Potato Goodness

So, I am definitely not the model CSA member.  I am slow to use my produce, and I am not a fan of this mess o' greens we keep getting.

But, recently, when reading a menu for the Peekskill Brewery, they had these potatoes on the menu that sounded delicious:

Bacon Wrapped Fingerling Potatoes
Carmelized Onion Puree and Caper Aioli

When we arrived, they weren't on the current menu.  Since the pregnancy cravings seem to stick with me until satisfied, I decided to use up our CSA spring onions and tiny potatoes and give these a whirl on the 4th.

First, I caramelized the onions by cooking them up in butter until they were a delicious caramel brown and were very aromatic.

I then pureed the onions using my immersion blender.

While I was working on the onions, I had the potatoes boiling.  I waited until they were nice and soft, and then got ready to assemble.

Let the assembly begin!

 I finally figured out that the quickest method was to smear some of the caramelized onion puree onto the 1/2 strip of bacon and then roll up and toothpick it together.

 Throw those babies on the grill!

 Mmmmmmmmm.....

 Pardon my 'cute' blue plastic bowl for the caper aioli- I was too lazy to put in a cute bowl!

We loved them...would definitely do these again!

Open House

On Friday, March 12, we had an open house for the plebes that we sponsor and their families who were in town for Plebe Parent Weekend.  It was such a lovely group of people and we were so happy to have the opportunity to meet/see all of them.  One of our very favorite things about being here at West Point is sponsoring these cadets.

One of the dads mentioned to Sean how lucky we are to get to see their sons in an environment where they are able to just sit down and share their stories.  He was saying that they are always excited to have their son home, but that they usually get to see him when he first comes home, and then he is with friends, playing XBox, or whatever else kids do these days :).  It was a great reminder that it is a privilege to spend some nice quality time with these kids outside of the more regimented West Point life.

It was fun to get the open house together - thank goodness for our sweet babysitter, Kayla.  Sean wasn't there for the first hour and a half or so because he was wrapping up at his department's open house.  I wouldn't have been able to pull it off without Kayla.  To be honest, I am surprised I allowed anyone in the house with me before a gathering like that!  It seems that I am always scrambling until the first guest arrives (ok, maybe even sometimes AFTER they arrive ;)). 

I bought a few yards of fabric to use as a tablecloth...

The menu...
Apps:

--Southwestern Egg Rolls with Amy's Cilantro Cream Sauce (a new favorite of ours that Jamie introduced us to!)
--Potato Skins (does anyone have a good recipe?  I prepped these and froze the empty skins ahead of time...but I didn't think that they looked that great...would love to hear if anyone has a good recipe!)
--Taco Dip
--Caprese
--Pesto Breads
--Rosemary Cashews (Jean introduced us to these - they are addictive!)

Desserts:
Sour Cream Caramel Cakes
Chocolate covered strawberries
Lemon Bars

Paddy is one...decor

How pathetic is it that I am just posting this now?  It took me this long to have enough patience to upload these pics to blogger :)

In keeping with the 'keep cost down' theme, I really tried to use things that we already had for Paddy's 1st birthday (that was in NOVEMBER!)...

Banner Flags to drape on front of table - I cut the flags out of fabric scraps that I had and fabric glued them to this grosgrain ribbon. 

Large Balloons...I had ordered these for my maternity pictures, and then used another one for Paddy's photo shoot with Shea Halliburton.  I had three left.  I had planned to get them filled with helium, but because that is so expensive, I decided to copy an idea I had seen - probably on Party Perfect...and just string them across/above the food table.

Clipboards...I ordered 5x7 pics of some of my favorite pictures throughout the year from Walmart, and then taped them to cardstock and hung on the clipboards.

Flag toothpicks...I contemplated getting special sticks that would be longer than toothpicks, but decided that I couldn't beat free toothpicks and free fabric.  One night, I just sat down for a while and cut lots of fabric and then just fabric glued the pieces onto the toothpicks.  I would use these for the sausage cheese balls and carrot cake cupcakes.

Food tags...I designed these in PPT and then used double stick tape to stick these onto lollipop sticks.

Cake pop display...I needed a way to display the cake pops and the large chocolate covered marshmallows.  I wanted to have some on the food table and also have some cake pops near the door since these were pulling double duty...they were a dessert during the party, but they were also a 'favor'.  I ended up buying two 10 lb bags of sugar and filled my cylindrical hurricanes.  I picked sugar b/c I knew that I could use it after the party, so it wouldn't go to waste.

Splurge...I am such a straw girl.  I usually have one Diet Coke (usu. caff free) a day, and it is always with a straw.  I have been really wanting a reason to order these paper straws.  Since I had to pay the shipping, I figured I better get some blue, red and gray ones while I was at it :)

Games & Prizes - I have such fond memories of the little games that we would play at our birthday parties growing up.  My mom was a champ and took on the game responsibility and set up bozo buckets with the help of the Thompsons (thanks, again :)) as well as a clothes pin drop into a glass jar.  We were thankful that it was a beautiful day, so the older kids were able to be outside to play games.  I bought some gum and candy to match the color scheme.

 

 Party Hat - I wasn't very good at making this, but I just bought a sheet of 12x12 scrapbook paper and added some ribbon to the top, and it stayed on for all of 2.2 seconds...

Happy 1st Birthday, Paddy Man - what a fun day!  Thanks again to my friend, Jennyjo, for snapping most of these pics!

Girl time

For Isabella's birthday, we decided it might be fun to have her over to hang out with us, have some girl time, and do something fun together.  We let her 'design' her own day from some suggestions we had, and she picked to have lunch with me, go to Michael's to pick out a craft, then have her friend over to our house to do the selected craft project, then have dinner and a sleepover with us.

It was so fun trying to get a few things ready to make the day feel special for Isabella.  She wanted brownies as her 'cake', so I just baked some brownies in cake pans and topped with ganache...

And set the table with my most feminine things - my mismatched teacups, delicate glasses that Krissy got me years and years ago, my silver candy server, and the napkin holders that hold fresh flowers (which I failed to get in time for the playdate!).

 
It was such a pleasure to have Isabella over for the day and have some great quality time with her - and A&T, too!  I mean what can be bad about a day with tacos for lunch, brownie cake in the afternoon, tacos again for dinner, and more brownie cake to follow?  We capped it off with the Crow family joining us for breakfast the next morning.  Fun times.  We feel so blessed to be at the same place as our dear friends.

White Plates...to have or not to have?

So, for a long time, we have talked about buying some white plates in bulk for entertaining.  We finally buckled when we got here because after much shopping around, we were able to get 36 dinner and 36 salad plates from the Williams Sonoma Outlet for 50% off the outlet price.  Plus, we had a gift card...perfect.
 
We have had lots of hilarious late night chats while here at M&K's, and the plates came up.  I knew we would get grilled by M for making this purchase, so I tried to use my eco-friendly reasoning with him.  Being the 'green soul' that he is...I thought this was my only way to win this discussion.

The sad part is, I have even wondered at times if 36 was enough!!  (Okay, I am still wondering....)

Last night while reading about something completely unrelated on Apartment Therapy, I found this post about these people who bought 160 white plates!!!  Yeah, someone more crazy than us.  I love these people, and I love their rationale...and all the comments that follow.  I immediately announced this article to Sean and K who were in the room with me, and sent it to M, hoping he would read it when it popped up on his iPad upstairs!  M said it is just proof that you can always find something on the internet to back up what is not true....bottom line, I am still happy with my purchase.  Where do you stand?

Slade Drive House Tour - outdoor entertaining area

When Sean and I moved into our house on Slade, we were new to all this yard work stuff, especially in a southern climate.  We had a lot to do and a lot to learn!

There was a three-car carport in the back yard and two of the spots would be usable; however, with a dog, and our laziness, we knew we weren't going to use it because we would need to open/close the big fence gate every time we wanted to park.

We brainstormed a lot, and our work took place over a long time, but here is what we tackled...

The Befores...

(notice fence, big dead tree, and old shed in carport)...

The shed was completely rotted, there was random lumber stored up on the rafters, the iron fence along the back was completely rusted, the floor was a mess...thus, begin the work!

What a mess...as we prepared to get started...

(You can see the good work Sean did on the iron fench though - 

he wire brushed, sanded and repainted it)...

We had a chain link fence at first, but after someone stole our lawn mower from the carport, we decided it was time for a privacy fence.

Privacy fence after...

I started having visions of a nice outdoor entertaining area using the carport.  We toyed with ideas of putting a new shed space under the carport; however, it wasn't in the best shape structurally, and we weren't sure how long we would be there.  So, instead, we decided to buy one of those Rubbermaid storage sheds that we were able to tuck away on the side of our house in a space that wouldn't have been used otherwise.

And, for the record, Rubbermaid advertises some crazy fast assembly time of 90 minutes or something ridiculous like that.  Ummm...let me just say kudos to anyone who has ever achieved this.  This took us all day long.  Maybe it would have gone more smoothly if we had a rubber mallet instead of the meat mallet we used. :)

New Shed on side of house...

Then, we got to work on the carport.  We wanted to create an area to relax and hang out, a place to eat, serve food, and grill.  Thankfully, there was plenty of room for all of these functions.

First, we had some rotting boards replaced.  Then, we power washed the heck out of it.  Next, we painted the floor (chocolate brown) and the ceiling (putty).  We had two ceiling fans installed and an electrical outlet added (have to be able to have music!). 

The carport evolved over time as we could afford bits and pieces.  I envisioned a space flanked with long white curtains to give us privacy and a more finished look.  Enter the Ikea Merete curtains.  We bought pipes from Home Depot and eye hooks to serve as curtain rods.  I am sort of embarrassed to admit just how many hours of my life I spent taking down, washing, and re-hanging these curtains over the years, but from a distance, they held up very well.

We also bought lots of bags of river rock to put between the edge of the carport floor and the fence, to cover up the dirt that was there.  This helped keep the curtains cleaner.  It drove 'neurotic me' a little crazy how the wind would separate the curtains...thank goodness for binder clips!  Those got a little rusty from getting rained on, but they did a good job keeping the curtains together.  As soon as the curtains went up, it felt like the space was really transformed!

We got a collapsible table from WalMart as we knew we could use this in the future as well, and I painted our old dining room table chairs (hand-me-downs from my parents) black.  We bought the buffet piece in Northern Michigan, and we didn't have room in the house for it, so it was perfect out here.  It needed to be refinished anyway, so I figured I would leave it as is until we moved.  We bought the wicker furniture from Pier I when it is was on sale.

To the right of the wicker sits my cherished claw foot tub.  This tub is from my grandma's cottage.  It is over 100 years old, and when the family recently did some renovations, they were going to get rid of it.  Being the sentimental sap and antique lover that I am, I quickly volunteered to take it.  Much to Sean's dismay, we ended up renting a U-Haul to get it home.  It was perfect for holding all of our firewood!

We added some hanging baskets and sago palms as you entered the space.  I found free standing tiki torches at Sam's Club, which were great...except for when the wind knocked them over!

To make it feel more like a room, I added pillows, tablecloths, a votive chandelier (which really wasn't the smartest idea...why didn't I think about how hard it would be to light 40+ candles every time I wanted to turn it 'on'...boo!).  The chandelier quickly turned into a lantern holder instead.

I thought the space needed some plants, so I went for a couple split leaf philodendrons, and then moved my lemon trees to the entrance of the space as well.

I then wanted a space to take in some rays and enjoy an afternoon cocktail.  I found two wooden lounge chairs on sale at Hobby Lobby.  I added an umbrella and monogrammed lounge chair covers...I really miss this spot!

The afters..

I miss that flowering jasmine on the trellis - those blooms are so delicate and smell delightful!

view from off the back porch...

The amount of time we were able to spend outdoors in GA was one of our very favorite things about living there.  We used this space like an extra room in our home.  We were even able to eat Christmas dinner out here one year!

With any space that we worked on, we always felt that we had lessons learned.  I am going to try to document them as I go along so we don't make the same mistakes twice :)

Carport lessons learned:
--Don't buy chandeliers with a million votives to light. Nightmare.
--Be careful with glass outdoors.  Countless hurricanes, lanterns, etc. were broken when we had big storms = bad news when you have a dog wandering around the backyard!
--The more stuff we have out there = more to clean.  I spent a lot of time sweeping, washing off furniture, etc.  It was a lot of work from that perspective.
--If we ever had another outdoor room like this, but were able to design where it was located, we would definitely position this type of space close to the kitchen.  It was sometimes a bit treacherous trying to get all the food out here because of less than level backyard.

Happy Valentine's Day...

I got to spend Valentine's Day weekend with my oldest friends.  We were so honored to have Meagan, Joy and Blair come visit.  Saturday, we went downtown, walked through the Faneuil Hall area, and then onto the North End.  We saw a woman literally rolling one precious pasta noodle at a time...we all agreed...it looked very therapeutic and even more delicious!  We ate dinner at Euno and all the food was incredibly rich and flavorful.  I especially loved the complimentary champagne that they brought us while we were waiting for our table!  Then, of course, onto Mike's Pastry for some dessert.  By the way, canoli's make a good breakfast.

On Valentine's Day, we had a girls' afternoon out.  We went to Tea at the Taj, shopping on Newbury, cocktails at the Cheer's bar, and then back to the house for a night of southern food.  Sean made some killer fried chicken for us....yum.

I can't tell you how many times throughout the weekend I counted my blessings that I have these amazing women in my life.  To be living so far apart for so long now, and to be able to come together and have so many laughs, to reminisce, to speak of the past, the present and the future, and to feel like we never skipped a beat - it really speaks to the meaning of true friendship.  Girls - thanks so much for coming to see us...can't wait until next time.  Love you all!

The stunning flowers at the TAJ...

Breathtaking (thanks for snapping this one, MC!)

Tea sandwiches...scrumptious.  I need to make these little cucumber sandwiches.  Okay, and the prosciutto ones as well!

Here comes the sweets! 

Love the detail on the bottom of the strawberries...

Won't you be mine?

macaroons are the prettiest.

Back at the casa, we had champagne cocktails...

I made Brenda's delicious chocolate raspberry cake with ganache frosting.  decadent.

Happy Valentine's Day...

I am on a personalized straw kick, can you tell?  Fun straws make champagne taste better...

Bakerella's cake pops...this time I made them with strawberry cake.  I filled the vase with sugar to help them stand up.