The chain is getting so much smaller

Food endeavors

We like to cook together.  A lot.  One of the things we were most looking forward to is picking out what meals we would try while I was here visiting. We went through several ideas, picked a few, and went grocery shopping.  Even grocery shopping with Blair is fun.  Our favourite part of this past grocery trip was when we were getting the mozzarella cheese.  I had grabbed the smaller bag thinking that was the one on sale, and started to walk away.  Blair was still looking at the bags, and realized it was the bigger bag that was on sale instead.  So I threw him the small bag, and he threw me the bigger bag down the aisle.  We both got a good giggle.  :)

We started with homemade pizza.  I made the dough.  And we have this AMAZING recipe for pizza sauce that we just love.  Then we topped it off with fresh basil, tomatoes and shredded mozzarella.  Oh so very good.

With extra ingredients left over after making two pizza pans, we decided to experiment with savory pizza cupcakes.  We were afraid it would be doughy, but they turned out perfectly!!!  Yum.

The next day we tried a brand new recipe: Caribbean Seafood Stew.  

The recipe called for shrimp and red snapper.  Unfortunately, we are in New Mexico, and seafood isn't exactly easy to come by.  The commissary doesn't even have a fish section.  *sigh*  We tried a few other area grocery stores but couldn't find any snapper.  So we decided to use trout as a substitute.  It turned out really well.  This is such a tasty meal!

 Served over hot white rice.

The next night we tried a four cheese sausage pasta dish.  YUM!  Even the pictures make me hungry for it again.

It was date night at home.  Brand new red wine from the winery we went to for Blair's birthday, movie, and super tasty dinner.  Good night indeed.

A few nights later (after eating all the awesome leftovers) we attempted another recipe.  Grilled chicken bruschetta.  This is the yummy topping goodness.

Earlier in the day, we did a specialty olive oil/balsamic vinegar tasting and purchased a cranberry balsamic vinegar.  I decided to make a salad dressing out of it for a side to our bruschetta.  Spinach salad with craisins, toasted almonds, and the awesome homemade salad dressing.

 Chicken on the grill.

Blair - master of the grill.  And yes, it is pitch black outside.  We have a tendency to get messed up by the late sunsets in ABQ.  We haven't been eating dinner until about 9pm or so every night.  Ha!

 Yummy goodness is complete.

Another recipe I've really been wanting to try:  Coffee-Glazed Italian Doughnuts.  Without a fryer or a thermometer, I faked it.  Luckily, we didn't burn the house down.  I was in charge of most of the prep work and glaze, Blair did the good frying. 

They look a little weird, but they tasted REALLY good.  That glaze is amazing...and makes a ton extra.  But oh so very tasty.

Turns out, the oil was a little too hot.  So the outside was cooked, but the inside was a little doughy.  Now we know what to do for the next time. :) 

On Tuesday night we went to our bible study.  This week wasn't really a bible study, but a ministry night.  They decided to have a potluck dinner together and spend the time preparing meals for our church's homeless outreach.  I was in charge of bringing the bread for our group.  I made Parmesan Bread.

Before:

After: 

We ended up making two because there was going to be so many people at bible study.  Yum!

Sadie

One of Blair's friends (actually, it's a married couple that he knew in college and is stationed here too) is in a long training out of state.  Their dog, Sadie, is making the rounds with their friends to take care of her while they are gone.  So, we got a few fun days with her while I was visiting!

She's a cute Shih-Tzu.  Young, full of energy, not entirely potty trained (but definitely a lot closer to fully potty trained when she left us), and a major cuddler.

She's playing with my foot. :)

She loved being loved on. She couldn't get enough attention.

She would roll over and "ask" you to rub her belly.

Even if I wasn't touching her, she wanted to be close, so she would snuggle up and nap on my toes.

Ain't she cute?  :)  She kinda made me think about getting a pet soon after marriage.  We'll see how that works out....

Blair's birthday

I am so thankful that I got to spend Blair's birthday with him this year.  It was the first time ever!  So it was a lot of fun!

He had to work, which was a bummer.  But as soon as he got home, he got to open all of his presents and we called his parents. 

 I also surprised him with a triple chocolate cake and homemade peanut butter frosting (Blair's favourite dessert is chocolate peanut butter...anything).  We only had crunchy peanut butter instead of creamy.  So it looked a little strange, but it tasted really good!

Then we dressed up for a night on the town.  We went out for wine tasting and dinner at St. Clair's Winery and Bistro near Old Town Albuquerque. 

 

We got seated quickly, but then sat and waited for 20 minutes before speaking up.  Apparently, the hostess forgot to tell the waitress that we were assigned to her.  That earned us free champagne. :)   And, it just happened to be the best champagne I've ever had!

 Our free champagne with our nosh plate, which we ordered to have with our wine flight.  It was soooo good.  Three different types of cheese, grapes, a nut mixture, toast rounds, kalamata olives, and dark chocolate.  Blair found out that he loves kalamata olives.  He doesn't like any other olives, but now loves kalamata olives.  I'm still anti-olives.  But I am pro-chocolate (not that that is news, but it was fun to have as part of the nosh plate).

Our wine flight.  We had one white, one blush, three red, and one champagne.  My favourite was definitely the blush.  It was so unique!  Described as "Fun, yet classy, with aromas of kiwi & watermelon..."  I really liked it. 

Then we ordered two half orders of pasta, and shared them between the two of us.  We really like getting different meals and sharing so we both get to try more dishes.  We pretty much do that every single time we go out. 
One was Pasta Danielle: penne pasta with lightly spiced homemade Cajun cream sauce with sauteed vegetables.  The other was NM Chile Chicken: chicken breast sauteed and served over penne with Hatch green chile, cream sauce and sun dried tomatoes, topped with provolone.  They were both so good!  We thought the NM Chile Chicken pasta sounded the best from the description, but we liked the Pasta Danielle best. 

 Then we went out front to take some pictures.  Unfortunately, we were blocking the sign in this one.

 Even more unfortunate, this one turned out blurry.  Oh well.

 Posing on the wine barrels.  Love this pic of us!

Happy Birthday, Blair!  I love you so much!

Even closer....