Tell Us Tuesday 13

Welcome to the Tell Us Tuesday party everyone!  We’re excited to see what you’ve been up to this week!  Stop by every Tuesday to link up your latest blog posts and show off what you’ve been doing, then check out the other links and find new bloggers to follow, inspiration for new projects, parenting tricks, or a new yummy dinner idea.

Since this party is hosted by several bloggers, your links will be on multiple sites!

<center> <a href="http://www.muchadoaboutsomethin.blogspot.com/" title="Much Ado About Somethin"><img src="http://i727.photobucket.com/albums/ww278/cev0203/Tell-Us-Tuesday-Button.gif" alt="Much Ado About Somethin" style="border:none;" /></a><br />

Your Co-Hosts


One FineWire – Facebook Page – Twitter – Pinterest - Bloglovin'
Much AdoAbout Somethin – Facebook Page – Twitter – Pinterest - Bloglovin'

Here's what your hosts have been up to this week...

Preston's 2nd birthday photo shoot is still my favorite.  If you haven't checked out his beautiful photos - make sure to do so this week!

Chocolate Chip Cheesecake and Cream Chicken on Toast will only make your mouth water again!

Now for some of the features from last week...they're all about fall this week!  

Food Features

We are always trying to find new dishes to make at home for the family.  This Bruschetta Chicken looks absolutely scrumptious!

Just the title had me - Pancakes in a jar!?  What?!  How!?  Check out Living Better Together's recipe - a quick recipe that can get breakfast on your table in 5 minutes in such a cool way!

DIY Features

SUCH a cool way to decorate your pumpkins!  I've never seen anything like it and I love new fall decoration ideas :)

Again - Fall.  My absolute favorite season!  Just A Little Creativity shows an easy and affordable way to change up your Fall mantle decorations.

Ladies Tellin' It Like It Is

Learn how to use your social media to help you the most!

If you were featured, grab a button!

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Now to PARTY!  Just a few basic rules we’d love for you to follow:

- Tell us about your recipes, parenting tips, DIY projects, or your family vacation – we want to see it all!
- Follow each of us so you’ll never miss a party.  Follow on GFC, Bloglovin’, or your favorite reader – we’d love to hear from you!
- Add a party text link or button to your blog.  This helps us in exchange for letting ‘ya link up!  The more people that know about the party, the better.
- Click around – find a few links that interest you below and check them out!  Better yet, leave them a comment and tell them where you came from!
- Spread the word – Share the party on Facebook and Twitter so more can join in the fun.  The more people that find out about Tell Us Tuesday, the more it benefits you!  
- We’d also love for you to follow us on Facebook and Twitter.  We follow back! 
- By linking up, you’re giving permission for us to potentially feature your posts on the blog or social media.

An InLinkz Link-up

Chocolate Chip Cheesecake

Last week, while we were back in NC visiting family (before my new job started), Travis' mom made two cheesecakes.  "Two???" you may ask?  Yep.  Because one just isn't enough.  :)  The first I'll share with you is a chocolate chip cheesecake.

Travis picked chocolate chip months ago, when he won a spur of the moment trivia game his mom sent him and his sister.  We were sitting on the couch when he got the email with instructions.  The first one to email her back with the correct answers to her questions would get to pick the cheesecake of their choice the next time they were home.  Travis just happened to be sitting at his computer when she sent the email, so poor Sarah didn't have a chance.

This cheesecake is quick to whip up and delicious.  Fluffy cheesecake loaded with mini chocolate chips...it's pretty perfect!  This is adapted from a recipe Jenny found online somewhere, but I'm not sure who to credit.
Remember...when in doubt...add more chocolate chips.

Ingredients

1.5 cups graham cracker crumbs

1/3 cup white sugar

1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1/3 cup butter, melted

3 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese

1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk

3 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1.25 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips

2 teaspoon all-purpose flour

Directions

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.  Mix graham cracker crumbs, sugar, butter and cocoa.  Press into bottom and sides of a 9" springform pan.  Set crust aside.

Beat cream cheese until smooth.  Gradually add sweetened condensed milk; beat well.  Add vanilla and eggs, and beat on medium speed until smooth.  Toss 2/3 cup miniature chocolate chips with 2 teaspoons flour to coat (this keeps them from sinking to the bottom of the cake).  Mix into cheese mixture.  Pour into prepared crust.  Sprinkle top with remaining chocolate chips.

Bake at 300 degrees F for 1 hour.  Turn off oven (do not open the oven door) and leave the cake in the oven to cool for another hour.  Remove from oven and cool completely.  Refrigerate before removing sides of pan.  Keep cake refrigerated until time to serve.

Enjoy!

Tell Us Tuesday 12

Welcome to the Tell Us Tuesday party everyone!  We’re excited to see what you’ve been up to this week!  Stop by every Tuesday to link up your latest blog posts and show off what you’ve been doing, then check out the other links and find new bloggers to follow, inspiration for new projects, parenting tricks, or a new yummy dinner idea.

Since this party is hosted by several bloggers, your links will be on multiple sites!

<center> <a href="http://www.muchadoaboutsomethin.blogspot.com/" title="Much Ado About Somethin"><img src="http://i727.photobucket.com/albums/ww278/cev0203/Tell-Us-Tuesday-Button.gif" alt="Much Ado About Somethin" style="border:none;" /></a><br />

Your Co-Hosts
Much AdoAbout Somethin – Facebook Page – Twitter – Pinterest - Bloglovin'

One FineWire – Facebook Page – Twitter – Pinterest - Bloglovin'

Here's what your hosts have been up to this week...

A few fun things lately - read about the time we met Bryan Cranston and see some of the fun we had with a photo booth!

Courtney got new family photos made - if you think this one's great, you'll love the rest!

Now for some of the features from last week...they're all about fall this week!  

Food Features

Check out this yummy looking Halloween Orange Sherbet Punch.  Who's having a Halloween party this year?

You can get more "fall" than a Pumpkin Spice Latte.  Make one at home with Jenny' recipe!

DIY Features

Candy Corn isn't just for a snack anymore - check out this super cute nail how-to from akaBailey!

Love this black and white Halloween mantle.

Ladies Tellin' It Like It Is

Melissa over at Willamette Valley Wonder Woman has a fun new family tradition - a pumpkin patch photo scavenger hunt.  Sounds like fun...do it with your family!

If you were featured, grab a button!

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Now to PARTY!  Just a few basic rules we’d love for you to follow:

- Tell us about your recipes, parenting tips, DIY projects, or your family vacation – we want to see it all!
- Follow each of us so you’ll never miss a party.  Follow on GCF, Bloglovin’, or your favorite reader – we’d love to hear from you!
- Add a party text link or button to your blog.  This helps us in exchange for letting ‘ya link up!  The more people that know about the party, the better.
- Click around – find a few links that interest you below and check them out!  Better yet, leave them a comment and tell them where you came from!
- Spread the word – Share the party on Facebook and Twitter so more can join in the fun.  The more people that find out about Tell Me Tuesday, the more it benefits you!  
- We’d also love for you to follow us on Facebook and Twitter.  We follow back! 
- By linking up, you’re giving permission for us to potentially feature your posts on the blog or social media.

An InLinkz Link-up

Cream Chicken Over Toast

Cream chicken over toast...it's one of my ultimate comfort foods and fondest childhood dishes.  I remember being so excited about seeing this on the stove cooking when I was growing up.  There's just something great about a creamy sauce over toast, isn't there?

Now, it's exciting to see that this is also quite easy to make...AND that it's a perfect dish when you have leftover chicken!  It's the perfect way to finish off a roasted or rotisserie chicken, and should be one of your go-to recipes after Thanksgiving.  (You'll thank me when you're on day 6 of turkey sandwiches.)

Ingredients
3 Tablespoons unsalted butter
3 Tablespoons flour
2 cups + 2-4 Tablespoons milk
1 Tablespoon Worcheshire sauce (optional)
3 cups chopped chicken
Salt & Pepper
Toasted bread

Directions
Melt butter in a medium pan over low heat.  Add 3 Tablespoons flour and mix until combined and bubbling.

Pour in 2 cups milk and stir over low-medium heat until mixture thickens (about 10 minutes).  Add 1 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce (optional).  If too thick, add a few more Tablespoons of milk to reach your desired sauce.

Add 3 cups chopped chicken and simmer over low heat for another 10 minutes.

Serve over warm, toasted bread or biscuits.

Enjoy!

Photo Booth Pictures from a Fun Wedding

Happy Friday!  I thought it would be fun to share some of the fun pictures from a recent wedding we went to for our friends Jenn and Sean.  The wedding reception was one of the most fun I've been to - fantastic food, great music, good friends, and my first experience with a photo booth at a wedding!  They had lots of props - boas, hats, glasses, masks, water guns...all the makings for some seriously silly pictures!

All of these pictures are from the photographer's website (with permission to share).  Check'em out if you get a chance!

As my friend Bailey's boyfriend says, "Quite silly...mmmmm?"

Here are some of the other fun things we did that weekend - the wedding & our hotel, Saratoga Springs, and Cooperstown NY!

Have you ever played in a photo booth before?

I Met Bryan Cranston! (and saw All The Way...)

Last week I had the pleasure of going to see All The Way at the American Repertory Theater (the A.R.T.) in Harvard Square.  We'd never been to A.R.T., but had heard great things about their productions and knew that anything with Bryan Cranston would be worth going to, so we scooped up tickets as quickly as we could!

All The Way follows LBJ through his first year in office after Kennedy was assassinated.  It focuses largely on the Civil Rights Act and the turmoil that ensued as LBJ worked with Martin Luther King, Jr to change history.

The A.R.T.'s website has this to say about the play:

1963. An assassin’s bullet catapults Lyndon B. Johnson into the presidency. A Shakespearean figure of towering ambition and appetite, this charismatic, conflicted Texan hurls himself into the Civil Rights Act, a tinderbox issue emblematic of a divided America. In the Pulitzer Prize–winning playwright’s vivid dramatization of LBJ’s first year in office, means versus ends plays out on the precipice of modern America. This searing, enthralling exploration of the morality of power premiered at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in 2012.

The entire evening was fantastic.  The writing and acting were SO great it had me thinking about the play for days after we saw it.  Every person I saw I just HAD to tell about it!  We just heard that the playgot picked up for Broadway, so if you're going to be in New York City in the next year, this is a must see!

After the play, we went to get our parking validated and saw about 20 people standing around in the lobby.  I asked the attendant why everyone was hanging around and he said all the actors should be coming out in the next 10 minutes, so we decided to stick around and see if we could catch a glimpse of Bryan Cranston.  Well, not only did we get to meet Bryan, but we also met about 8 other actors and got several autographs!  I was also excited about seeing Dan Butler, who played "Bulldog" on Frasier, and Dakin Matthews, who played the headmaster on Gilmore Girls.  It was also great to get to chat with Brandon Dirden, who played Martin Luther King, Jr.  Remember the name Brandon Dirden...I think you'll be hearing it often.

Once most everyone else had left, Bryan Cranston came out from the back.  He could have easily just waved and gone home (and I would have been happy with the wave), but instead spent 3 or so minutes with each person waiting.  He was SO nice and SO down to earth.  Before we met him, I told Travis I wanted to invite him to our "Breaking Bad Season 5 Marathon", but he convinced me not to.  After meeting Bryan...I'm convinced he would have come.  (Come on...don't burst my bubble...)  :)

Amazing night!

Tell Us Tuesday 11

Welcome to the Tell Us Tuesday party everyone!  We’re excited to see what you’ve been up to this week!  Stop by every Tuesday to link up your latest blog posts and show off what you’ve been doing, then check out the other links and find new bloggers to follow, inspiration for new projects, parenting tricks, or a new yummy dinner idea.

Since this party is hosted by several bloggers, your links will be on multiple sites!

<center> <a href="http://www.muchadoaboutsomethin.blogspot.com/" title="Much Ado About Somethin"><img src="http://i727.photobucket.com/albums/ww278/cev0203/Tell-Us-Tuesday-Button.gif" alt="Much Ado About Somethin" style="border:none;" /></a><br />

Your Co-Hosts

One FineWire – Facebook Page – Twitter – Pinterest - Bloglovin'
Much AdoAbout Somethin – Facebook Page – Twitter – Pinterest - Bloglovin'

Here's what your hosts have been up to this week...

I can NOT believe that my little guy is now officially two years old!  See some sneak peeks about his birthday party!

Check out Lauren's awesome trip to Montreal and read about her new awesome job! 

Now for some of the features from last week!

Food Features

Fall is here and so are Fall foods - YUM!  Check out these amazing/easy apple cheesecake crumble bars.  Makes my mouth water just saying it!

Fall is a busy season at work, so crockpot meals are something we need to do to make life a little easier at home.  Check out this recipe for a vegetable and beef stew.

DIY Features

I absolutely ADORE this!  It's perfect for Fall - great colors, simple, and gorgeous!  Such an awesome centerpiece!

Pumpkin picking is always a tradition of ours - but instead of just putting them on my porch - here are some GREAT ideas to change up your pumpkin decor.

Ladies Tellin' It Like It Is

Sweetest Haute is telling us about the color run.  So many of my friends are doing this run and it looks like a BLAST!  Have you done this?

If you were featured, grab a button!

<center> <a href="http://www.muchadoaboutsomethin.blogspot.com/" title="I've Been Featured"><img src="http://i1292.photobucket.com/albums/b578/lalford0609/Ive-been-featured-button_zps27c0779f.gif" alt="I've Been Featured" style="border:none;" /></a><br />

Now to PARTY!  Just a few basic rules we’d love for you to follow:

- Tell us about your recipes, parenting tips, DIY projects, or your family vacation – we want to see it all!
- Follow each of us so you’ll never miss a party.  Follow on GFC, Bloglovin’, or your favorite reader – we’d love to hear from you!
- Add a party text link or button to your blog.  This helps us in exchange for letting ‘ya link up!  The more people that know about the party, the better.
- Click around – find a few links that interest you below and check them out!  Better yet, leave them a comment and tell them where you came from!
- Spread the word – Share the party on Facebook and Twitter so more can join in the fun.  The more people that find out about Tell Us Tuesday, the more it benefits you!  
- We’d also love for you to follow us on Facebook and Twitter.  We follow back! 
- By linking up, you’re giving permission for us to potentially feature your posts on the blog or social media.

An InLinkz Link-up