Seasonal

New Year, New Adventures

~ atastytrip ~ Leave a comment

Happy New Year! Well technically happy 7th day of the new year. Hope everyone enjoyed a special holiday season with friends and loved ones (and of course lots of yummy food for good measure). Robert and I had a rainy, yet wonderful and relaxing Christmas at home with my family, 2016 started off on the right foot as Robert and I attended the wedding of two dear friends on New Years Eve!

R and D

Ryan and Dayna, a veteran and a special education teacher (and my favorite co-worker!) are the epitome of wonderful human beings and I am so proud to call them my friends and so happy to have gotten to share in the start of their new life together!

Now we are both back at work and back in the swing of things. It was so nice to have a break but I can’t say I’m not a little excited to get back into a routine (less eating, more exercising, stat).

Ren
Renly’s resolution: More cuddling 

Last year Robert and I spent New Years in San Francisco and made a whole list of resolutions that we typed into our phones and promptly forgot about. Whoops.

I found the list a few days before the new year and we decided that rather than make a new list that would more than likely suffer the same fate as the last, we’d better just skip the whole “resolution” thing for 2016.

Never fear, we are still on the never ending quest to become kinder/smarter/more thoughtful/thinner/enlightened/insert random positive adjective here human beings, but instead of making a list, we decided to start making plans. Travel plans to be exact.

Skating 2
Ice skating in the 70 degree Christmas 2015 weather

Robert’s included a trip to Arizona to see Clemson play in the National Championship, if they made the cut on New Years Eve. Spoiler alert: THEY DID! We balked (several times) at the price of plane tickets but decided that it was a potential once in a lifetime event that he simply couldn’t miss. So he’s going! Renly and I will be happily cheering the Tigers on from the couch and hopefully booking the next big plan: Thailand!

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Easy Crock Pot Sausage and Peppers

~ atastytrip ~ Leave a comment

Do you ever have a morning when your bed is literally just TOO comfortable to leave? When your room is slightly too chilly, your blankets are perfectly warm and your pillows are positioned perfectly?

Renly in chair
Renly says this chair is too comfy to get out of…

I had one of those this morning and when I DID actually get up and drag myself to the gym, it was no small feat. I didn’t go to bed particularly late last night so I’m going to attribute my difficult rising to the weather. Yesterday the weather decided that it was officially time for fall. I wore a jacket to work and for the first time in months my car windows weren’t fogged due to the heat. I don’t particularly love the cold but I DO welcome hearty, comforting (easy!) crockpot meals!

peppers and onions Browned Links

When you work all day and have limited time to prepare dinner at night the crockpot is a godsend. My grandmother gave me my first crock pot when I started college and it was one of the first things I ever cooked with. When Robert and I got married I retired my original slow cooker and registered for one with a timer. It’s pretty difficult to ruin anything in a crock pot, but we lost a few meals my first year of work because neither of us got home in time and they simply cooked too long. We still have crazy long days sometimes so the crockpot with the timer was a game changer. You set your cook time, and once it has lapsed the crockpot automatically switches itself to the warm setting, so your food is warm and ready without being overdone. They are more expensive than the base models but very worth it.

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Slow Saturday Breakfast: Easy Cheesy Shortcut(s) Breakfast Casserole

~ atastytrip ~ Leave a comment

Merry Christmas week! Is that a thing? Like a birthday week? If it isn’t then it should be because Christmas is a lot more fun than your birthday.

Christmas tree
Our tiny Christmas tree, space was tight this year!

 

I am officially on  Christmas break and let me tell you it is just as glorious at 27 as it was at 17, or 7 for that matter. I think I still believed in Santa at 7 so maybe that was slightly more fun. I KNOW I didn’t appreciate the power of sleeping in and naps at 7 though so on second thought, it’s just as good now.

Now that Christmas break has  begun, I’m finally getting into the Christmas spirit. It’s been a little tough this year for several reasons. For one thing, I’ve been sick and it’s been unseasonably warm and rainy…not ideal Christmas wellness or weather. For another (and this is probably the main reason) this is the first Christmas ever that I won’t have spent with my family. My mom tearfully reminded me of this on the phone a few days ago, that she won’t have either of her girls for Christmas this year Sad smile FYI moms, reminders of this sort are not terribly helpful in cheering your children who are far away for the holidays. Since our families do not live in the same place, Robert and I navigated new married people territory this year and had to choose holidays. My family got Thanksgiving, his family gets Christmas and next year we swap. For those who haven’t crossed that bridge yet, as easy as you think it will be, even if you’re a holiday grinch, it isn’t. Every family has their own unique traditions and holiday quirks and no matter how wonderful the traditions you step into (or start anew) are, they still aren’t yours. I adore my in-laws, and I’m really excited to experience their Christmas (especially because my niece and nephew still believe in Santa!) but I know part of me will still be nostalgic for the holidays of my past. I KNOW this is part of life and growing up yada yada, but if your WHOLE family lives in the same place, count yourself lucky! I will get to see my parents on Tuesday as they plan to stop through Hilton Head on their way to see my sweet grandparents, so that is a definite plus!

Ingredients
Cheese not pictured because…early

 

Looking forward to all the festivities of this coming week, and enjoying all the fun we had this weekend has finally put me in the spirit! Not only was Friday my last day of work for two weeks, but my grandparents surprised Robert and I with an overnight visit on Friday evening! They drove over ten hours round trip to literally just have dinner and spend the night with us, did I mention they are the best? We took them to dinner, drove around to see Christmas lights and then came home to give them their Christmas gift and enjoy a piece of my favorite cake that my sweet nana made.  An entire cake is pretty much the last thing I need right now with all the other holiday goodies I’ve been consuming but the fact she that she baked it and brought it just for me pretty much melts my heart.

My grandparent’s left around noon on Saturday and Robert and I quickly tidied the house and ran errands before his family holiday party. His mother’s side of the family gets together each year on the weekend before Christmas to enjoy dinner and a White Elephant gift exchange. It’s always a great time and this year was no exception! Robert’s cousin and her husband spent the night with us and Sunday morning we all reconvened once again for breakfast to see everyone off. I was tasked with providing the breakfast casserole, an oldie but always a goodie.

eggs Egg Pour

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A “Different” Date Night & Tips From a Chef

~ atastytrip ~ Leave a comment

Happy Thanksgiving! I woke up this morning thankful for the smell of breakfast casserole wafting upstairs and even more so to have my husband in Chattanooga finally! Poor Robert had 3 or 4 flight delays to deal with yesterday before he finally made it to Tennessee. We held dinner for him so we were equally as hungry as we were happy to see him when he finally arrived around 9:00 pm. Renly most of all Smile One of the best parts of having a dog has got to be how excited they are to see you after an absence. In Renly’s case an absence can be anywhere from 5 minutes to 5 weeks. Sometimes I get the full “You’re home!I love you!Pet me!Pick me up!please please please” jumping barrage after a trip to the mailbox. Sweet (simple) boy.

 Renly

Despite Renly’s doggy daddy withdrawals, we have had a great few days at home. Renly has had a ball playing with my parents dogs, and running laps around their huge yard. I have enjoyed catching up with friends over lunch, eating cheap tacos at my favorite local Mexican restaurant, doing a little shopping and spending time with my sweet grandparents.  I also got to spend most of Tuesday with my mama who treated me to a great mother-daughter date night. Last year my sister bought my mom and dad a gift certificate to Mia Cucina, a gourmet kitchen retail store who also hosts weekly cooking classes. As so often happens with gift certificates, my parents didn’t use it right away and therefore promptly forgot about it. When it was recently discovered (and about to expire!) my mom signed us up for Tuesday’s class. Classes are offered nightly, each with a different theme. Our class was titled “Recipes From Restaurants We Love” and consisted of four courses, each from a different local restaurant.

Corn Chowder 2
Poblano Corn Chowder

 

Spare Ribs and Shrimp and Grits
Molasses Braised Beef Short Ribs and Shrimp and Jack Cheese Grits with Tomato Ragout

 

Lava Cake
Dark Chocolate Lava Cake

 

Classes are BYOB and are either “hands on” or “demonstration”. In a hands on class, you actually make your own meal under instruction from a chef. A demonstration class, which is what ours was, consists more of watching and learning. I think a hands on class would be a blast but the demonstration was a lot of fun. We sat around the kitchen and sipped wine and beer while watching our chef, Hannah, prepare the meal. Hannah talked through each step and answered questions and offered helpful cooking tips along the way. Two assistants served each course to the crowd as it was ready.  The food was delicious and plentiful, one round was enough to have me feeling stuffed but seconds of each course were offered to those with larger appetites. You are also provided with a copy of each recipe and pens before the class begins so you can take notes and later prepare the dishes at home. I noticed that everyone dutifully took notes at the beginning of the class but after a few courses (and glasses of wine) the eating took center stage and the note taking became less diligent Smile Continue reading →

Slow Saturday Breakfast: Apple Cinnamon Pecan Baked Oatmeal

~ atastytrip ~ Leave a comment

Happy Monday! I had hoped to get this up yesterday but I got busy trying a yummy new appetizer recipe to take over to a friend’s house (I’ll share soon!). Then I got busy eating said recipe, stuffing my face with my friends delicious turkey chili, and doing plenty of wine drinking and laughing with the girls while the boys watched football. Somewhere in the midst of all that Robert and I found the time to take Renly to the park where he lifted his leg to potty for the first time ever! Robert literally whooped with joy which in turn got Renly very excited which in turn convinced Robert that Renly knew what he had just done. I’m pretty sure he was just feeding off of Robert’s excitement but it was pretty cute to watch the two of them jumping up and down and having their own personal potty party right there on the path. Talk about a Sunday Funday.

Renly and Robert
Proud Papa!

Hope everyone had a fun Halloween! How cute is Renly in his Halloween tie? It had candy corn all over it…precious. We had a blast at my sister in law’s and my cornbread was a hit! Neither Robert or I ate any Halloween candy Friday night (I know, who are we?) but sure enough my sweet tooth kicked in about the time we got home so we treated ourselves to ice cream and a scary movie on our couch. Pretty wild Friday night, huh? Don’t threaten us with a good time!

                    Renly Halloween Tie  Renly Tie

We woke up Saturday morning to a temperature that had dropped about 40 degrees over night! What! I knew that it was coming, but I think I still shed a tear or two when pulling out my gloves and hat to walk Renly, especially when I remembered that just the day before I walked him in a workout tank! Goodbye Summer, I’ll miss you until we meet again!

Chilly temperatures and midnight ice cream binges definitely called for a recovery breakfast on Saturday. I wanted something warm and hearty while still healthy. Breakfast also needed to have some staying power because Robert’s sister had quite the terrifying fun adventure planned for Saturday afternoon: Ziplining!

ziplining 2 ziplining 3

It was VERY cold, and extremely windy…not the most ideal conditions for being on a swaying platform 75 feet in the air. gulp. Despite the cold and the wind, we all survived had a great time, and the views were pretty incredible. The tallest platform is actually the highest point on all of Hilton Head Island! If you are ever in the area and into extreme entertainment, I would highly recommend it. If you aren’t into extreme entertainment but are into delicious breakfast, I would highly recommend my Apple Cinnamon Pecan Baked Oatmeal. See what I did there?

Baked Apple Cinn Pecan Oatmeal Continue reading →