Prayers needed...

We ask that you keep our sister Brittany in your prayers. She was admitted to the University of Chicago's Children's Hospital yesterday. She was diagnosed with shingles last week and has just been feeling like crap. Now they think she has a bacterial infection in her blood.

This girl is such a trooper. At the tender age of (almost!) 16 years old, she has the strength of a Spartan warrior. We love her so much and hate to see her suffer any more than she already has.

Please pray for Britt.

Big Family Dinner

We capped off the weekend with a HUGE family dinner on Saturday night. It was so wonderful to have both sides of Kristen's family and John's together!

Proof you can have a sit-down dinner for 15 in a condo!

The happy host & hostess

Everyone relaxing, enjoying family

Johnny's Mom & Kristen's Dad

Sue & Brittany

Kristen & Mom

Minnow, Da Coach, Sam & John

John's Dad, Lucy & Papa

Ren & Britt

Ronnie, Mom, Brittany & Kristen

Desert--OUR WEDDING CAKE!

Grandson & Papa, closing out the night

Baby Clark

We headed back downtown on Saturday afternoon for our first meet & greet with Clark DiTore. What a little joy he is. He was sleeping when we all arrived, but by the time we sat down, he was starting to open his sweet little eyes to say hello. He got passed around the entire table and didn't fuss once. Mom & Dad must be doing a very good job! :)

Black Friday

We started the day with a trip to Wheatfield's, the best palce for breakfast this side of the Mississipi.

World's Greatest Mother-in-law















We then headed downtown to do a little shopping with everyone else in the state of Illinois.
On Water Tower Square





















A quick stop at Holy Name Cathedral


Crossing the Chicago River


What a sunny day! That's the new Trump Tower on the left.




It'll always be Fields to us


Even if there are ugly Macy's flags hanging up




"My wife just made me buy new pillow shams and I'm not happy."

Thanksgiving Panini

Come on, what's really the best part of Thanksgiving? That's right. LEFTOVERS!!! After our busy day shopping downtown on Friday, we made Panini's out of our leftovers with the press Aunt Janis & Uncle Rich got us for our wedding shower. It was the first time we used it and if all the sammies come off the press as good as these did, I think we're going to have a little Carb problem in our household!

Here's how you make 'em:

• Two slices of panini bread...
• Brush one side of each piece with EVOO (extra virgin olive oil)...
• With the oiled sides turned over, brush mayo on the other sides of the bread...
• On the mayo sides, pile stuffing turkey and slices of bacon on bread...
• Close sammie and put on press, grilling for 3-5 minutes, until bread is golden...
• Cut in half and serve with cranberry sauce and gravy for dipping...
  

DELICIOCO!

Thanksgiving Dinner

We had an delicious Thanksgiving dinner, just the 5 of us. Mom took care of the Turkey and did a great job! She rubbed the inside and out with a garlic butter spread and it came out perfect. Kristen took care of the sides, which were pretty Yum-O as well. Turns out we make a great team!

Mom & Dad making gravy


Johnny's ladies busy in the kitchen

Our beautiful turkey

Dad carving the bird


Our angry potato masher


Our beautiful, bountiful table for which we are so grateful


Best thing about having Thanksgiving at your house? You get to stay in your PJs all day! :)

The Visitation

At Mass this morning, the gospel was the story of the visitation between Mary and her cousin Elizabeth. It's so beautiful and one of my favorites. It celebrates new life and the beautiful gift that is FAMILY!

(Sculpture of The Visitation, out side the Eck Visitor Center, University of Notre Dame)

Luke 1:39-45

At that time Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea, where she entered Zechariah's home and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. In a loud voice she exclaimed: "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! 43But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed is she who has believed that what the Lord has said to her will be accomplished!"

Let us give THANKS....

Home Improvements

As I post, John is on his way to get Mom, Dad and Renee from Midway Airport! We're so excited they're going to be here for Thanksgiving. We have so much to be thankful for in our lives, there's no better way to celebrate than with the ones we love.

Because this is the first official in-law visit (or out-laws as Auntie Joanie calls them....), we wanted to make sure we finished our last 2 home improvement projects.

1) Fireplace cover (John's allergic to brass, so he threw the old one out immediately after we moved in). This took me, Dad and John to get set in place. Not as easy as the directions make it out to be!

2) New valances for our sliding glass doors, compliments of my very talented Auntie Joanie. She's been offering to make them forever and I finally took her up on the offer. John got into a fight with the electric drill trying to hang them today, but I'm happy to report, he kicked ass! ;)

Do you like???

Ok, I'm off to start cooking dinner (see Penne pasta recipe below.) So Yum-O! We hope you all have a WONDERFUL & THANKFUL Turkey Day. We're blessed to have you as family & friends.

Holy crap!

Just had to share my excitement...it's very similar to putting on your winter coat for the first time and finding a $20 bill in the pocket you forgot all about...

We were showered with many gifts to celebrate our wedding, including many giftcards. I actually managed to hang on to a few including some from Williams-Sonoma (see how those were used in the post below...). I pulled out the remaining two from the junk drawer we had yet to use from Crate & Barrel. Would you belive they're worth $140!!! I'm beyond excited. This is perfect timing as I need to get a table cloth and gravy boat for Thanksgiving next week.

How cool is that?!

Hope all is well with those reading this....Kisses and Hugs from the H's!

6 Cheese Penne

I tried out this recipe last night and got John's seal of approval. It's was very good! It's similar to a recipe I saw in Ina Gartner's Barefoot Contessa: Family Style. I made a few changes and (thankfully) it turned out just great!

1 lb. penne pasta
1 1/4 cup of Italian cheese blend (you know, the one in the zip loc bag near the butter?)
1 cup crushed tomatoes
2 tablespoons Ricotta cheese (part-skim works great)
2 cups heavy whipping cream
6 fresh Basil leaves, chopped (roll 'em up length wise and ribbon cut them before chopping, easier!)
1/2 stick unsalted butter

Bring large stockpot to rolling boil. Add salt. Add pasta. Cook pasta for 7 minutes.

Preheat oven to 500 degrees.

Meanwhile, combine all ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Mix well.

Drain pasta well. Combine pasta with all other ingredients in large mixing bowl.

Spoon pasta mixture into individual, oven-proof bowls, approximately 1 1/2-2 cups. Dot with butter. Bake for 7-10 minutes.

ENJOY!

Señora Hernandez-Part Dos

Today I started teaching Spanish at St. Germaine's. They were recently awarded the prestigious Blue Ribbon award-bestowed to only 250 schools in the nation, public and private. It's obvious why. The students were very sharp and eager to participate (which helped ease first day jitters.) I have 2 classes each of 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th grades.

We covered the basics today...
Hola! Como estas? Muy bien. Y tu?

As well as Dia de los Muertos. In honor of the holiday, we remember especially...

Michael LePane
Helen Kurek
Rosemary Zic