new furniture, a dog park and fifty pounds of potatoes...

So the first weekend off of soccer we headed to VT for the weekend. It was a quick, but nice visit. We got to go see Ashley and Devin's new house and hang out with them for a bit, which was really nice! The point of this chitter chatter about VT is to tell you what happened when we returned home from Vermont...new furniture:

I am VERY excited about this new furniture...because, not only did we get new furniture, I also convinced Ryan to pull up the gray carpet (that conveniently matched the old wallpaper on the wall). The pulling up of carpet was quite an ordeal, because once rolled, the thing weighed a million pounds. We ended up having to put it through the window to get it out to the garage. BUT, once that all happened and we got the furniture situated...the living room feels about 100 times better and cozier. I'm hoping to get an area rug in here sooner rather than later, I just have to find one i like.

Okay, time to switch gears completely. Last weekend was our first weekend at home together since mid-August. What a nice treat!! we treasure our Saturday's together since they only exist in the months of Mid-April to Mid-August, November and December. Well last weekend we wanted to make sure we spent a ton of time with our little Beaners because as the weather has been changing and darkness comes at 4:30, it's hard to let him run around like he needs to during the week, so we brought him to Singing Beach. WOW! it was AWESOME. It's like a doggie playground during the off-season. Everyone congregates with their dogs and the dogs chase each other and get tired out and have so much fun. What a wonderful, wonderful place to bring a hyper puppy...so you can then relax while the puppy promptly takes a nap upon arrival home. I took Beans there yesterday for a quick walk - there weren't a ton of dogs, but it was a gorgeous day:

And finally...switching gears again. It's that time of year again when Thanksgiving festivities are plentiful! We went to one last weekend (which I mentioned in my last post), and we have one again today (which I am not at...I'm actually home sick on the couch...boring). This one, though, is a 90 person Thanksgiving at our church, so we had to prep yesterday morning. Ry and I were in charge of potatoes. Fifty pounds of them, to be exact. So we showed up at church at 9...and by 11:30 there were fifty pounds of mashed potatoes packaged and ready to be heated for today's lunch:

I'm super bummed that I am sitting on my couch blogging and not at church today, but I have absolutely no voice and I'm wiped out and have been sick since Wednesday since I've refused to let my body rest...and now my body is making me rest. So rest I will, for I must be healthy for Wednesday's Lembo family ravioli making and Thursday's Lembo family Thanksgiving... there will always be a wonderful Pigeon Cove Chapel Thanksgiving next year!

Tasty Treats

life is "calming down" apparently. And by "calming down," I mean we have time to be running around seeing friends and getting everything done that didn't get done during soccer season...most importantly, trying new recipes and having people over for dinner!!!

My camera broke, yes my absolute favorite "thing" in life. I'm sad about it, but haven't gotten up the courage to spend $600 to replace it. This just means no photos in the blog, unless I remember to take them with my phone...

Anyways - I saw this recipe for butternut squash lasagna in a Martha Stewart email. I wish I had time to be more Martha Stewart-y. I love wandering around her website looking at all the cool things she does...but who has time to do that? Well, anyways, I decided to try this recipe:

http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/butternut-squash-and-sage-lasagna?backto=true&backtourl=/photogallery/butternut-squash-recipes-1#slide_9

butternut squash and sage lasagna. I would have taken a picture, but it didn't 'look all that impressive in the pan. but oh man...it was AMAZING. I served it with homemade applesauce and a salad. It sounds so bizarre...but you NEED to try it if you are as much of a butternut squash enthusiast as I am. I love the stuff.

Anyways - the next new recipe I tried was a Chocolate-Cinnamon Bundt Cake:

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Chocolate-Cinnamon-Bundt-Cake-with-Mocha-Icing-354851

We were going to a Thanksgiving party that our friends throw every year...and I had not planned what I was making until the last minute, so I had to find a recipe that had all pantry staples and this is what I found. I'm always skeptical to use the bundt pan, because without fail it ALWAYS sticks. This time was no different...so although the final product wasn't the most pretty (not to mention I pulled it out of the oven ten minutes before leaving and had to serve it on a cooling rack instead of a pretty serving plate), it was DELISH. It was nice and airy and the cinnamon and chocolate, with the subtle coffee flavor were delish!! A definite easy, tasty treat!!

YUM! I love having time to make new recipes :)

A life update coming after tomorrow...I promise. :)