Friday Favorites

TGIF!  And helloooo...Memorial Day weekend is upon us! Much on the agenda for the Bowden's.  Husband is not gonna like this part but, of course, I have a list a mile long of household/yard chores.  In addition to my list, I have carved out time to pay some much needed attention to my little garden, Abbey needs a good ole walk at the river, and the idea of sleeping in a little tomorrow is quite appealing. 

Never fear, we won't be spending all our time on chores.  There is enough time for work and fun!! I can already smell our grill with Dylan cookin up some bbq chicken, t-bones, and corn on the cob!  Now that I have the secret to my Mama's delish baked beans, I think I'll tackle whipping some of those up as well.  Ahhh these thoughts make work today a bit easier to get through! 

Since it's been a while, I'll share my Friday Faves!  Hope everyone has a fun, safe Memorial Day weekend.  And let's all keep in mind what Memorial Day represents and be grateful to the brave men and women who lost their lives defending our great country! 

1. Mini Golf!  Dylan and I enjoyed a fun outing to Aurora Cineplex to their mini-golf course last weekend.  Fun, cheap way to enjoy a Saturday.

Don't I look like a professional? : )



Hole in 1!

Second hole in 1!  Guess who won the game?

Poor me, putting is not my strong suit.

2. Dylan's Fried Chicken.  I must say I was shocked when he told me he wanted to actually fry chicken himself!  It was super delish and I'm not even a fried chicken fan {gasp, yes I know I'm southern and I should be shot for saying this but I've just never been too fond of it...until now!}


Made his own marinade!



And breading!

He set up his assembly line! {See, he's taken
some notes from his wife!}

Yum!  And he served the chicken alongside curly fries.  I was blown away!

3. Windowsill flowers.  So pretty to look at in the morning and while I'm cooking dinner at night.  I adore fresh flowers in our home! 

4.  Peppers and grape tomatoes from my garden.  Both have really seemed to flourish despite my neglect on the garden as of late.  This weekend, as I mentioned, I'll give it some tons of TLC. 

These two items are great to have on hand for homemade salsa! Here's a pic of a few of them.

5.  Our sweet puppy and kitty...again.  What can I say?  I just can't brag on them enough : )
They are growing so fast!  Look how big!

Twin Meat Loaves

Meatloaf.  For me, prior to getting my hands on this recipe, the usual feeling that came over me when hearing this word went something like, Meatloaf? Ick! Somehow just that word alone conjured up a fear of bad cafeteria food.  The.worst.  "Disgusting" was my original response, no lie.  Followed by: "I'll never ever make that."  Well, things they have a changed thanks to a little recipe for Twin Meat Loaves from a cookbook given to me as a gift a few years ago.  Unfortunately, I cannot divulge the name of the cookbook on my blog due to the nature of it's title.  Let's just say its a play on words, well, play on letters, that stand for something very good but when abbreviated could be perceived as less than desirable if you aren't familiar with the reason behind it.  I digress.  It's actually a widely popular cookbook and is usually found in cute little boutiques all over the South.{note: if you'd like the name of the cookbook, message me and I'll send it over}. 

Let's get to the recipe now.  The smart writers of this cookbook named the meatloaf recipe "Twin Meat Loaves," instead of just plain ole "Meatloaf," I believe, because most people {besides my crazy ole self} probably steer clear of this dish as well because of its bad rap as a school cafeteria staple.

I promise this recipe will not disappoint and seriously...trust me, it certainly does not taste like it came out of a cafeteria!  May any of your fears of meatloaf be put to rest as mine have been!  Bon appetit!  

Twin Meat Loaves

Ingredients for meat loaves:
3 cups soft bread cubes {I use cheap white bread and pinch apart to about 1/2 inch cubes}
1.5 lbs ground beef
.5 lbs ground pork
1/4 cup diced onion
1/4 cup chopped celery {I use green bell pepper bc we like that better}
3/4 cup milk {I use skim to cut calories}
2 eggs
1 Tablespoons Worcestershire Sauce
1.5 Tsp Salt
.5 Tsp Pepper {I use the same amount as the salt}
.5 Tsp Poultry Seasoning {I use same amt as salt and pepper}

Sauce:  {Easy, breezy and delish!! This MAKES this dish so don't skip it}
1/4 cup ketchup
2 Tabelspoons Corn Syrup

Get all ingredients on counter in front of you

Prep/Chop veggies

Soak bread cubes in milk.  Add eggs.

Beat with hand mixer

Add all other ingrediets EXCEPT for sauce ingredients

Stir all together with spoon or use your best tools, your hands
Sounds gross I know but its the best way to incorporate it all.

Place into greased pyrex and form into two twin loaves and pop
into oven at 350 degrees for 1 hour

Mix sauce together and cover with cling at room temp or in fridge

Pull twin meat loaves out of oven and cover tops with the sauce. 
Back into oven for 15 mins.

Slice meat and serve with twice baked potato or a salad.  Enjoy!!!

Alive After Five

Alive After Five in Roswell, as mentioned at the end of my last post here {which I'm aware was quite a while ago..apologies for the hiatus again. Ooops} is a nifty little concept that exists the third Thursday of each month on Canton Street.  I must warn that if you aren't into large crowds, this is not the event for you.  If you are, however, diggin' a big scene with lots to see, do, sample {for FREE or some minimal cost} then by all means bust a move to Roswell.  Check out some more in depth details {here}.

This little community means so much to Dylan and I, as the big city life just doesn't appeal like it once did.  Canton Street is trendy, fun, and home to many many great restaurants to boot.  Our faves: Salt, Inc., Roux, Little Alley, Ceviche {and its fun rooftop as mentioned {here}. I like the sushi at Zest {hubby does not eat sushi...insert: sad face, so my experience with their food often involves takeout}, and also a little further down Canton Street, a cool table and tap restaurant called Slate.  All these restaurants participate in Alive After Five among many others.

Live music is up and down the jovial streets during this event and you can even hitch a ride on the cute little trolley if you're feet get tired{or if you just enjoy the idea of a trolley ride like myself}. 

Here are a few photos of the first one we attended a few weeks ago.  Maybe next time we'll see ya there! : )

Busy street!

Outside at Nine where you can enjoy a picnic and bottle of vino
and the only side/back of the head shot that Dylan would allow of himself...silly guy.

More picnic-ers!

A cool car raffle and balloons and snow cones for the kiddies

Another cool car at Roswell Provision.  I wanted to drive it sooo bad.  No luck
in that quest unfortunately.  Maybe next time.

My favorite store, The Painted Monkey, where they made
me this fabulous brown paper sack hat : )

Another reason to love this store: Georgia and Ole Miss represented!

 

I had no plans of removing my hat much to Dylan's dismay. Lol
I mean, all the cool kids were wearing them.

We had dinner at Roux because of a major coupon husband scored!  No photo available for that unfortunatley.  I'm a sucker for their raw oysters and those yummy little hush puppies.  And don't worry, I did finally remove my hat during our time dining. : )