Door County in pictures

I miss my own cooking

I'm serious. Things have been busy lately, which leaves me no time to cook yummy dinners like these enchiladas verdes I made for my mom (pictured below helping me skin some roasted poblano peppers) and my sister a couple of weeks ago.

Tomatillos are awesome and I love to take the skin off and stick 'em in a food processor...you'll get the best sauce around.

My thanks to Sandra, who inspired this recipe with her amazing chicken tostadas for lunch while I was on my staycation. Few things are better than talking with a friend in the kitchen getting a meal together, is there?

On a side note, so much for staycation this summer. In a couple of days I'm headed up to Door County, Wisconsin with the family. I've heard that the cheese curds are not to be missed and that there are some lovely lighthouses to be found around Lake Michigan. I've never been to this part of the country, so if you have any suggestions about what to see and do I am all ears!

Sister Trip 2010 - Memphis

Every year we Canessa sisters like to get away for a weekend and spend time together. This year we needed something close and chose Memphis, Tennesee, since none of us has actually visited before. And although we see eachother every few days, there is something special about leaving town for the weekend to be goofy! Our first stop on our way south was for dinner at Lambert's. They are the "home of the throwed rolls", and grammatical errors aside, it's one fun and delicious place.


Leanne is our baby sister. We look for opportunities whenever we can to reinforce this idea.

This is just one of the many rolls that were handed to us. No throwing at our table. My family suffers from performance anxiety and every time the roll throwing guy came around we averted our eyes. You know, like in high school when you didn't want your name called!

The next morning we woke up bright and early to make our way to the historic Elmwood Cemetery.

Just make your way to this totally adorable house to rent an audio tour - it's $10 and totally worth it. The cemetery was stunning, sweet and peaceful.

And full of Crape Murtles, which is our favorite tree (our childhood home was chock full of them).

After our cemetery tour, we made our way to the National Civil Rights Museum which is attatched to the Lorraine Hotel, the hotel where Dr. Martin Luthor King was assassinated.

It was a somber place, but so full of amazing, interactive exhibits - it is a must if you ever visit Memphis.

After the museum, we had lunch and then made our way toward Beal street - meh. We aren't a drinking and carousing sort of folk, so we opted for a trolley tour of the riverfront to walking around with huge plastic beer containers.

After taking in the sights we were ready for dinner and tried to go to Rendezvous Ribs, a place the Travel Channel had assured us was the best place in town for BBQ. Apparently they told a bunch of other people too because the wait was over an hour to be seated.

So we ended up at Texas de Brazil .

As you can see we were super sad about it.

The next morning we caught the Peabody Ducks - it's quite the quirkey Memphis tradition and we had a ton of fun shopping in the lobby. Because that's what sister trips are about, you know.

Our next and last stop was the Victorian Village and the Woodruff-Fontaine house - this photo is from their website. It was a super cute house built on Millionaire's row in downtown Memphis in 1870.

Our tour was hosted by one of the ladies who belonged to the Association for the Preservation of Tennesee Antiquities. Which just sounds super Southern, right?!

The home has been furnished by donations from various members and are all original to the time period. The Association was currently exhibiting their collection of period wedding dresses. Totally neat and totally creepy at the same time. I asked our tour guide how the ghosts felt about having visitors tromping through the house and she calmly told me that she had never seen or felt any ghosts. Well, I'm sure they are too well mannered to bother anyone anyway.

On a side note, you too could have your name placed on the back of this wreath! All you have to do is donate some of your hair. Yes, it is made ENTIRELY OF HAIR.

After our tour we made our way to Neely's BBQ - of Down Home with the Neely's on Food Network fame! It lived up to the hype and we had some delicious BBQ sandwiches.

After lunch we were back on the road home. The trip was uneventful until we ran in to a huge storm and we all started discussing the relative advantages and disadvantages of getting out of the car and in a ditch when the tornado inevitably came in our direction.

Thankfully, we never had to face that decision. Aili was at the wheel and like all first borns, was calm, cool, collected and got us safely home. Next year, I'm thinking Chicago!

the 4th with the Fam

Summer Vacation

This is where I've spent the majority of the past week. Since I have spent much time and money getting my home updated and decorated I decided not to go on any crazy vacations (i.e., leave the country) this summer and planned on staying home and having a "staycation" instead. And you know what? It was great having the time to spend with new church friends on a weekend trip to Chicago, having old friends over to swim and meeting up with good friends at new places in the evenings. Next year though, it's a trip to Florence and the Italian coast or BUST!

Lovely Weekend

This seems to be the season for buying property. Elena, my dear friend, is getting married in two weeks but the celebration is starting earlier - she and her fiance purchased their first home in St. Charles and naturally, I had to stop by to offer my felicitations and just generally poke about. I cannot wait to sit on that front porch sipping iced tea!

My brother-in-law was asked to play at his old high school fundraiser, so later that evening I trooped out to Vianney with Aili, Mike and kids to rock out! Above, Joe awaits his St. Louis style pizza. At most fairs and carnivals accross the country you'll find the typical corn dogs, hamburgers and hotdogs for sale. In St. Louis you'll also find pizza, pasta, toasted ravioli and bread to go along with it. Hey, south St. Louis wasn't populated by Italians for nothing.

Cotton Candy is the perfect dessert after pizza, right?!

Sunday evening was even better when I visited a new friend's home for a delicious dinner to celebrate the Lost finale. I baked a lemon pound cake with cream cheese icing as a dessert - all in all, a meal that did justice to the occasion. Lost, you've been a great show, I've still got my questions, but at least you're all happy. Next week, my cousin's wedding in Oklahoma! I love road trips!

Rain

We've been experiencing all sorts of rain these past several days. The Mississippi is starting to flood a little bit as I've seen on my commute to work as I cross over to Illinois. It's kind of amazing that it all starts because there are a lot of these individual rain droplets right?! Here are a few that didn't quite make it to a river and landed instead on my geraniums.

This and that...

So, it's been a little over a week, now, in my new home. For Mother's Day I decided to make Key Lime pie for my mom because at the Canessa's house everything is celebrated with food. ha! Can I just say how much I am enjoying having a counter that is wider than 2 feet! I can fit everything I need on the counter now!! yay!

In other news, Darcy seems to be adjusting quite well to his new surroundings...