Happy Halloween

Pretty low-key night for us. We are getting up early tomorrow morning to make the drive to Michael's sister's house for a visit, so we are skipping out on a party being thrown by my brothers. We just had ravioli for dinner, with a few pumpkin ales, and I'm baking. We don't even get any trick-or-treaters. Kinda sad.

Anyway, earlier this week, Chelsey posted something that reminded me of a Halloween costume from my distant past, and I figured I'd share it all with you to celebrate the occasion. Especially since I was an actual bride this year.

When I was six years old, I went to my mom's cousin's wedding. I was completely enchanted by the bride.

I apparently was all excited when her train ran over my foot on her way down or back up the aisle.

I wanted my picture taken with her at the reception.

A few months later came Halloween, and you guessed it... I wanted to be a bride.

My mom has always been really crafty (maybe that's where I get it from??), but she doesn't have time to put the skills to good use anymore. When we were growing up, however, she made our Halloween costumes pretty much every single year.

So the bride? She was up for the challenge. She made me a white satin dress with lace trim, and it even had a detachable train. I wore a communion veil. She made me a bouquet with faux flowers. She even put makeup (totally 80s!) on me. I loved it. Not only did I wear it proudly for trick-or-treating and other Halloween events, but I frequently used the dress to play dress-up and "play wedding" for the following few years.

My mom said that one time, she came upstairs to my bedroom, opened the door, and found me standing there with my brother. The funny part? My brother was the one in the wedding dress. And veil. Poor kid. He was only like 4 years old and apparently I convinced him (or more likely--forced him) into playing wedding with me. My only guess? That day, I wanted to be the wedding planner. :)

Anyway, without further ado, here are a couple pictures:


In this second picture, the "nurse" holding my train is my cousin, Lindsay. I don't know how she acquired the job of keeping after my train, but she did. And you know what's funny? About 20 years after this picture was taken, she had that duty for real. She was my matron of honor at my wedding. :)

Happy Halloween. I hope you all enjoy your weekends. And don't forget to set your clocks back one hour before you go to bed on Saturday night! (Extra hour of sleep, woohoo!)

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Easy Chicken Bake

Well, we essentially ended up eating the same thing two nights this week... only very slight differences between the two. The problem was that I didn't feel like going to the grocery store, and since we haven't been "good grocery shopping" in a while, the ingredients we had on hand were very limited.

It's been an interesting week. Quite honestly, it's been pretty shitty. I've been dealing with my emotions over Tessa getting sick--she's still not showing any signs of getting better (I've been wanting it to happen overnight), and I'm terrified of the possibility of lymphoma--and now I've got a wicked cold to contend with as well.

So a trip to the grocery store? Last night, it was not going to happen.

I found a box of Stove Top Stuffing in our cupboard, saw a simple recipe on the back, and decided to go with it. Another super easy weeknight meal to file away in the recipe bank. I just wouldn't plan on making this again the night after making chicken pot pie!

Easy Chicken Bake
(Source: www.kraftfoods.com)

Ingredients:
- 1 pkg (6 oz.) Stove Top Stuffing Mix for Chicken (we used low-sodium version)
- 1 1/2 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch pieces (we only used 1 lb.)
- 1 can (10-3/4 oz.) condensed cream of chicken soup (used Campbell's Healthy Request--98% fat free, and reduced sodium)
- 1/3 cup sour cream (we didn't have any on hand, so we substituted skim milk)
- 1 bag (16 oz.) frozen mixed vegetables, thawed, drained

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400°F.

2. Prepare stuffing mix as directed on package; set aside.

3. Mix chicken, soup, sour cream and vegetables in 13x9-inch baking dish; top with the stuffing.

4. Bake 30 min or until chicken is cooked through.

Nutrition Facts (for 6 servings): Per serving, Calories 420; Total Fat 15 g; Saturated Fat 4.5 g; Cholesterol 80 mg; Sodium 990 mg (ours was less because we used the low sodium stuffing mix); Carbohydrate 35 g; Dietary Fiber 3 g; Sugars 5 g; Protein 31 g

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Chicken Pot Pie

The weather is freezing! We're having our first truly cold week. I had to break down and turn the heat on one day last week, but now it's pretty much on permanently (well, until Friday--it's supposed to be back up to 60 degrees).

Last night, all I wanted to do was get home and make warm comfort food. I decided during the work day that I was in the mood for chicken pot pie. There were a couple of more "homemade" recipes with fresh vegetables and fancier ingredients that sounded good, and perhaps I will try them sometime.

But for tonight, I went with the familiar... the chicken pot pie my mom used to make. Which, incidentally, is also the easiest and fastest to deal with. Perfect for a weeknight.

I knew my mom always made chicken pot pie with Bisquick, but I hadn't ever made it before and didn't know the recipe. I went searching on the Betty Crocker website and found quite a few variations. Since we always try to make healthy substitutions whenever possible, I decided to go with the reduced-fat version. I picked up a box of Bisquick Heart Smart at the grocery store.

I cut up the chicken breasts and boiled them in chicken broth for about 20 minutes. I let them cool for a little bit, then shredded them before moving forward with the recipe.

This meal was so easy. And pretty tasty, too. We'll be making this again for sure.

Reduced-Fat Chicken Pot Pie
(Source: www.bettycrocker.com)

Ingredients:
- 1 cup shredded, cooked chicken breasts (boneless, skinless)
- 1 bag (12-16 oz.) frozen mixed vegetables, thawed
- 1 can (10 3/4 oz.) condensed 98% fat-free cream of chicken soup (I used Campbell's Healthy Request, which is also reduced sodium--we never notice the difference)
- 1 cup fat-free (skim) milk
- 1 cup Bisquick Heart Smart mix
- 1 egg
- Oregano and thyme (I added these dried herbs for more flavor)

Directions:
1. Heat oven to 400°F. In ungreased 2-quart casserole dish, mix chicken, vegetables, soup and 1/2 cup of the milk. Microwave on high for 4 minutes; stir.

2. In small bowl, stir Bisquick mix, the other 1/2 cup milk and the egg with fork until blended. Pour over chicken and vegetable mixture.

3. Bake uncovered about 30 minutes or until golden brown.
High Altitude Adjustment (3500-6500 ft): In step 1, increase milk to 2/3 cup. Bake about 35 minutes.

The recipe says you will get 6 servings out of this. We only got four (we each ate a quarter of it).

With six servings, the nutrition information is (per serving): Calories 220 (Calories from Fat 50); Total Fat 6g (Saturated Fat 1 1/2g, Trans Fat 0g); Cholesterol 60mg; Sodium 650mg; Total Carbohydrate 28g (Dietary Fiber 2g, Sugars 7g); Protein 14g

With four servings, I recalculated the calories and fat (per serving): Calories 330, Total Fat 9g. Even with eating 1/4 of the pie, this is definitely a healthy meal! Pair it with a salad and you are doing pretty well for yourself.

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Poor Tessa

Does this little face look sick to you?

Well, not the best picture, so maybe she does. Haha! In real life, however, she does not look or act sick at all.

But she is. My poor baby! :(

On Sunday afternoon, when we got back from Charlotte, my brother and his fiancee mentioned that they had noticed a rather large lump on her neck, just below her jaw. We checked it out, and sure enough, there was a lump about the size of a gumball. It didn't seem to bother her--I was rubbing it, feeling around it, etc. and she never acted like she was in any pain. In fact, she seemed to enjoy the massage.

Well, I did some Googling on Sunday night and of course, found that there were many possibilities. Lipomas (basically fat-filled cysts) seemed to be the most likely culprit, but upon asking around on a message board, I was told by a veterinarian student that the location of the lump led her to believe it could be her lymph nodes. I was encouraged to get it checked out by our vet (which we planned to do anyway).

So I took off work early (thanks to my very understanding boss) to get Tess into the vet yesterday afternoon. The doctor took one feel of her neck and said it is her lymph nodes, all swollen. He said it's actually more than the one lump; there are four of them, and sure enough, all of them are swollen--the one we were feeling is just the largest. Once I felt around, too, I realized that she now had other lumps, too (the other lymph nodes). They must've developed overnight/during the day, because they hadn't been that big before.

The vet did a full examination, checking her eyes, ears, mouth, and skin for infection. He took her temperature. Everything looked normal. However, he still believes that she has some type of infection somewhere in her body, he just couldn't find the source from an external exam. So little Tess gets to take antibiotics twice a day for two weeks.

Lucky for us, Tessa eats anything and everything. All we've had to do is put the pill in her bowl with her dry food and she inhales it with everything else. She's awesome.

My family dog (passed away in July 2007 at 14 years old) was so ridiculous about taking medicine. In the last few years of her life, it seemed like she was always on medicine for something, and she was too smart for her own good. Anything we hid it in (french fries, cheese, peanut butter, hot dogs, etc.) she would figure out in like 2-3 days. Couldn't fool her for long.

We don't anticipate having any problems with Tess. She loves food too much to even notice anything out of the ordinary.

Anyway, we're hoping these antibiotics do what the vet expects them to do. He says that by the end of the 14 days, we shouldn't even be able to feel the lumps anymore. Her lymph nodes should go back to normal. If they don't, we'll have to go in for a biopsy. He mentioned the possibility of lymphoma (so scary), but he said he would expect other lymph nodes in her body to be swollen (they weren't), and also said she's really young for lymphoma. So as of right now, we're hoping for the best with the infection and antibiotic treatment.

In the meantime, we're babying her just a little more than usual. :)

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Ryanne

Remember that baby boom that I talked about several months back? It has officially ended. Well, for now. I suppose we can say that "Baby Boom #1" has ended. I'm sure there'll be others.

My best friend from college, Bethany, gave birth to a baby girl early Friday morning (2:08 a.m.!). We were in the process of traveling down to Charlotte. When we landed in Baltimore, I turned my cell phone back on and got the text message telling me the news. So exciting! She's the first from our group of college girls to have a baby. I can't believe she's a mommy.

She lives about 2.5-3 hours away, so unfortunately, I won't have the opportunity to go see her and the baby for a couple of weeks.

I finally caught up with Bethany on Sunday morning. I said, "So, tell me about it all. How was it?" And what does she say?--"That was the easiest thing in the world." I think I nearly fell out of my chair. Definitely not something you normally hear from a brand new mother.

She started having cramps/contractions after her doctor's appointment on Thursday morning, did some errands, relaxed with a friend at home, and then around dinnertime, she noticed her water had started leaking. She and her husband took their merry time--packed (she hadn't even packed!), showered, etc.

Checked in the hospital around 7:30-8:00 p.m. She said she got her epidural around 11:30 p.m.-midnight, I believe, started pushing around 1:40 a.m., and out came baby Ryanne at 2:08 a.m. on Friday, October 24. Not only that, but Bethany and Ryanne were both discharged from the hospital at 1:30 p.m. Saturday afternoon.

That's right, folks. I officially hate her. I'm not sure whether we can be friends anymore. ;)

Little Ryanne weighed in at 8 lbs., 1 oz., and 21 inches long. She's a cutie. Can't wait to meet her!

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Home Again

A couple of hours ago, we arrived back home after spending the weekend in North Carolina.

I really wanted to post about it and a couple of things related to it last week, but we were there for a surprise birthday party and even though I know Dave doesn't read my blog, I still didn't want to take any chances of ruining it. You see, Dave didn't even know we were traveling down to Charlotte at all! His wife, Lynsay, is very sneaky, and we had this booked all the way back in July.

So anyway, I'm going to go back and back-date a few posts to do a recap of the weekend.

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Surprise, surprise

The surprise party for Dave was a big success. He was genuinely surprised (Lynsay did a good job of setting it all up without him knowing), and a good time was had by all. It was great to get to hang out with a bunch of friends that we don't get to see all that often, because we're kind of all spread out along the East Coast.

Michael, Jay, and Mike, before the birthday boy arrived. We got to the bar probably 45 minutes before Lynsay was due to arrive with Dave, so we spent the time starting with a few beers and catching up with everyone.

Everyone was decked out in Buffalo Bills gear, and even though we were in Charlotte, we didn't have to worry about getting beaten down by Carolina Panthers fans. Why? Well, because the party was actually at a Buffalo Bills bar! The owner is a Bills fan from Buffalo. Oddly enough, almost every single member of the staff that we interacted with (waitresses, etc.) were from the Buffalo area as well (and were obviously Bills fans, too). So we were with our own kind! :)

A banner that one of our friends made for Dave. It was pretty impressive.

I missed the opportunity to get into a good position to take a picture when Dave first came in (I was too busy trash talking Sarah Palin with a friend of ours that lives in D.C.--I know, shocking coming from me, right?). But, Dave's mom--who had traveled down to Charlotte with us since she lives in our area--hid down by the bar until he had been there for a few minutes. She wanted him to have TWO surprise moments. This pic was taken when he first saw his mom. She hadn't flown in like 15 years, so Dave was pretty shocked to see her there.

My Bills cookies! Hell yes.

Jay, Dave, and Michael with the banner

The very cool Bills cake that Lynsay had made. I really wanted to make one with my new skills, but there was no way that would have survived our plane trip. So I had to settle for making the cookies.

With Michael and Jay. Like my new Edwards jersey?

A couple of Dave's friends bought him a Marshawn Lynch jersey. He was pretty pleased.

Dave and Michael with our gift. Michael is pointing out the different players' signatures that we got for him. Back in July, when we went to the meet and greet, we took a football with us and got different players to sign the ball for Dave. Paul Posluszny actually wrote "HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DB" on it before signing his name. So awesome. Anyway, I think Dave liked it. I caught him looking at it a few more times throughout the night, and even today. :)

The girls! Lynsay (the master party planner and Dave's awesome wife), Sarah (Mike's wife), and me.

Of course, we couldn't go to a Bills party and not bring "Koch." Don't know the story of Koch? Check out this wedding recap blog post. Anyway, Jay had to try on the legendary Koch jersey for a few minutes.

With a friend from high school, Emily. Oddly enough, she lives in Charlotte now and coincidentally, is friends with our friends. It is such a small world.

Dave and Michael (now Michael's wearing Koch, haha).

Great party. Though, we were all laughing because we were all more than ready to go home by midnight. We did get up early, but still. Lots of cracks about us being old now.

This morning/afternoon, we went out for breakfast at a little mom and pop place in town. The food was good, but the service was pretty awful. It took FOREVER (How hard is breakfast food? C'mon!!). But we made the best of it and ultimately enjoyed ourselves.

Today has been more low key. The guys played darts in the garage, and the girls have been inside watching shows on TLC. I even napped a little. In a little bit, more people are coming over and we have a bunch of food and drinks. Dave is going to BBQ later. We have to enjoy the limited time we have left with everyone, but we also can't stay up too late--have to get up early again tomorrow morning (around 5:30) to catch our flight home.

Weekends are never long enough. Even LONG weekends!!

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Unnatural

We had to get up wayyy too early this morning. Our flight was at 7:00 a.m., so we had to get up at 4:00. I snapped this picture as I was eating my breakfast:


It was brutal. I don't think I fell asleep until around midnight last night, so it was definitely not enough sleep. I'm not a morning person to begin with, so for me, this is just completely unnatural.

Tess was up and at 'em, too. She was a little more bright-eyed than we were:

Little stinker. She is staying with my brother and his fiancee this weekend. Thankfully we have awesome family members who love our pup so much! She is well taken care of whenever we are away. Thanks again, Tyler & Marie!

Our flights went perfectly. We arrived in Charlotte shortly after 10 a.m., and went out to lunch with a group of our friends. Then, we went back to Lynsay and Dave's house to hang out until the party. Dave is still at work, he'll get home around 7:45 p.m. We need to get the hell out of the house (and leave no traces that we were there) by 7:15ish.

Luckily, we got a short nap in, but we're still tired. I hope I can make it through the party tonight! I am really excited for it, but just overly exhausted. It should be a lot of fun, though. Lots of old friends, so we'll be in good company, plus good food, drinks, and Buffalo Bills decor. What could be better?

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Team Spirit

Tomorrow morning, we will fly to Charlotte for a surprise birthday party for our friend, Dave. Dave is one of Michael's friends from college (Dave graduated before Michael and I met), and part of a good group of friends that we try to get together with whenever we can. Some are local, some are not. Dave and his wife (whom we are also friends with), Lynsay, live in Charlotte.

Back in July, Lynsay e-mailed me to say she was planning a surprise party for Dave in October. Michael and I discussed it, and almost immediately decided to book tickets to attend. We have been meaning to get down to Charlotte to visit Dave and Lynsay for a few years now, and this was the perfect reason to actually go.

Since Dave is a big Buffalo Bills fan (hmm, who else do we know like that?), Lynsay decided to give the party a Buffalo Bills theme. Several weeks ago, I came up with the idea of making Buffalo Bills cookies to bring down with us for the party. I made the Halloween cutouts as practice.

This week, I've been working on the cookies almost every night. On Sunday night, I made the dough. On Tuesday night, I baked the cookies, made the frosting, and started by frosting the footballs. On Wednesday, I finished the footballs, and started the helmets. Tonight, I finished the helmets by writing "Bills" on each of them. Spreading out the work was such a good idea. They weren't nearly as tedious to decorate as the Halloween cookies since I didn't try to do it all in one sitting.

Anyway, they are done and packed up REALLY well so that they hopefully make it down to Charlotte unscathed.

(UPDATE: Success! Not a single broken cookie. And also, they were a HUGE hit with everyone at the party. I heard several people ask, "Where did Lynsay get the cookies?")

I had someone ask me how I make my royal icing. I follow the Wilton recipe that I learned in my cake decorating classes.

Wilton Royal Icing

(Yield: Approximately 3 cups)

Ingredients:

- 1 lb. powdered sugar

- 3 level tbsp. meringue powder

- 5-6 tbsp. lukewarm water

Directions:

1. In large mixing bowl, combine powdered sugar and meringue powder. Using electric mixer, mix until well blended.

2. Add water. Beat on medium-high speed for 7-10 minutes, or until icing loses its sheen.

NOTE: This recipe makes stiff to medium consistency royal icing (depending on how much water you use). To thin it out, you just add more water. Add water little by little (teaspoon by teaspoon) because a little bit goes a long way toward thinning it.

I also had someone ask me how I get the colors so dark. The answer is that I use a LOT of coloring. I haven't had any problems with the coloring altering the taste. Red and black coloring tend to be the most bitter tasting, but to avoid my icing tasting bitter, I use other colors to darken the icing before trying to make it red and black.

For instance, when making red, I use rose pink to make the icing a really dark pink before I start adding red. Then, I use a combination of Wilton's "no taste" red, and Christmas red, just adding a LOT of it until it is the color I want. Also, you should let your colors sit for a while before using, because they do tend to darken with time.

Another hint: For black, I mix a bunch of darker colors together first. Green, blue, purple, brown, etc. Once it's a dark, ugly color, I start adding black. Again, it still takes a lot of coloring, but I have never had my icing taste nasty because of the color.

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Best buds

Saw Barack Obama at the mall tonight. He wasn't as tall as I thought he would be. Hmph. I told him he's the man.

John McCain was on the other side of the counter and there was no one getting their pics taken with him. Poor guy.

:)

Less than two weeks! Come on, America!

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

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Recent Read: The Road by Cormac McCarthy

Over the weekend, I finally finished reading my most recent book. I'm part of an online book club and this was the September/October selection. The beauty of a book club: I never would have chosen to read this on my own, but I actually really liked it and am glad I read it.

The Road is the story of a man and his son, traveling the road to the coast and just trying to survive after the apocolypse. We don't know what exactly has happened to the world, but it's clear from the very beginning that the world has become a very dark and difficult place. We learn that the Earth has been like this for several years, and there are very few people left alive. The boy was not born until after the apocolypse, so while the man remembers life when it was good, the boy knows no different.

This is definitely not a light, fun, beach read or anything like that. But it's a beautifully written story about the love and the bond between the man and the boy (the author does not give them names).

The first 20-30 pages, I was not convinced that this was such a great book. But I kept reading, and I eventually found that I was hooked. I wanted to know where they would end up next, what they would see, how they would find food to live on. I wanted to know whether they would run into criminals, good people, or if they would ever find the place that they sought.

The author paints a picture of a world that I think we all (to some extent) fear. Imagine a situation in which all you have is your son. Your only mission for each new day is to keep moving and surviving. Your only belongings are the things you find and can fit into a single shopping cart. Your only hope is that you may find some section of the world that has not been destroyed. To find people who are good, not evil.

The Road is set to be released as a movie (starring Viggo Mortensen), most likely sometime in 2009. Do yourself a favor; read the book before seeing the movie!

As I do with almost all of my books, I purchased my copy from amazon.com.

If you do end up reading this (or have read it already), feel free to come back to discuss it in the comments.

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Four months

We've been married four months today. A third of a year!

We've officially made it longer than most Hollywood couples. Go us.

P.S. Our friends, Kristin and Keith, welcomed a beautiful baby girl to the world today. Emma Rose. Big baby girl weighed in at 8 lbs., 14.5 oz. :) Happy Birthday, Emma!

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Crispy (Baked!) Homefries

I love potatoes. Any way you make them, I'm more than likely going to love them.

Last month, while we were in the Poconos, I made potatoes like I hadn't made them in a really long time. Cut up small, lots of spices, and baked until they are crispy. I was reminded of how good they are, so Michael and I vowed to make them again soon.

We had half a bag of potatoes left from the chowder we made a couple of weeks ago, so last night was the night for homemade homefries! We made turkey bacon BLTs, and had these on the side. The nice thing about this "recipe" is that it can be so easily adapted to accommodate individual tastes. There are so many different herbs and spices you can use on potatoes.


Crispy (Baked!) Homefries

Ingredients:
- 2-2.5 lbs. potatoes (We used Yukon Gold, but any variety will do. In the Poconos, we used red potatoes, which were equally as good.)
- Olive oil
- Garlic powder
- Garlic salt
- Black pepper
- Oregano
- Parsley

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Spray baking sheet with cooking spray.

2. Rinse potatoes and (if desired) peel. Cut potatoes into small chunks. Be sure to cut them all so they are relatively the same size.

3. In large bowl, combine potatoes with the rest of the ingredients. Drizzle liberally with olive oil. Add in garlic powder, garlic salt, black pepper, oregano, and parsley (to taste). With your hands, toss potatoes to coat them with herbs and spices.

4. Pour potatoes onto baking sheet and spread evenly.

5. Bake for 40-45 minutes or until crispy, flipping with spatula every 15-20 minutes. Baking time will vary depending on size of potatoes and individual oven. If potatoes do not become crispy on their own, throw them under the broiler for an additional 5 minutes after baking.

(The potatoes before going into the oven.)

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A Taste of Fall

This weekend, we simply enjoyed fall.

On Saturday, we started off with the gym and a few errands. Then we went apple picking (again). Michael's sister, Cristina, joined us for this trip.

This was the first time we had been out to the orchard in actual fall weather. The two previous times this season, it was pretty hot!

The orchard was picking four different types of apples this weekend: Ida Red, Crispin, Golden Delicious, and Fuji. The Fujis were pretty picked over, and the Golden Delicious apples were really small. So we decided to stick to Ida Red and Crispin.

Sunny and beautiful, but cold! I actually probably should have been wearing my winter coat.

30 lbs. of apples later, we were back on the wagon and then heading home. Michael and I went to the grocery store to pick up a few things we needed for dinner, and we stopped to browse the beer section.

We ultimately decided to go with a pumpkin ale, which neither of us had ever tried before. I got a tremendous kick out of the package design:

I mean, come on... doesn't that just put you right into a "fall" mood? We enjoyed a beer or two while we were cooking dinner. Afterward, I made apple heaven on a plate for dessert, then had a few glasses of wine and watched the Sex and the City movie while Michael watched the hockey game.

This morning, we got up and took Tessa out for a walk in the glorious fall sunshine. I grabbed the camera to take with us. Look at all the pretty colors!

We did our "long walk" route, which is probably around two miles. Once we got back, we loaded into the car (Tess, too!) and took a ride to a neighborhood farm market to buy pumpkins.

Tessa fit right in. (And yes, that is a Gap hoodie. I found it a couple of years ago, and it is too damn cute.)

With three pumpkins in tow, we went back home to set them out on our porch. While I got to work arranging pumpkins, Tessa got to work on her relaxing in the sun (her favorite thing).

And more relaxing...

And just a little more relaxing...

Until we finally had to put an end to it and pick her up to go inside. Because c'mon... we weren't going to miss the Bills game.

Due to power outages at the stadium, we were unable to watch a lot of the game, but they finally got it all figured out for the second half. And... let's go, Buffalo! They are now officially 5-1.

And I am officially in love with Trent Edwards (plus, he's easy on the eyes).

And Kawika Mitchell (um, well, at least he's good at football--I can't get past the hair).

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