brooklyn – Page 7 – forEVR and always

Dinner / Movie / Mess

January 10, 2013January 17, 2013Leave a comment

Last night Jay and I decided to go to see Silver Linings Playbook (so good!) at Nitehawk! We love this movie theater! They have amazingly delicious food (clearly the most important part), a full bar (eh maybe this is most important), and its really intimate (not a huge megaplex). Check out their menu here!

(theater, how you order, ticket)

Anyways, we had a great meal (I had shrimp and fried grits oh.my.god.), we loved the movie, and it was a fun night out. Then we got home…

Where this monster had thrown up all over our comforter! YAY! It’s my own fault he overate and looks like he snacked on a toy too…poor little guy. So after a scramble to clean our mattress cover, get new sheets on, and find blankets to sleep with, we were off to bed. Always something right?

Wishing everyone a sick-dog free day!

xo-j

Lately…

January 9, 2013January 17, 20131 Comment

(our orchid is thriving…i have no idea how)

The past couple days have been busy with work for both of us. But here are some pictures of life lately…

(weirdo is obsessed with the butterfly chair. it’s his new hangout)

(he is way too loved)

(erin and i exploring at lunch found a beautiful church and indoor garden to eat our lunch)

(can’t stop eating brussel sprouts…i thought i was going to die i ate so many the other day!)

(it may not be beautiful, but those chicken tacos and beans were so delicious)

(3 more weeks…all we have to do is make it 3 more weeks until we are here ^)

xo-j

Ziti Time!

January 7, 20137 Comments

This weekend we did a whole lot of relaxing! A fun dinner at our friend’s apartment Friday, movies and fun night in Saturday, and laundry/de-christmasing the apartment Sunday. I think we both needed that kind of weekend.

On Friday I made ziti for dinner with friends and I wanted to share the recipe with you. It is a family favorite and one that I love to make!

ZITI RECIPE

What You Need:

1 – 16 oz box ziti
1 large onion (or two small)
2 tbs olive oil
8 cups sauce (I use original Francesco Rinaldi…any will work)
1 tsp basil
1/2 tsp garlic (I use a little close to 1 tsp though)
2 tbs sugar
1/2 cup ricotta
2 tbs Parmesan
1 cup shredded mozzarella (I use more like 2 cups)
Pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS

1. Finely chop up the onion…

Then cook the onion on medium heat with the oil until soft…stir constantly!

2. In a pot boil water and cook ziti for 10 minutes.

3. Once the onion is soft, add the sauce and seasonings to the onion (basil, sugar, garlic, I also add a bit of oregano, pepper, and parsley)

4. Cover and simmer the sauce mixture for 15 minutes.

yummy yummy sauce

5. Once the pasta is done and drained, and the sauce has cooked, mix the pasta and sauce in a pot. Add the ricotta and parm and mix.

6. In a glass pan, pour the pasta mixture. I do layers…put 1/2 the pasta mixture in the pan then a bit of the mozz cheese, then the rest of the pasta on top and lots of cheese….

7. Bake the ziti for 30 minutes at 375*.

Here it is…beautiful, delicious ziti!

8. Enjoy with friends…

(rondo and albus loving each other at em & reg’s while we ate)

I actually added chicken sausage for the first time on Friday and it came out amazing! To do this slice sausage into tiny bites (crumbles), then brown in separate pan, and add to sauce mixture for the 15 minutes. It was a new twist and came out really well!

I hope everyone had a great weekend!

xo-j

Then there are days…

January 4, 20131 Comment

There are days where I love nyc…when friends are visiting, going out on the town, eating amazing food, celebrating holidays, loving my neighborhood…and then there are days like yesterday…

Yesterday was 30 degrees outside but 85 degrees on the subway, we had to have the exterminator come to get rid of the mice (gross), I literally had to drag Rondo into the vet because he didn’t want to go in (and of course we were running late), I started making dinner then realized I didn’t have 1/2 the ingredients (awesome), and I think both of us are getting sick…ay! I try not to whine on here but yesterday was so frustrating…

Here are some things that remind me how good life is…even when I’m about to pass out on the subway from my jacket, there are mice crawling in our obscenely expensive apartment walls, and work is making me bananas…

(rondo and nick over on nye)

(found this weirdo in the tub yesterday just hanging out)

(this great pic julie took of rondo out with us on nye)

(shawty boom)

(oh wait…this one makes me feel queasy)

(Thanks for letting me steal all your pics Jules…you’re amazing!)

Have a wonderful weekend all!

xo-j

Back to Business

January 2, 2013January 2, 20132 Comments

I can’t believe vacation is already over and it is 2013! Christmas and New Years Eve were both wonderful…couldn’t have been better (with the exception of a trip to the dr on christmas day)! Here are some pictures of friends visiting, family, and the great time we had closing up 2012. We’re ready for our upcoming year of big changes…bring it on 2013!!

(present time!)

(rondo had a special christmas treat)

(nicks adorable kitty, visiting family in ma!)

(best friends from nc came to visit)

(the siblings on nye)

(my brother came to bk for nye!)

(can’t wait to enjoy 2013 with this guy)

I hope everyone had wonderful holidays and a happy happy new year!

xo-j

3 Years

December 13, 2012December 13, 2012Leave a comment

Last night Jay and I went to dinner for our 3 year anniversary at Marlow & Sons. Everything was so delicious and it was really nice to go out to dinner alone (we’re so busy it doesn’t happen too much!). I took some pictures but they all turned out dark…bear with me here…

(duck leg with green apples, spinach, onion, and so many spices mmm. sweet sunchokes with bacon. crostini with feta, fennel, and red onion salad)

(my man loving his chicken/lemon/rice soup. if you know jay, you know his world revolves around soup. look at the concentration!)

(table settings, menu, chalkboard menu)

(attempt to take a picture of us)

It was a really nice night, followed by the 12.12.12 concert, a double overtime Celtics win, and this little guy doing this all on his own after a walk in the cold…

He cracks us up!

xo-j

Butterball Cookies

December 11, 2012Leave a comment

(rondo investigating the cookies…good thing they were covered!)

This weekend I made my favorite cookies for Christmas/Doug’s Birthday! They are so yummy and beyond easy. I thought I would share the recipe with you today.

What You Need

1 stick butter
1/4 cup powdered sugar + some for rolling
1 cup flour
1 tsp water
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup chopped nuts (I used pecans)

Directions

Preheat to 250

1. Cream the butter and powdered sugar together in mixing bowl

2. Make sure that is all mixed up well…

3. Now add the flour, vanilla, water, and nuts. Continue to mix…I use a spoon at first then my hands for this part because I think it works better than the mixer.

4. Once it is all mixed up start rolling the mixture into about tsp size balls…

5. Place balls on a cookie sheet. No need to space, they don’t rise. Cook for 30-40 minutes.

6. Get your powdered sugar ready for rolling! The second you take the cookies out of the oven, roll them into the sugar…

7. Let cool…and you are done! Tasty simple butterball cookies!

I hope you enjoy this recipe! One of our close family friends always made them for us when we were kids and they’ve been my favorite ever since!

xo-j

Lately…

November 14, 20121 Comment

Pictures from the past couple days/week from my phone (Jay’s too)…

(still a bit of fall left in the city)

(sunbather)

(power out in my office monday…only the radio city glow giving us light)

(that’s all for now folks 😉 )

Don’t judge a book (or soup)…

November 12, 20121 Comment

The problem with a puppy is you can’t say “come on just smile at the camera for me please”…well you can, and I tried, but it doesn’t work. This ^ is the result of countless attempts of a picture together on Friday…oh well!

(rondo in his winter coat / unreal pizza from Friday night)

This weekend was nice and lax. We went to the movies (NiteHawk if you’re ever in the area go! Awesome food and such a fun atmosphere!), saw some friends, played with the little guy, and enjoyed time at home together. I also made some lentil soup to have for lunch this week…

LENTIL SOUP RECIPE

This is one of my favorites. My Mom always made it and it’s just delicious. It may look ugly, but don’t judge…the taste is unmatched!

What you will need:

In the spirit of honesty, I used a can of diced tomatoes, 2 cups stock/5 cups water, a weird amount of black pepper, and some pickle juice on the top…yup…

First get those lentils going on the stove with the water/stock…they need to come to a boil, then simmer for 45 minutes with the lid on.

Next chop up the onion, carrots, celery, tomatoes (or open the can 😉 ) and put them all in a frying pan with a couple tbs of olive oil…

Let that cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Then add all your spices (thyme, basil, oregano, garlic, s&p)…

Mix the veg & spices together and let cook for another 5 minutes, then remove from heat until your beans are ready…

Once your beans are done, mix the vegetables and beans together. Then add the lemon juice and brown sugar…mix this all up, put the lid on, and let it simmer for at least 15 minutes (the longer the better, but make sure to stir).

Then top with some vinegar, or in my case pickle juice (about a tbs), and enjoy! It may not look beautiful but my goodness it is delicious…

The perfect winter meal!

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend!

x0-j

First Snow

November 8, 201212 Comments

A hurricane last week and snow this week…NYC is having it’s share of weather mania! Above is the view from our living room window yesterday afternoon…I still can’t believe there is snow on the ground!

Rondo went for his first walk in the snow yesterday and, well, he wasn’t crazy about it…

He cracks me up in his hoodie. Here are some other pictures of the snow in Brooklyn…

At least the snow makes me feel better about listening to Christmas music already!

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