Morning Routines and a Dunkin' Donuts Coffee Giveaway

Sticking to a morning routine is essential for me. I've been out of college for ten years and one would think that I would have this morning thing down by now. When one wrench is thrown my way, I'm either late or probably forgot something and I'm for sure frazzled by the time I reach the office.

Here is my IDEAL morning routine:

• 5:30 AM, Alarm goes off, I snooze for 10 minutes.
• 5:40 AM, Jim calls from CA (it's 3:40 AM there and he's working a night shift).
• 5:45 AM, Jim has talked me out of bed and my feet hit the floor.
• 5:55 AM, I've managed to brush my teeth and put on workout clothes (yoga pants, t-shirt, sneakers, head band).
• 6:00 AM, I'm out the door on my way to the gym (water bottle, protein bar, ipod, towel, chapstick).
• 6:50 AM, Legs are tired, arms are exhausted, I'm sweaty and in need of a shower...bad!
• 7:00 AM, Feed the dogs, (second) breakfast for me, shower, COFFEE, get ready for work.
• 8:00 AM, *Out the door and headed to the office.
  
  
  
  
  

There are any number of things that can go wrong - starting with me turning my alarm OFF instead of snoozing and then ignoring the phone call from my husband, which never goes over very well.

Click here to continue reading this post and for the Giveaway!

2011 Year in Review

It's been another great year of experimenting in the kitchen, photographing tasty meals and blogging about our adventures. I'm excited for all 2012 holds for Jim and I, but I don't want to rush into the new year without first taking a look back at our favorites from 2011.

We started 2011 with a warm and comforting (fork and knife) sandwich, the Croque Monsieur is basically a fancy ham and cheese covered in a creamy bechamel sauce. "Croque Madame" is a similar sandwich with an egg on top.
 

Oh yes, the Beef Wellington. I made this a couple times this past year and blew Jim's mind every time. He LOVES this dish, shhhhh, just don't tell him it has mushrooms in it.

I would say 2011 was the year for PASTA in this house. On the heels of our Italy honeymoon in 2010, I was determined to make my own pasta. I made a LOT of pasta this year!

Another winner in 2011! This was a HWM original recipe and after reading the post again I'm thinking I don't make these Chicken Florentine Crepes nearly enough. Jim called these "Awesome!"

I started eating Mussels last year after a friend of mine shared some with me at a wine bar. They are incredibly inexpensive and so tasty served with crusty bread to dip into the cooking broth. This is great for a crowd.

Another new food for me was Salmon. I always thought it was too fishy, but learned that I like King Salmon cooked for 8 minutes on the grill with some serious spices. Knowing just how good it is for me is also a huge incentive to grill Salmon at least once a week.

Last, but certainly not least are these Mint Love Letters with Spicy Lamb Sausage that has a prominent place at the top of our Best Of 2011 list. Fresh homemade sheets of pasta are stuffed with a filling of fresh mint, blanched peas and salty parmesan. The ravioli's are cut, boiled and topped with a intriguing tomato sauce spiced with Merguez lamb sausage.

Hope you enjoyed our list of favorites from 2011! We look forward to what 2012 brings and I can't wait to share everything with you here on HWM.