Friday, October 29, 2010

Roger's Farm Haunted Maize

October 22, 2010 - After work, the Alpha-1 gang (and a few significant others...well two anyways...) met up for dinner at The Fat Tuscan.  The Fat Tuscan restaurant is in a quaint, little house close to the Thomas Center.  The atmosphere was great!  We sat outside under strings of lights and listened to an acoustic performance while we ate.  We felt like the food was a little overpriced for what we got, but I think everything is homemade right there....which is pretty cool.  The pumpkin cheesecake was delicious.

After dinner we headed to Roger's Farm to check out the spooky trail and haunted corn maize.  Eric and I had gone last year with some friend's and thought it was something fun and different to do...so we returned!  The set up was pretty much the same as last year except there was this really cool jumping thing for the kids.  Tonight and Saturday night are the last days to go, so if you have the time I think it is an event worth checking out.  Here are some pictures from our "spooky" night out.

Spook Trail

This scarecrow was real!

 Making a friend with my scary looking neck

Geoff loved the haunted corn maize

Alpha-1 Gang

Wedding Pictures/Video!

Hello everyone!

As you may know, Eric and I got married in August and our pictures/wedding highlight video are finally done!  Yay! 

To watch the wedding highlight video by Michael Dalton (it's awesome!) CLICK HERE

Jimmy Ho (our wedding photographer) posted a good selection of our photos on his blog CLICK HERE

If you want to check out all our photos (that's a lot of photos!) you can check them out here CLICK HERE.

Our wedding day was perfect!  Thanks again to everyone that was apart of it!  :)

Friday, October 22, 2010

Paula Deen's Spinach Stuffed Zucchini

Looking for a good side to go with your meal?  I made Paula Deen's Spinach Stuffed Zucchini the other day and it was delicious.  I used zucchini instead of yellow squash, but I think they are interchangeable.  The zucchini was a little hard for me to get out of the skin, but I think a grapefruit spoon or some spoon with edges would make the task a whole lot easier (to bad I don't have any now that I don't live with Kristina!).  It's easy to make, the only downfall is that the steps take a while.  I also halved the recipe because it yielded to much for just Eric and me.  Hope you enjoy!

My Spinach Stuffed Zucchini

Thursday, October 21, 2010

Gator Homecoming and Cedar Key Seafood Festival

October 16, 2010:  Eric, Mr. Reggy, Christina, Kevin, and I went to the Gator Homecoming game vs. Mississippi State this past weekend.  Sadly, the Gators did not win (nor did the Jaguars Monday...come on ya'll!).  :(   I still had a good time and will keep routing for my Gators every game!  It was Christina's first college game, so I had a fun time explaining some of the rules to her!  Hee, hee.

Eric and his dad

Christina and I

Gator Cheerleaders

October 17, 2010:  Sunday, I was on Facebook and saw that Krystin's status mentioned a seafood festival in Cedar Key that day.  Eric and I looked at it and said, "That sounds fun.  Let's go!"...and we were off!  

Lunch was awesome (food was yummy and we got to listen to live bluegrass music)!  Boiled clams, potatoes, sausages, and corn.  
 
Clam Fritters

Eric showing off his clam find

Cedar  Key, Florida

Strawberry Shortcake for dessert

Sunday, October 17, 2010

Oyster Grill Out and Mr. Reggy's B-Day

October 9, 2010:  Oyster Grill Out at the Saucedo's!
I love getting to hang out with both mine and Eric's family.  Saturday we (Eric & I) got to relax, watch another disappointing gator game, have a bon fire, and eat grilled oysters with Sheldon, Brittney, & Selena.  And yes...I was the party pooper who could not stay up late to play games, so Eric tried drawing a mustache on my face with permanent marker (sorry, no pictures available).  When I came back from the bathroom, where I removed said mustache, everyone was hiding outside because they were scared of me.  Serves them right!  lol.

Sheldon getting the fire started
 
Bye, bye picture frame

Shucking the Oysters



10/10/10:  Mr. Reggy's B-Day!
After 12/12/12 there will no longer be any more months, days, years like this in my lifetime!  Pretty crazy to think about.  So, if you just so happen to have your birthday on one of these days...I'd say you are pretty lucky!  :)  For Mr. Reggy's birthday, Eric made chicken and rice and Brittney made corn fritters (yum!).  We also got to eat delicious oreo pie while we watched the Jaguars win another game.  I'd say it was a pretty good day.

Present Time

Happy Birthday Mr. Reggy!

Someone's been getting into the chocolate!
 

Peanut Butter Banana Bread

Eric LOVES him some banana bread, but he is particular about it.  Once I tried making it with chocolate chips (which sounds really great to me), but he didn't like the chocolate/banana combo....he said it wasn't like BANANA bread.  So, I was a little hesitant to make peanut butter banana bread...who knows if he would like it?!  I found the recipe on the cover of my first issue of the magazine Cooking Light.  It looked and sounded absolutely delicious...and turned out well (despite my burning the top because our oven does not work properly, but I just cut the big burn parts off the top)!  Eric loved the combination.  He said it is like a peanut butter banana sandwich in your mouth.  Here's the recipe and some pictures...


Cooking Light's Peanut Butter Banana Bread:
Peanut butter is whipped into the basic recipe for a moist banana bread with a hint of nutty flavor. A small amount of chopped roasted peanuts offers delightfully surprising crunch.
Yield: 16 servings (serving size: 1 slice)

Ingredients:

Bread:
1 1/2  cups  mashed ripe banana
1/3  cup  plain fat-free yogurt
1/3  cup  creamy peanut butter
3  tablespoons  butter, melted
2  large eggs
1/2  cup  granulated sugar
1/2  cup  packed brown sugar
6.75  ounces  all-purpose flour (about 1 1/2 cups)
1/4  cup  ground flaxseed
3/4  teaspoon  baking soda
1/2  teaspoon  salt
1/2  teaspoon  ground cinnamon
1/8  teaspoon  ground allspice
2  tablespoons  chopped dry-roasted peanuts
Cooking spray

Glaze:
1/3  cup  powdered sugar
1  tablespoon  1% low-fat milk
1  tablespoon  creamy peanut butter

    Preparation

    1. Preheat oven to 350°.
    2. To prepare bread, combine first 5 ingredients in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed. Add granulated and brown sugars; beat until blended.
    3. Weigh or lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour and next 5 ingredients (through allspice) in a small bowl. Add flour mixture to banana mixture; beat just until blended. Stir in nuts. Pour batter into a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350° for 1 hour and 5 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Remove from oven; cool 10 minutes in pan on a wire rack. Remove bread from pan; cool.
    4. To prepare glaze, combine powdered sugar, milk, and 1 tablespoon peanut butter in a small bowl, stirring with a whisk. Drizzle glaze over bread.

    Maureen Callahan, Cooking Light, OCTOBER 2010
     

    Wednesday, October 6, 2010

    The Parting by Beverly Lewis

    So...I've jumped on the bandwagon of reading Amish romance novels (fiction).  That just sounds so cheesy and wrong to me.  I had been wanting to read "The Secret" by Beverly Lewis because I've always been interested in Amish people and her books were on the bestseller list.  When Eric and I went to Chamblin Bookmine to sell some of our old books, I went looking for "The Secret", but couldn't find it.  I did find another one of her books "The Parting (The Courtship of Nellie Fisher, #1)" and ended up buying it.  The book follows the story of a young Amish girl, Nellie Mae Fisher, after her sisters untimely death.

    I really enjoyed the book and am reading the second one right now.