Capital Grille with a side of George Lopez

Friday night we had a fun night out with friends in the City - Philadelphia.

We started out at Capital Grille with some delicious drinks

They had mojito's on the menu, however, Mr. P has me realizing that Don Q is the only option.  It was not an option, so I had this grapefruit style martini, very delish!

We were out celebrating a great friends Birthday!

We did the pre-dinner theatre menu which was a great deal!

I had the Kona crusted dry aged sirloin steak with caramelized shallot butter, we got family style mashed potatoes and creamed spinach.  The creamed spinach was my favorite part of the night, and I wish I could have had more, but I was trying to be good!

For dessert, the flourless chocolate espresso cake, Very Good!

Our waiter was excellent, he even took a photo of the group and printed out a copy for each of the couples!!!  At first we were unsure of whose camera it was and maybe even thought he was taking a personal photo of us, but he than came back with 3 copies of the photo in a paper frame, a special way for us to remember the night!  I was highly impressed, this was a very nice touch.

Also, a restaurant always gets extra points for character when there is a moose on the wall!

After dinner it was on to George Lopez.  I really was not quite sure who he was, but I was impressed; he was very funny! 

http://www.georgelopez.com/#/Home

While walking around the city before the show, we noticed this car, a NYPD car in Philly.

They are filming a movie, not sure which one does anyone know?

Overall, It was a delicious, funny, great night with Mr. P and friends!

Lillly Pulitzer Warehouse Sale

So Today is the Day!!!

The Lilly Pulitzer warehouse sale starts TODAY!!!!

One of my favorite days of the year.

Unfortunately, I am not able to make it tonight as we are going to the Capital Grille for dinner, and than to see George Lopez's show after.  I am excited, however I have no idea who George Lopez is.

But back to the sale, WE WILL BE THERE FIRST THING TOMORROW MORNING!

Mr. P and I go together.  You need a shopping buddy to hold your bags!  We always go with a game plan.  Well it first starts by us waiting in line together, we try to go at the odder hours so we don't wait in line for to long.  There is always so much clothes, so it is OK not to go first thing!  Than we split up, I walk around first to see what there is, and where I want to spend most of my time, and Mr. P tries to find the Men's clothes.  Last time their was not to many options for Men.  I hope this time there is!

I am hoping they have:

Velour Pants
Fleece jackets
Jeans
Lilly Sweaters!





Their sweaters wash beautifully at home!

And some fun home things:




http://www.lillypulitzer.com/page/whsale/


I saw the below at the Lilly Pulitzer web-site:

After Warehouse Side Walk Sale


Friday and Saturday, November 19th - 20th

ALL DAY!

After shopping the LP Warehouse sale, stop by the King of Prussia shop to pick up all of your Resort basics! 10% off cards will be passed out at the warehouse sale so Lilly lovers can stock up on holiday goodies!

Lilly Pulitzer, King of Prussia Mall, 160 N Gulph Road; King of Prussia, PA.
(610) 265-7607

Sometimes items are cheaper at the store than at the sale, I have seen in the past!

Enjoy!  If you go, let me know what you get.

I will try to take a bunch of photo's so you can experience the sale!!

Apple Spice Cake - or - Honey Apple Breakfast Muffin Cake

Well with all the apple picking Mr. P and I have been doing, I have been busy baking!

I have never really baked with honey before, but I had some great honey from Trader Joe's with the comb in it, and was starving one Saturday morning.

Unfortunately I did not take a photo of the finished cake.  However, you will have to take my word on it that I got a a lot of positive comments on the cake.  I brought a couple of pieces in for two of my friends at work!  And the even  commented about the cake two weeks later, and wanted to know where I got the recipe from!

My friend Mel B and I always try to guess what spices/seasonings are in each other's recipes.  And she guessed right on, cloves and cinnamon.  She was surprised about baking with cloves, and she thought it was only for ham.

Now here is the answer to your question, yes honey is heavier than oil, and oil is heavier than milk!

But it does mix up nicely!

The floured spring form pan, and the batter all mixed up, and smelling good!

And yes, Mr. P's cooking pots from the night before are still on the stove (Rice and Carne Molida)

Well don't take my word on this delicious cake, go to this blog and get the recipe and enjoy!

http://coconutlime.blogspot.com/2006/09/apple-honey-cake.html

This would be really nice for Thanksgiving morning!

Love it, Like it, Must have it Wednesday

I used to be a big shopper, and if I wanted a new purse, or a new outfit, most likely I would go out and buy it. 

Than I got married, and bought a house, and realized that I did not want to buy things for myself anymore, but for us and for our home!

Well this weekend I regressed a little bit back to my old self.  However, I have some events coming up where I am in need of some special outfits.  So I went to my go to store, Ann Taylor Loft.

I bought this:

and this:

and these in black:

I am not sure which shoe to wear yet, I don't want to hide the zipper!
to wear with these leggings that I already own from Banana Republic:

I like buying clothes for myself, however I love buying things for our home.

We have been working hard on remodeling our home for the last 4 years.  I love that we are able to redecorate the house, and make it our own.

I am so in love with the bathroom, and can not wait to take the first relaxing bath and read a good book!  I have been saving some candles from my Aunt to decorate the bathroom with, and even a bath set from Mr. P for about 5 years to use in the new bathroom.  (I am a saver) 

We bought the tile from:  Bluebell tile and stone and I am in Love!!!
Now this is what I want to make the bathroom complete:

From Anthropology:
I want to turn the below shower curtain into a 1/2 valance for this bathroom window.  I would use the blue tones of the shower curtain:

How fun would it be to have a flower bath rug for this floor:

Or these fun soap dishes for these shelves :

Now these are pretty for the vanity, but can you actually use them for storing perfume? Or are they just decoration?

And these bud vases to put along this shelf for my Dahlia blooms:

We are hoping to be moved into the master bedroom and bathroom by the end of January!!!  That is really all I want for Christmas!

Apple Butter

This summer I did a good amount of canning, and I think I just assumed that canning is only for the summer months.   But I think I was wrong, there are apples in the fall, and citrus in the winter months.  This is my second time making this simple, easy apple butter.

1.  Cut 10 to 12 apples into slices, I used various types of apples, that Mr. P and I had picked.  (you leave the peel on, just remove the seeds, and any part of the hard core.

2.  Place in a crock pot on low for a day, I did about 26 hours.

3.  You also need to add in 1 cup of apple cider, 1 cup of brown sugar, 1/2 tsp. of nutmeg, 1/2 tsp. of pumpkin pie spice, and 1 cinnamon stick.

Initially it looked like this.  The apples are a little brown, as they were sitting for a couple of hours not on;  the outlet was out, and I did not realize. (This actually has not happened before with an outlet being out)

After about 5 hours:
They are really starting to sweat, and break down.  Every time I go into the kitchen, i just give the pot a good stir.  I did this about 4 times total.

4.  I cooked the apple mixture for about 15 hours with the lid on, and than tilted the lid, for the remaining time.
5.  Once it is done cooking, it will look like this:

6.  Take out the cinnamon stick, and than use your immersion blender to mix up apple butter.

7.  Place the jars, lids, and bands in your dishwasher.

8.  While the jars are getting clean and sterilized in your dishwasher, put a large pot of water on the stove.

9.  Fill the jars up, and make sure you wipe off any spillage on the rim and sides, place the seal on the jar, and tightly place the band around the jar.

10.  Place in the boiling pot for 15 minutes to seal.

11.  After 15 minutes, remove the jars carefully from the boiling water, and place on a towel and wait for the seals to pop.

Now you are all done, try to find some unique recipes in which to use for the apple butter.

I only got three jars from the crock pot recipe.

The first time I made the butter, I used this recipe exactly:

http://coconutlime.blogspot.com/search/label/apple

I have decided to slightly adapt this time, as I had various types of apples, and wanted to try pumpkin pie spice !!  ENJOY!!!!

Love it, Like it, Must have it Wednesday

I am always saying I Love it, I Like It, or I want it. I always love being told about great products, places to go visit, or must haves. I love the O' list in Oprah's magazine, shopping on Ideeli, and searching the Internet for interesting unique things.



This weeks "Love it, Like it, Must have it Wednesday: is the place we went for brunch over the weekend:


Simon Pierce Restaurant on the Brandywine
located in West Chester, PA

The food was great, we started out with homemade bread: pecan raisin nut, olive, and biscuits and delicious soft, very soft (and I think homemade) butter. The olive bread was my favorite, I just kept eating it.

I got a pineapple soda, it was OK, I liked it, but not as good as the pineapple soda I had while in San Diego.

 

We got the bakery basket, which was so delicious. We could of almost ordered this for desert, as the bread was just so good and it was hard to pick bakery basket or bread basket.

For an appetizer I got the Corn Polenta and Broccoli Gratin with Tallegio Cheese. The Tallegio Cheese was a stinky cheese that covered the gratin, it added a different flair.

For the main entree, Banana Bread French Toast, this was delicious. I would have never thought of making french toast out of banana bread, and it had a passion fruit curd, and fresh bananas on top with caramelized pecans. this was great.

Now after brunch we walked the store, I fell in love with these and I left feeling I must have them!!!

Now I am a little confused, because I kept seeing different prices, the store had one price the lowest, online the second lowest, and the catalogue a little bit more.

They had the tallest one on: a lighted pedestal, and it glowed beautifully!


Below are pictures of the artisan's blowing glass.

I want to go back this Sunday for brunch...we will see.  Next time I will take more photos of the food, we were with friends, and I felt a little awkward, taking photo's of everything...

Outside of the building.  GPS does not take you exactly there, so make an educated decision, if you see the building you are there!