Thankful for fennel/stuffing/date night

Actually I'm thankful for a whole lot of other things, but for the purpose of recapping the events of late, I will keep the gratitude to relevant things.

My boyfriend took me to Wicked!! But let's rewind, shall we.

I found Aida's recipe for vegetarian pot pie and I was intrigued. Growing up you couldn't get my brother and I away from those frozen delicous pot pies. I was excited to try the recipe with yet another produce item I had yet to purchase/use/knowingly eat. Fennel had a strong odor that reminded me of something, but I'm not sure what. All in all it was basically an onion, right? Vegetarian Pot Pie - Aida Mollenkamp, Food Network

• fennel
• onions
• carrots
• mushrooms
• peas
• potato
• milk
• broth
• flour
• parsley
• pre-made pie dough sheets

it.

was

yummy

I also got to see my friends including one with the world's most adorable baby. He's 9 months which is a hilarious and fun age. Seriously all this kid does is giggle and clap and get excited (well... and pull hair with a monster grip). When I asked Jessica if all babies were this happy she said not at all, that they had just hit the baby lottery. :)

With baby asleep, mom and friends had plenty of Margs..... and catch phrase. Nice :) On the way home from our fun girls weekend I stopped and went wedding dress shopping with my H.S. BFF. Doesn't she look pretty? Um yeah... as you can tell by her expression, this was not the dress that she chose. For the record, I loved it and resisted trying it on while she wasn't looking. What? I love dresses in all colors.

I also recently made this yummy recipe:

Stuffed acorn squash from Kaboose/All recipes

Acorn Squash

Butter

Brown Sugar

Dry stuffing mix

broth (i was out, so used water and it was totally fine)

garlic powder/salt/onion powder to taste

One for me...

One for my brother after picking him up from the airport. I thought it was heaven.... he sort of just ate the stuffing. *sigh*

Then.... Tailgate time!!!!

The food was very tail-gate-esque. Not so healthy, but appropriate and delicous all the same (holler boy scout popcorn!).

Mom made rice crispies... which have never been my thing, but I know for a fact that the ones on the far left with the gooey carmel layer will rock your socks off (Aunt Teresa's recipe!)
all together now..

Please disregard my mother straying from the black/gold attire that one is to wear to a Mizzou tailgate... she is an ISU grad. It's okay though, they lost and she did minimal cheering for them so she didn't get lynched by the MU crowd in the seats around us.

Perfect weather, perfect game, perfect outcome. Afterwards we headed to my alma matter who was playing John's team in an exhibition game. The teams were in way different divisions and unevenly matched, so it was no surprise when they lost.... However... it was painful... I was rooting for both teams, so I guess it all turned out okay, right? (sorry John!)

We stayed at my godfather's house where he fussed over us and with milk/brownies/breakfast, etc. I loved it!

Back in KC I had to get ready for my hot date! Prior to Wicked!! I made John a very man-friendly meal, courtesy of the hilarious Paula Deen, shout out to Paula, sorry you got hit in the face with a ham yesterday!

Lady & Sons Chicken, Paula Deen Food Network

• Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts (i used two instead of four and just cut them in half... shhhh, don't tell John)
• Swiss Cheese
• Cream of Chicken Soup
• Stuffing Mix
• Butter
  
  This was so easy to make and was a quitessential 'guy' meal. It tasted very thanksgiving to me.... you can't go wrong with that, right?
  

Nom Nom NOm

And finally.... I purchased a vintage sewing machine table off of Craig's List. I'll be getting a sewing machine in the near future, but I've always wanted/needed a little more counter space in my place (i have zero tables, just an ottoman and various other trunks and storage items). This will probably be in the corner over by my bed when it's all said and done but I'm already a fan. Your thoughts?

Today I'm taking a 1/2 day... whoop whoop! TGITuesday everyone... one more day!