Shoyu Chicken

This week we're having a very Hawaiian dish - Shoyu Chicken. Mike had it often in Hawaii and we saw it mentioned on Diners, Drive Ins and Dives this week while Guy visited a plate lunch place in Hawaii. Mike helped cook too... which was nice since I was also trying to make quesadillas and salsa to have in the fridge this week :)

The recipe is from Aida Mollenkamp and is super simple - basically everything goes into one pot and then is served with rice. Its salty from the soy sauce, sweet from the brown sugar and slightly spicy from the ginger. We made half a recipe since its just the two of us.

Get the full recipe here!

Engagement Pics 2

New Shoes :)

Can.Not.Wait!

Recent Reads

Its been a few months since I posted a reading list. Here's what I've been reading since that post!


Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen (per IMDB - set for movie release in 2011 with Rob Pattinson and Reese Witherspoon, pretty excited!)

The Invisible Circus by Jennifer Egan

Testimony: A Novel by Anita Shreve

Moloka'i by Alan Brennert

A Change in Altitude by Anita Shreve

The Weight of Silence by Heather Gudenkauf


What I like about most of these books is that they take place in either a location or time period that I won't ever get to experience which makes the story all the more interesting. I especially enjoyed Moloka'i since it takes place in Hawaii over 100 years ago. (Its based on historical events but is a fictional character's story.)


Currently Reading: Savor the Moment by Nora Roberts (3rd book in a 4 book series about a group of best friends who run a wedding planning business - pretty timely!) and Breakfast at Tiffany's by Truman Capote.


Still debating on whether I should buy a Nook. I love the idea but kind of feel like I have too many gadgets... I'm just not sure if I can give up real books. I really enjoy going to a bookstore and browsing and I still am a proud owner of a public library card! Thoughts? Anyone have one?

Mitzi & Danny Get Married!

The whole gang traveled to South Padre Island to watch our friends Mitzi and Danny get married. We had a great rehearsal dinner Friday night and then headed to the hotel bar to watch the "band" belt out some Lady Gaga and Whitney Houston's "I Will Always Love You." Saturday the girls got up early and headed out to get our hair done and spend some time relaxing before putting on make-up and heading to the church. Mitzi and Danny had a great ceremony then we hopped on the party bus and headed to the reception. We ate, laughed, danced, took pictures and had a really great time!

we're next!

aa

the bridesmaids

with the bride

the guys and the groom

time to head back!

Weekend with my Bestie!

Last weekend I took a quick trip to Houston to visit my bestie, Laura, and see her new house. We had a really great time and it only makes me sad that we don't live closer to one another!


We started out the weekend by seeing Sex and the City 2. Had brunch (yummy breakfast tacos), did some shopping for wedding goodies (and picked up a new weekender bag by Vera Bradley), grilled a steak dinner with the neighbor, had a fun night out (even met Captain Morgan haha) on Saturday. Finished up with lunch at Niko Niko's (super good - featured on Diners Drive Ins and Dives) and a visit with Ashley Z before heading back to the airport to fly home.


Thanks for being such a good hostess and BFF Laura! Let's hope our ten year plan is well under way!

Chicken Salad, Yogurt Biscuits...

I really do not like when I get excited about a new recipe (or two) and they end up tasting blah... totally mediocre, so-so, a dud. Case-in-point, the chicken salad and yogurt biscuits I made last night to bring to work for lunch this week. Recipes/ingredients sound good, not difficult to put together... taste... meh. I'll say it again, mediocre.

I've desperately trying to find a good chicken salad recipe that isn't hosed in mayonnaise (I'm seriously not a fan of mayo, it kind of weirds me out. The only way I enjoy it is homemade on my grandmother's potato salad that would be strategically situated near me on any Thanksgiving/Christmas table if I could make it happen.) This chicken salad is just missing something... there's no zing, nothing that makes you go "hm... that is so good!" The recipe consisted of chicken, 1 tbs. each mayo and Dijon mustard, olive oil, red bell pepper, green onion, salt, and pepper.

The yogurt biscuits. I love biscuits. They are not exactly a health food so any recipe that can lessen the buttermilk/heavy cream/real butter is worth trying if that means I get to eat more of them. I think part of the problem with this recipe is that I might have over-kneaded the dough. But that's secondary to the main problem... again, nothing that made me go "wow, these are so good!" I think the recipe needed more salt and maybe a brush of melted butter over the top to enhance the flavor.

Ah well... the search continues. If you have a good chicken salad recipe... pass it on, I need new brown-bag lunch ideas. I'm a huge fan of bringing my lunch and turkey sandwiches can get boring so I'd love to substitute some days with something easy like chicken salad. No links to the recipes today since they were duds!




In totally food-unrelated news, my parents visited for Memorial weekend again this year. These are my favorite types of visits as I do not have to make the long drive :) We went to a Frisco Rough Riders baseball game (they actually won in extra innings!), had Fireside Pies and got their outfits for the wedding squared away! Over the past week, Mike and I also ordered our wedding bands and have scheduled all of our vendors visits to be done in August. I also have been picking up outfits for showers. On deck this week - Mike's suit and continuing to work on the music for the ceremony & reception.