Oooooh Boston you're my home

Well I accumulated more travel miles this past weekend. This time The King and I took a roadtrip to Beantown for a dear friend's wedding shower. Although we didn't quite make it into the city, it was close enough for me to get my fix. I miss that place and my people.

The King actually did really well in the car en route. We had zero crying and very little whining which was awesome. We stayed with an old college roommate, Meg, and had another old friend/roommate, Sho, stayed too. The King absolutely loves these two. It makes my heart happy to watch him play with them.

This was his face the entire time.

Meg's adorable daughter helping me. So stinking cute.

So we gossiped and caught up. Made some yummy desserts for the shower, which I probably should have shared with you now that I think about it. I'll see if I can dig them up. Stayed up way too late talking about all kinds of silly stuff, had sushi and drank some yummy wine.

The next day was the shower and also daylight savings which made things...interesting. Poor Sho slept in the room with me and The King, who was fussy and up pretty much every 30 minutes after midnight. I felt terrible but she kept a straight face when she said it was totally ok. 

On Sunday we headed over to the shower around 11 to decorate. I was zero help because I was toting The King but there were enough bridesmaids and family to make up for it. I just ran around and found staff from the restaurant to help. The King was pretty darn good and even took a little siesta amidst all the chatting hens. I think it's safe to say that all the ladies loved him and his wicked cute outfit. I, personally, am a big fan of babies in ties.

College roommates and best of friends

I did just about everything to keep him entertained.

Of course the weekend went so well that there had to be a hiccup at the end. The ride home did not go nearly as well as the ride there. The King was ridiculously overtired and cried for about half of the trip back. No exaggeration. It was hell. I tried just about everything I could to help him but he was sick of being held/buckled in. I'd hand him a toy and I'd hear him chuck it out of his seat. I had to stop four times. Nightmare.

All in all, it was worth it. I can't wait for him to see them again.

Friday recipe post - four days late

Yeah, yeah I know.

I didn't do much cooking last week because I was in DC and sick. But I did manage to squeeze in time to bake scones and make baked ziti. Neither of which are particularly challenging but delicious all the same. Papa Bear wouldn't give me credit for either one because he "hasn't been into scones lately and it's baked ziti Jen. The dog could make it."

Whatevah.

Click here for the scones recipe.

I would write out the ingredients and directions but I'm lazy and I'm not so sure I would use this one again. Don't get me wrong, they were wicked good but I think there are probably better recipes out there. I'll try them for you this weekend and share if I find something better.

If you're looking for a really easy and fast recipe, this one is for you. I was able to make them while The King was eating breakfast. I should also note that I used fresh blueberries and Pioneer Woman's Glaze recipe. I'm not really into frozen stuff for some reason.

Baked ziti.

This one does not come with a real, internet recipe. I sorta wung it with my ma's direction. Take that for what you will. It's cheesy. Need I say more?

What you need:
Box ziti or whichever noodles you prefer
Big container of ricotta - I think it's something like 16oz? I could be lying. Just buy the tallest one and use the whole thing.
2 cups of shredded mozzarella or as much as you like because it's cheese. Duh.
Favorite jar of sauce - you may want two if you like things extra saucy. Ha.
2 eggs
garlic
oregano
basil
red pepper flakes
Any other spices you like. I'm not good with spice

1. Preheat oven to 375
2. Cook noodles - I'd suggest a little al dente
3. Combine ricotta, 1.5 cups mozz, eggs, spices
4. Add wet mixture to noodles and sauce
5. Cover with extra shredded mozz
6. Bake for 35 minutes or until bubbly
7. Consume.

Again, totally nothing special or difficult but it involves cheese so it's a winner. This makes quite a bit but you can freeze it and pull it out on a day you're feeling lazy. It keeps pretty well.

I'm a culinary genius. No applause necessary.

Playing catch-up

Holy busy! Between traveling the past three weeks, The King teething, sick and starting daycare, blogging was the sacrifice. Many apologies friends.

I'll update you on all the fun stuff but will start my first back on the wagon post with last weekend's pics. I especially love them. The King spent the entire weekend mastering his best Frankenstein walk. He has officially earned Papa Bear's nickname, "Frankenweenie".

We now use the dining room furniture for a jungle gym.

Cry me a river

I'm sick. I'm tired. I've been sitting in the airport for four hours and have nearly three more to go because of delays and re-bookings. And I left my phone charger somewhere.

Need I say more?

Here's last night in pictures. We saw quite a few monuments/memorials but it was dark so picture taking was fairly limited. My favorite was WWII memorial. I hated the Korean War memorial. It was beyond creepy. I seriously didn't take a picture because I didn't want it in my phone as a reminder. Google it.

WWII

WWII

Daniel Day-Lewis

Abe stuff.

The Original King

I didn't edit any of these because I just don't feel like it and it's not really necessary.

Verdict: I like this town.

Frequent flyer

Well, I'm back on a plane.

This time I'm headed to DC for two days. Don't judge but I've never been before and while I obviously miss the family already, I'm looking forward to this work trip.

For one, I get to see lots of colleagues I speak to nearly every week but haven't seen in a year. You guessed it, this is our annual meeting. We're also getting a tour of all the historical stuff before dinner which should be really cool. I can remember absolutely zero from history class but there's something magical about standing next to it all that I really love.

But to the real point of this post. My morning commute.

Did you ever notice how people are really on edge when they're flying? I'm usually ok but this time I kind of want to karate chop someone in the throat.

First, there was actually a line at security so my plan to arrive 30 minutes before departure nearly backfired. I suppose that one is my fault but in the history of small airports, when has there ever been a full line? Besides, my flight was at 5:25 and there was no way I was getting up before 3:30 to be an hour early. So fine, I was the idiot semi jogging to the gate with three inch heels on.

To which you're probably wondering why I'd travel in such ridiculous shoes.

To which I'll respond.

One word.

Grace.

Lets all take a moment so you can laugh.

...

Ok. Onward.

So I boarded the plane on time and awkwardly made my way down, what I always swear is the narrowest aisle possible. Who draws these planes up anyway?

Here I am, nearly as tall as the cabin, lugging my carry-on stuffed with too much crap, balancing my computer bag on the other shoulder and tip-toeing to my seat all while trying to avoid the judging eyes from fellow passengers.

After what seems like an eternity I finally locate my assigned seat and much to my annoyance, find that Grandma dearest has decided get cozy in it.

Theres something about stealing someone's assigned seat that really chaps my ass. Maybe it goes back to elementary school when you get a seat on the bus, in the classroom or cafeteria and you absolutely have to sit there. No matter how bad you want to sit next to your boyfriend and hold hands under the table. No excuses.

And she didn't steal just any seat. Oh no, she snagged the window. Where I planned to rest my weary head and quietly snore my way to DC this morning.

Remember that post a while back about manners? Well I assumed all old people had them but I was wrong. This woman totally was taking advantage of holding an AARP card and knew that any decent human being would, of course, give an older person their seat if that meant they'd be more comfortable.

I knew what I had to do but I didn't like it one bit.

Our convo went a little like this.

Me - "Excuse me ma'am, I believe I have seat 15a."

Gma - before I could even finish my sentence "Yah, I know"

With a hint of tude and exasperation. From her, not me.

Me - "Ok. Well do you prefer the window? I really don't mind sitting here."

Gma - "Yes, I love the window seat"

And she turns away and hunkers down.

I wanted to say "Who doesn't love the damned window seat you crazy person? Now, you can get up!"

But I didn't. I smiled and sat down.

The broad didn't even say "Thank you".

Yes, I called her a broad. Because she lost the "sweet granny" title about an hour ago.

I know thats not the worst thing to ever happen to a person but you should have heard her toooone and seen the tude. If she didnt have a short grandma haircut she would have totally flipped her hair back behind her shoulder and gave me an eye roll.

Should I mention she's been snoring and farting the entire flight?

Or that she just woke up and gave me one of those granny taps on the leg, you know, the reassuring pat, and then went on to tell me how much she loves to look out the window!

Oh really? Well its a good thing I reserved it for you a month ago sweetpea.

And now she's telling me about her trip and grandbabies.

This is where I sign off and pretend I care because I have manners and am good at pretending I care about people who steal.

BAH!

Happy freakin Monday.

Cookin

On average, the chances of me making something edible are about 50%. Don't get me wrong, I try like hell, but at the end of the day, Papa Bear kicks my ass at the kitchen.

Which, for the most part, is fine with me. Occasionally he starts acting like he's a food network star and "kicks things up a notch". Like that time he made "stuffed meatloaf" which included leftover spanish rice, 10 garlic cloves and mozzarella in the center.

Ask me about that sometime.

So I figured on Fridays I could start sharing some of my culinary successes and dismal failures from the week.

(I should mention that all of the failures are my own damn fault and are in no way a representation of the person who thought up these yummy recipes. I just suck that much.)

Papa Bear will tell you there are a few things I'm consistently good at; breakfast food, banana-blueberry bread and banana cream pie. My sisters like my meatballs but I've lost meatball making privilege in our house to Emeril.

This week I made a banana cream pie which is a giant joke. I make about 30 of these a month and it takes a whole ten minutes.

Here's the recipe:

- Graham cracker crust - the big one, that's already made because I can't make a good crust and who has time for that.

- Box of cook and serve vanilla pudding - must be cook, not instant!
- Milk

- Four bananas

Directions: Cut up three bananas and place in pie crust. Cook the pudding according to the box. Pour it over cut up bananas. Add last banana (cut up) on top of pudding and throw her in the fridge for a while.

Voila! Real hard right? Papa Bear loves these things and will sometimes polish off the entire pie for his midnight snack. So I'm clearly doing something right and who am I to withhold a good banana cream pie?

Here's my failure this week. 

The Pioneer Woman's - Quesadilla des Camarones

I totally used the wrong sauce for these and the "giant gulf shrimp" I bought tasted like they took the long way up North from New Orleans. They must have been a month old. And no, they didn't smell weird.

I suppose that's what I get for going to the small chain grocery store.

I totally had to pretend I was enjoying the meal because let's be honest, I couldn't give Papa Bear the satisfaction of knowing that I thought it sucked too. I also had to pout a little and pretend like I was upset with Matt for not liking dinner when I "tried so hard to make something different".

I know he fed his to the dogs when I left the room.

He's been asking me for some more "Quesadilla des Camarones" all week. 

Shit head.

There you have it folks. I'd definitely try the quesadilla's again but probably not when Papa Bear is home for dinner. It's just embarrassing when we both have to eat cereal after I spent a solid hour making something terrible and wrecking the kitchen.

Whew

Oh what an interesting week it's been in Jenny-land. 

You're probably wondering where the hell I've been. Or maybe you're not because you don't really care what I'm doing and if you did, you'd probably just send me a text along the lines of "where the hell have you been?!"

Well to answer your question. I was in Houston Sunday-Tuesday which was an interesting trip that I may or may not tell you about in the near future. 

And I stayed home with The King this week, who is sick, to spite all of my efforts to disinfect every surface in the house, and he's cutting four teeth at once. Four. 

So before we kick off this weekend, I figured I'd share my pics from last weekend because I know you care.

He loved Uncle G's guitar. I'm totally encouraging him to pick this up some day.

This face kills me.

I helped put down a floor at my friends' new house. I had no clue what I was doing and was probably in the way the entire time but I actually learned a lot at the end of the day.