Binny's

Binny's is a local Chicago beverage shop. And by beverage shop I mean a place to buy wine and other sorts of alcohol-related drinky-drinks. I signed up for a Binny's card. It's kind of like a preferred shoppers club card. When certain wines go on clearance, you just hand over your card to the cashier and then, wham! bam! You get big discounts. I went through a phase of drinking cheap-o vino. But no more cheap wine! I got a $50 bottle of wine for $15! Yes, I did. Okay, you might think $15 is cheap, but it's really a $50 bottle. Binny's will no longer be carrying it and that's why it's on deep deep sale. It's a 2003 mix of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot from the Colchagua Valley in Chile. Zane would be so proud of me.

Oh and I must add...the Binny's store that's closest to my house is in a castle. Yes, a castle! Well kinda of a castle... I'll take photos next time I'm there which I'm sure will be soon.

Three Sheets

There's a show I started watching a few weeks ago called Three Sheets. I love this show! I might be borderline obsessed. It's hosted by Zane Lamprey and as Wendy Williams would say, "He's a friend in my head." Totally. We would so get along. I'm sure I'd be on his speed dial and he would text me daily. He'd send me funny pictures of his monkey Pleepleus. We would probably go out on all night drinking binges and high five each other a lot. What a great friend....

So the premise of the show is this: My buddy Zane travels all over the world to different countries and explores the unique drinking culture each place has to offer. I would classify this show as educational. I learn so much from it. They should show it in grade school really. Ha! The show also has these ridiculous sound effects. Like when someone is drinking something you hear "glug glug glug". It makes me laugh almost every time. The show has been on for 4 seasons and there's a bunch of episodes I still haven't seen. Thank goodness for DVR because I can record all the ones I haven't seen. I feel like if Zane ever needed a co-host, I would fit right in.

Stuff It! Stuff It! Stuff It!

So for the Christmas bird stuffing I used my mom’s recipe. I love this stuffing. I could eat it as a meal with just a little bit of gravy. SO good!

INGREDIENTS

1/2 bag of Pepperidge Farms Cubed Herb Seasoned Stuffing
1 bread stuffing loaf
Handful of parsley
Handful of celery leaves
2 eggs
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon poultry seasoning
4 tablespoons margarine
1 small white onion
1/3 cup chicken stock

DIRECTIONS

Clean your bird and rinse it out. I like to stand it up on the counter and make it dance around for a minute. It makes it taste better. In a large bowl add 1/2 bag of the herb-seasoned stuffing, about 7 ounces. Take the bread stuffing loaf and rip off little pieces slightly larger than the size of a matchbook. Lightly wet them under a stream of cold water (they will get a little mushy don’t worry) and put each piece in the bowl. Use the entire bread stuffing loaf.

Finely chop the parsley and celery leaves until you have a handful of each then dump them in the bowl. Add eggs, salt, pepper and poultry seasoning.

In a skillet on medium heat melt about 4 tablespoons of margarine. Finely chop the onion and sauté in the skillet for just a few minutes. Do not brown the onions or my mom will yell at you.

Add the onions and chicken stock to the bowl of stuffing stuff and stir well.

Take stuffing mixture and insert into hole. Put some under the skin too, that’s what I did here. Cook your turkey according to the directions and you will then have the best stuffing you have ever had ever!