Fab Friday Faves 2.24.17

Happy Friday all! I'm going to keep it short and sweet today, we are headed out to the Lowry Park Zoo in Tampa this morning.  It's been a very busy week, with lots of being out and about and exploring.  We are having great time with my parents and Josh and Smudge arrived on Tuesday so we have been spending time with them as well.  Everyone have a great weekend and talk to you next week!

1. Mom and I went to The Suncoast Primate Sanctuary yesterday.  There are always some characters there.  One wouldn't stop making funny faces at me and one wouldn't stop giving me the finger... haha.  This is a great place with rescued primates and other animals from labs, circuses and private owners that couldn't care for them.

2. Last weekend was the Great Backyard Bird Count and I participated for a couple days.  I have a ton of birds in my backyard, so I counted there but also went a few other place to count and even saw some birds I haven't seen before.  Here are some I managed to get pictures of.

3. I had few Margarita's this week, we will say it was because Wednesday was National Margarita Day.

4. On Tuesday we all went into Tampa to Amelie Arena to Watch the Lightning play the Oilers.  It was a good game but the Lightning ended up winning.  There were a ton of Canadians there though which is always fun.

5. Twice this week we ate at a newish place in downtown Palm Harbor, Catcher and the Rye.  Mom and I went for lunch and I had the Grouben, a Grouper Rueben which was amazing and then we all went last night for dinner and I had the Shrimp Scampi, also delicious.  Try this place if you love Bourbon and/or great food!


Today I'm linking up with:

Paula @ Sincerely, Paula

Jerri @ Simply Sweet Home

Erika @ A Little Bit of Everything

Lauren @ Style Elixir

Tif @ Bright On A Budget

April @ A Smidge of This

Karli @ Sept-Farm

Fab Friday Faves 2.17.17

Hello and Happy Friday y'all!  I'm coming to you from Florida today at my house with my parents here visiting and it is a gorgeous day.  The only way it would be better is if Josh, Smudge and my brother Jesse were all here.  Josh and Smudge should be here Monday or Tuesday so that is exciting! My parents and I have stayed pretty low key, checking out some nature in the area and mom and I getting pedicures and doing some shopping.  We are heading to Dunedin to the market today which is one of my favorite outings.  Everyone enjoy your weekend!  Hope it is starting to be spring wherever you are.

1.  Yesterday, my parents and I went to Spring Bayou in Tarpon Springs looking for Manatees.  Not only did we see tons of Manatees which is amazing but we also had a dolphin come and show off right next to us.  Too bad I only had my iPhone and didn't get any good pictures of the manatees that stayed a little further out in the water.  

2. Since I was leaving for Florida on Tuesday, Josh and I had our Valentines Dinner on Sunday at Galazio Restaurant in La Plata.  We got the 38oz Tomahawk steak, broiled feta cheese and some awesome sides.  A great place for a date night and amazing food!  

3.  Everyone that knows me knows I have an obsession with mugs from places (especially Starbucks mugs) so when my parents showed up at the house with these new Tim Hortons Saskatchewan mugs I nearly screamed!  They are so gorgeous and an awesome reminder of home.  I am also taking donations of these from all the other provinces.  Hint hint!  

4.  My Valentine's gifts from Josh, my Clair Ashley Prairies bracelet made in Saskatchewan and an Edible Arrangement.  Chocolate covered fruit, my favorite! 

5.  This picture does not do this food justice but on Saturday, Josh and I went in to Baltimore for the first time and along with checking out some really cool sites like Fort McHenry and Fells Point, we went to our Maryland Diner's Drive Ins and Dives Stop, Miss Shirley's.  I got the Blood Good Union Bloody Mary and the best breakfast sandwich in America, the Southern Slammer Sandwich with fried green tomatoes, bacon, avocado mash, cheddar cheese and a fried egg on pumpernickel with the best grits I've ever had.  Josh got the Bay-o Po Boy which was one of the dishes on the show, also amazing.  Everyone go here!


Today I'm linking up with:

Paula @ Sincerely, Paula

Jerri @ Simply Sweet Home

Erika @ A Little Bit of Everything

Lauren @ Style Elixir

April @ A Smidge of This

Tif @ Bright On A Budget

Amy @ The Farmer's Wife

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*Recipe* Red Wine Ice Cream Floats

I had to share another quick Valentine's recipe that I tried last night.  It's super easy, delicious and boozy, the best kind!  It would be something great to make for your love or your besties to enjoy tonight.

Ingredients

-Sparkling Red Wine (I used Barefoot refresh Summer Red Spritzer.  If you can't find one, just add a little bit of seltzer water to some red wine)
-1 pint Vanilla Ice Cream
-Marachino Cherries

Directions

-Add 3 or 4 Marachino cherries to a glass and muddle them with a muddler or a spoon.
-Add a couple scoops of ice cream on top of the cherries.
-Put about 4 more cherries on top of the scoops of ice cream.  
-Top with sparkling red wine.
-Drizzle a little bit of the cherry syrup on top.

thanks to Mind Over Batter for the recipe!

*Recipe* Homemade Valentine Pop Tarts

I have to be honest, I don't like boughten Pop Tarts.  At all.  I think they are really gross actually.  But, I have been lucky enough to have some really yummy homemade ones with real filling and soft flaky crust.  Like little baby pies with frosting.  I decided I would give them a try and what better time than right before Valentine's Day to have fun with the decorating?  I chose to make raspberry flavor ones, with strawberry icing.  Mixed berry flavor right?  They turned out so yummy, and pretty much the cutest ever!

Ingredients

(makes 8-10 pop tarts)

Pop Tarts

1 package refrigerated pie dough
1/2 cup jam of your choice (I used raspberry this time but any would be delicious)
1 egg

Glaze

I have to be honest, I used a tub of strawberry frosting, because I wanted it to be strawberry flavored!  
For the homemade glaze:

2 cups confectioners sugar, sifted
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2-3 tbsp whole milk
pink food coloring gel
(you could probably add in some strawberry extract for more flavor)


Directions

-Pre-heat oven to 400F and line baking sheet with parchment paper or silicon baking mat. 
-Unroll the pie crusts.  Lightly flour your countertop.  
-Use a rolling pin to roll out the cookie dough just a little bit (not too thin or it will break apart)
-Use a heart cookie cutter (mine was about 4" across) to punch out the hearts.  



-Put a scoop of jam in the middle of half the hearts (you can experiment with how much will fit properly, I used about a tablespoon and a half I think). 
- Put a second heart on top and push the edges together and use a fork to crimp the edges to seal them even better. 

-Crack an egg into a bowl and whip with a fork.  Use a pastry brush to paint the top with the egg wash.
-Use a knife to make two small slits in the top of the heart so that the pressure can be released and it doesn't crack open. 
-Bake 10-11 minutes.  Remove from oven and let cool on tray for 5 minutes and then transfer to cooling rack.  
-While the pop tarts are cooling, make the glaze. 
-Sift confectioners sugar into a bowl, add milk, vanilla, and food coloring and mix until combined.
-Spoon a small amount of glaze onto the top and spread out.  
-Add sprinkles and decorations and let set for 15 minutes then enjoy. 

thanks to Wandering Whisk Bake Shop for the recipe help!

Fab Friday Faves 2.10.17

It's another Friday!  We had the most amazing weather this week, well until yesterday and we got a bit of Winter Storm Niko.  It went fem 74F to around freezing in less than 24 hours.  You will notice that my Five are almost all food related this week.  Yup, pretty much all I did was eat.  Between Super Bowl and National Bagel Day and awesome Canadians.  It has been a rough one!  I had a physical yesterday, that is always fun.  Hopefully it wasn't a bad omen that my nurse threw her back out when she bent down to get me a cup to pee in.  Everyone have a great weekend and a very Happy Valentine's Day, if that is your thing.  Next Friday, I THINK that I will be in sunny Florida with my parents, so, be jealous of that!

1. Smudge got a cute new Valentine's bandana. Isn't she the cutest ever?  Ignore the mess in the back, I have been collecting boxes since we were supposed to be moving.  

2. A coworker of Nicole's went home to Canada and brought back some Ketchup Chips and Buttertarts and she was sweet enough to share.  These are pretty much the two foods I miss the most!  

3. Sunday was Super Bowl and I won't talk about the game, but man we made some good snacks for it as usual!  We went over to Rob's and ate our faces off.  Cheese stuff pretzel rolls, Jalepeno poppers, pickle poppers. pigs in a blanket, buffalo dip, Neiman Marcus dip, taco roll and meatballs. yum!

4. Yesterday was National Bagel Day and Einstein Bros. sent out coupons for free bagels so Lindsey and the kids and I went to enjoy out free bagels and bottomless coffee.

5. I finally bought these wine Gummy Bears at Target.  I love Gummy Bears and wine so how could they not be amazing?


Today I'm linking up with:

Jennie @ The Diary of a Real Housewife

Paula @ Sincerely, Paula

Jerri @ Simply Sweet Home

Erika @ A Little Bit of Everything

Lauren @ Style Elixir

Christina @ Carolina Charm

Tif @ Bright On A Budget

Amy @ The Farmer's Wife

Cool Valentine's Gifts For the Men (Or Anyone) In Your Life

I don't know about all of you, but I know the men that are closest to me; my husband, my stepdad and my brother are the hardest people ever to buy gifts for.  While I only buy for Josh on Valentine's Day, these gifts can transfer over to other holidays too and there are some pretty awesome ideas.  If anyone  has any other cool ideas for me, please let me know, I can never have too many ideas for these difficult men!  

Man Crates- Josh got one of these from his parents for his birthday last year and when I checked out the website I fell in love.  Honestly there are a ton of them that I would like too.  From sports team themed boxes, to different kinds of jerky and drink mixes to one where you can make your own knife.  There is something for everyone and they are totally customizable. 

Teespring- This site has thousands of really cool unique tee shirts that you won't find anywhere else.  Again there will be something for anybody you know that wears clothes. 

MeUndies- A site with high quality really cool undies of all shapes and sizes.  You can even get matching ones for you and your man. $20-24/pair

Bespoke Post- They call these "Themed boxes for guys who give a damn," so basically it is a subscription service of cool, hard to find, hand crafted things for rich people or want to be rich people.  There are some really cool things in these and you can chose from themes like Refresh, Flex and The Barber.  You can also browse there shop of cool items from the boxes. 

Tile- This is one thing I NEED to get for Josh.  He always loses his keys and blames me.  Tiles are little flat squares that can be attached to pretty much anything like keys, wallets etc, and when you lose them, you go to the app on your phone and it can tell you where you last had it and if it is within 100 feet it can ring it.  You can also press your tile and make your phone ring when you lose it. $70 for a 4 pack right now.



The Kaufman Mercantile Guide- How to Split Wood, Shuck an Oyster, and Master Other Simple Pleasures.- The name kinda says it all for this book. About $16 on Amazon.

The Luckiest Guy Mug- Cuz it's funny and true! $20 on Amazon.

Goo Goo Clusters- I visited the Goo Goo store in Nashville in September and brought a bunch home with me and OMG these are amazing and Josh loves them.  They are kinda like Turtles but more decadent and they have some neat flavors.  If you can't go to Nashville you can order online.  $4.29 for a 3 pack

Scratch Maps- These are great for anyone who travels.  Maps that you can scratch off each country that you go to.  You can get world maps, different countries and one that you can put stickers on in stead of scratching (but I love scratch tickets so the scratch ones sound awesome!) around $30 

MouthBox- Another cool box gift, where you can get any kind of box filled with food, cocktails, sweets, cheeses, popcorns, bacons, pretty much anything you could dream up! They even have some for themes like Sick Day, Brunch in a Bag and Eat Your Feelings (great for your single friends on V-Day!) ranging from $42-$1000 for one filled with premium booze.

                                             

Kikkerland Portable BBQ Suitcase- Great for your camper of tailgater this is a super compact, convenient grill that is also really cool looking.  $85

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