Jazz on Tap

Last evening, I had the pleasure of having dinner with this amazing couple:

Sarah & David

Sarah and David moved back to the States a couple of weeks ago from Venezuela. Sarah and I went to High School together and traveled to Venezuela a couple times together with a church group on a mission trip. She's also a blogger!

Enter David. He was one of the leaders for us and worked with a group called ITAM, which has since ended. It was there that Sarah and David started to get to know one another and, well, the rest is history. :) Since gettin' hitched, they've lived in David's neck of the woods serving the Lord and working on getting his visa! haha They finally made it and will be here for a good while!

Back to dinner. We met at the Tap Room in Hickory. This is by far my favorite restaurant in Hickory and whenever I am in town, you can find me here. The picture above is with a plate of their pub chips... which you have to order when you go. One of the other bonuses to last night was that it included Sunday night jazz, or 'Jazz on Tap'. Ever since I was in High School I would come to the Tap Room Sunday nights after church for the jazz. It feels like home. I think David really enjoyed his experience at the Tap Room. It was the perfect night for it.

We also exchanged a couple gifts between us. I didn't get a picture of it, but they brought me some Venezuelan coffee and candy (yum!). I gave them some pumpkin spice Hershey Kisses since they arrived in the States a little after they left store shelves.

Here's one with all of us after our delicious meals. It was so so good to catch up after not seeing Sarah for 2 years and not seeing David for... 3 or 4? Wow, time flies by!

We stopped at the front on our way out to see the musicians up close! At the time they were trying to figure out something to play, us thinking they were taking a break. Big mouth me let Rick know that it was David's first time here and he hadn't heard them play before. Next song they played was for him! :) haha

Sarah and David: Thank you SO very much for a great time at dinner! It was wonderful to catch up and pick up where we left off. I am grateful for your friendship and for you both being in North Carolina for the time being. I'm excited for you both to meet my hubby and look forward to our next dinner date!

Love you guys!

D

Photo Montage

In lieu of a wordy post, here are bits of the goings on in my life over the past month :)

The first victim of the new camera. (Yay for working camera!)

My handsome guys :)

Mere in the homecoming parade! 

Homecoming game, Mere on Freshman Court.
"If you could be any household appliance, what would it be and why?"
Mere: "I would be a refrigerator because I would always be needed."

Getting all dolled up for the Homecoming dance.
Don't you love the hairspray action shot?!

On the way to drop Mere off and take pictures

Mere & Rachel with their dates. Awkward prom pose courtesy of Sarah :)

Celebrating Brad & Josh's 24th and 23rd birthdays! 10/11/11

My man is still a kid :)

Sweet campfire shot during the boys' birthday par-tay!

The Dishwasher.
(and I don't mean the actual appliance)

NC State Love-A-Fair 2011
(I'll post more pics in a different post.. too many!)

In Winston-Salem for McKenna Kate's 2nd birthday party!
Love my niece!

Birthday girl with her cake

Mac "eating" a kiwi from her grocery toy set :)

It's been a while

Updates on life, recipes, pictures, birthdays... I've been slacking.

Dinner at Kabuto 

Since Brad's birthday, he went down to Havelock to do Hurricane Irene clean up. He's been down there a few weeks now, and probably a while longer. We miss each other tremendously and I've had the opportunity to visit him once so far. We had a dinner date at a yummy Japanese restaurant and went out to the Maritime Museum in Morehead City one afternoon to see the Blackbeard Display. We're not sure how much longer he'll be out east, but he'll be able to come  home for Thanksgiving! Yay :)


I've been working as a Substitute and a K-5 tutor which is working out really well and bringing in a little extra for the both of us (very helpful with Christmas around the corner!).

Lots of recipes to share... individual meat loafs, PUMPKIN ROLL, chicken dishes, dips, did I mention a pumpkin roll? I'll try to get to posting some of them asap.





As far as birthdays go, my niece McKenna turned 2 on October 17th. She's precious and I absolutely love being her aunt! Below is a picture of her 'eating' a kiwi from a food playset she got at her party. Precious. Below is her birthday cake, which was fabulously crafted by my cousins! The party was Minnie Mouse themed.

Thats about all the update I can think of for now. I'll try to be a more diligent blogger in November!


-D

Happy Birthday Brad!

On this day, 24 years ago my best friend, husband and love of my life was born. This year is special for both of us since it's our first birthdays we will spend as husband and wife. Since we are freshly married we aren't able to necessarily spend a ton on birthdays. We were fortunate, though, to get a digital camera for Brad's birthday to replace our broken one, and get a print of the bridal portrait which was his favorite to put into our frame.

We are absolutely blessed and I am honored to celebrate today the birth of my hubs. :) Below are some pictures including my handsome man since our wedding!

We love you Brad!
D & Oscar

Pumpkin Eater

One thing I love about Fall is the excuse to eat pumpkin 24/7 in all kinds of fabulous forms and fashions. This is a new recipe I am trying today and I cannot begin to describe how wonderful the kitchen smells at this very moment (They're obviously in the oven as I blog!).

The recipe online can be found here: Swirled Pumpkin Cream Cheese Bars

Ingredients

• 6 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled
• 1 3/4 cups sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 1 cup canned pumpkin
• 1/3 cup water
• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 package (8 oz.) cream cheese, at room temperature

Directions

1. In a bowl, with an electric mixer on medium speed, beat butter and 1 1/2 cups sugar until smooth. Beat in 2 eggs, pumpkin, and 1/3 cup water until well blended, scraping down sides of bowl as needed.
2. In another bowl, mix flour, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder, and nutmeg; stir or beat into butter mixture until well blended. Spread batter evenly in a buttered and floured 10- by 15-inch baking pan.
3. In a bowl, with an electric mixer on medium speed, beat cream cheese, remaining egg, and remaining 1/4 cup sugar until smooth. (I added a dash of vanilla extract here! yummm!)
4. Drop cream cheese mixture in 24 evenly spaced 1-tablespoon portions over batter. Pull a knife tip through filling to swirl slightly into batter.
5. Bake in a 350° oven until center of pumpkin batter (not cream cheese mixture) springs back when touched, about 30 minutes.
6. Let cool completely in pan, then cut into 24 bars.

This recipe even included the nutritional information! (Though, is it really necessary to be aware of caloric intake with desserts? I'd rather be blissfully ignorant! :) haha)

Amount per serving

• Calories: 164
• Calories from fat: 38%
• Protein: 2.6g
• Fat: 7g
• Saturated fat: 4.2g
• Carbohydrate: 23g
• Fiber: 0.4g
• Sodium: 130mg
• Cholesterol: 45mg