Dinner at Mama Moran's

Corey and I had the pleasure of being served dinner last night by his mom, Joan. She's a great cook and, lucky for us, one of her New Year's resolutions is to get together with us at least once a month for dinner. Last night, she cooked up quite the spread for us to enjoy. To add to the fun, Spence was in town and was able to join us as well.

On the menu was:

• Artichoke dip with tortas and salad in homemade parmesan shells as appetizers
• Beef and shrimp kabobs with a cilantro dipping sauce, twice baked potatoes, roasted vegetables for dinner
• Bread pudding for dessert

Obviously we didn't leave hungry - everything was delish!

Looking forward to repaying the favor and cooking something up for her in February!

With the homemade parmesan shell, it felt like we were in a fancy restaurant!

Roasted veggies, kabobs and twice baked potatoes...oh my!

Don't tell Roxy, she'll get an inferiority complex...

...and she already has a Napoleonic one. A study was conducted to rank breeds based on obedience and working intelligence, and French Bulldogs ranked 58th in the group just above "Lowest Degree of Working/Obdeience Intelligence." Her group supposedly obeys the first command about 30% of the time--not sure if that factors in leaves or squirrels. And according to the AKC, "their main role is that of a lap warmer." Fair enough on both counts.

In case you're curious, the Border Collie is #1, Poodle is #2...Golden Retriever is #4, so there's a lot of pressure on Moorea...Here's the complete ranking:

http://petrix.com/dogint/intelligence.html

-Corey

New Recipe - #4

Tonight, I tackled our forth new recipe - Italian Sausage Soup with Tortellini. It was super easy (or as Corey would say --- 'souper easy') and very yummy!

Jenny's Rating: 4 stars
Corey's Rating: 4 stars

This will definitely be in our rotation in the future.

Note: I used spicy Italian sausage and we liked the extra kick it provided. And for next time, I'll use a large can of diced tomatoes (I used a large can of whole peeled tomatoes this time).

Bang!

Corey's spent a few minutes each night over the past week or so working on a new trick with Roxy. She's just about gotten the hang of it.

Check it out!

Take 1

Take 2

Brunch with the Asher Bunch

Over the weekend, Sandy and Adam invited us over to their new house (so cute!) in Kirkland for brunch (including Ina Garten's Smoked Salmon Frittata - delish!) with the rest of the Asher clan - Katy, Tyler, and their twins, Hannah and Charlotte.

It was so fun to see Hannah and Charlotte again - they've just turned three months old and have grown a lot since we saw them at the end of October. We also got to see Addison (Sandy and Adam's daughter). She's almost two and has changed so much over the past few months. She was so good - she entertained herself for most of the time we were there, playing with all her fun toys.

Brunch was yummy and it was so fun to catch up with all the Ashers.

Here are a few photos of the twinsies:

Little Miss Hannah.

Love the faces she makes at just the right time.

Katy and Miss Charlotte - she also has some great facial expressions!

New Recipe - #3

Corey and I made our third new recipe this past weekend - Chicken Tamale Casserole. My boss' wife, Linda, made this recipe recently and recommended it to me.

It was super easy (and quick!) to make and was super yummy. It tasted just like tamales but since it's in casserole form, it doesn't take nearly as much time and effort to make as actual tamales.

We'll definitely make this again but will just add some seasoning to the chicken. The recipe doesn't call for it but since it's put on top of the casserole and not mixed in, it would be even better with some seasoning on it (cumin, salt & pepper, and Cayenne pepper).

Jenny's Rating: 3-1/2 stars
Corey's Rating: 3-1/2 stars

Fun with Frosting

If you remember, I received a mechanical icing kit from my fabulous mother-in-law for Christmas. I was able to put it to good use for the first time this weekend to frost some pumpkin bread muffins with cream cheese frosting that we took with us for brunch at Sandy and Adam's house.

The icing kit was so fun to use and though I'm not a pro, the final result was much better if I'd just done it by hand.

Thanks again Joan!

Did You Know...

...that this week is International Blog Delurking Week? Who knew there was such a thing?! I certainly didn't until I saw my friend Natalie's blog earlier this week. Bloggers around the world this week ask their readers - both new and faithful - to delurk and leave a comment!

We started our blog right after we got married in July 2008 and we've loved being able to capture memories of the many fun times we've shared together, with Roxy, our families and our friends. Thanks to those of you who follow our blog, regardless of how interesting the content may be to you.

I know we have a few loyal readers out there that don't comment. How do I know you read our blog? Well, you bring things up in conversation that you'd only know if you read the blog (obviously, I'm quite the detective). Now's your chance to leave your first comment!

Whether you're a first-time reader, first-time commenter, or long-time subscriber (thanks!), please leave a comment, letting me (and any other readers) know who you are and where you live. You don't even need to set up an account if you don't already have one - simply leave your comment 'anonymously', and just include your name in the body of your comment.

Ready....set....comment!

New Recipe - #2

Tonight, we attempted Lime, Ginger & Cilantro Chicken. It was very easy - with just a few simple ingredients, it only took 10 minutes or so to put this together. We both liked the lime flavor but think we'll add more ginger and garlic next time.

Jenny's Rating: 3 stars
Corey's Rating: 3 stars

New Recipe - #1

To get started tackling our New Years resolution to cook at least two new recipes per month, Corey and I made our first new dish tonight: Baked Ziti.

It was pretty easy to prepare, it just took some time to get everything all put together and then it had to bake for 30 minutes.

It turned out delicious and we will definitely be making it again. Next time, we'll probably just put it together the night before and then bake it the day of.

Jenny's Rating: 3-1/2 stars

Corey's Rating: 3-1/2 stars

A Look Back at 2009 - Continued

Though I already posted a recap of our 2009 highlights, after seeing an awesome video Natalie put together recapping their year, I had to steal her great idea and put together a video of photos from over the course of 2009. (Thanks for the tips, Natalie!)

Enjoy!

Moran Family 2010 Resolutions

With the start of a new year, Corey, Roxy and I came up with some resolutions to work on throughout 2010.

Corey
- Run a half marathon.

Jenny
- Run two half marathons or a half marathon and a full marathon.
- Run at least one 5K.
- Lose 10 lbs before our Maui trip in March.

Corey & Jenny
- Cook at least two new recipes per month (photos and recipes to be posted right here!).
- Get seven or more hours of sleep at least four nights per week.

Roxy
- Roam free (outside of my crate and pen) without getting into trouble while my mom and dad are gone, allowing them to take down the baby gates and fix the walls I've chewed.

Watch for blog posts on our resolutions to help keep us on track!

Happy New Year!

To ring in the New Year last night, we headed out to the Reeders' with the Gossetts.

First stop was dinner at the Fall City Roadhouse - good food and even better dessert (you'll see why below). After dinner, we'd planned to hit up the Snoqualmie Casino to test our luck at the tables and slot machines but when getting close and seeing that people were parking a half mile away and hoofing it in, we decided that it would be a madhouse inside.

We headed back to the Reeders' to play Lips (this Christmas gift has already provided hours of entertainment - thanks Elliott!) and had a fun time singing, goofing around, enjoying delicious glasses of prosecco and champagne, and then counting down to 2010.

Some photo highlights are included below or you can see the full set here. Thanks Lisa & Jason for a fun night!

Hope everyone had a safe and happy night!

Our handsome hubbies...

And their hot wives...

Natalie and I shared this decadent dessert. You can tell by the 'J heart N' on the left. Clearly.

Group shot with our new friend Christmas Tree.

Gossetts getting into Lips.

The look on Corey's face is priceless - is it amazement or disbelief that Jason and Chris are such good singers? Not sure, but I've seen this look many times before...

Hey you two - it's not midnight yet!

Reeder family portrait - I hope this makes the 2010 holiday card!

Corey enjoyed a glass of champagne (from one of the bottles we received as a wedding gift and were saving for a special occassion)!

Apparently Lips just makes you want to get up and dance..."Just Dance"!