BBQ Fest

Last week, the Memphis in May celebration continued on with BBQ Fest. In my book, this is the best event that takes place in Memphis! Hundreds of teams from all over the nation come down to compete. You know the festival is starting when the smell of sweet barbecue starts lingering in the downtown area.It's especially fun for me because my husband is on a team. And it's always entertaining to walk around and look at all the different tents and parties. We stuffed our faces with ribs, barbecue, barbecue nachos, chicken wings and a bunch of other food that's not so healthy but delicious. Here are some pics from the event.



This is our tent





Me with the grill master!



I love this pig grill!! I take a pic with it every year!



Some of the tents get pretty elaborate! I like the double deckers!



Josh's team ended up getting 13th in ribs for their division! Until next year...

Weekend Highlights

This weekend I got a real treat because one of my bff's, Lia, was in town! It was so great to see her since living in different cities limits our time together.

After eating sushi on Saturday, we hit the Collierville Square and shopped around. I came away with no purchases! I love this little square!



Source

 Later that night, we meet up for a girls night out with my friend Lauren. We were joking that they both have a couple of other really calm friends similar to me and I seem to attract really nutty friends (nutty in a good way of course!!). Needless to say, we had a great time hanging out and I am so grateful to have such entertaining and fun girlfriends:)

By the way, we ate at one my favorite local Midtown restaurants - Sweet Grass. I strongly recommend it if you are in the Memphis area.



Source

Here is the yummy cheese plate we took down!



On Sunday we celebrated Mother's Day with my wonderful mom! Here is a little pic comparison of me and my mother - both in our early 30's.

What's Cookin'?

Shrimp Vodka Pasta

So, this was my first time to make this dish and I will definitely add it to my favorites! I don 't cook with shrimp too often so it was a nice little treat. It was pretty quick and easy! Plus, it is a Cooking Light recipe, so it's not too bad at 427 calories a serving.



Ingredients


While the pasta is cooking, all you have to do is just heat up or cook the shrimp (I bought cooked shrimp because my grocery store did not have peeled and deveined raw shrimp). Remove it and saute chopped garlic followed by vodka, marinara sauce, basil, cream and salt and pepper. Bring to a simmer and then add the pasta and shrimp.

Here's what you get:




Creamy Goodness!



I served the pasta with some garlic bread and a nice butter lettuce and avocado salad.



Recipes
Shrimp Vodka Pasta
Butter Lettuce and Avocado Salad

Tip: The recipe calls for refrigerated fettuccine but my grocery store does not carry. The regular fettuccine works great.

Enjoy!

Weekend Highlights

Sorry this is a little late! The highlight of my weekend was definitely seeing Florence + The Machine live at the  Memphis in May Music Festival! I am kind of obsessed with her right now and she did not disappoint. Plus, this was the best music fest that I've attended as the rain and mud were nowhere to be found.

Sooo....all I had on me was my iPhone, and the only pic that turned out was of me getting a pronto pup!! This was my very healthy dinner::) I really don't even like pronto pups but I was so hungry (hence why I went for the large).

Don't worry, I found this pic from our local paper. Florence sported a cape!


Source

Some of my favorite songs include:

Kiss with a Fist

Seven Devils

Bird Song

I'm a little bummed that I missed the Kentucky Derby! I was at another bar-b-que practice cook eating my heart out and the boys were all about the NBA playoffs...But, from the images I've found, these are my favorite fashion picks:



Source



Source



Which leads me to a yummy treat that my friend Lauren brought over on Sunday night. She swears by Blue Bell ice cream! This special edition Kentucky Derby ice cream was great! I'm glad she didn't leave it here or I probably would have finished off by now!



Source



What's Cookin'?

Cheesy Chicken Rolls! A work friend gave me this recipe when I was in college and she told me - your boyfriend will be coming back for more!! Well, about 8 years have gone by and that boyfriend, now husband, is always requesting it for dinner. If you are in the mood for comfort food, this is a great dish!

Ingredients
1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts
Crescent rolls
Shredded cheese (I used the casserole mixed cheese)
Cream of chicken soup
Cream of broccoli soup (or use your favorite)
1/2 cup milk (forgot to include it in the pic below)
Salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 350. In the meantime, cover the chicken with water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for about 20 minutes. In a separate pot on medium heat, combine the cream of chicken and cream of broccoli soup. Add about a 1/2 cup of milk and about 4 handfuls of cheese. Season with salt and pepper.

Once the chicken is cooked, cut up into bite-sized pieces and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Fill each crescent roll with chicken and roll up. Place in a 9 x 12 dish, pour the soup mixture on top and cover with more shredded cheese (we use about 3/4 of the bag).

Cook for about 35-45 minutes or until golden brown.

And voila! We usually eat it with lima beans.

Enjoy!

Friday Favs

Happy Friday!! Can't believe we are into May! This week, my favs include:

Food Truck!! Memphis recently passed a law that allows food trucks and I'm loving Revival Southern Food Company. If you're in the area, I strongly recommend that you follow them on Facebook and Twitter. They frequent the downtown area usually once a week so it's always a treat to see that they are in my area. Any other good food trucks that I should know about?? I hope to see more downtown during the lunch hour.



BLT Sliders with Jack Daniels Pimento Cheese

Also, as you see in the picture above, I discovered Cheerwine at the food truck. It is cherry coke made from sugar cane. Yum! I usually don't eat this heavy for lunch by the way:)


The flowers around my house are also making me happy. I love all the bright happy colors. 



                                    

                                       First bloom of the year! Glad I haven't killed it yet!



Anyone ever read Domino magazine?? I used to love it and was so sad when it was discontinued a couple of years ago. Well, I was in line at Walgreens and there it was! Turns out they are publishing special editions - this one is for Spring/Summer 2012. It has some great decorating ideas! Note to self when I someday have a decent sized closet - wallpaper the inside for a fun, pretty ambiance. I especially loved the wallpaper they featured below.



Source: http://us.farrow-ball.com/the-st-antoine-papers-bp-943///fcp-product/200943



Finally, Memphis in May kicks off this weekend!! If you are a Memphian, you know that this is one of the most fun months of the year. If you don't live here, Memphis in May features a different country every year. This year it is the Philippines. Every weekend in May, there is a different event on the riverfront park overlooking the Mississippi River. Music Fest is held on the first weekend, followed by Bar-B-Que Fest (which is especially fun since my husband competes on a team) and Sunset Symphony. It almost never fails to pour down rain at some point which inevitably turns the riverfront area into a mud pit! However, this weekend looks pretty dry and I'm hoping to see one of my favorite bands tomorrow night.

Source: http://mycollegeroadtrip.com/fpss/slideshows/term-61-ss/images/memphis-festival.jpg

TGIF!!