Stir, Sauté and Love...

Valentines Day 2017! 

I know, I know.... valentines day is a fake holiday, we still celebrate it! Its not worth it to be so sour about holidays that bring people together. Plus, this is our first valentines day being married, our 10th all together. Just like the others, it was fabulous! 

We started off the morning with breakfast in bed...A little side story, for one of our anniversaries Anthony decided to make me breakfast in bed. I was high on nyquil after being sick for a couple days and really dazed out. I felt horrible but when he woke me up, I didn't know what was going on and I sleepily said "I don't want, come back to sleep". He did not let me live this down. I felt horrible but its something hilarious to look back on now. Lets take a look at the awesome effort ...

There was chicken sausage, turkey bacon and lets give a little drum roll (pretend to hear a little drum roll in your head) NUTELLA!!! I mean, nutella is still healthy, stop judging!  Whats breakfast and strawberries with out nutella. Those that know, know. Nutella is life! 

We spent a few hours later that day binging on netflix. We got out fix of Bates Motel and decided to head out. 

Anthony reserved seats for Sur La Table's cooking classes. We've always walked into the store and seen the classes going on but never had the time to go. It was perfect. They paired us off with another couple and set us up at our cooking stations. It literally was my dream kitchen, hearts and all. 

Our chef was Chef Karyn Vega and the theme of the night was 'Italian Romance'. For the menu of the night there was an appetizer, burrata and olive tapenade crostini. The main course, steak tagliata with arugula and fried capers and risotto with pancetta and shrimp. Finally, for dessert, dark chocolate-espresso budino. Our first thing to make was the budino. Budino is Italian for custard or pudding. 

There was a lot of stirring but it is definitely fun to make together. 

It was then time to start making the Risotto. This was definitely a team effort when it got down to stirring and adding the hot chicken broth. 

Let me not forget to add... I have my own salt bae! 

While I was working on the risotto, the rest of the team worked on cutting up the ingredients for the tapenade. I have never tasted tapenade before but after that night, I am definitely making this more often! 

Also, anything with cheese is my favorite! 

Of course, we had to pause being America's best chef's to take a selfie...

Off to grill some steak...

and shrimp...

and dinner is served !

The whole experience was awesome. Really, anything we do together is awesome with such busy work schedules but I do recommend it. We always look for different things to try to make together but are also always hesitant to make things we never heard of. Its nice to try things out of your comfort zone and still have fun. We are planning on taking more classes just for fun and I definitely recommend you try. It doesn't have to be with your significant other, it can be a group of friends or even with your kids. They send you home with a recipe pamphlet so that you can make things on your own. Lets be real, I didn't remember half of the ingredients we threw into the pot so this was great. 

We ended the night off with some more netflix and much needed relaxation after that food coma we were sent home with...

-ttyl, Faneeza ;) 

A Wedding and A Degree...

2016 itself has been pretty interesting. For some, there were a lot of tragic things that happened... trump, was the biggest disaster if I say so myself. Though for my family and I, there were bigger strives made this year than most. In one year alone, there was a high of emotion, a high of stress, a high of cash credited to someone else's account, and definitely a high of alcohol. Now don't take me wrong, we aren't alcoholics but we definitely did party A LOT. 

Even though we have been planning this wedding for a year and a half, you'll never fully feel prepared for the things that come with planning a wedding on your own. I'm very much a DIY type of person so I categorized it as one big DIY project but THIS, this was more than a mere Pinterest DIY or a design a sticker project. No, this involved a guest list, family drama, huge lists of what seemed to be impossible tasks, headaches, sleepless nights, more opinions than wanted and lots and lots of coffee. Oh, and in the middle of all this chaos, I was at the end of my bachelors degree program. 

Traditionally, before weddings, the family members of the bride and groom's parents rub a mixture of turmeric powder and baby oil on the married couple to be. This poses as a cleanse and a reason to start the party. This stuff does not come off easy! We were basically minions for a few days but it was definitely fun. 

Before the dye night, as they call it, we had Indian wedding-esque pictures taken with the whole family. It was amazing to see Anthony's family dress up in traditional indian wear and meet us at the park. I have actual professional pictures but this picture suits our personalities the best. 

Finally, September came around and it was time to party ! On September 3, 2016, I became a Geronimo and married my best friend and my high school sweetheart. Literally, the night flew by so fast it was incredible to believe that a year and  a half worth of planning was over in a couple of hours. The details, the music, the vision, EVERYTHING became a reality living outside of my head and it was amazing!

I did say there was a degree that came out of all this madness, didn't I? Well yes, a week later, as if we didn't celebrate enough at this point, I graduated with a bachelors of science in psychology. This has been many years coming along with many times of wanting to quit. There are no quitters here my crazy people, this is what we do, we work through it all and come out with what we want, success! 


I must say, accomplishments aren't accomplishments without your support system behind you. They may not always be there, but when you fall and hit rock bottom, the little screech you make, they can hear it from miles and miles away. I'm nothing without my support system, my family (yes, husband included). As a whole they might not always be in the best place or sometimes not even speak to each other, but thats what families do, thats what relationships are. Everyone sometimes needs a break. Most definitely, I would be nothing with out my parents, specially my mamma. This woman puts up with way more than she has to, so I strive to make her proud. And to my hubby, you've got my back and I got yours, I love you. I can finally say your my husband and threaten you anytime you drive me nuts! 

May 2017 bring double the accomplishments that 2016 has left us with. And to my family and friends reading this, NO babies yet, thank you very much! 

I cannot leave without this one picture, because its the best of all...

This was taken by one our our groomsmen, on an iPhone! 

ttyl- Faneeza 

Valentine's Day Yummies!

Valentine's Day Yummies!

Hey ! Welcome Back !

So, I am excited to say that Valentine's Day is tomorrow ! 

I hope you all are excited as much as I am. Just remember, Valentine's Day doesn't always have to be about loving your boyfriend, girlfriend, husband, or wife. Let's make this valentine's day about loving everyone around you ! This year my fiancé and i decided to spend valentine's day with my sister, niece and nephew. We are very close and we realized it's such an awesome idea. Why haven't we thought about this before ? I think society puts too much emphasis on Valentine's day being about boyfriend/girlfriend relationships rather than loving everyone. Anyways, lets get down to the Yummies! 

So this year I let time get ahead of me and didn't plan all to well, but these yummies came out great! (family members or in my case my fiancé make great test testers! lol) 

STRAWBERRY HEARTS <3

Ingredients: - two boxes of pie crust (the boxes I got from pathmark had two pie crust per box)

                    - one egg

                    - Jam (I used strawberry preserves, your choice) 

                    - fork, 1/4 teaspoon measure 

                    - heart cookie cutter (purchased mine from party city in a pack of three)

                    - powder sugar (optional) 

Process: So I started off by cutting the pie crust with the cookie cutter. When I got to the point where i couldn't cut another heart i just crumpled it up and rolled it back out and got to cutting. Once cut I add the jam on one side (1/4 teaspoon full and just a half of that more). The jam will spill out if too much is added. I put another heart on top of that press down on the sides then seal with a fork. Crack the egg, whisk it, and brush it on lightly to the top of the hearts. Make sure to add tiny holes in the middle so that the insides have a steam release. Pop in the preheated (350 degrees) oven for 20 mins and your done! They look like these below. 

OREO POPS <3

Ingredients: - Oreo's (Chocolate or Vanilla, your choice)
                    - Candy Melts (melting chocolate, I bought bright white)
                    - lollipop sticks
                    - sprinkles, sprinkles and more sprinkles!

Process: Oreo's need to be frozen for about 2-3 hours before you used them to make these. Make sure to pop the sticks in them before you put them into the freezer. Once frozen, start to melt your chocolate. This can be tricky because you can overheat them and at this point there is no turning back they are burnt! I recumbent 30 seconds intervals and once you see some of the chips melted just stir it should become liquid like, its ready. if you work fast you can take all of the Oreo's out of the freezer but if your a little slower like me, take them out one by one (I learned the hard way, some of the warmed Oreo's fell off the stick). Just dip in chocolate, take a spoon and throw some more over the part where the lollipop sticks go and dip in sprinkles. I used flat plates to place the sprinkles on for easy dipping. Easy 1,2,3! Set on wax paper to harden. I put mine in the fridge just so that it wouldn't melt over night. Here are some pics !

The chocolate will become smooth once you stir. 

Hope you all enjoyed ! Stay tuned for the next post to see what we surprise the kids with :) Don't forget to follow me on twitter (@fanamia_) and let me know what you think of my blogs as well as what you would like to read. Until next time,

-Faneeza <3