A Week in Our Lives-March 11, 2013

What a busy weekend we had! Lots of family and lots of fun!

On Friday night after work, we headed down to the Konopka's house so we could spend all day Saturday with them. We were there to celebrate Mrs. Konopka's birthday! We went for a walk at the park, checked out the petting zoo and then headed out for a delicious dinner. 

Landon is now a pro at the playground! 

Movie Review-Moonrise Kingdom

After hearing tons of hype about Moonrise Kingdom we finally had to check it out this weekend.

wikipedia.org

A Week in Our Lives- March 4, 2013

Another chill weekend for us. It was Hoboken St. Patty's Day on Saturday, which in years past would mean getting up early to get our drink on. Now it's more about avoiding the crowds and drunk, stupid people.

We spent a lot of Saturday just vegging and then later went out to grab dinner. 

A Mommy and Landy Selfie

Savory Sunday-Stuffed Cabbage

Today was a day of some really good Polish comfort food. It's getting colder out again so it was a perfect day for some warm, meaty goodness.  It was always know as "Stuffed Cabbage" to me until I met Bartek and then it became "Gołąbki" ("golumpki") to me. I've made it a few times before and this is the first time I've written down my recipe.

A Week In Our Lives-February 25, 2013

It's been a pretty uneventful week for us. We tried to make the best of a gloomy, rainy day by driving around looking at houses we saw on Zillow and Trulia. We aren't quite ready to buy yet, but a girl can dream. So far it looks like we can't find anything in our price range for the specifics we are looking for. New Jersey is a tough place for real estate. It's quite depressing. There was one house we liked but the town it's in may be a little iffy.

On Sunday, I went out to brunch with some friends to catch up. Hudson Tavern in Hoboken has the best breakfast sandwich ever! Once I got home, I went into full Oscar prep mode. I made those delicious pretzels you saw yesterday. Finally when 8:30 rolled around, I plopped in front of the TV with my pretzel and a big glass of wine! Yum!

I don't have any pictures from this weekend, but I do have a video I shot tonight if Landon making the most of Laundry Day.



He loves throwing himself into the pile of laundry. It's so cute!

Savory Sunday-Rosemary Pretzels

Happy Oscar Night! Hope you all enjoyed the theatrics of the show. I'm so glad that Argo won Best Picture and Jennifer Lawrence won Best Actress. Both were well deserved! In preparation for our awards-watching, I made this delicious recipe. I saw somewhere this past week that someone was doing a "PJs and Pearls"Oscar watching party. This was our PJs and Pretzels party.

Kids in the Kitchen

Cooking has been quite difficult lately. Long gone are the days where I could set Landon up in the bouncer or jumperoo just outside of the kitchen while I worked my magic. Instead, every night when I try to make dinner, I get accosted with whines, arms around my legs so I can't walk, and the "pick-me-up" flailing motion.

My latest solution has been to include Landon in the cooking process. He is so satisfied doing it and it helps me keep an eye on him. I've been pulling up a step stool to the counter and he climbs right on. Sometimes I just set out a handful of raisins or goldfish for him to munch on while I cook and other times, I let him get right into the action.

While I was making rice crispy treats, he helped stir and throw marshmallows in:

Movie Review- Identity Thief

We saw Identity Thief this weekend. I love Jason Bateman and I love Melissa McCarthy, so this is a great combination in my book. 

A Week in Our Lives-February 18, 2013

Thank goodness for 3-day weekends! We've had two in a row and could really get used to it! 

After an entire week of a sick baby, Landon finally seems like he's getting back to normal. In the past week, we've been to the doctor 4 times! The first was for his 18-month visit, but then 2 sick visits and another visit for a shot later, hopefully he's done with the doctor for a while! 

On Saturday, we took advantage of our Groupon for a year-long membership to the American Museum of Natural History. We saw the Planetarium, North American Mammals, Ocean Life, Planet Earth, and Dinosaurs. When we weren't holding him up to the dioramas, Landon was sitting straight up in his stroller in awe. He loved the museum. Unfortunately, he fell asleep a minute before we got to the Dinosaur room. 

Landon's first NYC taxi ride

Savory Sunday-Creamy Mushroom and Wild Rice Soup

Since Bartek and I have given up sweets for Lent, I decided to transform Sweet Tooth Sunday into Savory Sunday. For the next six weeks, I'll be sharing yummy recipes for appetizers and entrees that I love. Today I decided to go with this recipe for Creamy Mushroom and Wild Rice Soup I tried a few weeks ago. It's a quick and simple soup that has so many delicious flavors melding together. 

A Week in Our Lives-February 11, 2013

Hi Everyone! It's been a busy few weeks for me at work. I've been preparing for a presentation I give three times a year. It was last Tuesday and I'm so glad it's over! I get a chance to breathe! I wasn't able to post last Monday because I was away from my computer so this will be two weeks of updates.

Last weekend, my little guy turned 18 months old! I feel like that's a huge milestone month because now he's officially a year-and-a-half. For people that don't have kids, I feel like they are always confused when parents refer to their children's age by month. Before Landon, I always found it strange. So now, until he gets closer to 2, I'll say he's a year-and-a-half.

Sweet Tooth Sunday-Raspberry Whipped Cream

The unfortunate timing of Lent and Valentine's Day means that we're celebrating V-Day early this year! We will be giving up all sweets for Lent so we need to load up before Wednesday!! I realize that technically since every Sunday is a little Easter, we don't really have to give up Sweet Tooth Sundays, but since we normally have leftover desserts for a few days after, I don't want to waste anything. For the season of Lent, I'll switch over to "Savory Sundays"and I'll be making some delicious non-sweets on these days.

For our last Sweet Tooth before lent since I love my husband so much, I decided to give him the dessert that he wants, which was something fruity. He's been on chocolate- and peanut butter-overload from my past Sweet Tooth Sundays. So this Sunday, it was all about him. This was a light and very easy dessert inspired by this recipe here.

Sweet Tooth Sunday-Avalanche Bars

Happy Super Bowl Sunday! If you're in a bind to make a last minute treat for Game Day, this is really simple. Its a spin on the traditional Rice Krispies Treat.

A Week in Our Lives-January 28, 2013

It was so nice to have a three-day work week. We had off for Martin Luther King Jr Day and Bartek and I both took off on Friday to get some skiing and snowboarding in! 

I haven't been snowboarding since 2010! In 2011, I was pregnant and for some reason was shocked when my doctor told me "absolutely no snowboarding"... I don't know why I thought I could! And last year, it never snowed so we never went! We've been having some extremely cold days in the Northeast. On top of the few times that it actually did snow this year, it seemed like a perfect time to finally hit the slopes. We went to Mountain Creek, which is just 20 minutes from my parents' house, and figured that since it was Friday afternoon, it wouldn't be too packed. 

My first time down the mountain was pretty rusty. I kept falling and wouldn't let myself ease up. On the second run, I finally got it down but stupidly took the turn down the bunny slope and ran into some big patches of ice. I fell HARD on my butt and now I have a huge blue bruise on my bum the size of a softball! I was so pissed that it happened on my second run. After that, I was so nervous about falling on the bruise, that I actually fell even more. My legs got really sore and stiff after just a few runs. I wish I could've stayed out longer, but my body just couldn't work. I can't wait to get back out on the slopes (after my bruise goes away)!

Sweet Tooth Sunday-Milky Way Puppy Chow

I remember my dad would always get "Puppy Chow" from customers around Christmas time. It was chocolate-covered Chex topped with powdered sugar. I was always weirded out by it for some reason. Maybe I was just intimidated by this dessert that was out-of-the-norm for us. When I saw this recipe come across my Pinterest feed, I decided to give it a go. It's for Puppy Chow made with Milky Way bars. I halved the recipe because we didn't need so much of this sweet treat in our apartment!

Wanderlust Wednesday-Elysian Cafe

On Saturday night, before we headed off to see Glengarry Glen Ross on Broadway, Bartek and I wanted to take advantage of our baby-free night and grab a delicious dinner. We went over to Elysian Cafe and miraculously they had a free table for us. Just like seating at many restaurants in the city are like, we were seated only inches from another table which turned out to be hilarious! It was a couple on a first date and the guy was a total tool...talking about growing up poor and now he's rich. He has a house in Spain (yeah, right!). He asked the girl what nationalities she likes in guys but refused to tell her what he was. Apparently Bartek saw him give her a wad of cash, rolled up with a rubber band and asked her to hold on to it for him (WHAT?!). It was cringe-worthy, but very entertaining at the same time. 

Anyway, back to the food! So I ordered a beer cocktail. I've never had one before, but it was awesome!  It was a Raspberry Gaarden--Hoegaarden and Raspberry liquor! I want that to be my signature drink. Yum!

For my entree, I ordered pan roasted salmon with a potato leek cake on a bed of spinach. The salmon was nice and crunchy on the outside. It was incredibly delicious, but just a tad too salty. The highlight of the dish was the spinach. It was cooked and dressed with an apple bacon vinaigrette. It was to die for! If I could make that vinaigrette, Bartek would each spinach every day!

TV Review- The Carrie Diaries

I was really skeptical about The Carrie Diaries when I first heard about it. I gave it a go for the pilot....DVR'ing it a the last minute. After I watched it a few days later, I was hoping that the following Monday would hurry up and get here so I could watch the next episode. 

A Week in Our Lives-January 22, 2013

It's been a lovely week for us. Having a long weekend to look forward is always good. Here are some pictures from our week!

Landon wanted to be on the couch all by himself. Such a big boy!

Sweet Tooth Sunday-Triple Layer Brownie Cake

Today was a very special day for us for two reasons. First, it was the Niners playoff game (Bartek is a hugeeee Niners fan). And second, and more importantly, we celebrated my Dad's 59th birthday! Everyone came over to our apartment to celebrate, watch football and indulge in lots and lots of junk food. The most sinful of all food was this Triple Layer Brownie Cake. I made it from scratch using a recipe from The Taste of Home Baking Book. I think we all could agree, it was the most chocolatey cake any of us ever had. It came out sooooo delicious!

babyGap Peter Rabbit Collection

Gap just launched their adorable Peter Rabbit collection for babies and it something special! In collaboration with the Beatrix Potter estate they have some really cute clothes featuring Peter Rabbit and some of his other friends. 

They have this adorable bunny-eared sweater...

Peter Rabbit garter-stitch cardigan, $34.95

Movie Review-Les Miserables

I am so lucky to work in an industry that basically shuts down between Christmas and New Years. Every year since I've started working, I've had that week off and its such a welcome bonus! So over the break, I put Landon in daycare and went to go see Les Mis! 

IMDB.com

The Past Few Weeks in Our Lives-January 14th, 2013

Since I've been MIA for the past three weeks, we have lots of catching up to do! So many things happened over those few weeks! Get ready for a photo bomb!

We had such a perfect Christmas. Landon is slowly starting to get it and by "get it" I mean he's interested in all of the Christmas decorations and loves opening presents. I'm sure next year will be filled with even more fun as he understands Christmas more and looks forward to Santa coming.

Checking out the Konopka's tree...looking for a good ornament to steal

Sweet Tooth Sunday-Dutch Bankets

I'm backkkkkk!

After a long hiatus to celebrate the holidays, veg out a little and get some work done, I'm finally back to the blog. It was a much needed break but I'm well-rested and now done with a business presentation!

This week's Sweet Tooth Sunday is actually a guest-baker...my dad! He said that he recently had these Bankets while hanging out with his buddies, who all happen to be Dutch. This is an easy version of it using puff pastry instead of creating your own dough. Bankets are almond paste wrapped in a flaky, pastry crust.