Seafood Success!

I was back down the shore this weekend.  After a crazy day of rain on Friday things started looking up.  I spent the day on the beach with my mom and aunt.  Dad and my uncle went to the BBQ & Blues fest in town.  After the beach Dad and I got to work on my first ever seafood boil!! It was so easy and super delicious.  I used {this recipe} as a guide.  My local grocery did not have the Zatarain's seasoning but did have something similar so we went with that.  Of course you can add anything you want really.  We added clams to the mix since I love them! Here is everything before.

Longest to cook goes in first and then you just keep adding, finishing off with the shrimp.

Some champs or bubbles as my aunt calls it to celebrate a great day.  

Doesn't think look awesome?  I think so.  It was the first time but I think it came out great.  We may make some tweaks before making again this weekend with my Twin comes home.  She likes muscles so we may add them too!

Oh and there was a big sale on Lobsters so we did those too, just put them in the pot after everything else was done.  We couldn't fit it all at one time.  But this was close enough.

All in all this meal gets an A+

Wine and Burgers

Ok so I just going with it and this will be Food Week...haha.

I was in NYC for work on Wednesday.  My college bestie lives not far so we try to meet for dinner when I am in her neck of the woods.  It's also a good way to avoid sitting in rush hour traffic.  And who doesn't want to eat and shop with their best girl any time they can?

We ate at a new place in the mall near her house - {Zinburger}.  Burgers and wine...Yes, Please!

Such a great looking place! - this image from their website to avoid random strangers :) 

I had the Samburger which included Nueske’s Applewood Smoked Bacon, American Cheese & Thousand Island Dressing (I substituted Ranch).  It was delicious!

It was a great meal with a great girl!  I hope they open one of these closer to me soon!

What's your favorite thing to do with your best friend?

Grillin Time!

Food posts 2 days in a row...not sure what is going on here.  Haha.  I am most successful at making a mess in the kitchen.  I told myself I was going to cook more and eat out less.  Living alone its tough because cooking for just me means I usually eat the same thing for a few days.  But it doesn't matter.  I am going to get better and start working through some of the recipes on my {food and drink} board.

Tonight I had a cousin over for dinner.  Nothing too fancy.  Just some chicken on the grills, noodles out of a box and some asparagus also done on the grill with my homemade seasoning.  This was a first for me.  Usually I just put some salt and pepper.  I decided to get a little fancy tonight.

I used items from my pantry - garlic salt, Weber Zesty Lemon seasonings, vinegar (1 T) and EVOO (3T).  I combined in a bowl and mixed together with the seasons.(sorry no pics of this step - afterthought)  I did not measure the seasonings, just kinda dumped them in there.  I used a basting brush and covered on both sides.  

Grilled about 3 minutes, flipped over and then 3 more minutes.  

It was delicious if I do say so myself.  I will def be doing this again!

I Scream

You Scream, we all scream for...

Ice cream is a good friend of mine.  Always there when I need it and always makes me feel better!

Some choose wine at the end of a bad day but most of the time a big bowl of ice cream or a milkshake does it for me.

When I was little my parents would let us have a bowl of ice cream before bed.  When we finished eating we had to go upstairs.  It was then I learned that "souping it up" not only changed the color of the ice cream depending on the sprinkles or jimmies, but gave us some extra time before we had to go to bed.  I am a plain Jane and good old vanilla bean is my favorite flavor.  Some times on its own, with sprinkles or some chocolate syrup.  Yumm...

Speaking of sprinkles and jimmies - there is a very scientific different between the two.  Sprinkles are the sugar crystal like one that top your treat, while jimmies are the long, slender usually more colorful topping.  I prefer jimmies on my soft serve - nothing like a twist cone with rainbow jimmies on the boardwalk in the summer.  And the sprinkles are better on the ice cream from the freezer.

What can I say, ice cream takes me to a happy place.  Thankfully I do have some self control and don't go overboard on my intake of the daily dessert.  

images via {Pinterest}

How do you like your ice cream?

Hello Crock Pot

Did you ever want to do something but keep putting it off and then when you finally do you think "why didn't I do this sooner?!?"  That was me with my crock pot.  I got one for Christmas 2 years ago! And just took it out of the box this week.  

I was cooking for my parents and grandparents for our weekly "old people night"  That is when my Mom's Dad and my Dad's Mom join us for dinner. It started when my Mom's Mom passed away to get my Gpop out of the house.  When my Dad's Dad passed away in Februrary of 2011 it seemed to make sense that my Gmom joined in the weekly fun.  

I decided on pot roast.  I picked up a 5.5 lb rump roast, carrots, potatoes, onions and McCormick Slow Cooker seasonings. 

 

You mix the seasonings with a cup of water. 

I peeled the veggies and cut them in half.  Then you out everything in the crock pot, pour the seasonings mixture over everything.  Cook on low for 8 hours and enjoy!

Now, I will say I think this was pretty fool proof and that I really couldn't screw it up.  But it still felt good that everyone enjoyed and went back for second helpings.  

I think I need to become better friends with my crock pot!