New York City (Part One)

Happy Friday everyone!  Summer vacation has me dreaming of all kinds of amazing vacations I would like to take.  It occurred to me that back in October 2013, I went on a wonderful long weekend trip to the Big Apple with my mom, mother-in-law, and aunt-in-law and I forgot to share.  The four of us girls ate, laughed, and walked our way through the City That Never Sleeps.  The best part of this trip was that we coined it the "trip of firsts."  All four of us had been to the City before, so we wanted to make sure that we set out to do things that we had never done before.

My mom's first flight! So a selfie was a must!

Due to a very delayed flight we finally arrived in NYC after midnight on a Thursday.  After swooning over our lovely hotel we quickly jumped into our beds in order to get as much sleep as possible before hitting the ground running on Friday morning.

The next morning we were up bright and early ready to explore.  We started out the day at the world famous Carnegie Deli, with walls lined with the portraits and signatures of its famous customers throughout the years.  The rest of the day was relaxed and we strolled around the City.  Both my brother and my husband's cousins are firemen so we naturally had to take the moms to see some of the famous fire stations throughout NYC.  We stopped at the NY Fire Museum, where they have a wonderful 9/11 tribute and also the infamous Rescue 1, which is the elite of FDNY.  Hunky firemen... not too bad, but I'll take Mr. P any day!

We spent the afternoon strolling through Chelsea Market (an indoor marketplace with anything you can image including the offices of the Food Network and MLB.com) and down the Highline (an outdoor park/greenway).  The Highline is magnificent and it allows you to see the city from a different vantage point.  Once completed it will be over a mile and a half of outdoor space made from repurposed materials such as old railroad tracks.  All that walking makes you a little hungry so next on the agenda was Grand Central Station and the Magnolia Bakery kiosk.

You CANNOT goto NYC without a stop at one of Magnolia Bakery's shops.  Without a doubt they are hands down the best red velvet cupcakes I have EVER had!  Red velvet and an old fashion bottle Coke, I think I will!

An early dinner was on the books for our first night, because we had big plans later in the evening. After a lot of researching, we found what we think might be the best pizza in New York! Located in the infamous Hell's Kitchen district, Capizzi, had the most amazing pizza I have ever tasted.  Cooked on a real brick oven, their pizza has a gourmet touch to them without being so fancy that your questioning what you are eating.  We opted for a pepperoni, sausage, pepper, and onion pizza to share with a cannoli for dessert. The staff was incredibly attentive and gave all of us chef hats to wear while we took a photo in front of the brick oven.  Honorary pizza chefs!

We wrapped up our first real evening in New York in true Broadway fashion with the show Annie.  Absolutely precious!  I am amazed by the star power of those young little actors.  On a previous trip to NYC I saw Mamma Mia and I highly recommend that as well!  If your a North Carolinian, check out the DPAC for tons of amazing Broadway shows!

What is your favorite thing to see in New York City?

My personal favorite changes each time.  This time it was a tie (for very different reasons) between the 9/11 Memorial which is breathtaking and Central Park (specifically the Central Park carousel which is so much fun).  Details on both will be coming next week!  Have a great weekend and thanks for reading!

One-Pan Roasted Pork Chops

Who doesn't love a one pan recipe? I know I do... dishes are for the birds! I found this recipe a few years ago here and it is one of those recipes that quickly became a favorite in our household for its flavor and simplicity.  It is a versatile dish as well, because you could easily replace the pork with chicken.  Also, don't be afraid of the fact that this recipe uses Catalina dressing, it is an odd ingredient, but gives the sweet potatoes an amazing flavor! I hope you enjoy!

what you need

4 boneless pork chops
1 very large or 2 medium sweet potato, cubed
1 medium or 1/2 large red onion, thinly sliced
1 box stuffing mix (use any flavor you like)
1/4 cup Catalina dressing
salt and pepper (to taste)

how to make it

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Mix sweet potatoes, red onion, and Catalina dressing together and place in greased baking dish.
Bake for 10 minutes.  Remove from oven and stir.  Then move to the edges of the baking dish.
Make stuffing mixture according to package and create a mound in the middle of the potatoes.
Salt and pepper pork chops to taste and place on top of stuffing.
Place in oven and bake for 40-45 minutes (Cooking time will vary based on size of pork chops).

Enjoy!

ESPANA!

I cannot believe I am typing these words, but I am off to Europe again!  In just one month I will be on a plane, headed to the amazing country of Spain!  Bull fights, world famous jamon, and flamenco dancing are all awaiting me on the other side of the Pond.  Our tour will begin in Madrid and travel through the northern area of Spain called the Basque Country and finally ending in Barcelona.  I have very little travel knowledge of Spain, so this is going to be a completely different experience from last years trip to the United Kingdom and Ireland.  You can find recaps from that trip on the blog, and in the next few days I will be finishing up that series.  (I was a slacker and stopped posting after day 6... I promise I will do better this time around!)  Stay tuned for lots and lots of travel related stuff... I see a change in the focus of my blog in the near future!

12 Days in Espana!

Halloween is Here!

With only a couple of days left to get your costume in order I thought I would talk about some of my favorite Halloween costumes this year.  Luckily, we like to keep the celebration going on for a couple of days so I actually have a couple of costumes this year.  In the last few years we have been Charlie Brown and Lucy, Cinderella and Prince Charming, and Tinkerbell and a Jedi just to name a few.

I won't revel my actual costume until Friday, but I will throw out some inspiration outfits I considered this year.  There are so many choices that it is so hard to narrow it down to just one!  Also, Daniel and I have a hard time deciding on couples costumes so we like to exercise our individuality and just go as whatever we want!  

What will you be this Halloween?

1. Despicable Me Minion

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2. Audrey Hepburn

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3. Guess Who?

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4. Scarecrow

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One Year of Dates!

I am sure you have seen this idea floating all over Pinterest, but I decided to put my own spin on it and create something wonderful for our two-year wedding anniversary back in August.  First of all, I cannot believe its been over two years since we said I Do.  Secondly, since it has only been two years you would think I would have a million gift ideas, but man it is tough (especially since we have been together for a total of 8 years)!  Thankfully, Pinterest to the rescue again!

My One Year of Dates gift is 12 pre-planned dates outlined in sealed envelops.  Daniel gets to open an envelop at the beginning of each month and we pick when we are going to take our date that month.  Over the course of this year I will share our monthly outings.  Sorry, I can't reveal all of them at once or Daniel would miss out on all the fun!  The best thing about this gift is that it is totally customizable to the individual couple.  Do you like hiking?  Go on a hike!  Do you like baking?  Then make cupcakes!  The key to this is to plan ahead and try not to pick dates that require specific timelines, it is not impossible, but you do not want to stress out about trying to fit it in on a specific day.  I like to add variety to our dates as well.  Some are more elaborate away from home dates, some are around town, and others are simply in our home.  The most important thing is HAVE FUN!

We have already gone on our September and October dates so I have included all the details below!

SEPTEMBER

Date: Putt-Putt and Dinner

Cost: $7 per person for putt-putt and your choice for dinner

Supplies: Putt-putt tickets, dinner reservations

To kick off our One Year of Dates we headed out to our local putting green.  Before going to putt-putt we hit up a local restaurant called The Laughing Owl.  The Laughing Owl is a great restaurant that mixes American favorites with Asian cuisine from the owners previous restaurant.  I opted for my favorite Beef and Szechwan String Beans over Lo Mien.  The food is delicious and a nice, fresh change from traditional chain restaurants.  After dinner, we headed over to Larry Bill's Fun Time Golf for 18 holes of fun!  It was perfect, hardly anyone was around so it made for a romantic yet fun setting.  I must confess, much to Daniel's displeasure, that I came out the winner that night, but I'm not sure either of our scores were much to brag about.  We called it an early night and came home to watch Love Actually on Netflix. 

OCTOBER

Date: State Fair

Cost: $18 for fair entry and spending money for fair food and games!

Supplies: fair tickets, cash for food and games

Daniel and I have always loved going to the fair and since we have not been to our State Fair in about 6 years I decided to make that our agenda for October.  One of my suggestions in date planning was not to choose something that had to be done on a schedule.  However, the fair was in town for almost two weeks so that gave us plenty of time to pick our date.  Unfortunately, because of my busy schedule the only day we could go was the last day of the fair which meant it was very crowded.  We had a blast anyway!  We arrived around lunch time and were immediately thinking "what should we eat first?"  My tip for places with lots of food options is SHARE!  We split almost everything we got at the fair and it made it a lot easier to try all kinds of foods.  We always like to try the local booths so we hit up two places for country ham biscuits and fresh cut fries.  They were amazing.  After cruising through the midway, winning a stuffed minion (stay tune he will be very useful come Halloween), and almost losing our appetite in the livestock buildings it was time for round two!  I opted for the fried mac and cheese bites while Daniel got his favorite fried Snickers.  We spent the rest of the fair combing through the crafts and hobby section and the Village of Yesteryear and then finished the afternoon off with a blooming onion.  We had some friends at the fair too and one of them got a Krispy Kream burger.  That was by far the most unique creation of the fair this year, a cheeseburger with all the fixing between two Krispy Kream doughnuts instead of buns.  She said it was amazing and I can't wait to try it next year!

Question: How do you and your significant other make plans for dates?  Preplanned or spur of the moment?  Take turns choosing or always let one person decide? Weekly, Monthly, Bi-monthly?

Homemade Ice Cream Cake

Now that Summer is here in all of its glory, I find myself looking for anything to cool me down.  In my family pretty much all of our birthdays fall from the end of May through the beginning of August, so that equals a lot of birthday cake.  My parents both celebrated their birthdays recently and since I was on cake duty I wanted to do something different and "cool."  Enter the ice cream cake.  Its the best of both worlds... cake, but in ice cream form.  I browsed around for a few ideas from different recipes and then I put together what would work best for my family.  The great thing about ice cream cake is that they are totally customizable to what you like.  For my dad's birthday I went with a Reese's Pieces Ice Cream Cake and for my mom's we had a Strawberry Cheesecake Ice Cream Cake.


Reese's Pieces Ice Cream Cake

what you need

1 carton Vanilla Bean ice cream (I used Breyer's)
1 container Cool Whip (I used fat free)
1 oreo pie crust
Assorted Candy (Reese's Pieces, Mini Chocolate Chips, Oreo crumbles, Mini Reese's Cups)
Chocolate Syrup

how to make it

Crumble Oreo pie crust into bottom of a spring form pan and press it down firmly to make the crust of the cake.  If you have difficulty getting it to hold together add some melted butter.

Mix softened ice cream and cool whip together until throughly incorporated.  

Layer half of the ice cream, cool whip mixture on top of the Oreo crust.

Top ice cream with assorted candies (I left out the Reese's Cups and used them only on top) and drizzle with chocolate syrup.  I will use melted chocolate next time, but use whatever you like best.

Layer the remaining ice cream mixture on top of the candies and cover with remaining candy pieces, this time adding Reese's Cups.  

Place in the freezer for a minimum of 4 hours, but overnight works much better.  I covered the top and bottom of my spring form pan with aluminum foil to fight off freezer burn. 

Strawberry Cheesecake Ice Cream Cake

what you need

1 carton Strawberry Cheesecake ice cream (I used the Food Lion brand)
1 container Cool Whip (Fat Free)
1 graham cracker pie crust
1/2 quart fresh strawberries

how to make it

You follow the same basic process for this cake.  The only difference is that instead of placing candy between the two ice cream layers you will layer fresh strawberries.  I also sprinkled some extra graham cracker crumbles on the top for decoration.  The final result was pretty amazing!

Europe 2013: Day Six

Day Six: Crossing the Irish Sea

Day Six started out EXTREMELY EARLY!  We had to leave The Generator by 5:45am to get down to the docks and prepare to load onto the "ferry" boat to cross over into the United Kingdom.  Thankfully, we decided to skip the morning shower that day since it was such as early departure and when we got onto the bus we were very happy we did.  Apparently in hostels the warm water is not turned on until after 6am in order to reduce energy cost and keep the hostel cost efficient.  Great plan, not so great for 30 or so people in our group who tried to get showers at 5am!  I still completely recommend the Generator and look at those rooms, they were so cute!  

We arrived down by the docks around 7am and quickly went through baggage check and goto comfortable on board.  I really wish I had snapped some pictures on board, because this was no ordinary "ferry" boat rather a miniature cruise ship.  I travelled on one very similar to this the last time I was in Europe and they have areas for short journey passengers and private rooms with beds and showers for those who will be on the ship for a little longer.  I was so sleepy and still feeling very nauseated, so I grabbed some chairs, stretched out and took a solid two hour nap.  When I awoke, I bought Sea Bands (designed to help with motion sickness) and perched myself next to the window just in time to see out arrival into Wales.  We had to go through customs and get our passport checked, load the coach, and we were off to the Lake District of England with an overnight stop planned for Manchester.   

We had a long drive that day, but we did take the time to stop at Beaumaris Castle, built by Edward I (aka Edward Longshanks) in the 13th Century.  This was the largest of a series of castles built by the king throughout Wales in an effort to conquer the area.  Beaumaris is not used today as a residency of the royal family, because of its Medieval structure which is not fit for people to live in.  However, it is a historical site and museum that is worth a visit.  It was honestly one of my favorite places that we visited, because I think it really captures the feeling of Medieval Europe and the mind set that so many of the monarchs had during this time period.  Luxury was not a concern when constructing castles like they were much later in history, rather they were fort like structures designed to protect the king from invasion.  The castle is very open and you can explore for hours on end and there is a good amount of wildlife and livestock in the area to admire such as swans and sheep.  I even got to wear my Hunter boots that day, because it was one of the few days with "rain like conditions even though it never rained (thankfully!).

After exploring the castle we headed into the town of Beaumaris, located on the Isle of Anglesey (the same area William and Kate lived after their wedding).  It was a quaint town with small shops and restaurants.  It was a good chance to hit an ATM for some Pounds now that we were out of Euro territory and we also grabbed some lunch.  We ate lunch at the Triple 8 Coffee Shop which was a small used bookstore with some seating for customers to have lunch as well.  I decided on the ham, cheese, and pineapple panini and it was amazing!  We had a good laugh at lunch, because the menu said that crisps (chips) came with the panini and when our plates arrived we had 3 whole Pringles on the plate!  Not exactly what we expected, but the sandwich and hot chocolate that I had was a great choice.  After strolling through the town and grabbing a Beaumaris Castle magnet it was time to hit the road again.  Next stop: Manchester, England.

We arrived in Manchester late in the afternoon and checked into our hotel, the Britannia.  If you follow me on Instagram you may have seen the picture below which had a capture that read "Best. Hotel. Ever!"  It was an extremely nice hotel and I will be staying there again!  We had two large and luxurious beds and were bummed when we realized that we were only staying one night.  They had a lounge singer, in-house pizzeria, full service buffet, and numerous other amenities.

After an early dinner we hung out in the lobby of the hotel, enjoying free Wi-Fi and pizza.  I think the amount of Americana that was oozing out of us at the end of each day was ridiculous.  Pizza and Wi-Fi were like gold in our minds.  That was one of the things that made travelling abroad for two-weeks without my family bearable though.  Being able to spend time with the group each evening and relax took our minds off of home and having Wi-Fi and my IPad made it so that I talked to and saw my husband and family almost everyday of the trip.  My travel advice is do not waste hundreds of dollars (trust me I have done it) on international cell phones.  The vast majority of hotels have Wi-Fi (mostly for free) and if you have any type of electronic device you can FaceTime or Skype for free.  

So fellow travelers, what is your favorite travel tip?  

{Currently Craving}

1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8


The temperatures are finally warming up and I am loving it!  Along with the spring temperatures, I am loving the spring colors and light and airy fabrics.  It is a birth month as of today, so maybe I will soon see a fews of my favorites in my closet.  Follow me on Pinterest for more of my favorites.

Beef Noodle Bowl 2

So I guess today is technically Traveling Tuesday, but seeing that I did a travel post yesterday I decided to give you guys a break!  Today I am brining back the recipe post and since I rarely cook these days this is a treat!

This recipe may look vaguely familiar to you if you have seen my post on Beef Noodle Bowl.  This is a different take on the same recipe.  That is the great thing about this recipe, you can change it around numerous times and never get tired of it!  I hope you enjoy Beef Noodle Bowl 2!

what you need

1/2 lb. whole wheat angel hair, uncooked
2 zucchini, sliced
1 large onion, chopped
2 tsp. oil
1 lb. beef sirloin steak, cut into strips
1/2 cup Kraft Asian Toasted Sesame Dressing

how to make it

cook pasta in a large saucepan as directed on package.

heat oil in large nonstick skillet.  add zucchini and onion until soft and translucent.  place in glass bowl and cover to keep warm. 

in the same skillet add more oil and the meat; cook until browned on all sides, stirring occasionally. Stir in dressing and teriyaki sauce; cook 2 min. or until sauce is thickened, stirring occasionally. 

drain pasta; place in large serving bowl. Add meat and vegetable mixture; toss to coat.

Enjoy!

The Pennington's

Europe 2013: Day Five

Day Five: Dublin!

Hello from Dublin!  We arrived in Dublin late in the evening on day four, so we were ready to hit the ground running the next morning.  Day five was full of sites of the city with a local tour guide and some free time to explore on our own.

We started the morning with Shane, our local guide, and we took a drive around the city to see some of the high points.  We rode by the Guinness Factory (which you can tour), the site of the 1916 Easter Rising (early fight for Irish independence), and Phoenix Park (the largest park in Dublin- bigger than Central Park).  We took time to get off the bus at a few places, but mostly just saw the city at a glance.  Our first actual stop of the day though was St. Patricks Cathedral.

St. Patrick's Cathedral was built in Dublin based on the legend of its namesake, Saint Patrick, passing through the area in as early as the 5th Century.  According to the legend, on his journey through St. Patrick used a well to baptist and convert Christians in the area.  Years later in the 1100's a wooden building was built in this area and was later replaced by the structure that is there today.  In the early 1900's Celtic graves were unearthed and what was thought to be the remains of the well that was used by St. Patrick.  Today the Cathedral serves much as a museum, even though it still operates as a church.  All types of artifacts from Irish and Catholic history have been preserved within the church.

After we left St. Patrick's we had a few minutes of free time so we went to a department store on the same street.  They were offering free truffle pops that day, because it was Easter Sunday and it was also an attempt to raise money for cancer patients.  I gladly donated some euros and grabbed a delicious truffle.  It was amazing!

We then headed off to Trinity College, Ireland's oldest university established by Queen Elizabeth I.  The college was not really what we were there to see, rather the infamous Book of Kells and the Irish Declaration of Independence.  The Book of Kells is an illuminate manuscript of the Gospels and New Testament written in Latin by monks during the 8th or 9th Centuries.  It was breath-taking to see and amazing to think how much time and effort it took to create such detailed work.  Sadly, we were not allowed to take pictures of the Book of Kells, but check it out online.  After the tour of the book we went into the library to see the Irish Declaration of Independence, as well as old original copies of books by famous authors like Charles Dickens, and the oldest harp in Ireland.

Lunch was calling my name by the time we finally finished all the activities of the morning.  So off we headed to an authentic Irish pub.  I probably should have been more adventurous in my eating that day, but nothing sounded more appetizing at that moment than a cheeseburger and that is exactly what I got!  It was really good, but I think anything would have been by that time of the day!          

After lunch we spent the remainder of the day exploring Dublin.  We went up and down the main streets popping into local stores and grabbing some souvenirs.  The big sight seeing of the afternoon was the National Museum of Ireland.  We had heard that they had some bog bodies on display and were eager to check out 2000 year old remains.  They did not disappoint.  Many of the bodies (dated back to the BC era) had hair, nails, and recognizable features still in tack.  It was found that the bog bodies were so well preserved, because of chemicals from the bogs.  Bodies were sacrificed into the bog once a year as part of a Pagen tradition.  A sacrificial victim would be chosen, "fattened" up and then killed and given to the bog.  After the museum, we just took a walking tour of the city and enjoyed a little bit of free time in Dublin.

This cross supposedly held a portion of the cross of Christ at one point.

After a dinner of Bangers and Mash (not my thing) we decided to turn in early for the night, because we had an early wake up time for the next morning.  On day six we crossed the Irish Sea and took this adventure to the United Kingdom!