Recipes

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Just For Fun

Gotta make it quick…I’m “working”

We finally got our proof book from our wedding photographer!! Also, while the full online gallery isn’t up yet, she did make us a cute photo slideshow set to music.

I can’t stop watching it :)

It goes through a little quick, but if you click on the down arrow in the lower right, it will bring up the controls which has a pause button.

Hope you like!

http://www.AmandaAmbrosePhotography.com/BrianandBridget

Monday, October 26, 2009

Slow Return

The l0nger you wait, the harder it is to get back.  That’s how I’ve felt lately with the blog.  I can’t believe how long I’ve gone without posting.  First I was just busy, then I was tired, and the excuses kept popping into my head and I just couldn’t get myself to sit down and post.  Craziness. 

Well I’ve missed it WAY too much, and I was so touched when RhodeyGirl left me a comment telling me to come back.  Just the kick in the butt I needed :)  Thanks Sabrina!

I felt so behind on the Honeymoon recaps, and I still do…you guys really need to see my Santorini pictures, BUT for now lets get back to what I loved about blogging in the beginning, FOOD!

My computer’s being extra slow tonight so we’ll just go over a couple yummy dishes that have been eaten in this house lately :)

First was made tonight actually!

 

 

 

Autumn        Chowder

This was a recipe of my old roommate’s old roommate (got that?), that we tweaked a bit.

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The recipe contains all of this and a bit more:

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6 slices chopped bacon  - I use 3 regular and 3 turkey bacon

1 cup chopped onion

1 cup water

2 ½ cups pared, diced potatoes (2 sweet and 2 regular potatoes)

1 cup chopped carrots

2 tsp chicken bullion

3 cups milk (I used 2%)

1.5 bags (16oz bags) of frozen corn kernels

1/8 tsp white or black pepper

1.5 cups shredded cheddar cheese

1 – 1.5 cups shredded monetary jack

3 tbsp flour

Partially cook bacon. Stir in onions and cook until bacon is crisp. Stir in water, potatoes, carrots, bullion. Heat to boiling. Reduce head and cover. Simmer until potatoes are tender (15-20 min). Stir in milk, corn, and pepper. Heat to simmering. Mix in cheese and flour. Add to soup, stirring until melted.

Soup awaiting cheese:

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For some added green, we roasted some Brussels to eat with the soup.
Beauties!

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Dinner Served:

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you’ll be seeing a lot of my new silverware.  I heart hammered stainless.

Another delicious dinner was made easy with a bag of frozen shrimp!

Scampi!

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I winged this one and it came out awesome, hopefully I can remember :)

  • Start water boiling for pasta
  • 3 cloves of garlic and 1 Shallot diced and sautĂ© in some olive oil until soft
  • Add a splash of white wine and 1 can of diced tomatoes and squeeze of half a lemon
  • Add raw shrimp and simmer until pink
  • cook whole wheat linguini
  • add thawed frozen spinach to scampi

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Serve scamp on pasta, top with parmesan and squeeze of fresh lemon juice.

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SO good.

I have a giveaway this week!  I was hoping to get it up tonight but my camera was not cooperating.  The good news is that I FINALLY got Live Writer to work on my laptop!!!!!  Things will be much easier now.  Feels good to be back. 

Friday, October 9, 2009

Honeymoon part 1: Athens

slowly but surely I’m getting around to these :)

Our Honeymoon kicked off with a red eye flight from Boston to Athens the day after the wedding.  Because we’d be travelling to 3 different places over the course of the trip we decided it would be best to pack the small “carry on” size suitcases.IMG_5872(our gate!)

Now let me start out by saying I am notorious for over packing!!  I can fill a huge suitcase for even 3 days, so this was a big challenge for me to pack for 12 days in a small suitcase!!! 

We arrive at the airport in Boston, wait in line to check in, and only then are we informed that the plane we are on is smaller than normal and our suitcases are too big to carry on!!  @*&#(*@&!!  Figures.  Then, obviously our suitcases do NOT arrive when we do in Athens…fabulous. 

It was too hot to comfortably spend the day in my comfy pants, so first thing we did was hit up the H&M in Athens (yay!) haha…I bought a new skirt and top, and later found a great place for cute gold sandals.  P.S. Athens is sandal HEAVEN!!!

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We stayed at the Athens Gate hotel, which was very conveniently located across from the Temple of Zeus on one side and the other looked out at the Acropolis!

Our room had a view of the Temple of ZeusIMG_5885

We didn’t waste time unpacking (…clearly since we had no suitcases at this point), and set out on foot to explore!IMG_5890

We walked by the Parliament just as they were doing their Changing of the Guards ceremony.

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When they walk, they lift their legs about hip height then at the top, flex their foot up before stepping back down.  They have these huge pom-pom type things on the tops of their shoes.

Later that night, after dinner in the hotel which consisted of this beautiful chocolate soufflé:IMG_5923
(the ice cream looks like a rose!)

Our luggage finally arrived at 11:30pm!!

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I was SO PUMPED for breakfast the first morning.  There was a lovely breakfast buffet up at the rooftop restaurantIMG_5942

The first thing I grabbed was a bowl of yogurt.  Super thick creamy Greek yogurt and this was definitely NOT fat-free!

Muesli, yogurt, fruit, and a little honey:IMG_5934

I had a similar bowl EVERY morning on the whole honeymoon…unfortunately in Rome it was regular yogurt not Greek. 

Mini flaky chocolate croissant and little piece of a French toast-like dishIMG_5935

Can’t beat the morning view either…IMG_5936

The Acropolis:

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The rest of the day was a visit to the Acropolis/Parthenon

Lots of walking, climbing hills, and taking numerous pictures of the breathtaking views and structuresIMG_5984

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All that walking worked up an appetite.  Good thing there was no shortage of cafes serving afternoon pick-me-ups and some delicious food.  I swear EVERYONE in Greece (and Italy for that matter) sits at outdoor cafes and drinks afternoon espresso drinks :) 

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I never got tired of ordering Greek salads…oh my feta. 

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Under that pile of feta, cucumber, green peppers, olives, and capers, was a huge pile of chopped red ripe tomato and olive oil!!

We were also lucky enough to visit the new Acropolis museum that just opened in June.

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Temple of Zeus:

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We were only in Athens for a day and a half, and had an early EARLY flight the next morning to Santorini! 

We did get to see a spectacular sunrise sky in the plan to the island

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I really liked Athens.  Before I left, I had heard that a day and a half is more than enough time..etc, but I thought it was a beautiful city and could of spent more time there. 

Next up…the island of Santorini :)

Friday, October 2, 2009

Fall Time for Newlyweds + first 5k!

I’ve been so worried about getting Honeymoon recaps together that other things going on in the life of the BAM’s has taken a backseat.  (Ha! Not that I’ve gotten the recaps done or anything :)

It’s my favorite time of year!!

I’ll start with my FAVORITE fall time activity…Apple Picking!!  We make sure to go at LEAST once a year :)        

There were many times during the honeymoon I would bring up that we HAD to go apple picking as soon as we got back!  I love September, and that is why I wanted to have my wedding then, but I was almost slightly disappointed that we’d be away for 2 weeks on our honeymoon during this month!!  I guess Greece and Italy would have to do though ;)

We finally went last Saturday and it was such perfect weather.IMG_6811

This year we tried a new place (new to us anyways): Shelburne Farm in Stow, MA

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pumpkin patch:

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It was packed, but I figured it would be so I was mentally prepared haha.  It was also the perfect day because it was the first weekend that Macoun apples were available!  They are one of my favorites to pick!

We had a fabulous time :)

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Obviously the best part was after picking when we bought some treats :)

Hello beautiful:

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Caramel + Apple = heaven!

And no trip would be complete without cider donuts…WARM cider donuts with cinnamon sugar dusting!

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Another exciting event that happened earlier that morning was that I finally ran my first 5K!!

If you’ve read this blog you may know that I really wanted to be more of a runner, but it definitely hasn’t come as easy to me as it seems to for others.  My first actual race was a last minute decision to join my (then) fiancĂ© and his friends in a 5 miler on 4th of July.  This was CLEARLY not my shining moment during my running journey!  

Since then all I’ve wanted to do was run a nice simple (i.e. flat) 5K.

I ran this with my old roomie :)

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We did the Susan G Komen Race for the Cure in Boston’s seaport!

I was NOT going for any time; I just wanted to run the whole thing without stopping, and I DID!!  It felt great, and I didn’t even feel too dead after :)  My official time was 30:50 (a 9:56 pace).  In writing this looks so slow…well compared to other peoples times I hear about, but I could care less because it was good for me!

We’ve already signed up for another race…this time it’s a fun 5K the week before Halloween and we are wearing costumes!! 

Race Swag!

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Super cute Pug we encountered on our way to breakfast!

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Post race Iced Coffee:

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Pre-Race Dinner:  Homemade pesto (leftover in the freezer) with whole wheat spaghetti, veggies, and a little rotisserie chicken:

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It’s been really fun living together as Newlyweds!  Brian and I really didn’t live together until a few weeks before the wedding.  We weren’t purposely not living together but it just worked out that way, so it’s definitely a new a fun time right now :)

Our first weekend back from the HM, we made a big pot of turkey chili:

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ooooo!  And I FINALLY used my gorgeous cutting board I got last year!!  I was waiting until I had good knives and now I do :)

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isn’t it pretty :)

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Served with cheese, a little sour cream, scallions and cilantro:

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Corn muffin of course:

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I was also pumped to make a batch of Kale chips…it’s been far too long!

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washed, tore into pieces, coat with a little olive oil (I use my hands to rub it all around), salt and pepper.

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375 for 12-15 min :)   Dip in ketchup and enjoy!

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It’s another crisp fall day today!  Happy Fall :)