BOOOOOM

two unc-w freshman. they walked back to their cars shortly after this photo was taken. maybe next time bOYS!

ATL & Exciting News

I'm a very excited girl. For one thing, I get to see my college roomies this weekend. Secondly, I get to see Atlanta - a city I've only driven though once before. Last but certainly not least, I get to congratulate Lindsey and Nick in person on their upcoming new addition! I'm really hoping for a 4 month tummy showing - spoken like a never-been-pregnant person, right?

Lindsey went to UNC with Shiva, Catherine and I. Nick went to Duke. What do you think - is it over the top?

Ahhh I can't wait to see everyone and soooo happy for Lindsey and Nick!

Happy B-day Hubby and Tailgate Dinner Club

That's right folks - today is officially Jimmy's 30th birthday. I feel like we've been celebrating for months since we got his b-day present, stand-up paddleboards, back in August and I threw him (with the help of family and friends) a kickin' surprise party over Labor Day weekend. Who's counting though, right? As hard as he works and as much as I love him, I say we celebrate until Christmas! Okay so that's a little excessive. I did make him these though. They're Snickers Cupcakes and they're pretty delicious. HAPPY BIRTHDAY JIMMY!!

In other news, yesterday marked the second dinner club get-together. The theme was tailgate foods which meant we were to drink beer, wear jerseys/sports t-shirts and eat lots of not-so-good-for-you foods. We all obliged and it was super fun. We even got a special guest appearance from Miss Julia, Elizabeth's daughter...

Here's a picture of the spread, which you can't tell here, but it was excessive - pigs-in-the-blanket, cheesy potatoes, chili, jalepeno popper dip, buffalo wing dip, another sausage dip, grilled pizzas, 2 kinds of cake and 2 kinds of cookies. Oy vey!

The crew...

Hope everyone's having a great Monday!

Weekend Eats!

There's not much to report in terms of happenings for us, so I'll just share some of our meals from this weekend...

First up was a fall, comfort food inspired meal on Friday night - Giada's turkey meatloaf with a few modifications, my own rendition of a sweet potato puree and a "kitchen sink" salad.

The modifications to the meatloaf were additions of fresh spinach, a chopped red onion and a little ketchup covering the loaf. For the sweet potato puree I just cooked the potatoes in the microwave (too lazy to wait for oven baking) and then scraped the flesh into my food processor and pulsed with a little butter and brown sugar. For the salad I just grabbed everything I could kind and mixed it together with a homemade mustard vinaigrette - spinach, cucumber, apple, red onion, chopped dates and almond slivers.

Saturday for lunch I made my step-mother-in-law Marisol's lettuce wraps. Thanks for sharing Kelly!

Nancy's Lettuce Wraps

2 lbs.  Ground white chicken

2 (small) cans Water chestnuts (sliced or diced)

½ cup Chopped peanuts

3 tbs Garlic

1 bunch green onion - chopped

1 9 oz. jar of Hoisin sauce

2 tbs.  Soy sauce

2 tbs. Rice vinegar

Sriracha sauce – dashes to taste

Peanut or olive oil

1 head of iceburg lettuce

Cook the chicken first until almost done.  Place in a dish off to the side.

Heat up a little oil (1-2 tablespoons).  Add garlic and onions. 

Add & cook water chestnuts, peanuts

Add sauces – lots of hoisin, soy sauce,  rice vinegar and srirachi to taste

Cook everything up a bit and then add chicken back in for a couple of minutes.

To make hotter:  Add Sriachi sauce individually on top

To prepare lettuce:  cut core out; cut in ½ and separate leaves

And then Saturday evening we went out to dinner for our one year anniversary since last weekend in Colorado was so crazy. We actually decided to go to Havana's where we had our rehearsal dinner just over a year ago. The Mr. had a black and bleu NY Strip and the Mrs. had salmon.

When we got home we followed tradition and dove into the top tier of our wedding cake. It was... pretty gross. Maybe we didn't have it sealed tight enough or something, but it was not tasty at all. Oh well!

That's all for now. I think in food...

The Hap-Happiest Season of All

I don't know about you, but I LOVE the summer to fall transition. Lucky for me, it's the little things that bring me joy. Cooler mornings and evenings, pumpkin and apple cider spice candles, Halloween, changing leaves, soups and stews, sweet potatoes, fall clothes and more. Perhaps, no definitely, my favorite thing about the start of fall though is the reintroduction of pumpkin beer.

They're so flavorful that it's hard to drink more than one and by the end of the season, I'm sick of them, but man do I look forward to them every year...

Steamboat

What a wonderful whirlwind our CO trip was! We left Wilmington at 6am EST on Friday and after a brief layover in Atlanta arrived in Denver at about 10am MT. We got our rental car and set out towards Steamboat Springs. What an amazing drive with the Aspen leaves turning. We stopped briefly in Idaho Springs for amazing breakfast burritos at a cute place called Marion of the Rockies Restaurant and then finally got to Steamboat early afternoon, checked into our nice hotel and I hurried and got ready for the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner. No Strawberry Park Hot Springs - not enough time...

Hotel lobby - very kitschy ski lodge style. Had we been there in the winter, the Sheraton, at the foot of the slopes, would have been bustling with skiers and snowboarders.

Rehearsal/Ceremony Location

Rehearsal Dinner - At an incredible sushi restaurant at the foot of the slopes called Saketumi. I know a lot of people have us beat, but Jimmy and I have had sushi in a noteworthy variety of places - L.A, Vegas, etc. I kid you not that Saketumi was the best sushi I've ever had in my entire life. All night it was amazing roll after amazing roll. I felt like a huge dork taking pics, so I refrained... for the most part. Pictured below is the "the box" - not even sure what was in it, but it was incredible. One of the best things about the wedding was getting to visit with so many old Boone friends like Garrett, Hunter and Brian...

Saturday morning I woke up about 7am to meet Erin and the bridesmaid at a yoga class. The morning was crisp and cool and the studio was on the Yampa River. So pretty. Following yoga was brunch at Creekside and then it was time to get ready!

Getting ready - Erin's maid of honor, Katie's, parents have an amazing 2nd home in Steamboat conveniently located close to the ceremony venue, so that's where we got ready. There may or may not have been peach bellinis involved...

The wedding party transportation was Erin's in-law's brand new RV. Erin and her dad rode in a bright yellow Porsche.

The Reception - At a place on the Yampa River called Cottonwood. Very cute venue and amazing food...

Congrats Erin and Eli! Thanks for letting us be a part of your special day! We'll definitely be back sometime to see more of adorable Steamboat Springs - hopefully to ski/snowboard!

Happy One Year Anniversary to Us!

Yesterday marked a very special day for the O'Connors - our 1 year anniversary!  I can't believe it's already been a year. Time flies when you spend it with your best friend and love of your life. We, of course, spent the weekend in Steamboat Springs, CO for Erin and Eli's wedding (post to come). One of the vows Erin and Eli made to each other, which I thought was beautiful, was "I promise to love you more today than yesterday and always less than tomorrow".

Jimmy, it may be hard to believe, but I love you 365 times more than I did on our wedding day. You make me proud and infinitely happy everyday. Thank you for all the wonderful memories we've made thus far. The best is yet to come...

Now a few of my favorites of us from Sept. 19, 2009...

Erin's Wedding

Jimmy and I are catching a flight at 6am tomorrow morning for Erin and Eli's Steamboat Springs, CO wedding. Erin has been trying to get me out to visit her for years. All she had to do was fall in love with a man and make me a bridesmaid in their wedding. Sheesh. Is that too much to ask?

First stop when we get into town is the Strawberry Park Hot Springs and then it's the usual - rehearsal and rehearsal dinner - Steamboat style. Woo hoo!

New Favorite

I try to eat healthy and kale is one of the best-for-you foods around. Despite it's health benefits though, I had never had a positive recipe experience with kale. That is, until now. Try this recipe for massaged kale salad and you won't be disappointed.

1. It's easy - the lemon juice, little bit of olive oil and a few minutes of massaging tenderize the kale - no steaming necessary
2. The flavor combo is great - toasted nuts, mango, lemon vinaigrette, leafy green
3. Unlike a lettuce, the kale holds up it's texture enough to make a great lunch leftover the next day
4. It's Aarti Sequeira, winner of the Next Food Network Star's, recipe

*Please note if you've never had kale, it's pretty tough - nothing like wilted spinach...

P.S - I love the natural light on the windowsill near my kitchen + our SLR. I bet you Jimmy could have never guessed when he bought this camera in CA that I'd someday take pictures of everything we eat.

Tailgate Toss-up

My next dinner club is Sept. 26th and the theme is "Tailgate Foods". Not surprising, I like to bring it at dinner clubs, so I tested out a few recipes on Jimmy today to make sure I had a winner. He kindly obliged to taste test, as that was all I was making for dinner and it's the first Sunday of the football season - a.k.a Christmas in September for Jimmy...

Contender #1 and First Place Winner - Jalapeno Popper Dip with Tortilla Chips

This recipe is from my friend Catherine. She adapted her recipe from another friend, Sarah. You can find Catherine's rendition here. I didn't have parmesan cheese, so I used cheddar and I wish I had toasted my panko crumbs before topping the dip. All in all though, very, very yummy!

Contender #2 and Second Place - Hot Wing Wontons

Though these were very good tasting, any time you make homemade wontons, it's always a hassle. I don't have a good pan for frying - wish I had a fry daddy - so it also made a big mess. For the two aforementioned reasons, this recipe lost points, falling into second place...

Contender #3 and Last Place - Ham and Broccoli Cheese Stuffed Spiral Rolls

For one thing, I don't think these were very "tailgate-ish". I chose this recipe because I had ingredients in my fridge to use up. I also bought crescent roll dough,  not dinner roll dough, so rolling the ham/cheese/broccoli mixture into the dough and cutting into spiral disks, was a huge bust. Jimmy and I both agreed it tasted pretty good though, so I may try doing it the right way for another occasion...

In other news, Team O'Connor is beating the Westchester Crushers 122 to 45 in my ladies Fantasy Football league and the night's not even over!

New "Friend to Follow"

One of my very best buds from UNC has started a blog with her beau Brian to document their 3 week Europe trip. They're both very fun and super witty, so I hope they keep it up when they're back in the States. Maybe they'll share their day-to-day adventures in San Fran?!?! Man, I so desperately want to see Europe, especially Italy.

http://brianandshivadoeurope.tumblr.com/

Shiva having a spot of tea in London....

And it didn't stop there...

After a little clean-up on Sunday, we all hit the beach! After a few hours in the sun, we met up at the Seawitch tiki bar for dinner. While it was such a wonderful Labor Day weekend, I must admit I'm a little worn out. Off to bed for me. Should be an uneventful week, but you know I'll be posting recipes!