Cozy Days are Here

Well, Mike has not gotten around to doing his Priceline post, so until then, here is our latest Fall meal :)
Last Thursday, we had the Neals over for dinner.
It was a grand time.
It was also a bit of an experiment.
You see, when I invited Joe and Heidi over, I told them what was next on the agenda for Autumn Project.
Tomato Soup.
Apart from a raising of the head and the eyebrows in a way that communicated "ooooookkkkaaay....I'm going to try as hard as I can to be polite and not scrunch up my nose and blow my cover," they both remained silent and kinda looked down at the floor. Fortunately, I’m not too thick-headed and I could take a hint ;)
I quickly gathered that tomato soup was not their favorite meal, but, after a bit of investigation, discovered that the only tomato soup they’d ever had was Campbell’s! I was filled with renewed faith, because homemade tomato soup tastes NOTHING like its canned counterpart. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is a very good thing. I promised them it would taste different than what they were thinking tomato soup would taste like, but also offered to make something completely different.
They graciously said they wanted to try the soup. So I agreed, but with one condition: they had to be brutally honest. If they didn’t like it even after tasting it, they had to tell me. I would not be offended. Some people simply do not like certain foods – I will not take offense at that. I told them I would make bacon grilled cheese to go along with it so they wouldn’t starve if they ended up not liking the soup. So they agreed to the terms and conditions, and that was that. We had a date.

Here are some beautiful gerbera daisies I found at….wait for it…GIANT the other day! Yes…good ol’ Giant. Buy one get one free. I love them. Complete with baby pumpkins.




And here is my expert bacon cooker. He is a pro. He does all the bacon frying in our house.




My new dinnerware went perfectly with the color of the soup :)





These were yummy. I took a French baguette, stuffed it with cheese and bacon, brushed it with butter and threw it on the Panini grill until golden and melty. Yes, melty. It’s a word.




My guinea pigs. To see if despisers of canned soup can become lovers of homemade soup.


And the verdict? They liked it! Unless they were lying to me. But Joe even went back for seconds, which I’m thinking he wouldn’t have done if he truly disliked it. But I suppose I’ll never know for 100 % sure until I get to heaven. Heidi…now’s your chance to tell me before I get to heaven and ask God the one thing that’s been bothering me my entire life: “Did they REALLY like the soup? Or did they just SAY they liked it?” ;)
Maybe this is a sign that I should work on better questions to ask God other than those revolving around soup.

Afterwards we cleaned up, made tea, and ate Ooey Gooey Pumpkin Butter Cake while watching The Office.
Here is Heidi trying to walk from the kitchen to the couch with a (clearly) overflowing cup of Paris Tea. I guess she didn’t want to miss out on any of that amazing goodness.


Ooey Gooey Pumpkin Butter Cake. Yes, Traci, that is its real name. I don’t lie.


Here is the recipe for the soup. It is from Ultimate Southern Living cookbook, and we absolutely love it. Thanks, Joe and Heidi, for being good sports and being adventurous :) We had a wonderful evening with you both!

Creamy Tomato Soup

Ingredients:

½ c. chopped onion
3 TBSP melted butter
3 TBSP flour
1 c. chicken broth
1 (28 oz.) can Italian whole tomatoes
3 TBSP tomato paste
1 TBSP minced fresh parsley (I usually just use dried if I don’t have fresh on hand)
1 TBSP sugar
1 tsp. salt
½ tsp. basil
¼ tsp. pepper
1 bay leaf
Italian Seasoning to taste
½ c. cream (light or heavy)

Directions:
1)Sauté onion in butter in dutch oven 3 mins until tender. Reduce heat to low, add flour and stir until smooth. Cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Gradually add broth, cook over medium heat, stirring until thick and bubbly.

2)Add tomatoes and next 8 ingredients (through Italian Seasoning). Stir well. Bring to boil, cover, reduce heat to medium-low and simmer 30 mins. Discard Bay leaf.

3)Process tomato mixture in blender until smooth. Return to pot, add cream and heat through. Serve with croutons and grilled cheese.

*two things – I usually add minced garlic when I sauté the onion, but that’s up to you. We just love garlic so much and I think it tastes better. Also, I just make our own croutons with bread – spread with olive oil, parm cheese, Italian seasoning and a bit of crushed red pepper. Cut into squares and bake for 10 mins at 350. they taste really yummy in the soup!

"I want to wake up in a city, that never sleeps"

New York! New York!

We really did have a grand time. An amazing weekend to celebrate an amazing first year of marriage. Mike did a wonderful job planning such a special weekend :) Here we are in the best we could manage with the self timer.


We left on Friday mid-morning, and everything was smooth sailing. Until we hit this:


This, mind you, was caused by a disturbance NOT on our side of the road. If there's one thing Mike can't stand, it's a gaper delay.
So while he spouted off some steam, I got bored and amused myself by taking pictures. Of myself. Narcissistic, I know.


And then finally we came within sight of the city!!



And then a little further on down the road, we came upon the Lincoln Tunnel. And as we approached, I had to do a double take. And then a triple take. Which finally erupted in a "are you kidding me?!"

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, it costs $8 for one to go through the Lincoln Tunnel. I realize that most of you probably knew that already. But for a country bumpkin like me (that's what my mom called me), it seemed a tad exorbitant.
But through the Lincoln Tunnel we did go. Thankfully.


Once we got there we went out and walked around. It's breathtaking, if not a little overwhelming.


We saw lots of these. Fortunately, unlike Will Farrell in Elf, I did not get upended by one.


One of the things I was looking forward to the most was the pizza. I have to admit, I was a little disappointed. It did not taste like I remembered it. Oh well.


And because we are 5 years old, we stopped at Toys-R-Us.


I've never felt so claustrophobic.


And (also because I am 5) I thought this was funny.


I love the city at night.


Oh and I love him :)



Later that night, Mike took me to dinner at The View - it is the revolving restaurant on the 49th floor of the Marriott!! It was absolutely incredible.


Mike's dessert - chocolate caramel square with raspberry praline ice cream.


My dessert - creme brulee, raspberry praline ice cream, and some sort of bread pudding. It was to die for.


I realize they have to do this in Times Square, or no one would get the drink they ordered, but it is pretty awesome and I wish my drink got a label every time I went to Starbucks :)


We could have waited in line with them. For 4 hours. But we didn't. We walked around and shopped and came back later and got our tickets. We felt pretty smart.


Mike made me take this picture of Ryan Howard.


On our way to Rockefeller Plaza.


Not the smartest choice of footwear. But they were cute. So I wore them anyways.



I think this was one of my favorite stops. St. Patrick's Cathedral. Absolutely gorgeous.



And we HAD to stop in Anthropologie. I mean, c'mon, they were welcoming me to New York! I couldn't be rude.


And then we went to see Phantom of the Opera. It was great.


And after Phantom, we left. And let me try to describe what leaving New York City is like.

Basically, they make 25 lanes merge into 2. Okay, maybe that's a bit of an exaggeration.
But c'mon....this guy had to merge...

And then this guy.....

and pretty much everyone and his brother had to merge. And I have discovered something about myself. I like order. I do not like mayhem, which is what NYC driving is like. But, the good news I guess is that you can do whatever you want. So that's why we cut in front of him :)
And then, once we survived exiting the Lincoln Tunnel, we set out for Philly. Ended up in Camden (thank you, Google maps, thank you). Just kept driving, in light of the fact that it was Camden. And finally arrived (late) at the Marriott in Philly. And that is why we looked like this.

It was a fabulous weekend. Tiring, to be sure, but worth it in every possible way.

Coming up next: Mike talks Priceline, complete with photographs and all. He's very excited about it.

The Phillies

Basically, all you need to remember from this post is this motto:

"Wave! Wave! Wave!"

Here's how it all went. Some people in our section started doing the wave.
Matt got really mad. It was a violation of baseball apparently. And he felt inclined to inform the people of this. The people not being confined to those with whom he had come.
Rick did not notice all this transpiring, and being a huge fan of the wave, joined in.
Which made Matt madder.
So Meg and I quickly informed Rick that the motto was "NO waaaaave!!!" To say "no waaaaave" to the wave. (Get it? :)
And he then informed us, that his motto to live by was "Wave! Wave! Wave!"
And so this is how things went.
Fortunately there were 3 people between Matt and Rick, so no bodily harm came to the latter.
I think the best part is that Matt, on the way home, called into 950 ESPN and got on the air. What was his point? That The Wave is a huge violation to true baseball fans. He actually got on the air. True Story.


Here we are....Mike was super excited. I was (clearly) having a bad hair day.



Here is Matt impersonating Rick. And this was before he was being mean.



Love them!



Rick in his goofy hat/hood. Wondering whatever on earth The Wave had ever done to Matt.



This is Matt not happy. No really.....he's not pretending. He was maaaaadd.



Fighting Phils 09. If you were unclear on what Meg was doing. She seems to be missing a finger.....



Storming the field!



Fireworks!



CLINCHED!



It was a fun night :)
Also upcoming....NYC....here is a pic in the meantime. We had a fantastic time.

Upcoming

1) The Phillies clincher game. Here you will get to see Rick do the wave and Matt get mad at Rick.
2) NYC! Pics and adventures from the Big Apple.
3) Our reading lists that have taken flight this weekend. We are working on becoming cultured.
4) Michael the Husband is going to do a post about Priceline. He is very excited about it. Keep an eye out for it ;)

Boilermaker Tailgate Chili

This is a good chili recipe. I mean, for me, I feel like chili has to have serious substance....not just meat and chili powder :) This certainly has it all!!! The link and recipe can be found here. Check it out. It's a great make ahead meal too, and it is oh so perfect for a chilly autumn night. Serve it with Fritos Scoops and you're good to go!!
Also, for dessert, I made Brown Sugar Apple Cake. I got the recipe from Martha Stewart Living a few years back, and it is one of our favorites!!!! I had to make it by memory this time, because I left my copy at Meg's house and I can't find it anywhere online!!! It tasted ok. But I don't remember enough to post the recipe here. Soon!!!

Here is the chili cooking on SUNDAY night! That's right. NOT Monday :) Much less stress.


Add sour cream, cheddar cheese, and Fritos. Yum.



Margie dear.



The Apple Cake.




The kids eating apple cake. They probably would not appreciate this picture, but then again, maybe they wouldn't care at all. They're kids. It's the mature adults who are outraged by unflattering pictures of themselves ;) They were simply having a good time digging into the cake!


We had a great time.
Not much else exciting going on. Other than the fact that I am dressed like a cross between an eggplant and a carrot today. That's right. Eggplant purple shirt with burnt orange corduroys. Despite the vegetable resemblance, I am still holding out hope that it looks ok.
Prepping for New York on Friday. Mike is on Priceline as we speak looking for rooms in Philly (we are heading there after NYC). It'll be nice to get away this weekend. I feel like I need it!! So excited to celebrate our first year of marriage!!!! Can't believe it's been an entire year already.
Oh and yes. Last but not least: Phillies game tonight. Which means that either I will have an extremely ecstatic husband.....or a miserably moody (i mean DEVASTATED, of course) one... ;) You know I love you, Mike :)