New Recipes - #7 & #8

We paired two more new recipes together this week for a yummy dinner: Kicked Up Tuna Melt and Tomato Basil Soup. Corey doesn't typically like tuna sandwiches or tomato soup but for some reason, he was craving both this week so he dug up these good recipes.

Tuna Melt
Jenny's Rating: 3-1/2 Stars
Corey's Rating: 3-1/2 Stars

Tomato Basil Soup
Jenny's Rating: 3 Stars
Corey's Rating: 2-1/2 Stars

The sandwiches were good and there was tons of leftover for lunches. Corey thought they'd have been better on English muffins vs. focaccia bread.

I thought the soup was yummy, but Corey thought it was just 'okay' and would have been better if we'd made it with cream.

New Recipe - #6

This week, we made a few new recipes; one of which was Baked Macaroni and Cheese. It was super easy and made for a great comfort meal.


I mean, really, is there anything that wouldn't be good when topped with panko bread crumbs??


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

New Recipe - #5.5

After trying red velvet for the first time when Lisa brought over a red velvet cake for the Super Bowl, I thought it would be fun to make red velvet cupcakes to enjoy for dessert with Corey's mom after dinner last night.

Corey wouldn't let me count this towards our new recipe resolution, but I had to post the pics Corey took and the recipe since it was pretty easy and they turned out pretty good.

And to top it off, I was able to use the cake plate my parents gave me for Christmas and the pastry decorating kit Joan gave me for Christmas.

Jenny's Rating: 3-1/2 stars

Jenny's Lesson Learned: Some of the cupcakes were a tad over cooked so I need to pull them out of the oven sooner next time, even if the tops aren't completely cooked.

Frenchie Frolic

Last time we were at the dog park, a couple with a Frenchie mentioned Frenchie Frolics to us - a group of people who all have Frenchies and get together once a month so all the pups can play together. We found the group online and signed up to receive notifications on when they were meeting and we decided that we'd take Roxy to today's play date.

Not only did Roxy have a blast (as we expected), we had a blast seeing 25+ Frenchies running around, slobbering, snorting, and chasing each other. There were Frenchies of all different shapes, sizes and colors and there were quite a few black Frenchies, several of which looked similar to Roxy, right down to the pink collar. If you didn't look closely, it was easy to mistake one of them for Roxy as they flew past us. The play dates are an hour long but 30 minutes in, you could see that all the pups were starting to lose steam and were throwing themselves down to rest.

Looking forward to next month's play date!

Here are a few photos that Corey snapped today.

Does Roxy have a twin?

In and out: the pups loved running from the indoor area, down the ramp to the outdoor area and back.

Checking out the competition...

Leapin' around. (If you look closely, you'll see that all four paws are off the ground - too cute!)

Me and our tired little pup...

We Love Long Weekends

In honor of Presidents' Day, Corey and I both had today off. (Well, Corey did have to go into the office for a bit, but still technically had most of the day off.) Having an extra day really helps the weekend feel so much longer, we're able to get more done and spend more time together. I think all weekends should be three days!

In addition to the normal weekend activities (cleaning, grocery shopping, laundry), we finally, finally, hung some pictures that had been sitting in our guest bedroom since we moved in...two and a half years ago!

We went out to three yummy dinners, saw Valentine's Day (very cute!), celebrated Valentine's Day with dinner at Volterra, which was absolutely delicious. The prix-fixe, four-course meal was amazing and combined with a great bottle of wine (yes, Corey enjoyed wine, too!), it was the perfect way to celebrate.

We woke up to a nice day and decided to top the weekend off with a trip to Discovery Park. This is the same park I spent many hours running many miles in last summer training for the marathon but we hadn't actually taken Roxy there since celebrating Valentine's Day last year. She had an absolute blast and it was fun to see how much she's grown up since our last trip there last year (i.e. walked much further, got less tired).

Hope you all had a happy Valentine's Day! I'll leave you with a few photos of our park outing.

Super Bowl 2010

For the big game between the Colts and the Saints, we had the Gossetts, Reeders and Ashlie over to enjoy some food while taking in the game.

Of course, we all ate too much, and even though the Colts lost (which is who Corey was rooting for), we had lots of fun together and shared some good laughs, as you can tell in the photos below. Side note: I don't think Roxy's crate has seen as much human action in her year and a half as our dog as it did this weekend.

Two-thirds of the crew: Chris, Ashlie, Roxy, Natalie & Corey.

And the rest of the crew: Lisa & Jason.

Some of us enjoyed the game more than others. Roxy actually put herself to sleep in our room...something she never does when she can get attention from our guests instead.

So glad Natalie is a such a good sport - everyone is always trying to get her to fit in small places.

Lisa's turn...

Roxy doesn't like that someone's been sleeping in her bed.

Cuddle time!

A Friend-Filled Brunch

It had been awhile since we'd gotten together with the Shawvers and Allen's so Corey and I thought a brunch at our place was in order. We (well, to be honest, mostly he) cooked up smoked salmon frittata (which we were introduced to a few weeks ago by Sandy Asher) and red potato hash browns (including blue cheese, rosemary and other yummy spices). Add in some yummy fruit salad and yogurt (courtesy of the Allens), delish monkey bread (courtesy of the Shawvers), and a mimosa or two, and you have yourself a breakfast of champions!

We had a great time catching up and watching Luci and Roxy play together. Luci loved feeding Roxy treats (she probably had 15 or so!) and Roxy loved giving Luci kisses. They were a match made in heaven.

Here are a few photos. These plus a few more can be found here.

Heidi, Luci (who's blowing us kisses) and Ben.

Luci loves smiling for the camera!

Kevin & Jen

Apparently, with all the pillows and blankets, Roxy's crate is an appealing place for a toddler to hang out.

New Recipe - #5

Tonight, we whipped up our fifth new recipe - Giada's Broiled Salmon with Herb Mustard Glaze. It was extremely easy and super quick. We paired it with some brown rice and corn on the cob for a simple and delicious dinner.

Jenny's Rating: 4 stars
Corey's Rating: 4-1/2 stars

New BFFs?

Roxy may have found a new best friend forever (BFF) last night.

Lisa invited us over for a delicious dinner and to watch the season premiere of Lost and lucky for Roxy, she was included in this invitation so that she and Moorea could entertain themselves.

Roxy and Moorea hadn't yet met but I'd say they hit it off, as you can tell from the photos and video below. They played, wrestled and chased each other around the kitchen island for over 2 hours.

Anyone who knows Roxy knows that she gets hot quickly when playing --- she kept throwing herself down on the Reeders' hardwood floors to give her belly a chance to cool off. Too cute.

Roxy can't wait for their next play date.

We've come to realize that the more she plays, the more Roxy looks crazy...(Note this is really the only good 'action' photo. They were too quick for us to get any others, which is why most of the remaining photos are of them worn out. That's why watching the video is so important!)

Only to get worn out...

Sometimes, when you're really tired, bringing out the frog legs seems like a good idea.

Whew! What a workout!

Naptime!

WATER! Miss Moorea waited very patiently for her turn.

Love this - exact same position for both pups. They really are BFFs.

They both kept throwing themselves down to relax and cool off.

Awww cute pup!

Chillin'.

Love this precious face. Note the wet hair from all the playing.

And last but not least, a video of all the action.