Recent date night

My kitchen has open shelving in the kitchen/dining room. This can be a disaster (everyone can see every.single.thing!), but it's also a blessing. Nothing can hide very easily, that's for sure. When we unpacked, we unearthed our old espresso machine. It'd been packed up for, well, way too long.

So, I talked Mike into busting out some rusty espresso making skills, and we've been enjoying coffee here and there. This Saturday, we wanted to stay up and enjoy our evening, but were exhausted. Espresso was just the ticket for our special drink (and it totally worked--I think we stayed up until 9:30! too funny)

We housesat for my mom, and part of the fun of being over there is enjoying her china. I love, love, love some pretty dishes, and it's nice to be able to set a table with something different.

We had chicken breast cutlets marinated in Texas Pete hot sauce, then quickly sauteed, served over wilted spinach and roasted sweet potatoes. I love the flavor combination of hot, sweet, and slightly bitter. So good.

And, because we're cool like that, we took the opportunity to gorge ourselves on terrible cable shows that we never watch. We had great fun gasping at Hoarders and cracking up at a few others.

Thanks for letting us raid your pantry, Mom!