Essentially Jackie

19
Nov
2013

Friends-Giving!

This is the first holiday season in our new home. Naturally, I am very excited about this. Anyone who knows me is aware of my love for this time of year. So when my mom had asked me to host Thanksgiving this year, I jumped right into. After agreeing, I decided I should have a test run. It would after all be my first Thanksgiving dinner that I cook entirely on my own. This is when I decided I would host “Friends-Giving”! We like to have “family” dinner whenever possible, so why not host the biggest dinner event of the year! This way I could test out some of my recipes on a large group of people and have fun while doing it.

The evening started out with a handful of people, but quickly turned into a lovely dinner party. I asked that everyone contribute in some way. I cooked the turkey (along with a few side dishes) and everyone else brought various other desserts, beverages, and accompaniments.

Below is what our menu looked like:

Two turkey breasts: One roasted, another was cooked in the slow cooker.

Stuffing

Mashed potatoes

Sweet Potato Hash (This dish was previously mentioned in the last “My Week of Dinners” post made by Deirdre)

Macaroni and Cheese

Green Bean Casserole

Pulled Pork

Cranberry Sauce

Crescent Rolls

Pumpkin Spice Cookies

Apple Tart

Strawberry Cream Pie

Every last bit of it was delicious. And of course, we were all stuffed to the brim upon finishing. It turned out to be a lovely evening with a great group of friends. Quattro of course was enjoying the company as well.

After cleaning up, I realized I had two breast bones left over. I decided that I would not let them go to waste. Tonight I made turkey stock which I figured will be perfect for various dishes on actual Thanksgiving next week. It was pretty simple too!

Turkey Stock

Ingredients

Turkey breast bones

1/2 onion, cut in half

3 carrots, roughly chopped

3 celery sticks, roughly chopped

8 sprigs of time

Palm full of whole peppercorns

Water

Directions

Place all of the ingredients in a stock pot. Fill the pot with water until the turkey bones are covered. Bring the water to a boil. Lower the heat to simmer and cook for about 2-3 hours. Strain the liquid into a container and seal. Refrigerate or freeze once cooled.

This recipe can easily be used for chicken stock as well. If using a whole turkey carcass, double up on the veggies.

15
Nov
2013

Keep Calm and Play On

categories: Life & Adventures

Image found off google.

I have been kicking a soccer ball around since the age of five and haven’t stopped since. I played in a recreational league throughout my youth. Once I was old enough, I was a part of a travel indoor and outdoor team. By the time I had reached high school, I had already been playing for 10 years.
However, I will never forget how nervous I was for try outs the summer before my freshman year. Coming from a very small elementary school put me and my childhood friend at a slight disadvantage. The girls coming from the junior high already knew everyone trying out. The coaches already knew some of them as well. We prepped over the summer by attending soccer camps during the day and running in the evening. Our hard work paid off because we both made the freshman team. To top it off, our team went on to have one of the best seasons yet. I continued playing through my junior year. Unfortunately, an injury I obtained from rowing crew didn’t allow me to play all throughout high school.

Post high school graduation I knew I was not going to play at the college level especially since I attended a Division 1 school. I was not ready to “retire” yet though. There is a local indoor soccer facility that runs several different leagues of all ages, genders, and skill level. I joined a woman’s league to start out. This team consisted of the girls who I had been playing with all throughout my life. Eventually, The Gym Class Heroes were formed. This team was coed consisting of a mixture of friends and family. We had people who had never played soccer in their life and others who have been playing for years. It didn’t matter though. We were there just to have fun. The team continued on for several more years. People came and went. Today, there are only two of us from the original team still playing. We play in the mens league (myself being the only female) and now go by Above Relegation. It’s pretty funny though because those who are on my team now I only know because of soccer.

2009 Gym Class Heroes Team

Soccer is one of those things that will always be a part of my life. Even when I am no longer able to play, I would love to try coaching again at any age level. And though I am far from the best player on the field, I love to play. The competitive nature is a great stress releaser plus its a great means of exercise. It really is one of the highlights of my week. I hope to continue playing for many years to come.

Side Note: I tried getting a team photo after our games tonight, but everyone was so tired and ready to go home after two long games I was unsuccessful.

11
Nov
2013

My Week of Dinners

categories: Life & Adventures

I figured I would make this topic a monthly occurrence. It seems that once a month I have an overload of dinner events in one weeks time. This is a perfect opportunity to share with all of you and document it for my own memories.

Monday
Nick and I had his uncle and family over for dinner the night before. I haven’t made my own spaghetti sauce in quite a few years. I figured this was a great time to break out my old recipes and see what I could concocked. After a few twerks, I think I came up with a pretty decent sauce. To go along with the sauce I made turkey meatballs, spaghetti, and Caesar salad. Of course I made too much, so we had the leftovers for dinner on Monday night.

Tuesday
This week was Deirdre’s night to host. I must say, she hit this one out of the park. She kept an autumn theme to her meal by making roasted pork with an apple topping, sweet potato hash, and sautéed green beans. We finished the meal with a sour cream apple pie. Every last bit of it was amazing.

Wednesday
Sabrina, Jamie, Joyce, and I had our monthly dinner date. There is a local Italian chain that opened up a new restaurant in the area. We decided to try out the new location. To start we had Italian nachos which consisted of fried ravioli noodles, Italian sausage, Asiago cheese, and various other toppings. It was actually quite delicious. For my main course I had tortellini with mushrooms, tomatoes, broccoli, and hot peppers. This was also very tasty, but boy was it spicy!

Thursday
I had been having a very long and difficult week at work. Nick was aware of this so he decided to cook me a dinner of grilled cheese and tomato soup. There is something so simple and enjoyable about this traditional childhood comfort food. Being the lover of spicy food that he is, Nick decided to add in jalepenos to his sandwich.

Friday
Nick’s parents had the family over for dinner to spend some quality time with their relatives from out of town. We had homemade broccoli and sausage pizza, cheese pizza, shrimp scampi, and various other snacks. Unfortunately I was so wrapped up in conversation I forgot to get a picture of my meal. But trust me, it was Nick’s dad’s cooking, so it was delicious.

Saturday
Every few Saturdays I bartend for the day at a pub in my parents town. You really can not go wrong with any of the food they serve. However, since the past week had been full of carbs for dinner I stuck with a greens salad with grilled chicken, walnuts, gorgonzola, and balsamic vinaigrette. Again, I was busy serving customers so I was not able to get a quick picture of my meal. But I am sure you can picture it.

Sunday
Today we celebrated Nick’s grandfather’s 80th birthday. Most of the extended family went out to a local Italian restaurant. It was a very nice afternoon of good food and family time. Nick and I shared a small caesar salad, which sadly had a tad too much garlic. My meal however was delectable. I had rigatoni and chicken in a spicy tomato sauce. And of course you can’t forget the birthday cake. Yellow cake with strawberry filling and whipped cream frosting. MmmmMmmm!

08
Nov
2013

Quattro Meets Kato

categories: Quattro the Malamute

It is strange how social media can connect people in so many different ways. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter…they are all a part of our every day lives and can bring you in contact with the most coincidental situations. We had a pretty crazy experience this past year that brought together Quattro and his brother.

(more…)

05
Nov
2013

It’s a Mexican Fiesta!

categories: Festivities

Every quarter my LM ladies and I like to get together outside of the confines of work. A time for us to actually see each other rather than communicating through instant messenger. A time for us to talk about something other than spreadsheets, numbers, conference calls, and reps. This weekend was our Q3 (a little late…oops!) gathering!
Theresa and Sarah came over Saturday afternoon so we could embark on part one of our adventure. With Quattro in tow, we headed out to a park that is about 30 minutes away for a nice afternoon hike. We were a little skeptical at first since it was raining the entire way there. However, as soon as we pulled into the park the rain had let up and we were on our way. Fortunately there were still leaves on the trees. The beautiful fall colors and the amazing views were a great way to start our day. We completed about a 45 minute hike followed by a quick pit stop at a local farm for some delicious cider doughnuts.

Upon returning to my house, we figured we should keep up the active part of our day. We completed a mini yoga session to relax our minds and bodies. This was a great way for us to get ready for the festivities ahead.

The theme for the evening was Mexican. Theresa mixed up 4 or 5 different flavors of margaritas. She even made a dessert marg with frozen yogurt and tequila! For dinner, I made fajitas with a corn and black bean salad on the side. Sarah provided the snacks of tortilla chips, guacamole, and salsa! We really went all out. The rest of the evening consisted of delicious drinks, tasty food, and hilarious games. Theresa was even so gracious as to provide an “authentic” piñata for us to break open.

We rounded out the evening with a late night showing of one of our favorite Hollywood box-office hits…Pitch Perfect!

31
Oct
2013

Happy Halloween!

categories: Festivities

Ghost and goblins and witches…oh my! It’s that time of year again! I love this holiday. It is an excuse to dress up and eat lots of candy. What more could a girl want? This year is extra exciting for me. Being that it is our first year in the new house, I am very excited to be handing out candy to all of the trick-or-treaters in our neighborhood. Since we were on vacation this past week, I did not have a lot of time to prepare. Therefore, pretty much all of my decorations, baking, and pumpkin carving occurred last night. And of course, I documented the activities.

First up, we carved the pumpkin! Nick helped a little by cutting the top off for me. He isn’t one to stick his hand in the pumpkin guts and scoop out all of the insides. He left the messy part to me. I was debating about getting fancy with my carving but quickly realized I am not much of an artist. I decided to just stick with the traditional pumpkin face. I mean, it did not come out half bad for being an amateur carver.

Next up came the baking. I decided that I wanted to bring in some sweet treats to the office and also to have them for later that evening at home. I stuck with what I know best. Funfetti cupcakes with orange buttercream frosting. I found these really cute cupcake liners and decorations at Target. The cupcakes were quick and easy, and actually came out really cute!

Lastly, I saved some of the pumpkin seeds and roasted them. Nick and his brother Matt really enjoy them so I figured it would be a good snack for us to enjoy while we are passing candy out to the kiddies. The recipe for the pumpkin seeds is below.

Roasted Chipotle Pumpkin Seeds
Ingredients
Pumpkin seeds (as little or as many as you’d like!)
Olive oil
Chipotle seasoning
Pinch of salt

Directions
Preheat the oven to 300 degrees Fahrenheit.
Wash of the seeds to rid of all of the pumpkin innards.
Spread the seeds evenly out on a baking sheet.
Drizzle lightly with extra virgin olive oil.

Sprinkle on a pinch of salt and a dusting of the chipotle seasoning.
Mix the seeds, oil, and seasoning together with your hands to be sure all of the seeds are coated.
Roast in the oven for 45 minutes.

27
Oct
2013

Sunshine, Friends, and Food

categories: Life & Adventures

This past week I was able to enjoy the sunny, warm weather on the Gulf Coast of Florida. Friends of ours were married last weekend on the beaches of Longboat Key. It was a beautiful wedding with their closest family and friends. Unfortunately I was unable to attend the wedding due to the fact I was in a wedding myself in New York. However, I joined everyone the day after and was still able to spend time with friends and the newly married couple.

The week consisted of about twenty or so of our friends and family relaxing on the beach, witnessing breathtaking west coast sunsets, and just enjoying the company of each other. It truly was a great vacation. So great that we all decided it should be an annual occurrence for the gang to get together and make a trip down to Florida.

Now of course there was lots of eating involved. That typically happens while on vacation. Diet and exercise go out the window. Why not? We were indeed on vacation! Anyways, I figured I would share with you a few of my favorite spots that we dined at.

1. Joe’s Eats & Sweets
Bradenton Beach, FL

I had been here once before during a previous visit to Bradenton. As soon as we drove by the rainbow colored building and realized just how close it was to our condo, I made it a mandatory destination during the upcoming week. Joe’s is a delicious ice cream shoppe right off of Historic Bridge Street in Bradenron Beach. They make all of their ice cream on site, along with many other delicious confections (chocolate dipped Oreos and cheesecake to name a few). The first night I devoured a large chocolate dipped waffle cone full of chocolate peanut butter fudge swirl ice cream. The second visit I went with my old stand by of mint chocolate chip, also in a chocolate dipped waffle cone. Both of these treats were delectable. I highly suggest you pay this fun beach side shoppe a visit.

2. Sage Biscuit Cafe
Bradenton, FL

We were lucky to have this little treasure within walking distance of the condo we stayed at. The immediate group that stayed with us found ourselves here on a daily basis for breakfast. It is a quaint little cafe tucked into a strip mall. They offer outside seating if you wish, inside seating is just as nice. The staff is super friendly and very accommodating. What put this place over the top was their delicious fare. As a whole, we tried almost everything on the menu throughout the week and not once were we disappointed. Their trademark item is, as you would guess it, their sage biscuits. In one way or the other they can be incorporated into your meal. Whether as a base for a salmon eggs Benedict, a side to go with your Mediterranean egg skillet, or as part of the main event in the sage biscuits and gravy. Sage Biscuit Cafe is a must if you are staying in the Bradenton area. Just over the bridge on Cortez Road. You will not be sorry.

3. Bella’s Italian Cafe
Tampa, FL

Towards the end of the week we drove two of our friends to the Tampa airport. We were more than whiling to taxi them to their destination, especially since we would be able to pay a visit to the restaurant we had been craving since we booked the trip. On a previous trip to Tampa for another wedding weekend, Nick and I came across this little Italian eatery by just searching through Yelp. We left more than satisfied. Nick had chosen his old stand by of tortellini Alfredo. I however wanted to try something new. My attention was immediately drawn to the pear sachet dish. It is simply a little pasta pouch filled with cheese and pears. The sachets are then tossed in a saffron cream sauce and peas. It sounds so simple, but it is absolutely delicious. The sweet pears mixed with the rich saffron is unlike anything else. Since our first visit, we had been dying to go back. We took this opportunity of being in the Tampa area to return to Bella’s and of course, all ordered the pear sachet dish.The staff here is also very friendly and the atmosphere is relaxing. We sat on the outdoor patio during this visit which allowed us to people watch while waiting for our meal. If you are ever in Tampa, pay a visit to this restaurant and order the pear sachets. It will blow your mind. You can also take a nice walk along the little streets to the shore afterwards to enjoy a beautiful bay side sunset.

22
Oct
2013

Happy Birthday Quattro!

categories: Quattro the Malamute

If a stranger were to walk up to our dog, I am pretty certain they would not realize he is just one year old. The day we picked him up at 8 weeks old he was smaller than my parents 12 pound Bichon. Today on his first birthday, he is pushing 75+. Now I must confess I am writing this post from Bradenton, FL. Therefore I will not be spending my babies first birthday with him. As any mother would be, I am quite distraught about this. Luckily he is with my parents for the week, so he will get the attention and love that he needs!

It is hard to believe how fast the past year went, and even more crazy is how fast he grew! He went through the stages of growth like any kid does. Quattro started out as a cute little puppy, went through his awkward teenage stage where his ears were way to big for his head, and has now rounded out the year as a very handsome young man. Some of you may be laughing at my comparisons to a human, but any true dog lover will understand where I am coming from.

I am wishing our boy a very happy birthday! I hope he gets a few extra treats and a spin around the yard with his best friend Buddy the Bichon. When we return from vacation, I will be sure to shower him with love and kisses…and maybe even a birthday cake just for him.

18
Oct
2013

A Visit to the Vineyards

categories: Life & Adventures

I have previously posted about my friend Cara’s bridal shower. We in fact hosted two showers for the bride-to-be since her family lives in Upstate New York and the grooms family lives in Downstate New York. Both went off without a hitch. The next scheduled event was of course the bachelorette party. The MOH planned a wonderful weekend for the bride and her friends. We kept it small and intimate with just the bridesmaids. Liz arranged for a limo to pick us up in the morning to take us out to Long Island vineyards. Anyone who knows Cara is aware of her love for wine. So this was nothing but perfect.

It could not have been a more perfect day. The sun was shining and there was a slight breeze. We enjoyed the ride with some mimosas and good music. The tour took us through three different vineyards where we were able to enjoy a number of different wines, some lunch on one of the vineyard patios, and live music. Of course the day would not have been complete without paying a visit to a few members of the animal kingdom. We ended the days events with a hibachi dinner for six and a three hour game of Cards Against Humanities.

The bachelorette party is a day or evening devoted to the bride and her best girl friends. There are many different styles and activities ladies can partake in to celebrate the upcoming wedding. If you are indeed planning, be sure to cater the events to the brides taste. You want to make sure that she has the time of her life whether it be a day at the spa or a night out on the town.

15
Oct
2013

Autumn Chicken Stew and Pear Salad

categories: Treats

Girls Night has been a tradition for over four years. What started out as three friends going out to dinner every week, has now turned into five friends eating in and enjoying each others company. Since Deirdre, Tara, Dianna, Sabrina, and myself are all in the same town again we like to make time for each other once a week.
Going out to eat every week proved to be expensive and rushed. It was then that we decided to start a rotation of dinner parties. Each week one of the ladies cooks dinner and another brings the wine. This way we are all able to enjoy each other’s company without being pushed along by waiters and are also able to minimize the spending.

Tonight was my turn to host. I decided to use ingredients of fall. I found a few variations of chicken stew that I put my own twist on. I was able to cook this in the slow cooker saving me time in the evening. I paired the stew with a pear, gorgonzola and pecan salad. My friend Dianna is a lover of fruit and cheese so I figured I would have to incorporate the two into the meal one way or the other. Lastly, we enjoyed some buttery biscuits. Unfortunatley, I did not have the time to make these from scratch. However, the store bought biscuits that come in the tube are just as flakey and delicious.

Autumn Chicken Stew
Ingredients
1 lb chicken breast cut into cubes
1 cup chopped onions
1 cup sliced carrots
1 cup potatoes cut into cubes
2 cups butternut squash cut into cubes
1 can (14.5 oz) of low sodium chicken broth
1 can (6 oz) of tomato paste
1 cup of water
1 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1/4 cup water
3 Tbsp corn starch

Directions
Combine all of the ingredients except the corn starch and 1/4 of water into a slow cooker. Cover and cook on high for 4 hours.
Mix together the water and corn starch; stir into the stew. Continue cooking cover for 30 minutes until vegetables are tender. Serve warm.

Servings: 6

Pear, Gorgonzola, and Pecan Salad
Ingredients
10 oz bag of spring mixed greens
1 pear, cut into thin slices
1/2 cup crumbled gorgonzola
1/2 cup chopped pecans

Directions
Combine the above ingredients. Pair with your favorite vinaigrette.

Servings: 4