End of Week Recap

Hello there! It has been almost two months since I last posted. What can I say, life has been a bit hectic lately.

Rather than picking things up next week, I thought I would provide an end of week recap. I am feeling inspired lately, I just hope I have the time to start blogging again.

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Earlier this week, Jaime and I celebrated our two year anniversary!  I cannot believe it has been two years since our wedding. Also, this February marks our seven year dating anniversary. Where does the time go?!

Since our anniversary falls on Labor Day weekend, we were lucky enough to have a few days off to relax and celebrate.  

Neither of us had to work on Friday, so we  kicked-off the weekend early and headed to dinner on Thursday (very rare for us). It was also partially to celebrate my new job. (Additional details coming in a later post.)

We headed to Mary's Fishcamp. A restaurant so close to our apartment, it's crazy we haven't been there yet. It is a quaint little spot on our favorite street in New York. Not only was the food delicious, the service was great! It is pleasantly surprising when you find a fun neighborhood restaurant where the servers are so friendly.

Before ordering their signature lobster roll (the picture didn't turn out, sorry), we ordered fried oysters.  I don't know if it was the dipping sauce or that they were fried, but these were the best fried oysters I've had.

Friday, we decided to head to Long Branch Beach for the day. It was a little further than we typically like to go, but definitely worth it. It was a quaint little town with a great beach.

Even the train ride there had a great view!

We decided to have lunch at Avenue since it was on the beach and had great views! 

This is how I would like to kick-off every weekend. The weather could not have been more perfect.

I didn't even ask him to pose for this shot. He generally doesn't like looking at the camera anyway though.  :)

It was a perfect day to wear my Baldwin Denim KC hat.

If that wasn't enough, we knocked another restaurant off our list and headed to Carbone for our anniversary dinner. This place had a very old New York vibe. You felt as if you were in Goodfellas. Even our waiter seemed to be playing a part.

Sorry, I didn't take many shots of the food since we were stuffing our faces.  However, I did get this shot of Jaime dishing up our Ribeye. We were stuffed at this point, but loved every minute of it.

Oh, and I don't know what they do to their corn, but it was amazing!!  If you go and it's on the menu you, order it. You will not be disappointed. I could have just eaten that alone.

All in all, it was a fantastic anniversary weekend! Exactly what I needed in preparation for the crazy weeks to come.

Happy anniversary to my husband! It has been an amazing two years.

I hope everyone had a great summer!

xx,

KMH

A Twist on Chicken "Noodle" Soup

This colder weather has made me long for a warm dinner pretty much every night.  I found this recipe a few weeks back and after making it a few times, I've made my own tweaks along the way.  It comforts you just the same way chicken noodle soup does, but with a twist.

Ingredient

Chicken Meatballs:

1 lb ground chicken

1/2 cup bread crumbs

1 egg

2 tbls garlic 

2 tsp dill weed

salt and pepper to taste

Soup:

2 tbs Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1/2 large yellow onion, diced

2 medium carrots, shredded

1 garlic clove

4 cups of chicken broth

1 cup of orzo

2 tsp dill weed

Directions

1. Meatballs: In a mixing bowl, combine the meat, garlic, bread crumbs, egg,  dill weed, salt and pepper. Mix and divide it into small meatballs a little smaller than a ping-pong ball.  Additionally, dice onions and carrots and set aside.
2. Preheat 2 tbs of oil in a soup pot, over medium heat. Add meatballs and saute until cooked through 9 about 8-10 minutes.
3. Remove meat balls and set aside, add a tiny bit more oil with the garlic, diced onion and carrots. Raise the heat to medium-high and saute the veggies until they begin to caramelize. Stir often.
4. When vegetables are caramelized, add meatballs back into the pot and add the chicken broth.
5. Add a tiny bit more dill and salt and pepper. Simmer, uncovered, for about 10-15 minutes.
6. When the broth starts to boil a bit, add orzo and cook until orzo is done. (About 10 minutes but make sure to taste the orzo to check.)
7. Serve and enjoy!

** This does have a tendency to become thick, so if you want to maintain a soup like consistency, I'd add 1 cup to a 1 cup and a 1/2 in addition to the amount listed above.

Weekend Recap!

Happy Monday!  I'm still off today, Happy President's Day!  I have no idea who celebrates this holiday, but I'll take it.

We had a great weekend, even though it remained bitter cold and snowy.

On Valentine's Day, we stayed in, ordered takeout and proceeded to watch about 5 hours of House of Cards.  In case  you didn't know, Netflix released all 13 episodes of season two.

On Thursday of last week, we celebrated our 6 year anniversary of being together.  Where does the time go?!  Well, we really didn't celebrate on Thursday, we decided to go to get cocktails and dinner on Saturday instead.  

Before heading to dinner, we stopped at The Marlton for drinks.  It is an adorable hotel on West 8th Street.  

Great cocktails and a cozy fire to enjoy them by.  Definitely try the Tijuana Zebra.  Amazing.

We have been wanting to try Perla for a while now and thought this was the perfect time.  It was awesome!!

Do not go here if you are in a rush.  They space each course out, as they should, and really allow for you to enjoy your bottle of wine.

When possible, we like to sit at the bar.  Luckily, Perla offered seats at the Chef's Counter.  Definitely the best seats in the house.

They have such tiny space to work in.

Antipasti: Artic Char Crudo and Foie Gras Panna Cotta

Primi: Orecchiette with Sweet Italian Sausage

Secondi: Skate with Funghi Misti (clearly we were starving and wasted no time digging in)

Dessert!

A great date night!
(I have no idea what my hand is randomly doing in the middle.) 

Prior to dinner, we walked through Washington Square Park on our way home.  I am sick of the snow, but I love taking pictures of it.

Now, let's get to this short week!

xx,

KMH

Crock-Pot Chili Recipe

Chili is the best meal when it gets cold!  As I mentioned a few weeks ago, I prepped chili before we went to our Octoberfest activities.  It is the perfect meal to come home to after a long cold day outside.

Ingredients

1/2 lb ground sirloin
1/2 lb ground pork
1 stalk celery, finely chopped

½ yellow onion, finely chopped

1 ½ tbsp. chili powder

1 tsp. cumin

½ tbsp garlic, minced

1 (15 oz) can petite diced tomatoes

1 (15 oz.) can chili beans

28 oz. of tomatoe juice

1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce

Salt and Pepper to taste

Optional Toppings: Shredded cheddar cheese, chopped red onions and sour cream

Directions

**1) Saute celery, onions and garlic until translucent
**2) Add meat and saute until cooked, season meat with some of the cumin, chili powder and red pepper flakes (the red pepper flakes are optional)
**3) Mix diced tomatoes and tomato juice to crockpot 
**4) Add meat mixture and beans to crockpot
**5) Set crockpot on low for 6-8 hours
**6) Serve with shredded cheese (cheese is a must!)  :)

I hope this is on your menu plan sooner rather than later!

XX,
KMH

Bluestem Kansas City

It was my parent's 30th wedding anniversary two weeks ago.  This makes me feel really old, by the way. 

Anyway, it is so hard to buy a gift for my parents (or all parents really).  They buy everything they want and insist on you not buying them anything.  This makes actually picking something out very difficult.

Rather than buying a present, I decided to plan a night for them to enjoy.

I don't know of too many restaurants in KC, but one that I had heard great things about (we actually looked into doing our rehearsal dinner here) was Bluestem Kansas City.  It appears to be this really cozy restaurant in Westport that seats only a small number of people.

I worked with the manager, Eric, to put together a custom five-course menu for them so that the selection process was complete.  

Eric was so incredibly nice, helpful and easy to work with from afar.  Most restaurants get frustrated and are more concerned about what credit card they're going to run at the end of the night if you're not physically going to be there to pay.  HELLO...I can just read you my credit card over the phone.  It's not that difficult.

Yes, my parents were nice enough to take some photos of their delicious meal.  :)  Definitely try this places out if you live in KC.  Great for a date night!

xx,
KMH

Roasted Chicken

I have been craving roasted chicken for a few weeks now.  I'm not sure what sparked my craving, but over the long Labor Day weekend, I attempted this relatively easy recipe for the first time.  It turned out absolutely delicious and juicy.  If you're having dinner guests over, it is a very impressive meal for not too much work.

This recipe was adapted from this Ina Garten Perfect Roasted Chicken Recipe.  I obviously made some tweaks along the way.

Oh, and I forgot to mention that Nance (my mom, for those of you that don't know) decided to make this dish on the same day.  We were having a long distance cook off.  :)  So some of these pictures are courtesy of her as well.

Ingredients
1 (4 pound) roasting chicken
Salt
Ground black pepper
1 large bunch fresh thyme, plus 20 sprigs
1 lemon

 5-7 garlic cloves (I left them whole)
  4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter (some will be melted) 

1 large vidalia onion, thickly sliced
  8-10 baby carrots
1 bulb of fennel, tops removed, and cut into wedges
Olive oil

Directions
*1) Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. 

*2) Remove the chicken giblets. Rinse the chicken inside and out. 

 *3) Salt and pepper the inside of the chicken. Stuff the cavity with the bunch of thyme, both halves of lemon, and all the garlic. 

*4) Spread butter on the outside of the chicken and sprinkle again with salt and pepper. 

*5) Tie the legs together with kitchen string and tuck the wing tips under the body of the chicken.   (This step is optional.  Please read  this article to decide what works best for you.)  I used foil since I didn't have butchers twine.

*6) Place the onions, carrots, and fennel in a roasting pan. Toss with salt, pepper, 20 sprigs of thyme, and olive oil. Spread around the bottom of the roasting pan and place the chicken on top.
*7) Roast the chicken for 1 1/2 hours. Remove the chicken and cover with aluminum foil for about 20 minutes. 

Enjoy!

I served this with roasted potatoes and sweet corn.  Definitely paired well together. :)

Taco Tuesday!

The crock pot should really be everyone's best friend during the summer.  Seriously, so easy and it's awesome coming home to dinner already made.

Write this down, because it might possibly be the easiest taco recipe ever!

Directions

**1) Put 3-4 chicken breasts in bottom of crock pot and season with premade taco seasoning or make our own homemade recipe

**2) Dump 1/2 cup of water in the bottom of the crock-pot

**3) Add 1/4 cup of chopped cilantro and the juice from two limes

**4) Set crock pot on low for 5 1/2 hours

Done!  The chicken will quickly fall apart with a fork when you get home.

I of course used my favorite taco shells from wholefoods.  Seriously amazing...get them!  You won't use any other taco shells every again.  Promise!

Ready, set, GO!  Serve it with some fresh watermelon and you're done.