September 17th, 2010

Trent and I are in New York City, our favorite place to be!!  We flew a 6:45 am flight and got into Manhattan around 10:15 am, unloaded our things at Erin’s, and headed out to walk across the Brooklyn Bridge.

We walked around DUMBO (District Under Manhattan Bridge Overpass).

Around 12:30 all this walking around made us hungry and we searched for a casual quick place to have lunch.  We found this great Italian place with big Italian guys with Jersey accents yelling at each other behind the counter, the entertainment was great.  They offered everything from pizza to spanikopita to fried chicken to lasagna.  It was hard to figure out what to order, everything looked so good.

I settled on bruschetta pizza and a budweiser.  Oh and much Purell for my hands before eating. Trent decided Heineken, sandwich, Caesar salad….

…that apparently was meant to feed a family of four.

After lunch we walked back across the bridge to Ground Zero, shopped Century 21, walked to the Financial District where Trent made me learn stuff, and took the subway back to Erin’s.  That night we had appetizers and drinks at Cookshop, walked the High Line, and dove into the Meatpacking District and did a mini pub crawl.  We started at The Standard where I was reminded of a fun tradition in my 20’s at Have a Nice Day Cafe.

A fancy fish bowl NYC style!!   

Oh, and Trent forgot to pack dress socks, so he wore Erin’s socks all night.  Tee hee!  Great day in a great city with great people.

September 16th, 2010

So tonight was an exciting night, we were taking the girls to Disney Princess on Ice and then Trent and I had a 6:45 am flight the next morning to NYC.  But I wanted to make a nice and healthy dinner beforehand knowing it was our last family dinner for awhile, in fact that was the last night we actually all four ate dinner at the same time and that was exactly a week ago (and we’re not having dinner together tonight either…life has just been nuts lately).  So I made a version for Rachel Ray’s Spinach & Artichoke Macaroni and Cheese. 

I didn’t bake it with cheese on top to save time, I just added some parmesan and called it a day.  The girls actually ate it (but mostly picked around the veggies in search for the pasta, but I call that a partial success).  There was also a good amount leftover for my parents for the weekend (they were staying at our house taking care of the girls while we were in NYC). 

Ready for Disney on Ice!

Happy and Excited at the show!

And a great level of exhaustion in the way home.  I can’t even remember the last time Lauren slept in the car! 

September 13th, 2010

My boyfriend is loud.  Wait a second, let me start again.  My boyfriend, HB, is a food processor.  And he’s efficient, but noisy. (That’s what she said.  Sorry, I couldn’t resist)

This is what the girls do when they help me make pesto and it gets to the point where I actually turn on HB. 

My dad gave me a ton of basil and I wanted to make it into pesto to keep in the freezer (pesto is just basil, a couple glugs of olive oil, salt, pepper, and a couple cloves of garlic all pureed together to make a sauce for meat, veggies, bread, grains, soups, or pasta).  In the middle of the winter it’s great to be able to break out the pesto and taste fresh basil.  It’s a little brown because I put it in the fridge and probably neglected it a day or two too long before embarking on the pesto project. 

And there it is!  Probably enough pesto for 4 pounds of pasta, which is 4 meals in our family.  I put it all in the freezer and our dinner had nothing to do with pesto, oddly enough.

I was in a breakfast for dinner mood.  I toasted some crusty bread, rubbed it with a garlic clove, put some ricotta cheese on it, topped it with mixed greens and cucumber, an egg, and 2 slices of bacon.  It’s a great meal because I love having my food all mixed together with each other to make one dish.  I know that’s not everyone’s cup of tea, I know many people who don’t like food touching each other, one of them being my oldest daughter, so she got a plate with toast, bacon, eggs, and some fruit and gave me a thankful face.  It takes all kinds to make the world go ‘round.

September 12th, 2010

The weather was great and we spent the afternoon at the Clayton Art Fair with Markham, Kaleb, Kinsley, Bethanie, and Alex.  We had such a good time.  The kids had a blast doing all the crafts at the Creative Castle.

Lots and lots of fun!  That night was gnocchi with butter sage sauce and salad.

When there’s sage in the garden, it’s an easy go to when I’m a tired girl, or just feeling lazy.

September 11th, 2010

Back in the day I remember Campbell’s Cream of Mushroom soup was in everything.  Green Bean Casserole to Tuna Noodle Casserole.  It was basically a staple in any thing labeled “casserole.”  I am not a huge, huge fan of mushrooms, nor am I a fan of canned soup, so you will not find Cream of Mushroom soup in our pantry.  I basically wrote off any recipe that included cream of mushroom soup (except Sally’s green bean casserole, now that just screams nostalgic childhood memories).  In my late 20’s I worked at Wolfgang Puck’s restaurant at the St. Louis Art Museum.  They were open for dinner only on Fridays and it was always a favorite shift of mine because it was mellow, the food was fancier, and the tips were way better.  I worked at Puck’s until May 29th, 2005 and then gave birth to Lauren June 5, 2005, so I worked through my whole pregnancy.  Let me tell you firsthand that working at a restaurant, a tasty restaurant at that, for 7 shifts a week pregnant did not fare well for me.  I ate anything and everything with no shame.  I was eating for 2 right?  So one Friday night shift the chefs put out the soup de jour for all the servers to taste and it was cream of mushroom soup.  I was pregnant, I was hungry, I didn’t even hear what it was before my spoon went in that bowl and it was HEAVENLY!  No offense to Mr. Campbell, but this soup was incredible with an earthy rich flavor.  I forgot about that soup at Puck’s until I was paging through Everyday with Rachel Ray magazine and saw a low fat version of Cream of Mushroom Soup.  The picture

looked just like that soup from Puck’s and I ripped it out and then made it for dinner (changed it a little, but not too much).  Trent was shocked because he LOVES mushrooms and knows I’m not that into them, much less making something with mushrooms as the main ingredient.

So there it is.  Trent loved it, Sydney liked it, Lauren didn’t like it, and I was so so about it.  It really didn’t taste like the soup from Puck’s.  I have a feeling making a healthy version with fat free greek yogurt wasn’t what the chef’s at Pucks did, which is why I’m still trying to lose the weight I gained from being pregnant with Lauren….darn those chefs and their butter and cream ways (oh but everything tasted so good!)! 

My tomato bruschetta with basil and chives was delicious though!  All from the garden and so fresh!  I’m going to miss the simple pleasure of going out to the garden and picking ingredients come November, so for now, I’m taking full advantage!

September 10th, 2010

I have 2 cute and happy nephews, Bryan and Caleb.  And these fantastic nephews both have the same birthday!  Today is Bryan’s 4th birthday and Caleb’s 6th birthday.  Caleb’s party is going to be in a couple weeks and Bryan’s is tonight.  Julie asked Elizabeth Hall to come to the party to document.  Elizabeth (whom I call Beth) is the first friend I ever made as a child and she actually still likes me and deals with me on a fairly often basis, so I am lucky that way.  She takes incredible pictures….incredible.  Here’s her website:

http://www.elizabethhallphotography.com/

and her blog is whimsical and entertaining with her beautiful pictures to illustrate:

http://elizabethhallphotoblog.blogspot.com/

and here are just a few of her pictures she took at the party to capture the moments.  I’m definitely biased because I love the woman who’s behind the lens and I love the people getting photographed, but she is one talented mama!

September 8th, 2010

Well I have to come to terms with the fact the consignment sale is upon me and it’s time to get all the stuff I’ve been hiding storing from the kids out, cleaned, and tagged.  While Lauren was in school, Sydney and I went to the dollar store for kid hangers.  Sydney also found a little something for herself.

A red cowboy hat so she could be Jessie the cowgirl from Toy Story 2.  When we got home, she immediately put on her rain boots, ahem, cowgirl boots to complete the look.

I also FINALLY got the energy to fold up the pool towels and swimsuits from our drying rack in the garage.  Time to man up and admit the gig is up and pool done closed.

Most of the stuff for the sale.  This part is tricky because the girls discover toys that I’m going to sell and decide to fall in love with them all over again.  So I did this during Sydney’s nap and then distracted Lauren with HOW FUN it would be to help mommy clean things and make them pretty.

It kinda sorta barely worked.  But that bike looked all spiffy thanks to Lauren! 

For dinner I was going to barbecue, but I got behind my schedule with working on the sale.  So I roasted chicken in the oven and basted it with bbq sauce.  I also made herbed lentils and a southwest salad with corn, beans, and tortilla chips.  A day of many accomplishments always makes me happy!