Tonight we were looking for something healthy, yet still exciting for dinner and settled on Martha’s Cayenne-Rubbed Chicken with Avocado Salsa. I served this with Thai rice and a simple green salad. We slightly modified the salsa – sauteing the onion with five cloves of garlic and mashing the avocado, adding salt – really we turned it into guacamole. This meal was a resounding success! It was such a wonderful combination of flavors and we will definitely look forward to this again.
Yum!
We also caught Avatar this weekend at Regal Phillips Place, definitely a movie to check out in the theater. James Cameron lived up to the hype – loads of action, decent story, plenty of eye-candy. It was exactly the entertainment we were looking for.
Since this year we will be will be eating turkey at the Manna house, we invited my mom, brother and grandparents down for pre-Thanksgiving this Sunday. I cannot get excited about eating the full-blown meal twice in one week (well actually, yes I can, but I’m not feeling it this time around) so we are going Italian. It’s only right as a newly-minted Manna.
The menu? Still in flux…but with days slipping away I need to get it together. Tentatively speaking:
Meat and Cheese plate - Three traditional Italian artisan salamis (Wild boar, piccante and soppresata) and cheeses (brie, mezzo secco and basque) plus a crash course in all of the above from the knowledgeable staff at Earth Fare.
One thing we learned is that salami, when prepared in the traditional Italian style, is allowed to develop a certain mold on the casing which helps develop the flavor. According to Wikipedia, it is an edible mold (Penicillium) culture – we will not be eating it. I’m glad we were forewarned as this probably would have thrown me off a bit when I got home.
Sopressata sausage pre-edible mold removal
Homemade Caesar dressing and salad
French bread (not Italian, but I am getting pretty good at this if I do say so myself)
Melodie Manna’s Lasagna (MIL is a chef in her own right!)
Giada’s Chicken Saltimbocca
Easy Ricotta Gnocchi from The Kitchn
And the oh-so Italian Apple Pie from Ms. Paula Deen with crumble topping from Martha Stewart.
But then today I watched a video from Mark Bittman on proscuitto-wrapped sweet potatoes which really got me thinking…so if I just feel like I want to cook forever they may get thrown in too.
Can’t wait to share how it turns out!
Just dropped off hubs at the airport for a week-long trip for training. Saying goodbye brings back familiar feelings. Glad that we aren’t always feeling this way anymore!
While I was wedding planning I frequently visited www.paper-source.com and now that we’re in Charlotte I was thrilled to discover a bricks and mortar store nearby. So, naturally, I headed over there for materials to document our honeymoon to Paris and Amsterdam. I picked up a set of Parisian themed stamps and while I haven’t done anything remotely honeymoon related, I did have a lot of fun the other night making my own stationery. Five minute project!
Eiffel tower and Paris postage stamp card
Crown and Paris card
Now that I’m officially past the one month mark since getting married, moving, honeymooning and coming home to unpack – I am finally back into my routines and happy to be more settled. While our first month in Charlotte has included way too many trips to Target and Lowes, we’ve also been able to squeeze in a few fun things and are looking forward to this fall.
We were happy to have family and friends join us for the Blues, Brews and BBQ festival several weeks ago.
Charlotte's Blues, Brews and BBQ festival
Happier still was our discovery of amateur row – where the BBQ was handed out for nothing more than speechless eating and wide-eyed wonder. Many thanks to the dozens of “amateurs” who generously doled out some of the best BBQ this NC native has enjoyed in a while.
We traveled to Asheville one evening for a benefit concert in honor of my very dear friend, Palmyra Romeo. Palmyra was blindsided by a brain abscess this summer which left her temporarily paralyzed and in need of two brain surgeries. Luckily with a great spirit, support and wonderful medical team Palmyra is well on her way to a full recovery, but as an Americorps employee her limited insurance has left her burdened with the astronomical sum of care. Palmyra’s boyfriend and friends in bluegrass hosted one hell of a concert and raised thousands of dollars – it was so touching to see the community come together in support of Palmyra and I was proud to be a part of that. More information on her story is available here.
Dehlia Low at the benefit
Palmyra and me at the Grey Eagle in Asheville enjoying the show
This coming week we are looking forward to…
The Alfred Hitchcock fall film series begins, hosted by the Public Library of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County. Every Monday in October and November, a free Alfred Hitchcock flick will be screened at ImaginOn. Tomorrow night the series kicks off with “Notorious,” starring Cary Grant and Ingrid Bergman at 7 p.m.
And, of course, Oktoberfest is this weekend. With over 350 beers, a good time is guaranteed and I’m looking forward to sampling some new flavors.
Working, Moving, Wedding, Honeymooning. See you in September!
Jardin du Luxembourg, half mile from our hotel in Paris
Six longing weeks ahead of me…
This weekend we spent Friday night camping at Julian Price Memorial Park, just down the road from Boone and near Moses Cone at mile 297 on the Blue Ridge Parkway. Over the past year we’ve acquired all kinds of camping gear and this was the first chance we’ve had to break away for the night and test it out! Our campsite was looking great…
but there were a few bumps in the road. The innocent looking grill collapsed right at the climax of cooking two filets that were peacefully minding their business…and after battling smoke and flame to try and hold the grill in one piece, we ended up finishing dinner while grilling on the ground – still delicious! We laid the grill to rest at the camp dumpster and counted ourselves lucky that my thumb was the only casualty.
Added to that we forgot our pillows…so we happily packed up to head home the next morning fully recognizing maybe we aren’t quite professionals yet.
We spent most of the day today planning the Paris leg of our honeymoon, which I’m looking forward to sharing as we continue to build our plans…any travel tips? I discovered this handmade papers store on good bones, great pieces today, and it’s definitely added to my list of stores to seek out in the city. With less than six weeks to go until our wedding, it’s nice to focus on the honeymoon for a change!
Aerial view of SouthPark
I am beyond thrilled to share that we have officially signed a lease for our new home in Charlotte. We’ll be living in Southpark – close to work, friends, and the mall 
. This will be our first home together as a new family and it’s got me thinking about all that goes into making a foreign city my home.
The first time I moved away from home to Raleigh, it was a surreal experience. I was a freshman at NC State and couldn’t get into college life fast enough – all I wanted was to feel comfortable and at home in an environment that felt anything but, no matter how much fun I was having. Raleigh didn’t truly feel like home to me until I was in my own apartment and had made some of the connections that really cement your soul to a place – knowing enough people to lose touch and run into them again on the street, a hairstylist and dentist that I loved, jobs that I loved and jobs that I hated, volunteer commitments, etc. After seven years, Raleigh was truly home, but I am ready for the next challenge.
I don’t anticipate having all the same anxieties about moving to Charlotte, but some challenges never change about learning a new place. Learning my way around town means a lot more than knowing the back roads or understanding 77 vs 485 vs 581 – I’m not even sure I have those right yet. But I can’t wait to have memories associated with the city, to look back and remember what my perceptions of the city were in August 2009 and whether or not those first impressions held true.
But this time, instead of being three hours apart, we will discover this new city together. What a gift to start our new life completely fresh – we are both preparing for exciting new challenges in work, family, and home. For now, I just have to squirm in my own excited impatience and know that August – between moving, wedding and traveling to Europe – will be here soon, will be crazy and I will cherish every second of it.
What makes “home” for you? What makes “home” for you in Charlotte?
