Diners, Drive-in's and Dive's

Have you ever watched that television show on 
Food Network?

The show comes on and I get hypnotized, seriously, in a daze...

I'm watching...but not really, and I can't change the channel.

One night I was watching and they featured 

Marie's Italian Specialities in

Chatham, New Jersey

I watched them make their macaroni and cheese with bacon

and I knew that one day I would eat there,
positively...
without a doubt.

Well, I almost wet my pants when I found out that Marie's 

was only one half hour from

Skylands Stadium, where the Ice Display was.

Now I really wanted to go to the Ice display, 

but we are talking two hours from home.

I wasn't completely sold until I heard that restaurant was close by, 

that fact sealed the deal.

* Items featured on the show were marked *

* Macaroni and Cheese with Bacon *

ooooh, yes please!

* This is Bruschetta *

Not on the menu but on the specials board,

our waitress recommended it!

The bread is there, you just can't see it.

So good!

* Brick Roasted Chicken *

We only got one entree and shared it, good thing,

it was huge and out of this world!!

It sure is a tiny spot, but they get the job done.

Marie's Italian Specialties...

if you are ever in Chatham, New Jersey, 
stop in and tell them Debbie sent you!

Frozen In Ice

Last week, the hubs and I traveled north to Skylands Stadium for

Frozen In Ice


An indoor/outdoor ice display featuring 100 tons of breathtaking

ice sculpted displays.
On display and the highlight of the display is a huge 50 foot long slide,
a log cabin, a giant sized throne, a horse drawn carriage...
a working lighthouse with a boat, a gold mine maze,
old fashioned gold miners and Miners baseball players ~ all in ice.


Also on display is an interactive ice lounge and an ice bar,
with.....wine tasting.
I know my wine loving friends would enjoy that!!! 























Here's that 50 foot slide, and yes, that's me, top left, 
laying down, feet visible only.




And at the bottom, woohoo, that was exhilarating!


And here we are...


the hubs and I, this was so fun and very beautiful!

Saturday Critters ~ 115 ~

Last Saturday I shared a variety of images of the most popular birds that visit the backyard feeders.

Two of those images were of a Female Downy Woodpecker.

She and I had spent a lot of time together that day.

Picture after picture, she was trying to outshine all the other birds.

She appeared in front of my lens so many times, there were times I felt she was the only one there.

Today, I want to share the images that did not make the cut last week, 

some of them were pretty special...

as she really showed off her desire to be photographed!!

Sharing today's images with

Eileen at Viewing Nature With Eileen
and
Anni at I'd Rather Be Birding

Send Me An Ark...

We sure have been getting a lot of rain, copious amounts of rain.

Pouring, pounding, driving rain.

I like when it rains, we had a lot of lighting and I don't mind that either.

I don't have any trouble occupying myself indoors...

though looking back on an entire day, I often have no idea what I have done.

I don't usually photograph the birds when it's raining.

But I thought of it as a challenge and wondered what kind of images I would get,

during a dark, gloomy, rainy day.

My first photo session was with Mr. House Finch...

He was soaked but very cooperative.

Next up was Mrs. House Finch, she was uncooperative and I only got one good image,

but it was nice to actually see the rain in the image.

Next was my Yellow Rumped Warbler...

looking very beautiful and happy to pose.

The ground is soaked but the leaves are a pretty, shiny shade of brown.

And our grass is still green due to our mild winter.

Good Fences ~ Edition 101 ~

The Children's Garden at Barlow Flower Farm / Garden Center...

in Sea Girt, New Jersey

a fun and magical spot, just for the little ones. 

Sharing today with my good friend

Theresa at The Run*A*Round Ranch

Junior...

Watching Him...

Watching Me!!

Pigs In A Blanket

This recipe came from Facebook,

looked easy enough and combines breakfast sausage with french toast.

YuM!! 

Here is a link to the video.

The ingredient line-up...

Eggs, milk, cinnamon, sugar, nutmeg...

like you would if you were making french toast!

White bread, off those crusts.

I cooked the links in the oven, try not to notice all that grease.

Flatten the bread with your hands...

then forget to take a "rolling up picture"...

but yeah, one sausage, one piece of bread, roll it up, and dunk into egg mixture.

Into the skillet, with lot's of butter...

I turned them four times so each side would be browned and crisp.

Sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar and serve with warm syrup.

These were very good but the sausage flavor overpowered the french toast flavor.

Still they were good and super easy!!

Sharing with

Stephanie at The Enchanting Rose