Weekend Wrap Up

Finally! With the weekend came warmer temps and some activity for our household. The snow was fun and at all but after 3 days of cancelled school and the wet turned muddy mess, we were all ready for some nicer weather and to get out and about a little!

Saturday night was a very nice treat for Ed and the girls. It was Daddy-Daughter Date Night! Because of prior plans, Ed was not going to be able to take the girls to a Father-Daughter Dance at the girls' dance studio. To help make up for it he took them out for a special night on his own. They saw "Frozen" movie again but this time it was the new sing-along version. My oh my, how the girls love to belt out those songs! This was a big hit - being aloud, encouraged even, to belt out along with everyone else in the movie theater to their current favorite tunes! Date night is only complete with dinner, right? so after the movie they went to Milton's for their favorite pasta.

The girls were so cute getting ready for their night. We actually did not mention any plans to them until Ed got home from work on Saturday afternoon. He asked them if they wanted to go out on a date and they both replied "sure" not all that enthusiastically. Then while they were picking out their clothes and getting their hair done, they both kept asking what a date was, what do you do on a date, and all these other questions. They were so excited and didn't even know yet where they were going!!

It was a nice evening for Ed and the girls and a nice quiet evening for myself as well!

Yesterday was the Super Bowl of course. Usually I will admit I make way too much food. I enjoy watching the game but of course I love the excuse to make a bunch of snacky, maybe not so great for you, food! Thanks to the snow days of being stuck at home with the girls, I had a bunch of new recipes to try out. That's what happens when you finally get a chance to reorganize all the pins on Pinterest and catch up on the dvr'ed Food Network shows!

I was really not wanting to go overboard so I narrowed down my menu to four items. All new recipes. And all four big hits and successess!! Rarely does that happen. To actually try four recipes all at one time and for them all to be keepers!

Since they were such big hits I thought I'd share the links to the recipes with you!

For something to snack on by the handful throughout the afternoon -

Photo courtesy of Food Network

Sweet & Salty Bacon & Nuts. This is a Giada recipe. The only substitution I made was pecans for the almonds (Ed loves pecans, but not a big a fan of almonds). Deliciously addictive!

Our first course of sorts, ended up being kind of a late lunch mid-afternoon for us -

Photo courtesy of Food Network

Beer & Italian Sausage Fondue, also a Giada recipe. Rich, a little salty, and oh so filling! After about four small crostini dipped in this cheesy deliciousness, I wasn't sure I would have room for anything else later!

The main course, our meal while watching the game -
Sweet & Sticky Pork Ribs, another Giada recipe. I apparently watched two episodes of game-day food!! Sorry, there was no photo to swipe from Food Network's website and I was way too busy eating to take my own photos yesterday! These were messy, as all good ribs should be, sweet with a slight kick to them. Easy to prep but they do take a while to cook. Well worth the wait though!

And finally, for that sweet finish after the savory and saltiness of the other foods -

Photo borrowed from Cookie Crumbs & Sawdust

Chewy Caramel Butter Bars! I made these on Saturday night while Ed and the girls were out. Man, these are incredible!! This was a recipe I pinned who even knows how long ago and definitely one of the gems I rediscovered when reorganizing my Pinterest boards.

I seriously and strongly recommend trying all of these recipes. They were all big hits at my house and will certainly be requested for again and again!