Thanksgiving {2015}

Posted in Baby Michael, DIY, Food, Holidays by mszerwo

With the excitement of the holidays and a newborn who isn’t fond of napping, my posts are a little delayed these days. But, without further ado, some photos from this year’s Thanksgiving extravaganza.

First, we’ll start with our little turkey. Michael sported a Babies ‘R Us onesie and was a champ. He met my extended family, in town from California, and even decided to nap a wee fit, obviously exhausted from the festivities.

Our little Thanksgiving turkey

Not knowing how much time we’d have to prep a dish for the celebrations, we brought appetizers. I was able to find the time (no more than an hour required!) to prep not one but two platters.

I took inspiration from my platters from 2013 and 2014 and created an antipasti tray and vegetable platter.

Thanksgiving antipasti tray

Thanksgiving vegetable tray

The “turkey heads” are easy to make. Start with a smallish lemon with a bit of a stem nub. Then, whittle a carrot beak and glue it, a “hat” and some candy eyes onto the turkey with super glue. Hats can be anything from a radish top, broccoli, cauliflower, or something inedible too! Once you have your hat, make sure both of the surfaces are dried off, to the best of your ability. This will help the glue stick.

Thanksgiving platter turkey “heads”

The trays are easy to create as well. A quick trip to the store a couple of days before the holiday will suffice, with about an hour of “construction” time the morning of the holiday:

The antipasti platter:

Cured meat three-pack from Costco
~1 lb Beecher’s Flagship cheddar cheese (Costco)
A wheel of brie (Costco)
Trader Joe’s new four-olive medley
Marinated mushrooms (Trader Joe’s)
~1 lb of reduced fat smoked gouda (Trader Joe’s)

The vegetable tray:

1 head of broccoli
1 head of cauliflower
1 bag of baby carrots
1 orange pepper
2 cans of whole baby corn
1 can of asparagus
1 heart of celery
A couple of tomatoes
Not pictured: Fat-free sour cream with the Hidden Valley Ranch powder packet mixed in. (My favorite veggie dip!)

Here is a photo of the table, with my Aunt capturing the spread from a different angle. It was fun having such a large group (19 people!) to celebrate the holiday!

Our Thanksgiving set up

I also put my new modern calligraphy skills to use (did I tell you that I recently took a class with some girlfriends and discovered a new talent!?) and made place cards for the dinner. Don’t they look nice? I’m so impressed with myself– and clearly very humble!

Place cards by me!

I hope these inspire you to make a meat and cheese or veggie platter next Thanksgiving. Now I’m off to help Christmas explode all over our house! Photos to follow!

25Nov2015

{Wine Wednesday} Thanksgiving pie wine pairings

Posted in Holidays, Wine Wednesdays by mszerwo

While I’m busy chopping and prepping items for tomorrow’s big Thanksgiving celebration (I’m making my turkey-shaped appetizer platters from 2013 AND 2014), I’ll leave you with this chart on Thanksgiving pie wine pairings from VinePair. (They’re the best!)

VinePair also posted wine, beer and booze Thanksgiving pairings in 2014, which might come in handy for your celebrations!

Photos of my spreads to come tomorrow! I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving eve!

6Nov2015

{Halloween 2015} BOOze bags and ghost onesies

Posted in Baby Michael, Crafts, DIY, Drinky drinky, Holidays by mszerwo

Last year I wrote about BOOzing people. It was a great idea that I promptly forgot following the drafting of that blog post. Whoops.

However, I re-discovered the idea as I was perusing Pinterest recently. (Thanks, middle-of-the-night feeding for Baby M!) BOOze bags would be the perfect treat for the University of Washington tailgate that we hosted with our friends Parker and Stephanie on Halloween: booze as they walk to the game and snacks for the route or inside the stadium.

I also pinned this pin and thought nothing of it (I pin a lot of images!) until Stephanie asked if I was planning on making a costume for my little guy. With that comment, an idea blossomed!

My onesie inspiration

I decided that I would use the above image as a guide to make some super cute ghost onesies for our little guys. (Stephanie and Parker’s son was born in June and while they’re not friends yet, he and Michael will be BFFs before too long!)

I had the onesies on-hand and spent a whopping $2 on fabric puff paint. Using the above images, I freehand outlined the ghost faces with an ultra-thin point Sharpie and filled it in with high-gloss puff paint. I pre-washed the onesies, but have not (and may not) wash them again, as I’m not sure how the puff paint will launder. I’m sure there is some guidance somewhere on the internet!

Ghost onesies for the boys

Since we were co-hosting the Halloween tailgate, ghost onesies would be perfect for an appearance at the tailgate and some of our own “BOOze bags.” (Unfortunately with an 8 p.m. kickoff — 8 P.M.!!!! — the boys were not able to show up in their costumes.) However, they still wore their new onesies and we still made the BOOze bags!

BFFs in their spooky outfits

I found mini bottles of Jim Bean “Ghost” Whiskey (on sale!) and Fireball (also on sale!) and put them in cellophane bags with orange Kit Kats (my favorites!), fun size Snickers, mini Reese’s cups, Starbursts, and suckers!

Voila!

The finished product: BOOze bags!

Pin this for next Halloween and don’t forget about BOOze bags like I did!

4Nov2015

Michael’s 1st Halloween {2015}

Posted in Baby Michael, Crafts, DIY, Holidays, Homemade by mszerwo

Baby Michael was born just in time to celebrate his first Halloween in style!

I originally wanted him to be a Cookie Monster, but there weren’t costumes in the itty bitty size that I needed. (We did end up receiving a toddler-sized one as a gift, so be on the look out for our Cookie Monster next year!)

Late night breastfeeding is conducive to lots of Pinterest browsing and I found this adorable glow-in-the-dark skeleton outfit on sale. $8 for a costume? Done.

Skeleton baby & skeleton head wine!

I also made this ghost onesie for Michael. (More on that in a future post; hopefully this week)

BOO! It’s Michael!

You’ve also already seen Michael’s pumpkin bib. It was a gift and was perfect for Halloween and his six-week Facebook photos.

Michael’s six-week photo shoot

Finally, his Waldo outfit came together by happenstance. I was going through Michael’s outfits, saw the red and white striped onesie and his blue pants and voila! I added a red electrical tape stripe to his hat from the hospital, along with a yarn puff. The only item I needed to purchase were pipe cleaners for his glasses. $1 total. Cheapest– and cutest– costume yet!

Where’s Waldo… er… Michael!? I found him!

Look at those specs!

Which costume is your favorite? I like them all!

We tried putting Michael in an actual pumpkin too, something I’ve always wanted to do with a baby, and it was an extreme failure. We were all laughing as much as my sister was. Everyone except Michael. Maybe next year?

This looks so easy on Pinterest…

30Oct2015

Halloween preparations on Megan’s Island {2015}

Posted in Baby Michael, Drinky drinky, Food, Holidays, Homemade by mszerwo

Man, this baby vacation is flying by and I’m not doing nearly the amount of fun festive crafting and blogging that I had hoped I would be! I had grand plans of decking the house (and the kid) out for Halloween, but I’m nowhere close. Alas, he’s worth it — and I followed through on decking him out!

Michael & Beary Goldberg: best friends!

BOO! It’s Michael!

First things first, I found a bottle of wine for Halloween: the 2013 Dearly Beloved Forever Red. There are many bottles out there and this one matches Michael’s skeleton costume the best, so I had to have it. Plus the price was right at under $10.

Skeleton baby & skeleton head wine!

I’ve seen lots of Halloween-y wines at QFC and Trader Joe’s, and here are some wine-specific candy pairing ideas I found this year. If wine isn’t your thing, VinePair had some great Halloween Candy/alcohol pairings last year. Read my post here.

For a festive dinner, I’ve been scouring Pinterest during middle-of-the-night feedings and have settled on a “scary” lasagna. I opted for this “Cheesy Brussels sprout lasagna” with a scary face topping. I’m hoping it looks like this, but without the red sauce:

Scary lasagna!

Last year we made a zombie meatloaf (this is awesome, delicious, gluten-free, and quick and easy, if you need an idea!).

In 2013, we made squid ink pasta with “brain” sauce.

For more Halloween ideas, check out my Pinterest “Halloween Inspirations” board. So many great ideas that you could even do on short notice for this year!

25Aug2015

{Gone Pinning} Fruit and flower anniversary gifts

Posted in Adventures, Baby Michael, Holidays by mszerwo

Brandon and I are celebrating our FOURTH wedding anniversary in a little less than a month and with Baby Michael due just a mere 10 days before our anniversary, I’m a little early with this post, since I’d like to have Brandon’s gifts on lock down by the time the kid arrives!

We like to buy one another “traditional” anniversary gifts, as dictated by… Hallmark.

Check out our first (paper) anniversary gift ideas, second (cotton), and third (leather). (Pinterest became popular after our first anniversary, so I don’t have any ideas to share beyond what we did for one another: I made Brandon a book of coupons {I don’t think he’s redeemed any yet} and he gave me a photo album to capture our future memories together that I am sorry to say I haven’t used yet either. I’ll put it on my ‘to do’ list on my baby vacation!)

The fourth anniversary is the “fruit and flower” anniversary, so we’re using that to guide our gift giving. I typically turn to the internet for my gift-giving ideas and this anniversary is no exception. Here are some of the items that fit the bill:

Oh! Chocolate dipping class

We did this chocolate class when we had just started dating and it was a blast! We dipped everything and consequently ate everything too! Chocolate comes from a tree in tropical regions, so I’ve classified it as a fruit. Makes sense, right?

Oh! Chocolate dipping glass

Butchart Gardens in Victoria, BC

I’ve been to Victoria twice while Brandon has yet to visit– a first for us! (Brandon is much more the traveler of our couple.) A jaunt north on the Clipper would be a blast. Butchart Gardens looks pretty spectacular and it might be fun to try out a completely new place for both of us. We’d just have to get little Michael a passport!

A trip north, to Butchart Gardens, perhaps?

Bloedel Reserve, Bainbridge Island

We’ve already been here too, and it was great. We actually went to Bainbridge Island for our first anniversary. It was also the first time Brandon received a student discount on admission to the Reserve. Clearly it was quite memorable. We would highly recommend that you pay the nominal fee (especially if you’re a student!) and walk through the beautiful grounds. It would also be great for a stroll with a wee babe!

The Bloedel Reserve on Bainbridge Island

Pike Place Market
We often cruise to the Market and could again for our anniversary. We could grab some mini-doughnuts, pose with the pig, and pretend (but for real) that we were there four years before doing the exact same thing!

Flowers from the Pike Place Market

Edible Arrangements

What about fruit as flowers? The best of both worlds! This could be an option for Brandon, as long as it’s covered in chocolate!

Edible Arrangements

Wine items

Wine comes from grapes and grapes are fruit, so I think we just hit the jackpot! Any sort of wine accessory could work. Maybe these wine glass screen hats for those blasted fruit flies? Or some new glasses, specific to the varietals that we drink most often? Maybe those wine glass picnic stands? I’d have to start going to more concerts and picnics. ‘Course, I could just get this instead…

Fancy wine glasses!? YES, please!

Or, maybe I’ll deviate from the list and get something even more creative! (Hint, hint!) You’ll just have to check back in late September to find out what we gifted one another!

10Aug2015

{2015} S’more Day

Posted in Food, Holidays, Homemade by mszerwo

Guess what today is? NATIONAL S’MORE DAY!

Mallow Bits

This kid has given me an incredible sweet tooth and that sweet tooth has a sweet spot for s’mores. I’ve always been interested in the combination of marshmallow, chocolate and graham cracker but it’s been kicked up a notch the past few months.

If the weather cooperates, I’ll be making {another} batch of s’more chocolate chip cookies. Perhaps you’ll join me?

It’s quite easy: take your favorite chocolate chip cookie –or any cookie really — recipe (some suggestions here), add some of mini marshmallows or these “Mallow Bits” I found at Target, some crumbled graham crackers, and voila! S’MORE COOKIES.

The s’more cookies I made for a potluck last week.

Here are some other ways you can celebrate:

Want to celebrate with others?

Celebrate S’Mores Day at Theo Chocolate, taking place on August 10 and 11 from noon to 5 p.m. at their factory in Fremont. Delicious homemade marshmallows and graham crackers combined with tasty Theo Chocolate makes for a very special treat.

Best part? $1 of every s’more goes to Food Lifeline and stopping hunger in Western Washington.

S’mores for TWO days at Theo!

Want to celebrate with yourself? I have some ideas for you:

S’more bark

A triple chocolate s’more bark, perhaps?

S’more pizza

I love pizza. S’more + pizza = Sounds amazing!

S’more lasagna

S’more lasagna? Yes, please.

And some recipes for the full year? Thanks, Country Living!

S’more recipes for the whole year…

I hope you have a very enjoyable s’more day! I know I will!

3Aug2015

2015 National Night Out (Tomorrow!)

Posted in 2015 Resolutions, Food, Holidays, Homemade by mszerwo

It’s already August (where did the past eight months go!?) and with that comes Election Day for those of us in Washington (make sure you vote!) and National Night Out. Both of which fall on the first Tuesday of August.

2015’s National Night Out: TOMORROW! What are you bringing?

What is National Night Out?

National Night Out is an annual community-building campaign that promotes police-community partnerships and neighborhood camaraderie to make our neighborhoods safer, better places to live. Together, we are making that happen.

National Night Out enhances the relationship between neighbors and law enforcement while bringing back a true sense of community and provides a great opportunity to bring police and neighbors together under positive circumstances.

Neighborhoods across the nation host block parties, festivals, parades, cookouts and other various community events with safety demonstrations, seminars, youth events, visits from emergency personnel and exhibits.

Growing up I was the Block Watch Captain for our block, organizing the Night Out potluck celebration each year.

Our Megan’s Island neighborhood usually has a get together and this year is only a little different. Our neighbor Dave professionally smokes meats (ribs, brisket, etc. — it smells SO good on our street come football season!) and will be cooking up BBQ chicken and brats for our Night Out celebration.

(Interesting side note: We toyed with the idea of having Dave bring is smoker up to our house and having fresh pizzas and smoked meats, but we didn’t get out stuff together fast enough this year or last. We’re planning a separate neighborhood pizza party instead. Besides, two parties is better than one, right?)

The assignment for those attending our neighborhood potluck this year is to bring a side dish to share. I usually go with brownies, but since it’s been so hot and brownies are kind of boring, I’ve been scouring the internet for a new recipe and I think I’ve found the perfect dish to bring: a watermelon goat cheese salad. (Of course, any and all of these hot weather eats would be perfect for your Night Out celebration!)

I found this recipe in my new (library-issued) Food52 Cookbook, which happens to be our cookbook of the week this week. It’s perfect for the season and should be perfect for a large group of our neighbors. I plan on making a few (mostly lazy) changes, so I’ll include them here. If you want to see the official recipe, visit Food52.

Watermelon and Goat Cheese Salad with a Mint-Basil Infused Vinaigrette
Serves 4

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 handful fresh mint basil
1 teaspoon coarse salt
1/2 seedless watermelon
1/2 pound fresh goat cheese
1/2 cup unsalted pistachios
2 tablespoons red vine vinegar
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 dash fresh pepper

Roughly chop the mint basil and add the olive oil and the coarse salt. Grind for about 10 minutes and let it sit for about 1 hour at room temperature. (The original calls for using a mortar and pestle, but we don’t have one of those. I’ll improvise.)
Cut the watermelon into cubes and place in a salad bowl in the refrigerator.
Place the pistachios in a pan and on low heat toast them for 5 minutes.
Remove the pistachios from the pan and chop them roughly. Set aside in a small bowl.
Crumble the goat cheese.
Take the olive oil and mint-basil mix and put it through a small mixer. When completely mixed add the vinegar. Mix again.
Take the watermelon out of the fridge, add the goat cheese, drizzle the vinaigrette, sprinkle the pistachios and finish with sea salt and pepper. Mix and serve!

This is what it’s supposed to look like. Check my Instagram feed tonight to see how my version turns out!

Food52’s watermelon goat cheese salad

I hope you’re able to enjoy Neighborhood Night Out tomorrow and get to know your neighbors!

9Jul2015

Star-spangled quinoa salad

Posted in Food, Holidays, Homemade by mszerwo

Happy belated independence day to you, dear blog reader! I took a brief hiatus from blogging, my real job, and my outside jobs to enjoy the fourth — and the heat — east of the mountains, at my family’s cabin near Vantage.

On the shores of the Columbia

We played in the pool, we wine tasted, we did some work around the cabin, and we participated in the community celebrations. Brandon ran the community 5K — he got 24th overall! — and I decided at the last minute to enter the cooking contest.

Spoiler alert: I won!

Sunland Estates Best Salad winner 2015: ME!

Sunland Estates Best Salad 2015 winner: ME!

The cooking contest consisted of several categories:

Best burger
Best salad
Best ribs
Best chili
Best dessert
Best cocktail and costume

I made a quinoa salad with mint, watermelon, feta, and blueberries, in a lime vinaigrette. (Recipe below!) The initial recipe came from our cookbook of the week, Simply Ancient Grains, but I made many changes, including swapping the couscous for quinoa, making it gluten-free. I also added the blueberries for the red, white, and blue-ness of the salad, for ‘Merica. Brandon helped me re-name it, dubbing it “Star-spangled quinoa salad.”

Patriotic watermelons

There were seven judges, so I plated seven samples of the salad. Dishes were judged on presentation, so I added some fourth of July flair, including watermelon stars and decorative elements on this plate itself.

Star Spangled Quinoa Salad

Star-spangled deliciousness!

The salad turned out deliciously and there was plenty leftover for us to enjoy it with our burgers and corn-on-the-cob from the grill.

Decked out and ready to go!

Our fourth of July feast

Star Spangled Quinoa Salad (adapted from Simply Ancient Grains) Serves 6-10, depending on serving size

1 c quinoa (this can be altered as you see fit), appropriate amount of water to cook it with
2-3 limes, to be zested and juiced (a couple of tablespoons of bottled lime juice works as well)
2 T olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
2 T honey
1.5 c seedless watermelon, I used about 1/3 of a small watermelon
1 pint blueberries
1/2 c crumbled feta
1/2 c mint
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Cook the quinoa per the instructions, typically 1/2 c of quinoa with 1 c of water (I like to add a swirl of olive oil and some salt and pepper to the pot as it’s boiling)
Make dressing: Combine oil, honey, lime juice and zest with salt and pepper.
Prepare additional ingredients:
Cut watermelon into little chunks (or stars, if applicable)
Chiffonade (cut into small strips) the mint leaves
Wash blueberries
Crumble feta
Combine all ingredients in a bowl and serve!
Add additional salt and pepper as needed. Be careful: feta is salty and too much additional salt may overpower your salad!
Salad can be served warm or cold.
Enjoy!

4Jun2015

Happy National Doughnut Day! {2015}

Posted in Adventures, Exploring Seattle, Food, Holidays by mszerwo

My Top Pot favorites: frosted doughnuts! (Not pictured: my other favorites: the maple bar)

Do you know what tomorrow is? It’s National DOUGHNUT Day!

We’re doughnut lovers here on Megan’s Island and I combed the archives for some great reads and recommendations to celebrate National Doughnut Day as the sweet delight that it is.

I’m not sure where I’ll indulge in celebration on Friday, but a new Seattle-based doughnut-ery (that’s a thing, right?) has opened up and Brandon and I plan on visiting this weekend: Rodeo Donuts. Rodeo Donuts has been operating out of the Ballard Cupcake Royale and is starting to sell out of the Capitol Hill Cupcake Royale starting tomorrow! The Rodeo Donut bakers are also bakers at Cupcake Royale, and they make brioche doughnuts that look amazing. Just look at their Instagram feed! It’s the food porn I look at every morning on my way to work. Their flavors rotate daily and once they’re out for the day, they’re out for the day. This peanut butter chocolate fritter had Brandon drooling this morning.

Top Pot is using National Doughnut Day to raise money for Northwest Harvest. While it will decrease our chances of winning, I’d encourage you to stop by a Top Pot cafe tomorrow for a celebratory doughnut and spend an extra $10 on a raffle ticket to win a grand prize of a four-night stay in Hawaii, complete with airfare! Here are the specifics, from the Northwest Harvest website:

Tomorrow: National Doughnut Day!

Join us on June 5 from 6-10 a.m. at Top Pot Doughnuts locations around the Puget Sound! We’ll be celebrating National Doughnut Day and collecting donations of non-perishable food items in addition to money.

As part of the celebration, we will be raffling off a four night stay in Hawaii complete with airfare. Tickets can be purchased until 5:00 p.m. June 6 at any Puget Sound Top Pot Doughnuts for $10.

Must be 18 or older to purchase tickets. Winner will be drawn 9 a.m. Monday, June 8 at 711 Cherry St., Seattle 98104.

Happy celebrating! Nom, nom, nom.

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Category Archives: Holidays