Favorite Recipes - Mini Chicken and Waffles

One of my favorite (and easy!) recipes to bring to a party is mini chicken and waffles. It's always a big hit with guests and super easy to make! I got the idea from this site, which I found through Pinterest. I like to keep things simple so I changed the steps a bit...

You'll need:

Frozen mini waffles (I use egos from HT)

Chicken nuggets (I pick up from Chick-fila)

Honey or Maple Syrup

Toothpicks

Herbs for garnish/savory flavor (I used thyme in the picture below)

Heat mini waffles, then place on a platter and top with chicken and secure with toothpick.

Next, drizzle with honey and sprinkle with herb to garnish. 

Done and done!

I usually cover with tin foil and keep in the oven at a low temperature until ready to take to a party or serve. Such an easy and fun idea - perfect for girls nights and parties throughout the year!

Summer Goal: Canning Heirloom Tomatoes

My paternal grandmother, Pearl, always canned tomatoes, peaches, pickles, and lots of other amazing goodies that she shared with her children, grandchildren and close family friends. I was handed down her canning pot and have been wanting to can some tomatoes for myself for years but never got around to it until a few months back in August. 

Dad picked up the heirloom tomatoes and peaches at the farmer's market in Charlotte while I got the mason jars, canning book and other canning items at Target, which had all sorts of canning goodies to help me in my canning goals!

I blanched the tomatoes then added lemon juice and salt to the jars before sealing in the canning jar. For comparison, this entire basket was filled with tomatoes and I only ended up with 7 jars of tomatoes! This was partially because it was late in the season and some of the tomatoes weren't usable. 

This is an activity that I thought would take a couple of hours and ended up taking the entire afternoon. While it did take a long time, I'm so glad I did this and will absolutely can more tomatoes next year! I've really enjoyed using these tomatoes to make homemade tomato basil soup and marinara sauce that tastes so fresh and just like summer. 

Muggsy is ready for Christmas!

Muggsy made his Christmas card debut this year in a cute red gingham bow tie and will continue to be the dapper dog he is throughout the holiday season with his new bow tie! 

 

I ordered his new bow tie from an Etsy shop called Barking in the Rain, which has the cutest collars for pups! 

 I happened to be working from home on the afternoon that his new collar was delivered and opened up the delivery box to find the beautifully wrapped new collar with a note from the Etsy shop owner. 

The collar is solid red and the bow tie is red and green with a little sparkly gold thread throughout. 

The bow tie comes off so I can easily order new bow ties from the site and switch them out each season while continuing to use the same collar. 

All and all, I am so excited for this new collar and can't wait for Muggsy to wear it over the next few weeks! 

Christmas Card - 2014

As I mentioned in the Christmas Cards - 2013 post, our 2014 card of course had to include Muggsy!

We were planning to have some first anniversary with Melissa after our anniversary trip to California so it was perfect timing to include Muggsy when he was only 12 weeks old and about 11 pounds in our family session. Our photos turned out perfectly and Muggsy was absolutely adorable. I hope to do a whole post on this shoot since there were so many cute photos I'd like to remember.

We decided to go with Tiny Print's Sugar Vine design in red this year. I loved this design and how the red balanced out the amount of navy and green in our photos. 

This year, we kept it simple on the back with no photos. We still upgraded to kraft envelopes and used a custom address stamp that I ordered earlier this year instead of purchasing matching return addresses. 

Overall, I'm so pleased with the way our cards turned out - I hope to continue the Christmas card trend into 2015! :)

Favorite Recipes - Fall Harvest Salad

I had to make dishes for two friendsgiving dinners in the same day a few weeks ago so I needed something that would be easy to prepare ahead of time and require little work once at the parties. I started thinking about my options and decided to make salads and homemade dressing. 

One of my absolute favorite salads was one I used to get from Panera and only available in the fall - the harvest salad was absolutely amazing with mixed greens, pears, dried cherries, gorgonzola cheese, chicken and cherry balsamic salad dressing.

I googled recipes looking for this amazing salad recipe and found a copycat version of my favorite salad, here. I followed the directions loosely, making a few tweaks to the dressing (cooking the garlic, shallots and balsamic to mix the flavors more) and didn't add chicken since there would be a huge thanksgiving spread at each event. 

Tip: layer the toppings in the salad so everyone will get a taste of everything throughout the salad! 

Final product

I would definitely make this salad again! It was so delicious and everyone loved it! I just wish Panera still had it so I could order it every fall. :)

Christmas Cards - 2013

Since we just sent out our 2014 Christtmas cards yesterday, I thought I'd share our 2013 Christmas card design today. I'll share our 2014 card after its recipients get it sometime next week. 

We of course used some of our wedding photos for our Christmas card since it was only a few months after our August 2013 wedding.

Wedding Photos are all Melissa Joy Photography

Tiny prints has been our go-to site for creating cards - I love all of their options and styles of cards they offer each year. I decided on the "Our First Noel" design in "Blaze" for our first official Christmas card together and T approved as well! :)

Wedding Photos are all Melissa Joy Photography

We had so many favorite photos so I also chose to use some of our wedding photos for the back of the card. I upgraded to some fun silver envelopes and ordered matching return address labels too.

I'm so excited to share our 2014 card - Muggsy makes his debut and he is adorable! 

Booked!

 It's on the mister's bucket list to attend a Sunday round of every major golf tournament... and we knocked out two by attending the Sunday rounds of the US Open at Pinehurst and PGA Championship at Valhalla this year.

We've also been itching to get back to Europe so when I checked my email on the morning of Nov. 6 to discover some great news - that tickets to the 2015 British Open went on sale - I knew I had to jump on the opportunity to purchase them as the start to our #eurotrip2015 planning!

As of right now, our plan is to spend some time in the UK, then head over to Denmark since it will have been five years since I studied abroad in Copenhagen! 

Traveling is important to both of us and Europe will always hold a special place in our hearts since we got engaged in Zurich in 2012. Can't wait to keep planning and enjoy this trip next summer! :)

Muggsy update!

Muggsy has been in our family for a little under two months now and we are adjusting to our new lifestyle of pup-parents! We have certainly had to adjust our schedule - T is coming home at lunch to let him out and I'm adjusting my schedule (it is a little more flexible than T's) by working from home on Fridays or at the very least, working from home in the afternoons - We hope that this will be a little less rigid when Muggsy is around 6 months old and his bladder is fully grown. Gone are the days of carefree happy hours and after-work gym sessions - but I don't think we'd change anything in our lives! Here are a few pictures from early October...

My fave picture - adorable MM exhausted after his first set of shots

Morgan guys during Muggs first bath

Muggs in Taz's VOLs t-shirt

A friend suggested that we enroll our little guy in "Puppy Preschool" to help teach him basic commands and socialize him with other cute pups, ages 8 weeks to 6 months old. Since I have never had a puppy and knew I'd be doing most of the training at night (due to T's late work hours) I knew this was something we should check out and I am so glad that we did this - it's a big time commitment but I think what we've learned in the classes will absolutely help us in the long run! Muggsy is a pro at sit, park it (going to his crate) and slowing but surely learning down and come here. 

Sneak peak from our fall session with Melissa Joy Photography 

While I write on this cold and rainy Monday night, Muggsy is curled up next to me on the couch and is definitely on the way to becoming a lap-loving and cuddly pup. I have so many other pictures I want to share - but of course I'm having trouble downloading them from my macbook... so be on the lookout for another post with more pup pictures soon!

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XOXO,
E

American Heart Association: Charlotte Heart Walk

September is always a hard month for me and my family. To most, it represents the start of new beginnings with school and fall with the cooler weather, pumpkin flavored everything, and football.

To me, it represents loss, grief and sadness with the passing of my brother on Sept. 26, 2010 due to heart issues. I make no secret that this has changed me greatly. Losing my brother made me reconsider all of the decisions I had made in the past and really start to live more intentionally in my life. This has not only changed my outlook on life but who I am today and who I want to be in the future.

I've been wanting to get involved with the American Heart Association (AHA) but never knew when or how. In late July, I got an email through work about volunteer opportunities and one was for the AHA Heart Walk on Sept. 20th, 2014. This timing was eerily close to my brother's passing and I knew I had to be involved.

I started campaigning and sharing my story on my heart walk page in late July. I shared my story with my teammates at work (since I was joining through my company's involvement in the walk) but was hesitate to share with others for fear of putting myself out there and how others would react. I finally got brave enough to send an email to close family and friends the week of the walk and post to Facebook the night before the walk. I must say, I had no idea how much support I'd get from everyone I know!

With the support of my amazing co-workers, family, and friends, I managed to raise over $900! I was blown away with the support of everyone around me. It is so humbling to hear others share their stories of heart disease and how it has affected their lives as well.

This heart walk has helped me grieve the loss of my brother in such a positive way. T and a few of our friends did the walk together.

Team JPC at the Charlotte Heart Walk

Crowds of walkers before the start of the walk

My friend Erin made a beautiful sign in memory of Justin - such a sweet and thoughtful gesture that meant the world to me!

Erin's amazing sign

T held my hand especially tight when we walked over the finish line and I started to cry because I was so overwhelmed with emotion. This was such a special experience for me and I am so thankful and humbled to have been able to be a part of it.

Finish line selfie

Thank you to all that donated and made this experience so much more special to me. I am looking forward to many more heart walks in the years to come as a positive way to honor and remember my brother.

Meet the Morgans: New Addition

On Sunday, Sept. 21, 2014, T and I drove to Gaffney, SC to "look" at a precious 9 week year old Boston Terrier puppy.

Boston Terrier Puppy

We didn't have any intentions on bringing him home with us and I was looking to T to tell me no, this wasn't the time for us to get a puppy before I bonded with him too much while we visited with him... but my sweet hubby couldn't resist this adorable little guy either and we became the proud pup parents of Muggsy Morgan!

First family photo with our new pup at the farm in Gaffney!

Meet Muggsy Morgan!

In this first week, Muggsy has already stolen our hearts! We are spending a lot of extra time at home, training him and loving on him.

Muggsy on the car ride home!

He is so playful but also loves to cuddle up on our laps for a nap. He loves playing with the other dogs in the neighborhood and is friendly to everyone he meets! We plan to enroll him in puppy preschool so we can train him properly when it comes to housebreaking, socialization and basic commands.

He is already a great car passenger!

We are so excited for this next phase of our lives... and we can't wait to watch our little puppy grow into our best friend for years to come!

More nights like this are in our future... :)

I have a feeling that Muggsy will be making lots of regular appearances on the blog as well so check back for your puppy picture fill! :)

Favorite Photos: The Gals Getting Ready

As part of my "Favorite Photos" series, here are a few of my favorite pictures of getting ready for the wedding.

My bridesmaids and I got our hair done offsite and then came back to Crestwood to get dressed and have final touch-ups before pictures, first touch and the ceremony.

Random tidbit: Apparently it rained all day in Blowing Rock (but not in Boone where we got our hair done) and started to clear up right as we got back to Crestwood - I had no idea that it rained so hard on our wedding day until friends and family told us weeks later! We were so lucky and thankful to have had such beautiful weather!

My favorite photo!

All photos are MelissaJoy Photography