A Day of Merry Making

On Saturday Christopher and I attended a Day of Merry Making! Think I’m making that up? Check out the flyer!

Is that not fabulous?

Bike parking, local vendors, and tons of opportunities for creating art!

There were TONS of kids! I loved seeing all the families out there having fun.

 And what is a day of merry making without circus performers?!

Funny story: while I was taking pictures of the aerialist, this guy (a clown, I guess? He had a red painted nose and was obviously part of their group) hopped into my photo. He then proceeded to ask for my number and told me to call him (that’s what he’s doing in the photo on the right). I laughed and told him I was married while pointing to Christopher.

There were several Food Trucks there, but we decided to try the Stick Em Food Truck and I’m glad we did! There was quite a crowd, but we still got our food in less than ten minutes. And for $2/$3 a stick, the prices weren’t bad. We tried the Ribeye (my fav), the chicken (Christopher’s fav!), and the shrimp (which was good, but since the tails were still on, it made for messy eating – sort of defeating the whole food-on-a-stick thing). All in all – delicious! We will be back!

We had a great time and met lots of friendly people. There was much Merry Making for certain!

Kid Food

So several weeks ago we had “kid food” night with my teen girls. I’m not sure how I didn’t get around to posting about it until now. It was their last Thursday of exams and I felt like they needed a little throw-back to earlier days. So before you start judging me for buying, preparing, and serving unhealthy junk food… let’s just remember that whole “all things in moderation” thing.

We started off with some Penguins {like “Goldfish” but cuter!}

 And of course you have to have the classic orange-powdered Mac & Cheese.

And chicken nuggets in the shape of DINOSAURS!

And of course these adorable little corn dogs which are so easy to make. Just pour corn bread mix into mini muffin man and put a small piece of hotdog in the centers. Bake like normal for muffins, then serve! {original recipe here}

Are you sensing a trend? Yes, indeed, it is ALL the same color! Mac & cheese, “Goldfish,” chicken nuggets, french fries, and corn dogs.

And for dessert… what could be better kid food than Jello?

A couple of my girls tease me for always making such healthy food all the time so they were more than a little surprised when they walked in the door to all of this. To tell you the truth, I was a little surprised myself. I’m not sure why, though. Honestly, I grew up eating wholesome homemade dinners so quick-and-easy lunches that included things like Mac & Cheese and Chef Boyardee (ravioli and dinos were the BEST!) weren’t really the end of the world. I certainly turned out alright.

And since we’re having a throw-back moment… here’s me as a little.

Happy Friday, friends!

 

Tokyo Grill

Christopher grew up eating sushi and he loves it. In fact, it is because his family enjoys it so much that I have acquired a taste for it. The only time I had eaten sushi before meeting my in-laws was on a plane from Japan to the States. So yeah, it was authentically Japanese, sure… however, it was still airplane food. Not a good first experience, ha! Anyway, Christopher loves sushi just as much as his parents do so with much persistence they finally converted me to the dark side several years ago.

We had heard great things about Tokyo Grill so we decided to hit it up! I’m so glad we did. The staff were unbelievably friendly and helpful and the food was great!

The decor was bright and (obviously) Asian inspired.

They brought these dumplings out to us on the house! They were absolutely delicious!

Christopher’s tempura shrimp roll and spicy tuna roll. I’m not a big fan of spicy sushi so I didn’t try that one, but I did snag a piece of his tempura shrimp roll and it was amazing!

I got the chicken teriyaki bento box. I love the concept of this! I got to try a little bit of everything in one meal. The shrimp tempura and California rolls were absolutely and completely amazing! The shumai (little dumplings) were very tasty too! The chicken teriyaki was pretty good, but not the best I’ve had. Next time I’ll get the Bento box again, but try a different main dish. Because believe me, I will definitely be back!

Trampolines and a Photo Shoot

Last Friday I went to Sky Zone (an indoor trampoline park) with Abigail and Anna Grace! 

We had a great time! Makes me want a trampoline in our backyard so I can bounce whenever I want. Oh, and yes, I rock tie dye like it’s 1960.

And on Saturday I had a photo shoot with Mallory for her birthday party invites! Look how cute some of the shots are:

She is such a doll. I can’t believe she will be ONE at the end of this month!

Memphis Italian Festival {Randy Houser Concert}

This weekend was the Memphis Italian Festival!

We love coming to the Italian Festival every year! Bocce ball tourney, volleyball tourney, delicious food, different families competing for the best gravy (aka sauce), cooking classes, grape stomping, wine races, Italian Idol (like American Idol), arts and crafts, and LOTS of people watching.

Kelsi came with us! It was her first time to the Italian Fest and she had a great time (she even discovered a new favorite band)!

Our Memphis Italian Fest staples are pepperoni pizza from Garibaldi’s and bread from Coletta’s! SO good!

Pronto Pups! This was new for us. I’ve heard people rave over these, but never had actually tried one. They coat the footlong corndog in a delicious mustard. Next time I see them at a fair, I will definitely stop by for another Pronto Pup!

We got to vote in the People’s Choice gravy (spaghetti sauce) competition. They were all so delicious! Funnily enough, Christopher and I had almost opposite rankings on the sauces!

Check out all that mud! Every other year we’ve attended the Italian Festival, it has been super hot, but this year it was only in the 80′s and it rained most of the weekend making TONS of mud. Our feet were covered! However, in the five hours we were at the festival, it only sprinkled on us twice!

It was overcast the whole time we were there until just at sunset when the sun began to do this. It was pretty amazing to see.

 We got to see The Owens Sisters and they were amazing! They harmonize together so beautifully! They sang a lot of great covers including “Jolene” (the clip above).

We also got to hear the Eddie Smith Band which is Kelsi’s new favorite!

 And the headliner of the event – Randy Houser! He sang some great songs (including “Going Out With My Boots On” and “How Country Feels”), but I wasn’t super impressed with the amount of language he used at such a family oriented event. Other than that, though, I really enjoyed getting to hear him play!

All in all, Memphis Italian Festival 2013 was a huge success despite the mud and cloudy skies!

Family Summer Birthdays

On my husband’s side of the family, most of us have summer birthdays. So at our yearly summer get-together, we take time to celebrate those birthdays!

The birthday people! Katy, Michael, Me, and Tony! We each had our own candle on the cake. {ps. if you look closely, you can see Christopher and his mom in the mirror behind us so technically this is a whole-family-photo!}

Speaking of the cake… my mom-in-law made it for us. It’s from Kraft Recipes and it was super delicious!

Before it was flipped (check out all that angel food cake goodness)

{original recipe here}

My birthday isn’t until the end of July, but I am definitely for celebrating all summer long!

The whole family in front of the I Heart Memphis mural!

The “I Heart Memphis” Mural! After a week of sharing so many things we love about Memphis, I can’t think of a better way to end this series of updates about family visiting Memphis. There really is something so wonderful about home. {And as a double dipper: this is my entry for the “There’s No Place Like Home” link up that Nicole from Just Live It is hosting. }

We’re so glad that we got to show Memphis off to Christopher’s family. We love our city and it’s fun to share it with family!

Kooky Canuck

There are so many amazing places to eat in Memphis that it’s hard to pick a few favorites for out-of-town visitors. So we gave a list of our top favs to Christopher’s family and let them choose. When Christopher’s brother, Michael, heard that there was a place that served a 4 pound burger, he decided that we definitely had to go there!

Kooky Canuck! Previously Big Foot Lodge (the name changed a couple of years ago, but the food has stayed the same as far as we can tell).

That’s right! The Kookamonga was featured on Man vs Food! See Adam attempt (and fail) to take the challenge here. The challenge is to eat the entire 4lb burger (which is actually 7 1/2 pounds once you add in all the toppings) in under an hour. Several people have done it, including Patrick ‘deepdish’ Bertoletti who holds the record at 7 minutes and 15 seconds (see the video here, but be warned it’s competitive eating so it’s not cute).

Since it’s a Canadian place, we always get the poutine. Fries and cheese covered in gravy may sound (and even look) gross, but believe me – it’s delicious! Smoky and rich in flavor. YUM!

And of course, the Kookamonga in all its glory. 4 pounds of beef, 7 1/2 pounds all together! Oh, and with fries on the side in case you are still hungry.

Michael prepares himself for the deliciousness with a bit of water

Christopher is all kinds of excited about the Kookamonga!

My “slice” of the burger. Between the six of us, we finished all but 2 “slices” of it.

Christopher loves the Kookamonga. For me, personally, I like it and it’s a fun novelty thing to do, but it doesn’t rank anywhere near my favorites for burgers. I just don’t like to eat a beef patty that is quite that thick. However, in the past I’ve had one of Kooky Canuck’s regular burgers (I had “The Canadian  which is bacon, cheese, BBQ sauce, and grilled onions) and it was absolutely delicious! So, even if you aren’t interested in an enormous burger, you should still check out Kooky Cancuck because they have some delicious food!