I didn't see you there.
Just kiddin'! I've been watching a lot of 30 Rock and that's just funny. Jenna Maloney? Anybody? No? That's probably not remotely chuckle-worthy to you then...
Off to a rough start. Let's start over.
Off to a rough start. Let's start over.
Hello, Bubbleland! 2012! Here we are! As we've been for a minute! I can't believe it's already February.
I'm much delayed in wishing you all a happy new year. I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season. And a good January as well. How weird is this weather? The 70ยบ winter temps are sorta creeping me out.
If you will indulge me very quickly, I must tell you about Christmas! (Which seems terribly long ago now.) Speaking of an oddly warm winter, we went to Mexico for Christmas with friends. Cancun, to be specific and It. Was. INCREDIBLE.
We were fortunate in that all of our flights were on time and, once, even early. Security was no problemo and all of our luggage made it. Cancun's airport even had an adorable (drug sniffing) beagle wandering about (that I wanted to pet but somehow managed to constrain myself). A quick bus ride and we walked out to Paradise.
There aren't even words. So instead of describing it, how about a little time for someone else's vacation photos? Always fun, riiiiiiight?!
The Resort – The Valentin Imperial Maya
We enjoyed the hospitality area as we waited for a golf cart to take us to our different homes for the next 5 days. And took a couple quick pics...
The Ladies
The Fellas
The flowers were amazing. The pics I got don't do them justice at all.
In no way did Mr. Iguana didn't want me to pet him
Coconuts
The walkway to the restaurants, decorated for Christmas
The rooms were lovely. Everyone should have a king size bed. Especially folks with dogs that try to strong arm them out of the way in their climb to nighttime domination.
I sorta miss aimed the camera for the main feature. The tub was HUGE.
Weather el perfecto
(I'm fluent in Spanish now)
Enough said.
My handsome fella
Moi
Cheesy. Couldn't fight it.
The resort at night
The walkway at night
Mexican Night
It was so beautiful. Where the ladies lounged. And the fellas did... Well, whatever they did.
The only food picture I had the forethought to take.
Does anyone know what this thing is? It had a puffy popover texture with something cream cheesish inside. I ate one - or three - everyday. Maybe it's good I don't know. I would buy them in mass.
The O's
The K's
The J's
I think The Hubs was over pictures at this point.
After Christmas, it was on to New Year's. We hosted some friends and I made some lovely snacks... That I forgot to take pictures of. Annoyingly, I forgot to take pics all night.
And then it was back to work. Where another year will have to go by before I get that amount of time off again. Sad horns. Oh, well. Something to look forward to... For 11 months or so.
It was truly back to reality as I have had some dental problems with a certain tooth. I spoke of this tooth a while back when writing an ode to a root canal. (Cuz that's normal ode material.) Well, mo money, mo problems. (After this though, I def got less money.)
First of all, the dentist drilled so much in my mouth that it was worse than any root canal. And I've had TWO. But then, have you ever had a crown made?
I'm about to share something horrific. You might want to turn away...
They got that crown-setting purple goop all over my face and it gagged me as it slid down my throat. (It starts liquidy and slowly hardens.) Just plain nasty.
They put a temporary crown in. Which cut into my gums and broke after less than a week. (And made it hard to eat. Which was depressing because eating is my favorite.) So then they had to put a silver temporary crown in. Which feels much better. But is not the look I think of when I think of a classy lady. More like a low-rent Lil Wayne.
And that pretty much brings us pretty much up to date. I hope you could handle the emotional rollercoaster of it all.
OH! That's not everything! A BIG congratulations to the Coxes and Nunns on their new additions! My book club ladies have been busy. A new boy and girlie are in the world and I'm so excited for them and their growing families!!!
No segue seems appropriate.
But at this point I know you're wondering...
Where are all the pictures of food that I'm used to seeing here?
I try not to repeat recipe pictures too much. Unless it's hot wings. And then I can't help myself. I've been cooking quite a few repeats. And rotisserie chickens from Kroger. BUT, have no fear, I've got a couple pics to share AND a couple recipes I pretty much made up myself!
I have always been a recipe follower. Not always the best measurer, but I typically don't stray too much from other's success. Well, let me tell you about my new friend. Greek yogurt.
I've seen the recipes that sub Greek yogurt for things to make them healthier. But I've never really tried it. Now there will always be some in fridge.
I made a spinach dip for some friends before we headed out to support our local Memphis Grizzlies. (Marc Gasooooooool!) Spinach dips typically have a lot of cream cheese, sour cream, or mayo. So it's not usually my go-to for appetizers. Until now. Here's what I ended up doing:
Spinach Dip - Light
Mix it all together and I sprinkled a little parm on top for looks. The cold version was good. And when heated up in the oven, even better. If I do say so myself. Too bad I forgot a picture.
I made it for 4 people and there was more than half left over. So I would say it serves, 8? Oh, I dunno...
I also made a casserole. That I forgot to take a picture of as well. But it made a HUGE amount of food and one's in the freezer. So I'll try to follow up with a pic.
Spicy Turkey Casserole
Makes two pretty large casseroles. Or one ginormous one.
Ok, so they're not super fancy. But they were really tasty.
Also not super-fancy but tasty was this stirfry I made this week. Using my mandolin, I quickly sliced peppers and onions while I cooked a nice round steak cut I got from Charlie's. (I kept the meat whole, seasoned with kosher salt & pepper, garlic powder, and a light dousing of teriyaki.)
The stars of the show
Peppers are so pretty
While the peppers cooked, I started some brown rice in the microwave and sliced the meat.
Easy, breezy, beautiful stirfry
This week I also made these Jamaican chicken thighs...
Pretty marinade
Jamaican me hungry all over again
I'm much delayed in wishing you all a happy new year. I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season. And a good January as well. How weird is this weather? The 70ยบ winter temps are sorta creeping me out.
If you will indulge me very quickly, I must tell you about Christmas! (Which seems terribly long ago now.) Speaking of an oddly warm winter, we went to Mexico for Christmas with friends. Cancun, to be specific and It. Was. INCREDIBLE.
We were fortunate in that all of our flights were on time and, once, even early. Security was no problemo and all of our luggage made it. Cancun's airport even had an adorable (drug sniffing) beagle wandering about (that I wanted to pet but somehow managed to constrain myself). A quick bus ride and we walked out to Paradise.
There aren't even words. So instead of describing it, how about a little time for someone else's vacation photos? Always fun, riiiiiiight?!
The Resort – The Valentin Imperial MayaWe enjoyed the hospitality area as we waited for a golf cart to take us to our different homes for the next 5 days. And took a couple quick pics...
The Ladies
The Fellas
The flowers were amazing. The pics I got don't do them justice at all.
In no way did Mr. Iguana didn't want me to pet him
Coconuts
The walkway to the restaurants, decorated for Christmas
The rooms were lovely. Everyone should have a king size bed. Especially folks with dogs that try to strong arm them out of the way in their climb to nighttime domination.
I sorta miss aimed the camera for the main feature. The tub was HUGE.
Weather el perfecto(I'm fluent in Spanish now)
Enough said.
My handsome fella
Moi
Cheesy. Couldn't fight it.
The resort at night
The walkway at night
Mexican Night
It was so beautiful. Where the ladies lounged. And the fellas did... Well, whatever they did.
The only food picture I had the forethought to take.Does anyone know what this thing is? It had a puffy popover texture with something cream cheesish inside. I ate one - or three - everyday. Maybe it's good I don't know. I would buy them in mass.
The O's
The K's
The J'sI think The Hubs was over pictures at this point.
And then, all too soon. It was over.
A trip of a lifetime with great friends. If you get the chance to visit this resort, I simply cannot recommend it enough. They treat you like royalty and you've never been so relaxed. (I would also say to bring extra sunscreen or they're going to charge you an arm and a leg. And take some Maalox with you too. Even if you have the stomach of a goat. I'll leave it at that.)
A trip of a lifetime with great friends. If you get the chance to visit this resort, I simply cannot recommend it enough. They treat you like royalty and you've never been so relaxed. (I would also say to bring extra sunscreen or they're going to charge you an arm and a leg. And take some Maalox with you too. Even if you have the stomach of a goat. I'll leave it at that.)
After Christmas, it was on to New Year's. We hosted some friends and I made some lovely snacks... That I forgot to take pictures of. Annoyingly, I forgot to take pics all night.
And then it was back to work. Where another year will have to go by before I get that amount of time off again. Sad horns. Oh, well. Something to look forward to... For 11 months or so.
It was truly back to reality as I have had some dental problems with a certain tooth. I spoke of this tooth a while back when writing an ode to a root canal. (Cuz that's normal ode material.) Well, mo money, mo problems. (After this though, I def got less money.)
First of all, the dentist drilled so much in my mouth that it was worse than any root canal. And I've had TWO. But then, have you ever had a crown made?
I'm about to share something horrific. You might want to turn away...
They got that crown-setting purple goop all over my face and it gagged me as it slid down my throat. (It starts liquidy and slowly hardens.) Just plain nasty.They put a temporary crown in. Which cut into my gums and broke after less than a week. (And made it hard to eat. Which was depressing because eating is my favorite.) So then they had to put a silver temporary crown in. Which feels much better. But is not the look I think of when I think of a classy lady. More like a low-rent Lil Wayne.
And that pretty much brings us pretty much up to date. I hope you could handle the emotional rollercoaster of it all.
OH! That's not everything! A BIG congratulations to the Coxes and Nunns on their new additions! My book club ladies have been busy. A new boy and girlie are in the world and I'm so excited for them and their growing families!!!
No segue seems appropriate.
But at this point I know you're wondering...
Where are all the pictures of food that I'm used to seeing here?
I try not to repeat recipe pictures too much. Unless it's hot wings. And then I can't help myself. I've been cooking quite a few repeats. And rotisserie chickens from Kroger. BUT, have no fear, I've got a couple pics to share AND a couple recipes I pretty much made up myself!
I have always been a recipe follower. Not always the best measurer, but I typically don't stray too much from other's success. Well, let me tell you about my new friend. Greek yogurt.
I've seen the recipes that sub Greek yogurt for things to make them healthier. But I've never really tried it. Now there will always be some in fridge.
I made a spinach dip for some friends before we headed out to support our local Memphis Grizzlies. (Marc Gasooooooool!) Spinach dips typically have a lot of cream cheese, sour cream, or mayo. So it's not usually my go-to for appetizers. Until now. Here's what I ended up doing:
Spinach Dip - Light
- 12oz frozen spinach, thawed and drained
- Several cloves garlic - to taste (I like garlic so I tend towards garlic heavy)
- 3-4 green onion stalks, chopped
- 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
- 1 & 1/2 cup Greek yogurt
- 2 Tablespoons Mayo (with the olive oil preferred)
- Lemon juice (I used and entire lemon) and dry Dill to taste
Mix it all together and I sprinkled a little parm on top for looks. The cold version was good. And when heated up in the oven, even better. If I do say so myself. Too bad I forgot a picture.
I made it for 4 people and there was more than half left over. So I would say it serves, 8? Oh, I dunno...
I also made a casserole. That I forgot to take a picture of as well. But it made a HUGE amount of food and one's in the freezer. So I'll try to follow up with a pic.
Spicy Turkey Casserole
- 1/2 box wheat elbow pasta
- Ground turkey - I believe about a pound
- 1 pack 2% cheddar cheese, shredded
- 1 pack 2% mozzarella cheese, shredded
- 1 small can green chilis, diced
- 1 cup Greek yogurt (add a little more if it doesn't seem creamy enough)
- Chili, cayenne pepper, & garlic powder to tasted
- Wheat crackers, smooshed
Makes two pretty large casseroles. Or one ginormous one.
Ok, so they're not super fancy. But they were really tasty.
Also not super-fancy but tasty was this stirfry I made this week. Using my mandolin, I quickly sliced peppers and onions while I cooked a nice round steak cut I got from Charlie's. (I kept the meat whole, seasoned with kosher salt & pepper, garlic powder, and a light dousing of teriyaki.)
The stars of the show
Peppers are so prettyWhile the peppers cooked, I started some brown rice in the microwave and sliced the meat.
Easy, breezy, beautiful stirfryThis week I also made these Jamaican chicken thighs...
Pretty marinade
Jamaican me hungry all over again
Anything else to discuss? I've read some great books recently...
And have been watching Top Chef (pulling for Paul) and Project Runway All-Stars (MONDO!). But I think let's just go ahead and call it a day.
I hope it was worth the wait? Let's not let it be so long next time, ay?! Not that I'm blaming you, Bubbleland. Never.
Next time, Super Bowl snacks. See you soon, friends!
And have been watching Top Chef (pulling for Paul) and Project Runway All-Stars (MONDO!). But I think let's just go ahead and call it a day.I hope it was worth the wait? Let's not let it be so long next time, ay?! Not that I'm blaming you, Bubbleland. Never.
Next time, Super Bowl snacks. See you soon, friends!
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