76. Try a totally new recipe once a month for 6 months (2/6)

I'm not much of a cook, but I'm great at following directions. You give me a recipe and I'll make it to a "T!" So in an effort to cook more, I'm trying new recipes.

For New Year's, I made a (semi) home-made cherry pie for my family. Taylor's co-worker, Gail, gave me the recipe.

Ingredients

4 cups cherries (I used 2 cans of red cherries in water and drained them)

1 1/2 cups sugar

1/2 tsp almond extract

4 tbsp flour

1 package pre-made Pilsbury pie crust

Directions

Stir together the cherries, sugar, almond extract & flour in a microwaveable bowl.

Microwave the mixture on high for 5 minutes.

Place one of the two pie crusts in a glass pie dish.

Stir & pour the microwaved mixture into the pie crust and seal with the second pie crust.

Microwave for another 8 minutes on high and then place in a 400-degree oven for 20 minutes.

Here's the final product!

And it was a hit - the family LOVED it and it was finished the next day! :p

For February, I tried a Zuppa Toscana recipe given to me by my BFF JLB. It was the 2nd snow weekend, so a nice, hot soup was definitely perfect.

Ingredients

1 lb ground Italian sausage
1 1/2 tsp crushed red peppers
1 large diced white onion
4 tbsp bacon pieces
2 tsp garlic puree
10 cups water
5 cubes of chicken bouillon
1 cup heavy cream
1 lb sliced Russet potatoes (or about 3 large potatoes)
1/4 bunch of Kale

Directions
Saute Italian sausage and crushed red pepper in a large pot. Drain excess fat, refrigerate while you prepare other ingredients.

In the same pan, saute bacon, onions and garlic for approximately 15 minutes (or until the onions are soft).

Mix together the chicken bouillon and water, then add it to the onions, bacon & garlic. Cook until boiling.

Add potatoes and cook until soft, about half an hour.

Add heavy cream and cook until thoroughly heated.

Stir in the sausage. Add kale just before serving.

Here's the final product!

Taylor and I definitely enjoyed it and we have a lot to enjoy this cold weekend!

93. Complete all 365 Origami creations in my Origami-a-day calendar

Thanks to some "slow" time at work, I was able to complete this one...

Here are a few of my faves

And I even made a panda :)

78. Get new glasses

So I've had every intention to purchase new glasses for YEARS now because I haven't changed the lenses out since I got them 2-3 years ago. My sight has definitely worsened, but I only wore my glasses at home, so it didn't really matter to me...

Then my glasses broke while I was wrestling with Taylor (nothing frisky, don't worry - it was honest-to-goodness wrestling! lol)... Taylor kneed me in the face (I was ok), and one of the arms broke off. Thanks to some trusty Gorilla glue, I was able to put them back together and wear them normally!

Lastly, as some of you know, we were robbed in Rome, Italy - glasses included, so I figured "Ok, I can take a hint - I'll buy new glasses!"

Luckily, I found these:

Thank goodness for insurance! Hopefully these will last me a while. Oddly enough, without having glasses while I was at home, my left eye got better in eyesight! Weird, huh?

Here's a pic of me with the glasses on - excuse the lack of make-up & pure ugliness... lol

35. Watch a movie at home once a week for a month (1/4)

Let's see if I can start this one again... lol

Yesterday, Taylor and I took advantage of a "lazy Sunday" and decided to stay in. We rented The Goods, Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist and Funny People. We didn't get to see Funny People because it would run into the Giant's game, but we watched the other two. The Goods was hilarious and Nick & Norah was cute... It's always nice to have a chill day at home doing absolutely nothing... Hope to do this more!

9. See a Cirque du Soleil show

Yay! This one is done! Thanks to my BFF JLB, we went out and saw Cirque du Soleil Alegria for her birthday weekend. And how appropriate that Alegria is one of my middle names - it's my mom's maiden name! Some of my fave acts:

The Power Track

Manipulation

Contortion

I really liked them all! We all had such a great time... I can't wait to see another one!

33. Visit Taylor's family in Italy & 31. Visit my family in England

I am so happy to say that these two are DONE! And to get them done in one trip was totally fabulous!

I could do an entirely too-long blog with pictures and every single detail of the trip... but that would completely bore everyone! I will say this, the trip was incredibly memorable! We got to go to Rome, Vicenza, Verona & Venice while we were in Italy. All of which are beautiful places. I took a TON of pictures - you can view them here.

I also got the chance to go to London to visit my grandmother, aunt, uncle & cousin. The flight from Venice to London-Stansted was SO cheap, so I really had no excuse to NOT visit them! My grandmother is super-cute - I wish I could have brought her home with me! And it was so awesome to see everyone, to see the old apartment where my parents & I lived 28 years ago... and to see the hospital where I was born! It has been way too long since I was last there and it was so refreshing to see it all! I did get to see Big Ben, Westminster Abbey & Piccadilly Circus... but I really just wanted to hang out with my family! The trip was so short, but I hope to make a longer trip sometime soon!

Please take a look at my pix - one day, I will caption them! :p I hope to make a visit back to Europe again very soon! :)

Slacking... again...

I know, I've been totally slacking on the blogs again... and I will be taking a little vacation as well, but I promise, after I get back, I'll have some exciting things to blog about! :) (Namely, #s 31 and 33... lol)