Chicken Parm Casserole

I totally am not doing this "recipe" post right but I had to upload this picture of my dinner last night! It was soooo good. My hunny and I made our own version of a chicken parm casserole.

I don't have the exact recipe or pictures of the steps (sorry guys I decided to do this after we made it!) but here are the basics:

Cook pasta according to directions until it is al dente (not totally soft) since it will cook more in the oven.

Cut the skinless chicken breasts into small pieces (nugget size). Bread them using eggs, flour, and breadcrumbs. Then put in a skillet with oil to cook them. They should cook until they are no longer pink inside but not until they are completely done since you will be putting them in the oven.

Heat up pasta sauce.

Once everything is warm, get out a casserole dish. Put sauce in first, then pasta, then chicken, then top with mozzarella cheese & parmesan cheese. Repeat layers.

Cook in the oven uncovered for about 20 minutes (or until the cheese melts and everything is hot).

Enjoy!!

I promise to do a proper recipe post next time!

With love and pearls,
Ashley

Book & Wine Club

We have decided to start a Book & Wine club! I know, we're getting old :) We both love to read and we both love to drink wine so we figured why not combine the two!  

Our idea behind the club is to read the book, comment (obviously) and pick a date to meet, talk about the book and bring a wine and/or food item related to the book. This is just a great way for us to keep in touch with our girlfriends and to do something different. We'll keep updates on here too in case any of you need some new reading material.

It was impossible to choose just one book for our first choice but we decided on Girls in White Dresses by Jennifer Close. The insert encompassed to us what we are going through as 20 some year olds and it seemed like a fun, easy to read book to start off the club. Have any of you read it? What were your thoughts?

With love and pearls,
Ashley

Happy (Belated) 4th of July!

I hope everyone had a wonderful 4th of July! Alicia and I both went over to Jay's (my fiance's) house for some swimming, drinking, and barbecuing! We had such a good time. We got to watch the kids swim in the pool while we caught up about love, life, and everything in between. My mom came over as well so it was nice to see her enjoying herself with the in-laws. I'm going to apologize for being an awful blogger in advance because I wanted to take pictures of all of the food we had but I didn't remember until people started digging in! I know...fail on my part. Next time I will get pics, I promise!

I did make this delicious Italian-Style Red Pepper Dip and it was a big hit. It was a little more watery than I would have liked so maybe next time I will put in the whole block of cream cheese and that might thicken it up. But we had such good food to choose from. We had hot dogs, beef & chicken kabobs, home-made chicken wings, corn on the cob, potato salad, macaroni salad, bbq shrimp and shrimp marinated in garlic & white wine, my mom's awesome pineapple bread concoction, ice cream cake, and Stock's cake. (Total side note: If anyone ever makes a trip to Philadelphia, you have to stop at Stock's Bakery and get one of their pound cakes. They are pure heaven!).

What new recipes did you try? Were they a hit?

With love and pearls,
Ashley

Oscar Deliciousness

In honor of the Oscar's this weekend Food & Wine Magazine put out some Best Movie-Inspired Recipes. Click the link for all 13 of them and their recipes but here are a few snaps of my absolute favorites:

Oscar Nominee: The Help

Minny's Chocolate Pie

Side note: Have any of you seen or read The Help and know why this pie is so famous?

Oscar Nominee: Midnight In Paris

Hemingway Daiquiri

Oscar Nominee: Moneyball

Hot Dog Melts

Side Note: Only a few select of you know my obsession with "Texas Tommies". Those of you that do know, I will be making these every day until the day I die.






I hope all of your mouths are drooling as much as mine is! Are you doing anything special for the Oscar's?

With love and pearls,
Ashley

Christmas Drinks

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas! Mine was filled with food, family, friends, fun, games and gifts! The one fabulous thing about this year that I have to share is all of the new drinks I tried. For those who know me, I either drink wine or gin. This year, I really outdid myself with letting people give me new recipes. Here are my new favorites:

Blueberry Vodka & White Cranberry Juice

It is the perfect summer, refreshing drink!

The Cream Soda

2 Shots Vanilla Vodka
Fill with Ginger Ale

Yum! This seriously tasted exactly like cream soda. Even my Nana drank her glass clean!

The Italian Margarita

4 fluid ounces amaretto liqueur
6 fluid ounces frozen limeade concentrate
6 fluid ounces tequila
1/2 cup orange juice
 Ice

Pour all ingredients into a blender and puree until smooth.

All I can say about this drink is that Italians really improve everything ;)

With love and pearls,
Ashley

Thanksgiving Afterthoughts

A belated Happy Thanksgiving to all! I hope yours was as wonderful as mine was. To be honest, the only thing I love about Thanksgiving is hanging out with my family. I'm not a fan of turkey, sweet potatoes or anything healthy. And this year I was a little too hungover to enjoy a delicious beverage. I am one of the few lucky (or crazy as some say) people who actually enjoys family time. I love catching up with my cousins, taking ridiculous family photos (this year they had my climbing up trees) and playing games until we want more food. Plus, my birthday is right around Thanksgiving so there's always the birthday cake and presents thing.

We don't go around the table and say what each of us is thankful for but we all know that we're thankful for each other and the time that we get to share together. There are many people who cannot be with their families, don't have any family left or simply do not like their family. We don't hang out all the time or tell each other our deepest darkest secrets but we still get really excited when we know the holidays are coming around. We love and cherish each other no matter how old we get, how much we drink or how much fun we make of each other. We know we're just as lucky (or crazy) as the person stuffing their face with turkey next to us.

With love and pearls,
Ashley

And It Begins...

The time has come for us to unleash our real beasts. For those of you who actually know us, you will not at all be surprised by the name of this blog. For those of you who don't, we sound more official and poised then we really are. We try hard to project ourselves as the social norm. We dress the part, we look the part, we act the part, only to have one slip of the tongue, some vulgar language escape and people are now blushing when they're around us. Now don't get me wrong, I can country club with the best of them but don't you sometimes wish you could get away with saying whatever you want, whenever you want and not have anyone bat an eye?

This blog will not be all crude and rude so if that's not your style, don't turn away. It's just about speaking your mind and not having someone give you the stinkeye. We plan on keeping up with all things fashion, travel and beauty thrown in with some sex, alcohol and celebrity guilty pleasures. We can please all the Charlotte's and the Samantha's of the world at the same time.

Our goal is to have this blog not only entertain you, but entertain your mother, your sister, your best friend and even your boyfriend. We are two twenty-somethings trying hard to fulfill all of our dreams and we plan on taking you on the ride with us...

With love and pearls,
Ashley