2012 Recap

This year...

January

-Ran our first marathon in Charleston, SC
-Brad turned 30
-Became a BMX Bandit
-Went bobsledding for the first time ever in Lake Placid
-Went dogsledding
-Giants won the Superbowl!

February
-went snowboarding in Lake Placid and built jumps in the backyard of Honeycut Cabin

March
-epic St. Patrick's Day Party which ended with Miles Austin at the Boathouse

April
-went to Ireland
-had a birthday in the town my great-grandparents are from: Killaloe, Ireland
-got engaged to my favorite person in Doolin overlooking the Cliffs of Moher
-went to my first Irish Rugby Match

May
-Finished P90X
-Mamie passed away. XOXO

June
-Finished my last year teaching in NYC
-Wedding Planning

July
-got a new job at Howell High School so we can move down the Shore
-Shea is psyched to have central air conditioning and a yard in her future

August
-went to epic Alaska

September
-moved to NJ officially
-closed on our first house in Oceanport at the Jersey Shore!

October
-Hurricane Sandy devastates the Jersey Shore and New York
-had my Afternoon Tea bridal shower
-had my awesome bachelorette party

November
-had our wedding blown away by Hurricane Sandy
-got a NJ state license
-built a farmhouse dining room table and benches
-became crafty

December
-had our first party at our new house
-cooked my first Christmas Eve meal for two families
-painted, bought furniture and decorated our house
-finally organized blog into categories

Can't wait to see what 2013 brings! Happy New Year everyone!

My Grandmother's Southern Caramel Squares

These are my grandmother's famous caramel squares. They could be the best dessert you'll ever eat. I made them for Christmas this year, and they were a huge hit. I managed to procure the recipe the last time I was in Charleston, SC. My grandmother has passed on, but her legacy lives on.

I used light evaporated milk and they tasted exactly as I remembered from many happy Christmas experiences as a little kid. I also make them sans nuts because I'm not a huge fan. My grandmother used to send them up to me in the Bronx in a tin. They were my favorite part of Christmas. Enjoy!

3 Miles and Painting Cross Training

So, after a hiatus, we are officially back to running. Our training plan for the marathon starts on New Year's Day (How's that for a resolution?!?) and we couldn't be more bummed excited.

So what have we been doing in the meantime? Holiday parties, IKEA shopping (I now own a huge stock in Sweden), decorating, and painting. Perfect cross training activities.

To be honest, I am excited about the marathon. Running in the cold is not fun. My throat hurts, I feel like I can't breathe as easily (or I'm just out of shape from all the caramel squares and peanut butter balls), and I can never figure out the right attire--I'm either too hot or too cold. But, the payoff will be great, because running the Charleston marathon last January was one of the coolest things I have ever done. Personal satisfaction level was VERY high, and I feel as though a marathon that literally leaves from my doorstep (Monmouth Race Track is just a few blocks away, and that's the starting line) will be awesome. Seven President's Park, where it ends, is just 3 miles away. And this time, I'll probably be able to enjoy the after party a bit more. And maybe even eat another pineapple ham pizza all by myself. :)

Yes. That Mellow Mushroom pizza was delicious. And that's the reason I run marathons :)

Doggie Biscuits: Merry Christmas, Puppies in Kind

Brad's sister got us a doggie biscuit making kit, so I decided that Shea deserved a treat on Christmas, and I whipped up some peanut butter doggie biscuits. Voila! Merry Christmas to all, including puppies. :)

Tomorrow, we'll run. Today, we eat. Here's wishing you a very merry and joyful Christmas!

XOXO
~Jamie

Christmas Eve Feast

Read this post with the Charlie Brown Christmas music playing in the background.

I've been channeling both of my grandmother's these past few days in an attempt to create a feast. I think I have succeeded. Here's what I have created for the first ever Cositore-Stinson Christmas Eve Extravaganza!

1. Cheese. Obviously. Provolone and beer cheddar. For the Italian and secret cheese-can lovers in us all.

Followed by: Some Mamie channeling. Two types of Lasagna (one sausage, one spinach) and Braciole. The braciole is really for Papa, but it looks SOOOO good, I wish I had more flank steak and could have made more.

Then, a taste of what else is to come. I'm making bacon green beans, roasted potatoes, and ham. Here are the roasted potatoes, pre-oven.

And, for dessert, I'm channeling Mamama, and made peanut butter balls and caramel squares, and then, I have a surprise southern upside down chocolate cake! Shhhh... I haven't made the cake yet, as it is something that has to be done last minute, but I've never had it and heard it used to be one of my mom's favorites. We'll see if I can pull it off!

And finally, I braved the Christmas Eve chaos to procure these plates and making my table look awesome! Notice the Layer Cake Malbec: Laura gave this to me at my bachelorette party, and it was phenomenal.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Home Sweet Home!

I had the revelation that this will be our first Christmas as fiances. We weren't supposed to have a Christmas as fiances, so this is actually kind of exciting! I will show off my ring and tell people we're engaged for the next week and a half. It will be great!

And I have the best fiance ever! I came home from a terrible day of work (World was supposed to end, transformer blew before classes started because of the excessive wind and rain, smoke everywhere and no power and a bunch of HS students who didn't want to be there anyway thinking the Apocalypse was coming... and then finding out later in the day that Brick HS (poor Melissa!) had its own awful events with a potential gunman getting arrested... which didn't help)... anyway, I came home from work, to find this:

Notice the bow on the door. Yes, he even bought a big bow so I could "open" my gift. He painted it (awesome color, called winter surf), bought all of the furniture (2 desks, 2 awesome chairs, 2 tall bookshelves, and 1 small cubed bookshelf with baskets), put the furniture together, and organized it. And he used my aesthetic that I had talked about when we hashed out what we might do with the space. PERFECT! I couldn't ask for a more thoughtful present. Tomorrow is our 3 year anniversary. Seems so much longer, in a good way. :)

Coconut Curry Butternut Squash Soup, Italian Flag Appetizers, and Chicken

Ladies and gentlemen.

I have accomplished a lot by 6:00 PM tonight. Still waiting for B-Rad to come home so we can go for a run, but...

I Christmas shopped for Secret Santa.

I made some crafty Christmas presents.

I made Italian Flag Appetizers for lunch tomorrow. I never go to lunch, but the people who are off the period I am are having a mini-festive party, so I figured I'd go, meet some new people, and mingle. So I made these:

Don't they look incredible???

Then, I made a chicken. See the little guy roasting so nicely in the oven?

Then I bought a huge butternut squash, sliced it up, roasted it, and proceeded to make a coconut curry butternut squash soup that's healthy and delicious. No cream. Totally awesome.

1 1/2 cups of cooked butternut squash (I used more... I like the soup a bit thicker and more squash-y)

I used 1 cup of light coconut milk because I used more squash. They said 1/2 cup.

I used 1 1/2 cups of chicken broth. They said 3/4 cup

I used 2 tsp. curry. They said 1

I used 1/2 tsp salt. They said 1/4 tsp.

Then, I blended it all together with my awesome immersion blender. Voila! Tasty morsel served with a dollop of Greek yogurt.