Schmidt-heads :)

Needless to say, life's a party with these kiddos.  They always keep you guessing and they always make you laugh your head off!  Gotta love these goofy Schmidt-heads :) 

A day in the life of our silly niece Kenzie and nephew Logan..

Hellooooooooo in there.... :) 

Kenzie passed out, Macie patiently waiting to be let out in the middle, and Logan being silly after taking a long walk and spending an afternoon at the park.  :) 

Chuggin' along in their make-shift train.. but...

Apparently no one has introduced Kenzie to a belt yet.  ;)  hahahaha..

CRACK IS WHACK!!

My name is Kenzie, and I approve this blog post.  ;)  hahahaha..

Will you marry me?? ...

I remember the day, as if it was yesterday.  Waking up to go downtown to meet my co-worker (our company "photographer") to get some pictures taken of us for Chad's family (for Christmas).  I remember being MORE than a bit annoyed as we were already running late when Chad exclaimed that we still.. absolutely, positively, without a doubt, HAD to run by the restaurant to pick up his sunglasses?!!? that he had "forgotten".  Didn't he realize we were LATE?!?!  This whole time, I had no idea what was coming my way..  (turns out the "sunglasses" he had forgotten was actually my ENGAGEMENT RING that he had stored away at the restaurant)

This whole time, I was unknowingly playing along with this entire SCHEME.. thought up and played out perfectly by this man I now call my husband.  What a sneaky little trickster he is..

Three years ago, on this very day...amongst rows and rows of beautiful red and white flowers at the Dallas Farmers Market, Chad got down on his knee and asked me to be his bride..  (well technically, he never asked... he was too choked up to mutter a sound and just showed me the ring, clasped tightly in his hand, while I said "SHUT UP CHAD!!  SHUT UP!!  hahahahha... happily of course.. ) 

To read more about this amazing day... go HERE :)

Food Porn Daily - Feature Shot FOUR :)

I always get so excited when I see one of my food shots being featured on Food Porn Daily.  This is the 4th time in the last few months..and every single time, I get giddy.  What an honor!  Here's a link to Today's Feature Shot and... if you missed my other three photos on their website, go here, here and here!   

Oh and if you don't yet know what Food Porn Daily even IS, here's a little excerpt from their website.

Our goal
To give you the most delicious food pic possible at least once a day, everyday.

What about the recipes?
The purpose of food porn is to get your (salivary gland) juices flowing – whether or not the recipe is readily available. Please keep this in mind when viewing the photographs on this website. We provide links to recipes whenever possible, but we do not believe they are crucial to the experience. Let these photos inspire your cooking. Use your cooking fundamentals, reference the interwebs, and trust your instincts. Most importantly, have fun!

What is foodporn?
“If the casserole is missionary style, foodporn takes its devotees into the foodie kama sutra.”
-The Skinny Gourmet

“The point is to get very close to what you are filming, so close that you can see an ingredient’s “pores” (You should believe the dish is in your living room), which then triggers some kind of Neanderthal reflex. If you’re flicking from channel to channel and come upon food that has been shot in this way, you will be hardwired as a human being to stop, look, and bring it back to your cave.”
-The New Yorker


Click. Drool. Repeat.  :)

My Sweet Halloweenies :)

The one HUGE blessing to getting married to my Mister, is that my family has grown considerably.  With the addition of Chad's entire loving clan of Kelley's, Schmidt's, Kisner's and Platt's... I've gotten to know a pretty great set of people.  THANK GOODNESS they are all so wonderful and easy to get a long with!!  Whew...!!  ;)  With all the horror stories out there of extended families not getting along.. I'm thankful and incredibly lucky to get along so well with everyone.  Ya'll Rock!  :)   

And with the recent arrival of Chad's sister Christy and her little familia into Dallas a few months ago... spending time with our nephew Logan and niece Kenzie has been wonderful...especially since we missed so much of their cute baby-ness when they were living back in California. 

Unfortunately, it just makes me miss my brother's little ones down in the valley, sooooooo, soooooo much!  :(  Luckily for me though, I've been blessed with my other great sister-in-law (also named Christi..but with an I ;) who keeps me in the loop with all things Addie and Andrew with a steady stream of pictures from back home.  Miss you guys.. can't wait to see ya'll in a few weeks for Andrew's baptism!  :) 

Time for some Halloween fun... here and valley style.  :) 

Who knew Captain Jack and Snow White lived in the same place..or time?!?!

Kenzie and Logan, ready to take on the neighborhood

Logan and Kenzie took those scary houses on like CHAMPS!  They never looked back..

Eye on the prize.. ;)  Sniffles and everything.. Nothing could stop these kiddos from Trick or Treating..

And down in the valley, Cinderella, aka little Miss Addison, came out to play...

Cinderelly, Cinderelly.. I love you Cinderelly.. :)

Sweet Pumpkin ready for some sweet treats..

I MISS THIS FACE!! 

Chef Chad Kelley - New Fall Menu Items

Upon returning from our ultra fabulous trip to Europe...Chad hit the ground running at the restaurant trying to roll out a few items for the fall menu.  How that boy manages to do all that he does, as well as he does it, I'll never know. 

And these things may, or may not have been consumed in one sitting.. With friends of course.. ;)  Gotta love being the wife of a chef! 

Ricotta Gnocchi with Swiss Chard

Shin and Mac and Cheese with Pistachio Pesto and Roasted Yellow Tomato

Roasted Beet Salad with Chevre, Toasted Pecans and Apple Cider Vinaigrette

Butternut Squash Risotto

Blue Crab Fritters with Red Pepper Remoulade

Hungry Farmer Cheese Plate

Baked Brie with Apricot Chutney

Henry's Homade Pumpkin Pie Ice Cream :) 

Paris, France Day 3 - Pompidou, The Louvre & Montmarte

Notre Dame - Check :)

Next Up - The Pompidou Center, The Louvre, Sacre Coeur above Montmarte, Moulin Rouge and a little tasty treat to end our day off right.  :) 

The Pompidou Centre

Architecture  (Wikipedia again working its magic providing history to the masses :)

The Pompidou Centre was designed by the Italian architect Renzo Piano, the British architect couple Richard Rogers and Su Rogers, Gianfranco Franchini, the British structural engineer Edmund Happold (who would later found Buro Happold), and Irish structural engineer Peter Rice. The project was awarded to this team in an architectural design competition, whose results were announced in 1971. Reporting on Rogers' winning the Pritzker Prize in 2007, The New York Times noted that the design of the Centre "turned the architecture world upside down" and that "Mr. Rogers earned a reputation as a high-tech iconoclast with the completion of the 1977 Pompidou Centre, with its exposed skeleton of brightly colored tubes for mechanical systems. The Pritzker jury said the Pompidou "revolutionized museums, transforming what had once been elite monuments into popular places of social and cultural exchange, woven into the heart of the city."

Initially, all of the functional structural elements of the building were color-coded: green pipes are plumbing, blue ducts are for climate control, electrical wires are encased in yellow, and circulation elements and devices for safety (e.g., fire extinguishers) are red.  However, recent visits suggests that this color coding has been partially removed, and many of the elements are simply painted white.

Making our way to the Louvre..

The Louvre

Next Stop:  Montmarte

And if in case you wanted to know...

Montmartre is a hill (the butte Montmartre) which is 130 metres high, giving its name to the surrounding district, in the north of Paris in the 18th arrondissement, a part of the Right Bank. Montmartre is primarily known for the white-domed Basilica of the Sacré Cœur on its summit and as a nightclub district. The other, older, church on the hill is Saint Pierre de Montmartre, which claims to be the location at which the Jesuit order of priests was founded. Many artists had studios or worked around the community of Montmartre such as Salvador Dalí, Amedeo Modigliani, Claude Monet, Piet Mondrian, Pablo Picasso and Vincent van Gogh.

Trolley to the top of Montmarte

Sacré-Cœur Basilica

The Basilica of the Sacred Heart of Paris, commonly known as Sacré-Cœur Basilica, is a Roman Catholic church and minor basilica, dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, in Paris, France. A popular landmark, the basilica is located at the summit of the butte Montmartre, the highest point in the city. Sacré-Cœur is a double monument, political and cultural, both a national penance for the supposed excesses of the Second Empire and socialist Paris Commune of 1871crowning its most rebellious neighborhood, and an embodiment of conservative moral order, publicly dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, which was an increasingly popular vision of a loving and sympathetic Christ.

The Sacré-Cœur Basilica was designed by Paul Abadie. Construction began in 1875 and was finished in 1914. It was consecrated after the end of World War I in 1919.

Overlooking Montmarte

More spectacular views over Paris..

Can't go to Montmarte without at least taking a picture of the infamous Moulin Rouge..

Moulin Rouge is a cabaret built in 1889 by Joseph Oller, who also owned the Paris Olympia. Close to Montmartre in the Paris district of Pigalle on Boulevard de Clichy in the 18th arrondissement, it is marked by the red windmill on its roof. The closest métro station is Blanche.

The Moulin Rouge is best known as the spiritual birthplace of the modern form of the can-can dance. Originally introduced as a seductive dance by the courtesans who operated from the site, the can-can dance revue evolved into a form of entertainment of its own and led to the introduction of cabarets across Europe. Today the Moulin Rouge is a tourist destination, offering musical dance entertainment for visitors from around the world. Much of the romance of turn-of-the-century France is still present in the club's decor.

Ending our trip to Paris in the most delectable way possible..

Some of the best gelato I've ever had..

After waiting in line for OVER 45 minutes... yes, you read right.. FORTY FIVE minutes for ice-cream!!

We FINALLY made it to the front of the line..

But COME ON!! Look at this craftmanship!!  :) 

Isn't it GLORIOUS?!?!  Strawberry, Coconut and Mango for me... O.M.Geee GOOD!! :)

Chad's flavor of choice:  Double Chocolate and Hazelnut

What a perfect ending to an all around fabulous trip...

Smell Ya Later Paris.. Until We Meet AGAIN! ;) 

Back to Life... Back to Reality... :(