Thanksgiving

Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We certainly did, though we greatly missed seeing Colin and the O'Connor's this year. Can't wait for Christmas when we get to see siblings, moms, dads, grandparents and all. So here goes the marathon post. We got to Boone mid-afternoon on Wednesday and met my dad downtown to see his "new" law office and then we walked to a Boone classic for lunch - the old Boone Drug Store where there's still a soda shop counter just like the old days. We then drove to my mom's where we hung out and awaited Ali's arrival from Chapel Hill. A little Thanksgiving prep, a takeout pizza, lots of catching up and it was time to call it a night.

Thursday was, of course, lots of kitchen time and a wonderful Thanksgiving meal. Here's the girls taking a break from slaving away to look beautiful...

Friday consisted of some good Black Friday outlet shopping. I, not surprisingly, lasted way longer than Ali and Jimmy, so I had to meet them later at our next engagement - dinner and recuperating at my dad's. Lazy boy...

Saturday we went on a great hike where we scaled a good portion of Grandfather Mountain. It was about 20 something degrees with 20 mph winds, but we bundled up and climbing such intense elevation definitely helped keep us warm as well...

Saturday night, mom joined us for yummy lasagna and Cranium at dad's...

It was seriously such a great Thanksgiving. Riding in the back of an old pick-up truck is so much cooler than the boring ol' Accord. When can we go back to Boone?

 

In other news, Happy Birthday to the one and only, Martha, Momma O'C, O'Connor! 

Jimmy Welcomes Jake to the Club

That's right, folks. Last night Martine hosted the reception for Jake's initiation into the 30 club!!

Jake knew his parents were in town and Martine's sister and boyfriend were joining them for dinner, but he did not know that Jimmy and I and his friend and professional mentor, Paul, and Paul's wife would be there. The location was a great Thai restaurant called Indochine. There was lots of good food, really good cake and drinks. After dinner we went to a new, to Jimmy and I, bar called Satellite for a beer or two. All in all a very fun evening. Happy Birthday Jake!

Jake and Jimmy were separated at birth, no?

Classic Twists

Below are two recipes I made this week that I thought I'd share!

Who, besides a vegetarian, doesn't love a BLT? I got the idea from this recipe, but otherwise did my own thing for Jimmy and I's lunches this week. Roasted a head of garlic, mixed the garlic with an 8 oz cream cheese, slathered it on good, toasted wheat bread with salt and peppered tomatoes, bacon and greens dressed in balsamic vinaigrette. Yummy!

{thelonelybean.com}

Grits are a classic and a staple in the South. We had Pioneer Woman's rendition, creamy cheese grits with chiles, on Tuesday night and they were delicious. Such a nice starch alternative to potatoes, rice, quinoa, etc.

{thepioneerwoman.com/cooking}

 Happy little Friday!

Weekend Updates

Saturday Jimmy and Jake got some really good surf at Masonboro Island. As a side note, I never know how to blog about surfing. It was epic? No, that sounds lame coming from my mouth. Anyways, Saturday was just grocery shopping and laundry for me. BORING ;)

{Masonboro Island 11/13/10 from CarolinaBeachSUP.blogspot.com}

Saturday night we met Matt Atkinson, his mom and mom's family, along with Jake and Martine, for a great dinner at a local seafood/oyster bar. Matt and his family were in town to cheer on Matt's 57-year old Uncle Barry in the Beach2Battleship Ironman triathalon. At the time we were eating dinner, Barry was running miles 13-16 approximately. He'd been at it since 7am. This picture below, courtesy of Matt's mom, is Barry's daughter crossing the finish line with her dad. She met up with him to run the last 6.5 miles - a HUGE motivation I'm sure. Anyways, I don't know these people except indirectly through Matt. I just think it's a nice story. I need to set a goal for myself like a half marathon or something. Or maybe I could just try to run over 5 miles which I think is impossible for me at this point. Amie, remember when we were going to do the triathalon relay? How long before we backed out?

Over dinner I did a lot of talking with Martine who's a new kindergarten teacher in Wilmington. She told me her students LOVE when people come to visit and she can always use volunteers and people who want to come play with them. The first thing I thought and said aloud... Can I come the week of Thanksgiving and help the students make those painted handprint turkeys that their parents then hang on the refrigerator and I'll bring cupcakes with turkeys on them.  What about the papersack fringe Indian vests? Can I read them a story? Do they like to hug? I think I'm a kindergarten teacher at heart...

Sunday Jimmy went fishing with Mike and came home with some yummy trout that we'll be cooking up early this week. I went to Dinner Club. The theme was vegetarian. The turnout was spotty with it being November and people having other things going on. I brought this Roasted Red Pepper and Feta Quinoa recipe and it was a huge hit!

{Closet Cooking}

Don't Laugh

My mom and dad gave me a haircut today. I'm going through an awkward stage. I need my curls back. In other news, it should be a fun weekend.

Love,
Malloy

Reagan Georgia

Yesterday Jimmy's cousin, Ryan, and his girlfriend Jessica welcomed their third adorable gift to this world - Reagan Georgia. Here's the 9-lb bundle of joy with her mommy, daddy and siblings, Caden and Macie. Congratulations Ryan and Jess!

{Pics from a very proud Mimi, Jimmy's Aunt Debi}

Happy Friday!

It's going to be a crisp, cool weekend - for coastal NC that is - so I think I might make this pumpkin chocolate chip bread...

{www.feveravenue.com}

I (heart) Boone Weather

Forty-percent chance of snow on Friday...