Shaz by the Sea

This is going to be a different post!  Instead of writing about one particular dinner, I compiled a few fun dinners I have made with family and friends over the last month. Ironically, the last post I published was exactly one month ago...so it's sort of fitting to summarize everything I've been making these last few weeks! Also - sorry for the hiatus! Since my last post, we've celebrated St Patrick's Day,  the first day of Spring, lots of friends' birthdays, and we are now gearing up for Easter. Yesterday I put out a few Easter decorations and I officially got rid of all holiday/winter decorations. Let me tell you, that felt GOOD. We have also been busy setting Cal up in his new daycare. He started preschool last week, so this is the first time the three boys have been at the same school. The adjustment has been a little rough, but we are working through it. Caden and Conor had the same difficulty with drop-offs as Cal is having. Although Cal has been fabulo...

A few days after Valentine's Day, I decided to make a nice steak dinner for Jim and I.  Jim had a late work call that Thursday night (Valentine's Day) so we postponed our dinner a few days. I chose two of the NY strip steaks from the ButcherBox delivery and made a side of broccoli with onions and roasted them in the oven. I seared the steaks on the stove top and then put them in the oven with the veggies. I then made a creamy Israeli couscous with a "gravy" made for the steaks. I basically used the au jus and added a bit of flour to thicken. It was a little thicker than I wanted it to be, but it was good and added flavor. We of course paired it with a nice bottle of cab and watched Madmen. It was the best night. In other news, we just wrapped up "school vacation" week.  Conor and Caden's morning preschool was closed, so they went to their afternoon school all day so Jim and I could go to work. Cal's school was clos...

That's a wrap!  Easter 2018 sure was a busy one. It was really fun. Conor, who probably loves Easter the most out of our three kids, had a BLAST. It is seriously his favorite holiday. I asked him if he liked Easter or Christmas better and he said Easter (we knew he was leaning that way...). He has loved eggs (shakers, puzzles, and candy) since he was a baby. Early Intervention would use these egg shakes for music class and he was always his favorite part. I dreaded when they had to give the eggs back. Let's start from the beginning of Easter weekend - on Saturday, we went to McCues Garden Center for a kids Easter egg hunt. The flowers there were beautiful. They do a great job. We get our Christmas tree here every year, too. My mom came with me and the kids had a good time. Conor struggled with the limit of eggs per kid and had a meltdown, but I totally get that. If you see an egg, why can't you go run and grab it? Understandable, bud.  We met up with my friend...