Man, I'm on a roll with posting this week (probably because it's the week before school and I actually still have free time). Last night we had a beer chicken, and thought it'd be fun to take some pics and post the recepie for any of you brave enough to try it. The first time we had it was last year in Vegas with our friends Cade and Cariann (shout out!). They cooked it on the grill and it was incredible. Since then, Morgan and I make it all the time. It's one of our favorite dinners. We haven't had much luck cooking it on the grill, but cooking it in the oven is still awesome. He heard for a while that the alcohol in the beer cooks out while it's baking, but that's not entirely true. Although cooking alcoholic beverages (wine, beer) does cook out some of the alcohol, it doesn't cook out all of it (it still leaves about %50 of the original amount) So, if you're feeling brave and want to go all out for the real thing, make sure to pick up the non-alcoholic beer (like we used last night) or, although we haven't confirmed it yet, any sort of canned beverage like a soda or a canned juice would also probably be amazing. I think we're going to try a canned white grape juice next time. Anyways, here's the recepie and the pictures. Enjoy!



Big Bud's Beer Can Chicken Recipe courtesy Guy Fieri, 2007 (Food Network)


1 (2 to 3-pound) whole chicken (picture 1)
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon onion powder
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon dried sage
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper
2 cloves garlic, smashed
1 (12-ounce) can beer (picture 2)
1/2 pound bacon

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Wash chicken with cold water and pat dry with paper towels.
Mix dry ingredients in small bowl. Rub 1/2 of the ingredients on inside cavity of chicken. Gently peel skin away from chicken and rub mixture into meat of chicken (picture 3). Show a crazy face (picture 4). Open beer can pour out about 1/2 cup. Drop the garlic cloves into the beer can. Poor remaining spices into beer can as well. Place chicken, open end down, over the beer can to insert the beer into the cavity. Place chicken, standing up, in large saute pan (Picture 5). Place 1/3 of the bacon in the top cavity of the chicken and drape the remaining 2/3 of the bacon down the outside of the chicken. Pierce the bacon to the chicken with toothpicks.

Place chicken in the oven for 10 minutes and then lower temperature to 325 degrees F and cook for another 1 hour, or until the internal temperature in the thickest part of the thigh reaches 165 degrees F on an instant-read thermometer.







And that's it! Trust us, it is well worth the hour wait for this chicken. When the liquid in the can starts to boil, it steams out the top and continually steams the chicken the whole time it's cooking. The result: the most moist and flavorful chicken you have ever had. If any of you try it, be sure to let us know what you thought!

All moved in (almost)

Moving back from Atlanta really was bitter sweet. The hardest part about moving back (for us anyways) are the memories we leave behind. I say it's bitter sweet because we do still get to keep those memories (we still talk about how much we loved living in Vegas for a little while) but it is still sad to leave those memories in the past and move on. Especially when moving on means moving to Logan. Ha ha, I'm just playing, that comment was dedicated mostly to Morgan (her and Logan have always had a rocky relationship). I will say this though, if there's one thing in life you can count on never changing, it's Logan. That poor town has been the same for the last twenty years, and in twenty years I'm pretty sure there won't be any surpises if we go back to visit. Ha, enough ragging on Logan, I like it there, and I love school (Honestly, no sarcastics this time) so I always look forward to getting back.

We spent the last few days moving into our new place. We're pretty excited to be living next door to Whit and Tiff this year. When the new Gears of War game comes our for the XBOX 360, don't count on seeing or hearing from Whit or me for a few days. Back to moving in though, with Morgan around unpacking in our home is synonomous with new decorating and she thought it'd be fun to restore some old furnature to go in our new place. I'm not usually to keen on these decorating projects because they usually involve lots of time and effort (both of which are already pretty maxed out as it is around our place) but her idea and vision sounded cool, so I was in. I've got to say, we had an awesome time fixing up this old dresser Morgan's parents had at their house. It was so fulfulling to see our work come full circle. At the bottom of this post are some pictures of our process. We started out by giving the dresser a light sand (picture one), then put on a coat of grey primer (picture two) (the guy at the Home Depot said grey primer works better for red paint then white primer), after we let that dry we painted on our first coat of the red paint (picture three) then went outside to sand down the hardware and give it a cool vintage feel with some of the tarnish staying on around the edges (picture four). Then we let all of that sit overnight. The next morning I woke up early to paint our last coat of red on the dresser (picture five). I let that dry another five hours, then distressed the edges to add to the vintage feel (picture six), put on the hardware (picture seven), and then just admired it for a little bit (no picture). It was really fun, and we were stoked with how it turned out.

Georgia on MY mind :)

We leave from GA to come back home on Friday. Its a bittersweet thing, I guess its like how I felt when we left Las Vegas last year. Where ever you go you can make it your home. It has been really hard being away from our families and friends this summer, but we have made new friends that we are so sad to see go. I'll miss GA, staying up late with my hubby watching silly shows, Christy and me making fun of all the idiots we worked with ;), the best shopping I've had in a long time, and not really having a care in the world. It's sort of like I would think coming home from a mission or something and having to get back into real life. I've learned a lot this summer and grown a lot too. I am glad in the end that Nate twisted my arm to come out here. He always knows whats best for us I really should know that by now, I love him so much and am so happy everyday he's my Natey ;)! But don't get me wrong the South is crazy though its just a different way of life, people are so friendly I still haven't decided if it is because of there accents or not ;) jk but seriously they really are sweet. It will be all worth it I know when we get back home I have to keep telling myself and I know it will, we can't wait to see all of you when we get back so see ya real soon!

Obsession

Ok so I have had a lot of obsessions lately and I would like to share some with you so they may brighten your days as they have mine ;)

Blue nail polish: I know I know it sounds weird but since I have like nothing to do at work I look for current trends and blue nail polish was one of them. So I tried it out and I'm in love and that is saying a lot since I hate painting my nails I have a chipping them off like 30 minutes after they set problem ;)

Cheese Biscuits: Nate and I went to the Red Lobster the other day and man those biscuits are awesome I mean if they only sold those I would just order them by the basket full! Maybe they have a recipe somewhere on the internet....stay tuned for that ;).

Pashminas: Ok I know that this is like a way weird word but what they are is lightweight scarves I bought one when I was in New York and have been obsessed they have them all over the place down here so I've added to my collection and now I own a royal blue one and a hot pink!

Craigslist: I am pretty sure that I am addicted I check every day to see the latest updates on designer handbags. It's an illness believe me. Which leads me into my next obsession.

Designer Handbags: Ok so ever since I got my Chanel its been downhill ever since. I can't seem to bring myself to buy anything other than a designer bag. I recently added a Louis Vuitton monogrammed large bucket bag to my collection. I am already looking into a Fendi spybag, and another chanel...:( I am ashamed

Playing Card Games: This has really always been an obsession but recently its been really bad! I love to play pounce which is also called nertz if you haven't played I will totally teach you. Also Jason and Christy have the game called Greedy Hands and it is like way super duper fun! We play almost every Sunday.

Mob Wars: Ok I know I am a nerd but Nate totally got me hooked on this game on Facebook. It's so funny you pretend like you're in a mob and fight people and go on jobs for the Godfather. Don't judge till you try it. Its our guilty pleasure!

Shark Week: This really could go without an explanation but I will give one anyways ;). I love Shark Week its up there with one of the best weeks of the year.

The Discovery Channel, Bravo, CMT, The Food Network: I love these channels! Ok so some of my favorite shows on DC is The Cash Cab, Mythbusters, Dirty Jobs, The Deadliest Catch, and on occasion Verminators. Bravo my shows are Project Runway (Love Love Love Love Love) and Sheer Genius. CMT ok so this is like my guilty pleasure on TV I love My Redneck Wedding, Country Fried Home Videos, and Nanny 911. The Food Network is my love I really love all the shows on that channel!

I think that is pretty much it for not off the top of my head I am sure that I will be adding more to this as things pop into my head :) until then Love love ;)