Happy December!

I can't believe it's December already! This year has really been progressing incredibly quickly... and the holidays always seem to speed up the process too. I've been so busy working overtime these last few weeks that I barely even got a glimpse of November. December is one of my favorite months though; I get so giddy about the holidays! I could do without the bombardment of Christmas music e.v.e.r.y.w.h.e.r.e, but I love the decorations and I really do believe most people are in better spirits this time of year too.

But back to November for just a moment. We celebrated Thanksgiving at Shawn's grandparents' house this year. Even though we've known each other for eight years and counting, it was my first time ever meeting any of his family, other than his mother and brother. Actually, he's never met any of my extended family either! (But I have an excuse... none of them live in this country.) Shawn's family was nice though, and his grandmother cooked up quite the feast. I went back for seconds of everything, but the stuffing was particularly delicious. And I must have impressed her too because apparently she's very picky when it comes to food, yet she had four (yes, FOUR!) pieces of the cornbread that I made for the occasion. Remind me to post the recipe for my amazing grandmother-approved cornbread one of these days!

I have no photos from Thanksgiving, but here's a taste of the last two weeks of November...



1. One of our staples: sausage, peppers, and onion.
2. I can't find Sour Punch Straws around here so my friend brought some back from Ohio for me.
3. Another staple: chicken, broccoli, and mashed potatoes.
4. Roasted zucchini, tomato, onion, and cheddar quiche!
5. Breakfast wraps... both of those were for me the monster in my belly.
6. Snow! Not our first one of the season, but snow nonetheless.



The most exciting thing to happen recently though is we got our very first Christmas tree!




Look at the size of that thing! I'm 5'6", if that gives you any perspective.





We don't have many ornaments though, so just some lights will have to do for now. My mother left some of her older ornaments behind, so we do have a few on there, but not nearly enough for the size of it. I guess we're going to have to buy some of our own this year!

I'm so excited for Christmas! I really love giving gifts. Even more than I like getting them :)



P.S. You can tell how excited I am because I use so! many! exclamation! points! in! this! post!

Triumph Brewing Company

A few Sundays ago we visited Riverhorse Brewery in Lancaster, NJ, then crossed over the river and had dinner at Triumph Brewing Company in New Hope, PA. The brewery tour was neat, albeit short and sweet - their brewery is so much smaller than I was expecting! The whole tour lasted about 20 minutes and although they have a bar with all of their beers on tap inside the same building, we opted to go to Triumph instead to avoid the huge crowd that was waiting for beers at Riverhorse.

We shared the beer sampler at Triumph - all 7 of their beers in 5oz glasses. Shawn and I had a sip of each one first to decide which ones we each preferred, then we drank our favorites. We also went a little crazy with the food - we each got an appetizer and a main course - usually we stick to one course and maybe one drink each, but everything on the menu sounded so delicious that we figured eh, what the heck!


beer sampler!


cucumber gazpacho for me, honey bbq wings for Shawn


Shawn got fish and chips, I opted for the fish tacos


All in all, t'was a delicious meal! We will definitely be going back soon... maybe next time we'll try their Princeton location and follow it up with some dessert at The Bent Spoon :)

New Jersey Farms > Philly Farm Markets

One of the perks of living in the Philadelphia area was the ease of access to locally grown food; within a five mile radius of our apartment there were at least 5 farmer's markets, each sporting different local farms' bounty. I was actually concerned about how much more difficult it would be to find local fruits and vegetables once we moved back to New Jersey, but apparently I didn't have much to worry about.

I was already aware of one farm near us that lets you pick various fruits and vegetables throughout the year. Then I found out about the website LocalHarvest.com, which makes it exceptionally easy to find farms/farmer's markets/CSAs/specialty-food-stores nearby. I found out that there's a farmer's market every Thursday one town over, and there are at least three farms within a 15 mile radius of here that have farm markets open daily, serving their own or other local farms' goods. So whether you're craving vegetables, stone fruit, berries, or even herbs - someone in the area has got you covered.

Besides, all my favorite vendors at the Philly markets were actually representing New Jersey farms. Duh. That's why we're the Garden State. Why on earth would I worry about being able to find local food in the state that grows some of the most on the East Coast?!**

While last year I was fairly diligent about posting each week's farmer's market bounty, this year I completely forgot to take a photo after my first trip of the summer. Oops. Oh well, too late now. So instead, here's what I got the second week I went! (Which was... maybe three weeks ago now? Yes, I am indeed just that bad about posting & taking photos in a timely fashion.)






Here's a secret though... this is what the scene really looked like during my photo shoot:







Curious cats. They can't get enough of food.

I've been getting sweet corn and potatoes every time I go. The greens get switched up each week; usually between zucchini, green beans, and lettuce. If I buy too many things at once, we don't have time to go through them all and they end up sitting unused for too long. The local berries have been good this year, but the peaches (my favorite!), not so much. It's still early in the season though...

** Not a proven fact. At all.

Breakfast for Lunch

Seriously, is there anything better than breakfast any time of day?

All Moved In

It's been a busy week, hence the lack of new posts, but we are finally all moved in and have been enjoying being back in NJ since last Saturday! The move went unbelievably well; my friend's trailer was able to fit every last thing left in the apartment and since she got a bit of a head start driving back, by the time Shawn and I got to the house she and my brother had already finished unloading everything into the downstairs room - we were ever so thankful because we had already spent the two days prior moving things up and down stairs, so it was a (literal) load off our shoulders.

I took a few days off between jobs to relax and get some housework done. We've spent time clearing up various rooms and ends of the house, making space for our furniture and things and just doing some general cleaning tasks. Shawn has been doing some yard work too but it's been tough due to the gloomy rainy weather we've had all week. We've also been seeing a lot of old friends and eating copious amounts of food from places we've missed the last two years - you can never underestimate the power of good food and great friends! And when you combine the two, there's just nothing better.


Speaking of food, it's so much more pleasant to cook in this much (much!) larger kitchen. We've been doing plenty of that lately. Shawn has perfected his breaded chicken and is working his way through different meats. I think pork is next on the 'perfect this' list...



We've been grilling a lot too - we underestimated how much we would appreciate having a grill at our disposal. This was a collaborative effort - my friend Christine bought and brought the food over and we all pitched in to turn it into a meal. We're always happy to share our kitchen with people who enjoy a tasty meal - and Christine was just as happy to share her bacon potato hash with us.



It's also been fun hanging out with these two on a more regular basis; they've finally gotten used to having us around permanently now that all the moving of furniture has ceased. Oh, and did I not tell you about Mushu's homecoming gifts? He loves us so much that he brought us not one, but TWO chipmunks! He was so proud of himself; despite the gross factor of being 'given' a chipmunk, it was hard not to praise him for his efforts.



Unfortunately, the first chipmunk didn't make it... I think Mushu snapped his neck before bringing him in. We must not have seemed appreciative enough though because the second chipmunk he brought us was alive, just in shock. Shawn was even able to hold him!



It's not often you get to hold a live chipmunk in your hand. Shawn let him out in the front yard but Mushu was watching him the entire time. I'm not sure if the chipmunk made it after all that, but we're happy to report that was the last of Mushu's gift giving, at least for now.


And that ends the round-up of our first week back.
It's delightful to be home again.

Piece of Cake Pie

We ate/made a good amount of food last week. I have a few iPhone photos to share with you:



beef stew, chocolate pudding pie on pi day
spring colors, blackberry thumbprint cookies
multitude of muffins, fudge-licious brownies
The thumbprint cookies, muffins, and brownies were all made at work, just so you don't think we indulged overwhelmingly! Although I did make some peanut butter - chocolate chip - m&m cookies at home that aren't pictured...

And in honor of Pi Day (3.14), I made a chocolate pudding pie on Wednesday. I didn't want to make an apple pie because I prefer berry pies, personally... but it's not the season for berries, and I wasn't really feeling the heaviness of a custard pie. After a bit of searching I found a recipe for chocolate pudding pie over on Smitten Kitchen. Deb always has the best recipes!




To be honest, Shawn and I aren't the biggest fans of pie. He's a cake guy, and I'm a tart girl- I'll take a chocolate ganache tart or lemon tart over a slice of pie any day... but it was Pi Day! So I had to make some sort of pie, and what's better than chocolate pudding pie?! Especially topped with a generous amount of whipped cream... I don't hear anyone complaining. And there's still more than half of it left over... this is why I rarely make big desserts at home; we can't finish them between just the two of us. It is exceptionally light and delicious though!




Did you indulge in a slice of pie for Pi Day?

Dinner at Tria

On Sunday, three fantastic friends came to visit and we all enjoyed a particularly tasty meal at Philadelphia's Tria: a wine, cheese, and beer cafe. Sunday is a great day to go because they have their "Sunday School" specials - showcasing one wine, one cheese, and one beer all at half price. We each started the meal off with a drink (wine for the ladies, beer for Ryan) and then went through the menu from there. Here's a look at what we ate (photos courtesy of my friend Amy, since I still feel awkward snapping photos in restaurants):


We all shared the appetizers and cheeses, then each ordered salads or sandwiches to finish off the meal, and left the restaurant feeling stuffed, in a very satisfying way. (Want specifics? I ordered the Chateau Musar white wine, the lamb sausage, the Hooligan cheese, St. Feuillien Triple Belgian beer, and the beet & goat cheese salad.) I definitely recommend stopping by Tria if you're ever in the Philly area - the atmosphere was comfortable and the staff was quirky and super knowledgeable. We also had the pleasure of sitting at the bar where we could watch them put the food together right in front of us.

That's what's good in the neighborhood!

Mid-Week Weekend

This week, Thursday was our weekend - aka, our day off together. Since we usually only get one day off together per week (if we're lucky), we try to make the most of it. Yesterday was one of those days.

I started the day off the best way that I know how - by making cookies! Shawn sometimes brings me home some leftover peanut butter chips and mini m&ms from work, so I tossed those into the batter this time, along with some oats. Lately, I've been straying from my tried-and-true chocolate chip cookie recipe and switching up various elements of it to see how it changes the outcome. This time I used a mix of bread flour and all-purpose flour, since I've heard that makes for chewier cookies. I also like to change the ratio of brown sugar to white sugar, also for chewier cookies. The addition of oats tends to make the cookies not spread as much, so that's why these look so tiny!


After the cookies came out of the oven, we walked down to our local movie theatre (it's less than half a mile up the road - how awesome is that?!) and saw our first movie in over three years: The Secret World of Arrietty. I'm glad it was just as beautiful as expected because it would have been a huge disappointment to break our three year no-theatre streak for a bad movie. We're both big fans of Miyazaki's animated films and this one definitely didn't disappoint.

Aside from the movie though, the highlight of yesterday was that I made my very first hard crusted bread loaf! A few weeks ago my mother found me this beautiful Le Creuset dutch oven that was just dying to have a loaf of bread baked in it. Well, Mom, I finally used it!



One of my favorite bakers/bloggers, Joy The Baker, posted a recipe for Spicy Garlic Bread and it looked and sounded far too good, so of course I just had to make it. Here's (some of) what goes into a spicy garlic loaf:


My loaf didn't turn out quite as pretty as hers, but dammit, it was just as tasty as I was hoping it would be! Also, I don't think it looks too bad for a first attempt! I just have to work on my smoothing & kneading skills... also, the loaf explodes in the oven! Look at how much bigger it is coming out than it was going in! (I'm sorry if that just sounds like a terrible dirty joke - keep it clean, folks!)


We enjoyed it with a chicken caesar salad for dinner (homemade bread and homemade dressing, that's just how we roll). There's nothing better than a simple meal with lots of garlic and fresh herbs and greens. At this rate, we could open up our own restaurant soon! ;)



...now for something completely different, here's a peek at what we had for dinner Wednesday night:


Tasty tasty burgers. But not just any burgers; these had cheese and onions sprinkled throughout. We're fancy like that; you should know this by now! Also, I seriously can't wait until we have a grill. Burgers on the stovetop just don't compare.

Have an amazing weekend!



PS. I want to say a big thank you to everyone who left me feedback on the sandals post. It was much appreciated. The general consensus were the Merrell Hennas, which as much as I love, I'm going to hold off on buying for now. I just can't fathom spending that much on sandals, no matter how amazing they are. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that they go on sale some time over the next few months. In the mean time, my mom actually found the Simple sandals in purple on another website. I think those can hold me over until the Merrells go on sale :)

Thai Curry and Some Arrangements

Well, I think it's pretty clear what I mean by thai curry... the picture above totally does it justice.
Shawn hadn't made a curry in a really long time so I snuck in a request for some on Thursday while we were doing our grocery shopping. He hit the nail on the head this time around; seriously, this was the best homemade thai chicken curry yet! Usually we forget an ingredient or two, like peanuts or potatoes... but this one had everything, and it was absolutely delicious with just the right amount of heat. I wish we could send you all some through the internet... too bad all you get is a picture!



After our curry feast and an episode of How I Met Your Mother (my new favorite show!), Shawn felt motivated to move some things around in the bedroom. Neither one of us has been sleeping well as of late, so we thought a small change might be nice. We basically swapped the bed and the tv/instrument walls. It makes the whole room flow just a little bit better.

The major difference is that we swapped our sides of the bed too. Shawn now sleeps on the door side and I'm sleeping on the window side, which is perfect for me because I'm like a freakin' furnace at night so now I can be on the cooler side of the room. Small changes, big difference.




More curry for you!

Having Fun With Photos

I recently came across PuglyPixel.com and downloaded a bunch of her free photoshop art. She has lots of fun things to jazz up photographs and blog layouts. So on my sick day I spent a little time playing around with things... here's a look at what we've been eating lately:




pasta carbonara // homemade pizza with salad




homemade chicken parmesan sandwiches // grilled turkey & cheese sandwich with chips


Yummy!

Breakfast Platter

Having grown up in New Jersey, to me (and I'm sure Shawn would also agree) there's no better breakfast sandwich than a pork roll, egg & cheese on a kaiser bun (The band Ween even wrote a song about it!). Bacon is yummy as all hell, and so is sausage... but if you want a true breakfast sandwich, pork roll is where it's at! Unfortunately, pork roll seems to be primarily a Jersey thing- good luck trying to find some outside of the tri-state area. The packaged stuff is in most grocery stores, but finding a deli/restaurant that makes sandwiches with it is a whole other story. Lucky for us, there's a small deli only four miles away that serves up some of the best pork roll egg & cheese sandwiches I have ever tasted...

But that's not what this breakfast post is about, because I didn't get a pork roll egg & cheese this morning... I got a breakfast platter. Two eggs (over-easy for me!), with cheese, hash browns, and toast. With a side of pancakes. Yes, you read that right- I got the platter, plus three tasty fluffy round pancakes. (Because, you know, eggs and all that jazz just isn't enough for a grumbly Marine belly.) And as evidenced in the photo below, I devoured nearly everything.


Shush. I'll let you in on a secret... I actually ate more after the photo was taken. Oh, and that cheese danish off to the side there? That was Shawn's breakfast. Which he didn't even finish. This is why we rarely go out for breakfast together - I'm a monster in the morning! And now there's photographic evidence. I guess Shawn just isn't one of those people that wakes up with a grouchy stomach that won't stop yelling obscenities at you until you fill it with something. What? Your stomach doesn't do that to you? Well, maybe my appetite and I need to have a sit-down chat one of these days.... one that includes eggs, potatoes, and pancakes.

The best part is, when we went to pick up the order the woman at the register asked if we'd be paying for everything together, and then she threw in two sets of forks and knives. Heh! If only she knew. (Actually, it's probably better that she didn't.) I don't need the whole world knowing I'm secretly housing a monster in my belly. Don't worry, I charge him a hefty rent... and then I give him all the food he can eat.

It's really hard for me to capture our dinners in an attractive manner. We tend to eat pretty late most nights, closer to 9 or 10pm because that's just how our schedules work out. As such, all the photos I take of dinner are taken in our poorly lit kitchen and they just end up dim and fuzzy most of the time. It doesn't matter how attractive the food looks right in front of me... it never looks as tasty in photos.


Who am I kidding? I'm no food photographer, that's for sure. But I've noticed that the photos I take early in the day always turn out ten times better than the dinner night shots...

But who really has the time to cook dinner at three in the afternoon when the sun is actually out? Or set up an elaborate system of lights just to get proper photos at night? Especially when this is dinner we're talking about! I don't know about you, but I really don't want to wait another 20 minutes to eat something I just spent 20+ minutes making. So instead of taking 50 or so photos like I do when I'm not rushing and my tummy isn't grumbling, I end up taking maybe 15 photos and hope that I get at least one decent one from the group. Most of the time I'm lucky if I get that one.


So forgive me if these photos don't make this vegetable stuffed zucchini look as appealing as it really was. Honestly, sometimes I think trying to capture a decent photo of food is way harder than making it. These zucchini 'boats' were simple to put together and didn't need a whole lot of time in the oven - perfection! We filled ours with rice, red and green peppers, and onion. Oh, and we topped them with a gruyere/cheddar mix which might have been the very best part of the whole meal. I kid, of course, but seriously. Oh! Or maybe the best part was that all of these veggies came from the farmer's market! Can I get a heck yeah? Heck Yeah.

Vegetable Stuffed Zucchini

serves 2 people as an entree, 4 people as a side

Ingredients:
2 medium zucchinis
1 small onion
1 cup of sweet peppers
salt & pepper, to taste
paprika & garlic powder, to taste
olive oil
1/2 cup rice, cooked according to package
cheese, to grate (we used a gruyere/cheddar mix)


- Rinse and dry your zucchini, and slice each one in half. Chop off the tops of zucchini if desired.
- Spoon out the zucchini pulp with a spoon (Don't throw it out though!) Once you've made little zucchini 'boats', place them in a casserole dish and brush a little bit of olive oil along each half.
- Chop up the zucchini pulp and set it aside. Dice the onion and peppers and set those aside as well.
- Make your rice according the directions on the bag, and set it aside once it's done.
- In the mean time, heat up some oil in a pan and saute the onions and peppers until they're soft and the onions are beginning to become transparent.
- Combine the zucchini pulp, sauteed onions and peppers. Stir in the cooked rice, and add salt, pepper, paprika, and garlic powder to taste.
- Once everything is well incorporated, spoon the mixture into each of your zucchini 'boats' and top each with some shredded cheese.
- Bake at 350 degrees for 20 - 25 minutes, until the zucchini is tender and easily pierced with a paring knife.
- Gently plate the stuffed zucchini and top with fresh herbs if desired.
- Enjoy!

September floats on by...

Lately my posts have been more photo-heavy and less wordy...
But you know what? I'm ok with that. There's not much to say these days anyway.


Shawn's birthday was last week. He never likes to make a big fuss about it but this year I made him a big cake (yellow cake with chocolate sour cream frosting, to be exact) and got him a few unexpected gifts. He was pleasantly surprised!



We also made meatballs with a side of tortellini for his birthday dinner - quite possibly the best meatballs Shawn has made yet!



I realized I never talk much about what I bake at work. Honestly, I always forget to bring my camera in with me! Here's a peek at what I'll usually make on a weekly basis.... cookies, muffins, scones, and some sort of loaf. And yep, that's all the workspace I have. Hey, you don't need a whole lot of space if you keep it organized properly!



Oh, and pies! I made a lot of pies this summer using up all sorts of fresh fruits, but I'm really excited about making some pies for autumn!



Zucchini bread gets its close-up. I honestly had never made or really even eaten zucchini bread until this summer, but now I think it's absolutely wonderful! It's a lot of fun to bake with vegetables too.


...Of course, what's a post on here without some gratuitous pictures of what we made for dinner?


Mini pizzas made on naan bread! My parents made some the last time I visited and I thought "What a genius idea!" Indeed. We used Trader Joe's frozen naan (warmed in the oven before adding toppings) topped with tomato sauce, red and green peppers, onion, mozzarella and cheddar cheeses, and a sprinkling of fresh parsley.



This week we also splurged and bought some steaks which we paired with homemade sour cream mashed potatoes and green beans. Yummy! Shawn cooked those steaks perfectly!



Oh, I know that's not food up there, don't be silly! But I was too proud of myself not to share a photo of this pillow case I 'fixed'. There was nothing wrong with it to start, it was just made for a bigger pillow that we no longer have, so I sewed it down to fit this smaller pillow. It was a simple sewing project, I can't believe it took me weeks to get motivated to do it! I'm so proud of myself every time I look at the bed now though :)

Expect an onslaught of photos on our flickr soon; we went to Longwood Gardens yesterday and took over 200 photos each! We're so excited to share them once we sort through them all.