This weekend, Keith and I helped host a very fun shower for our friends, Joanna and Jeremy. Their wedding is coming up in April and I am so looking forward to being a bridesmaid and sharing in their big day!

Aren't they cute?

It was an easy decision to help host a big shower to celebrate! With friends Whitney, Lauren and Rachel (and husbands and parents), we put together what I think was a pretty cute party, complete with delicious food and coordinating decor. This isn't our first rodeo, after all!

Joanna has great ideas for her wedding weekend, and has put a lot of things on Pinterest. So, using our stalking skills, the gals and I planned a shower that used some of her colors and patterns. Here is the invitation!

My friend from work, Michelle, did an amazing job on this invitation. It really set the stage for the party! We printed it on a shimmery silver paper and they turned out so lovely.

The beautiful Bride and me!

TGIF, friends! Another busy week down, and spring is on the horizon! The weather here in Memphis is unseasonably warm and everyone is in the mood for a patio! Maybe the groundhog was wrong.

This week is a busy one - the ad agency I work for is moving offices. All of the boxes are packed and today (Friday) is the big move. We're moving from an old stand-alone building to the 6th floor of a nice office in the middle of downtown. I'm excited for the new energy it will bring to the group and for all of the delicious restaurants within walking distance! It will be strange to leave the old stomping grounds behind. Fun fact: Our old office, just down the street from Sun Studio, used to be a bank. Rumor has it that Elvis got a loan for his first car there!

On to the vino.

This week, I opened a bottle of delicious stress relief...with a very odd label. This is not one I would have been inclined to buy, but the lovely lady at Pyramid Liquors in downtown Memphis was offering samples this weekend, and I really liked it. For all of you Memphians, I love to shop at Buster's because of the huge selection, but I really like the gal at Pyramid. She knows her stuff, and the discount is better per case. Don't worry, Mom, I don't buy a lot of cases of wine :)

Yard Dog

Year: 2009

Origin: Australia

Average Price: $12

About the wine: This is a delicious red blend of 60% petit verdot, 20% cabernet sauvignon and 20% merlot. Wine spectator gave it 85 points. I agree, it rocks. I love the quote on the back of the bottle:

"Yard Dog, every street has one. Yipping and howling all day and all night. The once beloved family pet that has gone feral, a canine prisoner condemned to the confines of the back yard. Such is the fate of these varieties in Australia. Once the royalty of vitis vinefero, now neglected. Once adorned by winemakers now overlooked, left outside the back porch of the winery. Here it becomes dark, brooding and masculine losing its polished and pampered look. Beware of the Yard Dog."

Hey there! I hope your Monday was a good one. I just finished watching the drama unfold on The Bachelor, and I was so entertained that I pulled my laptop out halfway through to catch up on reading blogs :) I will say, the end was a shocker because I adored Kacie B. I like to call Ben Flajnik Ben Beige-nik. Snore fest. He obviously isn't the wisest guy if you look at the great ladies he's sent home. Do you watch the show? It's a silly, trashy TV addiction of mine that I just love. The suspense of the rose ceremony gets me every time!

Anyway, here is a delicious pizza recipe that I just made up on the fly last week when trying to use some leftovers from my Slow-Cooker Asian Chicken Salad. This turned out pretty tasty!

Thai Chicken Pizza

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Ingredients:

1 pre-baked pizza crust (or refrigerated pizza dough)

1/4 cup housin sauce*

1/4 cup smooth peanut butter*

1/2 tsp sriracha hot sauce*

1 Tbsp grated fresh ginger*

2-3 Tbsp hot water*

1 cup shredded mozzarella

1 1/2 cups shredded chicken (I used chicken from this recipe)

1/2 cup shredded carrots

1/2 cup sliced red onion

2 Tbsp chopped fresh cilantro

2 Tbsp chopped peanuts

Heat oven to 425. If using a pre-baked crust, I like to place pizza crust top side down on round baking stone (or greased cookie sheet) and bake first to get it crispier. Bake 4-5 minutes or until crust is golden brown. Remove from oven; turn crust top side up.

Mix together sauce ingredients: housin, peanut butter, sriracha and ginger. Whisk in hot water and stir until smooth. Spread over pizza crust. **I put asterisks above on the ingredients because this makes a lot of sauce. I wouldn't put it all on your crust, unless you love peanut sauce or have a larger crust. You could easily half it if you like lighter sauce amounts on your pizza.**

Top crust with mozzarella cheese, chicken, red onions and carrots. Bake for 7-9 minutes for pre-baked and 15-20 for refrigerated dough.

Top pizza with chopped cilantro and peanuts.

Enjoy!

I've found another great slow-cooker recipe that uses Asian flavors. This made some pretty tasty shredded chicken that I ended up using in two different recipes last week. First up - the salad. Give this a try! Keith LOVED it.

Slow-Cooker Asian Chicken

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Chicken Ingredients:

2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken tenderloins

Ground black pepper

1 cup chopped celery

1/2 cup chopped onion

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 cup hoisin sauce

3 Tbsp reduced-sodium soy sauce

2 Tbsp grated fresh ginger

1 Tbsp dry sherry

2 tsp Asian chili sauce

1 tsp toasted sesame oil

Sprinkle chicken with pepper. Place chicken, celery, onion and garlic in a 3.5 or 4 quart slow cooker. In a small bowl combine hoisin sauce, soy sauce, ginger, sherry, chili sauce and sesame oil; pour over mixture in slow cooker. Stir to combine.

Cover and cook on low-heat setting for 5-6 hours or on high-heat setting for 2.5-3 hours.

Remove chicken from cooker, reserving 1/2 cup of the cooking liquid. When chicken is cool enough to handle, shred chicken with two forks. For me, this was already falling apart so it was very easy.

This chicken is delicious and can be used for lots of recipes. Below is the salad I made and it was fantastic! Tomorrow I'll post the Thai Chicken Pizza I made with the other chicken leftovers.

Salad Ingredients:
1/4 cup rice vinegar
1 bag Romaine lettuce
1 cup shredded carrots
3/4 cup drained pineapple chunks
1/2 cup unsalted dry-roasted cashews, chopped
2 Tbsp snipped fresh cilantro

For salad dressing, combine in a screw-top jar the reserved 1/2 cup cooking liquid from slow cooker with 1/4 cup rice vinegar. Cover and shake well to combine, set aside.

Assemble salad with romaine, chicken, carrots, pineapple, cashews and cilantro. Drizzle with salad dressing just before serving.

Enjoy!!

Happy Friday to my friends! I am quite glad this week is over. It has been a busy and bittersweet one. Valentine's Day was sweet with my hubby, but yesterday and today - not so much. I am currently blogging from the D.C. area. I am here with some coworkers for a client's funeral and will be flying back this evening. He was a great man that we cared a lot about. We weren't just business partners, we were friends. This is a tough loss for all of us, but mostly for his sweet wife and daughter. I'll be keeping them in my prayers for the next few months. Very bittersweet.

The fittingly dreary view from my cab yesterday, yet still so beautiful

So, before I get to the wine (which I have enjoyed a glass of nightly this particular week) I wanted to share some pics from our Valentines' Day. I haven't been so great at sharing memories, just lots of food. Forgive the somewhat random nature of this montage!

We had a party at work on Tuesday morning for V-day. We reverted back to elementary school days and all decorated a white paper sack and brought treats and notes to share with each other. The creativity put into the bags just amazed me! Here are the pics:

I made tons of cookies at home the night before...from scratch and they are delicious. I make these constantly. Too much, in fact!

Me, in my red ruffles coat for the day of love! Oh yes, and the heater at our office has been broken, making it a chilly 50 degrees. I chose my coat first for my outfits this week. Needless to say, I now know how to type in gloves. Luckily, we're moving to a new office soon anyway, so we're all excited about that.

My sack - nothing really creative, but fun to decorate. I had a bunch of rubber stamps in different fonts and had several ink colors. So, while watching the Bachelor, I stamped all sorts of Valentine words. I'm not sure what gave me more entertainment...

My favorite bag by my friend, Eric. So darn clever!

Cute and funny!

Like love, Facebook style

Kate, my sassy friend, also made a very clever bag. She ended up with lots more treats. Smart girl.

At lunchtime, Keith showed up with to-go food for this busy worker and surprise roses! Love that guy.

That night, he made a delicious dinner of shrimp and grits. I gave him a stack of 100 simple cards, each with something I loved about him or us. It was so fun watching him read them! Otherwise, no gifts were shared and I like it that way! We relaxed, enjoyed our meal and then caught up on 4 shows in our DVR. Simple, but cozy. Just what we needed.

Now, for the VINO...

 

This is the bottle of wine that I had with my Valentine dinner at home. It was yummy and perfectly fit the occasion! Plus, I love the simplicity of the label.

HOUSE Wine, Red

Year: 2009

Origin: Washington

Average Price: $12

About the wine: It is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon 54%, Merlot 30%, Syrah 11%, Malbec 3%, and Cabernet Franc 2%. It received a rating of 88 Points and best value from Wine Spectator. The vineyard recommends pairing this with lasagna, pizza, grilled salmon, roasted root vegetables. I say pair it with whatever you want and keep an extra bottle on hand.

I honor of Valentine's Day, I've added a few pink and red accents to the kitchen area. I shopped the house and moved things around. It's nothing all that creative, just a few touches to brighten up the house!

The month of February on our calendar is one of my favorites. I made this on MixBook.com and loved the customization options!