Biking Around Roosevelt Island

Last month we made the trek down to Astoria, Queens to go visit Matt & Nohra and stay over Matt's apartment for the night. Aside from the traffic to get down there it was an absolutely fantastic time. We had a great time checking out the local beer garden and playing some uno, talk about flashback!

On Saturday Norha took me for a bike ride around Roosevelt Island. Unfortunately the weather was terrible and it rained on our parade, literally, but I'm still glad we got to go and check it out. I'd love to go back again on a more beautiful day, it really was a great ride. Here's a couple quick pictures that we managed to sneak in on our ride before it rained on us. Oh and the best part, we got pickles, Nohra's favorite!!

All American Cooking

Our last Dinner Diva's group was actually back in May, but I'm just catching up finally (shocker, I know) . Last month it was Gina's turn to host and she chose to do "All American BBQ" in honor of the summer quickly approaching (at that time anyway). Michele started us off with some great vegetable fritters that I loved using some of the delicious typical summer produce in them. Then as usual Gina had a fantastic menu from pulled pork, to coleslaw, corn on the cob, baked beans and more! The pulled pork was awesome, I absolutely loved it. I think she said it was a Pioneer Woman recipe. If I ever decide to make pulled pork I plan to get the recipe, and I am not a pulled pork person.

I was in charge of dessert this month. When Janet pinned a recipe for apple pie cookies I saw them and knew that would be perfect, what's more American than apple pie, and better yet a mini version, because who is going to eat the rest of the pie once we had our slices that night, I knew I wasn't. These cookies were a little tricky to make and def very messy. I rushed a little bit and it was my first time making a lattice top, so I had no expertise there, but taste wise they turned out great! (Not the most appetizing pictures, but as usual I was in a rush). It was a fun little twist on apple pie and everyone enjoyed them!

Apple Pie Cookies
Source: Oh Bite It
Serving Size: 6-8 good sized Pie Cookies:

1 Box of frozen Pillsbury Pie Crust (2 sheets per box)
Approx. 1 Can of Apple Pie Filling (just enough for a thin layer)
Approx. 1 Cup of Caramel Sauce (just enough for a light coating)
1 Egg (for egg-wash)
2 tbsp. Cinnamon/Sugar
1 tbsp. Nutmeg
Flour just for sprinkling
A round cookie cutter (any size you like - I used the bottom of a glass)

Lay out a sheet of Pie Crust, sprinkle it with some flour and slightly roll it out, just to increase its surface area. Pour some of the Caramel Sauce (Just enough to coat the crust) onto the crust and evenly spread it around, creating a thin layer of caramel. Coarsely chop the Apple Pie Filling into small pieces. Top the caramel layer  with a layer of the chopped up Apple Pie Filling, making sure not to add too much pie filling. Roll out the second sheet of Pie Crust the same size as the first sheet, and slice it into strips. Create a lattice crust (just like on a pie) for the top of the pie filling (create your lattice on top of the actual filling, as if it were a pie!). Dip your cookie cutter into some egg wash and cut out your Pie Cookies. Brush the tops of them with some egg wash and sprinkle them with the Cinnamon Sugar and Nutmeg. Place them onto a baking sheet and bake them at 350 degrees for approx. 20-25 minutes, until they’re golden and firm. Let them cool just a little.

Some More of the Cutest Pup

No descriptions needed, just some new pics of the cutest pup in the world. At least to us anyway, he really is the best and we love this little guy to deal. Here's some pics of his latest antics! 

2nd Annual Mother's Day Brunch

Well once again I've fallen behind on my blog. I just can't believe how quickly time flies by. I feel like since "going back to work" the past 7 1/2 months have been a blur and forget about the hours of 9-5 (ok more like 8-6), but in any case I never even look at the clock during the work day. But I couldn't let time totally pass me by without coming back to my blog and writing about one of the best Holiday's of the year, Mother's Day. I'm so grateful to have the most amazing Mother, and Mother-in-Law as well!

Last year I hosted my first Mother's Day brunch and it was a huge success so much so that I plan to make this our annual tradition! I love hosting, and I have to say brunch is probably the easiest meal to host, much easier than hosting my first Christmas dinner. A lot of the food can be prepped or prepared the day before which is great. I actually found myself with free time on Sunday morning, I didn't know what to do with myself while I waited for everyone to come over.

One thing is for sure, we have no shortage of food for this brunch, I think I made even more than last year, which I didn't think was possible. First though we started our brunch off right with a homemade bellini bar, which was awesome and such a huge hit. I think we went through 4 bottles of champagne (I have to remember that for next year to make sure we're fully stocked up). With help in part from a Giada recipe I made strawberry, raspberry and pineapple bellini's. Just add a tablespoon to the bottle of your class, pour some champagne, and voila! Everyone loved these!

Once we had our cocktails it was on to the main event, a full spread. Thankfully most of it was done in advance and I have to say Mike helped tremendously as well. He manned the griddle, cooking all the bacon, sausage, pancakes and hash browns, which was a huge help. For this year's meal we had a lot of the same foods as last year but added on slightly. Our meal consisted of: 

• Broccoli and Cheese Mini Egg Omelets
• Make-Over Breakfast Sausage and Mushroom Strata
• Bananas Fosters Topped Overnight French Toast
• Ricotta Cheese Chocolate Chip Muffins
• WW Blueberry Streusel Muffins
• WW Mini Zucchini Quiche
• Vanilla Blueberry Pound Cake (although it wasn't as good this year) 
• Carrot Cake Pancakes (a new addition) 
• Hashbrowns 
• Turkey Sausage Links & Center Cut Bacon 
• My mom brought the fruit salad and Long Island bagels again, along with a homemade quiche!
• And Mike's brought everyone's favorite trifle again for dessert. 

I think that's everything, although I almost feel like I'm forgetting something there was so much food. I don't even know what my favorite part was, we loved all of it. I just realized though I don't have any pictures of us, the only pictures I have are of the food. I'm sure Mom has some pictures though, although I don't think she's figured out how to upload pictures from her new camera yet. In any case here's a few pictures I snapped quick before we ate of our delicious meal. 

After that we spent the afternoon grazing and picking on all the delicious foods with plenty of leftovers to go around for everyone. I already can't wait for next year's brunch, I know it will be equally delicious and terrific company!