Penny's Passion

Monday, October 13, 2014

Weekending - First Games of the NLCS

This weekend was met with so much excitement -- we had not one, but TWO Cardinal games to go to!  Well, Saturday's game was a total bust.  I love almost all Cardinal fans, I really do.  But Saturday night I swear every cray cray Cardinal fan was sitting around me.  It probably didn't help that we were loosing and I wasn't in the most people tolerate mood.  Let me recap.  To my right was a guy that could majorly benefit from some anger management classes.  He actually had bought an extra seat so when things went poorly he could punch it and hit it with his hat.  Not joking.  Then we have the couple sitting directly in front of us.  He tried to explain to his date (for 3 whole innings) why he was bringing another girl with him to the game on Sunday night.  Dude, she's never going to be okay with you bringing another date to the game!!!  Stop trying to justify it!!  And chick, by saying "Are you kidding me right now?" over and over is probably not going to convince him to ditch his Sunday night date and take you instead.  Then we have the lady behind me that constantly was tapping the back of my seat with her foot and throwing peanut shells on my back.  Pair all that with the way the Cardinals were playing and you can understand why I made Eric take me for ice cream after the game.  Still love the Cardinals by the way.

                                                       

Sunday I woke up ready and excited for Game 2.  Come on Birds, make this one count!    I prepared myself by staying calm all day reading the Nicholas Sparks book The Best of Me.  I read the whole book this weekend.  Time well spent.  It was a typical Nicholas Sparks book, but I still loved it and it made me cry and gasp a few times.  The movie is coming out October 17.  Movie anyone?
Sunday night was game time.  It was a home run derby for the Cardinals.  Final score - 5-4.  Walk off home run by Kolton Wong.  Home runs also by Matt Carpenter, Matt Adams and Oscar Taveras.  Way to go Cardinals!!!  Oh, and by the way, our tickets were in another section so I didn't get to see date #2 of the dude sitting in front of us on Saturday night.  

Good news from the other side of the state -- the Royals are up 2 game to none against the Orioles.  I-70 Series maybe?!?!

So basically, Cardinals baseball was my weekend.  I did no cooking, no errands, nada.  Monday night is Rams football.  Rams players -- please show up and give us a good game.

See you guys later this week.  Have a good one.

Check out the below blogs to see what they were up to this weekend.


Thursday, October 9, 2014

Five on Friday - October 10, 2014

This has been a super busy, crazy, fun week for me.  Monday and Tuesday nights we had tickets to the Cardinals games, Wednesday (after getting up early to see the eclipse) I went to So You Think You Can Dance Tour show, Thursday we were at the Blues Hockey opening night.  I am ready for the weekend (which will consists of two more baseball games).  I love weeks like this -- SO MUCH FUN!!  

Here's five things I've been thinking about this week.

1.  St. Louis Cardinals
It is so incredibly fun to be a Cardinals fan!  Playoff baseball is the absolute BEST.  We were fortunate to be able to go to the games in St. Louis on Monday and Tuesday.  St. Louis is such a baseball city.  October is like a huge holiday and most everyone is eating, breathing and living baseball.  GO CARDS!!

2.  SYTYCD Tour
Wednesday night I joined Debbie, Rachel and Lauren for dinner and So You Think You Can Dance Tour.  Holy moly -- those guys are soooo talented!!  Their dancing was AMAZING!  It was great fun.  The winner of the season, Ricky -- some of the moves he does makes me wonder if his legs are even attached to his body.  The tour is hitting 70 cities so they are probably coming to a city near you.

                                      

3.  Doughnut Pan
Now, I have been known to think I have to have a kitchen gadget only to let it set in my pantry for years some time.  But this doughnut pan -- no way is it sitting idle!  I saw Christina's recipe for Apple Cider Donuts and proceeded immediately to Bed, Bath and Beyond to purchase the pan.  I'm hoping to whip up a batch of them this weekend.  Doughnuts anyone?


4. 2015 Planner
Usually I have a very generic At-A-Glance calendar from Mead, but this year I'm thinking I want to mix it up a bit and use this one from Katie Daisy.  Look how cute it is!  It's going on my birthday wish list (um, Eric -- it's on my wishlist).  I have a slight concern because it's smaller than a piece of 8-1/2 x 11 paper and I do a lot of putting pieces of paper in my planner.  Do any of you have a favorite planner you would recommend?


5.  Quote
I think I might try this.

                                  

Enjoy your weekend!  I'll be back on Monday to recap my weekend and hopefully report on the Cardinal wins. 

Tuesday, October 7, 2014

Comfort Food Tuesday -- Easy Roast

On Sunday, I just felt like some comfort food.  I knew I was going to be on the go all day so I turned to my Crockpot.  Roast, mashed potatoes and carrots -- yea, that would do the trick for my comfort food craving.

You're not going to believe how easy this recipe is -- or how great it tastes!

Ingredients
3 lb. beef chuck roast
1 package of Lipton dry onion soup mix
12 oz. Sprite or 7-Up
Salt and Pepper

Salt and pepper your roast and place it in the Crockpot.  Sprinkle the package of dry onion soup mix over the roast.  Pour in the soda.  I usually cook it on low for 8-10 hours.  That's it -- done!  I really wish I could have a scratch and sniff on this blog because this recipe smells so fabulous after a couple hours.  Seriously.

Crock Pot Recipe, Roast, Beef Roast Recipe

Okay -- I have no idea how to make a chuck of beef look good on a plate so you'll have to take my word for it that the taste is amazing.  

You can also pour the juice out of the Crockpot into a saucepan.  Heat on medium heat and pour in a little corn starch/water mixture.  This makes wonderful gravy.  

Here's a pic of our entire meal.  The carrots are super easy, too.  Melt together 3/4 cup pineapple juice, stick of butter, a teaspoon of each salt and sugar.  Pour over cut carrots.  Bake in a 350 degree oven for 45 minutes.  Yummy!


This is a great recipe for busy days.  You can get it in the Crockpot in a matter of minutes, step away and enjoy your day, then come home to a fabulous smelling house with dinner's entree complete.

Handmade Tuesday's with Kristen

Sunday, October 5, 2014

Weekending - First in October

This weekend could really have been a bit longer!  With lots to do and only so much time, there were things I just didn't get a chance to do that I wish I could have.  This time of year there are so many fun fall festivals!  You just can't do it all (but we all try, don't we).  Let's recap what I did get to do.

Friday was Pearl Jam.  Our foursome for the concert was Tracy, Sherri, Kim and me.  My three friends are huge Pearl Jam fans and I was lucky enough to get to tag along.  Fun times!  The concert was really good and it was also great getting to witness Tracy having the time of her life in the same building with her want-to-be husband Eddie Vedder.


Saturday was a down right cold crisp day in St. Louis!  My blood was still a bit thin for the temp, but I managed to drag out the fall clothes and head to The Moonshine Grill to meet my friend Rachel for lunch.  After lunch, we headed to the Chase Park Plaza movie theater to take in Gone Girl.  It was a great movie.  I hadn't read the book (WHAT - You haven't read the book?!?! There, I said it for you.) and the whole movie was suspenseful and well done.  I was a tad disappointed at the ending, but I'm not going to give that part away for those of you who may not have seen it yet or read the book.

After the show, we stopped by The Cup to grab a couple cupcakes to take home.  I couldn't resist getting "The Rally Cup" in honor of our Cardinals.  How cute is this?


Saturday night we headed to downtown Belleville for the 31st annual Chili Cookoff.  Some great chili was there my friends!!  There was in the neighborhood of 63 chili vendors all selling their creations.  No excuse to walk away hungry from this festival!

After being outside for as long as we wanted to be, we headed to Buffalo Wild Wings to watch the Cardinals game.  The results wasn't as exciting for us as Friday night's game.  But that's okay because we have tickets for Monday and Tuesday in St. Louis and if they had won Saturday night, we might not have gotten to have a game on Tuesday.

Sunday was the day to purchase some pumpkins.  Tracy knew of this adorable little farm that sold pumpkins.  This place was unbelievable!!  They lay out the pumpkins and gourds and you pay on the honor system.  How adorable is that!  Of course, one of the pumpkins I had to have weighed close to 100 pounds and Tracy and I put on quite the show trying to get it loaded in my car.  Together we were trying to pick it up and kept bumping our heads together -- it was a mess.  But we got the job done.  Now I need to find the perfect spot for the giant pumpkin before Eric unloads it so we won't have to move it again.  Thanks, Tracy, for introducing me to this great pumpkin patch.


                                         

After  going to the pumpkin farm and book club, I stopped by Walmart to pick up supplies for the baseball game Monday night -- some Hothands hand and feet warmers.  For October baseball in St. Louis, these little babies are life savers.  Hopefully I'll need to keep purchasing these throughout the month.  :)  GO CARDS!
                                      


I made a roast this weekend I'll be sharing on Tuesday.  It's easy to make and very tasty -- you won't want to miss the recipe on Tuesday.

Have a great week everyone!  Thanks for stopping by.

Check out the below blogs to see what they were up to this weekend.

Thursday, October 2, 2014

Five on Friday - October 3, 2014


And just like that we're into October -- how did that happen?!?  Most of this week our temperatures were in the 80s, so it hasn't really sunk in that it's Fall yet.  This weekend our temps are predicted to be in the 70s, so I'm sure my mind will get in the Fall mode pretty quick.  :)

Here's some things on my mind today for my Five on Friday:

1.  Total Lunar Eclipse
So excited to see the total lunar eclipse on Wednesday, October 8th!  We here in the central standard timezone can see this spectacular event around 5:25 am.  Don't miss your opportunity -- the 'tetrad' lunar eclipses are a rare phenomenon and has been encountered only a handful of times during this century. 


2.  Winter Reveal
Okay -- want to know what kind of winter we'll be having?  According to the Farmer's Almanac if you cut open a persimmon seed, you see three possible scenes. A fork---a mild winter. A knife---cutting winds and cold. A spoon---shoveling snow.  When I was home last weekend, my dad gave me some persimmons off his tree and look what we found.

I see "spoon".  Get out the shovels!
3.  Gone Girl
This thriller opens today and I can't wait to see it with my friend, Rachel, tomorrow.  The previews look so suspenseful!  The reviews are good and, come on, who wouldn't want to watch Ben Affleck for 149 minutes.  Anybody else plan on seeing it this weekend?


4.  Halloween Wreath
My friend Carol whipped up this adorable Halloween Wreath for me and I could hardly wait for October 1 to come so I could display it on my front door.  She is truly a joy to work with -- I can just give her a general idea of what I would like and she can make it come to life.  I have more Halloween decorations I'll be showing you leading up to the 31st.  Do you have your Halloween costumes ready this year?


5.  Jenna Hipp Nail Polish
Has anyone else tried Jenna Hipp nail polish?  When I was in Kansas City a couple weeks ago, my friend Linda suggested this pack of minis (Costco $9.99, Amazon $22.99 plus shipping).  I picked up a pack and absolutely love the stuff!  The pack has 8 mini bottles and comes in "brights" or "moderns".  One application lasted for a week with no chipping.  How many polishes can do that?!?  Jenna's story is pretty cool, too.  She became known as the Celebrity Green Nail Stylist after experiencing negative side effects from exposure to nail polish fumes.  Check it out.

                                       

Hope you have a great weekend!  I'm off to see Pearl Jam tonight with my friends Tracy, Sherri and Kim.  Woo hoo!!  Good times ahead.  Stop back by on Monday to hear all about it.