Weekend Recipes

This weekend, we had mostly old stand-by recipes.  I made tomato/mozzarella salad (sliced vine-riped tomatoes, sliced mozzarella cheese, diced red onion drizzled with olive oil with a little salt and pepper and sprlinked with ribbons of basil).  I also made Stuffed Tomatoes again because they're usually a crowd pleaser. Last, but not least, I made crab dip which I could have sworn I've posted before, but it doesn't look like it. So, here it is:

CRAB DIP

Ingredients

2 8-oz pkg cream cheese, softened

4 TBS mayonnaise

2c shredded cheddar cheese

1 1/2 TBS fresh lemon juice

2 tsp hot sauce

2 TBS Worcestershire sauce

paprika for garnish

2 6-oz cans crab meat

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Mix cream cheese, mayo, cheddar cheese, crab meat, lemon juice, hot sauce, worcestershire sauce.  Transfer to shallow 9x12 baking dish.  Garnish with paprika.  Bake 30 minutes or until golden brown and bubbly.

A few notes - I don't use tabasco sauce because it makes the crab dip too spicy, but Red Hot and any other hot sauce works fine.  I also use the full pound of lump crab meat because that's what the container comes in.  You can use imitation or backfin crab meat, but the texture is a little different.  I serve it with bread or water crackers.

Also, the photo above is not of my crab dip.  I don't remember where my recipes originates, but mine is a little darker upon baking.

For dinner, the Inlaws stayed and I made Shrimp Scampi with Linguini which was super yummy.

Weekend Update - Happy Birthday

Nothing like ringing in your third year with two birthday parties.  Little Miss celebrated again last weekend.  Food to come in a separate post.  We had a nice afternoon.  Little Miss really loved her gifts and of course she loved the cake.  She also was really good with her baby cousin.

On Sunday, we met Sister and Little Miss's big cousin.  The cousins got along and plotted against having a good portrait session for their annual holiday portrait.  We settled on a couple of photos and left with headaches and stress.

Books Read in October 2010

1. Crush On You by Christie Ridgway (NOTE: This is Book 1 in the Three Kisses trilogy.)
2. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (NOTE: This is Book 1 of The Hunger Games series. Book 2 and 3 are listed below.)
3. Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins (NOTE: This is Book 1 of The Hunger Games series. Book 1 is listed above, and Book 3 is listed below.)
4. Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins (NOTE: This is Book 1 and 2 are listed above.)
5. The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest by Stieg Larsson (NOTE: This is Book 3 of the Millenium trilogy. The book order can be found here.)

As always, the books that link to an ebook were read on my nook and the books that link to a physical book were read on paper.  I felt like I didn't read many books this month, but I think it's because The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest took the majority of the month.  I really enjoyed it though. 

Movies Watched in October 2010

1. The Town

That's it. We went to see The Town on our anniversary last month. We really thought it was well done and had a great evening out.

Birthday Lunch Menu

Photography by Kate Sears

On Saturday, I mostly made a bunch of salads and an appetizer in addition to a (store-bought) cake.  The cake was actually part white cake and part vanilla ice cream which was different but pretty decent.  I first made stuffed tomatoes which are always a crowd pleaser. I also made broccoli salad which is also a popular dish. I also made caprese pasta salad with lemon vinaigrette which I snagged from The Cooking Photographer's blog. In addition to the tried and true, I also made a new recipe - Aida's Corn, Tomato and Avocado Salad. It's probably a good summer recipe, but I used frozen corn and it still tasted good.  I don't know if I loved the cilantro dressing, but it's very light and I still liked it.  This was the only dish that I actually added salt and pepper to.  Mine wasn't as colorful because I only used red grape tomatoes, but it was still tasty.  Recipe is linked and also below:

Aida's Corn, Tomato and Avocado Salad
Ingredients



For the dressing:
1 1/2 cups packed fresh cilantro
1/2 cup good-quality extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 teaspoon finely grated lime zest
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper


For the salad:
4 ears corn, kernels removed (about 3 cups)
1 1/2 pounds grape tomatoes, halved (about 3 cups)
1 pound fresh mozzarella, diced
2 medium avocados, diced

Directions
Combine the dressing ingredients in a blender, using 2 teaspoons salt, and pepper to taste; process until smooth. Combine the salad ingredients in a large bowl and toss with the dressing. Let sit at least 15 minutes before serving, or cover and refrigerate for up to 4 hours.

Weekend Update - Trick or Treat!

On Friday, we cleaned the apartment, and I did some prep work on food for Saturday. On Saturday, we had one of two birthday parties for Little Miss. My family and friends came over. We had lunch and then opened presents and then had cake. The photo above is what Little Miss wore for the first part of the party. I wanted her to wear a birthday hat she has. No such luck. I suppose I should be lucky she wore her birthday shirt.

On Sunday, we had a nice family breakfast. Little Miss and I made a quick trip to the store. We both had a nice nap. Then, at 3PM, I had to wake Little Miss from her nap so we could head to my parents' house for a Halloween party and trick-or-treating. She was Snow White and her cousin was Dopey. She walked from house to house for hours and was a little trooper. This is the first year she's gone trick-or-treating. So, at the first house, she walked right in. After about 3 houses, she got the hang of it. She slept in her Snow White costume last night and is still wearing it today. I think the holiday was a success!

Somebody is 3 Today!

How did that happen? Seriously! It does not seem like 3 years at all. We've been building up Little Miss's birthday all week. She now knows it is her birthday, and she is 3 years old. She also knows she will get a cupcake tonight. She always gets a cupcake on her birthday when her birthday celebrations do not fall on the same day. So, this weekend, she'll have cake.


Today was Halloween at preschool. So, Little Miss got to wear her Snow White dress. She was very excited about it. She'll also get to wear it on Halloween and pretty much any time she wants to after that. At school, she got to be line leader which made her face light up.  Plus, I made cookies with sprinkles for the class.


Happy birthday, Little Miss!

Contest

The photo above is from my friend, Sanna's new blog. It's a Christmas Reading Challenge. I'll be participating loosely in that I'll be reading Christmas books I already own, but I won't be as diligent as Sanna. Anyway, she is having a contest for the book cover above along with a surprise book. You may click on the word "contest". You get one entry for posting at her blog, one entry for becoming a follower and another entry for passing the word along on your blog. Good luck!

Thursday Tidbit

see more Lol Celebs

*  Disclaimer: The Disney Corporation takes no responsibility for your kids not learning the letter ‘X’. Seriously, it’s not our fault that ‘X’ is such a stupid letter. Chances are your kids won’t need it or use it, so no worries right?


Entire post stolen from this website.

If you read the comments on the link, you'll find some people take their Disney a little too seriously (as in why does so-and-so get to be this letter and not my favorite character?) and way too many people know X characters.  I think the reason X wasn't included was to have a perfectly aligned chart.  Now, all the rows have 5 characters across. 

So, my question is who would be on your Disney chart if you do not like the one provided?

So Curious

I was never a fan of the Sweet Valley High books. I think I read one or two. I'm a stickler for order, and I could never find every book so it bothered me. I did catch the tv show once in awhile though. Not sure I should admit that. Either way, I'm totally curious about the new book coming out. I read an excerpt a few months back and it seemed very different from the original series. Plus, what caused the big rift between Jessica and Elizabeth? What happened to their Fiat? So many questions.

Flashback Video

I was going through my videos today while trying to make sense of my thumb drives.  I came across this one.  This is especially bittersweet because Little Miss now says "banana" - not every time, but she doesn't say her made up word as often.  Video is from 8/23/09.  I can't believe how much she's grown (and how much her hair has grown) since then!  Feeling all nostalgic as her third birthday approaches.

Weekend Update - Hanging in the ATL

Last weekend, Husband and I flew to Atlanta for his boss's wedding.  Little Miss spent the weekend with my parents.  We arrived in Atlanta around noon.  We had a quick lunch and took a glorious nap.  In the evening, we attended the wedding and had a great time.  Being giant losers, we pretty much went right to bed after the festivities.


On Saturday, we woke up and went to lunch at Chick-Fil-A.  It was super yummy.  Then, a bunch of us went to a sports bar to watch college football.  One of Husband's co-workers and I took a walk around downtown Atlanta through the Olympic Centennial Park and around the area with the aquarium and World of Coca-Cola.  I also bought Little Miss a t-shirt.  We went to a sushi place for dinner and then went to another bar before driving to meet up with people from the wedding.  We stayed for a brief time at the new bar before heading back to the hotel to pack.


On Sunday, we woke up early to head back home.  We picked up Little Miss, went grocery shopping and went home.  Husband watched football while Little Miss and I took a nap.  It was a long weekend, but it was a lot of fun.  We have a relaxing weekend coming up so, depending on the weather, we may do something local or just do nothing at all.  Both are somewhat appealing.



Weekend Update - Happy Anniversary!

see more Lol Celebs

Last Friday, I believe I went to bed obscenely early. We tried to give Little Miss a bath and she pitched a fit and said she wanted to go to bed. So, we put her to bed and told her that she had to have a bath in the morning.


On Saturday, I woke up with Little Miss. She pitched a 2-hour fit over taking a bath. She woke up Husband on his morning to sleep late. Finally, she took a bath for him. However, because of the fit, we did not get a pumpkin as planned. She also did not get any morning television. In her thin defense, she has not been feeling 100%. Still, simmer down already. Saturday afternoon, Sister came over to babysit while Husband and I celebrated our 11th anniversary by seeing The Town. Then, we went to Ray's the Steaks for a nice dinner.


On Sunday, it was a comedy of errors as we ran around trying to get Little Miss up and ready and get the place ready for friends to come over. Husband's work department came over to watch football. It ended up being a lot of fun. We had good food and drink. Little Miss loved the new people and attention. Then, we had a quiet evening of watching a little tv while relaxing. The weekend may not have gone exactly as planned, but it was a good one overall.

Sexy Friday

NOTE:  Sorry, this was scheduled to post last Friday, but it did not.  Enjoy Sexy Tuesday. 

 

Welcome to the return of Sexy Friday!  I apologize it has been so long, but I lacked motivation.  In honor of the release of Secretariat this weekend, Diane Lane is granted the honor of being the recipient of Sexy Friday. Sharing her week is her co-star in Unfaithful, Oliver Martinez. I have honestly never seen Oliver Martinez in anything other than Us Magazine and Unfaithful, but he is sexy. As for Diane Lane, she just looks great. I don't know if I'll be watching Secretariat, but I usually am a sucker for animal movies so it's likely I'll see it eventually.

Friday Funny

Definitely cooler, but I think Little Miss would have some nightmares if Christopher Walken was hanging on her nursery wall.

see more Lol Celebs

Thursday (Fake) Tweet

see more Lol Celebs

Time Warp

Today, I bought myself my hot chocolate at Starbucks. The employee asked my name, and I told her. She looked at me and said (and I paraphrase), "oh, like April from the Turtles." No joke. I responded that I hadn't heard that in awhile... like for decades. April O'Neill is pictured above. She was the bane of my existence during my babysitting years in the 80's. I can totally tell how we would get confused (but hey, I never claimed the kids I babysat for were brain surgeons - they could be now though, scary thought).

House Humor

I don't watch the show anymore, but I found this amusing. Hope you do, too!

see more Lol Celebs

Monday aMusement

I so like alliteration, but nothing really worked with Monday. Apologies for settling.

see more Lol Celebs

Weekend Update - Fall Fair

Last Friday, we waited until Little Miss was home and then went grocery shopping. She was a little cranky because it was bedtime, but she was a trooper. She went right to bed when we got home. We did take out for dinner and settled in for a quiet night on the couch.


On Saturday, Husband woke up with Little Miss even though it's his day off (but he was up watching golf anyway). I enjoyed sleeping late and finally woke up and took Little Miss to Fairfax for Fall for Fairfax with Sister and Nephew. The kids had a blast. There were jumping structures, a petting zoo, junk food.  It was a lot warmer than I expected, but we still had fun. We had fun until nap time and Little Miss had a minor tantrum. At that point, we had some quiet time inside where she fell asleep. The binky doesn't always leave the house, but it's better than the public temper tantrum and it helped calm her down while Sister and Nephew played.  After, we went home, had dinner and went to bed.

On Sunday, Husband woke up again with Little Miss while I slept an obscene amount. Then, that pretty much summed up my day. Little Miss and I reclined on the couch and then we reclined in bed. In the evening, Little Miss asked to go to bed in the middle of dinner and ended up falling asleep on the couch. She woke up alert and hungry this morning. I suppose that's a successful weekend! Next weekend, we're onto the pumpkin patch and Husband and I celebrate our 11th anniversary.  Also, as much as I have little or no motivation, I will make an effort to decorate for Halloween.  I try to keep in the habit for Little Miss's sake.  She does so love the decorations around the holiday time.  I am pretty good at keeping up with them between Halloween and Christmas.