Vacation 2018 Part 3: Get Your Hands off My Buns

On Wednesday, we made plans as a family to wake up early to get breakfast. There were several famous pancake spots, but for whatever reason, we decided to go to Crockett’s Breakfast Camp and I am glad we did.  They were known for their giant cinnamon rolls, which for many in our party beat out pancakes.  We could smell the bacon as we walked down the street to the restaurant.  We were a party of 15 so we did have to wait a little bit to be seated.  During that time, most of us had time to decide what we wanted and change our minds several times.  I like to create my own breakfast options, as I am not able to eat eggs, and I went with bacon, grits, and a giant cinnamon roll.  We ended up with several people ordering giant skillets of food, some ordering pancakes and other breakfast delights, and so many cinnamon rolls.  They were some of the best cinnamon rolls I’ve every had and certainly the largest.  They also tasted great the next day as leftovers.

Crockett’s Breakfast Camp

Crockett’s Breakfast Camp

Half the Fam (Dave, Tammy, Sallie, Dan, Sue, Jared, Bryan) 

Half the Fam (Dave, Tammy, Sallie, Dan, Sue, Jared, Bryan) 

Other Half Fam (Mom, Dad, Katie, Aaron, Me, Mike, PopPop, Teresa)

Other Half Fam (Mom, Dad, Katie, Aaron, Me, Mike, PopPop, Teresa)

Cinnamon Rolls! 

Cinnamon Rolls! 

Breakfast Skillet

Breakfast Skillet

Giant Pancakes

Giant Pancakes

After breakfast, I headed to the outlet mall with Sallie and Teresa to check out the Kate Spade outlet for a new work bag and to Chico’s to see a cute dress that Mom thought I should try.  I ended up with a cute bag and dress without spending much money at all.  Part of the gang checked out a visitor center and got to stop and look at some views.  They also met up with my Great Aunt Sally and Bill, who visited with us that day.

IMG_0434.JPG
Cute Parents

Cute Parents

We spent most of the day visiting with Sally and Bill on the porch, which was the perfect size and had tons of rockers for us to enjoy. 

Our Favorite Hang Out

Our Favorite Hang Out

IMG_0429.JPG

We borrowed Sally and Bill to get some shots of the whole family, including flat Brendan, who wasn’t able to join us on our trip because he had a big test to study for.  It’s also fun to point out that all 4 (present) cousins are sitting at approximately the same height.  I look like I am only a little bit shorter than the others who all sit at about the same height.  In reality, Katie and I are almost exactly the same height with Jared and Bryan standing 6-8 inches taller than us.  It just goes to show which cousins have the “Edwards legs” and which do not.  

Almost the Whole Family

Almost the Whole Family

Mom and Sallie with their Aunt Sally

Mom and Sallie with their Aunt Sally

While we were a little bit late, we took this opportunity to sing “happy birthday” and celebrate PopPop’s 80th birthday!

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday!

Tormenting Flat Brendan AKA Baby PopPop

Tormenting Flat Brendan AKA Baby PopPop

We ended the evening playing Tenzies, a fun dice game. It was fun teaching everyone a game that was pretty easy to understand and play.  Bryan won a lot and made sure that none of the rest of cheated.  We took it easy on the rest of the family and decided not to make it a drinking game like we did in Destin.

Tenzies!

Tenzies!

Vacation 2018 Part 2: Under the Sea

Tuesday was our first full day of vacation and our group split into multiple groups depending on interest.  Dan, Sue, and Jared headed out to Cherokee, NC for the day.  Mom, Teresa, Tammy, and Sallie decided to hit the outlet malls.   Dad, Mike, Katie, Aaron, Bryan, and I decided to go to lunch and Ripley’s Aquarium.  We drove to a few places before settling on Landshark for lunch.  We decided to do vacation right and started with a bit of day drinking, World Cup watching, and some delicious foods.  

Cool Kids at Landshark for Lunch

Cool Kids at Landshark for Lunch

Sangarita-Day drinking! 

Sangarita-Day drinking! 

Philly Cheese Steak + Waffle Chips and a Pickle (ew) 

Philly Cheese Steak + Waffle Chips and a Pickle (ew) 

After lunch, we headed to the aquarium.  It had some pretty good reviews and the majority of our family really enjoys going to aquariums so this seemed like a good option.  It was a good sized building and had several areas of interest for us to browse.  We enjoyed checking out fish, sharks, and of course, the penguins.  We watched one particular penguin for several minutes as he grabbed large rocks and carried them to a girl penguin who was hiding in a cave.   

Ripley’s Aquarium

Ripley’s Aquarium

Dad and his new bff

Dad and his new bff

Bryan is back to school with the fish

Bryan is back to school with the fish

Saw Face!  (We were really fascinated by this guy-maybe due to day drinking?) 

Saw Face!  (We were really fascinated by this guy-maybe due to day drinking?) 

Aaron and his new friend

Aaron and his new friend

1 Fish, 2 Fish

1 Fish, 2 Fish

After the aquarium, we stopped by the grocery store to pick up some beverages and other needed items before heading back to the cabin.  The shopping gang had a lot of luck and found all kinds of treasures and deals.   

Shopping Part 1

Shopping Part 1

Dave must have been a good boy-he got a new shirt!

Dave must have been a good boy-he got a new shirt!

We had decided as a family that we would eat dinners in the cabin as a whole family and that each smaller family group would take turns making dinners.  Some of us missed the first night, when Teresa and PopPop made lasagna.  On the second night, Dan, Sue, and Jared fixed us Taco Tuesday with chicken and beef tacos and all the fixings.  It was delicious and people made tacos, nachos, and salads using the chicken or beef.   

Dan is making Taco Tuesday happen for the family

Dan is making Taco Tuesday happen for the family

Waiting for tacos

Waiting for tacos

As if we hadn’t eaten enough, some of us decided that we needed to go to Maddog’s Creamery and Donuts.  Ice cream and donuts are two of my favorite things so I couldn’t say no to this adventure.  There were several options of ice cream or donuts, but Katie and I are champs and knew that we needed both.  So, we each ordered an ice cream donut sandwich with cinnamon sugar donuts and espresso ice cream.  It was huge and delightful and sadly, there was no way I could finish it. 

Ice Cream + Donuts = Yes, please! 

Ice Cream + Donuts = Yes, please! 

Ice cream donut sandwich

Ice cream donut sandwich

Ice cream gang with Sallie

Ice cream gang with Sallie

Ice cream gang with Suzie  

Ice cream gang with Suzie  

After our ice cream snack, we headed back to the cabin for an evening of relaxation, imbibing, and games.  It was fun to stay up late playing games with the cousins, who we don’t get to see nearly enough. 

Old Man in a Rocker

Old Man in a Rocker

Older Man in a Rocker

Older Man in a Rocker

Intense game with Cousins

Intense game with Cousins

Vacation 2018 Part 1: Bandits in the Smokies

This year’s family vacation brought an entirely new adventure.  We not only had our immediate family of 6 (my parents, Katie, Aaron, Mike and I), but we had a multigenerational extended family vacation that included grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins, too.  We made it a family vacation and a celebration of PopPop’s 80th birthday.  Some of us flew, some drove, but we all managed to get to Gatlinburg, Tennessee for several days of family, fun, and food.   

IMG_0393.JPG

Mike and I started our trip early to the airport in Austin, where we would be flying to St. Louis and meeting up with Aunt Sallie and Bryan.  From there, we would all fly to Nashville and drive to Gatlinburg.  Our plans got delayed a bit by weather all over the country and both of our flights ended up being delayed.  This allowed us plenty of time to lunch in Austin and later have a toasted ravioli snack at the St. Louis airport Pasta House.  We got a much later start on the road than we had originally expected.  We loaded up our luggage and headed for Gatlinburg with Sallie as our captain. 

IMG_0395.JPG

Normally, the drive would have been beautiful, but the sun did not shine and it rained or tried to rain nearly the entire trip, starting with our road trip to Gatlinburg.  We enjoyed DJ Bryan introducing us to new music, rocking out to 90’s hits, and several car games.  No road trip would be complete without a misturn at some point (in our case, heading to Chic Fil-a) and taking much longer than originally anticipated.  Every time we checked, it seemed like we were still pretty far from our destination.  We may have forgotten that there was a time change between Nashville and Gatlinburg, but that car ride lasted forever.  As it got darker, our driver got a bit restless and very slap happy.  It’s a rare thing, but our driver kept asking if we “were there yet?”  We finally got to the “strip” area that connects Pigeon Forge to Gatlinburg, stopping for a much needed donut treat before making our way to more mountainous area.   

IMG_0284.JPG

We managed to get to the property management office for our rental home, but got a little twisted around before reaching our destination of “Eight is Enough.”  It was dark and we were tired when we finally arrived.  As we pulled in, we were greeted by PopPop, Teresa, Mom, Dad, Dan, Sue, Dave and Tammy, who all stayed up to see us.  We went to our assigned rooms and were ready to hit the sheets, so we would be well rested for the next day’s adventures. 

IMG_0390.JPG
IMG_0397.JPG

Burning Down the Kitchen

Before we left for vacation, I worked really hard to make sure we had eaten all the leftovers and that we didn’t have much food in the house. So, we had to go out to eat and we decided to try a new place in Leander, called Burnt Kitchen.  It had pretty good reviews on Yelp and in the neighborhood Facebook group, so I had pretty high hopes.  It wasn’t too far from us and we almost missed it, as it was tucked in a strip center, not super visible.  We got in and it was interesting.  It was almost warehouse style with very high ceilings and not much insulation.  It was very loud and there were lots of families with small kids that night.  We glanced at the menu, placed our order, and waited for our food to arrive.  Unfortunately, I had a huge headache and the volume was not great for me, so I was pretty eager to eat and leave.  I picked the grilled cheese sandwich, which was good, but weird.  The Texas toast was great, but the cheese was very chewy.  I did enjoy the crispy house chips.  Mike tried the spicy chicken sandwich, which had tons of pickles, so I didn’t try it.  Overall, we were a little underwhelmed by our experience.  I would be willing to give it another chance as I wasn’t really feeling great and their brunch menu sounded pretty tasty.  Overall, I would say 3/5 stars with the hopes of improvement. 

IMAGE.JPG
FullSizeRender.jpg

Pin a Day: Easy Crockpot Baked Ziti

I enjoy a good party and hosting friends, so I have enjoyed hosting friends this year as we have started having guests monthly and now bimonthly for D and D sessions.  It’s always my goal to find food that can feed a crowd and now in the summer, doesn’t heat up the entire kitchen.  I am working on perfecting some summer crockpot meals.  Last session, I made this delicious Easy Crockpot Baked Ziti. 

IMAGE.JPG

This meal seemed easy and everyone enjoys a delicious baked pasta.  First, I made the cheese filling by combining ricotta cheese, eggs, and basil.  Next, I mixed together the jarred pasta sauce and tomato sauce.  I grated the Parmesan cheese and greased the crockpot with a bit of butter.  Finally, I was ready to assemble.  The first layer was sauce, which was followed by uncooked penne, ricotta mixture, and Parmesan cheese.  Next, I added more sauce, penne, ricotta mixture, and the rest of the Parmesan cheese.  Finally, I added the end of the penne and sauce.  I added the lid and cooked on high for about 2 1/2 to 3 hours.  I checked it at 2 1/2 hours and let it cook a little bit longer.  Then, I added mozzarella cheese to the top and cooked it until it melted.  The results were a delicious baked pasta in about 3 hours.  The kitchen stayed cool and I could pretty much set the crockpot and forget about the dish.  It was a hit with my friends and paired nicely with some delicious Garlic Breadsticks from Dream Dinners and a toasted ravioli appetizer.  This made plenty of food for 6 hungry adults with leftovers.  Depending on preferences, meat or meat sauce could be added.  I am so glad this turned out great-its often a gamble with online recipes, but this was a hit!

Dream Dinners: French Onion Turkey Burgers on Pretzel Buns with Salt and Pepper Fries

My final Dream Dinners meal before vacation was French Onion Turkey Burgers on Pretzel Buns with Salt and Pepper Fries.  I always love a pretzel bun, so I always make sure to order any dish involving them.  I also love the salt and pepper fries because they are crispy and have great flavor.  I started by preheating the oven and getting the fries cooking.  I cooked the fries at 425 for about 30 minutes.  I combined the turkey with the French onions and massaged until well blended.  I divided the turkey mixture into 3 portions and formed 3 large patties.  I cooked them in a skillet for about 7 minutes on each side.  While the burgers were finishing up, I toasted the pretzel buns in the broiler.  With good timing, everything finished at about the same time.  The burgers were juicy and well seasoned.  The French onions added great flavor and texture.  There was a seasoned mayo that really paired nicely with the burgers and pretzel buns.  The fries were cooked to a crispy perfection.  We really enjoyed this meal and all the burgers we’ve had from Dream Dinners so far.

FullSizeRender.jpg

Dream Dinners: Chipotle Chicken Ravioli

Last week was almost a whole week of Dream DInners meals, as my session got moved up a week and I needed all the freezer space I could get.  I’m not complaining because everything we had a was delicious.  Our next meal was the Chipotle Chicken Ravioli.  This meal was great because it cooked extremely fast!  It was a meal that could be cooked from frozen, too, which is great for those nights where you forget to pull something out to defrost or your plans change.  The thing that took the longest was getting the water to boil and the oven to preheat for the breadsticks.  Once the water boiled, I added the ravioli and let it cook about 5 minutes.  In a separate pan, I added the chicken and sauce and simmered over medium high heat for 8-10 minutes.  Meanwhile, I preheated the oven to 375 and cooked the some of Dream Dinners famous Garlic Breadsticks for about 6-7 minutes.  Everything was finished at the same time.  I gently coated the ravioli with the sauce, added a breadstick and dinner was ready.  This pasta dish was really interesting.  The chipotle flavor gave it a little bit of a spicy kick.  The breadsticks were perfectly cooked and flavored.  I loved them so much that I decided to go back for more to serve my friends at an event. We always like the Dream Dinners pasta dishes and this was no exception. 

IMAGE.JPG

Dream Dinners: Chicken Paella

Today may be a day of many blog entries as I prepare to go out of town.  I need to get caught up on all the delicious meals I’ve made and tried before I have a whole week’s worth of adventures to talk about.  I just made my June meals, but I am still finishing up eating all my May meals and even further behind on blogging, so its time to get creaking.  I am also excited to be using my new IPad that is even faster to get posts out.  One day last week, we made Chicken Paella. I had never had Paella before, but it definitely looked a little bit like a Tex Mex or Spanish version of jambalaya.  After thawing the meal, I placed the rice, meat, and sauce in a larger sauce pan, stirring to mix.  I brought it to a boil over medium heat and simmered it for about 20-25 minutes.  Next, I removed it from the heat, added in the peas and let it rest about 8 minutes.  We really liked this dish.  We love jambalaya, so we loved this, too.  It had great flavor and it made a ton.  This was technically a 3 serving meal, but I think that we got at least 5 meals out of it.  This was another yummy meal that made great leftovers and I look forward to seeing it on the menu again!

FullSizeRender.jpg

Dream Dinners: Gaucho Grilled Pork with Garlic Asparagus Spears

On Friday, I finally had an evening home and some time to make dinner.  I decided to make the Gaucho Grilled Pork with Garlic Asparagus.  I was pretty excited about this one, as one of my friends told me it was her favorite Dream Dinners pork dish and her opinions have been pretty accurate.  My grill pan is not huge, so I decided that I would cook the pork tenderloin in the oven.  I got my oven heated up and prepared my pan.  I brushed the pork tenderloin with olive oil and sprinkled it with the dry rub.  I baked the pork for 30 minutes, basting it with the chili butter every 10 minutes.  We let it rest for about 5-10 minutes before slicing and serving.  After the pork had finished and was resting, I turned the oven on to broil and got started on the asparagus.  I broiled the asparagus for about 5 minutes, added garlic and butter, and broiled about another 4-5 minutes.  Everything was ready to go at about the same time.  This was a really yummy meal.  The pork was perfectly cooked to a tender state and the flavor was amazing. I loved the chili butter.  I don’t love asparagus, but the flavor was pretty tasty and I finished my portion.  Mike really liked the asparagus and said that it was cooked well.  I also used some of the leftover pork to make nachos and they were pretty amazing, too.  I can’t wait until the Gaucho Pork is back on the menu-I will definitely be ordering more than one next time! 

FullSizeRender.jpg

Dream Dinners: Chicken Florentine with Sausage

Last week, there were a few days where I had events so Mike and Dream Dinners took care of feeding me.  On one of those nights, he prepared Chicken Florentine with Sausage.  I had tasted it briefly as the appetizer in the store.  Mike preheated the oven and prepared the pan.  He put each chicken breast in the baking dish and covered each piece with the sausage topping mixture.  He covered the chicken and sausage mixture with bread crumbs and baked for 30 minutes.  While the chicken was cooking, he made some pasta.  In a separate pan, he simmered the pomodoro sauce for 15 minutes.  When everything was finished, he drizzled it all with pomodoro sauce.  This dish was simple, but very flavorful.  The spinach and sausage mixture was really tasty and paired nicely with pasta.  It reminded me a little bit of something we made before with breaded chicken and spinach artichoke dip, but this was much easier and healthier.  Once again, Dream Dinners took simple ingredients and created a unique and tasty meal.

D2A74C7B-EBFD-4190-8E9E-A5E4D285E3ED.JPG

Dream Dinners: Meatloaf Milano with Roasted Broccoli

Dream Dinners has many delicious sounding meals and last Tuesday’s Meatloaf Milano with Roasted Broccoli was no different.  I am normally fairly particular about my meatloaf and usually only like my own, but each Dream Dinners meatloaf has been tasty in its own way.  This meatloaf had a very Italian vibe, which was perfect for us.  I started by preheating the oven and preparing my pan.  I decided to make the meatloaf into mini meatloaves using a muffin tin, which helps with portion control and allows it to cook faster.  I put the ground beef in a gallon bag with the breadcrumbs and mixed until it was well combined.  I put half the meat mixture in the bottom of the muffin tins.  Next, I sprinkled Gorgonzola on top of the meat and covered it with the rest of the meat.  I topped each meatloaf with marinara sauce.  I baked the mini meatloaves about 20-25 minutes.  While the meatloaves were baking, I also roasted the broccoli for 10 minutes, added seasoning, and cooked another 10 minutes.  I let the meatloaves cool a little before removing them from the muffin tins.  The results were delicious.  The meatloaf was juicy with a zesty Italian flavor and paired nicely with the roasted broccoli.  Dream Dinners once again came to the rescue and made sure that these hungry foodies had a tasty meal on the table in about 30-45 minutes. 

FullSizeRender.jpg

Dream Dinners: Chicken Yakitori over Jasmine Rice

As we make our way into June, I really need to catch up on blogging and making my Dream Dinners meals.  This past week, I definitely caught up on making meals, but now I have to talk about how delicious and easy they were.  Last Sunday, we made Chicken Yakitori over Jasmine Rice.  This meal was super easy to make and pretty tasty, too.  I wish this meal had a little bit of heat to it, but this would be great for kiddos or those who don’t like strong flavors.  I put my rice and water in a sauce pan to boil and cooked my rice for about 20 minutes.  In a saute pan, I cooked my chicken and water chestnut mixture, stir frying until browned.  Next, I added in my sauce and brought it to a boil.  I simmered it for about 5 minutes and dinner was ready to go.  This was definitely a fast meal to put together.  The rice was the piece that took the longest and that could have been shortened by precooking it or just being patient.  This meal also served as great leftovers for lunch for a few days and made a little bit more than the 3 serving size.  Once again, we were happy with our meal and eager to try more.

FullSizeRender.jpg

Flat Out Delicious

Last Saturday I was on a bit of a mission.  I needed to get a gift card for my friend and I wanted to try a new place for dinner.  I decided to combine my goals and try one of my friend’s favorite places.  Napa Flats is located on 620 right past the Movie House, but its almost hidden in a shopping strip, so I didn’t know it was there.  I have been missing out!  Wines on tap, wood grill oven, pizza...what more can we ask for?  It was either wine day or rose weekend, so I decided that I would start off with some frose.  This turned out to be an excellent choice.  It was almost like a combination of a strawberry daiquiri and rose.  There was strawberry purée and rose wine, which when combined created a delicious frozen strawberry beverage that was neither too strong, nor too sweet.  I loved that there was wine on tap and an extensive menu.  Normally, we probably would have looked at pizza, but we had eaten pizza the night before and had a fridge full of leftovers.

IMAGE.JPG

On the recommendation of our trainee waitress, we decided to try the Palo Alto dip, which was served with some of their signature flat bread.  This cheesy dip with cream cheese, green onions, and sun dried tomatoes was amazing!  It reminded us a lot of the Asiago cheese dip at Wild Horse Grill (sadly closed) where we had our first date (and later rehearsal dinner) so many years ago!

IMAGE.JPG

Our dinner choices were pretty true to our upbringing, with Mike selecting a spicy chicken pasta dish and me, taking after my mom, ordering a steak.  Our entrees were delicious, too.  Mike’s pasta was creamy and spicy without being over the top.  My steak was cooked to perfection and paired nicely with the chimichurri sauce, roasted green beans, and garlic potatoes.  We each enjoyed a glass of red wine from the taps with our meal.  Everything was delicious and Mike noted that I was so full, I didn’t even look at the dessert menu.  I am so glad that Sue recommended this delicious spot.  We will definitely return for more frose, dip, and to sample some of the other yummy sounding options.

FullSizeRender.jpg
FullSizeRender.jpg

Dream Dinners: Chicago Style Chicken with Red Skin Potatoes

Dream Dinners came through for us again during my busy week!  I had back to back nights of events so Mike got to make meals two nights in a row.  The second meal he made last week was Chicago Style Chicken with Red Skin Potaoes.  This was another delicious and simple meal, although it took a little bit longer to cook.  He started by heating up the oven and preparing the pan.  He placed the chicken on the pan and covered it with the potato mixture and olive oil.   It baked for 45-50 minutes until golden brown and the potatoes were crispy.  On the stovetop, he brought the sauce to a boil and simmered for about 4 minutes.  Once the chicken was done, he sprinkled in the peas and covered it with sauce.  The overall meal was quite simple, but flavorful.  I loved the addition of the full cloves of garlic to give it plenty of flavor!  I believe this was a fairly new meal, but hopefully one that comes back in the rotation soon! 

7AB502F3-2002-448F-8EA9-A25282D96E36.JPG

Dream Dinners: Peanut Butter Cookies

On Thursday, I had a pretty big event scheduled.  We decided to showcase our delicious Peanut Butter Cookies as a dessert  at the event.  Our cookies are pretty cool in that they are frozen and preshaped.  They are also giant!  One cookie is definitely more than one person needs.  I like that they are already shaped so you can choose to make a few of them at a time.  I cut each cookie into four small pieces and spaced them evenly on cookie sheets.  I baked them 9-10 minutes at 350.  I realized that my oven was cooking them pretty fast and turned down the heat to 325 and only used the top rack after the first batch was a little browner than I like.  The cookies were really good!  I liked that they had peanut butter chips to make them extra flavorful.  While I love to bake,  these cookies were tasty and convenient, so I may need to add a bag to my freezer for emergency situations. 

E6BB3BBC-89C4-472C-8005-D8CD2D6EDED5.JPG

Dream Dinners: Firehouse Three Cheese Pasta with Meatballs

June has barely started and its already been a busy month for us!  As I get closer to making my June meals, I really need to get to eating my May meals.  Dream Dinners meals are perfect for busy nights when I am at work and I need Mike to make dinner and he didn’t disappoint this week.  I had several events so he made sure that dinner was ready when I got home.  On Wednesday, Mike made Firehouse Three Cheese Pasta with Meatballs.  This dish was pretty easy to make, but the pan dishes can be a little time consuming.  He preheated the oven and prepared the pan and baked it for 45 minutes.  When I got home, there was a hot meal waiting for me!  This cheesy pasta with meatballs was tasty and simple.  It paired nicely with a salad and would taste great with some of Dream Dinners Garlic Breadsticks, too.  It’s always nice to have pan meals on busy nights and this meal was perfect for our busy night!

FullSizeRender.jpg

Eating My Way Through STL

Last week I went to St. Louis for my cousin’s graduation, to see my parents’ new house, and to catch up with family and friends.  After a fairly uneventful flight, the first 2 things I demanded were ice cream and beer.  So we headed to my former employer, Fritz’s Frozen Custard to enjoy delicious concretes and sundaes.  My toffee crunch concrete did not disappoint and per the usual, we ran into some people we knew.  I was also glad to see that I did not know any of the employees.  Next, we headed to St. Charles to my parents’ new house for a tour and beer on the screened porch before bed.

IMAGE.JPG

Friday morning, Mom and I headed to her favorite new grocery store to get some donuts.  It happened to be National Donut Day so we ended up with a great deal on delicious donuts.  We also picked up more ice cream and beer to really celebrate a good weekend.  The donuts were fresh and tasty!

IMAGE.JPG

After a day of running around for Mom and I, and work for Katie, Dad, and Aaron, we headed to the East Side for Sawmill BBQ.  This delicious BBQ joint is owned by a friend of my parents and was worth the wait in traffic.  Steve, the owner, took us on a tour of their remodeled kitchen and prepared a special appetizer plate for us with a sampling of their best appetizers.  The plate included house chips with beer cheese, fried pickles, fried zucchini, fried mac and cheese, and toasted raviolis.  When I’m in St. Louis, I eat all the toasted ravioli that I can and this was great.  I love the combination of my favorite appetizers and bbq.  The house chips with beer cheese were also delicious,  but I knew I needed to save some  room for bbq.  I opted for the brisket with green beans and potato salad.  I loved my plate! The brisket was a perfect combination of lean with enough fat to give it flavor.  It definitely rivals some Texas favorites.  The green beans were well seasoned and a nice pairing with the other bbq favorites.  The potato salad was amazing!  I probably could have eaten an entire plate of just potato salad.  It had a sour creamy flavor without eggs, mayonnaise or relish (all things I feel ruin potato salad).  I got to taste the nachos, pulled pork and I also snagged a rib.  Everything was so tasty!  I look forward to a return visit at Christmas time when I’m next in town and I know that Mike will love it, too.

FullSizeRender.jpg
FullSizeRender.jpg

Saturday brought more delicious food.  Katie and I took Grandma out to lunch and we were lucky that one of our Florissant favorites also has a St. Peter’s location, Pirrone’s Pizza.  When I am in St. Louis, I always try to eat St. Louis style pizza and Pirrone’s has long been one of my favorites.  We started off with salad, which had a healthy dose of provel cheese on top and split a sausage pizza.  After lunch, we introduced Grandma to  Oberweis for some ice cream.

FullSizeRender.jpg

Katie and I thought we might never need to eat again after lunch, but Aaron really wanted to eat dinner.  So we compromised, and had a late dinner after an afternoon of playing with Timothy and hanging out.  Katie and Aaron took me to Hi Point Diner.  It was close enough to walk, but the weather was weird so we drove and lucked into a good spot.  Hi Pointe is another restaurant from the chef who is a part of Sugarfire and many other delicious St. Louis restaurants.  Portions were huge, so Katie and I split the turkey club with sides of mac and cheese and fries.  Everything was delicious and I felt full after just browsing the menu and looking at some of the specials.  Check out their Facebook page for pictures of some wildly decadent foods.  

IMAGE.JPG

On Sunday, I got to watch “baby” Bryan graduate.  We celebrated at their house one last time with Q’doba and pink lemonade margaritas.  Later, I got to visit with some of my oldest friends (all younger than me, but I’ve known all of them 29+ years!) and was treated to some delicious tacos and a margarita at Fuzzy’s Taco Shop.  It was great to hang out and catch up with friends and share my parents’ new house.  I had a wonderful trip, spent time with some of my favorite people, and ate some amazing foods.  I can wait for an extended visit at Christmas!

Dream Dinners: Chateau Chicken with Almond Butter Sauce

It’s been a little bit since I’ve caught up on blogging and I had a spare moment while visiting my family, so I thought I would take a minute to share about a favorite meal.  Recently, I made Chateau Chicken with Almond Butter Sauce and  Roasted Cauliflower.  I started by sautéing almonds in pan for about 5 minutes.  Next, I coated my chicken in the flour mix and browned the chicken breasts for about 5-6 minutes on each side, removing them from the pan when done.  I added in the wine and scraped the brown bits fro the bottom of the pan.  I simmered until the wine thickened.  Once I removed it from the heat, I added in butter and green onions.  I drizzled the sauce over the chicken and topped with almonds.  While the chicken was cooking, in a separate pan, I also made the Roasted Cauliflower, which is favorite in our house.  This chicken was amazing.  It was perfectly cooked, being crusty on the outside and tender inside.  The sauce was amazing with white wine, lemon and butter.  I was definitely a little sad that I didn’t make more than one of these meals.  I can’t wait for this recipe to pop up on the menu again.

FullSizeRender.jpg

Friday Fun with Friends

On Fridays, we host our friends for some nerd fun.  I love hosting things, so its my way of getting to try out new recipes on willing samplers.  This week I tried a new dessert and a new dinner item.  I planned ahead and made this Funfetti Sheet Cake on Thursday night,  because I had a busy Friday.  I love a sheet cake and funfetti is always a happy way to end a week.  After preheating the oven and preparing my pan, I creamed the butter with my trusty stand mixer.  I added in the sugar, vanilla, and eggs, mixing between each ingredient.  Finally,  I mixed in the yogurt, the last of my wet ingredients.  I mixed the dry ingredients together and alternated adding the dry ingredients and milk, stirring between each.  After my batter was nice and fluffy, I folded in the sprinkles.  I poured the cake into my jelly roll pan and baked the cake for about 20 minutes.  While the cake was baking, I mixed the frosting.  I creamed the butter and added in milk, vanilla, salt and powdered sugar, mixing until the consistency was right.  I covered the frosting and placed it in the fridge overnight.  I tightly wrapped the cake after it cooled.  On Friday, I let the frosting warm up to room temperature and gently spread it on the cake, garnishing with more sprinkles.  The results were a moist, fluffy, sweet cake that paired nicely with our savory snacks and beer.  It has also paired nicely with milk or coffee as a delightful breakfast treat.

IMG_0356.JPG

Our Friday fun started at 6:30 pm, so I wanted to be sure that I served dinner.  It’s getting hot here, so a crockpot meal was a must.  I decided to try these Beer Cheese Chicken Sliders.  The key was making sure that I had pretzel buns.  I think I bought all the sliders and buns that my Target had, but I wanted to make sure I had plenty for my crowd.  I started the chicken early on Friday.  I put about 3 lbs of chicken in the crockpot, along with salt, pepper, minced garlic, and beer.  I selected Whitestone’s Long Gone Blonde, because I think that a blonde brings good flavor for marinades and beer cheeses.  I cooked the chicken in the crockpot on low all day.  About an hour before my guests arrived, I pulled out the chicken and shredded it with my Bear Claws.  I put the chicken back in at low to absorb more of the beer and seasonings.  Right before my guests arrived, I made the beer cheese sauce.  This beer cheese was different from my normal beer cheese dip, but it still was tasty.  I started by melting butter and then adding the flour to form a roux.  I added in the beer and milk and let it thicken a bit.  Finally, I added the cheese in by handfuls, stirring until it was completely melted.  We served the chicken on pretzel buns with beer cheese sauce on top.  I added a little bit of Dijon mustard too, for an added tanginess.  I really liked this meal.  The chicken had great flavor from the beer and garlic.  The beer cheese was thick and creamy.  This was a great meal for us to eat and play and not have to worry about it getting cold.  The leftovers were great too and I repurposed the chicken and cheese to beer cheese nachos, which were also yummy.  Once again, we had fun times and great food.  I can’t wait to see what I find for our next event.

IMAGE.JPG

Dream Dinners: Build Your Own Quesadillas

My final April meal was the Build Your Own Quesadillas.  I love quesadillas, but I don’t love to make them.  I hate flipping them in a skillet, but I wanted to give these a try.  It was pretty fun that Mike and I got to make our own with the ingredients we each liked best.  My quesadilla had cheese, chicken, beans, and peppers.  Mike skipped the beans and added jalapeños.  The last quesadilla had neither beans no jalapeños.  I loved that we assembled them and put them on a baking sheet.  We baked them for 12 minutes at 350 and then flipped them, cooking them another 6 minutes.  The end result were quesadillas that were crispy, melted masterpieces.  We cut them into wedges with our pizza cutter and served with salsa.  These quesadillas were delicious and easy to make, which made them a win in my book.  I will definitely be making all my quesadillas in the oven from now on.  I love that Dream Dinners gives me great food and excellent cooking tips, too.

FullSizeRender.jpg