Sunday Snack and Supper

Pat's afternoon snack started as my breakfast.  I have been wanting to make Monkey Bread ever since a work friend told me about it a couple years ago. (Hi Carrie!)  It's basically canned biscuits with white and brown sugar, cinnamon, butter, and I added those optional raisins and chopped walnuts.  My book club met for brunch today so I transported it right from the oven, to car, and into Devon's apartment in Hoboken.  It was still nice and warm when I flipped it out of the dish.  YUMMY!  This is not something to make often because it was totally addictive.  It is fun finger food because you basically just tear off pieces.  An action shot of Ginny:

You can see the simple recipe by clicking below photo:

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As you know Pat and I have made the Three Bean Beef Chili a couple times and we have wanted to try a chicken chili next.  So we tried out this Chunky Chicken Chili recipe for dinner.  You start by cooking the chicken in BUTTER and then add a little flour and then onion, red and green pepper and then chicken stock and -wait for it- heavy cream.  (I actually used fat free half n half)  The spices were next up: chili powder, coriander, cumin, cayenne pepper, black pepper, and salt.

Then came cannellini beans, green chiles and sour cream. 

(oh yeah and cheddar cheese.  My Uncle Robert said he's gained 10 pounds by reading my blog, hmmmm...ha ha)

I LOVED it and I look forward to leftovers tomorrow!  Next time I'd consider tossing in some diced tomatoes.  This is a recipe to try!

Are you watching the Grammy's?  I decided sitting and reading by the fire is more appealing.  But I am DVRing them along with Big Love.   :)

Brooklyn

My sister-in-law Maura and her husband Mike live in Brooklyn so we drove out to visit yesterday afternoon.  The drive took a little under an hour which was a little faster than expected.  Here we are driving on the Brooklyn Bridge.  Brother & Sister on a nice and chilly walk:

Some amazing brownstones...

Toes were frozen, time for a hot latte!  Me and Maura :)

Maura cooked an amazing meal for us as a birthday present to Pat. (along with his new Grilling book)

This is the wrapped pork shoulder with red peppers and fennel.  Also served with a nice dish of lentils.

Below picture doesn't do it justice!

Hors d'Oeuvres

Beautiful table setting and cheesecake with blackberries.

Thank you Maura and Mike.  WONDERFUL night!

And one last picture.  Always fun to look at peoples' book shelves!

Our Dinner

Mmmmmm

Weekend Ahead

It felt like kind of a long week, so (as always) I am looking forward to the weekend.  My plans...

*Dinner date with Pat at Fuki Sushi in River Edge, NJ
*Movie: The Hurt Locker, comes highly recommended
*Grocery
*Drive to Brooklyn for some exploring
*Pat's birthday dinner at Maura and Mike's apartment in Brooklyn.  They are cooking for us. Yum!
*Warren's birthday celebration in Hoboken
*Make monkey bread
*Book Club brunch (we already voted, next up is Half Broke Horses by Jeanette Walls)
*Surely I'll find some puzzle time too! :o)

Up to anything fun??  Hope you all have a great weekend!

Puzzle Progress

This 2000 piece puzzle is going to take me forever.  I sit quietly and work away at it while Pat studies for the CFA. =) 

So we never made it inside the Seinfeld taping despite all the confirmation emails.  I guess too many VIPs showed up.  Oh well, at least I got to commute home with my hubby.

Seinfeld, Singing, Sausage

Pat and I are going to the taping of Jerry Seinfeld's new show tonight (oddly at CBS Studios on 57th St).  They are actually filming 2 shows, so I hope it's funny.  I'm sure it will be!  I got the free tickets through 1iota.

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This is great news! My mother-in-law Kate found out yesterday that she made the Chatham Chorale. She recently auditioned for this 40 year old group of singers based up in Cape Cod. I am so proud of her. Can't wait to see her in concert!

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Last night we cooked up some sausage and peppers.  We had not done this in a long time and even if it's unhealthy, it sure was yummy.  Why not add some hot cherry peppers for a little heat?

Then Pat headed out to the grill with these guys:

We didn't have any buns, but that was fine by me.  Not too pretty, but taste is what counts.

And let's not forget dessert.  "A little bit of sweet makes a meal complete."

(don't worry, I only had 1)

It's For Me?

In my last post I mentioned some good mail.  More is coming my way.  :-)  I just treated myself to something on Etsy.  It's called the "It's for You" pillow by Olive.  I have just the spot for it! 

Ok, ok, I also bought something over the weekend on Etsy.  But not for me.  Sweet little headbands made of vintage hankys:

This seller is LittleSweetsBoutique which was introduced to me by my friend Amber.

And since Valentine's Day is coming up I am hoping Pat gets me this tangerine set from Happy Tape. (looks like the Fiesta one I previously mentioned is sold out)  I saw online somewhere that the code "odds10" will give you 10% off.

HAPPY SUZ!

How Cute! Good Mail!

Pat brought in the mail on Saturday and said I had a couple things from Shutterfly.  I tried to remember if I'd ordered photos or something, but I just couldn't remember anything.  Well we opened up the packages and I found a late Christmas present from my cousin Rachel.  Wow, THANK YOU!!  I love them so much.

Cute notepad:

And notecards and envelopes:

And speaking of good mail...  My Aunt Monica sent me a little note and a photo she'd recently found of my Mom and me.  So fun to get something other than junk in the mail!

Sunday Snack and Supper

A little popcorn for the football game (boo hoo poor Jets, but I do like the Colts too).

Getting nice and steamy

Pile on the salt + Diet Pepsi

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We got some shrimp at the grocery this morning for dinner tonight.  The recipe called for a lot of thyme, some chili powder, olive oil and a bunch of garlic.

Some of the garlic went in the marinade and some got sliced up for garlic chips.

Served on a bed of cous cous. VERY good, but next time I wouldn't use as much thyme.

Thanks for always being the Grill Master Pat. =)

Big Love on TV tonight. 

Lacie Loo Love

It's Lacie's birthday today!! Hope it's been a great birthday weekend spent in DC.  Can't wait to celebrate with you soon!  Some photos from the last few years...

Very happy you joined my book club, so I will see you on Sunday if not sooner. :) 

Again, HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!

D's Engagement Party

Our good friends Dave and Dia got engaged last month.  Dia's college friends planned a little engagement party last night.  I wasn't sure what level of a surprise it was, so that's why I said "to be revealed" for our Saturday night plans.  The get-together was at this really nice bar in Hoboken that I'd never been to called 10th and Willow.  We already can't wait for the October wedding. :)

Kelly and Candi

Jeff, Mike, Pat, Dave

Lauren, Dia, LA, Sara

Rob, Warren, Ryan

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Saturday Pat and I went to the mall for a bit.  I have a Macy's gift card that expires next month, so Pat got a couple new shirts.  And the puzzle store at the mall is closing = HALF PRICE PUZZLES.  I decided to get a pretty tough one - not sure I've ever completed a 2000 piece puzzle.

Winnie is ready to help!

The bamboo shrimp skewers are soaking in water and I am looking forward to the grilled shrimp tonight.  Enjoy the last of the weekend.