PHILLIES

This weekend the hubs and I are going to visit my father-in-law in Philadelphia. I am pretty excited in that we haven't been up there in over a year and I am excited to see if all the die hard Phillies fans are still riled up. I would have loved to have been up there for one of the Series games but knowing that they won is good enough for this gal. Also, this video provided much entertainment. http://www.break.com/usercontent/2008/10/Rays-fan-takes-bottle-to-the-head-597033.html

I am content with just a normal weekend trip to see family. P and I have been preparing our bellies for all the food that we will take in this weekend. Cheese steaks, Dunkin' Donuts, and of course italian fine dining.... I'm talking about sitting at the dinner table for 5 hours eating everything that is put in front of you.... and then returning to Richmond on Monday with a cooler full of P & S cold cuts. I couldn't think of a better way to welcome in the "season of eating."

Harvest Decorations

In addition to the wonderful meal that was served this past weekend, K's gorgeous home was perfectly decorated with all things harvest. While her mums were still in bloom and there were pretty pumpkins on the porch and a harvest wreath on the door, I focused on the tabletop decor, as most of my time was spent sitting at the table that evening.

The table spread consisted of complimentary fall colored linens, leaf shaped plates, and personal touches on each place setting. Here you can see that each setting included their own personal copy of the menu, printed on harvest themed card stock. Also, adorning each place setting was either a gourd or a mini pumpkin with their names written on card stock and pinned in place. Although I asked for a mini pumpkin, after seeing the gourds I wish I had a chance to reconsider. They were so cute!

Candy corn surrounding the candle sticks provided the Halloween-ie feel while at the same time lightening the mood. This formal dinner felt a little more lighthearted when you saw the candy not only filling the bowl, but reflected in the mirror below it as well.

The centerpiece held a special place in my heart, in that K and I used the same idea for the centerpieces that were used in my summer wedding. In this case, K changed it up by using fresh tulips, (that could also be found around the house in cute little bud vases), and secured them with clear pebbles. Filling the vase to the top with water gave the tulips a unique submerged vibe and the centerpiece claimed its uniqueness with an LED light that was dropped in the bottom in an effort to illuminate the entire centerpiece. Although not entirely visible through the lens of my camera, this was certainly a nice touch.

Some honorable mentions need to go out to all the harvest colored serving ware and the springs of rosemary that were added to each dish, they all did their part in making this meal really come together.

A big thanks goes out to K and her husband for once again opening up their home and letting us celebrate a special occasion. Thankfully, we didn't end the night with gloomy faces like these poor uninvited guests.

Harvest Festivus

My partner in cooking, K, and I are always looking for an excuse to celebrate with food and of course delicious beverages. Well this past weekend a coworkers birthday gave us the opportunity to pull out the mixers and meat thermometers. K hosted the party at her swoon worthy home and together we made just about everything the birthday boy requested. Let me tell you, in my quest to be a cracker, K is one major cracker to look up to. Her home is always up on the seasonal decorations and she is wonderful at remembering all the details from an ice bucket to drink stirrers.

The birthday boy specifically requested a prime rib roast and a flour less chocolate torte for dessert, everything else we got to play around with a bit, including a harvest themed pumpkintini. Here's a rundown of the menu for you.

Starters:

Pumpkintinis

Caramelized garlic cheese ball

Shrimp cocktail

Main:

Prime rib roast

Red bliss mashed potatoes

Roasted asparagus

Creamed Spinach w/ buttery crumb topping

Sauteed mushrooms

Desserts:

Chocolate Chip cheesecake

Chocolate Truffle torte w/ homemade raspberry sauce

Homemade whipped cream

dessert wine

Now while most of the cooking was done by K you can find the recipes for the Cheese Ball and Creamed Spinach in my archives. I will however share the recipes for the pumpkintinis and Chocolate Truffle Torte.

The pumpkintini was quite delicious and was perfect for the cool, harvest weather we had on Saturday night. We started by rimming the glass with a little lemon juice and crushed graham crackers. Then add:

1 splash Kahlua

1 1/2 splash Malibu rum

2 counts of Vanilla vodka

1 heaping teaspoon pumpkin puree (canned pumpkin pie mix)

Shake well with ice and drain into martini glass.

These can be dangerous, but oh so good!

Chocolate Truffle Torte

Preheat the oven to 350.

2 tablespoons confectioner’s sugar

8 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped

10 tablespoons unsalted butter

5 eggs

2/3 cup sugar

¼ teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon dark rum

3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

Coat the inside of a 9-inch cake pan, with non-stick cooking spray, then sift the confectioner’s sugar onto the cooking spray in the pan.

In a glass bowl, melt the chocolate and butter together in the microwave on high for 2 minutes, stirring half way through. Remove from the oven and continue to stir until the chocolate is melted. Set aside and allow to cool.

In the stand mixer with the whip attachment, beat the eggs, sugar, salt and flavoring together for about 8 minutes, until tripled in volume. (try cooling the whip attachment prior, apparently it helps in the whipping process)

With the machine on low, gradually pour in the chocolate mixture, until it is incorporated. Fold in the cocoa and flour, until it disappears and then pour the batter into the prepared pan. (FYI: At this point, the mixture can be refrigerated for up to 8 hours, or frozen for 6 weeks.)

Defrost and bring to room temperature before baking 20 to 25 minutes, until the torte is set in the middle. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 10 minutes, then invert onto a serving platter. (Since the bottom of the cake will be the most beautiful side, don’t re-invert the cake)

Sprinkle confectioners sugar on top and add a few fresh raspberries.

Or you can go all out and add your own homemade raspberry sauce.

1 bag frozen raspberries

little sugar

raspberry liqueur

Let this simmer for an hour or two and drizzle it right on top of your torte! I will give you a warning that the chocolate torte is not for the faint at heart. I consider myself a sweet tooth but this was almost a little much for me. Don't get me wrong, I cleaned my plate, but without the help of the raspberry sauce and K's homemade whipped cream I probably would have had to bow out.

All in all the meal was perfection in my eyes. I had never quite seen a piece of meat as we had the other night and all the fixins' just really hit the spot. I will include another post that shows off some of the tabletop festivity

My two favorite times of the evening where when each of these plates were placed in front of me.

Dinner Dessert

Useful Pumpkin

After seeing this idea in Better Homes & Gardens I decided to steal it! I stopped by my local store and scored some pretty nice blooms on Manager's Special, seriously, $1.39! I then carved and gutted the pumpkin. I have to say though, I left a few seeds in there to see if anything would sprout. Then, I added some water and some blooms. I had to cut some greens off of my bushes to fill in space and hold everything together with some twine to center it but all in all I LOVE IT. I love harvest festive decorations!

I Heart Staple Guns

So I was able to borrow my M-I-L's staple gun to get a few minor things done at the house and I am in love. I need one. NOW. I decided to complete two little reupholstery jobs that I have been putting off and since I have yet to make it out to Williams-Sherrill I had to settle with what I had in house. I found an old linen duvet that somehow had a tear in it (Newton!) and decided to use that to cover up some unsightly and outdated materials in the house. First up was a chair that I scored at a yard sale this past summer. I really want to give the whole chair a makeover but I figured this would do for now. It's very plain but at least I was able to ditch the putrid floral pattern leftover from its previous owner.

Before After

Next on the agenda was a piece of furniture that I hold very dear to my heart. I feel fortunate enough to have this piece in my home, because lets be honest, my big sis could have totally snatched this before me! When I moved in my parents brought me our old toy chest. This was something my dad made by hand in 1985. I vividly remember this chest being a big part of my childhood. We would store all our favorite toys in it and sometimes we would even pull all the toys out and play hide and go seek in it. The colors were very reflective of the 80's, or at least our home decor in the 80's. The wood is painted a dark brown and the material was taken off of an old couch we had in the first home I can remember as a child. Since this chest is currently in an empty bedroom in our house I am not quite certain what identity it will take on in the future. I am hesitant to paint it though as the inside of the doors have my fathers chicken scratch from 1985, surely written with one of those square construction pencils. I did go ahead and use the same linen material to cover up the heinous fabric that has been on there for 23 years. Let me tell you, this was no easy feat. Removing the doors from their hinges made my poor hands cramp up beyond belief. Apparently, they didn't have screws that were compatible with a Philip's head or flat head screwdriver back then because I spent the better part of an hour removing 8 screws with a pair of needle nose pliers. There was a lot of rust and maybe a few angry words. Anyway, here is my little project that still has a long way to go.

Before After

I will keep ya'll updated with more furniture conversions and let you know what becomes of these two pieces.

B is for Brussel Sprouts

So back in July or August sometime I bought 2 brussel sprout plants from a man at the Mathews County farmers market. He assured that they would produce some of my favorite veggies, in fact he mentioned that I should start seeing production within a month! Well, I suppose it has been almost 3 months and still nothing.... Keep in mind that I have the whole "survival of the fittest" mentality when it comes to gardening. Sometimes I water my plants, sometimes they will go weeks on end without any love at all. I very much have a love/hate relationship with all things green. Normally, I look at my plants and think to myself, why can't you just water yourself? and stop looking so thirsty and decrepit! Other times I do feel genuinely bad and negligent and I it is during those times that I tend to over water. I also get a sick pleasure out of watering my plants right before or right after a rainstorm as if to say, there, You wanted water and you got it!

I think what my plants need are grumbling belly noise/device or something that audibly lets me know that they are on their deathbed, or at least struggling a bit. I will admit that I have forgotten to feed the dog on occasion. Before I begin receiving all the nasty comments don't worry, there are two people in our household and I assure you that P is waaayyyy better at feeding the pooch than I am. Needless to say, when I hear poor Newtie's belly grumbling I am instantly reminded of what a piss poor caretaker I am and I immediately (usually) feed him. If my plants could talk rather then simply appearing less visually stimulating then they would most likely be watered a little more often.

Wow, this post got out of control, and all I was trying to convey was how upset I am that I am not producing tasty brussel sprouts right now! I assure you that I am not an awful human being. My plants look OK, and my dog is at a very healthy weight, and on top of that my husband and I are far from being hungry. Side note: I hope this does not deter any family or friends from asking me to watch their children. I will feed a child, probably too much in fact, just not sandwiches with the crusts cut off!

Proof that my pooch eats!

In which Newton grows a pair.....

Let me just start by saying how proud I am of my boy Newton! He has always been a little social butterfly but after the initial greeting he can be a little standoff-ish. He is always super excited to meet other dogs, people, kids, ect... but then he proceeds to sniff around by himself. Newt especially loves trips to the dog park! He has his normal routine of greeting all the dogs, peeing everywhere until he runs dry, then ignoring all the other dogs while he sniffs every inch of the park. Recently however, some other pooches have taken a liking to Newton and have inevitably showed their affection/dominance in the way that dogs do. Well, I am here to say that he has had enough. Newton is no longer available for free humps, he is fighting back. P and I were so proud to see our boy standing up for himself at the dog park this past week and then again at my folks house this weekend.

In the videos below you will see Newton, Eli (black lab), and Angel (jack russell/terrier mix, ie DEVIL DOG) having a good 'ole time. Angel is the incessant instigator that has a thing for Newton, and Eli is the gentle giant that also acts as the regulator of the fights. Normally, Newton would just sit there and take the abuse, or try to hop into P's lap, or take a hump from Eli, but this past weekend he made mom and dad proud.

CRAP-- Am I really that retarded I cannot post a video!? Help B!