I Am Superwoman

Ok, I'll admit it. When I woke up this morning and saw my yard, I got very discouraged. As I started the looming task of shoveling my 100+ foot long driveway, I got very frustrated. So frustrated, I started to cry. There was NO way I was going to be able to do this by myself, especially with a foot of heavy wet snow. After my pity party, I started to get some momentum going. After 2.5 hours of shoveling....I'm amazed at what I was able to accomplish by myself with my snow shovel.

I opened my garage to see this...apparently my shoveling last night did squat

I went outside at 6:45am. No dilly dallying...I had a cup of coffee, watched the news for five minutes and out I went. At 9:20....this was what I accomplished...Mr. Allan's side didn't get shoveled out...frankly, he's on his own since he's probably laughing from his hotel room on a business trip picturing his wife, swearing like a sailor shoveling herself out.

As we turn the corner, the next portion.....

and..the rest almost up to the road...yes, we have a long ass driveway

So after my herculean effort, I feel a little like Super Woman. Super Woman with a sore back, a blister under my wedding rings from shoveling, and a runny nose, but still amazed at my feat. I would like to say thank you to my nice neighbor with the industrial looking snow blower who came over during my last 5 minutes of shoveling and helped me clear the mailbox....the help was much appreciated...next time as I'm shoveling out that solid rock ice crap the plow leaves 2 feet of for you at the end of your driveway...I'm going to look extra pathetic to elicit help :)

Winter Wonderland..the calm before the storm

Here in Rhode Island, we're bracing for ANOTHER winter storm. I no longer trust my weather forecasters. As I primped myself this morning, they told me the snow will start after 5pm with the heaviest coming from 9pm to 5am. So, I thought to myself, totally straighten your hair..it's not like its going to be a big disaster with snow turning your top layer into a weird frizz ball when you walk back and forth to the courthouse. So, after 20 minute affair with my hairdryer, I left the house, yoga clothes for my 5:15pm class in tow since no heavy snow until I'm well into American Idol and sitting on my couch with my three snuggly cats.

So...I was quite surprised to hear a client tell me..Yo, it's snowing already lady. I looked out the courthouse window at 11a.m. to see a blizzard like scene...lovely!

After using an hour of vacation time after I paced the office going from window to window watching cars slide in the streets, I had one heck of a 90 minute white knuckled hands at 10 and 2 drive home.

But, I must admit...living in the "country" if you can call it that in RI...it's kind of pretty.

Here's the calm before the storm...

My yard....

About a quarter of my driveway...shoveling it tomorrow should be fun!

and the additional foot that's going to fall tonight is going to make my morning hell on earth.....Dear Mr. Allan...it's time to buy a SNOWBLOWER!

Oh Farah....

I watched you on 16 and Pregnant, followed you through 2 seasons on Teen Mom, even though you came off as a spoiled brat with an attitude, I always defended you at water cooler chats the morning after Teen Mom and felt so bad when your baby daddy's car accident death hit the tabloids and went you got screwed out of $3000 for selling your car on craigslist to the scam artist.

You probably make way more being a Teen Mom than I do being a lawyer...so why has it come to this...

I guess it could be worse...your kid could get taken away and you could be facing felony domestic assault charges but being the Norse like hunter and gatherer with a motorcycle in the background isn't too far behind.

Taco Hell, I mean Bell, ...is their Meat actually Meat?

That's the underlying question of a lawsuit that was filed against Taco Bell in an Alabama court recently. Eww...I just feel gross typing that...seriously your beef taco isn't even meat people...allegedly of course!

An Alabama law firm has filed suit on behalf of a customer claiming that Taco Bell is misleading consumers when it lists its ingredients of the beef products claim they contain seasoned beef. The suit alleged that you're not really consuming beef when you down your taco supreme...the mystery meat you're actually eating is only 35% beef...the rest, the other 65% of your beef, are fillers.

The law firm said their client isn't seeking any type of monetary damages..before we roll our eyes thinking this is the guy looking for a million bucks because his McDonald's coffee was too hot and he burnt his tongue...instead, they're seeking a court order requiring Taco Bell to be honest about their filler beef ingredients as their allegation is that Taco Bell's current beef doesn't even meet the USDA guidelines to be declared beef.

This caught my eye...it makes me wonder what the heck you really order when you eat out! Apparently if you order a taco...it might be mixed meat fillers...Taco Bell is denying the claims and say they will fight this lawsuit. Might be a good idea to get your ass to Chipotle if you're feeling Mexican food tonight.

The Bachelor...my weekly guilty pleasure

Ok, maybe I have one too many guilty pleasures. Teen Mom, American Idol (love the new judges by the way!), the Bad Girls Club, and the Bachelor. You probably think I sit on my couch for 5 hours every night watching crap reality tv, but, thanks to TIVO, I can zip through this episodes in 20 minutes to get my weekly dose of lunatics on tv.

I'm not sure why I'm so obsessed with the Bachelor. It's kind of  stupid concept, the girls always look like blubbering idiots when they leave...especially in the first couple episodes...c'mon ladies, you've known him for an hour long cocktail party..save the crocodile tears until you're back at your hotel room. I've watched from Alex Michel choosing the chick he had a whipped cream sundae night with and totally bumped uglies with as Trista cried in her hotel balcony next door. Then there was Aaron who picked the skeptical Helene only to never speak to her after the show. Then we had hottie Andrew Firestone...all the girls just wanted him for his money but kudos to him for picking the nice girl, Jen Schefft. Then we went on to a bad run of weirdos....Bob Guiney...c'mon...he was just excited to have 20 girls to talk to him..Jesse Palmer..the 4th string quarterback from somewhere...Byron...the one season I didn't watch! Shame on me but I was all set with the ladies picking the bachelor. Charlie O'Connell...we just know him as Jerry's brother. Travis Stork..the hottie from that show the Doctors..glad to see besides being the bachelor he's got a good head on his shoulders. Then we went down hill with that Prince Lorenzo...Dear ABC, the Bachelor needs to be cute! You failed with that season. Then Brad take 1, the weird English guy Matt, Jason, Jake then Brad take 2.

Sounds like a bunch of crap, but, I'm still addicted. Mr. Allan rolls his eyes, gets the laptop out, watches old episodes of House with the ear buds in when Tivo starts recording. But, I fully admit, there's no educational value in what I'm watching, I learn nothing, and take little out of my bachelor experience each week. So why do I watch? Purely for the entertainment value. And..I kind of think Brad Womack is hot..so watching him on TV isn't too rough on the eyes.

So, if you're a Bachelor fan, here's my weekly wrap up of the poop I watched on ABC last night.....

Now that we're a few weeks into this season, things start to get good. There's only one or two girls who you look at and think..who the heck is that? What's her name? They're what I call the disposable contestants..taking up space at the rose ceremonies but get no camera time at the group dates or in footage at the house and they're usually good for at least a hysterical crying scene as they get in the limo and the Bachelor struggles to remember their names to bid them farewell. This is also the time where front runners emerge...we have Chantal...I married my high school sweet heart divorcee, the Ashleys...they're both bubbly cheerleader types..I can only tell the difference between the two because one has a bigger forehead than the other. We have the funeral director girl, the quiet girl name Brit Brit and a handful of others that kind of blend in. Then we have some front runners...Emily, the absolutely beautiful southern belle with the story that breaks your heart. When she was 18 she was engaged and pregnant but didn't know it. Her race car driver fiance got on a plane, she stayed back because she was sick and pregnant but didn't know it. The plane crashed, he died, and she then found out she was pregnant. Sounds like a soap opera but it sure did reel me in!

Then...we move onto to the crazy chick. It doesn't even look like ABC has to even try hard in the editing room. She's threatened to beat chicks up, she's certifiable crazy but hot, so, of course, Brad doesn't see it. But, this week's kicker...she somehow gave herself a black eye in her sleep??? C'mon crazy michelle..at least make up a drunk story to support it!

Here's the crazy lady trying to figure out how she got a black smudge, I mean black eye.

What a great place...The Newport Wine Cellar and Le Petit Gourmet

Ever go somewhere new and the whole time you're thinking to yourself, what a fantastic place this is! How did I not know about it before? Why haven't I been here? What a great place to have a little get together? I didn't know they have events?

I said all these things to myself on Saturday night as we gathered for a wine and cheese tasting for our friend, M's, 40th birthday. We all met up at the Newport Wine Cellar and had a wine and cheese tasting in it's adjacent shop, Le Petit Gourmet.

There were so many things I loved about this night. I loved Le Petit Gourmet. For someone like me, who loves to cook and use good ingredients, there were so many different products to browse. Everything from olive oils to cheese paper to jams, olives and pates.I always want to learn more about cheese and how to pair it with wine, and this tasting was the perfect opportunity to learn a couple of things! Before I go on and on about how much I loved everything, here are a couple pics of our night out!

This was how our group was set up for a wine and cheese tasting in the store

This was my tasting plate that I wanted to gobble up. I'm bad with remembering my cheese names, but I remember the darker orange one in the top right hand corner was a smoke Gouda and my favorite was the cheese in the bottom right hand corner covered in pineapple confit.

And...then the wine started flowing....

 Since we are experiencing "Siberian" cold temps in RI right now, we did a tasting of four different Cabernets

The chalkboard behind the cheese counter....Mr. Allan is going to make that Latin proverb his new motto

 Of course we needed to buy our favorite bottle...a Spanish Cabernet

Once our friends cleared out from the cheese case...everyone was buying a triple cream Brie that seemed like a crowd pleaser

Overall, what a great experience! The Newport Wine Cellar has tastings each week. You can check out their Facebook Page for more information. Click HERE

You can also visit their website at http://www.newportwinecellar.com/ or click HERE

There are weekly tastings Friday and Saturday from 4-7pm and they're available for private tastings (like we did) as well! There are also different wine classes scheduled that are $35/pp. Some that are coming up:

January 26- Yes We Love Beer Too!- Derek Luke from Coastal Extreme Brewing Company (aka Newport Storm Beer) will have a tasting of their beers and they will be paired with different cheeses

February 2- Designing a Menu around your Wine- designed for people who want to enhance their meals or dinner parties with wine. Chef Peter Lucas will pair a bistro style meal that will be enhanced by affordable and interesting wines.

February 9- Cabernet Sauvignon- a sampling of Cabernets from the New and Old World Regions

Here's a cute little blurb from Edible Rhody about the Newport Wine Cellar. Click HERE

I can't rave enough about these two shops. I thought it was a perfect place to get together with some friends to celebrate, learn about some wine, and enjoy some delicious cheese!

Recipe of the Week!

It's so easy to make, it doesn't take a lot of thought, time or preparation, and it's a crowd pleaser. It'll be perfect for Super Bowl parties coming up, and its great to throw together in the morning and have waiting for you when you get home. The best recipe I made this week was Barbecued Pulled Pork. It might not be the healthiest thing I could have made, but it's nice to have a treat every once in a while!

It started off with a really good BBQ sauce...

Next comes a boneless pork shoulder from Whole Foods

Then out comes the good old crock pot. I sliced up an onion and threw it in there.



I covered the pork with 1/2 to 3/4 of the jar of BBQ sauce. I added a 1/2 cup of water and threw the crock pot on LOW for about 8-9 hours.

I made this on a weekend, so I was home to peek on it, swat a cat away from the counter, and to break it up with a fork as it cooked. After about 9 hours, this was the end result. I then added the rest of the BBQ sauce.

This was Mr. Allan's dinner with a side of home made cole slaw.

We served the pulled pork on our favorite buns...Ezekial Sprouted Grain Hamburger Buns

You can use any type of BBQ sauce. One thing I would have done differently, trim a bit of the fat off the meat before it went into the crock pot. Once it started to break up after it cooked for a few hours, I was desperately trying to get some out and it proved to be quite the fishing expedition. I hope those that think Mr. Allan lives in a "food prison" are pleased with a little detour from my normal vegetable, no nonsense, all healthy meals. This recipe could have fed us and 8 of our closest friends. We took some and froze it. We did the test of is it a hot mess once it's defrosted and reserved today. I'm glad to report it was just like the day we made it. Enjoy!