The Leather Anniversary

As you may already know, we stick to the traditional materials for our anniversary gift exchange (see the last two years here). This year was leather, and although that brings to mind lots of fun ideas, we kept it tame; I got Christian an engraved leather bracelet and he got me some awesome bedazzled shoes. After gifts we went out to a new restaurant, Peche Seafood Grill, where the specialty is fish grilled over an open flame.

   

After a few martinis and some key lime pie, we decided to skip town the following morning and stay resort style in a Biloxi casino. I jumped on priceline® and negotiated us a hotel room with a view. We ended up at the IP and since we don't gamble, we spent the next 24 hours sunning pool side, eating, and drinking. It was a much needed recreation of our honeymoon in Miami. 

The rest of that Cinco de Mayo Dinner

Hey we're only a month late! Well from what I can remember (way back to May 5th, 2013) the food was great and so was the company. Check it out the evidence:

Cabbage slaw for tacos

homemade guacamole (directions here)

Chipotle beef in the slow-cooker (see recipe at the bottom):

Black beans and tomatoes:

Check out Real Simple's version here

And since we're no stranger to an after dinner haircut (here), Mattie gave Christian a new summer look. 

What's the Difference Between St. Patrick's Day and Cinco de Mayo?

No one pretends to be Mexican on Cinco de Mayo!

But we sure do like the food! Tonight we're having some friends over to celebrate Mexican Independence. I will leave you with a preview and our favorite guacamole recipe:

Ingredients:
4 avocados
2 cloves of garlic (shaved)
1 tomato
about a cup of salsa
loads of lime juice
salt and cumin to taste
dollop of plain Greek yogurt

Mash it all up, stir together, drop the pits back in, and chill.

 

Easter Weekend 2013

Last Sunday was our third year hosting Easter (check out last year's here). My mom and little sis, Emmy, came to town as well as C's mom. We had a great time taking them around to all our favorite spots and cooking as one big family on Easter Sunday. Here are some of the places we hit up and the big meal that closed it out:

Friday morning we took them to the best breakfast spot in town: Cake Cafe. They make fresh pastries daily and the best fried oysters in town!

Courtesy of Cake Cafe

Saturday night we went to Bacchanal. It was really crowded, so we sat in their newly renovated upstairs. We couldn't hear the music or enjoy the weather, but we were glad we got a table at all considering how quick they fill up and how long folks linger. 

Sunday: After mass at St. Francis Seelos in the Bywater. We went to Mr. B.'s Bistro for brunch. 

waiting for our table with bloody mary's 

feelin' it 

We rushed home from brunch and began the preparation for Easter dinner.

Here's what was on the menu:

Appetizers: pears with blue cheese and proscuitto, deviled eggs. cheese plate 

I keep my Deviled Eggs super simple and they are delicious.

Step 1: boil the eggs (best results come when I bring the water to a boil with eggs already submerged, boil 1 minute, remove from heat, steam 3 min, remove from water ASAP). Shells usually come off with ease, especially if I run them under cold water. 

Step 2: cut eggs in half, remove yolk. Add to the yolks sweet pickle relish, mayonnaise, yellow mustard, dash of hot sauce, ground pepper to taste. Mash with a fork.

Step 3: Scoop egg mixture into a ziplock bag, seal, cut off a corner (to mimic a pastry bag). Pipe into eggs.

Step 4: Sprinkle with paprika and chill 

Dinner: leg of lamb, spring pea salad, nicoise salad, mac and cheese

best mac and cheese yet!

mmm lamb + mint jelly 

nicoise salad and spring pea salad

And we eat...

Dessert: lemon pound cake with honey vanilla neufchatel cheese and fresh fruit

till next year...

With Love from Pensacola

After Mardi Gras ended, we headed East to meet my mom and sis in Pensacola Beach. Although it never got above 65 degrees, it was a relaxing Mardi Gras decompression trip and much needed rendezvous. We also celebrated our "years together" anniversary (8 and counting). On Valentine's Day C and I went to The Grand Marlin, for lots of raw oysters among other things. We actually went there three times in our brief 4 day visit; the oysters were that good!

Cynthia came to visit on Friday.

Another trip to Joe Patti's:

On Saturday we met up with my cousin, Jillian, and baby Mia in Navarre. 

On the way back to New Orleans, we stopped in Mobile and Christian's mom made us brunch: grillades and grits.