Favorite Summer Foods

Happy Friday, friends! Have any good weekend plans? It's supposed to be stormy in these parts, so I'll probably be staying in and catching up on some shows. Any recommendations for me?

Today I'm linking up with Holly and Patty and sharing some of my favorite summer foods! I go for anything light and refreshing when it's hot out. To me, summer foods means lots of fresh fruits and veggies, seafood, and grilled EVERYTHING (even if I don't personally own a grill)! Here are some other summer food favorites! 

1 – Favorite Summer Dish? Lobster rolls! Fresh seafood in general.

2 – Favorite Cookout Side Dishes? Deviled eggs, shrimp cocktail, pasta salad, and potato salad... sometimes I prefer side dishes to main dishes! 

3 – Eating al Fresco? If it's not too hot or buggy outside, sure! 

4 – What Foods Do You Eat in the Summer More? Fruits in general, especially watermelon!

5 – Share Your Favorite Summer Recipe--  I don't have one in particular, basically anything fresh tasting and light... this Caprese Orzo Salad with Balsamic Dressing sounds like something I'd make! 

6 – Blueberry Pie or Strawberry Shortcake? Not a huge sweets fan, but I'll pick strawberry shortcake

7 – Favorite Summer Beverage? Non-alcoholic: Sweet Tea, Iced Green Tea, Lemonade. Alcoholic: Gin and tonic, lemonade and vodka, White Claw (the black raspberry one is my favorite), ice cold, light lagers like Rolling Rock

8 – Ketchup? Mustard? Relish? Mayo? Depends what it's for! I like ketchup and mayo on burgers, but if we're talking hot dogs, I prefer chili and cheese, or ketchup and mustard. 

9 – Gas grill? Charcoal? Big Green Egg? I've never been able to own a grill, but I guess gas grill?

10 – Popsicle or Ice Cream? Ice cream! My favorite is chocolate chip mint (as long as it's green, I won't eat the white version!). 

What's some of your favorite summer foods?

Link up below! 

Let's Look At: Favorite Fall Recipes

Mmmm... fall! I wasn't sure it was going to make an appearance this year, but today was rainy, gloomy, and that raw cold which is typical of the season, so I guess it's here! For me, fall makes me think of heavier dishes like casseroles and chilies. And we can't forget our favorite "eating" holiday, Thanksgiving! So today I've compiled 10 of my favorite fall recipes. Those annotated with an asterisk (*) are ones I've made before. I also broke them up into categories- Breakfast (-y), Apps, Dinner, Dessert, an Drink(s). 

via

Peanut Butter Banana Quesadillas
I never made it, but it sounds similar to a crepe and I love a good crepe! It also sounds like a great breakfast snack on the go! Excuse me while I add Nutella to my Amazon cart... 

Mini Chocolate Croissants* 
I'm actually surprised at myself for not making these more often- I think I've only made them once and they were delicious! 

Slow Cooker Chicken and Stuffing*
Sorry, but anything with stuffing is going to remind me of Thanksgiving! This was really good though- the chicken was really moist ( how many of you hate that word?!) and so was the stuffing. I think I served it with a side of veggies like green beans. 

Leftover Turkey and Mashed Potatoes Empanadas
I've never made these, but I love empanadas in general, so I should probably make these soon! Hopefully I will, and I'll be able to share how they cooked in an air fryer! 

Tomato Beef (Or Amish) Casserole*
Like I said before, fall make me think of casseroles!  This ground beef- heavy dish is so easy to make and definitely fills you up on cold days!

Fried Pork Chops + Applesauce
For some reason, fall almost always remind me of crispy, stove-top fried pork chops. It was one of the few dishes my mom actually cooked, so trying to perfect it in as an adult had been quite interesting, since she never actually "taught" me how to make it! (Sidenote: I didn't even know pork chops and applesauce were a thing until I met my ex bf, but OMG WHAT A COMBO!) 

Not My Grandma's Meatloaf:* 
This was the first time I ever made my own meatloaf. Neither my grandma or mom never made me meatloaf, so I cobbled together a few different recipes I found on Pinterest to make this. Goes especially well with a healthy side of veggies. 

Fall: Smoked Apple Cocktail
From: Black Button Distillery

Ingredients:
1 part bourbon
1 part apple pie moonshine
1/2 part ginger ale
ice

To make: Pour ingredients in glass over ice.

Banana Bread*
I actually just made this over the weekend while I was procrastinating catching up on some "work" work. I'm not a huge fan of sweets, so this was just right, and so simple! I didn't have any walnuts on hand but would definitely try them in this next time. 

Oreo Pumpkin Cheesecakes*
I've been making these for coworkers for the last 5-ish years and they're always a hit! I tried making the chocolate web on top but it's hard and gets messy. They taste just as good without it! 

To see a few other favorite Fall recipes, here's a post I did on the same topic last year! 
Really into those fall cocktails?! Here are 47 others! 

What are some of your favorite fall recipes? 

Linking up with Shay!

Menu Plan Monday

After months of fast food, delivery, BBQ and meeting leftovers, and microwave meals, I finally found my way into my kitchen to actually prepare food again. This started with a giant trip to the grocery store, because my freezer and pantry were looking pretty bare. I'm not sharing everything I made but if you follow me on Instagram, you may have seen these taco puffs. It was meant to be a snack on Saturday, but was heavy enough to count as a meal (especially with the sour cream "dip"). It only uses 5 ingredients and takes about 20 min start to finish- my kind of meal. Since Steph asked about it, I thought I'd share here as well. 

Ingredients:

1 lb ground beef
1 (1-oz) package taco seasoning
1 (10-oz) can diced tomatoes and green chiles, drained
2/3 cup water
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1 (17.3-oz) package puff pastry, thawed

Directions: 

1. Preheat oven to 400ºF. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.
2. In a large skillet, cook ground beef until no longer pink. Drain. Add taco seasoning, diced tomatoes and green chiles and water. Simmer for 5 minutes. Set aside.
3. Unfold pastry sheets. Cut each sheet into 9 squares.
4. Arrange taco meat down diagonal center of the pastry squares. Sprinkle with some of the shredded cheddar cheese. Fold two opposite corners of each square over the filling and press edges to seal. Place on prepared baking sheet.
5. Bake 15-18 minutes, until golden brown. Serve warm or at room temperature.

I used crescent rolls instead of "puff pastry," so I made 8 instead of 9. Also, if using crescent rolls, feel free to cut this recipe in half as that's about how much filling I had left over. Here's what's on deck for the rest of the week.

Monday: Beef and Cheese Pita Pizza- I'm actually using the leftover beef mixture with some cheddar cheese mixed in for this "pita pizza." (I love how just about anything on top of pita bread is suddenly referred to as a pizza now.) 

Tuesday: Creamy Tuna Pasta with Peas and Parmesan*-  I'm trying to steer clear of overly heavy meals this week, and Blue hates tuna and cheese together (separate is fine), and is not a fan of hot tuna in general, so I'm making this when I know she won't be around. 

Wednesday: This week is Hudson Restaurant Week, so we're heading out for a Cuban pre fixe dinner at Coco Havana. I'm looking forward to my favorite, ropa vieja! 

Thursday: Bowtie Pasta with Broccoli,  Garlic, and Lemon- a light, fresh, simple yet tasty favorite. 

Friday: Date night with Blue- we're going to see John Mayer! 

What do you eat when it's super hot out? 

Sharing with Laura! 

Favorite Fall Recipes

When it comes to Fall I tend to think of food. And in keeping with that, I think of three things- football snacks, pumpkin everything, and spices. So today I thought I'd share a few of my favorite Fall recipes! 

Dem Wedges

Grab some potatoes, cut them up, toss them (literally) in a ziplock bag with some spices and olive oil and throw them in the oven for 45 min at 350. BOOM. Easy peasy and super tasty appetizer! Also, I really love the website where I found this recipe. The recipes are given a comic, and everything seems so easy and fun. Check it out! 

Merlot Meatballs (Crockpot)

I first had these at Baiting Hollow Winery in Long Island, NY. They happened to be having a food festival on the day we were touring Long Island North Fork wine country. I swear, these are the best balls I've put in my mouth. They are a little sweet, perfect texture, and though they're called Merlot meatballs, you can't really taste the Merlot. I knew I had to find the recipe as soon as I got home, and of course I found the exact one on the Internets! The best part? You can make them in the crockpot! 

Cinnamon Roll Pancakes (with cream cheese glaze)

Add a little spice and sweetness to your mornings! Basically you make a mix of cinnamon, butter, and light brown sugar, pour the batter on the griddle as normal, then using a baggy with the corner cut off (or a pastry/decoration bag if you fancy) and add the swirl to your batter. You don't need to do a cream cheese glaze, but you might regret it because it is to die for! I'm just sayin'. 

Football Woopie Pies

Gotta have a little dessert at your football gathering, right? These totally hit the spot. And you don't need any fancy tools to make them. You start by using a cake mix, you can shape the footballs using a knife on parchment paper, and I didn't make my own icing- store bought for me. But you can if you want. 

Pumpkin Oreo Cheesecakes

I make these for the office and Halloween parties every year and they are a major hit! I mean, what could be better than pumpkin and Oreos (unless you don't like pumpkin)?! Also, they are festive and super easy- sensing a theme here? The hardest part was melting the chocolate chips for the icing... so I started skipping that part and just buy the icing pens at the store. 

What are some of your favorite fall recipes? 

What's New With Me: June

June was a craaaazy busy month, but that's because it's finally SUMMER and time to get outside after the endless drone of winter and the non-existent spring. We kicked it off with free VIP tickets to the JerseyFest Food Truck Mash-Up (thanks Michael!). Blue and I stopped attending these because though the food trucks were good, the lines were certainly not, and sometimes they ran out of food before you even got to try it. But with these tickets we got in 2 hours before everyone else and some specialty dishes. Plus, we finally learned how to do it right from prior experience. Not only did we split everything we tried, but we brought tupperware to bring home even more good eats for dinner. Here's some other stuff that happened in June...

BOOK CON! I attended my first NY BookCon and it was awesome! So many books, and authors, and fellow book nerds all in one place! If you've ever been to a comic con it was kind of like that, except with books and literary swag. My favorite parts were getting to hear James Patterson and Bill Clinton talk about the book "The President is Missing," a panel with Rainbow Rowell and Charles Soule called "Marvel: From Pose to Panels" co-presented with NY ComicCon about the similarities and differences between writing novels vs. graphic novels, and "The Reel Real" panel about the process and what's it's like having your book turned into a movie with Angie Thomas (The Hate U Give), Becky Albertalli (Simon vs. the Homo Sapien's Agenda/Love, Simon), Lauren Oliver (Delirium series), and Soman Chainani (The School for Good and Evil series). Oh, I also got Sarah Morgan to sign a free copy of her latest book, "Holiday in the Hamptons." It was such a fun experience! 

We went to see Vertical Horizon, Tonic and the Gin Blossoms perform at a local theater turned venue. Be still my 90's loving heart! They had so much energy and were just as fantastic as they were back then (minus Robin Wilson... he was lacking, but everyone else totally made up for it). 

Blue and I attended the PopSugar Play/Ground, which promised to be fun pop-up weekend (with single day passes available) filled with yoga by Kayla Itsines, panel discussions with Mindy Kaling, Kate Hudson, Arianna Huffington, and Tiffany Haddish among others, shopping, free makeovers, and concerts by Tinashe and AlunaGeorge. It was not fun. It was a hot mess, which I should have known because even the online schedule was a disaster. Honestly I should have known when I read the description for one of the panels described as a "talk about owning your smart-girl self." It was very, very YOUNG (think early 20's- I'm 34...) and very crowded. I think we stayed for 2 hours (including the panel discussion). I'm glad that we went (no FOMO here), but ecstatic that I was able to get tickets for $20 instead of $70. 

I think the best part was that afterwards we found this tiny Southern comfort food brunch spot  called Spoonfed NYC serving up fried okra, grits, and fried chicken and waffles. 

I joined my mom at Trinity Church for a Pulse Nightclub memorial mass and reception, and on the way back found some really cool recent murals near the Oculus. 

Michael joined me for a night at Gulliver's Gate. I first heard about from my friend who builds models there. Basically it's an entire world of miniatures. And yes, I mean literally the world. There was a New Year's Parade in China, the Christ the Redeemer statue in Brazil, the Sphinx in Egypt, even the Muslims on their pilgrimage to Mecca. My favorite parts were the interactive ones though; they give you a key to insert in certain places and you can make Santa and his reindeer circle a mountain, raise and lower the London Bridge, and even get your face to appear in Niagara Falls! You also get a "passport" that has things to look for in each location (like the Beatles crossing Abbey Road in London, pictured below). If you are in the NYC area, I HIGHLY recommend checking it out! 

I had to take 8 days off from work or lose them by June 30th, so I didn't work any Mondays or Fridays the whole month. I can't say I did a whole lot during that time besides rest and relaxation, but I did redo my bedroom (does anyone else remember doing this as a kid/teen?) and purging a whole lot of stuff. That pic below was the second Vietnam Veteran pick-up this month! I'm really happy with my room now; I feel like I'm finally utilizing the space well and everything has a place. (Sidenote: when you move your bed, waking up and not seeing the same view you wake up to every day is very disorienting.)

Always good eats- sliders, seafood Paella Valencia, personal pizza, and classic mac n cheese for national cheese day. 

We celebrated some birthdays with day drinks at a local bar, my friends came in from Denver for a short weekend trip and I met them in NYC, and I saw some old coworkers turned friends for dinner at my favorite Portuguese restaurant.

The month ended with a quick trip down to Key West, FL for my friend Kathy's wedding. It was extremely hot, but the ceremony was short and the food was great and after the reception we all went out to Irish Kevin's and danced the night away... until my shoe literally fell apart (pictured below) and I hobbled back to the hotel in one shoe. Also of note: they had a mac and cheese AND a mashed potato bar which is something I've always wanted for my wedding. It was as amazing as I thought it would be. Also, check out that Cheeseburger in Paradise wedding cake (ya know, because of Jimmy Buffett)! It was alternating layers of vanilla and chocolate with cream filling. Nom. 

That's it for me. What's new with you?

Linking up with Kristen! 

What's New With Me/Currently

Reading: I Am The Messenger by Markus Zuzak

Watching:  movies for the Fall Film Challenge! So far I've watched Beauty and the Beast, The Magnificent Seven, John Wick, Passengers, Alice Through the Looking Glass, The Golden Compass, and Real Genius. Next up, I'm thinking The Jungle Book (2016). 

Listening to:  Feel It Still- Portugal. The Man. Have you ever listened to a commercial and thought I NEED to know that song? That's what got me hooked on this one! It's currently on a Vitamin Water commercial. 

The Afghan Whigs- You Want Love

And NEW Kelly Clarkson! Love So Soft-

Eating: BBQ. Lots of it! 

1 lb. pulled pork, 1 lb. of brisket, a full rack of baby back ribs,
a bunch of chicken wings, 4 sides and 4 pcs. cornbread

Celebrating: my friend who recently got a divorce and is finally moving out. 

Welcoming: fall weather. Just kidding- I'm not ready! World Market and Christmas Tree Shops AndThat! stores are opening in my area though, so I'm pretty excited for that. I love the stuff at World Market but never wanted to pay for shipping. 

Preparing: for our annual Halloween party! We already decided on a theme and have parts of our costumes, and we'll be sending out Save the Dates this weekend!

Can you guess our costumes?

Buying: fall staples. My boots fell apart at the end of last year and I need more cardigans. I used to get them at Old Navy, but I can't find them there anymore. Help!

Photographing: what I've been up to lately. Last Thursday Blue and I headed to the NY Jets vs. Philadelphia Eagles pre-season game. It was awesome because we got seats 10 rows from the end zone for $25, but terrible because all the players were second (or third) string and it was a shitty game. The last time we went to an NFL game we weren't even together yet, it was Giants vs. Eagles, and it was FREEZING cold. I loved that it was actually warm out but just like last time, my Eagles lost :( 

So close!

On Friday we decided to clean house on Blue's liquor shelves. Kidding, kind of. Each of those bottles only had about 2 shots in them. 

whiskey gingers

Saturday we met up with some friends to go check out Defiant Brewing Co. and Smokehouse in Pearl River, NY. The food (pictured above) was delicious, the beers were cold, and the company was awesome. After that, we did some bar hopping in the area. I actually don't remember the last time I went bar hopping, and I paid for it dearly the next day! 

Pre- meat sweats

I've lost my pool shark chops. 

Sunday was a straight up recovery day. We watched a lot of movies, ate a lot of pasta, and rehydrated. On Monday, we headed over to Blue's sister's house. She was super excited for beefsteak. I've actually never had it before, and OMG. Thinly sliced, perfectly grilled steak on fresh French bread with warmed butter drizzled on top. HOW HAVE I NEVER HAD THIS?! I ate it all so fast I didn't get a picture. Maybe next time. We also got assaulted loved on by her dogs. Bella Marie thinks she's a lap dog. 

Where is your favorite place to purchase cardigans? 

What's currently going on with you? 

Linking up with Anne, Lowanda, Kristen, and Gretch! 

What's New With Me: May

I really can't fully comprehend that it's June right now, but here we are. And I'm linking up with Kristen and Gretch with my monthly recap, mostly in pictures. Not pictured: my boss just put in two weeks notice, I'm redoing my resume and I'm really f*ckin worried about the state of my job. Also, Blue is leaving her job of 19 years and starting in a completely different field which I'm super excited about. We may get to commute together which makes me a little giddy. Now... back to what all happened in May!

Food truck and craft beer festival in Kearny, NJ.
One of Blue's friends was a vendor and I got some super pretty earrings from her :) 

Bought a desk (finally)! Mentioned it here. #goals

Hit another goal by walking across the Brooklyn Bridge with Alyssa, David, and Blue.
I was sad I forgot a lock, but there was a $300 fine so probably best that I didn't have one.

Saw Young Frankenstein followed by a talk with Mel Brooks!

"Firework" Oreos, huevos ranchero, shrimps, and Eggslut.
(Yes, that's really what it's called and it was delicious!)

Mother's Day celebration included cutting 8" of hair...

...and doing a mini photo shoot with my new 'do because my mom loves taking pictures.
We also went out for lunch and watched Snatched.

Last Saturday was spent at Weyerbacher Brewing Co.
They also had a poutine food truck on premises which was pretty dang tasty.
We followed that up with a trip to The Sands Bethlehem where I won $200 on an Ellen penny slot machine. 

Sunday we did a North Jersey hot dog tour. I'd never been to any of these places, but the famous Rutt's Hut (since 1928- Home of the "Ripper")  was by far my favorite. It's a no frills spot that won't give you chili cheese dogs or even "all the way" so I tried what the cashier recommended- cup of chili and sweet relish. It was bomb. 

I kinda dropped out of the blog world for the second half of May, but hoping to get back in to the swing of things. So tell me friends- what did I miss? What's new with you?