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My Favorite Recipes

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A little list of almost 30 of the recipes that we love and cook at home often.

For those of you who don’t know (because 2 years of lead up time can be missed by some) I am on my honeymoon right now after having what I’m sure was an amazing wedding (yep I’m writing this to you in advance). Because of said wedding and honeymoon I clearly don’t have time to post a recipe this week so instead I thought it would be a good idea to high light my absolute favorite recipes on SL&G. After 4.5ish years of blogging I have a lot of favorites, but these are the very best, the ones that I keep coming back to, the ones that Chuck requests the most and the ones that we really do eat all the time.

Sun Dried Tomato Cream Sauce

Chuck’s Venison Chili

Garlic Roasted Potatoes

Fried Rice (Shrimp, Turkey, Leftover Chicken, basically all it’s forms)

Garlic Parmesan Pasta

Squash & Spinach Risotto

Lemon Oregano Chicken (thighs, breast, or baked)

Sausage, Bean & Tomato Stew

Chicken Salad (Thai, Sweet Chili, Asian, Barbecue, Bruschetta, I’ll stop now)

Chicken Soup (with dumplings, rice, green, or noodles, broccoli cheddar it’s all good)

Spinach & Mozzarella Stuffed Chicken

Linguine with Clam Sauce

Spaghetti and Meatballs

Engagement Tart (Obviously)

Apple Pork Chops

Spaetzle

Scallop Carbonara

Roast Chicken (Oven roasted or Crock pot cooked)

Braised Cabbage & Carrots

Chuck’s Blueberry Pancakes

I Had Big Plans. . .

By Jessica

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I had big plans for this week. It marks the 2 year anniversary of this little
space and I wanted to celebrate it, having let the first anniversary pass
without much fuss. I was going to revisit my shop and talk about all my
plans for all the wonderful new stuff I have been creating. I was going to find
a really awesome spring recipe and bake it up for you. I was going to share a
collection of my favorite blog moments, or recap the last two years in some
fashion. I even thought about putting up some decorations and taking ridiculous
pictures of myself celebrating. I was going to do a lot of things that just
didn’t happen.

It’s cool though, we can get by without a big celebration.

I’ll just list my Top 5 Most Viewed Posts. It’s Friday after all,
and we like lists, and not thinking too hard. At least that’s how I feel about it.

Scalloped Potatoes, and Oscars Smoke House
Clean Corn Chowder with Crab and Red Pepper Crostini
A girl’s Gotta Have Quirks!
Hungarian Goulash: An Impromptu Dinner Party
D4One: Vegetarian Mushroom Stroganoff

So now that we have recapped a little, how about I slap a discountto my shop up here too? Interested in a new piece of inexpensive, classy jewelry
for spring? (How’s that for a sales pitch?) 25% OFF FOR THE NEXT 7 DAYS!!! Just
use the code ANNIVERSARY

Each and every piece is unique and hand made from my own heart. After
this sale whatever is left is going to get broken down for new pieces, because
I’m moving in a different direction, but we will talk more about that another
day.

I”M SO EXCITED!

By Jessica

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Now everybody else get excited. It’s National Grilled Cheese Month! I’m so enamored with grilled cheese. I could eat it every day that is if
I was capable of making it without burning the bread which 7 out of 10 times I will
do without fail. I’m getting better though!

It helps that I have been making grilled cheese once a week
for the last several weeks. You see I get excited about pretty much any
celebration, especially celebrations of food, especially when they have cheese
involved. Since it’s Friday I’ll give you the run down of this months awesomeness in Friday Five format.

1 – In case you are interested the National Grilled Cheese Academy
has an annual contest to find the best grilled cheese. Check out last year’stop contestants, you will thank me. And if you are interested in submitting an
entry get ready because it’s happening now!

2 – My favorite grilled cheese in the whole wide world is the Margherita Grilled cheese. I mean you know my feelings on the pizza version, but this grilled cheese is the easier format to transfer all that deliciousness.

Margherita Grilled Cheese

2 slices thick slices of bread

½ cup of shredded mozzarella cheese

3-4 basil leaves

1-2 slices of tomato

Light drizzle of balsamic vinegar

On one slice of bread stack the cheese, basil, tomato and
balsamic drizzle. Top with the other slice of bread and lightly butter the
outside slices. Place in a warm pan over medium heat and cook, flipping
occasionally until the cheese has melted and the outside is crispy. Serve
immediately.

3- I’m working on a compilation of grilled cheese, kind of like the best index for grilled cheese ever. So get ready for that one at the end of the month.

4 – In the mean time if you are looking for ideas to help you celebrate this momentous occasion check out Food Network’s List of 50 Grilled Cheeses.

5- Also since it’s Friday lets Back that Azz Up with possibly the best song ever written, and performed by none other than Elmer Fudd.

The Best Fall Picnic of my Life

By Jessica

This post may contain affiliate links. I may receive commissions for purchases made through links in this post.

Fall is quite possibly my favorite season (it’s a close race with spring), but I’m pretty sure that it is Chuck’s too. He mentioned wanting to go on a picnic several weeks ago, and we just never had the chance to go until this weekend, only to find out it was supposed to rain.

We decided on Thursday night that we would both sneak out of work early and go Friday evening. I thought this would be the perfect time to showcase my favorite fall picnic treats here on the blog, so I tossed together a really fabulous meal. We found a local park on the river with beautiful willow trees to sit under and laid out our blanket.

It was as we were finishing the last of treats and wine that Chuck told me he wanted to talk to me. He made me turn to face him. Then he pulled out a small box, and I had a complete breakdown. It took a few minutes and him asking me twice before I could say yes, but we are now engaged!

I’m sorry I don’t have ~~more~~ better pictures for you, but I was enjoying my
moment. I plan to follow this up with a couple of pretty awesome recipes in the next few days or so, so hang tight.

I just couldn’t help but share this little story of mine. I’m so happy, and feel
so incredibly blessed that I really can’t put it into words.

Summer’s Over, Let’s Talk About it

By Jessica

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It’s September and by most standards summer is over. As sad and upsetting as it is I’m ready for
fall, I’ve always been a cold weather kind of girl so it’s welcome. I thought it
might be a fun change of pace to do a little review of my favorite things about
this summer.

Camping! We did a lot of camping, my favorite trip had to be
the one we went on with our friends from northern VT.

Visiting wine country.

Favorite recipes included the Herby Burger, Backcountry CreamyOrzo, and Shrimp and Parsley Ravioli.

I was pretty much a lush.

Don’t forget the fair. I’m a dork for the demolition derby.

I loved teaching Brody to swim & love the water as much
as his parents. We also got to go river tubing for a day, found an old rope
swing Chuck played on as a kid, and spent quite a few days up at the lake. We
had lots of water time this year.

I made to the beach for the first time in years!

I started a small garden that blossomed with a pretty
amazing bounty of beans, tomatoes, radishes, carrots, parsnips, and kohlrabi.
I also had way more beans than I could handle. Next year we will pant the marigold a little earlier to keep the pests away.

It was a laid back and fun summer, full of food and friends.
What more could you ask for?

What were your favorite parts of summer this year?

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