Summer...

Happy First Day of Summer!

Love, Mangonett

Images via We Heart it, Pintrest, Pretty Stuff, and What Katie Ate

3 Day Weekends Rock!

Yey for 3 day weekends! This weekend was exactly what I needed to recharge and get ready for a brand new week at work. Since I spent all night Wednesday cleaning the house, I didn't have to worry about anything else except making the bed, so we opted to do some fun stuff.

On Friday we kidnapped my little sister and did an all day movie marathon at our local movie theater. This is a favorite thing for Mango and I to do on rainy days, we basically go in for a matinee and bounce around from movie to movie until we can't sit anymore! This time we managed to catch Wall-E, Hancock, and Wanted. I loved Wall-E! I'm a huge Pixar fan so I couldn't wait to see it, it was adorable. Hancock as loads of fun too, a couple of surprises here and there, and the ever so pretty Charlize Theron is in the movie. Her hair inspired me to want to grow it long and wear it wavy. Then of course, there was the action packed Wanted. Mango wasn't to crazy to go see this one, it was more my sister and I. Gotta love James McEvoy and the lovely Angelina Jolie (her long locks sealed the deal on me growing my hair out!). This movie was a lot of fun, action packed and totally proving that girls can kick butt. The perfect ending to our movie marathon!

On Saturday we headed over to my parents house for a BB-Q with the grandparents. My father in law was nice enough to give me his famous mac-and-cheese recipe, which I will guard with my life. It is so yummy, the best and easiest to make mac-and-cheese ever, so I decided to make it for the BB-Q. Plus, my mom put me in charge of dessert so I made the Cherry Torte from Taste Spotting that I wrote about a while back. It was so easy to make and it came out so delicious. I usually make a cake, but I opted to try my hand at something a little different and it came out great. This recipe calls for cherries, however I'm thinking you can do it with a lot of other fruits too, it's definitely going in my recipe book as a keeper. The recipe is originally from the cooking blog called Cooking and Booking, a great blog that is all about reading and cooking (a great combo!). Here's the recipe:

Cherry Torte

Source: Taste Spotting-Cooking and Booking
Ingredients:
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter, at room temperature
1 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
pinch salt

1-2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs

2-3 cups pitted and halved cherries (enough to cover the pan you're using)

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350F and butter a 9-inch round pan.

2. Cream the butter and the sugar. Add the eggs, salt, and vanilla and mix thoroughly.

3. Add the flour and mix until just combined.

4. Spoon the batter into your buttered pan. Arrange the cherries, cut side down, on top of the batter. Sprinkle with about a quarter cup of sugar.

5. Bake at 350F for 45 minutes to an hour, then allow to cool to room temperature.

6. Serve and enjoy!

On top of the great food, my dad and grandpa decided to take Mango and I on for a game of dominoes. Normally this is a nice, polite game, however I grew up in a Cuban family, and this can get hardcore. Strategy and signals were flying left and right, plus my grandpa always has some trick up his sleeve. While playing dominoes he taught me a drink that I had never heard of before. Basically took a shot glass and filled it 3/4 with Jack Daniels Whiskey and 1/4 Sambuca. Usually I can't handle hard liquor and I make that grimace characteristic of someone that doesn't drink. However, the Sambuca made it nice and smooth...I'm a fan! Thanks grandpa! Always teaching his grand kids something new.

Sunday was our day to relax, so before the rainy afternoon caught up, we decided to go sofa shopping! Mango and I desperately need two new, big priced items in the house, so we're shopping around, a TV and a sofa. However, we need the sofa more! Right now if the two of us want to lay on it at the same time, it requires a balancing act where normally one of us ends up falling to the floor after an hour or so. We decided to hit a couple of stores and see what was out there. Mango would love to get a leather sectional, I don't really mind either way between leather or clothe, I just want something deep, cushy, and comfy...oh, and looks good. So far, we haven't found anything in leather (other than the outrageously priced ones at Restoration Hardware that I love) that we liked. While at the Macy's Home Store we managed to find one that we really liked. It was microfiber and the cushions were all down (down=comfy). The fabrics it came in were really pretty, my favorite was the dark chocolate color, and the price wasn't too bad. Right now it's the top contender.

So that was our weekend. Hope everyone had a great one!

A Monopoly Weekend!

Happy Friday everyone! Personally, this week seemed to fly by, which is a-OK by me.

Last night Mango and I decided to do have dinner out instead of our usual night of experimenting on recipes. So we decided to visit one of our favorite restaurants, Stir Crazy. In case you've never been there before, it's a restaurant that allows you to make your own stir fry. Why would I go to a restaurant and pay to make the food myself? Well, much like Fondue, this restaurant is fun to go to for the simple reason of... just because! Basically you pick your meat, rice or noodles and they hand you a mini wok. You proceed to visit the stir fry bar where you attempt to pile as many ingredients for your stir fry as you can on that little wok (Mango and I have mastered this step!) and then hand it to the cook where he makes your stir fry. Sounds like fun right? Well last night we decided to deviate from this path and ordered off the menu, not the best idea, from now on we're sticking to the stir fry.

So what is on the menu for this weekend? To be honest, I have no idea. However, knowing Mango and I, we'll come up with something. For sure, we need to finish painting!!! We still have 2 rooms to go, perhaps that will be the task that we will tackle this weekend. Unfortunately hurricane season is here, which puts a severe damper on any plans to hit the beach since every afternoon is starts to rain, which leaves a perfect opportunity for...Monopoly! Why am I so excited about this? Well, one of our bridal shower gifts was the new Electronic Banking Monopoly Edition. That's right, now our kids will let the debit card do the math instead of playing rock-paper-scissors for someone to be the banker. Perhaps on one of those rainy afternoons I can convince my husband to crack open that new Monopoly game... I call the thimble!

Have a great weekend! See you Monday!

Happy Friday!

Well, it looks like summer is officially here in South Florida. The hot sun and humidity have already started to sneak up on us and my poor flower garden looks like it's been planted in the Sahara. However, now that summer is here the Mango and I plan on going from translucent to a nice bronze tan, hopefully we don't get to ambitious and end up walking away from the beach looking like a couple of lobsters! My grandmothers struck the fear in my heart of the harmful effects of the sun on your skin since I was a child, as a result, I am on of those people you see at the beach slathering on sunscreen of the highest SPF known to man. My husband on the other hand, swears he has super powers and prefers not to wear any sun protection, ironically, he's more lobster prone that I am. So, basically while he's lying on the sand soaking in the rays and dreaming of ice cold Coronas, I proceed to tackle him down and apply sunscreen on for him, needless to say, we run out of sunscreen rather quickly.

Along with the bright sun and the coconut smell of SPF, summer comes with the need to grill! Great food on a hot summer day is just one of those things that bring you back to being a kid again. While perusing one of my favorite blogs Confessions of a Pioneer Woman, I visited her cooking section, which is full of great recipes! Her latest recipe of Pineapple Skewered Shrimp looks sooooooo yummy! I am definitely going to try it tomorrow if the Mango and I are still able to raise our lobster arms. The great thing about her recipes is that she posts step by step pictures of the dish as she makes it, which is fantastic for me because usually while I'm following a recipe the words, "Is it supposed to look like this???" inevitably leave my mouth. Here's the tasty recipe:

Peeled, Deveined Jumbo Shrimp

Teriyaki Sauce

Chopped Garlic

Sugar

Salt

Sliced Green Onions

Canned Pineapple Chunks, juice reserved

Lemon juice

(Optional ingredients: lime zest, red pepper flakes, minced fresh ginger, chopped jalapenos)

Make a marinade by combining Teriyaki sauce with remaining ingredients and reserved pineapple juice. Feel free to add whatever ingredients sound good! Stir in peeled/deveined jumbo shrimp and marinate at least a couple of hours. Skewer pineapple chunks with the shrimp and grill until done.

I hope everyone has a great weekend, until Monday! Hopefully I will come back slightly tanner and happy that my shrimp experiment was a success!