Hey Hey Old Bay!

I wanted to share a few things I am enjoying lately.

While I absolutely love to entertain & happily obsess over my menu for days & days prior, I don't go crazy with unnecessary gadgets or houseware items. Once in a while, though, I see something that just rocks my apron off & I must have. This, my friends, is one such thing. I am in love with my cooler! 

I already christened Tommy last weekend when I had friends over. The cooler even lifts off so that it can be transported. And you just gotta love the bottle opener! Not only is it pretty but it works well too ~ the ice hardly had melted when we checked it the next morning. 

Onto more things I am diggin'...

Old Bay & Garlic Crab Legs by Live.Love. Eat

{ Printable Recipe Here }

My previous post was for crab legs with an Asian twist that were to die for. I loved them so much I had to prepare them again the same way, stovetop, but with my own special sauce this time. The result was a solo lovefest with just me, 1.4 lbs crab legs, a side of mashed potatoes & a glass of white wine. They were out of this world, better than any crab legs I've had. I even thought of starting my own little crab truck where I serve nothing but crab legs in different sauces.

Can you picture that? BYOB!

Bring Your Own Bib

1.5 lbs Snow Crab Clusters
1/4 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1/2 stick of Butter

Garlic Powder

Old Bay Seasoning

White wine

Prepare the crab as in in this recipe by breaking the crab legs into pieces & removing joints & unnecessary parts. Since this was just for myself I didn't even bother cutting the shell on one side as I did in the last recipe. I did, however, try out the clusters this time. While a part or two were fishy I enjoyed them.

Heat olive oil & butter in a skillet on medium high. When butter is browned & hot, add crab leg pieces. This will make a beautiful sizzling sound. Toss the pieces around to coat in the oil butter mixture. Add a few sprinkles of garlic powder & Old Bay. Use your judgement here. Add white wine, about 1 cup. Toss lightly. Crab legs should warm through over medium heat for no more than 7 minutes. Take off heat & keep covered until ready to indulge.

{ Food for Thought }

1.4 lbs = 2 clusters was perfect for me. If you're preparing for quite a few people, I say plan on 2 clusters per person. And you definitely want to have a seafood/nut cracker & little fork standing by to help you with this.

And one last thing to enjoy....

I had forgotten how much I loved Old Bay Seasoning. So, tonight after  cleaning out my freezer to make room for about 40 lbs of meat I got from my boss who bought 3 cows in an auction, I decided I needed to make french fries that were taking up way too much space. That's what I told myself.

Have you ever just added a few seasonings on hand to spice up your fries? Oh my.....

Cook your fries the way you want. As soon as they are off the heat, sprinkle with sea salt, a little garlic powder & just a bit of Old Bay seasoning. Wow....

Go spice things up a bit & have a great weekend!!!!!!

Linking Deliciously to Tempt My Tummy Tuesdays!

Movin' on up!

I have been feeling down. Nothing in particular has me there but that's where I have chosen to be, down. They say it's a choice, right? Either way, I don't like it. While I feel like I am on my way back up, it was important for me to give myself a few reminders of what's making me happy lately:

Wonderful recipes marked & ready for me to try:

Old photos recently found, of me:



And my mom:

The "Perfectly Chocolatey" Chocolate Frosting, so easy to make you'll never want to buy store bought, recipe here:

Seeing Tristan's face & name in a printed book:



And being able to picture what he'll look like in a suit some years from now:



A wine glass swap & gift from Casey:



Meeting a blogger friend, Ronda, for the 1st time & enjoying one another's company as much as we do eachother's blogs:

Ronda & Me

Working so close to home & school where I can have lunch dates with this little guy:

And lastly, to you all - I am sure you know the feeling, when you're just not quite right, yet you know you'd be worse if you didn't have bloggy friends & wonderful inspirations just a click away!

Brought to you by Angie & Wordful Wednesdays from:

Beautiful Buffet

Today's Wordful Wednesday is a hodge podge of things I want to share. Life's Buffet, the things I'm diggin'. I try to keep things simple on recipe days to avoid much too lengthy posts, so Wednesdays are a good day for me to deviate, to give you more of me & what's behind the apron. Not that you asked or anything.....hah.

Getting an unexpected little treat in the mail from not just a bloggy friend but also simply a ...

Thank you Kacey!

And remember the island I was waiting for? It came a while back & I'm loving it!

Scary Mommy sent me that cute little dishtowel after I entered a contest I didn't even win. Thanks again Scary Mommy!!! The Island wanted to dress up for the holidays...

Tristan's 1st tree. What fun not to have any rules. Anything goes on this one unlike the formal one in the living room. Both favorites but for different reasons!

Lovely handmade organic soap made by the amazingly talented Nazarina over at Giddy Gastranome. These will make perfect additions to homemade goodies in a gift basket! Thank you Nazarina. Go visit her here ! Everything she makes is beautiful & with lots of care & love.

The perfect Poinsetta to dress up the dining room!

And lastly, perfecting my newly acquired napkin folding skills for my Christmas table setting. Decisions, decisions. The one on the left or the one on the right? Visit here to see how you can fold napkins for your next gathering.

Brought to you by Angie & Wordful Wednesdays from:

Inn Love with B&B's

Hi all. I have been MIS. Missing in sickness. Just coming around from something that felt like the flu. I have missed seeing what's going on in your neck of the woods so I will be catching up today & tomorrow. More than halfway through Breaking Dawn with all the rest time I had. Still in love with those crazies............

Bed & Breakfasts - they're one of my passions. I fell in love with them about 15 years ago while visiting my grandma in New Hampshire with my parents & sister. I remember seeing the clawfoot tub at the foot of my parent's bed & my mouth dropped open.

At that time, I started researching B&B's online here & I was simply amazed at being able to look at all the rooms. There were a couple of places where I'd call to reserve & would be flexible on the date just so I would have a specific room. Whether it was the jungle room or the library room or maybe the aquatic room, each would take me away to another world for a weekend. There were also a few B&B's I would visit just for the B&B itself, not caring the town it was in, knowing we would find fun somewhere. Here are a few....

(Click to enlarge)

The romance, the charm, the home cooked breakfasts, the wine hour, the cozy common areas where guests gather & talk or quietly read a good book, & all the beautifully decorated individually themed rooms. They take my breath away & make me feel like a kid in a candy store.

Brought to you by Angie & Wordful Wednesdays from:

I Love.....

Fridays!!!!!!!!!!! So in the spirit of that, here are a few other things I love!


I am loving a new website I discovered called Picnik.com where you can upload one photo or even a bunch, & then have fun with them, adding rounded corners, text, or even make a sketch out of a photo. This is perfect for someone like me who doesn't "do" photo editing because I'm just not good with it but I do like to play. There's no software involved & it's free! Here are some of the little things I did with photos of people or things that I LOVE!


I had posted the above pic previously but I was able to "posterize" it & add some text.

Here, I was able to give it a polaroid effect. Tristan's cousins Adam & Jordan are coming into town this month from New York & we're really looking forward to seeing them. We try to get the kids on the phone every week or so. This was a few days ago....

Tammy & I met here for lunch a few days ago, a nice treat for both of us since we don't get to meet for lunch during the week. It meant a 2 hour lunch for me since it was further from the office!

 

The ambience was awesome: urbanesque, artsy, casual, colorful where they serve a light menu such as a tortilla filled with black & white beans w/ tomatoes, sweet corn, red onion, peppers feta, cilantro with a ginger dressing. They also serve a wide variety of organic beers & wine.

Everything they use is organic & locally grown. We split two tortillas as well as some tonics (not the vodka kind) where they mix herbs & berries for different effects such as increased energy or vitality.

We plan to go back at night sometime to listen to some music & sample their ecclectic menu of adult beverages. Click on the pics to see the text larger. I'm learnin'.

I wrote the other day about Starfruit which I LOVE, so I thought I would try Dragon Fruit. Ah, notlovingitsomuch!!!! I scooped out the inside, which has the consistency of a kiwi, but the taste is blander than I expected for such an exotic fruit. Pretty but not worth the price.

And I LOVE the weekends so I hope you & yours have a great one!!! I have some pork tenderloin creole brewin' in the crockpot right now for tonight's dinner so I will certainly share that on Monday. And although I don't usually post on Sundays, it's my best friend Jen's birthday so I will be combining an idea I have had for a while with a tribute to her.

Good times, Good times....

Tuesday evening we made cupcakes for the very first time together & we simply had the best night together. No TV, no interference. It wasn't just what he needed but something I needed as well. I think we fell more in love over icing & sprinkles. Later that night as we snuggled in bed I told him what a great time I had. Tristan saw the tears well up in my eyes a bit and without saying a word he sat up, smiled slightly, and brought my head into his chest. Need I say more?! Here are some pics:

Then, there was time for a little chutes & ladders. Notice we don't play with the usual thingamajigs. Nope, our markers are little superheroes. Click to make larger.














No need for a recipe on cupcakes here. We just used Betty Crocker Buttery Yellow Cake Mix with Chocolate Icing. They were the most delicious cupcakes I have had. Perhaps becauce the biggest ingredient was LOVE?

A real recipe to come later for some Mexican Chocolate Icebox Cake.

My Favorite Places......

Here is another picture of the inside of one of my favorite places in my downtown area or in any area for that matter. It's a wine & coffee bar with live music. This was taken a few weeks ago as I went in for a cup of coffee after the Farmer's Market with Tristan. Here, friends & family gather, eat, drink, be merry and listen to great live music together. I love the ecclectic atmosphere, it has curtains on the ceiling which are normally not allowed (fire hazards) but they were grandfathered in I was told. Sometimes I imagine doing what I love, cooking & entertaining, professionally. I can't visualize catering or owning a restaurant but having a cute little place like this in the town I love? Now, I can see that clearly. Ya never know..........

And the place below is the new & only upscale restaurant in our little downtown. I spoke about it a few weeks ago when I went for Sunday brunch. It's at the bottom of the old historic hotel and only has about 8 tables. Very quaint & charming. The food was wonderful and between the husband & wife team who owns it, we felt like the only people in the place because of their personal attention. Right behind those flowers is the open kitchen. You can see the chef from any seat as he prepares your delicious meal.

You can see the four tables here, but there's a few more to the left. Then there is a little alcove which seats 6 people. Perfect for a little private family dining on a special occasion.

Great Kitchen Find

This is a dip chiller with a matching tray. Chips & Dip Anyone??

A recipe will come later but for now I wanted to post these two items I bought online and just received. This site is great if you love kitchen accessories but want them to fall into a certain theme. They have over 25 themes and within each theme there are about 11 different items like salt & pepper shakers and the like. I have a little bit of a wine theme in my kitch but it's a subtle one. This dip chiller was bought seperately from the tray. I just thought it was a good idea to put the chips or crudites on a matching tray next to the dip. The top of the bowl comes off so you can put your ice underneath. Can't wait to use it this weekend!!!!!