Happy Halloween!

Hope everyone is having a great Halloween! Like I said on Friday, we didn't have much on tap for the weekend. We went for a run this morning and then watched the Redskins sadly lose to the Lions. It was otherwise such a pretty day, so we decided to spend the afternoon at the beach. Not too shabby for November eve. Such a relaxing and wonderful weekend...

Wine & Tapas Dinner Club

Today was a great start to a fun weekend! First off, a couple work friends and I went out to a local Mexican joint for Brittany's birthday lunch. Jenny and Katie got there a little early and alerted the staff of the celebration, so we had a little sombrero, feliz cumpleanos action before we got our checks. It was pretty hilarious...

Next up was dinner club at Jenny's house. The theme this month was Wine and Tapas, so there was a great selection of wines and then olive tapenade, hummus and pita points, sundried tomato and swiss cheese fondue, shrimp, tortilla espanola, bruschetta, tomato & goat cheese on a puff pastry and then last but not least, I made Giada's baked artichokes with gorgonzola and herbs. Man, I'm stuffed. Here's a few pics from the evening...

Jimmy and I don't have much on tap for the holiday weekend besides class (for Jimmy) and a little relaxation. Hope everyone has a wonderful Halloween!

Baked Ziti!

Just wanted to share the recipe for the baked ziti I made tonight. I have to borrow Lets Dish's photo because we put a gaping hole in our casserole of baked ziti before I could snap a picture. Too hungry. This makes A LOT, so plan to eat it for lunch leftovers for at least one day, but maybe two. Cottage cheese in baked ziti? Trust me, it's good.

Ingredients
1 (16 oz.) container cottage cheese
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups grated Parmesan cheese
1 pound ziti or other short, tubular pasta
2 tablespoons olive oil
5 medium garlic cloves , minced
1 (28 oz.) can tomato sauce
1 (14.5 oz.) can diced tomatoes
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon sugar
3/4 teaspoon cornstarch
1 cup heavy cream
8 ounces mozzarella cheese, cut into 1/4-inch pieces (about 1 1/2 cups)
Salt and pepper, to taste

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Whisk cottage cheese, eggs, and 1 cup Parmesan together in medium bowl; set aside. Prepare pasta according to package directions, cooking only until pasta begins to soften but is not yet cooked through, about 5 to 7 minutes. Drain pasta and leave in colander.

Meanwhile, heat oil and garlic in a large skillet over medium heat until garlic is fragrant but not brown, about 2 minutes. Stir in tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, oregano and basil.  Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Simmer until thickened, about 10 minutes.  In a medium saucepan, whisk cornstarch into heavy cream. Bring to a simmer over medium heat and cook until thickened, 3 to 4 minutes. Remove pot from heat and add cottage cheese to thickened cream.  Stir cottage cheese/cream mixture into tomato mixture and mix well.  Add half of the cubed mozzarella and the pasta and stir until pasta is thoroughly coated with sauce.

Transfer pasta mixture to a 9x13 inch baking dish. Sprinkle remaining cubed mozzarella and remaining 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese. Cover baking dish tightly with foil and bake for 30 minutes. Remove foil and continue to cook until cheese is bubbling and beginning to brown, about 30 minutes longer. Cool for 10 minutes before serving.

Best Belated Wedding Present Ever

On Saturday, our friend and fellow Tarheel and Wilmingtonian stopped by to give Jimmy and I a truly unique and special wedding gift. Julian is a photographer, fisherman and surfer. He produces some seriously amazing work through his business Kehaya Photo. The gift - an amazing picture of a wave at Masonboro Island, a place Jimmy has surfed many times, mounted with stretched canvas. We seriously couldn't be more thankful. And our little get-together spawned conversations about camping on Masonboro with Julian, his girlfriend, Jake, Martine and all the crazy pups. Looking forward to it...

Rewind to Friday night... Jimmy and I got home from work and decided we were too tired to whip something up for dinner, so we headed out to our local Mexican restaurant for a quick bite. I decided to take on a beer the size of my head and lived to regret it on Saturday :(

Other than our quick visit with Julian, Saturday was spent doing things around the house and being lazy (for me) and a meager 12 hours of studying for Jimmy. Yay! Not. Poor guy. By late Saturday evening Jimmy needed this fuel. So proud of myself for manning the oven, stovetop and grill in the backyard all at the same time...

On Sunday, Jimmy continued the studying marathon while Malloy and I went for a run. Come 1pm it was Redskins time! So glad we won. Week 7 was a bad Fantasy week for me - nearly all my good players had a bye week. Good thing I'm otherwise kicking butt!

Blueprint - Exposed Ceiling Rafters

I'm pretty sure Jimmy could care less about most of the features I blog about as part of my Blueprint series. Deep kitchen sink, really? With that said though, I know for a fact that Jimmy also loves the subject of this post - exposed ceiling rafters. There is something so cool and rustic about beams and rafters. I definitely lean towards lighter ones to keep everything airy. Beams, you will be mine...

{House Beautiful}

{House Beautiful}

{Tom Sheerer}

{Coastal Living}

The Best Thing I Ever Ate: Nutty

It's no secret that I watch the Food Network every chance I get - I'm on my 8th hour today, in between doing laundry, etc. I know, I need to get some fresh air. One of my favorite shows is The Best Thing I Ever Ate. Right now the episode is about nutty foods. Without a doubt the best nutty thing I have even eaten in my 26 years on this earth is Handel's chocolate pecan ice cream.

It's insane. The pecans are roasted and salty. The chocolate ice cream is so creamy. It's the most amazing combination ever. Sadly for me, it's $60+ to have it delivered to NC. Before today, I thought you could only get it in Ohio where my grandparents live. Much to my surprise, however, they have locations in Virginia Beach, where Kelly and Kevin live, and Williamsburg, VA, where Spencer's parents live. Things are looking up...

2010 Beerfest

...went on today at Greenfield Lake while Jimmy and I did more productive things like grocery shopping, paddleboarding, running with Malloy, yard work and more. Sigh. We're responsible adults. That doesn't mean, however, that we didn't have a wonderful night. A little Post Road Pumpkin beer, Spaten Octoberfest, salad, very yummy creamy chicken picasso and a little relaxation is the perfect recipe for great evening. Happy Saturday!

Maple Sweet Potato Sandies

Inspired by Wedded Whittaker's baking fest and the lonely sweet potatoes sitting in my pantry, I decided to whip up a batch of these yummy maple sweet potato sandies from Visions of Sugar Plum. Enjoy!

1 cup finely chopped pecans
1 cup sweetened flaked coconut
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup pure maple syrup
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups finely grated North Carolina sweet potato

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Place pecans and coconut on a large cookie sheet. Bake 6-7 minutes or until lightly toasted and fragrant.

In a medium mixing bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and ginger. In a large mixing bowl, using a mixer on medium speed, beat together butter, brown sugar and sugar until creamy - about 1-2 minutes; beat in maple syrup, egg and vanilla until combined. Reduce mixer speed to low and gradually beat in flour mixture until just combined. Using a wooden spoon, stir in toasted pecans, coconut, and sweet potato until combined. Chill dough in refrigerator for 45 minutes, or until well chilled and firm.

Roll heaping tablespoons of dough into balls, and place on greased cookie sheets, about an inch apart. Flatten balls slightly using palms of hands. Bake 13-15 minutes or until golden brown. Transfer cookies to wire racks to cool.

Makes 30 cookies

Funny is...

...going through sexual harassment training at work with your husband...especially when the trainer, your HR manager, relies on scenarios and role playing. There was some advising against asking to feel Jimmy's muscles, some "what couples should not to do" in the breakroom, I was ogled, Jimmy was very close to having his butt slapped by our co-worker Elizabeth. Ahh good, awkward fun...

Fame

Check out Jimmy's cousin Alyssa's music video. I've had the pleasure of hearing her sing "acoustic" style for the family at holiday get-togethers a couple times now. She is such an amazing young woman, her voice is ridiculous and we couldn't be more proud of her recent success. Go Alyssa!

http://www.youtube.com/user/alyssashouse524

Sunday Funday

Our Sunday was super productive and relaxing. I did the laundry and grocery shopping while Jimmy had class on Saturday, so all I had to do Sunday morning was a quick run workout and a little house cleaning. By noon I was finished with both and geared up for the Redskins game... but then I fell asleep on the couch... but then we miraculously won!! Yay!!

We celebrated by taking a bike ride to the Fat Pelican for a couple beers and then home for TACO NIGHT!! Let's be honest. I'm super obsessed with seasonal beers, especially of the pumpkin variety. Tonight I got to try Dogfish Head's pumpkin beer and I was very impressed. So easy to please...

In other news, I'm currently loosing to Amie's grandma, God love her, in Fantasy football. Really?!?!? Oh well, I've still got tomorrow. I need a fantasy win!!

Easy, Fall-inspired Side

I personally love sweet potatoes, so I was super excited to find this very easy and delicious way to make sweets from Cooking Light. We had our over-roasted sweet potatoes and onions with grilled steak and a salad tonight. Yum yum...

BABIES!

Jimmy had to meet with his b-school group tonight, so I took advantage of his absence and rented the ultimate chick flick, the documentary Babies. It was pretty adorable and very interesting to see the lives of a couple babies from around the world: San Fran, Mongolia, Nambia and Tokyo...

We can't have a baby until Jimmy gets out of school. We can't have a baby until Jimmy gets out of school. We can't have a baby until Jimmy gets out of school. We can't have a baby until Jimmy gets out of school...

Happy Friday!

Maiden Voyage

Tonight we had the pleasure of using Jimmy's birthday present from his momma - a new grill! We've used a Coleman tailgating grill since CA, so we are beyond excited to have a real, grown-up grill. Thanks again Martha!

Here's me taking her for a spin...

And us enjoying the fruits of her labor - Herbed Balsamic Chicken with Blue Cheese...

Can't wait for countless more grilled meals. Happy Tuesday!

Atlanta Weekend

Well us girls had a very fun and relaxing weekend in Atlanta. There were some good meals, a little sightseeing and a lot of reading excerpts from What to Except When You're Expecting, you know, for the mommy-to-be's sake. Did you know that at 18 weeks, Lindsey's baby is the size of a mango and has started to hear her heartbeat and stomach grumbling?

Lindsey and Catherine picked me up at the airport at about 10pm on Friday night and we went back to Lindsey's apartment and just chatted until bedtime. Saturday morning we work up to Shiva on the couch in a UNC snuggie - she took the redeye from San Francisco and Lindsey got her from the subway station at 7am. Once we got up and moving, we decided to hit up the Virginia Highlands neighborhood for a great late lunch at Murphy's and sightseeing. But first, Shiva wanted Dunkin' Donuts - a rare treat for a west coaster!

After lunch our tour guide, Lindsey, drove us to the Centennial Olympic Park and then all along Peacetree St.  It was very cool to see the huge city side of Atlanta - downtown, midtown, Buckhead, etc.

Saturday evening we did a late dinner at a super cute tapas restaurant called Twist in Buckhead. Lindsey's husband, Nick, had the evening off work, so it was great to have him join us as well. We ate ourselves silly and just soaked in each other's company.

Sunday we woke up late and I had to catch the subway by 11:30, so Sunday we just a day of flights and traveling. Jimmy and I are off to dinner now. GO SKINS!

Friday morning...