Fall has FINALLY begun!

I walked outside last night and the cool air and the "smell of fall" hit me like a ton of bricks! I love this weather and I love the way it makes you feel.... Like holidays are right around the corner and it inspires me to make yummy meal and snuggle up on the couch! This week to honor our Ole Miss Rebels ... we did a little pumpkin decorating! We are headed to Oxford in t-minus 5 hours to cheer on the REBELS as they take on the undefeated Auburn Tigers. Let's hope the scantily clad sorority-girl Halloween costumes are scarier than the way we play! Like we always say, we might not win every game (or any at all) but we never loose a party!

Here is last week's Pumpkin Chili...YUMMMMMY!!! (Compliments of the wonderful chef Regina Charboneau) We served it with a spread of Fajitas and all the fixings for our church small group gathering at our house Sunday and dinner was fabulous if I do say so myself. But then again who can mess up meat, tortillas, and a mother load of queso?!?!

Dinner Success!! Day 1 of 200...

So while living in Jackson over the past 3 months I decided I was really going to make an effort in the kitchen when I returned home. Zach and I love to cook together and we do so most weekdays but we pretty much rotate between about 10 'repeat meals'. So I am going to try and spice it up and I have promised Zach to cook 200 days out of the next year. So by October 11, 2011....we will have had 200 home-cooked meals. WHO ELSE IS UP FOR THE CHALLENGE??

I am looking for a good cookbook to "Cook through"...yup one page at a time until I have completed all of them! The Oxford Square cookbook seemed to be the front runner but I am scared to death we might die from high cholesterol in the next 200 days if I cook through that one. That Oxford food is deliciously sinful! So now I am searching for a cookbook with a nice combination of healthy meals and that good ole home cooking that makes your arteries burn!

So here is DAY 1: From scratch Chicken Pot Pie courtesy of the Barefoot Contessa

Review: HUGE SUCCESS- we will have it again...and again. Plus it makes a ton. We ate 3 servings and we have 6 servings left. Those went into the freezer for a chilly fall day!

Cooking Chicken, Boiling raw carrots, simmering Chicken Stock, and Simmering Onions

The end result in loaf pans (it made 4)

But after Zach dumped his on his plate we realized it was a ton of food so 1 dish=2 servings. I only ate half of mine and I was stuffed.

Zach on the other hand cleaned his plate! Yummy!!!

The Latest for Wyatt's Torch

I wanted to stop by and give you an update on Zach's LLC, Wyatt's Torch. A university near Natchez just got a new director for Advanced Technologies and they have been working with some people in Natchez to discuss setting up a technology incubator (they already have a grant from the government for it, but it has laid dormant) to counsel and help grow the economy in Southwest Mississippi, focused in the area of technology, and more specifically software and application development, by helping young tech businesses are entrepreneurs flourish. They asked Zach to come in and help get it off the ground. They have the space already chosen and they hope to furnish it with tech equipment by late November. Zach is so excited that he has been asked to sit on the committee and hopefully this technology incubator will be a starting point for some of Zach's future apps (he has come up with some great ones so stay tuned).

For those of you asking, why the name Wyatt's Torch? In Ayn Rand’s novel Atlas Shrugged one of her heroes, Ellis Wyatt, defiantly blows up his oilfield rather than surrender his business to a government edict. One well couldn't be extinguished, creating Wyatt’s Torch that served as a symbol for the flame of individuality and reason. I think Zach chose wisely!

Also GameDay Map is moving right along. They submitted the app to Apple last week so they are waiting on approval and the app will most likely launch at the Auburn- Ole Miss Game on Halloween weekend!

Winner winner Chicken Dinner

As the temperatures cool off all I can think about is returning home to Natchez and snuggling up with dinner and a movie on the couch with my hubs! My good friend from home posted this recipe on her blog and I cannot wait to make it for my man who has worked so hard over the past 3 months while I have been away for work. He deserves some Comfort Food!!!

Chicken Pot Pie. My friend The Barefoot Contessa knows how to do it.

Ingredients:

3 skinless, boneless chicken breasts

3 Tbs olive oil

kosher salt

freshly ground black pepper

5 cups chicken stock (she says make your own, I sure didn't)

2 chicken bouillon cubes

1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter

1 chopped yellow onion

3/4 cup flour

1/4 heavy cream

2 cups diced carrots

2 cups frozen peas

1/2 cup minced fresh parsley

Cube the chicken breasts and cook in a skillet. Remove from heat.

Heat the chicken stock in a small saucepan dissolving the bouillon cubes. Let simmer over medium heat. In a large pot melt the butter. When the butter is melted, add chopped onion and saute over med-low heat for 15 minutes or until translucent. Slowly add flour to the onions, stirring constantly for 2 minutes. Add the hot chicken stock to the onions and flour and stir until thick. Add 3/4 teaspoons salt, 1/2 teaspoons pepper + heavy cream. Add your cubed chicken, peas, carrots and parsley. Remove from heat.

*I used carrots, corn, and green beans because that's what I had on hand. The more the merrier!

For the Pastry:

3 cups all purpose flour

1 1/2 tsp kosher salt

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 cup vegetable shortening

1/4 lb cold unsalted butter, diced

1/2 to 2/3 cup ice water

1 egg beaten with 1 Tbs water for egg wash

Mix flour, salt, and baking powder in stand mixer with paddle attachment. You can also use a food processor. Add the shortening and butter and mix quickly with your fingers until each pieces is coated with flour. Mix on low speed until the fat is the size of peas. With the mixer running, add the ice water. Only mix until the dough is moistened and just comes together. Dump the dough onto a floured surface and knead quickly into a ball. Wrap in plastic and allow it to rest in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Divide the filling among 5 oven safe bowls. Divide the dough into 5 equal pieces. Roll each piece into a circle large enough to cover the top of one bowl. Place the dough over the bowl and press to make it stick. Brush the dough with egg wash and cut slits in the top. Place on a baking sheet and bake for 45 minutes, or until the top is golden brown.

*I don't have 5 oven safe bowls so I use a casserole dish and two mini loaf pans. Perfect to freeze and safe for the chilly days to come.

Cory and Alicia

Did you ever pray for something for so long that you can't really believe your eyes when it comes to fruition. Well for the last few years I have been praying for my amazing brother to meet a woman that would not only love him and treat him well but also allow him to be his adventurous self and encourage him to become the best man and marine he can be. There are so many important components to a relationship but in my last 2 years of marriage I have learned so much about love that I never knew before. I learned that for me, since I often lack confidence, having someone that is my biggest fan and is always pushing me to be better than I thought I could, stronger than I knew possible, dream bigger than my conservative mind allowed, achieve professional goals I never realized existed and someone that is constantly reminding me that I am loved, appreciated, and that I should love myself. Once I knew that feeling...I prayed for Cory to find it too. I wanted someone to come into his life and make him aware of the wonderful qualities we see in him....I wanted someone there everyday pushing him and enjoying life with him.

Well God (as always) answered my prayers in so many ways. Not only did Alicia walk into his life, but in a matter of one year she turned the world as he knew it upside-down. She is amazing and I am so excited that I get to call her a sister. Alicia has a calm and collected quality about her...she is a nurturer, an optimist, and her fun loving nature is the perfect compliment for Cory. We just got some great news that her kids were going to be able to come to the wedding after originally thinking this was not a possibility. But thanks to months of perseverance by Cory and Alicia, many prayers, and an awesome judge (to whom I want to send chocolates, cookies and heck maybe even my first born)...the kids are coming and we could not be more excited! Only a few more hours of work and then I am headed to Natchez and tonight I will be meeting my little nieces and nephews for the first time!

I know I only tend to get on here and blog when we are going on vacation and my friend Laura recently told me I'm gonna lose my blogging privileges if I don't blog more....so here you go! You asked for it...here is a recap of my boring weekend:

I think I have slowly forgotten the meaning of a weekend. To relax, be lazy, only move when you have to, see how long you can stay in your PJs without taking a shower, etc. Two days when sometimes the most productive thing you do is brush your teeth or feed the dog. Well ever since I moved to Jackson I feel like my weekends have been dictated by an hour-to-hour to do list. This past weekend was a workathon and I found myself driving to Jackson Monday morning thinking, "Ahhhhhh now that it is the work week I get to breath and slow down". WHAT???? Snap out of it Shannon, that is so backwards! Three weeks ago I was so busy at work that I could barely find time for lunch or a phone call to Zach and now I am considering that to be my less busy time of the week even though work is still crazy, I guess my personal life caught up. Two thumbs down!

So here I am, trying to find time to relax on the bridge between weekends.

In retrospect, although I am basically running on fumes at this point, I am really proud of everything I completed this weekend. I got a WILD sewing hair and set up my machine in one of the guestrooms. I strategically positioned the table to face the tv so my marathon sewing would be accompanied by college football, Lifetime movies, HGTV, or whatever other mindless show came on to distract me from realizing just how long I had been sitting there.

And "SEW" it begins....

8 Ten foot curtain panels for the master bedroom (mustard and white damask)

2 large pillows for the bed (navy and white bold stripes)

1 coordinating navy and white striped pillow for the rocking chair (couldn't let a yard of fabric go to waste)

4 black and white damask table runners for the wedding

then I got artsy and made 2 special surprises for Cory and Alicia's wedding (both very time consuming but will be worth the work) and I finished painting the kitchen window that was still natural wood color from the renovation. (yes I know that was almost 1 year ago...I have been busy people!) I also painted a pretty cool abstract piece for above our bed...I call it "White Noise". I think it is so calming but also adds the perfect design element to our newly decorated bedroom. Here is a picture of it drying in my hotel room but I will post pics of it in the bedroom soon. This is about 5 feet wide.

Then, I topped off the weekend by completely reorganizing the pantry. Let me fill you in on how this chore came about. I was on a stool in the pantry grabbing some serving dishes for next weekend brunch and I thought to myself....this pantry is nuts. (anyone standing within an ear shot might say the same about me)....so I decided to stop what I was doing to reorganize it. Do you ever do that? Do you go in a room to get something and then an hour later you find yourself still in that room addressing an issue that has been bothering you for months??

So art projects are done, sewing projects complete, window is painted, and pantry is newly organized. A few last errands need to be run and then we are ready to have another wedding!

The. contract. is. signed.

The. contract. is. signed.

Yes, you heard it right, I signed on the dotted line Thursday and sold GamedayMap to a conglomeration of players who got together specifically for this project.

I gave up all ownership rights for a perpetual (for all you non-lawyers, that means "forever") royalty based on gross revenues. They have already begun transferring the source code, have an investor and advertisers lined up, and are meeting with new groups about new technological ideas (360 degree cameras, cell phone boosters in the grove, something to do with Google Earth, etc). I feel relatively confident that GamedayMap is gong to be pretty successful. They want to have a beta iPhone app out much sooner than originally anticipated (think late Sept/early October).

All in all, pretty sweet!

Zach

What doesn't kill us makes us stronger

12 days down, and 59 to go! And somehow I have managed not to royally mess anything up.

Well living/working in Jackson during the weeks has not been all that bad but then again I am only 1/6 of the way done so ask me again in about 35 days. There are some perks of being back in Jack-town like seeing all my good friends and work buddies, getting to see Baby Jackson quite often, Renaissance shopping isn't too shabby, i heart target & hobby lobby, I have had a lot of quality art time in the hotel at night, and the omelet man is my saving grace in the morning (the hotel breakfast is super fabulous). But work is tough. I'm not gonna lie, after a few skipped lunches and a few 11 hour workdays I was ready to throw in the towel but I think I might be getting acclimated to the workload and the insane amount of email...the key to it all- prioritizing! For those that aren't familiar it means finding the important items and pretty much ignoring the rest. Needle in a haystack!

Here is a picture of me leaving 12 days ago followed by one when I got home today- still positive and not showing any effects of the stress!

12 days ago

today

Enough about me, let's talk about something fun! Like Gameday Map! Zach is still working with the developers to finalize the terms of the contract and the ink should be hitting the paper pretty soon. The pro forma is complete and they are just waiting to receive the licensing agreement from the lawyers. And then we are officially licensed! Oh happy day (and our happy dance ensues)