And now for my male readers…an over load of BBQ and Meat pictures!

This is Darios pride and joy. A brand new Baby Webber.

Oh the proud Papa!

Dario invited us over for the christening of his new BBQ and to start of the BBQ season. Chad and I were asked to be Godparents. We graciously accepted.

The men talked specs while I admired the back yard. I want a gaaaaarden.

And MEAT touches the GRILL!

Pork Loin, Flank Steak, and Veggie Kabobs.

Table for 3 please.

Hello Giant Bang Head.

FOOOOOOOOD.

Webcamming it with Mr. Jew. Yes, we miss him that much. We watched the hockey game together.

Then Dario and I fell asleep on the couch while Chad talked to himself. Classic.

It was an excellent first BBQ at Mr. Perizzolos. That machine is a beauty, even for a girl who knows nothing about BBQs.

I love BBQs not only because meat and fire taste good, but it’s one less thing I have to do in the kitchen!

The economy has clearly gone down the shitter this year because I have not gained any weight due to the over indulgence of chocolate and cookie eating thanks to our many suppliers who gift us with baskets every year. Why have I not gained any weight you ask? Well because we have only received ONE basket. Either everyone is late in thanking us for business or everyone hates us, and with the lack of Christmas cards I have personally received this year, I’m pretty sure that is the case. Talk about a year of Hate. It goes both ways.

So last night I treated my dear cousin to a home made dinner while she treated me to some Little House on the Prairie. See I told you she would bring it. It felt like dinner took me forever to make, but really it was only an hour. The sausages always take longer then I expect. Elise and I both feel the same way about Italian Sausages in that we hate them, unless that are in a bun. (Insert Bum Sex Joke Here) However, with my magical new Sausage recipe (that converted me from a sausage hater to a sausage lover) I was also able to convert Elise. See, magical.

Now, you see, with this sausage recipe, I needed to partially cook the sausages in the oven in a baking dish with a lid. So once it was done I took it out of the oven, removed the lid, dished out the goods and then went back to replace the lid to keep Chads sausages warm. Only problem was, my brain wasn’t working and I reached for the lid with out an oven mitt on. I picked it up and held it trying to figure out what sensation was coming from the tips of my fingers to my brain. Oh, wait, I know what that sensation is…BURNING. After a minute of holding the frickin burning lid I realized what was going on but couldn’t just drop it because it was glass and I didn’t want to break it so I gently placed it down, allowing for more burning damage to occur to my finger. For the LOVE OF JESUS. My thumb was a little damaged by my right index finger was about to fall off. I have never experienced a burn that bad in my life. I iced it right away and held it there for quite some time (which made eating very awkward). Every time I attempted to not ice my finger I would explode in pain. Like it felt like my hand was ACTUALLY on fire.

Ugh. WHY AM I SO STUPID!? I am going to have no fingers left by the time I die. I mean how many accidents have I had this year alone!?

Anyways, I was stuborn and wouldn’t let anyone help me finish my chores so I washed the dishes, had a shower, cleaned up, AND ironed Chads pants all with one hand on fire.

I am seriously the stupidest person on earth.

So this was what I was tucked away doing all day yesterday. As Chad says ‘You’re not a Manager, so why were you there?’. Well my friends, I am a design assistant, and since this meeting had to do with design, I was there. It was also  great way to kill an afternoon. Plus, I had to help with a lot of the set up of everything. I have a feeling that every time the design part of me is needed the production side gets jealous because it doesn’t get the attention it wants. Well, that’s just what happens when I have my hands in everything.

Managers meetings always seem to be frantic and rush and behind in time, but once we get our part going, I always find it very informative, even though I should technically already know all the info. It always helps to be fed something in a different manner, because then you learn different things. I love watching Claudia put together outfits.

Yesterdays meeting reminded me of the first one I ever attended, which had to be held on a Sunday when the heat was broken in the office. I don’t know if I ever blogged about it. We were stuck all day because out part kept getting postponed. The heat wasn’t working and we were all wearing 17 layers. It was raining so hard outside and it was so cold I was loosing my mind. I think I actually cried because I was so cold and so frustrated. Wasting a Sunday stuck at work, not actually working, but instead just waiting. Then I went back to Chads apartment where he surprised me by building our first fire. Only problem was that he didn’t open the flout all the way so the entire apartment filled with smoke. So we had to open all the windows and grab all the fans to try and clear out the apartment of smoke. I froze yet again. That was a horrible, horrible day. Well, most of it was.

Last night I tried a new recipe called ‘French Onion Pork Chop Skillet’. I get those free Kraft Food Magazines and I love all the ideas in them. The recipe looked pretty good and really easy so I was inspired to give it a shot. It’s basically like mixing French Onion Soup and Pork Chops together. Well, it turned out, and it was good, but Chad didn’t like it much. That man doesn’t like anything much. He is so simple in his tastes that it is rare that I find something new that he loves. I, of course, was then insulted that he didn’t like the meal, because I take everything way to personally, because I am a girl, and even though it was the recipe and not execution of it that he didn’t really like, I still felt like it was my fault. Yes, I am that crazy when it comes to food, or just in general. Tonight I will make him is favorite omelet and then all will be restored.

I spent the rest of the evening wrapped in a bunch of cozy blankets watching the Hills. Oh yes, guilty pleasure, it took me a million years, but I am finally hooked on the Hills.

Saturday was spent getting down into the nitty gritty. 4 loads of laundry. Swept, vacuumed, and washed the floors. Cleaned every nook and cranny. Moved all the furniture to clean underneath everything. It was like running a marathon. I attempted to clean the furry carpet we have in the living area, but it is a little impossible. I combed it all out, like I was brushing fur, which got a lot of the crap out and made it so much softer, but the fur is too long that when I try to vacuum it gets all caught. I attempted to beat the rug but the set up I had was useless. I could tell that it needed a good beating though because the second I hung it crap started falling out of it. I’m going to have to bring it to the parentals one of these days when it stops raining, and get out my frustrations.

Sunday was a right off given the weather and the mood of the day. I sat in my PJs on the couch wrapped in a million blankets. Ugh, depressing. I did however, make the most amazing sausages in the world. I hate sausages, but it was the challenge I was given yesterday, so I found a recipe, added to it using my Italian genius, and walla, the most amazing sausages ever. It was so good I would actually consider making it the next time people come over, depending if they like sausages or not. That was a positive point to the day.

Today has not been the greatest of days. This weather doesn’t help either. I got to work to find an email request in my inbox, to which I replied to in the polite manner I always reply with explaining the situation, only to recieve a response back in the most condisending tone I have ever heard/read. Given my mood I burst into tears and was filled with rage. The reaction I was given was totally uncalled for. I just can’t believe people do business this why. Why would anyone want to work with you? But, I must repeat to myself the mantra that Claudia gave me ‘You can’t let them ruin something that you Love’. All I can hope for is Karma to works its way into this situation.

As an act of being positive today, maybe I will post the pictures from the banquet now that I have them all.

Friday night started out with Ryan coming over to help Chad with some Strata stuff and then staying to watch the game and eat dinner. Then it turned into Alicia coming over to use my Photoshop. Then Elise’s plans fell through so she joined in on the fun, and finally, Adams plans didn’t work out so he stopped by as well.  So Friday night turned into an impromptu dinner party for 6.

Don’t Mess!

Thankfully we had enough bits of random meat to BBQ for everyone. I made a big salad and some potato fries and Alicia made a big pan of stir fry.

Look Ryan, even Elise helped out!

The boys started watching amazing hockey shots on YouTube while dinner was cooking, considering the hockey game was so crappy.

Why hello vegtable delight!

I have to say impromptu dinner truly are my favorite. There is no pressure to have everything turn out perfect, its just about what you have in your fridge and what kind of magic you can do with it. If only I treated regular dinner parties like this.

The single sausage on Elise’s plate looks funny. I think I’m just being a perv.

Whats that? Oh Hi Pat!

Of course the boys indulged themselves.

We ended up getting into a huge discussion about our family, the Rossi’s that is, and Adam and Alicia just sat their trying to figure out who we were talking about and what was going on. Luckily Alicia knows most of the stories so she was trying to make the connections for Adam. It was kind of funny watching them trying to figure it all out. It was also kind of rude of us to have a converstion for an hour that didn’t involve Adam and Alicia, but they found it interesting so it was all good.

It turned out to be a sucessful night for how random that it was. Everyone left by 1:30, only to find that the foyer on the first floor was flooded due to all the rain that was coming down that night. So of course Chad had to go down there with Contractor Ryan to see what was going on. They couldn’t figure it out so they left it for morning when the construction guys who had just finished the deck above could come take a look and figure it out. Gong Show apartment building.

The crazy Asian neighbours beside us who are hording 6 people in their apartment are actually moving out this week. Only problem is they started moving at 8pm last night, because you know, that seems like a sensible time to move large items and boxes and your screaming children. They didn’t stop until 11:30. Chad was going to blow a gasket. The kids would not shut up and the adults were yelling at each other in Chinese down the hallway. It was a bad scene. They should be all moved out by tonight so hopefully that will be the last of everything. I just hope the new neighbours are somewhat reasonable.

Oh the joys of apartments!

I don’t know what the hell is going on, but we haven’t turned on our heat at all since summer and it’s still bloody hot in the apartment. We actually had to kick the sheets off the bed last night. This is bizarre to me. It’s October and I usually freeze to death at the sign of anything cold, and yet, it was too hot to wear a sweater inside. I bet we won’t even have to pay for heat at all this year because the apartment is going to continue to heat itself magically costing us nothing! That would actually be pretty awesome.

We spent much of yesterday just hanging out. I finally nagged Chad enough to get going on my aunts website. We spent a good portion of the afternoon working on it and I think it looks pretty good. That is unless its not what she has in mind and we have to change it all. Ha. I was going mental trying to photoshop a bunch of stuff for the site. I was trying to do things I’ve never done before with no knowledge on how to do them and was 5 seconds away from exploding. However, I managed to figure out the majority of it so I didn’t, in fact, explode.

All our summery deck stuff is now shoved in a corner under the over hang with a giant blue tarp over it. Chad hates it because its an ‘eye sore’, but its going to protect all of our stuff over the winter so I really think he should relax.

I made ham for dinner last night. Now, I hate ham, have never had a good experience with ham, but figured since Chad loves it I could at least make it once and a while. I can eat it in really small portions, but anything more actually makes me want to throw up. It’s the weirdest thing. We bought a little ‘Ham Nugget’ from Safeway, which is still way too big for two people, one of whom hates ham. I had two tiny slices and then wanted to puke. Thankfully I didn’t. I also made my own concoction of Szechuan Beans last night and they were amazing. Going to have to do that one again.

After dinner Chad decided to watch a two hour documentary on 9/11, done with a bunch of footage from civilian steady cams. It was so interesting that I was glued to the TV, but at the same time it was so sad and heartbreaking that I couldn’t watch it. Watching it made me want to puke, on top of the ham puke. Ugh, so sad.

I also had a small panic attack out of no where that when we look for a new place next year we won’t find anything. After talking to Marlee and Elise about places to live I somehow decided that we won’t go from an apartment to a town house but from an apartment to a house, with enough rooms to fit the Duggars, which we all know is impossible to do unless we win the lottery. I freaked out about it so much so that I had Chad search all the house listings to see what is available where, just to comfort me with the possibility that a house is out there if we have the money. I am totally worried that we won’t find what we are looking for the money we want to spend in the location we want to live in, and I really don’t want to settle. I’m getting a bit ridiculous.

Tonight I have to do the laundry, and remember to water all the plants, and maybe vacuum the floors?

Marlee is in surgery this morning. I’m waiting to here how it went.

I don’t think this weekend was what anyone expected it to be. It did have its good moments though.

It’s hard when your best friends are going through a rough patch. It’s hard for me not to get emotionally involved in it and want to fix it. As much as I try to not let it affect me, it does, because I love them.

I can not even count how many times I lost this weekend.

Saturday we went to Bosa to buy all the missing ingredients for our Fathers Day extravaganza. I will let you guess how much HALF of the ingredients cost. Nope, Nope, Nope. $100. This is because I am ridiculous and want to believe that I am actually the head chef at some fancy restaurant and feel the need to prepare way too much fabulous food then is really needed. I knew this going in but because it was the first time I was having my parents over I felt the need to blow their socks off. I might have achieved that, but in my head I didn’t. My head is a strange place.

That afternoon we cleaned. We cleaned all the stuff we still hadn’t cleaned from the camping trip. The clothes were washed. The kitchen was re arraigned. The picture Pat took was printed and hung in its rightful spot.

I then may or many not have had a slight emotion breakdown from thinking too much about all that was going on.

Marlee was gracious enough to come over and Fish Tail my hair even though she was unable to come out with us for dinner. I love Fish Tails.

The boys met us at the apartment and we took the train down to Memphis Blues where we met Ryan and Elise. We ‘pigged out’ on pork. It was fabulous. We barely had enough food to fill us all up on.

Once the meat sweats set in we awkwardly packed into Elise’s car and drove down to Toby’s for some drinks. Because we got to Memphis Blues early to beat the rush it was only 7 by the time we got to Toby’s. Yea, people usually don’t show up that early to start drinking. Luckily this allowed us to get a giant table right beside the pool table.

The boys chose different pitchers of beer and the girls mulled over how the Mojitos tasted like basil. Considering they were our first Mojitos we didn’t know what to expect.

There was pool playing and blackberry wikipedia searching, penny bouncing and hockey playing, jackass watching and paisley corduroy shirt envying.

Then ‘Don’t Stop Believing’ came on and we knew it was our key to leave. 5 hours in a bar, not bad. I’d go back again.

Sunday the weather played tricks on us. We got up early and started our day and began to prepare all the food we needed for that night. The marinade for the Pork Fillets was interesting. It was the first time we were trying this recipe. Chad was very worried about it. I guess its not smart to try out a new recipe on guests the first time they are invited over, especially on your main dish. Oh well, I had faith.

Francesca, Elise, & Ryan came over in the afternoon. The boys watched golf and the girls when and got manicures and pedicures. Now that I know Pure Nail Bar is across the street from me and their prices are very reasonable I am pretty sure I will be going there quite a bit. We got to sit in comfy white couches and watch episodes of Friends while we had our nails done. Best idea ever.

Back home I finished preparing everything for dinner. The parentals and brother came over and we ate.

Appetizer – Although Chad slightly burned the roasted garlic it still tasted amazing and I was pleased with it.

Main – So the marinade had a lot of crazy things in it, and there was a part of me that was actually disappointed with the taste, but after trying it again this morning I think with a little less orange zest and a little more charring on the BBQ and it would have been perfect. I am not so against trying this recipe again.

Salads – Well its hard to screw that up. They were both damn tasty.

Sides – The mushrooms didn’t turn out 100% as I was expecting but they were tasty and I know how to make them better the next time. The potatoes as well didn’t turn out 100% as I was expecting even though I’ve made them many times, but they were still very good.

Dessert – This blew Chad away, probably because he thought he had married Bobby Flay or something. It wasn’t so much about the contents as it was the presentation. I really should have taken a photo. Picture a large wooden tray with a bottle of chilled Grappa surrounded by shot glasses, a mound of perfectly frozen red grapes and pile of 4 different types of chocolate. The combination of the three was amazing. It made me look like I knew what I was doing.

Over all I guess it was a success even though I focused on the things that went wrong. I’m silly like that.

Now it’s Monday and we will see how the week plays out.

Pork Fest 09