Valentine Dinner

We decided to stay in for Valentine's Day this year. It's a little over-rated, but, at any rate, an excuse to do something special or different. I tried to do a full 6 course dinner for my hubby. It was FULL. And tiring. Way too much up and down, back and forth to really enjoy our time together, but I had fun cooking and planning it. By the time the entrees were served I was so tired I didnt want to get up again!  Maybe next time we'll just do a 3 course meal; or better yet maybe I can get my hubby in the kitchen to cook for me! Not so sure about that last one though...I think he'd rather starve then pick up a pot or pan! Haha!

   A beautiful centerpiece, provided by my hubby!

                                            

  First Course: French Onion Soup with Gruyre & Swiss cheeses



      Second Course: Lover's Scallops~Twin pan seared sea scallops
over wilted spinach, bacon, toasted pine nuts, shredded paremsan

Fourth Course: Grilled NY Strip Steak, red winereduction, mashed potaotes,
 crispy julienned brussel sprouts
(bad picture.. computer wouldn't let me use the better one. grr.)

         

Fifth Course: Mesculin greens, roasted garlic vinaigrette,

 balsamic asparagus, dried cranberries and shaved parmesan

Sixth Course:  Raspberry Linzer Tort with almond crust and vanilla ice cream

 (Sadly, I was so tired by the time we had dessert I couldnt muster up

 the energy to take another picture, or one more bite for that matter!)

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1 Avocado, 2 Avocado...

3 Avocado....16.. Avocados?! So what do you do with 16, extremely ripe avocados?? Well, how about avocado and crab bisque for starters. I am actually just starting to like avocados so it's still a little new for me. AND, I'm NOT a huge crab fan either. BUT, this was surprisingly very good! Rich and creamy tones from the avocado and cream and the sweet crab added just enough texture and flavor to compliment it beautifully.
Then I found a recipe for avocado chocolate truffles! Yes, you heard that right. It was interesting, very rich again. But you couldnt taste the avocado very much at all. Anything's good with chocolate though, right?! Well, it must of been an avocado kindo dayo! My sister had invited me and the hubster over for dinner that evening and she texted me asking to pick up 2 avocados on the way over!! I had to do a double take. I had been seeing green all day!
My selection at the grocery store was not very good, I tried to find the ripest ones amongst the mossy-green rocks!
Upon arrival at sister's house, she informed me she was making an avocado-chocolate frosting!!! How weird!! It was very similar to the recipe I had just used for the truffles earlier. For the frosting they substituted an avocado in place of butter for a healthier alternative...hmmmmmm...
We whipped it up and spread it on fresh chocolate cupcakes. We also spread some with your trademark chocolate canned frosting.(I love that stuff, I dont know why.)
We then fed them to our hubbies....
Verdict? Not so much. They did not appreciate any kind of healthy alternative with this little switch-a-roo here!! Haha! It was quite entertaining.
In the end, if I hadn't known there was avocado in my chocolate frostng, I most likely would not have been able to tell. Although I think using a very ripe avocado would have helped it a bit.
But at least now I know what to make with very ripe avocados!!!

New Year, New Blog....Hopefully

Wow. How pathetic it's been almost an entire year that I've posted! Well, it has been a pretty crazy year! :) But at any rate, I will try, yet again, to keep up with this. There'll also be(as you can already see) A new blog name-subject to possible change, again.-facelift and new blog material! I dont know why I cant keep up with at least one post a week. Any tips would be great! :)
Happy New Year everyone!

2009

What an incredible year!!!

January started off slow; although I enjoyed all the snow we had last winter.. April couldnt come fast enough because that's when Mike was suppost to be home from Iraq! I ended up having to replace all for of my tires by the end of the winter! I had nail after screw after nail in my tires!! AHHH!! Not fun! House/dog sitting and wedding planning-I think I had a little TOO much time to plan!- kept me pretty busy for the next few months. April came finally!! Thankfully, the Lord safely brought Mike home a couple days after his birthday, and the rest of the year started flying by! Two of my friends were also getting married within a month before our wedding!, so there was shopping, showers and weddings to go to for that as well.

With May came the sad news that my Grandpa Howard passed away; but is with my Grandma in Heaven now! Mike and I also started looking for apartments, hoping to find something quickly. The end of May was my bridal shower! It was beautiful and my mom, aunt and others cooked all the yummy food!

We found a nice apartment in Farmington! We were very excited! Both my friends-one of whom I was in the wedding, and she in mine!!-got married in June and Mike moved into the new apartment so June was very busy. Invitations, dress fittings and the such surrounded everything else! Also**! My sister, Julie, announced she was pregnant with their first!! I'm going to be an auntie again!! Cant wait until February!! :)

July was just as crazy, my grandmother needed to move in with us for a few weeks, and all the final wedding planning and appointments were coming one after the other. Finally the wedding week arrived! Me and mom had to buy orchids for centerpieces and hope they wouldn't die, seating arrangements, final menu counts, out of town family arrived, one final mini shower with all my girls who were wonderful to me and of course, I had a bad reaction to a tanning session as well-not good! ha ha! And finally, Saturday arrived!! It had poured Friday night but Saturday was absolutely perfect! Our wedding day was wonderful! Beyond words. Everything was perfect. And now, I am Mrs. Michael Marie. :)

August we were having a great time in Belize! Although I had some type of stomach bug. We went cave tubing, snorkeling and toured the Mayan ruins and mostly just relaxed! It was awesome. I was off work for another week after we got back, so I did all the legal name changing, got my military ID!, and organized the apartment. Then I had to go back to work. And reality. Sigh.

We joined family and friends for a Labor Day camping trip in VT early September. Also went to the Big E-Eastern States Exposition- TWICE! Once with my hubby-we got in for free because of the military!-and another with girlfriends for an evening!! We started house/dog sitting again on and off for September, October and the beginning of November.

November we went to the Marine Ball, dressing up is always fun! Me and my mom threw Julie her baby shower later that month as well. For Thanksgiving we decided to go to NH to visit Mike's parents. It was a very nice visit and we also got *snow* while we were up there!! We bought our first Christmas tree in Bethlehem, NH and brought it back strapped to the roof of our car for four hours home!

December came rushing in with me being extremely busy at work, the hustle and bustle of the holiday season, learning how to cram everything in is quite the task!!! Eek! Parties and such--one of which my hubby threw me a small surprise birthday party!!!!! So sweet! :) :) And then Christmas arrived,along with four days off for me-yay!, sweet relief!! We had a little house guest over-my cat Sebastian!! He was very curious and intrigued at everything and loved having him here. I miss having him around... Our first Christmas was wonderful, we had a nice breakfast and went to my parents for the rest of the day! The last week of the year was especially busy for me and we finished it by spending New Year's Eve with my parents and grandmother playing Bananagram, making funny hats and drinking hot chocolate!!

Our first half-almost-year of marriage has been wonderful, new, exciting, different and fun! Cant wait to find out what lies ahead! Every day is an adventure! :) The Lord has blessed us in so many ways I cant begin to name them all!! We are thankful to Him for all He has given to and for us. Love to all.

Name Above All Names...

Back to Blogging!

Well, it's safe to say I've let my blog go to the dogs for awhile now. The reason??, I don't know, I'm not a great "writer-type"-although when I write I do enjoy it. So I felt that, what do I have to offer these other great scholars with my mere ramblings and most likely bad grammatical phrases, "words" I've created or other such writing no-nos. Plus, I've been told when I write, I don't "sound" like myself! How is that possible?! ;) Well, I assure you, it's still me, through and through. So, I forge ahead! Let's see if I can keep this up. I will attempt to put a new post at least once a week and more so if doable.

Spring is right around the corner! And that means that my fiance Mike will be home from Iraq after almost 11 months of being away!!!!!!!! :) I cannot wait! This last stretch is killer, it's worse then the last 10 months! So much to do when he finally gets home! And then, in 4 short months we are getting married!!!!! WOW! I cant believe that either! The Lord has been so good and I cant wait to start my life with Mike.