Fab Friday Faves 5.29.15

Hello Friday!  I hope everyone had a great week, and all my US friends have recovered from the long weekend.  I had a good weekend, did some packing and knocked a few things off the list of things to do before we leave.  I can't believe how fast time is flying, I can't even think about it!  Everyone enjoy the weekend and enjoy the weather.

1.  Yesterday, Josh and I went down to the pre-opening of the observatory in the Freedom tower.  I had gotten tickets in a draw a couple weeks ago to be one of the first people up, the day before it actually opened.  The building is breathtaking and they have so many amazing multimedia features.  Unfortunately the weather did not cooperate so we didn't have much of a view, but just being inside seeing everything was really cool.

2. On Saturday, Josh was going golfing, so I decided to check out one of the places on my must see list.  The Woolworth building in the Financial District of Manhattan was the world's tallest building for 17 years when it was built.  It is really beautiful and whimsical and an amazing place.  I got a tour from a woman that has spent a large part of her life studying the building so I learned a lot!  The building is very private so only a few people a day are let in so it was almost empty and great for some exploring.  Check back next week for a blog with all the details!

3. A few days ago I was on a blog about Jersey City, and stumbled across the Surf City bar, only about 1.5 miles from our apartment.  Sadly, we had never heard about this amazing place before!  It is a huge mostly outdoor bar on the marina overlooking the Hudson and Liberty State park.  There are three massive outdoor beach bars as well as a real manmade beach, fire pit and beer garden seating inside as well.  The weather was awesome so we wandered over Wednesday afterwork.  Love!

4. Also on our way home on Wednesday Josh and I stumbled upon this classy car.... Enough said.

5. We had to do Sunday brunch in Manhattan and went to a place called Boulton and Watt old style hipster joint in the East Village right across the street from Katz's Deli.  We both got Eggs Benedict and mine was the  "braised short rib and bone marrow, Bordelaise sauce on country bread." Amazing!  They also have a huge selection of pickles, some of which I brought home.


Today I'm linking up with:

Jennie @ The Diary of a Real Housewife
Nicole @ Adventures of a Wild Sunflower
Lauren @ Style Elixir
April @ A. Liz Adventures
Tif @ Bright on a Budget
Amy @ The Farmer's Wife
Clare @ Fitting It All In

*Recipe* Buffalo Turkey Sloppy Joes with Coleslaw

I'm a big fan of Sloppy Joes and when this recipe appeared on Rachael Ray a couple days after we attended a taping, I knew I had to try them.  They are so good!  Josh absolutely loves them so I had to make them again a couple days ago and thought I would share the recipe since it is so yummy!  Enjoy!

Ingredients

For the Sloppy Joes:

(This makes a huge batch, it can be easily halved)

• 3 tablespoons butter
• 2 pounds ground turkey breast

• 1 tablespoon Celery salt

• Freshly ground black pepper

• 2 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves

• 5-6 ribs celery, 2-3 finely chopped
• 4-5 carrots, 2 peeled and finely chopped

• 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped

• 1 onion, finely chopped

• 1 cup beer or chicken stock

• 1/4-1/2 cup medium to extra spicy hot sauce, such as Frank's Red Hot

• 2 tablespoons cider vinegar

• 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

• 1 can tomato sauce (14 ounces)
• 1 container blue cheese crumbles
• 12 soft hamburger rolls

• Ingredients 
• For the Coleslaw:

• 2lbs green cabbage, grated or 1 bag of pre made coleslaw mix
• Salt and pepper

• 1 teaspoon celery seeds

• 2/3 cup mayonnaise

• 2 tablespoons white vinegar

• 1 clove garlic, grated

• 1 teaspoon dijon mustard

• Preparation

  
  For the Sloppy Joes:
  
  Heat the butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. When the butter foams, add the turkey. Brown and crumble. Season with celery salt and pepper. Add the thyme, chopped celery, chopped carrots, garlic and onion. Cook, partially covered, to soften, 12-15 minutes, then deglaze the pan with the beer. Add the hot sauce, vinegar, Worcestershire sauce and tomato sauce; simmer to thicken.
  

  

  
  

  

  
  Preparation
  
  For the Coleslaw:
  
  
  

  

  
  
  Mix everything except the cabbage or pre made mix together in a bowl.  Pour over the slaw and stir.  Refrigerate for a few minutes.
  
  
  

  

  
  

  Toast the buns and top with Sloppy Joe mix.  Put some blue cheese crumbles to taste on that and then top with some coleslaw.
  
  

  

both recipes courtesy RachaelRay.com

Fist Pumping down the Jersey Shore

Sadly, our time in New Jersey is coming to an end (yes I am kinda sad about it!) and it would be crazy not to at least check out the most famous places in New Jersey, Atlantic City and the Jersey Shore.  We decided to go the weekend before Memorial Day, to maybe avoid some of the traffic and crowds.  We did some research and found a nice little place to stay in the heart of Long Beach Island, in Beach Haven.  We planned to spend Saturday there and on Sunday go spend a couple hours in Atlantic city then come home.  Things didn't exactly turn out as planned, but in a good way!

We started out very early Saturday morning, even though my alarm never went off and did the close to 2 hour drive along The Shore (the photo below is the sign to where "The Jersey Shore" is set) and on LBI (Long Beach island).  When we arrived the weather wasn't bad, but it wasn't awesome either and we were hoping to watch the 10AM UFC event then head to the beach, but we couldn't find anywhere open at 10 to watch it!  So we wandered around and checked out the gorgeous beaches and some great little shops.  

At 12 we finally found a place that was open for lunch and would play the fight for us, so we enjoyed a bite to eat and then headed to our hotel on the beach to get ready to go catch some rays and waves.  Unfortunately, the weather still wasn't fantastic but we HAD to enjoy the afternoon out on the beach. I can't say enough how beautiful the beaches were, and they were nice and quiet which I always love!

After the somewhat chilly afternoon on the beach we decided to walk back into downtown Beach Haven for some dinner and checking out the sites. We of course had t stop at a nice little mini golf course for a as usual, heated matchup.  I ended up losing, for a change!

We found Carmen's Unique Beach Cuisine for dinner which had such a small town feel and the nicest staff!  I got the crab stuffed flounder and Josh got the steak and shrimp.  Both were fantastic!

We saved room for dessert, because close to our hotel was The Boardwalk, an ice cream parlor/bike and water toy rental place.  They have more milkshake and sundae flavors than I have ever seen.  I got a plain old hot fudge sundae (yes I'm very boring when it come to ice cream) and Josh got a Twix milkshake.

We headed back to the room with some very full belly's for an early night and some relaxing!

Birght and early we were up and eating again!  We went to an amazing semi famous place, The Chicken or the Egg.  They are famous for their breakfasts, but the rest of their huge menu looks phenomenal too.  I got the special, a crab stuff omelette.  Yum!

We were back on the road to again, this time down to Atlantic City.  I was really excited for it, but Josh had convinced himself that he would hate it.  I was really hoping he wouldn't!  We parked in the Tropicana Hotel parked because it was only ten dollars for the day, so our first stop was the Tropicana  hotel.

It was pretty much what anyone that has ever been to Vegas could expect, but if you haven't been to a place like this I think it is pretty crazy.  Huge and overdone with tons of restaurants and stores and things to do.  It didn't take long and Josh was on his phone looking up hotel prices for the night.  yay, he loved it!  We actually ended up booking at the Tropicana for ease and it was really nice and had good room prices.

After throwing our stuff in our room, we decided to take a walk along the famous AC Boardwalk.

We decided we needed a fun beach drink, so we stopped at a really cool outdoor bar/club, Bungalow Beach.  An outdoor bar with Cabanas, hammocks and palm trees, it's a pretty epic place with delicious fruity over priced drinks.

Oh it is also a Hookah bar... although we didn't partake, this lady beside us was loving it!

*Fun Fact* A.C is the home of the Miss America pageant.  I received the crown this particular day.

A must see of course is Caesar's Palace.  We went into the Forum Shops and restaurants first for some lunch.  We walked in the doors to this cool mural.

The indoor pier goes out on to the water, making for a pretty epic AC beach photo.

We grabbed some crab and spinach dip at Philips Seafood and kept walking around the hotel.

This season's winner of Hell's Kitchen will be there head chef at Caesar's Gordon Ramsey's Pub and Grill, so there was a billboard with the remaining contestants.

We popped a few bucks in the machines (well I did, Josh headed for the roulette table) and then continued on the Boardwalk.

Any Boardwalk Empire fans will know that the show is set here.  They have a pretty cool mural of the places used on the show.

Time for another huge sugary drink!  we stopped at the Landshark to listen to some live music and watch some hilarious drunk people play Cornhole. It was actually a great time and the weather was perfect for about an hour.  We also got  to watch the helicopters fly over watching for Mary Lee, the great white that has been hanging out in the area.  

My massive Daiquiri in the Margaritaville blender cup.

A great view of the Steel Pier from the Landshark.

We decided to take a peak into another famous one, the Trump Taj Mahal. In true Donald style it is overdone and grandiose but actually really beautiful!

From the top of the Taj Mahal with the Steel Pier in the background.

When in AC you have to check out one of the most famous pier's in the world, the Steel Pier.  Pretty normal carnival rides and games and delicious fair food.

Oh and another breathtaking view!

Josh decided to take a ride on this thing... I wish I could but with a couple drinks in me, and my motto sickness it would end up being a bad scene.

I love carnival games, so I beat Josh in the water gun game and won a penguin, then he played the crossbow shoot and won me a tiger!  I have never seen anyone win at one of these shooting games before, so I was impressed!

Love this sign!

Once again it was time to eat (seems like we eat a lot doesn't it?  we walked like 25 miles over the weekend so I didn't feel too bad).  We went back to Ramsey's Pub and Grill and had an awesome dinner.  We got the Scotch Egg, which was one of the best things I have ever eaten, and I got the Short Rib and Risotto and Josh got the best fish and chips ever.  Kudos Gordon, I knew I liked you for a reason.

It was getting dark, so we started walking back to the Tropicana for the night.  They have these really cool video screens that play beach scenes and sunsets and such.

We ran out to the truck and I got this awesome picture of AC at sunset.  Pretty nice!  We spent the evening playing some casino games and wandering through the halls of the hotel just admiring everything!

We need up having a really great time even though neither of us knew really what to expect, hopefully we can make it back before we leave for good!