QUOTE OF THE WEEK: Influence

"Nothing of me is original. I am the combined effort of everyone I've ever known." 


— Chuck Palahniuk (Invisible Monsters, 1999)

Eat, Drink and Be Merry...

Dinner and drinks in the middle of the week? Yes please.
This week I thought I would bring the procrastination of writing my thesis to a new low...cooking dinner for a few of my friends, and maybe throw in a little drink and apples to apples in there as well...So this week I dedicate my blog to food, good times and my love for procrastination.

The menu: Stuffed Chicken, creamy potatoes and one nice and veggie-full salad!

Stuffed Chicken
Ingredients: 

• an even amount of chicken breasts (you need to multiply however many you want to make by two)
• fresh spinach (chopped)
• sun dried tomatoes (chopped)
• feta cheese, crumbled
• 1 cup of milk
• bread crumbs
• tooth picks
• aluminum foil

Prep Work:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees 

Cover some baking sheets with aluminum foil.
This will help when cleaning up later!

Make sure that your spinach and sun dried tomatoes are chopped. And that your feta cheese is crumbled, your milk is an a bowl and your bread crumbs are in a large zip block bag.

You want to be able to make an assembly line of the ingredients you need; if everything is ready to go, it will be easier on you.













Instructions:

1. Place 2 pieces of chicken in the bowl of milk.
2. Place the milk-coated chicken in the zip block bag filled with bread crumbs
3. Shake the zip block bag, until both pieces of chicken are coated.
4. Place on piece of bread crumb coated chicken on the aluminum foil covered baking sheet.
5. Fill the piece of chicken with a layer of spinach, sun-dried tomatoes and feta cheese
6. Place the second piece of bread crumb coated chicken on top of the other, and secure it to the first piece with tooth picks.
7. Cook for an hour at 350 degrees

Creamy Potatoes 
Ingredients:

• Desired amount of potatoes ( I used a pound to feed a group of 8 people) 
• 2 quarts of heavy whipping cream
• 3 cups of shredded swiss cheese 

Recipe

1.  Wash, peel and slice the potatoes into smaller pieces.
2. Place the potatoes into a large pot and cover the potatoes with the heavy whipping cream.
3. Boil the potatoes and cream until the potatoes are soft. This should take approximately 20-25 minutes.
4.  Drain out half of the heavy whipping cream.
5. Place layers of the potato cream mixture and swiss cheese in a baking dish.
6. Finish with a layer of cheese on top.
7. Bake in the oven until the cheese browns. This takes approximately 15-20 minutes
8. Take out of the oven, and  enjoy

Veggie-full Salad
You can't really go wrong here. I tried to add as many veg possible for my non-meat eating friends. I included, peppers(red, yellow and orange), red onion, mushrooms, chick peas, feta cheese, spinach and romaine lettuce and grape tomatoes.

Overall, everyone seemed to enjoy the meal! We were able to find enough seating in my lovely apartment to accommodate for everyone. Old friends chatted with old friends, new friends made some new friends, and everyone seemed to enjoy the nice break in the the middle of the week.

We concluded the evening with some vino and a nice friendly game of apples to apples. Laughs were plenty, and good times were had.

ALSO, I would like to dedicate this week's post to a food friendly gal who writes a pretty rad blog on food! Soooo you should definitely check out her work: http://sliceofearthlydelight.blogspot.com/

Song of the Week:

"Jimi Thing" -Dave Matthews Band

QUOTE OF THE WEEK: Drinking

"Sometimes when I reflect back on all the beer I drink I feel ashamed.  Then I look into the glass and think about the workers in the brewery and all of their hopes and dreams.  If I didn't drink this beer, they might be out of work and their dreams would be shattered.  Then I say to myself, it is better that I drink this beer and let their dreams come true than be selfish and worry about my liver."  ~Jack Handey

Mmmmm Grease

Hangovers...a drinkers worst enemy. They sneak up on you to remind you how much "fun" you had the night before. The windowless room becomes too bright, your stomach feels as if there was an victim of assault, and your senses are heightened so that the smallest noise, smell or movement is multiplied by 500%. However how does one cure the feeling of a hangover? Sleep? The Hair of the Dog? or my personal favorite, the greasy home cooked meal, aka heart-attack on a plate.

Why is it that after a night of heavy drinking that many of us turn to greasy food the next morning? If drinking three meals worth of calories did not do the trick the night before, why continue to add on the calories the next day? Besides the deliciousness of some grease soaked food, there is some science behind why many of us prefer to add on the extra calories. 

Not only does Alcohol reduce our inhibitions to make some (sometimes) bad decisions, but it also affects our appetite control in our brain. However, to beat the hangover to the punch, many have advised to eat a nice greasy meal BEFORE your night of drinks. By doing this, a layer of fatty grease lines your intestines so that it helps to slow down the absorption of alcohol that you intake. Eating greasy food the following morning seems to be more psychological than physical, but I'll take it...with a huge glass of water on the side.

Song of the Week:

Jimmy Buffett - "Cheeseburger in Paradise"

QUOTE OF THE WEEK: Break-Ups

I'm borrowing this idea from a friend of mine. As a person who loves a good quote, I thought I would try it out!

In respect to this weeks quote, it goes out to my little sister. Whose boyfriend of three years broke up with her over the phone. Which I guess is better than a text message, but still, a cop out  in my opinion...

"Take your records, take your freedom
Take your memories, I don't need'em
Take your space and take your reasons
But you'll think of me"

Keith Urban - "You'll Think of Me" (2002)

Pionta Guinness, le do thoil

So this past week, I was able to spend my favorite holiday with some friends old and new.

My morning started off as usual for a Thursday. Woke up at 8:50, rolled out of bed, put on some clean clothes and headed to The United Methodist Archive. I worked from 9 until Noon, and was able to get my hands dirty with history. I'm currently working on a research project for a organization called MARCHA, a caucus of The United Methodist Church dealing with the Hispanic Americans who follow the denomination. I have the devious task of searching page by page through the United Methodist News Service documents from 1969 to present. So far I have found a few documents regarding the organization, but have been aware that there have been many articles dealing with women's rights...the 1970s was a decade for fellow females!!

Any who, work was fun, I got to go home and rest a bit before heading out to Morristown to meet with a few of my fellow Druids. We went to Hennessey's Washington Pub, a great spot for a pint of Guinness, and some traditional Irish food Year round.  I had the fish and chips special, you can't go wrong with some fried fish and potatoes while drinking a few dark beers! The bar was packed with people of all ages, families brought their children, sons were taking their intoxicated parents home, men were wearing kilts, and there were too many Aran sweaters and green shirts to count.

After a few pints, and some great conversations I then headed West, to a town called Byram, New Jersey with a friend from school. I had promised that I would go out to her neck of the woods and see what the craic was like. After meeting her parents and getting re-pampered, we headed out for a great night out on the town.  We went to a bar called New Jersey Bar and Grill, or the Bag to many of it's local patrons.  It was a great place to spend st. Patty's day. I fit right in with my friend's group of friends and had a great night. I also ran into an college buddy from my undergrad, we shared a shot, and got to say our hellos.  My night was filled with $2 beers, Irish-Car bombs (although I wish that they would call them by another name :( ), shots of Jameson, Guinness, Smithwicks, a few broken glasses, a bunch of laughs and some new friends by the end of the night.

My favorite thing about st. Patrick's day is not about the drinking. It's about the mood that people are in. It seemed that everyone that I had run into that night was in one of the best moods of their life. Maybe I was looking past some who were not so happy, but the day just breathes happiness, cheer and joy. So I wish that everyone enjoyed their March 17th, whether you celebrated the holiday, or not.


Song of the Week:
"Whiskey in the Jar" - The Dubliners

Mardi Gras...and All That Jazz

So this year I was able to go on my first spring break in 6 years! Since I had so much fun during New Years, I decided to experience New Orleans during Mardi Gras would be my best bet...so I called up some of my friends who live in the city, and sure enough my plans were made!

Before going to Mardi Gras, my depiction of the festival was that it was one day (Fat Tuesday) and that people were wild and crazy, acting in ways of sin and foolishness. Man was I wrong, well...to a certain extent. Mardi Gras is not just one day, in fact it's many. Its a carnival season celebrated before lent. Parades occur EVERYDAY for a month before Fat Tuesday, and ends with Ash Wednesday. 

I flew down to New Orleans on the Friday before Fat Tuesday. Saturday and Sunday were supposed to be days filled with tailgate-like celebrations, but due to weather, my parade experience was given on Bacchus Sunday. Let me give you a little throw down of how the day panned out:

7:00AM wake up/shower, etc

8:00AM pick up keg (of yummy Abita Amber)

8:30 Drop off keg/ find parking

9:00 let the drinking begin

11:00 Krewe of Okeanos

11:45 Krewe of Mid-City

12:00 Krewe of Toth

5:15 Krewe of Bacchus

Followed by the Krewe of Endymion which ended near midnight

Our spot was held by some brave souls at 4am, and by the end of Endymion, the strip of land between St. Charles Street was deserted with the occasional group of "hard-core-keg-standing-parties", heap fulls of beads that parade goers missed and piles of broken chairs, tables and other items of trash that people left throughout the day. 

10:00 AM, ready for some bead catching and Brew drinking

One of the Floats during Okeanos

A band during Mid-City

The parades were not like how I imagined though, they were more than great. First off, the event is a more child-friendly environment. Locals make these ladder/chair contraptions for little ones, so that they can enjoy the show as well! The parade route is filled with marching bands, brass bands, decorative floats, masked men and the occasional celebrity! Anderson Cooper and Kelly Ripa were throwing beads in Endymion and Andy Garcia was the king of Bacchus. While some of the float riders were tempting female parade goers with the fancier throws by a little peep show, the parades themselves were rated PG! Well maybe PG-13 with the amount of drinking that was surrounding everything else.

Endymion

Anderson Cooper Threw me beads, NBD

Cooool WTWA inspired float!

Now Bourbon Street was another story all together. Everything you could have possibly heard about the craziness of Mardi Gras does occur in the vicinity of the French Quarter. Boobs, Barely-there costumes, balcony throws, and protesters fill the streets to an uncomfortable amount. Its a different experience entirely, and one that everyone should see at least once in their lifetime, whether you enjoy this crowed mess is to each their own...

Protesters...

One thing is certain though, 

The more time I spend in B-E-A-Utiful New Orelans, the more I fall in love with it!

So until next time NOLA, 

stay classy,

Love Amy

This Week's Song of the Week:

Hot 8 Brass Band - "Sexual Healing" (Marvin Gaye Cover)