Coming Up List

Fall is just around the corner and I couldn't be more excited!! It is without a doubt my favorite season even if for the last couple of years I have been experiencing the hot New Orleans version. With fall comes lots of fun things and I love a good list; so without further adieu...

• September 7: Labor Day (3 day weekend)
• September 13: Saints regular season begins!
• September 23: First official day of fall :)
• October 11: The Walking Dead season 6 premiere 
• October 22 & 23: Hanson concert (2 night event) at the House of Blues...yes, that Hanson!
• October 31: Halloween
• November 6-8: Girl's Weekend with mom, Judy & Nita!
• Date TBD: begin re-watching Twin Peaks because it feels like a cooler weather kind of show

Food Adventures

I decided to compress a few posts into one with the theme of FOOD :)

I made mini no-bake cheesecakes for Lace's birthday at work. Key Lime, Blackberry, Blueberry, and Raspberry. A fruity sweet treat for everyone!

For Sara's last day at work she requested a "Potato Fest" family meal! I made a Pinterest Potato Salad, Lace made Potato Gratin (with sweet potatoes!), Angelica whipped up some Rally Fries, and Tariq set up a lovely Baked Potato bar! So much bacon, cheese and potatoes- it was great! A company-wide potato coma ensued afterwards!

While at the gas station purchasing an emergency Redbull on Friday I spotted a display of Lays chips with some unique flavors. They are conducting a nationwide vote to see which flavor they will continue to make. 

From left to right: Southern Biscuits & Gravy, Western Style Truffle Fries, New York Reuben, and Greektown Gyro. They each smelled and tasted just like their names imply. I invited everyone at work to try them out (no, I did not purchase these for my personal consumption). Surprisingly the Reuben was my favorite, followed by the Truffle Fries. None of them were gross, but I don't need to buy them again either. Fun taste testing though :)

Tractor Pull

The same day that I went to Movie Sarah's baby shower I had to book it back up the interstate to attend the Augusta County Fair's tractor and truck pull. It had been nearly a decade since I had indulged in this redneck lover's extremely loud display of engine power. The last pull I attended was inside the coliseum at the Virginia Horse Center. This one took place outdoors so the excessive smoke and noise had plenty of room to spread!  

A tractor nearing the end of its pull- note the front tires are off the ground. Not every tractor produced that much smoke-thanks goodness!

Mom & I and Uncle John & Dad sitting on the hill taking all of the sights in

A truck at the end of the track. Good view of the weight that they pull behind them.

Being a county fair, they had all of the yummy fried treats that are required of these events. Fried Oreos and funnel cakes!

There were also the typical rides to enjoy.

We were there for over six hours watching all sorts of vehicles pull. Our reason for going in the first place was to watch Bryan pull. He recently obtained an old tractor that he has souped up so he and a friend made a few pulls placing in the top three. It is a nice hobby for the boys to get into! Mom seems to enjoy watching too :)

Big Cheezy

OMG this sandwich should be outlawed. Some genius at The Big Cheezy on Broad Street thought "I wonder if people would eat macaroni and cheese with bacon on a grilled cheese sandwich?" and soon discovered that the answer was "YES!" Let me repeat what is going on in this picture: macaroni and cheese, a layer of crispy bacon, and then more slices of cheese grilled between two butter pieces of bread. Waffled fries also pictured. Also delicious.

Holy heart attack! But holy delicious! This is not something to eat on a weekly, or even monthly basis, but when that super cheesy craving hits, The Big Cheezy can hook you up!

Besides this slice of heaven, they have a variety of other fancy grilled cheese sandwiches as well as an option to create your own. With a buy 14, get the 15th free deal, I think it would take me a while to get all of my punches, but not for lack of awesomeness, but for the sake of my waistline!

Don't Call the Plumber!

I am so stinkin' handy! I tell ya... with YouTube anything is possible! Post flush the other night I noticed a hissing sound coming from the back of the toilet. After a few test flushes to see if the problem would remedy itself I contemplated my options. It was too late to call dad lest I wake him and a text to my brother went without response, so I turned to the trusty world wide web for assistance. A quick "toilet making hissing sound" search landed me on a YouTube page where a gentleman demonstrated step-by-step how to check in the little filter thing for debris that may be causing air to enter and thus create a hissing sound. 

After watching the 2 minute video I felt prepared to conquer this man-made amenity. I turned the water off to the toilet, let it drain about half way out of the tank then reached my hand in to twist the filter loose and pop the top off. Sure enough, inside was a piece of black gasket floating around. I removed the culprit before re-assembled everything, turned the water back on, flushed and voila! No more hissing! I am unsure of the importance in replacing the dry rotted gasket, but so far everything has been smooth flushing since the procedure was completed. 

 Who needs a man? Am I right? Haha!

Baby Finn's Shower

I had the pleasure of attending Movie Sarah's baby shower in Roanoke the other weekend! I haven't seen her or Tony (or Roommate Sarah or Lane) since Roommate Sarah's wedding coming up on two years ago!!! Hollie, Sarah's sister, threw a spectacular Harry Potter themed shower. She went all out on incorporating aspects of the books into the games, the food, and the decor. All of the guests were asked to sign a copy of the first HP book for Finn! I can tell she put a lot of time and effort into everything!

It was so great to be able to catch up with all of the Sarahs even if it was only for a few hours. Finn Archer's anticipated debut is mid November and he is guaranteed to be smart, easy going and funny with parent's like his! I can't wait to book a trip to Washington to visit them :)

 Momma with baby, and Dad wearing an awesome Ice-T and Ice Cube t-shirt!!!

Katie's Chocolate Club: July

A little late on the post, but I promise that I consumed these gorgeous chocolate creations in the month of July! This time I went with Christopher Elbow's signature collection. The packaging was very similar to Sucre's with individual cavities for each cupped chocolate and a hand-tied bow. 

Look at how pretty and colorful these were! The majority of the box container slab cut pieces with cocoa butter transfers on top (the rounded square one), the other half was various shaped molds sprayed with color. 

TOP ROW

Rosemary: caramel infused with fresh rosemary in a dark chocolate shell

Venezuelan Dark: dark chocolate ganache of 70% cacao from Venezuela

Fleur de Sel: caramel infused with Grey French Sea Salt

Fresh Mint: milk chocolate ganache infused with fresh locally grown mint

PB&J: crunchy peanut butter topped with apricot jelly

Coffee: dark chocolate ganache infused with fresh ground coffee

Passion Fruit: caramel made with tropical passion fruit

MIDDLE ROW

Champagne: milk chocolate ganache blended with French champagne

Fresh Lemon: fresh lemon marmalade and lemon infused white chocolate ganache

Venezuelan Spice: dark chocolate ganache infused with a chile spice blend

Strawberry Balsamic: caramel blended with strawberries and aged balsamic vinegar

Coconut Almond: white chocolate-coconut ganache topped with fresh almond marzipan

Vanilla Bean: caramel infused with Madagascar vanilla beans

Earl Grey Tea: dark chocolate ganache infused with Earl Grey tea from Hugo Tea Co.

BOTTOM ROW

Lavender: caramel infused with French lavender

Raspberry: raspberry pate de fruit topped with dark chocolate raspberry ganache

Macadamia Praline: caramelized macadamia nuts blended with milk chocolate and se salt

KC Whiskey: dark chocolate ganache blended with locally made Rieger Whiskey

Lime Vanilla: fresh lime juice and vanilla bean blended into a buttery caramel

Extra Dark: 85% bittersweet dark chocolate ganache

Bananas Foster: bananas, cinnamon and brown sugar flambeed with rum

My favorite pieces from this eclectic collection were the classic fleur de sel, lime vanilla, and macadamia praline. I appreciated their mix of common flavor combinations (coconut almond, coffee, vanilla bean, etc.) as well as the more unique blends (strawberry balsamic, rosemary caramel, and PB&J with apricot jelly). I would purchase these chocolates again.

Christopher Elbow has a location in Kansas City, Missouri and one in San Francisco. Their website shows a number of other chocolate confections available for purchase as well as candied nuts and pate de fruit. 

*all names/descriptions were copied directly from the guides provided with the collection.