twenty four

Well gang, I’m 24!

The end of summer means marks the end of an age for me, and this year I rang in 24 for an entire 72-hour weekend. I’ve said it the past few years, so I’ll say it again: It was the best birthday yet. Thanks so much, my dear Chris, birthday buddy Thomson, and all of our amazing friends, for planning, plotting, and partying every step of the way.

Friday (Thomson’s birthday) night, we had a fun little sushi dinner at Genki in Virginia-Highland, then partied like we were Thomson all night long.

Birthday Buddies

Da gurrrls

Saturday, we woke up bright and early and headed to the Chattahoochee River to “Shoot the Hooch”. We each got our own tube (even the cooler had its own), and tied them all together in a circle, with the cooler in the middle, of course, and set sail. It was a beautiful day, and despite a few minor wrecks and flips, everything went pretty smoothly.

That night, we headed to the Fox to catch Old Crow Medicine Show and The Lumineers. I’ve been a huge fan of Old Crow for a long time, and recently got in to the Lumineers. Both bands put on an amazing folk-tatsic show. Man they’re talented! Here are a couple of my favorites.

Sunday (my birthday day) couldn’t have been better. Chris and I had Cameli’s pizza and Zesto’s milkshakes, watched Gossip Girl on Netflix, then went shopping for a little bit. That evening, we went up to Thomson’s sweet Mom’s house for dinner. She had an awesome spread for us, complete with sushi and edamame apps, and grilled farmer’s market goodness for dinner. I especially loved her veggies. My favorites were the grilled eggplant with feta on top, and the grilled okra. I probably shouldn’t, because it will never be as good, but I definitely want to them at home.

After a long, awesome weekend...

So I have another grilling recipe to share, but I have to admit that we’ve been using the grill so much for two main reasons. First, it keeps the heat of cooking and the mess outside. Second, I thought I broke our oven for a while.  Hehe. Turns out it’s fine, but anyway, we’re back with another edition of Katy & Chris grill stuff!

This time, we tried Pork Tenderloin on the grill because, you guessed it, it was on sale. Worked out beautifully, besides the whole getting the grill-started part. Instead of our usual Teaspoon Tenderloin recipe, we decided to switch things up! Here’s the recipe we started with.

 Grilled Brown sugar + Balsamic Pork

Ingredients:
1.5ish lb. pork tenderloin
1/2 cup GF Soy sauce
1/4 cup Balsamic vinegar
4 cloves garlic (minced)
1/4 cup brown sugar

Directions:

1. Mix all of the marinade ingredients together in a bowl.

2. Add the pork and cover. Refrigerate. Let it marinade for at least an hour, and up to 24 hours.

3. Heat the grill to medium-high heat.

Struggles...

4. Once the grill is heated, place the tenderloin on the grill and grill the first side for around 5 minutes.

5. After 5 minutes, roll the tenderloin onto the next side and grill for another 5 minutes. You know the drill now, 5 minutes per side.

7. Allow the tenderloin to rest on a platter for about 10 minutes before you slice into it.

We had it with some green peas and our favorite Butternut Squash Risotto. Chris and I really like the charred flavor you get from grilling, so there’s more where this came from while the weather is still nice.

We ate off of the china, ate at our little table, and it was a great night. And great leftovers the next day.

See ya, 23.