Frantz and Donnie come to town

Our weekend rocked.

Awesome weather, lots of pool and boat floating, paddling, great food, fabulous friends- totally fun and relaxing.

The work week is not proving to be quite so relaxing, so we'll have to make this quick. 

One of my very favorite persons came to play for the weekend.

My college roomie Lauren, aka Frantz, and her boyfriend Donnie rolled into town late on a rainy Friday night, and we were greeted with blue skies and sunshine when we woke up the following morning.

 We spent a fabulously laid back day pool floating and paddling, enjoying a fun little concession stand style lunch from Rocket Billy's and soaking up the sweet river sunshine.



a very rare action shot with both of us in it- thanks Frantz!

Home for quick showers and back on the boat to cocktail cruise our way to Urbanna for dinner.



I mean seriously, how cute is he?!

Dinner and drinks at Cafe Mojo (delicious), then speeding home across the river narrowly dodging a storm.

Fabulous times had by all- can't wait for them to visit again!

Cheers! Hemingway Daiquiris

I've probably mentioned this one a few times on here,
it's definitely a house favorite.


what's that? you love my etched crab glasses? aww thanks, me too! 

I came across this delightful little concoction when we were living in the Outer Banks and I was researching beachy/fishermen approved cocktail recipes for the tournament book.

I've seen several variations of the tale, but the general gist of the story is that this was Ernest Hemingway's drink at his favorite watering hole in Havana, Cuba.

How neat is this little divided glass bowl?

I picked it up at a thrift shop a few months ago, it's great for holding cut lemons and limes for a bar set up at parties.

Not particularly practical for juice holding, but it looks cool.

And let's be honest, sometimes that's all that matters.



Hemingway Daiquiris

(our version anyways)

2 oz. rum (light or dark, they both work great)

1 oz. fresh squeezed lime juice

3 oz. fresh squeezed grapefruit juice

1 oz. simple syrup (simply put: sugar water)

*Some versions of the drink include maraschino liqueur- we use a splash of simple syrup instead*

Anthony strains the pulp out, I like it so I don't.
Pour over ice and enjoy!

Pops: Mango-Raspberry-Kiwi

When these showed up on skinnytaste.com a few weeks ago I knew I had to make them.

Fortunately, triple digit temps have made for the ideal opportunity to make this colorful and refreshing treat.

Pretty and delicious!

Recipe here.

Yes, her pictures are way better than mine. But if you didn't see it on her blog, then you're welcome for sharing it here so I can at least direct you to the professionals.

 



Dinner Party: London Broil, Spinach Bacon Salad, Twice Baked Potato Casserole

We hosted a nice little dinner party for friends this weekend.

It was *supposed* to be a dinner cruise on the creek.

The weather was not on board with our plans, as it rained all afternoon/evening. 

Back up plans brought the party to our house, where I had to forgo some of the cute planned boat details, but of course the wonderful company (and food if I do say so myself) more than made up for the absence of river views.

I'll save some fun things for when/if we actually get to do the cruise.

For now, I'll share menu/recipe details.

Homemade Crab Dip

*caught and hand picked by yours truly of course.

I'll share that recipe later.

I don't think anyone really needs the veggie dip recipe.

You should already know that Hidden Valley dip packets w/sour cream is the only way to go.

Spinach Salad with Warm Bacon Dressing

I love this recipe. It's one of our favorites.

Twice Baked Potato Casserole

(this calls for a ridiculous amount of cheese and sour cream.

I cut back on both, especially the sour cream)

Dessert provided by friends!
(fabulous strawberry-blueberry-pudding-angel food cake trifle)

Honey Lime Tilapia with Blueberry Lime Salsa

Another absolutely amazing fish and salsa combo-

*Disclaimer: I've never taken a picture of a fish meal that I thought was attractive. This is no exception. Go to the recipe's original site to see lovely pictures. You won't find any here.*

Nice little fruity salsa

(I did, of course, add a little diced jalapeno to mine)

Blueberry Lime Salsa

Green beans and some of my very own little grape tomatoes

Fantastic weeknight meal.

The honey that you drizzle on the fish at the end is the best surprise when you hit a good sweet bite.

Will definitely be doing this again.

Loving this blog's recipes too, more to come.

Recipe here

Squirrels Game with Friends

Gotta love a fun Thursday night out with
some of your favorite people!

About 12 of us got together for a Richmond Squirrels baseball game followed by a little bar visit last night.

Great friends, huge beers, fantastically unhealthy ballpark food and fireworks makes for an awesome summer night.

Getting home at 1:30 am on a school night does not make for an awesome morning.

Is today painful? Oh yea.

Worth it? Definitely.

Enjoy some iPhone pics.

the awesome 32 oz beers

friends!

Banana Cream Pie Pudding Push Pops

Last Friday I invited my family over for dinner.

In doing so, I was a bit ambitious as far as my time and my to do list.

Like I had all the time in the world, I planned my menu and decided on fresh salsas, sauces, large batch cocktails, the works- all homemade. Umm... I work all day. Why I thought I had time to do all of this is beyond me. I even got to the gym after work, leaving me less than 2 hours to get my preparations done (including the time that it takes you to realize that even though you thought your house was looking pretty clean, it's not really "company clean")

In what I refer to as Top Chef quick fire/Tazmanian Devil form, I knocked out my to do list and even managed to whip up a quick sneaky little dessert that would have made Food Network's Sandra Lee proud, with my Semi-Homemade Banana Cream Pie Pudding Push Pops.

The secret ingredient:

hehe

Snack Pack to the rescue baby.

("I thought I was your Snack Pack"... name that movie)

Layered Banana Cream Pie Pudding, fresh banana slices and crushed 'Nilla Wafers, topped with a little Cool Whip.  

Everything's more fun when it's in a push pop.

Dinner Party: Grilled Chicken Kabobs with White BBQ Sauce, Jalapeno Corn & Chipotle-Lime Potatoes

My fam recently joined us for dinner.

The weather was just perfect for grilling and dining al fresco. 

The chicken and corn parts of this meal are tried and true standbys that I came across in Southern Living last year for my mom's birthday dinner. Definitely some of my favorites.

Smoky Chicken Kabobs recipe here.

Grilled Jalapeno Lime Corn on the Cob recipe here

(I make up that jalapeno butter for my cornbread sometimes too- yum!)

The white bbq sauce (not pictured) is delicious.
I'd eat it on just about anything.

The Chipotle and Lime Roasted Potatoes were a tasty little Pinterest find (imagine that) that looked like a good fit for my menu.

Nice little summer dinner, which was of course accompanied by an amazing queso dip and easy margaritas, to be shared another time!

Citrus Fish Tacos with Grapefruit & Avocado Salsa

We've been on a fish and salsa kick and have come across some really fantastic combinations.

I was probably initially attracted to this recipe because the blogger talks about her love for Poe's Tavern on Sullivan's Island.

Fish tacos, beers and one of my favorite bars ever - uhh yea, I think we'd be fast friends.

Plus her food pictures are lovely

I really shouldn't even be showing mine then linking you to hers.

It's not good for my self esteem.

I loved the tartness of the grapefruit followed by the heat from the jalapeno, which is then cooled off by creamy avocado. Delicious!

I'm really pretty in love with this blog now and will definitely be trying out more of her great recipes soon.