November 10, 2009 - After meeting with Medford

October 11, 2009 - Nathalie's shower @ Pearl Street Station - Malden MA

Nathalie's Wedding Shower

Opening Gifts and Dancing Ladies

Lots of friendly faces...

Michelle's dancing lessons with Ellen and Nathalie
Beautiful Red Roses...
Gorgeous Cake by Sis Torres
A happy couple from Medford
A wonderful surprise visit of two of my fave people!

So didn't you think I'd take pictures of flowers in Medford too?

So just how have you guys been? how come you don't comment huh? How will I know you were here?????

Medford Lovelies

Orange Dhalia in Medford

Gorgeous pink roses with yellow centers....

Our First Sunday in Medford

Natalie and her betrothed
Diane, Marjorie, Christopher, Mercedes, Natalie, Me, Atom and Glenda - a grand happy family!
Natalie, Mercedes and Me
My chicken and me
Natalie's fiancee (he's got a beautiful smile!!) Natalie, Chickie and Me

Make sure you have eaten before reading these types of posts...

So let me tell you that I will be posting updates on this cooking frenzy I'm on right now. What? Didn't I tell you already about it?

Well, I think I am a good cook, I can create my own dishes and stuff but realistically, I cook the same few things over and over again. BORINGGGGG... so I thought I'd put my recipe books and cards to use.

I went thru some of them and pulled out things that I KNEW I could put into my mouth without gagging (that would be almost anything without apples as an ingredient), had Atom look them over and made the shopping list for the ingredients.

Here are the 5 recipes I chose for the first week:

New Orleans Wine Sauced Chicken
Chicken Creole
Spicy Pepper Steak
Mushroom-Topped Pork Chops
Stuffed Green Peppers

Here is what I made after I realized that my fridge was stuffed with leftovers....
New Orleans Wine Sauced Chicken - 4/5 stars
this dish was super yummie! I was kind of surprised - even more so when I realized that I had put too much flour and my rue was going to require way more water and wine that asked for. Thankfully, I kind of knew how to fix it along the way (a total shoutout to my MOM - THANKS MOM!!!)

Chicken Creole - 2/5 stars
meh

Spicy Pepper Steak - 3/5 stars
a little less Meh only because it had BEEF in it and Joanne LOVES her some beef!

Mushroom-Topped Pork Chops along with Mushroom Risotto - 5/5 stars
SIMPLY AWESOME! Now there IS a story behind this dish - it was made on Wed and of course, I had invited two of my closest friends over to share it with me and Atom. (HI MYRA & ALFRED - btw they don't even HAVE computers lol)
Alfred happens to be a honest to GOD chef - so I knew that if this dish stunk - he would totally tell me - that and the fact that he is german ;) (Myra and Hubbie wouldn't)
The Mushroom Risotto wasn't part of the original recipe but I had to serve the center cut pork chops with something, right? Atom found a great site that had an easy Mushroom Risotto and that is what we did. It turned out awesome - I also sauted fresh spinach and mushrooms in butter and garlic as the vegetable. Alfred loved it - I felt as if I was on "Iron Chef" haha - he like the presentation too! YAY for me

So of course, it was a success and since it was, I thought I'd start blogging (w/pictures) about our meals as well...so enjoy and don't read this and look at the pictures if you are hungry ;)