over the weekend

we had the state fair over the weekend. the great minnesota get together. boyfriend and i are definitely fair-goers. some people don't go every year. we do.







we ate sweet corn ice cream,  pronto pups, cheese curds and french fries, watched a cow give birth, rode the sky ride, looked at new cars and everything in between. it was quite successful.

august has come and gone. but i am sososo ready for fall. i want fall to go by slowly. leaves changing, pumpkins growing, apple picking and all. and lots of cuddling time with these two.



he's so good with her. makes my heart melt.  i love him so much.

cheers,

Seven Things

ok summer. I still have seven things I need to do in the last few weeks so please be nice and give us good weather. like last night's weather. perfect patio dining weather. and as much as I love you (summer), I cannot wait for fall.  I want to wear slouchy sweaters, knit myself a floppy hat for winter and bake so many warm treats.  Look, I even have a rollover to-do.

so Fall, you can come after I cross off my last seven. Then we will start our list. That would be swell.  hbf is going to be so excited.

Cheers,

I make chili at least twice a month. maybe more often. even in the summer :D Hey, that's what crockpots are for amirite?! Plus, we've been on a huge spice kick so we stack our chili with jalepenos, habeneros, serranos... any pepper that ends in -o.  It's easy to make, always delicious and we always have leftovers.

Since boyfriend is not big on leftovers, I'm usually stuck eating chili for the next few days. Until I found this recipie! It was perfect because it brought three things together that hbf loves: chili, tots and cheese! And the five steps make it quick and simple.

Tater Tot Chili Bake

2-3 cups leftover chili
bag of tater tots
2 cups cheddar cheese

Oven at 350 degrees

1. Grease a casserole or baking dish
2. Pour and spread leftover chili
3. Top with frozen tater tots in rows
4. Sprinkle cheese on top
5. Cover and bake for 25 mins, uncover and bake for another 10 mins

Next time you make some chili, definitely make some extra so you can try this out. I'm sure you won't have leftovers :)  It's delish!

Anywhoo... can you believe it's already August! I still have items on my bucket list to check off! One of those items was to make homemade coffee liquor and I'm happy to say that boyfriend and I have successfully done it! Now, if only we were patient enough to actually wait a month before drinking it. It's already half gone :( good thing we made two bottles (one for now... one for later :cool:)

Cheers,

Finally

It's been a while, huh?

I'm going to do my best to post once a week -- start slowly and not so strict to that schedule I had made (yeah, right there... on the left hand side... a little down, hm...). Life is just happening. That is my only excuse :)

But in the happenings of life, boyfriend and I are moving in t-minus 13 days. THIRTEEN! I have only one box packed but I have a full list going for the apartment warming party! Priorities people!

So for today's post I share with you a tester for the event: Pickle Surprise Dip! You know pickle suprise, pickle rollups or what have you? Those pickles wrapped in corned beef or ham and cream cheese? Well if you haven't had them, go make yourself one right now. It's delicious - you wont regret it.

But since rolling 50 pickles and slicing them can be a bit time consuming, I opted to make a Pickle Surprise Dip instead! So last night I threw some things together to see how it would taste... and it tasted SO GOOD. It's officially on the menu!

Pickle Surprise Dip

8 oz cream cheese, softened
1 cup sour cream
3 pickle spears, diced
2 pkgs corned beef (or ham), chopped
Worcestershire sauce, onion powder, garlic powder to taste

1. Mix sour cream and cream cheese together
2. Add in chopped corn beef and pickles, mix well
3. Add Worcestershire sauce, onion powder and garlic powder as needed.
4. Serve with crackers



It may not be the prettiest looking dip but it is pretty darn tasty! I need to bring it into work since I probably shouldn't eat the whole tub to share it.

Look out for more apartment warming party recipes. We're doing a BBQ/Pulled Pork theme so I have some testing to do.

Cheers,



PS.  I'm on pinterest. You should check it out. I'm also on Tumblr. Check that too.