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!

The Foodie in Me...

My husband and I have several things in common, we both have a sarcastic sense of humor, we're avid movie fans, but most of all we are "foodies". In case you don't know what a "foodie" is, Slashfood.com says that being a foodie involves not only liking food, but to be interested in it. While others like to know about where the food comes from or all the flavors involved in it, I am particularly interested in how it's made. As a result, even though I don't do it as often as I would like to, I love to cook. Especially now that we have acquired some flipping awesome cooking tools as part of our loot from the bridal shower. I am more excited than ever to try out some recipes with my new toys.

Recently, my sister, who's hobby is to find all of the crazy and interesting websites out there, introduced me to the fabulous Tastespotting.com. It is filled with amazing recipes for anything you can think of and even some things you couldn't have imagined. I love how their site is set up to look like a mosaic of recipe cards for you to choose from. This summer, this Foodie is definitely go to try a couple of these recipes! Now, to figure out how get back into exercising, being a foodie can have some repercussions on how well your jeans fit!