like a small mountain of meat. And while, basically, that's true, we did screw up by buying too small tortillas. So we have more layers than the recipe calls for. And that resulted in a mini-meaty avalanche.

But while it may not be the prettiest dish in the world, it did taste pretty good. We also followed one of the suggestions in the comments and did a layer of cheese in the middle. That was a good call.

When we made this, we decided to split it as one meal and forgo the leftovers (not sure how this would have done as leftovers). We told ourselves that we would convert the beans into some sort of salad for Thursday . . .

Wednesday— Sobremesa
Thursday— ~~Leftovers~~ Dinner out

But, as you dear reader know too well, "[t]he best laid plans of [T. and A.] often go awry." So we got tacos . . . and then headed to pint night, where, as you also know--from posts earlier this week--A. was the big winner!

Friday—Happy Hour-Groupon Night
Saturday breakfast—Mediterranean-Style Poached Eggs

Good concept. But too tomato-y for my taste. If we do a poaching dish like this again, we will probably stick with our second attempt at the Ox Eyes (basically eggs poached in a favorite salsa).

COW—Texas Tea

How could one go wrong with that cast of characters? Truly, you can't! This drink, like the more traditional Long Island, is way too smooth, and goes down way too easy, for your own good. Be careful. (Notice the use of Austin-based tequila and Mexican coke!)

2012 Week #4

Sunday breakfast—Breakfast quesadilla
Sunday— Onion Soup and Caesar Salad (from Chef Supreme, a tribute to Martin Ginsburg, see here and here)
Monday— Leftovers
Tuesday— Crock Pot Chicken Enchilada Soup
Wednesday—Leftovers
Thursday—Fettuccine in Black Pepper Chardonnay Cashew Nut Sauce with Asparagus, Red Bell Pepper and Spinach
Friday—Osiris Ball
COW—French 75

January 21, 2012

2012-01-21T21:56:00.002-06:00

January 21, 2012

Sneak preview of the Mardi Gras decor in the Morrison household...full pics when everything is complete.

And while we were up on the balcony enjoying the unseasonably warm weather, we heard a brass band in the not so far distance . . . and had to go down to see what was up.

Not sure exactly what this celebration was . . . too late for Twelfth Night, but maybe this was the Mobile equivalent? Regardless, it was fun.

January 20, 2012

2012-01-21T21:50:00.001-06:00

January 20, 2012

WINNER, WINNER, CHICKEN DINNER! Y'all know I was excited to see this the day after winning the tickets.

Instead of playing "Where's Waldo?," Laura and I were playing "Where's Ben?" He finally showed up at Buck's. I love chamber's get-togethers.

January 19, 2012

2012-01-19T22:09:00.002-06:00

January 19, 2012

Tonight we were--finally--a table of winners; big winners! Christine walked away with a very trucker-esque hat, and A. walked away with the same plus two tickets to the Top of the Hops Beer Festival in Biloxi! Thanks, Hopjacks! And thanks, Lazy Magnolia!

Now, we need to determine if we can pull off our first Mardi Gras ball of the season and a beer festival the next day . . . remember last year?

January 18, 2012

2012-01-19T21:56:00.001-06:00

January 18, 2012

This week's addition of Sobre Mesa was brought to you by gifts! Yes, multiple gifts. The first was a Spanish calendar from Jen's relatives in El Paso (very cool), and the second was in the form of a very thoughtful collection of German items (i.e., chocolates and other related goodies). There's nothing wrong with leaving dinner with unexpected gifts in hand . . .

January 17, 2012

2012-01-17T20:05:00.000-06:00

January 17, 2012

Got a new issue of Vegetarian Times today!

We were worried because we knew we had renewed our subscription earlier in the fall but we weren't receiving any new magazines even though we thought we should be by now. Obviously, we were worried for no reason but y'all know us...we take our food seriously!

I use the website but I still like receiving the magazine because it draws my attention to recipes I wouldn't normally notice and to ones that are appropriate for the season/weather. After flipping through the pages this afternoon, I'm already thinking about herbed-goat cheese fondue for a Saturday night date at home....I would have never looked for something like that on the website!

January 16, 2012

2012-01-16T19:21:00.000-06:00

January 16, 2012

Okay, we've been blogging since November 2009. For the most part we keep it light and airy around here just highlighting the little moments of daily life that we want to remember. But I've decided that today I need to take the blog in a slightly different direction. I hope y'all don't mind.
I'm not someone who likes to admit they need help. It makes me uncomfortable and I honestly avoid it at all costs. But I realize the time has come for me to be real and make myself vulnerable to what's really going and open each of you up to it also. I also decided that this is personal enough that I should use true verbal communication instead of trying to write it all down. This is long...kind of...about 2 1/2 minutes.

First, please excuse the yoga pants and t-shirt. It's a holiday so I'm off work and this was as dressed up as I was getting. Okay, now my weakness is out. I can't do hair. That's why I've basically had the same hair style for 33 years. It just gets longer or shorter. Since being in Mobile, I've gone crazy and added a few layers. That was a big step people. All I ever do to style it is curl it under with a curling iron, straighten it, or put it in a ponytail.

Want to see what happened with the hot rollers?

Here is my hair in the curlers from the front.

And here it is from the back. It shouldn't look like that should it?

I was going for the long and wavy look so I did the one roll on top and just could not make my hair go into 3-4 more curlers only so I guess I did some hybrid of the long/wavy and short/chic directions. After I took the curlers out, I just ran my fingers through my hair.

And the final product?

Left side-not too bad. The left side of my hair always looks better than the right normally.

And curled is no different. What happened????

The back.

This picture is deceiving. It was much much worse in real life. T kept looking at me and saying, "I just can't get over how asymmetrical it is."

And the FINAL final product.

Up in a ponytail because I just could not handle the hot mess that was the right side of my head. Seriously, I was afraid if I walked outside a bird would try to make a nest out of my hair. The hair-down style lasted approximately 20 minutes.

So please, if y'all care about me and my hair at all please give me clear directions/advice. If you live in Mobile feel free to come on over to show me what to do. I'll provide wine and cheese as tokens of appreciation.

BTW-Thanks for letting me open myself up to all of you. I feel lighter now that my secret is out.

P.S. Please note the use of sarcasm in this post. This is not a serious problem at all. However, I sincerely do want advice.

P.P.S-Has my accent become more pronounced since moving to Mobile??? I've always had an accent but when I heard that video...Oh My!

January 9-15, 2012

2012-01-16T14:28:00.000-06:00

January 9, 2012

BCS Game at Heroes

We were invited to Evan and Drew's home to watch the game but I just couldn't commit to going out on a "school night". I would have loved to see them but it turned out better that we didn't go because I only lasted to halftime before I walked home to immediately go to sleep. Lame, I know. We were joined by three others though so it was nice that T was able to stay and hang out with the guys.

It was fun to watch Alabama win another BCS title (or at least the part of the game I watched) and I think it's really cool that between Alabama winning in 2009/2011 and Auburn winning in 2010 the championship team has been from Alabama the last three years (every year since we found out we were moving here). Oh, I almost forgot....ROLL TIDE ROLL!

January 10, 2012

The next day our picture* with our friend, Teddy, was on the Press Register website.

Sure wish I had fixed my hair now. Some of you may remember this is not our first brush with Press Register fame?

* All credit goes to Press Register for this photo

January 11, 2012

My friend Gaylan and her husband, Nick, welcomed their son into the world on the 11th. I saw Gaylan every week of her pregnancy so of course T and I nixed dinner plans that night because we were excited to go to the hospital to meet Baby B and congratulate the parents.

And yes, look at that! I am holding a baby...an eight-hour-old baby...a baby without head control! There's something about that hospital and parents handing over babies to me (a patient's mom did this to me here once with her three week old daughter-the grandma saw the fear in my eyes and snatched that baby back up very quickly!). No, seriously Gaylan knew my rule and asked if I wanted hold him anyway. For some strange reason, I did. He was much more wiggly than I thought he would be. ~smiles~

January 12, 2012

Boring day/night. The most exciting thing that happened was I went to the grocery store to get the challah bread we ordered for breakfast on Saturday. Mmmm....it sure did smell good though.

January 13, 2012

We actually had a very exciting night of happy hour with lots of friends and then dinner with Kit and Jen. Of course, we didn't take any pictures though. So here's T prepping the french toast for Saturday once we got back from dinner.

January 14, 2012

T and I had a role reversal this weekend. Usually, I'm the one who drops everything to read. However, T told me he was going to read for just 15 more minutes and then we could go grocery shopping. Three hours later, we made our way to Publix after T finished his 900+ page book.

January 15, 2012

We had our friends, Katie and Derek, over for frito-chili pie and cornbread. Here T is getting ready to soak the ancho and morito dried chilis.

Can y'all believe it was Derek's first time to ever eat frito-pie?

T had to jump in the picture also.

This turned out really fun because we planned to have dinner together a couple of weeks ago probably and then that morning we were going through our blog (yes, we like to look back and reminiscence) and realized it was our one-year anniversary of meeting them! What a coincidence!

Supper Sundays (1 & 2 of 52)

2012-01-15T11:38:00.001-06:00

And we're back... with a vengeance. We are also adding a 2012 tweak: a new cocktail every week. Cocktails at home have been something we have wanted to experiment with for a while. And, if you think about it, doing these at home can really save you a ton of money (compared to going out for them; plus, going to bars does not have the same appeal it did when we were twenty-something)... also, who doesn't want to have an impressive liquor cabinet to show off?!

2012 Week #1

Sunday breakfast—Baked Eggs with Ham and Leeks

Great start to the 2012 meals. Savory and it's fun to have your own individual serving. By the way, we owe a shout out to WT for gracing us with the gift of the Big Joe--that's not perspective; that sucker is THAT big.

Sunday— Southern New Year’s Day Soup

This was added to the menu as an obligation (to New Year superstition)--while it already had greens (kale), black eyed peas, and tomatoes, A. decided to add long noodles (linguine), which provide for long life as long as you don't break them before you get them in your mouth. With all that, there wasn't much hope that it would be good. But it was, especially after we notched up the heat. So this--or some further tweaked version--could become a New Year's Day tradition.

Monday— Butternut Squash and Duxelles Casserole

This is another vegetarian option that tries to give you a faux meat experience. It was only okay. Enough said.

Tuesday—Leftovers
Wednesday— ~~Thai Curried Noodles with Broccoli and Tofu~~

I added this to the menu, and A. thought she could give tofu another chance. Then she accidentally touched it. And the gig was up.

Thursday— Leftovers
Friday—Dinner out
Saturday breakfast—Slow Cooked Rosemary Scrambled Eggs

This recipe provides a different way to scramble eggs. And if you have a little more time to try it, I suggest you do. While we cut the recipe in half, we forgot to cut down on the goat cheese, so these were VERY cheesy--which is never a problem for us!

Cocktail of the Week (COW)—Milwaukee Michelada

One of our good friend's beer eyes were bigger than his beer intake--at least in our company--on NYE. That left us with quite a few PBRs in the fridge. While I am normally known as a beer snob, I truly like PBR. And what I like more than PBR is using it in a michelada, which is--more or less--beer's answer to a Bloody Mary (vodka) or Bloody Maria (tequila).

For ours I use a modified version of my Bloody Mary base; basically everything except the vodka and garnish: Zing Zang mix, Worcestershire sauce, whatever hot sauce/Tabasco we have available, Tony Chachere creole seasoning, and fresh cracked black pepper. Add the extras first to a glass full of ice, then pour the mix to half full, and, finally, top with PBR. Stir with a swizzle. And add more PBR as you go.

2012 Week #2

Saturday—Texas-themed dinner party (Mia's Style Brisket Tacos, Texas "Baked" Beans, Guacamole Salad, S'mores Cookies)

We only managed to take a picture of the cookies--our first attempt at making cookies from scratch as a couple--which turned out great. But the rest of the items listed above are tried and true staples.

Sunday breakfast—Chocolate-Berry Oatmeal Brulee

A fun way to eat your oatmeal. But here is what I will do different next time: double or triple the amount of berries (every bite with berries AND oatmeal was great; oatmeal alone, just okay), find a better way to distribute the brown sugar on top--so it doesn't clump, and keep them under the broiler longer.

Sunday— Leftovers

Just a reminder that brisket tacos are SO much better as leftovers!

Monday— BCS game at Heroes
Tuesday—Dinner out
Wednesday— Dinner out
Thursday— Smothered Cajun-Spiced Squash

This was a lot of work. And the dish was only okay. The method for preparing the squash was good--and something I would consider doing again--but the smothering aspect of the dish was a little bland.

Friday—Happy Hour and Art Walk
Saturday breakfast—Apricot Brandy and Almond Baked French Toast

Easy to prepare (the night before) and a quick bake before serving help to make this dish a good brunch choice. It was pretty tasty too . . . and it was even better as leftovers!!

Saturday—Creamy Tomato-Basil Bisque and Pepperoni-Avocado Grilled Cheese

Pretty pictures, right? You should see the kitchen after the cluster that was preparing this (the soup only the grilled cheese was easy) . . . nuclear waste land. But we didn't give up. Even though I wanted to throw my hands up and opt for a frozen pizza. We pushed on (thanks to A.), and ended up with a tasty--and filling--little dinner.

One tweak for the sandwich: we did them on the panini press, which saves the avocado from slipping out when you flip the grilled cheese and means you don't have to use butter!

COW—A Lazy Man's Margarita

A. here- A sorority sister--who was later also a bridesmaid in our wedding--introduced me to the Lazy Man's Margarita in college. One of the perks of going to school in Texas was figuring out how to make cheap margaritas at home. Actually, I'm pretty sure it was a graduation requirement! (Shout out to Mom and Dad for your tuition funding; see, I got much more than simply those diplomas!)

Anyway, when Jen and I made them, we just added tequila to Simply Limeade and we were set for the evening. Then I introduced them to T., and he fancied it up a little but trust me it's still easy. The "fancy" version is, more or less, two parts tequila to one part cointreau, then just add the limeade . . .

2012 Week #3

Sunday— Dinner with friends: Frito Chili Pie and Jalapeno Cornbread
Monday— Leftovers or Frozen Pizza
Tuesday—Enchilada Casserole and Spicy Black beans
Wednesday— Sobremesa
Thursday— Leftovers
Friday—Happy Hour-Groupon Night
Saturday breakfast—Mediterranean-Style Poached Eggs
COW—Texas Tea

January 2-8, 2012

2012-01-08T19:54:00.005-06:00

January 2, 2012

I know it's a little early but we took down our Christmas decorations (because I had Monday off this week and decided to take advantage of it) so we already put out a couple small Mardi Gras decorations. Don't worry, we'll wait until after epiphany to go all out.

January 3, 2012

One last Christmas gift! Homemade candy and it is delicious. I was very upset when T "forgot" to put a piece in my lunch the next day.

January 4, 2012

Barricades up! Hope they're here to stay for a while. BTW-T was so excited about this he texted this picture to me on his lunch break.

January 5, 2012

I guess Ole Mobile took down her Christmas decorations and decided it was close enough to epiphany to decorate for Mardi Gras too.

January 6, 2012

T's colleague is cleaning out her desk (she's not leaving just tidying up) so she gave him some beads and hot sauce.

I decided the beads needed to go on our tree (we won't full out decorate it until closer to parade season but I couldn't resist).

January 7, 2012

Ariel's family is visiting from Bolivia so we had them, Ariel, Cai, Kit, and Jen over for dinner. Lucky for all of us there was a parade for the GoDaddy.com Bowl so we got to test out the balcony.

Ari caught some beads.

The university bands were awesome!

We learned a valuable lesson. No drinks no matter what on the balcony during parades. We didn't think too much would be thrown this night so people put their drinks on the window sill. Unfortunately, for the woman below we were wrong. Luckily, she was only slightly annoyed and even threw a stuffed animal back up to us that was thrown to us from a float but we missed catching. She was a good sport about it.

No, T doesn't think he's too cool for parades now. He just kept going back in to check on the food so he hung out in the doorway.

Gratuitous parade pic

January 8, 2012

Beautiful weather, leftovers, and a marathon finishing behind T (look closely if you can't see it) defined our afternoon. While it was very enjoyable, we've decided maybe we T should join the marathoners next year instead.

December 31, 2011 and Jan. 1, 2012

2012-01-08T19:33:00.001-06:00

December 31, 2011

NYE-very casual, nothing fancy, small get together at our place with friends.

The fog decided to join the party.

T is ready for the guests to arrive.

What better way to celebrate the end of one year and the beginning of another than with a parade? Doesn't get much better than that for us here in Mobile. We love parades and luckily so do our friends.

Seems Michael didn't get the throw he was soliciting in the picture above.

No worries, he just went and got it himself.

Mr. Moon Pie arrives again!

Andy and I enjoying the parade.

Like I said before, this was nothing fancy so we order pizza and waited for the Moon Pie drop.

Almost time! Here some of us are ready to head out.

Aww, the fog covered the Moon Pie.

Waiting to count down.

Oh! There it is!!!

Happy 2012!!!

January 1, 2012

Yes, this is what happens to us on the first. Holidays collide. We still have Christmas decorations up, NYE paraphernalia for the night's celebration, and Mardi Gras beads from the parades. It all makes us happy.

Kit, Jen, and Kevin were technically our first guests of the new year because they came over after the drop and had not been up before it. However, Mike was our first unexpected guest. Lucky for us (if you believe in the "first guest of the year" legend) all four have dark hair which is supposed to bring the most luck!

Mike dropped by because he wanted to watch The Hangover 2. We ended up having some Southern New Year's Soup (more on that with Supper Sunday) and then just hanging out watching the movie. It was a great way to start out the new year.

Supper Sunday (52/52)

2012-01-01T15:27:00.001-06:00

Since we have truly enjoyed our holidays, we do not have new recipes to share with you. We will, however, use this post to share with you our at-home-cooking highlights for the year that was 2011 . . .

The candidates (collected from a review of the blog; what do we remember? what stood out?):

Kale Lasagna
Eggs in Purgatory Re-Do
El Fenix Original Tacos
Seared Cauliflower w/ Olives & Breadcrumbs
Corn Bread, Chorizo, and Jalapeño Dressing
Grape Salad
Avocado-Spinach Panini
Eggplant and Goat Cheese Sandwiches (Revisited)
Slow-Cooker Texas Chili
Eggplant Parm
Butternut Squash Enchiladas
Smoky Stuffed Peppers
Walnut-Stuffed Eggplant
Spicy Pasta Cucumber Salad (see also here)
Shredded Beer-Braised Pork Soft Tacos
Breakfast Pizza
Antipasto-Style Penne
Pasta with Zucchini and Toasted Almonds
Red Pepper Egg-In-A-Hole
Mediterranean Pressed Picnic Sandwich
Melon Gazpacho with Frizzled Prosciutto
Baked Jalapeno Poppers
Hashbrown-Egg White-Nests (Revisited)
Cheesy Zucchini Enchiladas
Grilled Flank Steak with Tomatoes, Red Onion, and Balsamic
White Peach Sangria
Mexican Slow Cooker Pork Carnitas
Pasta with Cauliflower
Crock Pot "Baked" Potatoes
Spicy Dr. Pepper Shredded Pork
Eggs Blindfolded over Garlic Cheddar Grits
Slow-Cooker Green Chile Pork Enchiladas (see also here)
Tuscan Chicken Soup
Turkey Taco Meatloaf
Brisket Tacos
Cider-Glazed Chicken with Browned Butter-Pecan Rice
Tex-Mex Quinoa w/ Black Beans and Corn
Salmon 'n Bacon Sandwich
Quick-braised Broccoli with Sun-dried Tomatoes and Goat Cheese over quinoa

And the winners:

Best beverage--White Peach Sangria

Best breakfast--Breakfast Pizza (A) and Eggs Blindfolded over Garlic Cheddar Grits (T)

Best sandwich--Mediterranean Pressed Picnic Sandwich

Best weeknight (i.e., easy to prepare) meal--Avocado-Spinach Panini (as we said in the post: it is even better with good bread!)

Best crockpot meal--Shredded Beer-Braised Pork Soft Tacos

Best weekend (i.e., takes longer but worth it) meal--Grilled Flank Steak with Tomatoes, Red Onion, and Balsamic

Biggest dinner party hit--Melon Gazpacho with Frizzled Prosciutto

Best better the next day (i.e., we loves us some leftovers) meal--Spicy Pasta Cucumber Salad

Best bring to a potluck--Antipasto-Style Penne

Best nifty idea--Crock Pot "Baked" Potatoes

Grand Supreme Champion (ala Toddlers and Tiaras)--Brisket Tacos

New Year = New Meal Plan . . . Meal Plan Week #1

Sunday breakfast—Baked Eggs with Ham and Leeks
Sunday— Southern New Year’s Day Soup
Monday— Butternut Squash and Duxelles Casserole
Tuesday—Leftovers
Wednesday— Thai Curried Noodles with Broccoli and Tofu
Thursday— Leftovers
Friday—Dinner out
Saturday breakfast—Slow Cooked Rosemary Scrambled Eggs

December 27-30, 2011

2011-12-30T07:56:00.004-06:00

Y'all! This post has been sitting as a draft for quite sometime. I thought I completed and posted it but obviously I didn't. Anyway, here it is, quick and dirty because really it's so 2011 and we've moved on to 2012.

December 27, 2011

The Downtown Krispy Kreme closed and this made T and I sad. Not because we ever ate there because we never did but now we can't play our "Hot D*mn" game.

December 28, 201

These signs let us know parades are coming soon!

December 29, 2011

Some of my friends from work, their spouses, T, I went out to eat as a "Good-Bye" dinner since I'm leaving this place of employment and starting somewhere closer to home. T lost his knife during dinner. He assumed it went under the table...hmmm, I guess he was wrong. Gross.

December 30, 2011

Happy Birthday T!!!! Yes, I am an awesome gift giver/wife. No seriously, he asked for undershirts and I know he loves kitchen gadgets, gummie candy, and South Park so this totally counts as a good gift-especially considering we rarely exchange gifts.

December 23-26, 2011 (Christmas Trip to Dallas)

2011-12-30T07:46:00.003-06:00

December 23, 2011

Getting up at 2:30 in the morning to pack (yes, we're procrastinators) and make a 6:00 a.m. flight was pretty much insane...and tiring.

First stop-Chuy's!

Added bonus-We got to see these wonderful ADPi sisters. I love how we always get together when I'm in town.

No seriously, the Tex-Mex was the added bonus. Seeing these friends was a top priority. I've been friends with these ladies for so long and am just thrilled that moving to Alabama hasn't changed anything with these friendships.

Side note-I received a Texas charm to wear on a necklace and I love, love, love it. Thanks, OAm (and Pinterest)!

December 24, 2011

Last year we highlighted Facebook with pictures of my mom's side of the family during Christmas (they are in my "Family" album if you feel the need to reminisce). This year we decided to bombard y'all here on the blog with pics from my dad's side.

T will learn not to joke about my family members (yes more than one family member) getting hit by deer in their cars (on multiple occasions). If not he will continue to get hats that sing "Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer" as gifts. His choice.

Four of my favorites. Especially the two in the middle. C & C always provide us with Christmas Eve entertainment at Granny's house.

Christmas Eve dinner was complimented by Red Solo cups (but not the Toby Keith variety-ours contained sweet tea. However it made me laugh on the inside when I saw them and made me think of three of our Mobile friends). The food was yummy and as always I especially loved the yams and/or sweet potatoes.

The family just visiting before exchanging gifts.

I definitely get my sense of humor from my dad's side of the family. They were cracking me up all night.

T and me in front of my Granny's Christmas tree.

December 25, 2011

4th annual Christmas night with Wendy, Todd and family.

G enjoyed playing with the Reindeer hat but her sister didn't enjoy it so much...

Baby B was a little scared of it.

The meal was delicious once again. We will never say no to eating a meal prepared at this house.

December 26, 2011

I got ready for the day and started looking for T. I finally found him in "toyland" with G. They were playing Princess and Shrek. I'll let you guess which character T was...

So how did we end our Texas trip on a high note after making so many more wonderful memories? We went to see Jenny and Jay at their new house and meet baby Z!!! She was only 12 days old and precious. Seems our six-pack will soon be a case with all these new babies and we couldn't be happier! We love these friends so much and simply think their new family is just perfection.

Well Christmas is over but we would still like to wish you all a very Merry Christmas!

Stationery card

View the entire collection of cards.

December 20-22, 2011

2011-12-30T07:33:00.005-06:00

December 20, 2011

Somehow ALL of our Christmas gifts have to fit into these two small backpacks. I think we can. I think we can. I think we can...

December 21, 2011

Another gift from a sweet little three-year-old.

I absolutely have no idea why we took a picture of a dirty skillet. But T put the picture in the draft so here it is. Maybe he can explain this to us later.

[T here: I included this in the "draft" to document the damage to the kitchen from me getting up that morning to make my dish for our work holiday luncheon.]

December 22, 2011

Surprise gift left outside our door from a mysterious "Secret Santa"

However, as soon as I opened it and saw these snowmen on absorbent coasters I knew exactly who was helping Santa out this year. Thanks Ariel and Cai!

Getting ready to go to Texas for the holidays so we decided to enjoy some Texas wine gifted to us from Jean.

Super Sunday (51/52)

2011-12-21T20:41:00.002-06:00

Meal Plan Week #50
Sunday: Kale Lasagna Diavolo

We now officially love kale. Think of this dish as a spinach lasagna, but much, much better. First, the kale is so much better than using, say, thawed frozen spinach. Second, the sauce was slightly spicier than the typical marinara. Bottom line: look for many, many more kale-based dishes in 2012 (assuming we still inundate you all with what we have for dinner).

Monday: Leftovers
Tuesday: Broccoli and Cheese Soup and Baked Potatoes

Yep, easy as 1, 2, 3. We saved time--and got great flavor--by preparing the "baked" potatoes in the crockpot during the day. The soup was pretty easy to slap together, and I got to use the blender (my favorite "soup making" tool).

Note, however, that if you choose to use this dish as leftovers, you may be better off doing a second batch of potatoes in the crockpot the next day . . . while nuking already cooked potatoes the next day worked ok, they were a little rubbery in parts.

Wednesday: Sobre Mesa

Thursday: Leftovers

Friday: Christmas Party

Certain lunches during the week: Spinach-Quinoa Salad with Cherries and Almonds

Made it. Ate it. Won't do it again. (Heck, we didn't even take a picture. If you know us, that says it all about this dish!)

Besides being a waste of quinoa, the requisite pitting of cheeries required by this dish has to rank up there on a list of kitchen drudgery.

Saturday am: Eggs in Purgatory Re-do

See, I told you we would try it again with pre-prepared salsa. This version was tons better. And while you cannot tell from the pictures, we made this dish ENTIRELY from ingredients we picked up at the market before breakfast: all local--eggs from Henrietta's and salsa from the U of Mobile!

Saturday pm (Tex-Mex Taco Night!): El Fenix Orginal Tacos

I guess we are learning that if you want Tex-Mex in Mobile, you have to bring it yourself!

While I was a little scared to fry these suckers up, it was easy. We were even brave enough to have one of the M&Ms over (the other was out of town)--hard to beat homemade tacos and beer . . .

Some meals during Week #51
I have decided to highlight the few dishes we have already made this week. While we have one more menu item, I am seriously doubting that it will get prepared . . . but we'll see . . .

Sunday breakfast: Nopalitos and Eggs (Tex-Mex cookbook)

For the uninitiated (and we were until we tried this dish), nopalitos are cacti leaves, and they taste sort of like better tasting green beans. (Yeah, that description blows the exotic-ness of this dish out the door.)

The dish was easy; we are glad we cooked with cacti leaves--which, surprisingly, are available not at the specialty fu-fu grocery store, but at the ~~Winn~~Mac-Dixie; and when you add the salsa, it looked like Christmas on a plate!

Monday: Grilled Goat Cheese Sandwiches with Fig and Honey

This is--again--a completely local dish. The bread was picked up from the market (from a vendor from Elberta, AL). The goat cheese is from Henrietta's (see above). The honey is local. And the basil is from our window sill.

To make it even better, it tastes great. For instance, A. is usually a savory breakfast junkie. She liked this. She even liked it for DINNER.

Rest of the week: Best of intentions, but--likely--very little follow through! Happy Holidays!!

December 12-19, 2011

2011-12-19T20:37:00.000-06:00

December 12, 2011

Three shirts for the price of one? Sold! Thanks to the tip of a colleague of mine T will be looking sharp(er) at work.

December 13, 2011

The never ending story of Christmas decorating continues...

This time with ornaments to represent our two homes. Steph gave us the Texas ornament last year and we love it. This year we decided to add to our collection with something to represent Mobile. Plus, we can leave this one out all through Mardi Gras. Bonus!

December 14, 2011

Downtown Mobile has a new Mexican restaurant complete with street corn, tamales, and $1.95 happy hour specials. Guess where we had our Sobremesa meeting???

The menu could be more creative and they still have some kinks to work out but overall it was decent and T and I will return (I mean it's Mexican food within walking distance, of course we'll return).

December 15, 2011

Some "sweets" from a sweet little three-year old!

December 16, 2011

Ready for T's work holiday party at the Original Oyster House. After living on the Gulf for almost a year and a half with access to fresh seafood, I've finally decided to try to expand my palate when it comes to fish. So I tried triggerfish for the first time. Of course it was delicious but I must say the company with dinner was even better.

December 17, 2011

Below is a montage of our second installment of the Mobile Christmas parade . . . to be honest: it's a typical small town parade, complete with local politicians, marching bands, and a random assortment of floats. But, does your Christmas parade include a Human Moon Pie and Azalea Trail Maids? Ours does. And the Mr. Moon Pie is a harbinger of better--Mardi Gras--parades to come in the New Year!

December 18, 2011

Such slackers compared to last year, but I promise the Christmas cards are finally stuffed, addressed, stamped, and hopefully in the hands of family and friends in 1-2 days.

December 19, 2011

Told you we would be back. T was making a sweet breakfast recipe for dinner tonight. He knows I prefer savory so to balance the night out we went for chips and salsa first. In case you're wondering salsa is a completely appropriate appetizer to a fig/honey/goat cheese sandwich on raisin bread with powdered sugar. Salsa is always appropriate.

Almost as always appropriate as salsa, above is a little creative Christmas "lagniappe" . . . a view of the RSA towers through the lights decked over a block of Dauphin Street.

Supper Sundays (50/52)

2011-12-11T20:33:00.001-06:00

Meal Plan Week #49

Sunday: Creamy Rigatoni w/ Gruyere and Brie

This was basically fancy mac n cheese, but much, much, much more filling!

Monday: Leftovers

Tuesday: Edmame Rice Bowls

It looks weird and the list of ingredients do not look like they belong together, but somehow it all works. And this too was a very filling dish, especially for calorie count.

Wednesday: ~~Spinach-Quinoa Salad with Cherries and Almonds~~ Dinner Out

Thursday: ~~Leftovers~~ Dinner Out

Friday: Art Walk and Dinner Out

Saturday am: Tex Mex To Be Determined (using our new cookbook) "Ox Eyes" or "Eggs in Hell"

This was a fun dish -- eggs cooked in salsa. The recipe from our book provided a recipe for the sauce (bell pepper, jalapeno, onion, and tomato paste). And while that recipe was pretty good, it turned out too thick (even when we added water as the recipe recommended) and was way too "tomatoey" for us.

The book also provided that you could simply use your favorite prepared salsa in lieu of the "tomato sauce" it provided. And I look forward to trying that approach . . . should make for a very easy and very spicy alternative! (Heck, it could be a weekday breakfast!)

Saturday pm: Chili and Cheer

Meal Plan Week #50
Sunday: Kale Lasagna Diavolo
Monday: Leftovers
Tuesday: Broccoli and Cheese Soup and Baked Potatoes
Wednesday: Sobre Mesa
Thursday: Leftovers
Friday: Christmas Party
Certain lunches during the week: Spinach-Quinoa Salad with Cherries and Almonds

December 6-11, 2011 (well, not quite...)

2011-12-11T20:02:00.001-06:00

December 6, 2011

You may be seeing this picture again on Supper Sunday. While we totally forgot to take a picture for the day, the above will have to do.

December 7, 2011

Umm . . . we forgot take a picture again. So, given the totally inane things we sometimes bring you on those really slow days, December 7, 2011 will go down in infamy as the "inaniest" . . .

December 8, 2011

I "baked" cookies . . .

And the slow slog that is us decorating for Christmas continues . . . Nativity table is all set up!

December 9, 2011

December's Art Walk featured this "papercuts" exhibit at Space 301.

Did some shopping at Art Walk and since they wrapped gifts we finally have something under the tree.

December 10, 2011

Chili and Cheer holiday party at the house of two of our friends. Another friend brought these cookies. Obviously, her "baking" is more creative than mine (see cookies above)

December 11, 2011

The series above needs no explanation . . .

But the result was pretty respectable . . .

And we had a strand leftover!

November 28-December 5, 2011

2011-12-06T20:48:00.001-06:00

November 28, 2011

Had to pick up some Diet Dr. Pepper because we always forget it when grocery shopping. I think T is passive-aggressively trying to get me to quit by "forgetting" it every week.

November 29, 2011

Look what came in the mail!!! I guess y'all know what kind of recipes we'll be playing around with soon.

November 30, 2011

Thanksgiving gifts from Lucy. ~smiles~

December 1, 2011

Tree decorating party at M & M's. Slinky the cat loved it.

December 2, 2011

Homemade apple pie at Wendy and Todd's. Yep, I made a quick sneak trip to Dallas.

December 3, 2011

The reason for my sneakiness was to surprise Jenny at her baby shower. Tears were shed by both of us quickly before celebrating the upcoming arrival of her daughter. I texted T to tell him and he updated me on the Georgia/LSU game he was watching at M & M's house. Very different weekend experiences for us y'all. BTW-Jenny was glowing but that is not what caused this horrible lighting. Sorry it's all I had to post though.

December 4, 2011

Since I was all into surprising people, I decided to show up at my parents house unannounced with the help of my brother. After mom got over the shock she gave me and my brother each Christmas ornaments early.

December 5, 2011

Ignore the mess. We finally started decorating for Christmas...only 11 days after Thanksgiving. Chill out we'll get to enjoy it for a long time because if we procrastinated putting it up y'all know this stuff isn't coming down until mid February. Plus, don't worry, that's not smoke. It's just fog. We wanted a picture from the street looking up at our tree. The Mobile weather just wasn't cooperating with our plan.

Supper Sundays (48 & 49 of 52)

2011-11-29T17:43:00.001-06:00

Meal Plan Week #47

Sunday: Eggplant Gratin, Greek Style (via Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything--Vegetarian)

We ventured out of our recipe resource comfort zone to try this one out. And it also meant I got to buy a new cooking dish. Bonus. While it wasn't bad, the meal itself was not stellar. But preparing it should lead to a little more risk taking on my part . . . another bonus :-)

Monday: Leftovers

Tuesday: Seared Cauliflower w/ Olives & Breadcrumbs (via Mark Bittman's Kitchen Express)

This one also came from a source we don't use too much--because of the format; while it offers quick and relatively easy to prepare meals, it also offers very little direction (i.e., there is a lot of room for user error). Anyway . . . this was great! I was very proud of the way it turned out, even if A. thought the olives were a little out of place!

Wednesday: Dinner Out

Thursday: Thanksgiving!

As A. has blogged about, we hosted Thanksgiving; a major undertaking. Even though we prepared Thanksgiving for ourselves last year, having to do it for others is a different ball of wax.

Instead of going through every dish listed below, here are the highlights: the dressing, the mac and cheese, and the grape salad were the clear favorites. The pork turned out well. And the only real disappointing dish was the green beans . . . the balsamic taste just didn't come through.

Pork Tenderloin with Cranberry Sauce

Corn Bread, Chorizo, and Jalapeño Dressing

Grilled Poblano Macaroni and Cheese

Balsamic-Glazed Green Beans and Pearl Onions

Broccoli Salad

Grape Salad

Gooey Butter Cake (not pictured)

And the plate . . .

Friday: New Orleans

Saturday: More New Orleans

We also revisited one of our old favorites in a week in which we did not do much cooking (even though we had planned to): Avocado-Spinach Panini

The key to making this dish a success -- really good bread!!

Meal Plan Week #49
Sunday: Creamy Rigatoni w/ Gruyere and Brie
Monday: Leftovers
Tuesday: Edmame Rice Bowls
Wednesday: Spinach-Quinoa Salad with Cherries and Almonds
Thursday: Leftovers
Friday: Art Walk and Dinner Out
Saturday am: Tex Mex To Be Determined (using our new cookbook)
Saturday pm: Chili and Cheer

November 25-27, 2011

2011-11-28T20:54:00.001-06:00

November 25, 2011

Made our ~~kind of~~ annual* Thanksgiving weekend trip to New Orleans. We checked into the hotel and waited on Bill and Jean to arrive.

I'll spare you all the details/pictures because this is our 5th trip to NO this year (and I can't even count what number trip to Nola it is since we met in 2005) and I'm sure you're tired of reading about it. However, after lunch at Cochon Butcher, parting ways from Bill and Jean so each couple could do their own thing, and meeting back up later for cocktails, we made our way out for dinner. We sat outside of The Three muses because the weather was still nice and there were no other tables. In the past, T and I have never been able to get a table so we were really excited this time. Our lamb sliders were perfect and it was fun to catch up some more with Bill and get to know Jean better.

November 26, 2011

The next day was more of the same as far as meeting Bill and Jean to eat, splitting up for a while, and meeting back up in the late afternoon. Once again, I'll spare you all the details/pictures. But isn't funny that T entertains my desire for random and lame pictures?

The trip was different than any others T and I have taken together since 2005. We have ALWAYS gone to Carousel Bar every single trip. This time it was closed for renovation. We were a little bummed but this gave us time to try out some new places. Bar Tonique had a bloody mary with bacon infused vodka. I had to try. I love a good bloody mary and bacon makes everything better right? Wrong. This was an absolute failure. It was disgusting!

BTW-I look a hot mess not because of the drink but instead because it was drizzling outside and my hair and make-up paid the price.

One of the last stops the four of us made was to The Roosevelt to go to the Sazerac Bar. Y'all! I seriously gasped when walked in because it was so beautiful and instantly put you in the Christmas spirit.

November 27, 2011

T and I loved our grocery stores in Texas. We've been happy here with Publix but still miss the variety we had with Central Market and Whole Foods. New Orleans doesn't have Central Market but it does have a Whole Foods. With this in mind, we packed our reusable grocery bags, grocery list, and a cooler when left Friday and Sunday we went shopping! Oh, yes we did.

*We have made the trip three out of five Thanksgivings we have been married.

November 24, 2011-Thanksgiving!

2011-11-28T20:04:00.001-06:00

November 24, 2011

Last year, we celebrated Thanksgiving just the two of us. However this year, we were lucky enough to host for the first time! Tim's dad and Jean drove in from Dallas and Lesley, my friend from college, came over from Destin. Two of our friends here in Mobile, Mike and Scott, also made their way over for Linner (hybrid of lunch and dinner since we ate at 2:30). Of course my favorite part of the prep was setting the table.

Our table only seats six so I had to make a "kids" table that Lesley renamed the "cool" table. Guess you know where she was seated? She was at the six-top. I kid. Of course she and I were at the ~~kids~~ cool table.

So no one would be confused about their ~~coolness~~ place at the table I made place cards-pumpkins for the ~~grown-ups~~ six-top and pilgrim rubber duckies for the ~~kids~~ two-top.

I added a few small Fall/Thanksgiving touches around the dining area as well-a "Happy Thanksgiving Y'all" plate and a framed menu for the day.

T did the vast majority of the cooking-which you will hear more on later.

But Lesley and I helped as well. No really, I helped. See, I made them take a picture to prove it. This had something to do with green beans and "blanche" but not the character from Golden girls. I'm still not sure what I did to help but I did help.

After the meal, we sat around laughing, drinking wine, and watching football.

Mike (as well as Jean and Bill later in the early evening) helped with cleaning the dishes. Always thankful for friends that help clean.

When it was time for round two, we ate the individual chocolate mousse cheesecakes with shortbread spoons made by Lesley. How cute and yummy!

Of course, we had to take some pictures of everyone. Mike bonded with Bill and Jean over the course of the evening so he insisted on a picture with them.

Lesley and I added yet another one of us to our collection from the past 13 years.

And then the evening had to come to an end so we sent ALL the left overs home with Mike and Scott (well, Lesley was able to snag a few also) because we left out of town the next day and didn't want anything to go to waste. Don't let Mike's expression fool you. He was happy to have those left overs. As a matter of fact, we talked to him the next day and he told us he was mad at us because he got up every two hours raiding the fridge!

Overall, I think our first attempt at hosting a holiday dinner was a success. I was extremely grateful to spend it with my husband, family, a friend that has known me my entire adulthood, and new (can I still say new if we've lived in Mobile for 16 months?) friends. With the exception of my parents and brother not being there, I can't think of a more perfect way to spend Thanksgiving day.

November 14-23, 2011

2011-11-28T19:14:00.001-06:00

Let the blogging marathon begin!

November 14, 2011

Crazy work week for T again. So pizza at Mellow Mushroom after running errands and before him going back to work it was!

November 15, 2011

Cake pops from Cesca's Cake Pops for the intern I supervise at work. She normally doesn't mind birthdays but turning 25 just felt so much older to her. Funny, because from my 33-year-old perspective 25 looks young!

BTW-My friend, Francesca, makes these pops and they are delicious! You should really order some if you're in the Mobile area.

November 16, 2011

Don't you hate it when ~~part~~ 4 words of a song are stuck in your head and you don't know any of the other words, who sings it, or if the 4 words you "remember" are even correct? Well, I do. And I drove T crazy trying to remember some random song from my college days (I think) that he tried to figure it out for me. Alas, we failed. But thankfully the song is no longer stuck in my head....well, now it is! ARGH!

November 17, 2011

T had to go out of town for work so I indulged in chips and salsa for dinner.

He indulged in steak, baked potato, and wine.

I totally win! Salsa. wins. every. time.

November 18, 2011

Mobile conducted it's annual tree lighting again this year. We opted to hang out with friends instead of going but took a walk that night to look at the lights.

We also took a second walk a little bit later that night to retrieve something T left behind.

Don't worry, the picture is deceiving. He only left the lens caps and not the entire lens.

November 19, 2011

The OK Bicycle Shop double decker bus just going down the street. Notice the sign? I'm assuming this was a fun wedding!

November 20, 2011

We aren't normally big shoppers but we did purchase the above and a ~~more than~~ a few other things on the 20th that we normally don't buy.

And then we got home and received this message. Haha! Told you were aren't shoppers. Guess our abnormal Sunday shopping extravaganza caught up with us! No really, it was actually in regard to two less than $10 purchases we made the week before that were legit but at stores that are very unusual for us. Good to know our bank has a our back though.

November 21, 2011

Received a flash drive from the car dealership because they are "thankful" for us this holiday season. Random, but we'll take it.

November 22, 2011

Living downtown people think we get hassled by panhandlers all the time but we really don't. It's very rare that it happens. However, this night we were a stopped by a man with a pitch we just could not ~~help but simultaneously laugh at and fall for~~ ignore.

He told us he wasn't "hungry, or needing money for gas." He was simply "75 cents shorts of being able to buy a PBR at Hopjacks." We seriously laughed so hard and T (even though we know you shouldn't downtown) handed him the needed change for a beer.

November 23, 2011

T's dad and Jean made it to Mobile for Thanksgiving and brought presents from Texas. My favorite were of course chocolate chip cookies from JD's. Man, I love these things! They have the best cookies, hands down.

Supper Sunday (Week Who the Heck Knows) . . . But the Menu is for Week #47)

2011-11-20T18:32:00.000-06:00

I admit that I have been lax lately about both cooking at home and blogging about it (guess you can't have the later without the former). But we plan to make-up for it this week, with our second Thanksgiving spent "cooking the meal ourselves" . . . and this time . . . we have guests!! (Poor suckers . . . more on that later). Without further adieu . . .

Meal Plan Week #47

Sunday: Eggplant Gratin, Greek Style (via Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything--Vegetarian)

Monday: Leftovers

Tuesday: Seared Cauliflower w/ Olives & Breadcrumbs (via Mark Bittman's Kitchen Express)

Wednesday: Dinner Out

Thursday: Thanksgiving!

Where this will be put through its inaugural paces...

Pork Tenderloin with Cranberry Sauce
Corn Bread, Chorizo, and Jalapeño Dressing
Grilled Poblano Macaroni and Cheese
Balsamic-Glazed Green Beans and Pearl Onions
Broccoli Salad
Grape Salad
Gooey Butter Cake

Friday: New Orleans

Saturday: More New Orleans

Long overdue update 2 of 2 -- November 8-13, 2011

2011-11-14T20:23:00.001-06:00

November 8, 2011

Gaylan and I at a baby shower at Rosie's Grill for one of our colleagues.

November 9, 2011

At a benefit for the SPCA at Kitchen on George. They served tapas of the dinner entrees and now we will definitely be eating dinner here soon.

November 10, 2011

Potluck lunch baby shower for Gaylan at work. The intern I supervise made chickpea cookie dough dip! If you don't mind the texture of hummus, you'll love this. It's not as sweet as you would think and really is a nice "dessert".

Sobremesa was at El Chico! Yes, the same chain as in Dallas. As a matter of fact once inside, we saw pictures of the first El Chico in Dallas as well as the second one in, Lakewood, our old neighborhood. I have to be honest and admit I can probably count on one hand how many times I ate at El Chico in Texas. However I also have to admit this night made me realize I've definitely been eating Mexican/Coastal Mexican food instead of Tex-Mex here in L.A. (lower Alabama). I had avocado enchiladas and spicy beans for dinner. Yum!

November 11, 2011

We've often joked that our building is haunted. Well, this fan might prove us right. The light and/or fan turns on/off at will and on this particular night even as we spoke about it. Creepy. Seriously, we either have a short or a ghost. I'm not sure which I'm more comfortable being true...

November 12, 2011

Panini Pete tattooed the building. We cannot wait for this place to finally open in LoDa!

We, along with Cai and Ariel, packed up and headed out to Ft. Pickens for some camping adventures!

While there, we watched the Blue Angels,

walked around the beach,

explored the Ft. Pickens fort

and of course we made s'mores! It was Cai and Ariel's first time to make them and I think it's safe to say they were a hit if for nothing else the "American" experience of roasting marshmallows over the fire.

November 13, 2011

On our way out we stopped at the beach again for a bit. The guys all took off their shoes and rolled up their pants legs so they could get their feet in the water. Not me! Despite the warmer weather it got quite chilly around the water especially with the breeze. I stayed toasty in my jeans, tennis shoes, and fleece.

Since none of us had anything pressing to do that day we stopped for a picnic overlooking the ocean and to this neat little place pictured above where Cai proved to us that Pensacola is indeed the oldest settlement in the United States.

Long overdue update 1 of 2 -- November 2-7, 2011

2011-11-14T12:39:00.001-06:00

November 2, 2011

We have made some progress towards those longterm health and fitness goals . . . more on that in a few days . . .

November 3, 2011

But other things--such as a tasting including Argentinian wine (with the winemaker present) at Red or White--keep getting in the way!

November 4, 2011

(Click to enlarge the picture, to make it legible.)

My office was visited on Friday, Nov. 4 by a "colleague" from the other side of The Pond . . . an English Justice of the Peace/Magistrate in the country for the wedding of his son (in Savannah) paid a visit to my boss in Mobile to present him with a print of the 1361 Justice of the Peace Act; it is the 650th anniversary! And in celebration, I got the above "swag" . . .

November 5, 2011

Yes, the Occupy Movement tried to take a stand in Mobile recently (as opposed to its weekly marches through a semi-desserted Downtown (see Oct. 15th)) . . . it didn't last too long (see here and here). And no we did not participate. A. just wanted to pose for the picture above.

November 6, 2011

Brunch with two good friends Sunday morning led us to reconsider some short-term-long-term plans, which are now back up in the air . . .

November 7, 2011

And the next day brought us back to our present reality -- which includes Alabama- and Auburn-themed duct tape being sold as an impulse buy item at our local grocery store!!

Supper Sunday (44 & 45/52)

2011-11-08T20:39:00.001-06:00

Meal Plan Week #43
Sunday: Southern Comfort Okra and Potatoes

Yeah, so the name is sort of strange . . . but we gave it a shot . . . and well, sometimes there is something in a name. While I liked the lentils (and they made the whole thing vert filling), this just didn't do it for either of us.

Monday: Eggplant and Goat Cheese Sandwiches

With homemade bread from some of our favorite people in Mobile and locally-sourced eggplant and goat cheese, we breathed new life into an old favorite . . . our best version yet!

Tuesday: Squash Ribbons with Oregano, Basil, & Lemon

We actually ended up making this for lunch (don't ask me on which day). It was relatively easy and very good. The only problem was that it was not very filling; definitely a side, not more.

Wednesday: Sobre Mesa
Thursday: Pasta with Five Fresh Herbs

Made for a pretty picture, but WAY too many tomatoes for my taste. If you like tomatoes, however, go for it. And, to be fair, we had this as a leftover the next day . . . if you use a little extra goat cheese, that really balances out the tomatoey taste (and it is much better warm than cold).

Friday: Leftovers
Saturday breakfast: Market and Breakfast out

Prediction?
A: Sandwich
T: Pasta

And other stuff we have made at home (week 44 and 45)

Obviously, things have been a little hectic for us lately. And this week, we are only eating home one night (hence no menu for Week #45). So here is a rundown of some other things we have cooked at home recently...

Slow-Cooker Texas Chili

Chili for the Saturday before Halloween (to celebrate the one weekend of the year I get to enjoy scary movies at home). This was a nice Texas (a/k/a no bean) chili recipe. A. actually came to the conclusion that she doesn't like beans in her chili (circling the wagons on her Texan-ness, I guess); the jury is still out for me.

Eggplant Parm

I have yet to ever have a good eggplant parm at a restaurant. With that in mind, I have to say this is the best version of the recipe I have had (not saying it will be the best recipe you have ever had, of course). But it was good. And it was do-able for a weeknight meal time-wise. Bonus.

Sesame Noodles with Napa Cabbage

Remember that crazy big cabbage we got at the market (that A. posted about recently)? This is what we made with it. It was good. It wasn't great. I think we both hoped for more . . .

Refried Bean Poblanos with Cheese

And to round it out, an old favorite. Same recipe. Different picture!

October 24-November 1, 2011

2011-11-01T21:20:00.000-05:00

October 24, 2011

~~Halloween~~ Preschool group prep:

stickers + crepe paper + paper towel rolls = Ghost Hunters*!

*tubes to find vocabulary/articulation cards taped to paper ghosts hidden around the facility

October 25, 2011

Hard to tell but we made spider hats at work in the preschool group. Some were hilarious! Kids put all the legs on one side or legs all the way around. They were seriously funny and worth the burn I got the night before glueing foam circles and googley eyes to headbands.

October 26, 2011

Yet another spider hat the next day since I had leftover materials. The kiddo LOVED it (played with it, sang "Itsy Bitsy Spider" with it, etc) but would NOT wear it! She insisted I wear it instead. No really, she did. I tried to put it on her and she screamed "No, you wear it!!!!" So I did and she just laughed her head off and wanted to see the picture after I took it.

All these fun Fall/Halloween activities got me into the spirit of things so I HAD to try on my costume to make sure it was ready for the next day. I'm an ice cream sundae! I think that hat is just plain funny.

October 27, 2011

Fall Festival at work-games, candy, jump house, pumpkin and face painting, costume parade, cupcakes and chik-fil-a catering! Good times for all! Even if it was a 12 hour work day...

October 28, 2011

Friday night was spent at home watching a movie. I have no idea why T decided to watch it in full hoodie gear. I promise we've paid our electric bill.

October 29, 2011

Traditional Saturday morning farmer's market outing resulted in cabbage completely overtaking our fridge.

A new favorite Saturday tradition-brunch at Blind Mule. My fave dish is the Chai tea french toast but T is really fond of the mule shaped grit cakes.

October 30, 2011

Zombies decided to occupy Downtown. (Zoom in if you don't believe us)

October 31, 2011

A few days ago I bought a new cardigan at Target. It is perfection in cardigan form so I went back and bought three more. I know. I know. But they were on sale so that makes it okay right?

November 1, 2011

Decided to go on a Tuesday evening run together. I use the word together loosely. T ran ~~a few paces ahead of me~~ with me because I need peer pressure to actually do it. I'm sure it was killing him to "run" so slow. I appreciate that he encourages me in being healthy though.

Supper Sunday (42 & 43/52)

2011-10-23T20:37:00.000-05:00

The last two weeks have been a little tough for us in the cooking-in department . . . I guess sometimes the Muse leaves you . . . and our cooking one must have taken a little vaca . . . fortunately for us (and some of you), I think she may be back! We'll see . . .

Meal Plan Week #41
Sunday: Chinese Chicken Persimmon Lettuce Wraps

We had been putting these off for sometime. While we managed to get some really nice lettuce at the market, which kept very well in the fridge, it took FOREVER for the persimmons to rippen. Once they finally did, we pulled the trigger. And it was worth it.

This was truly excellent; and while that "excellency" may have been colored by the fact that our expectations were pretty low (we were just excited we found a recipe for persimmons), objectively speaking, the meal was--at a minimum--very good.

Monday: Butternut Squash Enchiladas

This was a beating to make. And the kitchen was truly a diaster zone once I finished (managed to make this during the day since that Monday was Columbus Day). But they were good--as long as you don't ~~look behind the curtain~~ inside the enchiladas, because the filling "looks" pretty gross.

Tuesday: Leftovers
Wednesday: Smoky Stuffed Peppers

Like the new plates? (We bought these circa 1960-something gems at the local antique shop. We love the vintage look, the cream color shows off our meals more in pictures, the smaller size helps with portion control, and they were cheap-Score!)

These were good (I seem to say that a lot, I've noticed) . . . the smoked gouda is really nice (and something we have not used in the past) . . . and worked very well with the rest of the filling . . . another you don't miss the meat dish (taking a Zagat approach--because I am tired) . . .

Thursday: Zucchini and Corn Quesadillas

Aside from the fact that the quesadillas didn't really stay together, once you spice this dish up--we used two whole jalapenos with seeds, instead of 2 tbl, and we also added cumin and cayenne--it's very satisfying.

Friday: Leftovers
Saturday breakfast: Market and Breakfast out

Why the meals set forth above may not have been eaten on the the represented day, here are a few more meals we have attempted (some of which were enjoyed) over the past two weeks (in no particular order) . . .

Laotian Eggplant with Tomatoes, Onion, and Mint

This was another recipe that had been sitting around for a while, and this past Friday at lunch, I felt like cooking . . .

While I have been to (and absolutely feel in love with) Laos, our eggplant had gone bad, so I substituted zucchini. (I also forgot the mint.) So the bottom line is this was a little more Italian meets Asian spice than Laotian. Regardless, it worked. (A. even liked it -- as leftovers!)

Prediction?
A: Enchiladas
T: Stuffed Peppers
As between these two choices, the enchiladas won. But, the lettuce wraps were a real surprise. As A. just said, they are as good as anything you could get at P.F. Chang's or Pei Wei!

Meal Plan Week #43
Sunday: Southern Comfort Okra and Potatoes
Monday: Eggplant and Goat Cheese Sandwiches
Tuesday: Squash Ribbons with Oregano, Basil, & Lemon
Wednesday: Sobre Mesa
Thursday: Pasta with Five Fresh Herbs
Friday: Leftovers
Saturday breakfast: Market and Breakfast out

Prediction?
A: Sandwich
T: Pasta

October 17-23, 2011

2011-10-23T17:17:00.000-05:00

October 17, 2011