Bliss to Bean

Monday, February 13, 2012

Magazines, Bikinis, LWD, a Movie & Hot Cocoa!

How was your weekend lovies?

We had a wonderful little weekend.
{and still sad about W.H., rip, so sad}

I caught up on my fashion & beauty tips:

Via

And was completely tortured by this month's Food Network Mag:

via

Seriously.

Chocolate Bacon.
Which is why I had to stop reading the mag and researched suits.

I finally narrowed down to two cute bikinis-

~~that a billion other chicks will probably have~~

Which do you like best?

And I'll look just like them, of course :P

via

I need some motivation to workout for our cruise!

We saw the movie The Safe House.

Hubs loved it {he couldn't wait to come home and play COD}

I heard some negative reviews about The Vow

and since we don't get to the movies often, I wanted us both to enjoy.

Two great actors

and

it was pretty good!

Very much like a Bourne movie, which I love.

I am happy with our movie choice!!

via

And my hubby's so great; he ran down to Gloria Jean's

and grabbed us some hot chocolates to enjoy during the flick!

via

And in my inbox this morning, a true weakness.

White Dresses.

Lily Pulitzer.

I have yet to own a LP; I'm not sure how the sizes run?

But I do know my hunny loves me in a white dress and I love me in a white dress.

Sigh.

via

Adorable, aren't they??

I'm not sure I can justify a few hunge

on a LWD.

As for now?
I'm "rocking the snow bunny look"
since Winter finally hit again and

we ventured out in it yesterday morning!
My husband loves driving in it, and I hang on!

I love our days together!!

Oh, and for Valentine's Day?

We totally bought two Porterhouse Steaks

and a lobster tail

to re-create our NYE dinner, for V-Day.

YUM.

Recipe Here.

What are you doing to show some loooove?

Saturday, February 11, 2012

Bucatini all'Amatriciana {aka Bacon Pasta}

Giada makes it.
Theresa from the Housewives makes it.
Everyone has her own version!!
One of my no-fail, easy go-to dinners, and one of Joe's favorite {score!}

Bucatini all'Amatriciana

aka

Bacon Pasta

Ingredients:

1 box of pasta of choice {bucatini is like spaghetti but is thicker & hollow}

6-8 slices of applewood smoked bacon {In Italy, they'd use pancetta, but the kinds we have here aren't as good, instead you can use bacon}

1 large can of crushed tomatoes

1 can of tomato paste

1 onion diced

2 crushed garlic cloves

a few splashes of red wine

1/2 cup of Parmesan cheese

a few pinches of red pepper

salt/pepper to taste

EVOO for the pan

Directions:

In a large pot, boil water & follow directions for pasta.

In another large pot, saute onions in about 2 T of extra virgin olive oil on medium heat

Tip: Salt the the onions to tenderize a bit quicker

Once softened, add garlic and cook another 1-2 minutes. Don't burn/brown, just soften.

Add crushed tomatoes, paste, seasonings and bring to a boil.

Add wine & simmer to reduce a bit.

Meanwhile, line a baking sheet with parchment paper and lay bacon without overlapping.
Place in a 400 degree oven and bake until cooked (10-13 minutes or so).

You can cook bacon on the stove, but if you're already using 2 burners, the oven may be easier. I just started baking the bacon a few months ago!

Once the bacon is patted with a papertowel to remove excess fat, tear into small pieces and throw it in the sauce.

Add the Parmesan cheese.

Toss with the pasta.

enjoy.

Friday, February 10, 2012

Pink, Red, & a Song Stuck in my Head!

A little late to post, but I had a busy & fabulous day with the hubs!

We grabbed breakfast bagel sandwiches and then

We had to file our taxes {yay for money back!}

We ran some errands and enjoyed a sushi lunch.

I made pasta for dinner and we watched a dumb movie.
I laughed a little, but it was a Joe pick.

But I spent the whole day with Joe and he's feeling pretty good today, yay!

We don't have much planned for the weekend.

He has to work all day tomorrow and

I'm still working on him for a Sunday matinee of The Vow...

I'm currently lusting over red coats, red pants red shoes, a red clutch and

I'd love a perfect red lipstick for me as well.
I don't own any of those red items!!

Here were my week's picks for Pink and Red

Go link up with AV from {long distance loving}

Pink and Red by jennifer-delle-fave featuring no sleeve shirts

And for the song that was stuck in my head all.day.long

{and probably will be in yours now too!}
You may remember me saying a few weeks ago, Joe was playing
a Wacka Flocka song on repeat...
Well, for some reason it grew on me and now I may or may not
bump it as I'm putting make-up on.
Don't hate.
Play it a few times, you'll find yourself singing along..
"Rain rain go away, that's what all the haters say."
:)

Thursday, February 9, 2012

It's OK & Cupcake Recipe!

Yay for Thursday!
I'm completely OK--
...to be totally distracting by Live with Kelly &
Jerry O'Connell while trying to write this post--SO FUNNY!
...to relate to this picture {I forget where I found it, but omg!!}

...that I am so incredibly sore from doing Zumba 2 days in a row...
...that my pulled pork was not down for lunch yesterday with my mother-in-law...
...so I served the pulled pork to hubs & people he works with for dinner up at the dealership...
...and I made "Bacon Pasta" otherwise known as Bucatini All'Amatriciana...
{sounds super fancy, but it's seriously so simple and my automatic "go to" in a time crunch!}
...to be a product snob sometimes, especially when it comes to hand soap, ie...

All these fun tropical scents make me want to travel to an exotic place!

...to not want to go anywhere but here {home} with my love on Valentine's Day...
...to have squealed with joy when handed this cup of Vanilla Soy latte...


The barista was probably like what's wrong with her?!

...to be equally(?) excited when handed a free glass of Pinot Noir
while hubs got his haircut Tuesday night...

...that hubbers asked for vanilla cupcakes, so he got vanilla cupcakes...

Recipe:
{adapted from Brown Eyed Baker}
I loved that it only made 12 cupcakes!
Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees
line cupcake tin with cups or with nonstick cooking spray
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups of organic flour
1 cup of sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 stick of butter at room temp.
1/2 cup of plain non fat Greek Yogurt
1 large egg at room temp.
2 large egg yolks at room temp.
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract {NOT imitation vanilla!}
Directions:
1. Put all dry ingredients and mix gently.
2. Add butter, yogurt, eggs, and vanilla and beat
on medium speed for about 30 minutes.
{She's right on with the 'satiny' texture and scrape
down the sides once or twice with a spatula}
3. Fill cups and bake 20-24 minutes.
{mine were done at 22, check by inserting a toothpick.
If it comes out clean, they're done!}
While they are baking, prepare the butter cream frosting!
Frosting:
1 stick of butter, room temp.
2 1/2 cups of confectioner's sugar
1 tablespoon of vanilla extract
whole milk
Directions:
1. Use the wire whisk attachment and whip the butter for
about 5 minutes on medium-high speed. {scraping bowl as needed}
2. Slowly add the sugar...whipping.
3. Add the vanilla
4. This is where I felt it still needed some moisture to create the cream,
so I added a few splashes of whole milk.

Allow cupcakes to cool completely, then feel free to frost.
I would like to get all fancy next time and use a bag/tips, but my
mother-in-law came over and we just spread it on with a spoon.
Of course, add colorful holiday sprinkles depending on what time of year it is.
Most importantly, enjoy at least one!!
Easy and homemade with love.
Awwww.
What are you OK with?
Go link-up!!