New York, New York

My pretty mummy near Times Square

A statue near Central Park

A quick stop in Grand Central Station

This cute little guy was playing his drum set on the street.

We ate at the Starlight Diner off of Broadway. Each waitress/waiter sang songs while we were there. They were pretty freaking good. I'm sure they are all hoping that they will be "found" while working there. I am 98% sure that Lance Bass was on his way in to this restaurant while we were on our way out. Even the waitress singing said something about "hey there's Lance Bass". I don't know much about him except that he was in N'Sync back in the day boy bands were cool :)

Time Square

I know you are wondering if I did or did not cross the police line :)

This was the first picture I took in New York during this trip.

Street dancers near Central Park

Got some hot nuts from a street vendor. They were fantastic. Great idea mama!

Grand Central Station

lots and lots and lots and lots to catch up on!!

We had a WONDERFUL time on our vacation and of course I took a bunch of pictures. And this week is the season premiers of some of my favorite shows. So much to talk about!!! I'm still tweaking some of my pictures, but I'll be posting them soon! And I have a couple of restaurants that I want to give my reviews on! And after I see some of my fav shows and check out some new ones I'll report back!!!

Time to meet the little guy....

My friend Sarah had her baby this morning!! WoooHoooo!! We have been waiting forever to meet the little guy.

I introduce Maddox Grayson......

Something New

We just recently found out that we like couscous, so after watching FoodTV I found out about Israeli Couscous. I didn't find any at my regular grocery store, but I did find some at Central Market. I searched for a recipe and I didn't find one that I wanted to use, so I just winged it.

Veggie Israeli Couscous

1 zucchini, chopped
1 yellow squash, chopped
1/2 onion, chopped
1 Roma tomato chopped
1 cup Israeli couscous
2 cups vegetable broth
couple shakes of salt
couple shakes of pepper
couple shakes of garlic powder
couple shakes of Cajun seasoning
3 tablespoons olive oil (I didn't really measure this)

Saute the veggies in 2 tablespoons olive oil, season with spices. While veggies are cooking heat one tablespoon of olive oil and toast the couscous. Once couscous is browned, add heated vegetable broth. Cook until couscous is done (about 8-10 minutes). Drain the liquid from the couscous pot, then add couscous to the veggies. Cook for a couple of minutes to combine the flavors. Then you are done! You may want to taste the mixture, to make sure it has enough spices!

I think this couscous has a similar texture to Orzo pasta. We really liked this recipe and I look forward to using Israeli couscous again!!!

Weekend Kiddos

Decent Breakfast

This morning we went out and searched for a quick breakfast. We were originally thinking about Taco Shack, but we forgot they were closed on Sundays. So we drove around a bit, and saw a huge crowd in front of Dan's Hamburgers..... Hmmmm? So we stopped (and found the last parking spot) and ventured inside. It was a little confusing when we walked in because there was a line. We just assumed it was a line to order food but they were just waiting for a table. We decided on take out since we were close to the house. I liked my food, but it is pretty hard to mess up scrambled eggs, hash browns and a slice of ham. My breakfast had a great biscuit as well. Jim got the huervos rancheros, which were a bit bland for him. Of course, his idea of bland is my idea of just right when it comes to spice :)

Overall I would go back for a good basic breakfast, and the prices were nice as well (between 4.79 and 7.50 for breakfast plates).

A "Hoff" picture for my husband...LOL

8 Days and Counting....


We are leaving for vacation in 8 days and I CANNOT WAIT!! I am extremely jealous because my mutha is already at my Uncles house. She has a zillion vacation hours and can go on vacation for weeks at a time :) Anywho, we leave next week and I have been spending time trying to figure out what we are going to do while we are there. We have already explored Philly, New Jersey, Boston, Washington DC and New York. We have two days that aren't planned. I'm not that person that can just hang out and watch TV while I am on vacation. I am that girl that plans out my day to do everything that I possibly can. I suppose it is why we come back from vacations tired :). My husband hasn't been any help except to say that he'll play golf with my uncle while my mom and I go to New York. But that is one day, and that still leaves us two days. Hmmmmm???? I am thinking Washington DC to see everything that we didn't see last time, but I don't think that is much.

So I found a list of "top" thing to do in DC...

Tour the White House- this interests me the most. We have only stood outside of the White House, not actually gone for a tour
Visit the United States Capitol- ehhh, not my cup of cappuccino
Smithsonian Museum- we went last time, but it is always a lot of fun to go to!
Georgetown- this interests me, but I'm not really sure what there is to do in Georgetown besides find some cool restaurants and bars
National Gallery of Art- honestly I can handle about an hour of an art museum before I get bored. Yes, I am quite the intellectual,,, NOT
Moonlight Memorials and Monument Tour- I would LOVE to do this, but not sure if we will stay the night and I don't want to drive home that late (it is about a 3hr drive from my Uncles house)
Arlington National Cemetery- Jim hasn't gone, and I know he is interested in going. It has been at least 10 years since I have gone, so it might be interesting.
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum- Not sure I would be interested.. kind of morbid
Zoo- I would LOVE to go, but I know that most people don't love to go to Zoo's like I do.
Lincoln Memorial- we went last time we were in DC so don't really need to go this time.
Washington National Cathedral- might be interesting, but would only take up about 30 minutes of our day
National Mall- we saw this last time, but of course we were wearing expensive trash bags (the gift shop called them "ponchos") since it was pouring. I would like to at least stop and take a few pictures.

As you can tell I am leaning towards going to DC with the hopes that it isn't pouring. Last time we went, it poured almost the entire time. Seriously, it poured the entire time. We laughed and didn't let it get us down, but it was pretty hilarious. ****Damn, I just looked for pictures from our last trip on my computer and couldn't find any :( I know they are out there, so folks if you are lucky, I'll find them and post them.***

I always feel a little guilty when I go on vacation, because I spend a lot of time taking pictures. I was actually a little relieved when Jim and I went to Boston, because he wanted to go the hotel to take a nap so I took advantage of that time to wander around Boston taking pictures. I hate that my hobby interferes with our fun! However, if I am going to lug around my 15 pound camera bag, I am going to take pictures :) Damn it.

I don't want to keep all two of you that read the blog in suspense, so as soon as we make the decision I'll let you know! :)

Super Bad = Super Badass!!!

We saw Super Bad on Friday night, and it is freakin hilarious! We laughed almost the entire time. You'll laugh and like it if you like fart jokes. Not that there are an excessive amount of fart jokes, but that simple gross type humor that my family adores is throughout the movie. If you liked 40 year old Virgin, then you will like this movie!! I want to see it again!!

The kids wanted to say Hi!

Finger Lickin' Good

Jim found a good recipe for a dry rub for our ribs a couple of years ago and we have been using it ever since. It adds an excellent flavor with a hint of heat. For our last round of ribs we used spare ribs instead of baby back ribs. They were tasty with a lot of meat but we need to research on how to cut it. :) We totally butchered it, but it tasted fantastic so we didn't care what it looked like :)

Dry Rub

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup paprika

1 tablespoon black pepper

1 tablespoon salt

1 tablespoon chili powder

3/4 tablespoon garlic powder

3/4 tablespoon onion powder

1 teaspoon cayenne

Mix together, and rub onto the meat. Let it sit for a couple of hours and then cook! We wrap tin foil around the meat and put it on the grill for about an hour (or until the meat starts to pull away from the bone). Then take it off of the heat and let it sit for about 20 minutes,,, then enjoy!

Okay, this has been posted for a couple days before I realized it looks like our ribs are black. They are a little dark, but they are not burned. I think our spices make the ribs look dark, because these were sooooo nice and juicy!

Oh, the season has begun!

Football season is here folks, for better or worse!!! We are both pretty big football fans, so the new season is exciting! However it also means our weekends are focused around football games, which means the kitchen will get put on the back burner. But we will just have to work on it a day or two during the week.

The football weekend started out great because University of Texas and Arizona State won their games!! WooooHoooo! However, our poor Eagles lost their game by a field goal at the end of the game. Yuck. I have to say that the Eagles/Green Bay game was a little disappointing, both teams didn't look their best. Eagles special teams really let the team down, and if they had half of the amount of errors it would have been a totally different game. Shit. I really hope the Cowboys lose tonight because I work with some Cowboy fans and we have been talking shit for a couple of weeks now. It will be easier if they lose, since the Eagles lost :)

Just two weeks until we see the Eagles play at the Link!!! I can't wait for our vacation!!!!!! I am counting down the days!

B'fast Tacos

There is a poll on our local newspaper for the best breakfast taco. I am a sucker for a good breakfast taco, so I thought I would give my two cents on the list. Unfortunately, I haven't tried many of the places on the list, so I guess I'll just have to go and try them. I'll sacrifice my stomach to keep my blog interesting :)

Here is the list for best breakfast tacos:

Taco Deli - I recently went there for the first time for lunch and really enjoyed my taco! Jim has heard that they don't have great breakfast tacos, but I am going to try it anyway.

Rudy's - Rudy's is my faithful breakfast taco place. I don't think I have had a bad experience from there. I also like their salsa, which really makes a breakfast taco

El Chilito - this is the place that I thought was absolutely horrible. The egg had a film on it, like it was cooked like a pancake and it had an odd taste, which I couldn't cover with the salsa. YUCK, YUCK, YUCK

Maria's Taco Express- I haven't eaten here yet... I'll report later!

Tamale House- I don't know if I have eaten here or not. I ate breakfast from a place that had Tamale in the name but not sure if it is the same place.

Taco Shack - they have decent tacos. I usually only like potato and egg, but they have one that has eggs, potato's, bacon, onions, chili's, and cheese, which is very tasty!
Juan in a Million- haven't been there yet

Chango's- this place is so close to the house, but didn't know they had breakfast tacos. Unfortunately, I am usually heading south to work, and they are just a bit north. Maybe I can try it on a weekend.

Las Manitas- I haven't had their b'fast tacos, but I have had their breakfast. If I remember right, their migas were good not great.

Taco Cabana - I like Taco Cabana's homemade tortillas. Yummy! Their tortilla's really make the taco

Taqueria Arndas- this place scares me a little because I have heard you need to know a little Spanish to order because the people who work there speak very little English. Maybe I'll give it a try when I am feeling adventurous.

I am horrible

I had four birthdays that I missed this month. We'll at least all people received a phone call or an e-mail to say Happy Birthday!

SOOOOOOOOO... here we go!!

Happy Birthday to you.... Happy Birthday to you.... Happy Birthday dear Fred, Angie, April and Jamie.... Happy Birthday to you!!!!

Here are some of the wonderful people that turned 21 this month!!

Fred

April

Jamie (with kids)

Angie

Naughty Angie... but she is supporting the local New Orleans strippers!! :)

Lazy Sunday...... Oops, I mean Monday

My week is going to be screwed up since I had Monday off. I have been thinking that it is Sunday all day. Today is the last day of my vacation... pooh. I actually had to work for a few hours this morning, but then I came home to be a total lazy ass. I haven't done a damn thing except watch Shaun of the Dead (not bad). I suppose I should clean the house a bit, but that lazy thing is getting in the way. We tried to go out to play pool or shuffle board with friends (the lake is out since it has been raining off and on all day) but they have been bitten by the lazy bug as well.

I cleaned out my desk the other day and came across some pictures on CD's. I went through most of them so I could label and organize them. I came across a CD with a bunch of random pictures. So in all of my laziness, I present some of the pictures from that CD....

Jim, Lee and I posing with NY's finest at a festival in Little Italy

Gilat, Keith, me, Lee and Jim... the Statue of Liberty is some where out in that fog

Uncle Fred and Mom

Jason, Ashley, me and Jim.... It is on New Years, but I'm not sure which year... maybe 2003??

Jim and I after we fell on a huge crack in the sidewalk in front of my uncles house :)

Mummy and Lee. Lee likes his picture taken almost as much as Jim does.

Brad, Pete, me, Jim and Lee at a bar in Arizona. I think all of the guys called each other to make sure they matched :)

Me and the Jersey Mama! Don't miss Taylor posing in the corner of the picture.

Mom exercising to make sure she looks good in her leopard tights

Yup,,, I really did it

So I started another project. Damn, why do I do this :) Actually this time I know exactly why. I was sick of working on the kitchen plus Jim took the drill so I was limited as to what I could do today. AND, I noticed that my neighbors started to work on their addition to their house. They are adding on a bedroom and a bathroom. I know it will look fabulous, because everything they do looks fabulous. I am soooo jealous! And I also want to make sure our kitchen is done before they add on a bedroom and bathroom!!! :)

Well I didn't actually get done with my project (and I didn't think I would finish tonight) but I am happy with my progress. I put two layers of a base paint to try to hide the wood paneling since I think it will be an easier project than ripping it down and putting up more dry wall.

Here is my progress so far....

What to do????

Damn, my vacation is almost over :( Why does vacations have to fly by? I did get quite a few things done so I can't complain. Now the question is what to do today? Hmmmm, I can continue to strip the cabinets, install more drywall, take down the wood around the bar area, or prep and paint the den (well, at least paint on the base coat since we don't know what color we are using). I know I shouldn't start another project buuuuuttttttt, I am sick of working on the kitchen :). Jim doesn't know that I am thinking about painting the den, so it would be a surprise to him.

Jim is off at his perfect day...... fantasy football draft day. He already left so he could spend some time at his parents house before he headed over to Chris' house (he is hosting the draft). We hosted it last year, but with the kitchen all torn apart, we thought it would be better to have it at another house. Hopefully the kitchen will be done by next year for the next draft! LOL.

Okay..... gotta go make up my mind on what I am doing today!!!!!