If you've been following along, our friends really like having parties. Everything from Superbowl to the Olympics - we have a party to celebrate it.

Another thing we also really love...food. 

Besides the Superbowl Chili Contest that we've been hosting the last few years, we also compete during the Oscars. The category changes every year, and we try to tie in the theme with one of the picture nominees. Last year, the contest was Pie (for Life of Pi). GET IT?


This year, in honor of the animated film Frozen (2013) the challenge was FROZEN FOODS. 

Once again, our friends did not disappoint. See what we all cooked up below!

Frozen Item: Puff Pastry
I found a wonderful little recipe for Jalapeno Popper Pies, made with puff pastry. I only baked half the batch that I made and froze the other half. They freeze really well!

Frozen Item: NONE - Frozen food inspired
Jason thought outside the box with this one. Instead of making a new food using a frozen item, he made a homemade version of a usually frozen food item! Here we have homemade hot pockets. These also freeze really well.

Frozen Item: Pierogis (mini)
Rob made buffalo pierogis! Spicy, crispy and cheesy. Mini was definitely the way to go here - perfect bite sized. 

Frozen Item: Ice cream
Adam got all fancy on us and made Baked Alaska with homemade meringue! We didn't get a picture of it before we all dug in, but it was beautiful.

THE WINNER!
Frozen Item: Mini Waffles
"Dayna" made this batch of mini-waffle smores. She heated them in a 500 deg oven right before serving to give them that charred smores goodness.

Dayna's name is now on the trophy. She was very excited! Good job, Dayna.

BONUS SNACK: Cheese Porcupine
This little fella may look a bit...scary. But he was a great little beer-cheese dip! He may also be re-imagined as a football for our Superbowl party next year...

BONUS CATEGORY: Best Dressed
The Skelsies! Baby Skelskie was wearing a red Mossimo dress from Target. She was accompanied by her dad, who was very fancy in a bow tie and hat.

Thanks to a birthday gift card from some very special parents, I am now the proud owner of these cap-toed shoes. 

So comfortable!

So stylish!

But they have a secret...

They're CROCS.

Crocs has come a LONG way since they first introduced their iconic clogs. Now they have all sorts of styles for men and women, including these cap-toed flats.

I like these so much, I ordered a black pair too.

Happy Tuesday!

-Stefanie

It's been a long, cold winter here in New England. With another storm on the horizon, what better time to begin planning for spring!?

Last year, I decided that I wanted to grow vegetables. My dream of gardening was not without challenges. One, we rent, and we don't have any space for a traditional garden. Luckily, container gardens are very popular and there are tons of resources for having a successful crop. Second, I am not a garden-person. I don't know anything about growing plants. I am crazy afraid of bugs. And by "afraid" I mean spider-on-ceiling-stare-at-ceiling-until-someone-finds-me-and-deals-with-spider kind of crazy. 

But my head was filled with images of leafy greens, plump tomatoes, and that fresh earthy scent of soil.

Read enough garden books and blogs, and one message is loud and clear - you learn something new every year. I wouldn't say my first garden was a failure, but it was far from the lush jungle that I pictured. I'm making a lot of adjustments to my garden this year - everything from the containers, to the types of veggies.

Over the next few months, I'll be sharing with you my Garden Adventure 2.0. I'll highlight my favorite resources, my DIY attempts, and (hopefully) my lush and delicious harvest!

Until then, here's a review of my "Test Garden: 2013"

Challenges
Space, water source, containers, inexperience, sunlight, animals & pests

Mistakes
Inside too long - leggy and weak, not enough water, not adequate light for some plants, no pest control, half soil/half potting mix

Improvement plan for 2014
Research, self watering container, companion planting, different crops, better location for light.

Looking back, my porch garden seemed so big, but really it was just a few pots and bags. You'll notice the make-shift cages over several of the plants. The birds and squirrels kept eating my little plants!

I'm totally excited to see my first green bean growing.

My carrot harvest. Enough said.

Our huge yield bean plants. We didn't get many, but the ones we got were delicious.

Our cut and come again lettuce (a gourmet blend) actually did quite well. We got several salads out of it!