Sweets & Treats

I'm still recovering from the GNR concert on Sunday, which----was awesome even though Axl is old and it was hard to hear his voice on some of the songs. We had the best time drinking beer and singing with strangers all night. The show was three hours long and I loved it all the way to the end. There were lots of Axl outfit/hat changes, a few dooshy charades by the new guys, but overall it was pretty sweet. I'll never get to see the real GNR, but it was so cool to see Axl closeup in such a small venue and hear Paradise City in real life. Super glad we went.
Hello, Axl.

source: http://houselist.bowerypresents.com/ So, people have a love/hate/no opinion relationship with Valentine's Day. I get it. I happen to enjoy it...because I like any excuse to splurge on sugary goodness and have a hangout with my love. Our day began with strawberry, banana pancakes topped with whipped cream and syrup. So. Good.

Since Valentine's fell on a Tuesday, we decided to have dinner at home and watch a movie. I'd been craving pork chops for days and I figured it was a good night for something we don't normally have.
I'd never made chops before, so I did a bit of recipe research and here's what I came up with: 4 pork chops, baby carrots, lots o' garlic, small red/white potatoes, sliced white mushrooms, earth balance buttah, red onion, salt, pepper, red pepper, paprika, oregano & beef broth. We wanted a salad too so I grabbed lettuce, cucumber, onion, and garbanzo beans.

Set electric skillet to 400 and add a tiny bit of oil. Season chops & brown for about 3-4 minutes on each side. Once they look like this, set on a plate until the skillet cools a bit. Lower heat to 300.

Add chops, potatoes, onion, garlic, carrots, mushrooms, and 1 cup beef broth.

Season and stir.
Add a few pats of butter. [We use earth balance so we don't feel quite as guilty.]

Cover and let sit for 15-20 minutes. We made the salad while we waited. Turn the skillet to warm or off, and serve!

This dinner was absolutely delicious. I am so pleased with how easy and fast it was to make. We enjoyed every single bite and I'm sure we'll have it again really soon. If you don't have an electric skillet, you should definitely purchase one. Louis's Dad and Stepmom got him this for his birthday and I'm obsessed. It's easy to use, easy to clean, and it cooks the food quickly without drying it out.
Obviously we had to have a dessert, and we both surprised each other with ice cream so I decided we should make sundaes! I grabbed Dahni since he's a treat-o-holic and had already celebrated V-day...and whipped up this deliciousness:

Some kind of carmely ice cream with chocolate chips, cookies n cream ice cream, strawberries, bananas, whipped cream, chocolate syrup.

[Pupcake enjoyed only whipped cream.] And here I am with my fave Valentine's Day present. Hello, Dolly.

Clearly, Louis's phone takes much better photos than mine. I will start using my real camera for blog picture posting. We finished our night watching "Play it again, Sam." I love Woody Allen. I had such a fun time with my lil Valentines. It's a pretty fun life if you ask me.