The Forrest Gump of Turkey

My family from Tennessee was planning on coming to DC to have Thanksgiving with us. Well, my old man got sick and then the weather folks predicted Snowmegedden 2  for travel today, so Thanksgiving was cancelled. However, not before I went out and bought all my supplies, including a 22 lb turkey.
I thought about returning the turkey, but someone at work (while making fun of me for having to eat a 22 lb bird with my husband) said the grocery store would just throw it away. Well, since I’m PETA light, I can’t do that. I mean that poor turkey gave his all.
Here’s what on the Brown buffet. (If you’re in the DC area, c’mon over. We have enough food for a small army.) 
Turkey (all 22 lbs brined, barely)
Gravy (courtesy of McCormick’s since I'm guaranteed to screw up the homemade gravy)
Stuffing (Pepperidge Farm starter bag- hello GMOs and trans fats)
GBC (French’s fried onion recipe)
Sweet potato casserole (Ethan won’t eat this, but I want)
Mashed potatoes
Biscuits (dear God help me, from the Pillsbury tube. I swear I'm Southern, don’t judge)
Pumpkin Pie (I do make my crust from scratch)
Pecan Pie (because 1 pie for 2 ppl isn’t enough)

Then we are going to lie on the couch and watch movies in our sweatpants.

And for the next week, here’s what we’re doing with turkey leftovers:
Hot Brown sandwiches (‘cause it’s our namesake)
Turkey Tetrazzini (I'm going to try to make this more low fat and add mushrooms)
 

Turkey Salad (like chicken salad only with turkey)
Turkey Chili
Turkey Tacos
basically anything that I can use a rotisserie chicken for, I'm going to use turkey for.

What do you do with your leftovers? Oh, and I’m signing up for this, so y’all don’t judge me too harshly.

What do you love for Thankgiving? Do you have fun Turkey Day plans with family?
Happy Turkey Day!

Quality vs. Quantity

I am currently reading The Dinner by Herman Koch & there are several passages about fine food. I think the character says something like people that say they don't want to spend money on going out to eat for food going out have no idea about food.
Well, let me tell you, I am one of those people! I hate fine dining and never want to spend all that money on one meal when I could go to Chick-fil-A for like 30 meals for the same price. This led me to the conclusion, I might be a quantity over quality person, but I don't think I should be that way.

Food:
Should I be a fabulous French woman and choose a delectable dark chocolate petit four or scarf down a Wendy's frosty?
Clothing:
Should I go for multiple pairs of  DSW and TJ Maxx pairs of shoes, or get one great pair of Louboutin nude pumps I could wear every day?

Let's just look in a drawer at my office shall we:

Um, case settled? I am what I am says Popeye.
What about you- do you choose quality over quantity?


Well one thing you can never get too much quantity of is some back that azz up music & linking up with Whitney!!!

 

Dog Days of Summer Weekend

So I had kind of a lame (and short) weekend, but it was just what I needed.
I watched 2 horrendous movies on Lifetime- Forever 16 (a vampire helps solve a murder at a high school) and The Haunting of Molly Hartley (1 star on rotten tomatoes- I agree!).

Sunday was slightly eventful. E and I trekked to Baltimore to try Blue Moon Cafe, a restaurant featured in Diners, Drive Ins, and Dives. I knew when I saw their Capt'n Crunch encrusted french toast, I would love it!
And I did, except the wait was over 2 hours to get in.
I forced E to go to a dog adoption show afterwards (it was all part of my master plan- Blue Moon Cafe was the lure for E). My dog dream will all be coming true soon. Except most of the rescues want to chase kitties!

Also, E has put some of the final touches on his "man cave" which includes the original Star Wars movie posters.

My Favorite Subject

Too kind Rita Marie at Champagne n Pizza nominated me for the Super Sweet Blogging Award, and best of all, it's on my favorite subject- sweets. It's no joke, I have a serious sweet tooth (it's the one thing preventing me from becoming a Victoria's Secret model). 

Cookies or cake or both?  Both, although cake might win by a hair. 

Chocolate or vanilla?  Both again (I'm indecisive if you can't tell). I always order my Wendy's Frosty's half and half

Favorite sweet treat? Ice cream with lots of yummy candy chunks, like Ben and Jerry's.   

When do you crave sweet things the most?  After lunch, after dinner. If I get excited or happy and want to celebrate. 

Sweet nickname?  My hubs calls me Boo, Boober, or variations on that. We don't call each other honey, sugar, sweetiepie, or anything like that. 

All this talk of yummy sweets has make me craving some chocolate, so I'm off to find something delicious to eat!

A Weekend Surprise

Most of  Saturday, E and I cleaned and packed until we ran out of boxes. As soon as that happened, I hopped on the bed for a nap and when I awoke, made E take me out to dinner at our favorite Mexican restaurant, Guaops. I rationalized with him that after dinner, we could hit up CVS for boxes (like their free packing boxes, not actually buy them).

Guapos was delicious as always. Plus I love they know what I'm taking about when I want a "Skinny Girl" margarita.

You know when you walk in and see the tortilla maker and a little lady making homemade guac with a mortar and pestle; it’s going to be awesome.  

We went to CVS with nice plump bellies, but they didn’t have any boxes, so I suggested the grocery store across the street. Apparently Saturday isn’t a big shipping day (der), so as we were leaving, E’s beady little hawk eyes spied a recycler. It was good, but only had smaller boxes, so we drove around the corner to where all the recyclers & dumpsters where. I checked out one, while E walked ahead to scout the other one. (Yup, me in my maxi skirt and white lace shirt and E in his Polo were dumpster divers).

I didn’t see E for a while, so drove the car up to get him.  He was practically jumping up and down when I got there. Apparently, he found some (tranny) adult entertainment sitting on the top of the boxes. It was just the cases, but was a pretty funny surprise. 

 

 sorry, blurred out for the decency of my blog's sake

Sunday we packed some more and I watched the worst movie I have ever seen in a while- Bachelorette (it was supposed to be like the Hangover with women), but it wasn’t funny and the ladies were just horrible people, and I can’t believe I watched it all.

A Gripe & A Foodie Weekend Wrap Up

Late post today, but I have been preoccupied with bad news about our loan. The loan officer didn't lock in our rate a month ago (dummy) and now rates have gone up (of course). He said I told him not to lock in the rate, but I obviously didn't understand because I would have never not locked in with   the option to still go down if something better came along.
We are going to transfer loans, have a higher interest rate AND monthly payments, and hopefully can close on time still.

I already cried in the abthroom- all this is too stressful, esp. coming back from vacation.

Soooo, onto a fat kid Memorial Weekend.
I had some adorable summer outfits picked our for our weekend in NYC, but guess what- it turned out to be in the 50s and rainy. Plus, I got to buy new shoes and a sweater that will be great in the Fall ;)

Friday: 

Lunch at John's followed by a "snack" at Momofuku's Milk Bar, and then Yuka for their all-you-can-eat sushi, one of our favorite places when we lived in the UES. I also hit up my favorite second hand and consignment stores.

Saturday: 
Breakfast/ lunch at Katz's. We went shopping for pans in the Bowery, a la Anthony Bourdain, then carried them all over NYC to the Strand, several Starbucks, a dog park, Big Gay Ice Cream, and then to a dinner of macaroni and cheese at S'MAC (we don't mess around). We walked to the 911 Memorial (which was closed at night, but got to the Freedom Tower.

Sunday: 
We're getting tired of eating, but the show mucst go on. We had brunch at Brassiere Athenee, where I had Nutella crepes for the first time. I will be having them again! Then it was back home via the Megabus.

How were your long weekends?

HH Friday

Eeks, I'm a terrible blogger. I'm spending too much (stressful) time with this house buying stuff.
With that, I'm starting my weekend. Here's my new fav spring drink.
TGIF!

via

Super Late Weekend Wrap Up

I realized I have been waiting for nothing. The pics from this weekend are terrible. I’m really firing E from being my personal photographer. Sooo, onward. 

Friday, I went for our home inspection. I took pictures…. only of the stuff I want to re-do when we move in (like paint colors), but the inspector was very thorough- thank GOD! The negotiations are still on-going. Does anyone have a home warranty and want to discuss their experience with that?

Saturday was E’s Birthday. So we ate like champs and let it all digest at a Nats game. Here's where I wanted super-cute pics of us in our Nats tees. 

 

Cupcake appetizer at Lavender Moon

Main course at Spike's Good Stuff Eatery. Why, yes, yes, those are milkshakes in the background. Don't judge!

 

Sunday, I was all over Craigslist, because what do you do when you haven’t quite bought a house yet? You buy rugs for that house! Craigslist should be renamed thebomb.com because we got a great deal on 3 area rugs. I still never got an answer as to how this guy has so many rugs in plastic still. Our apartment is looking like Aladdin’s rug emporium.

Kim Out- I have to get back on Craigslist to buy more items for our "nest".

Easter Prep

Easter is this weekend! Even though it's just the E and me, I still want to have a special dinner (in front of the TV).
I found this fab menu idea by Cat Cora. Look out- food porn ahead!

Roasted Boston Butt

(Do I want to make it because it has the word "butt" in it- maybe). Maybe we'll do honey baked ham too. I don't particularly like ham, but it feels traditional.
 

 Church Style Lemon Roasted Potatoes

 

Oregano Green Beans

I really need to be "healthy" especially after these last two vacations,but something about a homemade cherry pie (a la mode of course) sounds so right for Easter. Muumuus come in pastels right?

I would love to decorate, but let's face it, I don't have the room to store anymore holiday decorations since my Christmas crap is already falling out of our storage closet. 

 

Spring Week: Recipes

What a fun Spring week this has been- thanks to all these bloggers for giving me something to write about this week!

So, onto the final theme of Spring recipes. I love using fresh fruits and veggies in my spring cooking.

I Google searched "in season fruits and veggies spring" (and removed nasty tasting veg & weird things like fiddleheads?)

Apricots	Artichokes	Arugula	Asparagus	Beets	Carrots
Chard	Cherries	Fava beans	Grapefruit	Scallions	Kiwis
Kumquats	Leeks	Lemons	Lettuce	Mint	Navel oranges
New Potatoes	Parsley	Peas	Radishes	Spinach	Strawberries

Here two of my favorite recipes that E found that I love to eat. Bonus, they incorporate some in-season vegetables and are fresh & light to enjoy in the warmer weather. 

1. Shrimp tacos
2.  Salmon, asparagus, and orzo salad

I also love, love, love overnight oats!
Currently, I’m doing, ½ cup oats, ½ cup unsweetened applesauce, ½ cup almond milk, 1 T. chia seeds, cinnamon, nutmeg, and agave nectar.

I definitely want to try some new variations for the Spring, like this PB&J. The chilled oat concoctions are great for warm mornings.

I also enjoy any kind of fruit & kale or spinach smoothie hen it's warm.
So, enough of the healthy stuff, 'cause you KNOW I dig on some sweets.


For Easter, I am dying to try these Cadbury egg cookie cake bars. You also can't go wrong with a homemade pie.

Cheers to Spring and some warmer weather!

Pi Day Celebration

I'm telling you, the Devil works in my office.
We celebrated our March birthdays with this amazing cake:

My co-worker and her sister are professionals - their bakery in Maryland (Itsy Bitsy Bakery) is going to be famous I tell you!

Followed by the main course (8 or so different pies): 

I made this Apple Crumble with one of my co-workers last night (her mom's secret recipe). I now know the secret, but I'm taking it to the grave! 

I dare say it was the best pie today.