New Things, and Roasted Cornish Game Hen

What with my new-ish job (math teacher at Scottsdale Prep Academy), I haven't been able to blog much, but we've had such a charmed life this last few months - I can't complain! A 2.5 week trip to Europe...



...some weekend trips (below is one of our many to California)...



...buying several pieces of furniture for our home (including the West Elm Andalusia rug that I ADORE!!)...





...and lastly (and most recently) acquiring a new dog, Ted.



Teddy is a rescued Wheaten, and we are IN LOVE WITH HIM! He is such a doll, and a total marshmallow; he loves to snuggle and most importantly, he love to play with our sweet Lucy!



They play so well together, it's such a blessing to us. What with Lucy taking up less of our time (thanks Ted!!), I've been able to be more domestic. Though I always feel like I'm not domestic enough (How DO those women hand make every meal/cake/card/gift and then have a perfectly organized and clean home, and perfect kids and they look perfect b/c they have enough time to go to the gym in their perfect life?!?! They must go to bed EXHAUSTED every night! Worth it? I don't know...), I have been improving. Yesterday evening I tried, successfully, to roast 2 Cornish Game Hens. It was an interesting recipe, and b/c I am not as awesome as the aforementioned super-women, I was out of a few ingredients and had to substitute. However, the meal looked and tasted fantastic!



The game hens did not brown the way I would have preferred, but not bad for a first try! I served them with a spinach cranberry salad and a wild rice blend. I roasted the hens (stuffed with lemon, garlic and rosemary, of course - and rubbed with olive oil salt and pepper) for about an hour (until internal temp reached 165, the standard temp for whole poultry) and then used the runoff to make a light gravy. It was uber-simple and easy to do. I found that one hen feeds us quite well for 1 meal, and we shall have delicious leftovers for tonight!

I am hoping to try some amazing new recipes after Christmas (including the green curry masterpiece pictured below!!).


Hopefully I'll be able to keep up with the blogging, but we shall see. I have 3 or 4 weddings to attend in the near future (here I come, crafty, hand-made gifts... NOT!), as well as about 1 billion evaluations of students to complete. However, I think I need to make more time for this, it's such an amazing de-stresser. Meanwhile, if I could wear any outfit I wanted to the weddings this season, it would have to be this amazing ensemble:

The Chanel earrings and Valentino clutch are just TOO amazing (read: TOO EXPENSIVE!!), and you can't have a wedding without a dance to classic Dean Martin tunes. Ahhhh, outfit bliss!

And as if this post didn't have enough seemingly random photos for you, here's another...



This is our Christmas tree this year. It had an adorable little snowman skirt, but Lucy and Ted thought it was their "play-mat" so we had to pull it up. Not bad for a cheap-o tree! And we had such a fun time decorating it! (Thanks for your help, Tovah!)

Until I have the chance to blog again, I'll leave you with a few Europe photos...

On the beach in Alicante, Spain:


Nice, France; with the Mediterranean in the background:


And the whole crew in front of Buckingham Palace!


Until next time, Ciao!!