TGIFriday Favorites

I should be doing about a hundred things, but let's blog about nothing too important instead. I like to say that's my niche. I'm linking up today with Friday Favorites (A Little Bit of Everything and Momfessionals) to share a few things I'm loving lately. 

1. We made this fabulous pasta dish a couple of weeks ago and we both absolutely loved it. I took pics along the way, but of course never posted any so here ya go-

Hubs stumbled across a reel on Instagram by a chef named Cesar de la Parra and we decided to give his recipe for Spicy Vodka Pasta a try. It's all in Spanish but there's a translate option at the end. 

After you add the vodka the instructions were to set it on fire, which is always fun. 

Muy deliciosa! 

Except I want to say molto delizioso! because isn't this dish Italian? No matter, just know it's a keeper. 

2. When the grands come to the lake we always try to have some new little fun things for them to play with. One thing we bought this time around is a giant Connect Four (Pottery Barn) for the patio, and I look forward to winning  playing lots of games with the two oldest boys these next couple of weeks. They might be almost 7 and not quite 5, but they get their competitive spirit from their Nana and play to win too. 

3. The outdoor shower. When we built our house we knew we wanted an outdoor shower. 

The carpenters assigned to this part of the project spoke very little English so we kind of pantomimed what we were going for and y'all... 

You could have a party in here.  

Watching them construct this door was one of the more entertaining parts of the entire home build. Pretty sure this door is as deep as what you'd find on the vault at Fort Knox lol.

If hubs had a summer bucket list, near the top would be this-no indoor showers between May and October.  So far so good. 

And you can't beat the view!  

4. My hydrangeas. They took a beating this year, mostly because the deer got to them before we realized what was happening, so they grew a bit wonky. 

The blooms are still beautiful though. 

5. I am loving this little bed on the side of our lower patio. 

Here's the view from above-

It's all hubs doing, he's got the green thumb, and has added something to this space every year for the past few years. We have a hummingbird feeder on the upper deck, but he added a second one here and the hummingbirds flit back and forth between the two. This space is lush and soothing.

 

6. Our wine club.

We've belonged to a wine club for several years here at the lake, and it's gone through some changes recently. My hubs is the current President and it's been quite the job managing said changes, and he is exactly the right person for this role at this time. 

        smoked lamb chop, yukon gold potato puree, rosemary demi glace, English pea reduction

The venue we used for twelve years decided in January to no longer host any events (not just ours), so we've had to find a new location. Not an easy thing to do in 'the country'.    

 pistachio crusted Chilean Sea Bass, smoked gouda risotto, charred fennel grapefruit relish 

We meet once a month for a five course dinner with wine pairings and last night was our first gathering in the new space. Everything was so good!  The food and wine were both  five *****. 

  candied pecan croissant bread pudding 

The chef at the new venue is fantastic and I loved every course. Besides what's pictured there was a scrumptious smoked salmon salad topped with crispy leeks and a seared duck breast with a chipoltle honey cream. Honestly I could have eaten an entire plate of the sea bass and a big bowl of the bread pudding and called it a day, it was that good. 

7. The sunrise. I think you know I'm obsessed. 

How can you not be? 

Have a great weekend everyone!