Halloween, Oysters and the Newsies

It seems only fitting now that we are almost a full month past Halloween to catch up on it!  In all honesty, I changed my google password and could not remember it, so every time my pictures went to back up, they just didn't back up.  But problem solved, I just reset that sucker and we are back in business.   So that is the short of the delay on blogs, because really, what fun are blogs without the pictures??

So back to the topic(s) at hand, first up Halloween!  Kristi so generously had us over for dinner and games and some trick-or-treating with little miss Snow White!  

Selfie Stick for the win!

Katniss and Snow White

Rosie the Riveter and Snow White

Babydoll Lila and Katniss CJ

 Next up, months ago, Anna, CJ and I got tickets to see the Newsies at Altria.  The date finally came around and off to the theater we went!  The play was good for what it was, but definitely not one of my favorites!

Then on a beautiful Friday, CJ and I took the day off work and traveled with Kristi and Bethany to Urbanna for the legendary Urbanna Oyster Festival, despite the fact that 2/3rds of us did not like Oysters!

It was a beautiful day weather-wise and it was packed!  I definitely enjoyed walking around and seeing the town and taking in everything that was happening, such as:

Surfing Oysters

Oyster Shells....

 We made sure to grab a few cute photos and even managed to run into these crazy kids....

AUNT GLORIA AND UNCLE JERRY!

Also CJ found her most favorite glass of wine ever!

We obviously found all the possible cardboard cut-outs to get our picture in!

And even managed to find a person dressed as an oyster!

All in all, a successful and fun last few weeks!  Stay tuned for more photo unloads and no doubt there will be some nephew appearances in there!

Home away from Home

It seems fitting that as I get ready to head out for yet another Hokie football weekend that I finally update about my trip to my home away from home, Blacksburg, for homecoming back in October.

In keeping with tradition, we had dinner at my favorite Blacksburg restaurant, Souvlaki.  Sarah and Kyle and Amanda met up with us there and we laughed over delicious pitas and tzatziki, before heading back to Sarah's to spend the night.  

Since it was homecoming, we were up early to see the Parade and make sure to hit up the homecoming tailgate, complete with BBQ and Bold Rock all before 11am!  Classy!

Kyle with his pumpkins!

I know judging by the next few pictures it is hard to tell, but these were all pre-tailgate (pre-Bold Rock), so do not be alarmed, that is just my personality!

Kyle and me watching the parade

silly faces!

 Okay so this might be getting into tailgate territory....

Running around!

Trying to hop in on the couples photo!

Twin tattoos!

En route to the stadium, we stopped for a photo op at our Freshman Dorm--ahhh the memories!

And grabbed a photo with Lane Stadium!

Apparently you can buy smiles, I give them away for free, so maybe I need to figure out what the going rate is....

We picked up these super sweet foam fingers, so of course I wanted photos showing our Hokie pride:

Once we got to the game, not pictured: the lady behind me that kept dropping her food in my hair--GROSS!

Lane Stadium = LOVE!

Looking forward to celebrating with 66,000 of my closest friends this weekend as we send off Frank Beamer in his last home game!!!

Delicious Chicken Enchiladas

I got this recipe years ago from my brother's now ex-girlfriend, Gracia, but I love it so much I wanted to share it on here!  It is seriously one of the easiest, most delicious things to make for a big group of people, so enjoy and feel free to serve at your next dinner party!

Step 1: Gather all your ingredients:

Step 2: In a bowl, cream together cream cheese, sour cream and 1/2 the salsa.  Then stir in 1 cup of the cheese

 Step 3: In a second bowl mix the corn, cayenne, 1/2 the scallions (in my case I did not have scallions, I had chives so I improvised and liked it) and chicken (I use shredded chicken from a rotisserie chicken).

 Step 4: Mix in the chicken mixture to the cream cheese mixture:

Step 5: Spread about 1 cup of salsa on the bottom of a baking dish, this helps to prevent the tortillas from sticking as they bake:

Step 6: Drop an equal portion of the filling mixture into each tortilla and roll up:

Hint: I had lots of counter space, so I did them all before I rolled in case there was extra at the end, I could spread it out:

Step 7: To Roll, pull sides in over the mixture, then...

fold bottom up over sides and continue rolling, until...

you have a burrito looking thing (so actually maybe this recipe is more a mix between a burrito and enchilada, but its good no matter what)!

Step 8:Then tuck them all tightly inside the pan (seam side down), it is okay if they overlap a little bit.

Step 9: Which I forgot to take a picture of, spread remaining salsa on top of the enchiladas and sprinkle with remaining cheese, then bake at 325 for about 20-25 minutes or until delicious, like so:

Step 10: When you pull out of the oven, sprinkle with the remaining scallions (or chives if you are like me), serve and enjoy!

Now for the recipe:

Chicken and Cheese Enchiladas

Ingredients:
* 4-8 oz cream cheese
* 1/4 cup sour cream
* 2-4 cups salsa
* 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
* 2 cups shredded cooked chicken
* 8-14 soft tortillas (depending on what size you get, I got Burrito size, so I only did 8 for this recipe)
* 1 cup frozen corn, thawed
* 1/4 tsp cayenne
* 4 scallions, thinly sliced

Directions:
Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  In a bowl, cream together the cream cheese, sour cream, and 1/2 cup salsa.  Stir in 1 cup of the cheese.  In a second bowl , toss together chicken, corn, cayenne, and half the scallions.  Add chicken mixture to cheese mixture and stir to combine.

In a baking dish, spread 1 cup salsa over the bottom.  Place about 1/3 cup of the filling in each tortilla (I used more than that for this recipe cause I only had 8 shells), roll up and transfer to the baking dish with the seam side down.  Repeat the process for the remaining tortillas.  Pour remaining salsa on enchiladas and sprinkle with remaining cheese.  Bake for 20-25 minutes until hot and bubbly.  Sprinkle with remaining scallions and serve warm.

Note: These can be prepared up to 12 hours in advance.  Remaining can be reheated with an aluminum foil covering. 

October Musings

I know, its been awhile, but I wanted everyone to have plenty of time to bask in the cuteness that is those nephews.  Plus, and I don't know how this always happens, but October was a busy month, not unlike September or August or July (you get where I am going).  And guess what?  It is already November, how did that happen?

Well let's get to it then shall we?  CJ and I met up with Anna at the Richmond Oktoberfest.  There are not too many festivals in the #yearofthefestivals that I feel I need to do again, however, this one might make the list--beer, dancing, pretzels, dancing, stein holding contests, dancing....need I go on?

Guten Tag!

Stein Holding Contest

Continuing on the tradition, CJ and I went to the Midlothian Fall Festival on one beautiful Saturday...

We ran into this cutie (well we planned to run into him as we told his mom and dad we would be there and they should come join us).

Then a couple of weekends ago, Keith and Kaitlyn got married, so it was nice to spend time with the family for yet another wedding this year!

me and the Bons

who is that adorable groomsmen in the middle?

Cassie and Andy

the beautiful bride and groom

Family shot with Maggie!

This might be the best part of the night, Andy used his stretch arm-strong to snap a family selfie, only everyone wanted to be in it, so what started as 6, soon became.....

 7, then.....

 11, and finally....

 13!  How is that for an epic selfie?

Andy and Cassie

Cassie and me

Cousin love!

All in all, October has been a fun month with lots of beautiful weather, changing trees and maybe even a trip to Blacksburg (stay tuned for that later).....