Catching Up

I have not been the best blogger of late, and I really don't have a great excuse. I just haven't taken the time to 1) take many pictures and 2) sit down and actually blog lately. I will try to get better, but in the meantime here is a little bit of what we have been up to.

I made this new recipe one night last week, and it was a good, simple weeknight meal.

Angel Hair with Three Tomato Sauce

(Serves 4)

1 lb angel hair pasta

4 cloves garlic minced

1/2 tsp red pepper flakes (or more if you like spicy)

1/2 cup sundried tomatoes in oil chopped

28 oz can of whole tomatoes

1 pint cherry tomatoes

Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain, reserving 1 cup of pasta water.

Meanwhile, heat 2 tbl of oil from the sundried tomato jar over medium. Add garlic and red pepper flakes and cook for 30 seconds. Add the canned tomatoes (and juice) and sundried tomatoes. Simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally to break up the whole tomatoes. Then add the cherry tomatoes and cook for 10 more minutes.

Add the pasta to the sauce, along with salt and pepper and toss. Add pasta water to thin if needed. 

Changing gears, Xan stayed with on Friday night so we had a great time walking up to New York Pizza for dinner then just hanging out watching movies. We took him back to Glenwood after breakfast Saturday though because we had to make sure he was back in time for the big dance. We can't wait to hear about it and see pictures!

The rest of Saturday was filled with errands mixed in with a fun surprise lunch with my parents. We were out by the Galleria doing some errands, so decided to try out the Cajun Steamer at the recommendation of some friends. So glad we took the recommendation because it was SO GOOD (yet pretty unassuming - I doubt I would have ever just walked in there randomly). We will definitely go back - it may sounds a little odd, but everything was delicious and really reasonable - smoked tuna dip, charbroiled oysters, red beans and rice, seared ahi tuna. After recovering from food overload at lunch, we managed to squeeze in some chicken kebobs with Zack and Laura Jane for dinner. 

Today was filled with yard work, and while I was getting ready to throw out a dead fern (sad I know - how hard can it be to keep a fern alive?) I came across these guys:

When I first took the fern down the baby birds were wide awake with their mouths open like they wanted food. By the time I got Andy to help me take a picture though, they were asleep. Andy found a dead bird though by the street, so I'm really hoping that wasn't their mom!! 

Tonight we grilled our first salmon of the season! Looking forward to much more of this...

That's about it for now, but we are already counting down the days until next weekend when we are headed back here:

Maybe we will even have some of these (even though it isn't a month with a "r" in it....)

Have a great week!

Garden Update

Believe it or not, not everything in our garden has fallen victim to my brown thumb (at least not yet)! It has been really fun to check the progress of all the plants as I walk in from work each evening. Here are a few quick pictures I snapped this weekend...

Andy is begging me to trim back the hydrangea plant, but the blooms are so pretty I just can't bring myself to do it yet!

Basil is taking off - I need to make some pesto or something!

Can you see the little cherry tomato starting to grow?

And finally a squash blossom...I took this picture on Saturday and now there are at least half a dozen!

Fingers crossed we will have something to eat before too long. 

Happy Mother's Day!

I can't even begin to put into words how thankful I am for my wonderful mother and my mother-in-law. Andy and I were in Montgomery this weekend so got the chance to celebrate with both our moms in person which was such a treat!

Thanks Mom for being one of my best friends! I'm glad you are home - it felt like you and Dad were gone for an eternity without being able to talk on the phone!

And I feel so blessed to have such a great mother-in-law too!!

Seis de Mayo

Thursday was Cinco de Mayo, but we had dinner with Andy's office that night at an Italian restaurant - go figure. So I decided to create our own "Seis de Mayo" celebration on Friday night (really just a good excuse to try a new recipe? perhaps...but regardless it was a fun relaxed night!)

Because I have never made them before, I followed pretty closely a recipe for Enchiladas Verdes from Cooks Illustrated. If you have never read Cooks Illustrated, check it out. It is a really different approach from most cooking magazines. No flashy pictures as it is mainly in black and white with a few sketches of the dishes or ingredients. It also may only have 20 recipes per issue, but it goes into depth about how they tested each recipe and why each step is important. It is kind of scientific prospective. It also does in depth reviews of different kitchen tools and ingredients.

Anyway, here are a few pictures I snapped through the process:

Have you ever tried tomatillos? They look kind of funny in their paper husk, but they have a really unique flavor. I like to use them when I make guacamole too. When you use them raw they kind of have a tart bite to them, but if you roast them they really sweeten up. I like to use some raw and some roasted in my guacamole so that I can get both flavors. 

Here was the salsa verde in the food processor - essentially just a mix of roasted poblanos, roasted tomatillos, garlic, onion, a little chicken broth, cumin, salt and pepper. I may have to make this again just to have as a dip. 

Filling the corn tortillas with a mix of shredded chicken, cilantro, and pepper jack cheese...

The finished product right out of the oven...

A little sour cream and cilantro to garnish and here was the final plate...

Of course we had margaritas to wash it down because what is a seis de mayo celebration without them!

Nashville

We trekked up to Nashville this weekend to help celebrate the wedding of our friends Jonathan and Coe. It was actually our first trip back to Nashville since we moved almost 3 years ago! We drove up Friday after work, and it was unbelievable to see all of the tornado damage between Birmingham and Nashville - trees snapped in half, sides of shopping centers missing, roofs blow off of houses, etc. We really are so lucky we did not have damage, but there are many who were not as fortunate. There are already a number of agencies and churches taking donations for the relief area though, so hopefully those materials can get to the people who need it the worst quickly.

Anyway, on a lighter note, we had a great time in Nashville visiting some of our old favorite spots. These guys were great hosts, and we so appreciate them opening up their home to us! It was so fun to catch up.

(Sadly I forgot my camera, so this picture is from New Years in Charleston probably 5 years ago!)

Saturday we ate breakfast at Bread & Company, one of our old favorites. The design your own breakfast sandwich is a winner, and I really wish we had one in Birmingham! After walking around our old neighborhood for a while, we built up a little bit more of an appetite and tried out a new spot that Noble recommended, Whiskey Kitchen. It was a beautiful day weather wise, so they had the windows all open which made for a great atmosphere for a laid back lunch.

The wedding and reception were both beautiful, so again I apologize that I didn't take my camera to snap a few pictures. We had a great time catching up with old Furman friends - especially these crazy ladies:

We don't have many chances to all be in the same place, so it was a real treat to be together. Summer reunion trip is in the works though!

Sunday morning we all tried to meet for brunch at Fido, which I had been looking forward to all week, but sadly it was PACKED due to the country music marathon. I have never seen it so crowded, so in the end we headed back to Bread and Co, so certainly not the end of the world. 

Now we are back in the 'ham, and getting ready for another week!