March is a Busy Birthday Month

WOW! I didn't realize how many friends and family members of mine have March birthdays until I gathered my info and photos for this blog. As you know, I sucked at remembering to blog on the EXACT birthday of people so I have moved to a once a month birthday blog. So here, goes.....


March 7 - My cousin Ashton turned 11 - hooray! Almost time for Jr High.

Next up was Uncle Kevin on March 8. Hope it was a good one!

Next, was my cousin Bryan on March 9. He celebrated his bday at sea since he was deployed with the Navy (he just got back on Friday).

Stefania turned 28 on the 15th and I'm looking forward to a belated celebration with her when I get back to SF in a few weeks! Love the Jersey Shore photo.

Next was a double whammy birthday on the 16th for Katie and Sarah! Conveniently, I found this photo from the SSI holiday party.

Erin turned 28 on the 18th. I wish I could have been in NYC for her birthday shenanigans....maybe next year!

Megs had a ridiculously fabulous birthday on Friday, the 26th as she and her fiance closed on their first home together in Laguna Niguel (JEALOUS!). Congrats on turning 28 and buying your first home! Can't wait to visit.

Littlest brother Gregory entered his 20s today. Can't wait for a big shindig for his 21st next year. Family trip to Vegas? Yes, please.

I've Missed You

Dear Trader Joe's,

I've missed you. See you in two weeks.

Love,

Gina

Spring Snow

Last night we got about a foot of snow. White out conditions, strong winds, power outage....
I got to read my book for a couple hours while the power was out and Brian brought home burritos. Riley got to frolic in the fresh powder and this morning the roads were awful....

I will miss the snow...Tahoe, here we come?

Great Night

It's nights like tonight that make me second guess our decision to move back to California. Had a fabulous girls dinner with Austin, Sienna, Katie, Sarah, Susan and Katie. I'll miss these ladies tooooooo much.

Rented!

Happy to report that our condo is officially rented until May 2011. The family that checked it out on Thursday applied, were approved and signed the lease on Monday!

Cheers to minimized loss of rental income!

Recipe Tuesday, Part II

Well, last week when I titled my blog "Recipe Tuesday" I had no intention of keeping up the theme....but lookee here, it's another Tuesday and I have another recipe to share.

Last month when my parents were in town visiting, we got into talking about chocolate chip cookie recipes and how they never seem to turn out like the bakeries' cookies do. My dad mentioned they'd seen some America's Test Kitchen show on TV where they were talking about the ins and outs of the BEST recipe. Let me just say this... "If you google, it will come".

I found two recipes and did the best to combine the two and came up with the below. These cookies are SCRUMPTIOUS - a slightly crisp outside, with a gooey inside and a hint of butterscotch flavor. My friend Charlie bought my donated auction item "Dessert of the Month" at our company Silent Auction to benefit the Make-A-Wish Foundation. His last dessert choice - Chocolate Chip Cookies.

America's Test Kitchen (Kind Of) Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:

3 1/3 cups flour + 2 tbspn for high altitude

3/4 tspn baking soda

1/2 tspn salt

2 sticks unsalted butter

1 1/4 cup packed light brown sugar

1/2 cup sugar

2 large eggs

2 large egg yolks

1 tbspn vanilla extract

2 cups semisweet chocolate chips (don't cheap out - buy the good stuff)

Start by preheating the oven to 325 and putting the racks closer to the middle, but also not on the positions closest to one another.

Melt 1 cube of butter in a skillet or sauce pan. Once melted, let it bubble a bit and cook until it lets off a nutty aroma. Remove from heat and add the other cube and stir until it melts. Let this cool down a bit.

Mix together in a separate bowl the flour, baking soda and salt - set aside.

In large bowl, using an electric mixer (perfect opportunity to dust off the ol' KitchenAid), mix together the sugars and melted butter (2-3 min) until well blended. Add in eggs, egg yolks and vanilla. Mix until smooth (30 seconds). Gradually add in the flour mixture until well combined. Stir in the chocolate chips.

Scoop rounded balls onto cookie sheet covered with parchment paper (I used a cookie scoop). Bake for 13-15 minutes until slightly darker around the edges, but still light and puffy in the middle. Let sit for 10 minutes and then remove from cookie sheet and cool.

Puppy Friends

Lindsay came over last night to hang out before we leave Colorado, but also to introduce her new Shar Pei puppy to Riley for a play date. Bear and Riley had fun when Riley wasn't being super jealous. Bear is just about three months old and is SUPER cute.

Snow Bathing

After a wimpy snowstorm on Friday that filled our backyard with snow, we had a weekend of sunshine. What did that mean for Riley? Laying in the snow in the sun and enjoying the perfect combination of warm sun and chilly snow. Oh Riley, I am sure you will miss the snow.

For Rent

Now, it's even MORE official that we're moving away from CO back to CA....our condo is on the rental market as of Friday:

http://rentgrace.com/inventory/?action=viewProperty&propertyId=278

Take a look! So far, we already have two showings lined up....cross your fingers for success!

Recipe Tuesday

I know I don't post recipes every Tuesday or anything, but it sounded good as a title today.

I made this recipe tonight that Jayme shared with me and it is oh so good. Highly recommend you try it out. Also, healthy!

Chicken Ricotta Meatballs

Mix together the following ingredients:

1 lb ground chicken (or turkey if you prefer)

1/2 cup ricotta cheese (I used low-fat)

1/4 cup fresh basil (I used 2 tbsp dried basil)

1 egg

1/2 cup bread crumbs

Salt & Pepper as desired

Once mixed together, form into balls. In a pre-heated skillet, sprayed with Pam, brown on all sides (this is where my balls turned into 3-d polygons, oh well). Transfer to a baking dish (also coated with Pam) and bake for 10-15 min at 375.

Enjoy with your favorite pasta and sauce!

Play Me Some Mountain Music...

This weekend we had a fabulous time in Breckenridge with our friends. Such a great group of people, a beautiful huge house, games, beer, yummy food, sunshine, hot tub, so much more. We are going to miss our friends :(

We played Catchphrase and the boys were sore losers...evident in this photo:

The dogs loved each other and played way too much....and had to all nap together.
Charlie did his superman dance for us....a lot.
We made lasagna, salad and YUMMY garlic bread for dinner on Friday...

and spent a lot of time in the kitchen chatting it up.

Katie was the first to lose three times at Spoons, so she had to do her first keg stand EVER.

Overall, a VERY fun and successful mountain weekend.

Goodbye

Goodbye, Haeley Vaughn. You were definitely one of the most annoying American Idol contestants ever.