Bits of My Weekend 7.25.10

Ahhhhh...what a weekend!!! My wonderful mom came to visit for the weekend and it was AWESOME. She drove up from Florida on Thursday and then I took Friday off to spend the whole day hanging out with her. She left today (Sunday) around lunchtime to drive back.

We started the weekend off by going to Flip Burger for dinner. We each got the Butcher Burger and we shared both onion rings and fried pickles. YUM.



Then we got up pretty early on Friday morning to go play golf at Bobby Jones - to be honest, I'm not a great golfer and I don't have a love for the game. But, I try. And I stared off okay on Friday morning, but there were some *cute* guys playing behind us - and we were having to wait a while for the group ahead of us - which means eventually the cute guys were watching me tee off, which made me just a little nervous. Ok, a lot nervous.

After golf, we stopped at Whole Foods and picked up lunch, as well as the ingredients to make dinner later in the evening. (Penne ala Betsy from the Pioneer Woman)

On Saturday, we took Riley and headed over to Piedmont Park for a nice, long, HOT walk. Then, we went to the Peachtree Road Farmers Market - I have been wanting to go here for a long time.



As you walk in, you see this great crepe maker man...followed quickly by the best bacon I have ever tasted. We hit up the Holeman and Finch Bakery for breakfast - chocolate croissant and strawberry danish - and also picked up the pretzel loaf thinging for later in the day. Additional purchases included a sampler pack of goat cheese (onion and chive, 7 spice, mediterrainian, and red pepper) and popscicles from King of Pops. I got the pineapple basil and Mom had watermellon.



We then did some errands (Mom got some new jeans for her trip to Ireland) and headed over to Buckhead Diner for lunch (we shared the Blue Cheese Chips and then I had carpaccio, while Mom had a salad). We came home to do some work around the house - unpackin some bins and boxes that were in my basement so that Mom and Dad could use the bins for packing up the house in OH. Then, it was off to Sotto Sotto for dinner.




(Mom's Ravioli Nuddi - ricotta and spinach gnocchi - clearly hand rolled instead of rolled on fork tines)

This morning, we took another long walk at the park before Mom left for home.

THEN - I headed for the Williams Sonoma at Phipps for a cooking class. It was called "Saving Summer" and one of the recipes was a mixed berry jam. I'm really getting interested in learning to can and preserve, so this was a great intro. They are having another, more intense, canning class on August 19th that I am planning to go to.

What about YOU? What did YOU do this weekend?

Recipe - Spinach Lasagna

Well, Hally and Jon had their baby (sweet Clara) about three weeks ago, and since her mom has been here, I had yet to go over to say hello and congratulations. We made plans for Friday and Caitlin and I decided to make dinner to take over. She made a great salad with endive, cucumber, fennel, and celery (I need that recipe!) and also brought an angel food cake with some yummy berries.

I made a chicken and spinach lasagna and Barefoot Contessa's Garlic Ciabatta.

First - the lasagana. I started with this recipe and made some (okay, a lot!) of edits.



First, I added another cup of ricotta and another package of frozen spinach, then mixed it all together so that I'd have more for my layers. I also just used a package of six small chicken breasts, seasoned them with italian seasoning and sauteed them on the stove.

I made the white sauce - but once it was made, I was worried that it was way too thick and heavy - the we needed some acidity to lighten things up.

So, I pulled out my trusty Pioneer Woman cookbook and made the sauce from Penne ala Betsy (but with only half the cream).




Once I had all my components together, I began to layer the lasagna. White sauce, noodles, ricotta/spinach mixture, chicken, noodles, red sauce, ricotta/spinach mixture, chicken, noodles, both white and red sauce (kind of mixed them together), and then topped with mozzerella and parmesan cheese.



I baked it a little longer than it said and put the broiler on for the last few minutes so that the cheese got a bit crispy. All told, a great dish - especially with a little left over red sauce to top it off if needed. Everyone really enjoyed it and encouraged me to add it to my list of things I make regularly.



The bread was, as always, excellent. I don't have a final picture (sorry), but trust me that it was truly yummy.

Great News for the Family

So, many years ago (almost 20 - wow!!) my parents taught my brother and I how to gamble on our pool table in the basement. Yes, totally weird. But we were headed on a cruise and to the Bahamas in the next year, and they were a little worried that J and I would wander into the casino and lose our money. They were right - we couldn't stay out, so it's a good thing they taught us.

We've done gambling trips as a family a lot over the years - in the locations I mentioned, the riverboats on the Ohio river, Vegas, etc... Our favorite game to play together is CRAPS - and we have a saying that gets used a lot while playing (other than, say, "more chips" or "another drink, please") - and it is "good for the family." In other words, a roll might have been bad for one person, but if some of your family members won, then it was overall "good for the family."

This has become a bit of a motto for us - well, I guess my mom and I say it more than my dad and J.

Anyway. For the last three years, my parents have been trying to sell their house in Cincinnati. Granted, it's been on and off - sometimes on the market, then they'd take it off for a while, back on, etc... It has been a real burden on them to have two homes - because of the mortgages, but also because of upkeep, monthly bills, traveling to make sure the house is doing fine and that nothing (like a water heater, for example) has broken. Since my dad sold our family company a few years ago and the economy tanked, he has really worried about his retirement and providing for our family. Selling this house would be a huge weight off of him.

THEY GOT AN OFFER TODAY!! I know it wasn't nearly as high as they would like - but an offer is an offer and it is something that they can work with and negotiate with. Please pray that my dad is willing to be flexible and that the potential buyers remain interested through the counter offer process.

I'll let you know how it turns out - I'm so nervous and hopeful!!

Bits of My Weekend 7.11.10

Well, I'm definitely not yet the blogger that my friend Six in the City is (http://www.6inthecity.com/) since this is only my third post, but I plan to take part in her weekly "Bits of My Weekend" assignment. I didn't do a great job taking pictures of things this weekend, but here goes...next week, I'll try to do better!

Friday - after my no-good-really-bad-work-week, I spent the evening on Friday doing my own thing. I downloaded the first season of The Tudors (http://www.sho.com/site/tudors/home.do) and watched a few episodes. I've been curious about this show for awhile - I love the Philippa Gregory books (like The Other Boleyn Girl), so I was hoping I would enjoy this show, as well. So far, so good!

Saturday - I did some laundry and running around during the day, then got focused to do a few DIY/decorating projects. First, I got the labels off of these empty wine bottes (imagine that, just happen to have a few laying around!) and then cleaned them inside and out. I put some colorful wine stoppers in them and have placed them on top of my kitchen cabinets with my glass pitcher. What am I going to do with them, you ask!? Well, I plan to keep doing this with empty bottles and then when I have my next party, they will be filled with water, lemonade, and tea and put in the cooler! What do you think??




The second project was a new centerpiece for my dining room. It uses corks from some of my favorite bottles of wine as a base for this traditional candle in a hurricane vase. It's not exactly what I was envisioning, but it works for now as I contemplate what to do next.



Then on Saturday evening, I met my friends Bethany and Jay for dinner at The Iberian Pig in Decatur. http://www.iberianpigatl.com/ I had been wanting to try it for awhile and when they suggested it, I was uber excited. The bar was AMAZING - all these handmade cocktails - I had a Dark and Stormy, but had a difficult time deciding between all the options. The food was great, too. We had A LOT of different tapas - probably 12 or 13 different things to try. I loved the bacon wrapped dates, pork cheek tacos, and crispy goat cheese, among many other awesome dishes.

I wrapped it up by meeting Matt, Hussain, and some of their friends in the Highlands for some "late night" drinks.

Today (Sunday), I hit up Lowes and the grocery store, then came home for some more work around the house. I moved the printer in my office so that I could take the extra table out of the room and have a little more space. Next, was using that magic Mr. Clean Magic Eraser to remove some of the bumps and bruises from my entrance way. Finally, I went outside to plant some beautiful Zinnias in my pots at my front steps (the first flowers I planted only lasted about 7 weeks, so keep your fingers crossed for these!). I intended to go to church, but all of a sudden looked up this morning and realizing it was starting in 30 minutes and I was still in PJs. Fail. Next week, I promise. I love my church (Peachtree Road United Methodist) and enjoy going - I can't believe I lost track of time today!


Now, I'm having a bowl of cereal and getting ready to read a bit before wrapping up the weekend and hitting the sack. What about you? What did you do this weekend?

What I'm Reading...

I'm currently about halfway through "Under the Banner of Heaven" by Jon Krakauer. Many of you may know one of his other books, "Into Thin Air" about Mt. Everest. This book is about the Mormon faith, the fundamentalist movement, and a double murder that occurred in the 1984. To be honest, I prefer to read fiction, but my friend Carolyn recommended this and I am really enjoying it. Mr. Krakauer's ability to tell an engaging story through research and non-fiction writing makes this a good read. I'll let you know how I like the rest of it in about a week...

Welcome To My World!

Well...here I go with giving this blog thing a shot. I've been thinking about it for a while - so here goes! I hope you enjoy - please feel free to comment or share with friends.

Not unlike many worker bees, every once in a while I have a bad day at work. Today was one such day...however, not so bad that things can't get better with a walk with Riley (the pup), a glass of wine, and a brownie. Not the healthiest of dinners, but I'll try to do better tomorrow. And also spend my 30 minutes with Jillian Michaels. UGH.