Solo Show

About a month or so ago, 60 Minutes did a showcase on Wynton Marsalis, the best known living jazz artist and leader of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, probably the best big band at work today. So a few weeks ago when I saw an ad in the Post for tickets to his upcoming show at the Kennedy Center, I knew I wanted to be there. Unfortunately, Frank was set to work the last week in January on a large software deployment and wouldn't be able to join me. I decided that I wanted to see Wynton that badly, so I called the ticket office and bought a single ticket. Why not, right? I had a great seat - in one of the parteere boxes up close - for what proved to be an incredible show. Here's a picture that I quickly snapped with my phone (excuse the poor quality) while the orchestra was coming back out for their encore, which had the entire audience on their feet and clapping along.

Sunset Hills

When Frank & I are home together, we usually spend our time watching TV, doing chores, or on the laptop, iPad, phones, etc, so I decided to find something for us to do on Saturday so we could truly enjoy our time together. After running a few errands (which might have included a pit stop at the Leesburg Outlets), we drove out to Sunset Hills Vineyard in Purcellville. They had an acoustic guitarist providing entertainment who was actually pretty good, so we hung around for a quite awhile after the tasting to listen to him. The vineyard was beautiful (but the wine was so-so); The tasting room was in a refurbished Amish barn built in the 1870's. Such a relaxing time...together! :)

Lazy Baked Greek Chicken PLUS Debut of Bubble & Browns

Last week I made two meals out of my February Rachael Ray magazine: Stir-Fried Chicken Paprikash and Lazy Baked Greek Chicken. The stir-fry got low ratings from both Frank & I - It wasn't as flavorful as we would have liked; however, the Greek Chicken got a 5 from my toughest critic, Frank! It's such a simple recipe and I've actually used the same concept previously with roasted red peppers and mozzarella cheese.

Lazy Baked Greek Chicken
(My adaptation)

EVOO
1/2 medium onion
3 large garlic cloves
About 3/4 of a bag of fresh spinach
S&P
Nutmeg
1 cup panko breadcrumbs
1 tsp dried oregano
4 pieces skinless, boneless chicken breasts
1/2 cup feta cheese

1. Preheat oven to 425. Heat EVOO in a medium skillet and add onion and garlic. Cook until softened then wilt in spinach, seasoning with S&P, and nutmeg.
2. Butterfly chicken breasts and season with S&P. Stuff with spinach mixture & feta. Mix panko crumbs & oregano with a bit of EVOO just to coat. Place chicken in a baking dish and top with panko crumbs. Bake until juices run clear, about 20 minutes.



My sister gave me Rachael Ray's Bubble & Brown Individual Stoneware Bakers for Christmas and I finally broke them out on Thursday evening when I made individual Eggplant Parms. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE eggplant parm but I tried something different this time. Instead of breading and frying my eggplant, I just drizzled them with S&P and EVOO and then grilled each side on my stovetop grill pan. Then I layered them with the cheese mixture and sauce and baked. Much easier and just as delicious!

Happy Birthday Kate & Emma!

Our nieces both celebrated birthdays last week with Kate turning 4 and Emma 2! Frank & I went up to LI this past weekend for the big birthday bash at Pump It Up and then back at the house with the family. The kids' party at Pump It Up was a BLAST! Frank & I definitely had just as much fun as Kate & Emma...Right up to the climatic end when I beat Frank through the inflatable obstacle course!

Happy Birthday to our dear nieces!

Playtime with our God-daughter

Last Friday I went over Chuck & Kristen's to help watch Mikaela while Kristen prepared food for a Sail Time party that her family was hosting the next day. Mikaela and I had fun playing until her cold got the best of her and Kristen ended up needing to take her to the doctor, where she was (scarily) diagnosed with RSV. Thank goodness she is old enough for her body to fight it off on its own...I went back over on Monday and she seemed to be on the mend...I even got a few smiles out of her but unfortunately didn't capture any - just this little smirk:

Tulip Time!

I love when tulips start popping up in stores because 1) they are my favorite flower and 2) it means spring is in sight!

Photography 101

Two years ago for Christmas Frank's parents bought us a Nikon P80. I wasn't ready to dive into a full DSLR and thought this camera would satisfy my photography interest, as it still had many of the manual options. I finally just got around to taking a photography class and am loving learning all about my camera and what it can do. This past Wednesday turned out to be a gorgeous day (temps in the 40's!) so I walked around a few spots along the Potomac (Gravelly Point, Roosevelt Island, etc) to capture images for my homework assignment:





At dusk, I even broke out my tripod and took pics standing on a relatively busy corner to capture "something slow" - Using a slow shutter speed I was able to capture the trial of tail lights from a car.



I also had a great time learning to "paint with light" - Using very slow shutter speed with a relatively high ISO, you 'draw' with a flashlight.

More Magazine Menu

There is a saying, "You learn something new every day"; On Tuesday I learned that Frank does not like cabbage...I made Rachael Ray's Buffalo Chicken Tacos and decided to substitute cabbage for the lettuce...Whoops!



Buffalo Chicken Tacos
Corn Tortillas
Boneless, skinless chicken breasts
S&P
3 tablespoons hot sauce
2 ounces blue cheese
3 tablespoons reduced-fat mayo
4 cups shredded lettuce (I used cabbage)
6 radishes (I omitted)
2 shredded carrots

1. Preheat oven to 200; Wrap tortillas in foil and place in oven.
2. Heat EVOO in a nonstick skillet. Season chicken with S&P and place in pan, turning once until cooked through. Transfer to a plate and top with hot sauce.
3. Blend blue cheese, mayo, and 2 tablespoons water until smooth. Mix with shredded veggies; Toss to coat.
4. Thinly slice chicken; Lay on tortillas and top with salad!

I thought this was nice twist to satify a craving for buffalo wings - Although I should have used more hot sauce; They weren't quite hot enough for me. This recipe only got a '2' (on a 1-5 scale) from Frank for numerous reasons: 1. He is not a cabbage fan, 2. He prefers flour tortillas over corn (even after I tried convincing him that the corn ones are more figure-friendly!) and 3. "Tacos should have tomatoes." Ok - This one is going to require some tweaking before it makes it into the permanent recipe rotation!

New Year's Resolution

I have Every Day with Rachael Ray and The Food Network magazines delivered. I love looking through them and dog-ear the tasty recipes, but I am so bad about actually making them! I usually have a craving for something and then use AllRecipes to hunt for the right recipe. My resolution for 2011 is to make at least one recipe a week from my magazines! Last night I made Rosemary Chicken Kebabs with Lemon-Artichoke Risotto from Rachael's magazine. It was my first attempt at risotto, because I honestly thought it was a pain to make, constantly stirring in more liquid, etc, but it's the easiest thing ever! Since Frank is on a huge 'leafy green' kick, I wilted kale into the risotto and decided to omit the walnuts because I just didn't feel like them. Both dishes were yum-o!





Lemon-Artichoke Risotto:
(care of Every Day with Rachael Ray)

2 cups chicken broth
4 tablespoons of butter (I only used about 2)
1 onion (since Frank isn't a huge onion fan, I used a large shallot which is more mild)
2 cups arborio rice
1 1/4 cups drained, chopped canned artichoke hearts (I just threw in a whole can of quartered artichoke hearts and didn't measure)
Grated Peel of 1 lemon plus 2 teaspoons lemon juice
Salt & Pepper
2/3 cup grated parm cheese
1/3 cups chopped flat-leaf parsley (I substituted kale)
1/3 cups walnuts, toasted and chopped (I omitted)

1. In a saucepan, bring the broth and 4 cups water to a boil, cover and keep at a simmer.
2. In a large saucepan, melt 2 tablespoons butter over medium heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring, until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the rice and stir until lightly toasted, about 2 minutes.
3. Stir in 1 cup of the broth mixture, bring to a simmer and cook, stirring, until the liquid is absorbed, 2 to 3 minutes. Maintaining a low simmer, continue to add the broth mixture, 1/2 cup at a time, stirring frequently and allowing the rice to absorb the liquid. Cook until the rice is tender, about 20 minutes.
4. In the last 3 minutes of cooking, add the artichoke hearts, lemon peel, lemon juice, and the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter; season with salt & pepper. Stir in the cheese, parsley, and walnuts.

Ready for Tasting: DeMarco's vintage

In an earlier post, I mentioned that Frank & I made our own wine with Chuck & Kristen. Well, we never got around to sending in an image for our customized label but I had wanted to give out a few bottles for Christmas. I decided to just buy basic name tags from Staples and make my own labels for Frank & I to give our family. Turns out they were a hit and according to my dad, the wine actually tastes good! (We've yet to crack open a bottle and have to find a time when we can taste-test it with Chuck & Kristen.)

Here's a pic that I love of Grandpa and I with his bottle:

Three Days of Christmas

On the first day of Christmas...

My Dad, Laura, and Jon visited us for an early Christmas celebration. We (briefly) walked around DC and took in the sights of the National Christmas Tree on a cold, blustery December day. Back at the house, we chowed down on dinner and then opened presents.




On the second day of Christmas...

Frank & I left Virginia on 12/22 and spent the night in Delaware at my Dad's. The next day the three of us drove to NYC where we met Uncle Mike & Aunt Dale for a day of sight-seeing. One of my absolute favorite things is NYC at Christmastime. Danielle, Tony, and JoAnn met up with the five of us after dinner for the Broadway show, American Idiot (based on Green Day's music). The show was fantastic! We spent Christmas Eve & Christmas Day at the DeMarco's and then popped over to my Grandparents for dessert on Christmas Day. We managed to escape the island before the big blizzard and made it home safely. (The drive took us much longer than expected and I will say publicly that MY HUSBAND WAS RIGHT...I had wanted to go out to breakfast with my grandparents before leaving, but since it had already started to snow, Frank wanted to get on the road ASAP. It was a good thing we left when we did, because once we hit the Turnpike we saw numerous accidents so I can only imagine how bad it would have been just an hour later.)




One the third day of Christmas...

We spent New Year's Eve at Kelly & Mike's wedding; The ceremony was in a beautiful old church in Georgetown and the alter was picturesque with the remnants of Christmas decorations. The reception was at The Fairfax in Dupont Circle which proved to be a fabulous celebration, complete with, of course, a traditional ringing-in of the New Year with the countdown, noise makers, and confetti. A fun evening in celebration of a beautiful couple.



Back to the third Christmas...On New Year's Day, Frank & I drove out to Winchester for Christmas with my mom. Saturday was our big 'Christmas dinner' which allowed us to lounge around on Sunday (our Christmas morning) and enjoy delicious leftovers that night!




As usual our families completely spoiled us with amazing presents, but the best gift of all was being able to spend time with each and every one of them!

Family Wall

I have been wanting to start a family wall for awhile and finally got around to it this week. (Who knew it would take quitting my job to kick my butt into gear?!?!) Here's the beginning...



From left to right, so far I have my grandparents (my Mom's parents), my great-grandparents (my Dad's grandparents), and Frank's grandparents (his Dad's parents). Now I need to round up some more black and whites...

Pretty makes chores so much better!

During the big post-Thanksgiving sale weekend, we (ok, I) decided that our washer & dryer needed to be replaced. Instead of our old set, circa the 80's, our laundry closet is now home to a fun, new Wild Cherry LG washer & dryer! You know when cartoon characters are in love and have little hearts in their eyes? Well, I'm not going to lie...that's kind of how I am every time I do laundry now! :)