Monday, November 18, 2013

Celebrating Richard. Turning 28.

Richard turned 28 on Thursday! For us, Richard's birthday really kicks off the holiday season. We just love this time of year - and we love celebrating birthdays. Ok, really, we love celebrating anything and everything.  Since temperatures dropped, I wanted to make him a yummy, filling and hearty meal. Hello, Chicken Pot Pie. Since I was walking all over our neighborhood pulling together last minute items for his special day, I ran out of hands and ended up substituting quite a few things on this recipe but it turned out great! This will certainly be a keeper since I can mix the recipe up so many different ways (recipe below)!

I was beyond excited to give Richard his birthday gift this year! Richard has so many wonderful memories of growing up hunting in the tiny town of Chester, TX with his Dad. With a little research and help from family, I was able to give him a framed map of Tyler County from the 1930's and a picture of the house he used to stay in during his hunting trips! I believe it is extremely important to capture those wonderful memories in your home to share with friends, family and later on, kiddos. 


Since we were in Texas a few days before the big 28, we had a fun lunch celebration with family. Richard's sister baked a yummy cake that gave us an extended sugar high. 



Once we were back in NYC, we continued the celebration with a fun variety of donuts from Doughnut Plant in the Lower East Side. I don't eat donuts too often. But let me just tell you… these were delicious.  We had peanut butter and jelly, coconut cream and tres leches. The peanut butter and jelly was my favorite! The six of us were in donut heaven. 


I'm sure you can tell that Richard has something to do with this collage.. :)

Cheers, Richard! I hope 28 is filled with joy, new adventures and as always, lots of laughs. You make me smile every single day. And here is an ode to saddle oxfords. You rocked those shoes over 20 years… =) 




Chicken Pot Pie 
Mix and Match Mama
Shopping List
1 tablespoon butter
1 pound chopped, cooked chicken (click hereto see how I get my chicken)
2 cups frozen vegetable medley (mine had corn, carrots, peas and Lima beans in it)
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 cup milk
1 can biscuits (I used Grands)
Salt and Pepper 

Instructions 
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.

Melt butter in an oven safe skillet over medium-high heat (see below if you don't have an oven safe skillet).  Add in your cooked chicken, frozen veggies, soup and milk with a generous amount of salt and pepper.  Heat through about 5 minutes.

Top mixture with your biscuits and pop in the oven.  Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until biscuits are brown and chicken mixture is bubbly.

Remove from oven and serve.


If you don't have an oven safe skillet, then just transfer everything from the skillet to an 8x8 glass baking dish and bake it in there.

Jessa Note: This time, I substituted with ground turkey (chicken), cream of mushroom soup (chicken soup) and greek yogurt (milk)! Also, make sure the biscuits are fully done before pulling from oven.


Happy Birthday Richard!

Wednesday, November 6, 2013

Fall in New York City

This quote made me laugh…

“Don't you love New York in the fall? It makes me want to buy school supplies. I would send you a bouquet of newly sharpened pencils if I knew your name and address.”      

- Nora Ephron 



…because it's the way I've been feeling. I'm seriously trying to figure out just how long I can hold on to Fall while squeezing out every last drop. Here's what I've managed to squeeze out so far:

This was our first year to go apple picking! The colors, the views, the weather… 


Richard decided to ride a bike, uphill, for about 60 miles with some friends (crazy!!)… 



So we gave them trophies.. 


Our dear friends held an Apple Pie contest and we baked our very first apple pie together!


We've had a ton of fun with Community Group nights…


Our "other couple half" took us to see Jimmy Fallon (aired on 10/31)…and I got to touch his hand!!

 

We started leading a Community Group…


Girls Spa Night + Guy's Whiskey Night! 


I had my first cider donut!


We recreated Rome with Gelato and a midnight trip to Washington Square Park…


Sunday Fun-days in full force...


Did you know that you can fish in Central Park? 


Per our "must see" list, we took a trip to Prospect Park in Brooklyn (don't worry Central Park, PP has nothing on you!)…


Our group at ApostlesKids! was really getting into Fall too…


We paid to scream like little girls again with the Segura's...


The first annual scarf exchange was born...


Three monthly dinner parties and counting with our NYC family...


My sistah from another mister and I had several wine chats...  


Some of our best friends came to visit…



We figured out how to get free burgers...


A Hocus Pocus night was had...


We bought a crockpot! 


We saw a friend's band rock out next to Times Square...



We took a nap on the beach...


We fell in love with Fall.

Tuesday, November 5, 2013

Mindy + Evan Visited NYC!

You know those friends that you can pick right up where you left off with? That's how we feel about some of our best friends, Mindy and Evan! Life throws a lot of changes your way in your 20's and it is so special to be able to share that journey with friends.

Central Park
We have been so excited to share New York City with them….for one reason. FOOD!


"My doctor told me to stop having intimate dinners for four unless there are three other people." - Orson Welles

Macaroons at Smorgasburg
They love food. We love food. This city is known for food. It was a magical weekend of deliciousness and I am still recovering.

Pil Pil
We kicked off Friday with two of our favorites - thai at Spice and sangria at Pil Pil. I truly believe Fall is one of the best times of the year to enjoy New York City and our neighborhood favorites did not disappoint with Halloween decor. We also believe that there are a few "touristy-musts" when visiting - Grand Central Station, riding a subway and taxi and visiting Times Square. Check, check, check! We ended the night at Union Square's quirky Coffee Shop for drinks and dinner at one of Anthony Bourdain's favorites - Motorino Pizza (where we ran into another one of our favorite couples - The Birds!).

Motorino 
Bagels!
On Saturday we grabbed bagels from HandH (fun fact - several bagel places are open 24/7…24/7 people!!!). We took a long, beautiful, Fall-filled stroll through Central Park. And then headed to the one… the only… SMORGASBURG! Think food festival on crack with the Manhattan skyline in the background. I know, sounds wonderful right?? We tried over 15 vendors and then sat in the grass, happy and sleepy.

I'll just show you with pictures:

Love these two!
Our favorite item of the day!
Post-food
Tur-duck-en Sandwich
Turkey, Duck and Chicken
After all that eating we earned ourselves some more calorie intake, right? Sure! Our night ended with drinks at High Life and The Meatball Shop. Meatballs by the dish, in a variety of flavors, made to order…and amazing. And then we rolled off to bed. 

meatballs on meatballs on meatballs
On Sunday, we kicked off our day with a visit to Maison Kayser. This "oh-my-gosh-I-could-eat-the-counter" bakery is Paris born, with 18 locations in Paris and 6 in other countries…and only ONE in the United States. Declicieux!

Maison Kayser
Next we headed to the 9/11 Memorial… always filled with emotion and awe. For lunch we introduced Mindy and Evan to Shake Shack on the Upper West Side. If Richard could live on Shake Shack, he would. In fact, we had it yesterday for lunch.

Central Park
Our afternoon was spent enjoying the Natural History Museum (every time we go I picture Ben Stiller running with dinosaurs…don't you?). We also went back to Central Park because, really,  who can get enough of Central Park in the Fall (and grabbed hot tea from Cafe Noi)?! And then to my favorite hidden gem in the city - Carl Schurz Park!

Central Park Reservoir
Central Park Chill-axin
Another sweet couple (and alpha gam!!) was in NYC the same weekend from San Fran. We had dinner at The Smith and caught up on life - it was so fun! The Smith has delicious food (you will crave the pork chops for months to come and hands-down the best cheesy grits EVER) but what I really love is the fun photo booth! 

Photo Booth Fun
Loved our mini-reunion dinner!
We had a very early goodbye on Monday morning, but hugged saying "see you in 2 weeks"…since we are headed down South for a Dallas visit!

"A friend is one of the nicest things you can have, 
and one of the best things you can be." 
-Douglas Pagels 

And for your enjoyment… some more Smorgasburg yumminess...






"One of the very nicest things about life is the way we must regularly stop whatever it is we are doing and devote our attention to eating." 
- Luciano Pavarotti and William Wright