Five Years Ago Today...

I married the bestest guy!  Yes folks, 5 years have gone by.  I actually can't believe it.  It really has flown by but in a good way.  As I reminisce today, I remember the beautiful weather, my beautiful bridesmaids, and my beautiful husband.  I also remember the 3 freak outs about the rain in the morning, the call I got that the reception hall lost my seating chart, and that I thought the wrong bouquets were delivered.  Only 3; not that bad I think.  In the end, it all worked out perfectly.  Oh, the food!  The food was fabulous (I think).  M and I only ate about 2 mouthfuls.  But there was crudite, bacon wrapped scallops, gourmet pizzas, and several other hors d'ouerves that  I can't remember.  For the main meal, we had stations.  There was a soup and salad station with minestrone soup and a garden salad (I think that was the salad - give me a break, it was 5 years ago!  I'm lucky I remembered to get dressed this morning).  A pasta station with butternut squash ravioli (oh lordy that was good).  A carving station with prime rib and roast turkey.  There was also potatoes and some kind of vegetable.  Lastly, a dessert station that appeared later in the evening with the cake.  Yummy lemon mousse cake.  Unfortunately, I don't think all the guests realized that and all that delicious cake was left.  Oh well.  What can ya do?  They all certainly found the candy table.  Candy is good too.  Everyone could make their own goody bag from the candy smorgasboard!  That was a major hit.

Want to see something cool? A year and a half later, M and I were on the cover of New England Bride Magazine!  We had no idea but it was super cool.  I only had a scan and it is black and white.  It was for the cover story of the Georgetown Club where we had our reception.  Sadly, it is now closed. :(   But, some other photos were used in ads for the Georgetown Club too.  Yeah, we're famous now. ha!

So, Happy Anniversary, M!  To many more years of good times, good food, and poofy cheek poking! (he he - inside joke and it's not dirty!  Get your minds out of the gutter, people).

Chicken Soup with Red Pepper and Spinach

I did it, folks.  I ran three miles today (with the exception of about a 2 minute walk near to the end).  I had to.  My cousin took me on the route she typically does and it so nicely has a boat load of hills.  And of course, one right at the end.  And I'm not talking some short incline.  It is one of the long slow grade ones that you don't really notice until you have to run it.  She did warn me but I was like no, I'll be fine.  Right.  Just until my lungs decided to start stabbing me in the chest.  But it's fine.  Hopefully the 5K in the city will be more flat.  I'm sticking with that thought anyway.

Since this morning's run, I have actually felt pretty depleted all day.  It really does take a lot out of you.  So instead of the laundry and bathroom cleaning I should be doing, I want to tell you about chicken soup.  M and I love chicken soup.  We make it a lot, many different ways.  I'll get them up on this blog eventually but here is the latest one.  We roasted a chicken the other night (I'll tell you about that too someday) and there was a ton left over.  One of the best things to do with that chicken is make a soup.  So soup I made.  I added a red pepper because I had a one in the fridge as well as some baby spinach.  It was a good idea.  The soup was quite flavorful and the added surprise of tomatoes really made it richer than the standard chicken soup broth.  It was quick and easy and we like that in our house.

Chicken Soup with Peppers and Spinach
A recipe by Noelle

extra virgin olive oil
2 carrots, sliced into rounds
2 celery stalks, sliced into half moons
1 medium onion, sliced
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 bay leaf
3 sprigs of fresh thyme or 1 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp dried marjoram
1 14oz can diced tomatoes
4 cups chicken stock
2 cups cooked chicken
2 handfuls baby spinach
salt and pepper
parmesan cheese

Heat a dutch oven or large soup pot over medium high heat.  Add enough olive oil to coat the bottom of the pot.  Add the carrots and celery and cook for about 3 minutes.  Add the onions and garlic and cook for about another minute or two.  Add the red pepper.  Cook for a minute.  Add the bay leaf, thyme and marjoram.  Stir to combine.  Add the tomatoes, chicken stock, and chicken.  Give the soup a stir and reduce the heat to low and cover and simmer for about 10 minutes.  Season with salt and pepper.

Right before serving, stir in the baby spinch to wilt.  Remove the bay leaf and thyme sprigs.  Ladle into serving bowls and serve immediately.  Sprinkle with parmesan cheese if desired.

A Beautiful New Home

My cousin and her boyfriend bought a house almost two years ago that quite frankly was a disaster.  It was a foreclosure and the house was in really tough shape.  They got an amazing deal on the house and turned it into quite a beauty.  They did a ton of the work themselves and it has taken them almost two years to do it and there is still some more work to be done.  But they should be so proud of themselves.  The house is amazing and I am amazingly jealous.  It is in a gorgeous neighborhood and it looks like a brand new house.  Well really, it is.  Everything is new inside and I mean everything.  Even the outside is new!  It was quite an accomplishment.

Yesterday they threw a party to show off the house and to thank all those who had a hand in getting the house into tip top shape.  They didn't want it to be a housewarming party but it turned into one.  It was great to see the house filled with family, friends and food.  They thought the day would never come.  But it did and it was a great day in a great house.  My contribution to the house rehab was spackling, sanding, and priming. Super fun stuff.  There was also some floating in their backyard pool if I remember correctly too.  My contribution to the party; lemon drop cookies.  They were so scrumptious and were quite a hit.  I had several inquiries for the recipe.  They were light and easy to eat while strolling through the halls and rooms of a beautiful new home.  Congrats, guys!  You did good.

Lemon Drop Cookies

Adapted from Sugar Plum

1 3/4 cups flour

1 tsp baking powder

pinch of salt

1 cup granulated sugar

1 stick of butter, softened

zest of one medium sized lemon

juice from one lemon

1 tsp almond extract

2 large eggs

1/2 cup confectioners' sugar

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Spray two large cookie sheets with cooking spray.

Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt into a bowl.  With a mixer, beat the sugar, butter, and lemon zest together until combined.  The mixture will look a little grainy.  Beat in the lemon juice, almond extract, and eggs until it is all combined.  Add half of the dry ingredients and beat to combine.  Add the rest of the dry ingredients and beat until just incorporated.

Cover the mixing bowl with plastic wrap and place dough in the refrigerator for about 45 minutes to an hour to chill.  If you take the dough out before it is chilled enough, it will stick to your hands and be quite messy.

Once the dough is chilled, scoop teaspoons of it and roll into a ball with your hands.  Place on cookie sheet.  Bake for about 11 minutes or until golden brown.  Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.  Once cool, dip the tops of the cookies into the confectioners' sugar.

Note: If you are not going to serve or eat the cookies for a little while, wait to dip into the confectioners' sugar.  Otherwise the confectioners' sugar could "melt" and not be the pretty white topping that it could be.

30th Birthday Party!

The day is here; I am officially 30 years old today.  Wow.  I'm actually a little disbelieving that it is here.  I can't believe I have already finished 3 decades of my life and today I start my 4th!  4th people!  It's freaking me out a little. 

Anyway, I started the day with a big cup of coffee and a pedicure.  I felt like treating myself a little.  I also wanted an eyebrow wax but the waxing lady wasn't going to show up until noon and I wasn't waiting around.  So I went and got a breaksfast sandwich instead.  Mmmm.  I love bacon, egg, and cheese on an english muffin. Although the one I got today wasn't that good really so that was kind of disappointing.  Oh well.  Now to figure out what to do with the rest of my day.  M wants to take me out to eat somewhere tonight.  I don't know where I want to go though.  Such decisions!

My last post I mentioned that M and my brother in law threw a 30th birthday party for me and my sister in law.  It was really fun and the guys did a great job.  The weather made a stellar performance as well.  The day was perfect.  I snapped a few pictures but was really too busy schmoozing.  Ha, just kidding.  But no really.

My brother in law rigged up some tents so that people could get out of the sun and so there was some shelter over the food.  But the bees and hornets were crazy!  I hate bees.  I hate them more when they are messing with the food!  M manned the grill as shown below (blue shirt).  The menu included hamburgers, hot dogs, pork tenderloin two ways, including stuffed, chicken wings with my brother in law's awesome spice rub, grilled chicken breasts, deviled eggs, pasta salad, potato salad, green salad, grilled vegetables, chips and guacamole.  I think that was everything but like I said before, I didn't get any pictures!  Fail.  Another item I didn't get a picture of was the kegerator.  I am not a beer drinker but I could appreciate the coolness of the machine.

And then of course there was cake.  Delicious cake.  Please ignore the rude writing on the top of the cake. 30 is NOT over the hill!

After my sister in law and I blew out our candles, we were asked to open our gifts.  It was like a bridal shower.  But we both got some good loot.  I also won $23 on scratch tickets I got.  Score! 

Overall, it was really fun day and the boys did a great job!  We are such lucky ladies.

Grilled Vegetable Sandwiches

I'm back!  Not that I went anywhere but geeze, I was away for a while.  Things just got really busy for some reason.  End of summer activities I guess.  This past weekend M and my brother in law hosted a combined birthday party for me and my sister in law.  It was super fun and I will tell you a little bit about it.  There's really not that much to tell and believe it or not, I didn't get any pictures of food except for the cake which really is the most important food at a birthday anyway, right? 

Hey, want to know what I'm going to do?  I'm running a 5K in September!  I'm a little scared.  I don't run.  It will be interesting.  Right now, I'm in "training."  he he  I think it's funny for me to say that.  I am one of the most unathletic human beings on the planet but I'm excited to be doing this.  I have always wanted to and now I am!  My cousin got me into it.  It is in support of the Susan G. Komen for the Cure and it is something that's important to me and my family.  It is a great cause and as a side bonus, it will be great for my body because Lord knows, I need some help.

We have been cooking some but I feel like we're slacking.  But really, I think we're cooking more especially now that M is out of school.  Is it weird to think we haven't done much when we really have?  I guess I haven't made anything stellar.  Except for these sandwiches.  I love grilled vegetable sandwiches.  They are so tasty and healthy really.  They're win-win.  And believe it or not, they were M's idea.  Mr. I-must-have-meat-at-every-meal suggested vegetable sandwiches!  I stood with a gaping mouth.  It was a great idea and super easy.  You can use whatever vegetables, cheese, and bread you want.  Here's what we did:

Grilled Vegetable Sandwiches

A recipe by Noelle

I used a stove top grill pan and it worked perfectly.

2 bell peppers, any color, chopped

1 zucchini, sliced into rounds

1 summer squash, sliced into rounds

1 small eggplant, sliced into rounds

1 onion, sliced into rounds or triangles

olive oil

salt and pepper

mozzarella cheese

soft sub rolls

Preheat a grill or a stove top grill pan on medium high heat.  Toss the chopped vegetables with olive oil, salt, and pepper.  Once the grill is hot, add the vegetables in a single layer.  If you are using a grill pan, you may need to do this in batches.  Cook on each side for about 5-8 minutes until there are grill marks.  Flip over and cook on the other side until grill marks appear.

Slice the sub rolls and put some cheese on both sides of the bread.  Place a bunch of the vegetables onto the roll and cover with the other side of the bread.  Serve immediately.

Birthday Shout Out

I wanted to send a shout out to my sister in law who turns 30 today!  Happy, happy birthday!  Don't be sad.  I am coming up right behind you.  For now, here is your birthday present:

A carton will be shipped in 3-6 business days.  Please save a few for me. 

Herb Pizza

This past week has been a little frustrating at work.  This being the case, I haven't felt all that motivated to cook something.  I don't like this feeling.  M and I picked out some recipes to cook during the week and they were just eh.  I did make a chicken lo mein which was pretty similar to this pork one only I used chicken.  Like you never could have guessed. :)  I also added some bean sprouts.  Now that M is out of school, he is taking on the cooking one night a week as well as walking Maddux so that I can go to the gym.  I go on Saturdays and Sundays but now I can get at least one work out in during the week.  It's time to get this lady back into shape!  He made a tasty version of this only he put some paprika in it and there was no asparagus.  It is nice having him do the dinner one night a week.

We tried all week to do a pizza night but it kept getting put off.  M went out two nights during the week to visit a friend who is ill.  Oh guess what happened when he was visting his friend?  Some lady backed into his car while in the parking lot and totally wiped out his front bumper.  Major repairs will be needed.  And to top it all off, I was supposed to have a girls night tomorrow night but now I am car-less.  Boo!!  It's retaurant week in Boston and it was going to be an awesome time.  I'm sad.

Anyway, then we went to my parents house to do some yard work for them on Saturday.  Guess what they got us for lunch?  Yep, pizza.  So the pizza making was put off yet another day.  But we finally made it today for lunch!  It might be my favorite homemade pizza I have ever made.  So after a crappy week at work, a sick friend, a minor car incident, an out of shape body that has revolted against me, and dirty yard work, we got to stuff our faces with cheesey pizza.  Hopefully the next week is better.  Geesh.

Herb Pizza
A recipe by Noelle

1 tube refrigerated pizza dough
1 tbsp olive oil
salt
dried oregano
1 cup tomato sauce, any kind
1 bag shredded mozzarella cheese
chopped chives
freshly chopped basil
fresh thyme
1 scallion, chopped
1 small tomato, diced

Preheat oven to 425.  Spread the pizza dough out onto a baking sheet.  Prick the dough with a fork all over the top.  Drizzle with the olive oil and spread around with your hands or the back of a spoon.  Sprinkle with some salt and dried oregano.  Put the dough into the oven and bake for about five minutes.

Remove the dough from the oven.  Spread the tomato sauce all over the dough.  Sprinkle the mozzarella cheese all over.  Scatter the chives, basil, thyme, scallions, and tomatoes all over the top.  Place pizza into the oven and bake for about 12 minutes until the cheese is brown and bubbly.  Serve immediately.