Posted by 2 Sisters 2 Cities on January 5, 2013

On New Year’s Day, my boyfriend I decided to start our new resolution of exploring California more. We decided to drive to Carmel which was only about 60 miles from us. It was a beautiful 60 degree day with clear skies and it seemed like the perfect opportunity to see some beautiful views. {Side note: I was not prepared for such amazing views. I just thought we would drive to a beach and take a few pictures. Oh no, it was so much more. There was 17 miles of beautiful views and 21 points of interest. Good thing we had to whole day to spend there! I was so surprised that every stop we made, the views were more beautiful than the last. You can see the progression below!}

At the entrance of the park, you have to pay $9.75 per car to get in and are given a map with all of the 21 points of interest I had mentioned.   You can follow the dotted red line on the road to follow along the 17-mile drive.
Point 1– Shepard’s Knoll- This is one of the highest views and you can have your first view of Monterey Bay and the Santa Cruz Mountain. (Still unaware of what is to come)

Point 2- Huckleberry Hills- Another High point with a clearer view of the water (Still oblivious.)

Point 5– BAM! Hello Pacific Ocean… How you doing?

Still at point 5- amazing. Now that I am looking at this picture it looks almost fake it’s so beautiful.

Point 6– Oh baby. I asked my boyfriend to kiss me on this bench… he just looked at me like I was weird.

Point 7– I can’t stop saying- OH MY GOD the water is so blue!

Point 8– China Rock and a random seagull

I call this one “Lonely Boy on the Rock.” Don’t worry, I am not just taking pictures of random men- that is my boyfriend!

Point 10– Bird Rock- There are birds and seals sunbathing on that huge rock out in the water.   Can anyone see the two birds that look like they are in a deep conversation is this picture?

Point 14– Cypress Point Lookout- So beautiful!! Oooo Mountains and Ocean…sighhh.

Point 16– The Lone Cypress- Pebble Beach’s Icon…Look familiar?

The sun reflecting off the ocean.   I love this picture because I swear it looks like I can see the curve of the Earth.

This picture is actually from my iPhone- that’s why it’s not as clear as the others.   We had lunch at the The Bench at the Lodge at Pebble Beach. This was our view from out table…   amazing!

As you see, we had an awesome time with some unforgettable views. There was so many pictures that I needed to weed though to come up with these I have shown you, as well as many points of interest that I didn’t show. If you ever have the chance you need to go to 17-Mile Drive in Carmel! You won’t be disappointed!
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Posted by 2 Sisters 2 Cities on January 3, 2013

Continuing along with M’s Favorite Posts from this year, I have a few posts to add that were my favorite. We appreciate all our dedicated readers and I am excited about all the projects and recipes that I will get to share with you in 2013. Here are my top five favorite posts of 2012:

1. Earlier this year I threw my boyfriend’s Mom a pink-themed 60th birthday party. I used all different shades of pink for all the decorations. It was a lot of fun to go to various stores to find things that would work with my theme. Even though the party was just a small and intimate gathering, putting in the extra time and effort in planning a theme turned out really well.

2. The Jalapeño Popper Stuffed Chicken is one of my favorite meals to make. It is so delicious and so easy to make.

3. I love these Garlicky Meatballs. These make it into our menu rotation once every few weeks. They are really easy to make as a quick weeknight meal. I make a whole batch and freeze half of them for another time. I usually make a batch of quick pasta sauce and pasta to serve with the meatballs.

4. My Trip to Costa Rica last Spring was my main vacation for the year. It was definitely an experience to remember and I love all the photos I took of the breathtaking views of the volcanoes, beaches, and wild life. My boyfriend and I also got really great pictures of us together that we have since printed and now hang in our home.

5. For my family’s Fourth of July party this year, my sisters, Mom, and I pulled together our creativeness while throwing our annual family reunion wiffle ball tournament and lunch. I was inspired by Pinterest for a lot of the ideas and had a lot of fun coming up with decorating ideas. We also got to try out a lot of fantastic recipes from fellow food bloggers!

2012 was a great year for 2 Sisters 2 Cities. I can’t wait to share more with you all in 2013!

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Posted by 2 Sisters 2 Cities on December 23, 2012

Then there was one!

We are down to our last cookie already and wow, has this month flown by! I am starting to get excited for the upcoming holiday and spending some time with the family. I haven’t really had any time off since my move so a few days to breathe and relax will be nice too. M and I were discussing how much we have to do for the holidays and she told me how she has yet to wrap a gift. I, on the other hand haven’t even seen a gift I have bought because I shipped it to everywhere I am going so I don’t have to bring them on the plane.

The last cookie is a cookie bar, and a delicious one at that. I have to admit that I don’t like make chocolate chip cookies for Christmas cookies because they are an everyday cookie to me. My boyfriend begged for this recipe and actually was head chef on these. I just helped melt the caramel and he did most of the baking. Guess which cookie has been the most popular so far? Yup, this one!

One Salted Chocolate Chip Caramel Cookie Bars

Author: 2 Sisters 2 Cities

Ingredients

2⅛ cups AP flour
½ tsp. salt
½ tsp. baking soda
12 tbsp. butter, at room temperature, plus a small amount for greasing baking pan
1 cup light brown sugar
½ cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 cups chocolate chips
10 oz. caramel candy squares, unwrapped
3 tbsp. heavy cream
Sea salt, for sprinkling over caramel and bars

Instructions

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F
Grease a 2-quart baking pan (11x7 baking dish) by spreading a small amount of butter on a paper towel.
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, salt, and baking soda.
Next, in bowl of a stand mixer, mix softened butter and both sugars.
Add the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla extract and mix until combined and smooth.
Slowly stir in dry ingredients and mix until combined. Add in chocolate chips.
In a large microwave safe bowl, combine the caramel and heavy cream
Microwave caramel on high until caramel are melted, stirring every 30 seconds for about 2-3 minutes, until mixture is smooth.
Divide the cookie dough into two. Place one half of the cookie dough into the pan, smoothing with a spatula.
Pour hot caramel over the dough in the pan. Sprinkle with sea salt.
Drop remaining cookie dough by the spoonful over the caramel layer. Spread cookie dough with a spatula until the caramel is covered. Sprinkle with additional sea salt.
Bake for 30 minutes or until the top of the cookie bars are light golden brown and the edges start to pull away from the pan.
Remove from oven and allow bars to cool on a wire rack. Cut into squares and serve.

Source- Adapted from Two Peas and Their Pod
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Posted by 2 Sisters 2 Cities on December 17, 2012

When I was growing up, my family had dinner together every night. We all had very busy schedules but we always made an effort to have dinner together. Now that I am on my own, I try to emulate this tradition with my boyfriend. Most nights I try to make dinner because we try to eat healthier and it fits in our budget. Making dinner every night can be tough because when I get home at night it’s 6:30-7 after a full day of working I am often tired, hungry, and not in the mood to cook. This is why when I plan our menu for the week, I try to pick simple and healthy recipes and leave one day open for Panera Bread. We love Panera because it fits into both our diet plans and is very affordable.

My favorite pick at Panera is their Broccoli Cheddar soup. I feel like this soup gets a bad reputation because it’s so creamy and delicious that it seems unhealthy. When you get the soup in a Pick Two combo with a Salad, it easily fits into my diet plan. I use the Panera website beforehand to look at the nutrition calculator and determine what I can order that is within my calories left for the day. Most days, I order the Pick Two with the Broccoli Cheddar soup and the Half Greek Salad. For sides, I switch it up between an apple, Baked Lays, or occasionally the oh, so delicious French bread.

Panera Broccoli Cheddar Soup

My boyfriend’s dinner of choice is the Pick Two with a half sandwich and the French Onion Soup. He usually has the Sierra Turkey Sandwich, but recently he has been getting the Big Kid Grilled Cheese with Bacon. He is a big fan of Panera’s French onion soup. He likes that the French Onion Soup is not as heavy with cheese like when you get it at a diner or restaurant.

Panera French Onion Soup

The great thing about Panera Bread’s soups is that the combinations are practically endless. With Panera having different soups available every day of the week, you can try a different type each day. Haven’t been in a while? Check out their soup page and daily soup menu. What’s your favorite soup at Panera?

Disclosure: This post was sponsored by Panera Bread. However, all opinions are my own.

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Posted by 2 Sisters 2 Cities on October 1, 2012

Greetings From Cali

So I have been MIA once again. I do have a really good reason this time. 2 Sisters 2 Cities is taking on a new city with New York sister K moving to the San Francisco Bay Area!

My boyfriend’s work gave him an amazing opportunity to transfer to their San Jose offices in California and we decided this was an opportunity we couldn’t refuse. We basically have one month to get everything ready. Since we made the decision, it has been a blur of cleaning, packing, job hunting (for me), finding an apartment, finding a moving company, and selling the things we don’t want to move.

We went out to the area this weekend to look for apartments and check out the area. Everything went very smoothly and we found an amazing apartment in a brand new complex. I am completely exhausted from the flight last night but I am recovering bit by bit.

There are a lot of changes coming down the pipeline that I am both excited and scared about. All of this change at once is completely out of my comfort zone and leaving my family and friends back on the east coast isn’t going to make it easier. However, I can’t wait to explore new areas, learn about a new city, and make friends on a new coast.

Does anyone have any tips for me about moving across the country and/or undergoing major life changes? Do you have any tips of things to check out in the bay area? Do you live in the area and want to be my friend (haha kidding…kind of?)

Be patient with me in the next few weeks. Once I get a new job locked down I will have a lot more free time after work to post. I can’t wait to share with you my experiences of a whole new area! Stay tuned for more California move news!

Posted by 2 Sisters 2 Cities on July 8, 2012

We are fully in the midst of summer and I wanted to share some fun summer party ideas! The theme for my party was actually a red, white, and blue Fourth of July party, but a lot of these ideas could be customized and used at any summer party.

At my family’s annual reunion, each year we have a wiffle ball tournament. For those of you that don’t know what wiffle ball is, it is similar to baseball/softball except played with a plastic ball and bat. You probably have seen them at the grocery store or Target/Wal-Mart during the summer.

My family is extremely competitive and the winners of the annual wiffle ball tournament get bragging rights all year. A few years ago, we started hosting the wiffle ball tournament at my parent’s house because of their large back yard and proximity to where everyone is staying. After the wiffle ball game, we then have a lunch for everyone.

This year, my mom and I started thinking about summer party ideas weeks before the lunch. We wanted dishes we could make ahead of time and pull together easily after the game. Some of the desserts are repeats of recipes I have posted about, but the rest of the recipes are new and I will post more details about them through out the week.

Our Summer Party Menu:

Lunch
Mediterranean Dip with Pita Chips
Tex-Mex Pimiento Cheese Dip with Red, White and Blue Tortilla Chips
Mixed Greens Salad with Strawberries, Grilled Chicken and Poppy Seed Dressing
Sliders with Cheddar, Colby Cheese or Plain
Baked Beans
Kielbasa with Caraway-Root Beer Sauce
Kettle Chips
Lemonade, Ice Tea, and Water

Vanilla Cupcakes with Buttercream Frosting
Sea Salt Caramel Brownies
White Trash Party Mix
Party Favors:
Sugar Cookies

Summer Party Decorations

I was inspired by Pinterest to make decorations for the party with a Red, White, and Blue theme since it was Fourth of July weekend. Earlier this weekend, I posted about the Pennant Banner that I made for the party. I hand-folded the stars in the background by following this post at The Gunny Sack.

For the flowers we bought red carnations and white filler flowers, and then cut lavender from my mom’s garden. We placed them in mason jars and tied red, white, and blue ribbon around the jars. Then we placed the jars in a red 2-tied basket.

For the napkins and silverware, I wrapped the plastic silverware in a white napkin and then wrapped a red or blue star napkin folded in half around the bundle and tied with the opposite color ribbon. I found two small red and blue baskets at Jo Ann’s Fabrics that I placed all the bundled silverware in and topped off with flags in the sides of both displays.

Here is a close-up of the flowers:

Outside we had two tables, chairs and a tent. I made confetti for the tables using a paper punch and some leftover red, white, and blue paper. It was a very windy day so we used tablecloth clips to hold down the tablecloth and taped down the confetti.

Simple, yet beautiful center pieces we made for the outside tables. We had to wait to bring these out to the tables because of the wind.

We had mason jars with ribbon tied around the rims and colorful patriotic themed paper straws all ready for my family to use as their drink glasses. The paper straws are from this cute store called Shop Sweet Lulu. I made homemade labels for all the food and drinks, which I will be posting about later in the week to explain how to make your own.

Another view of the island being set up for the lunch. I hung handmade paper garland from the lights by sewing together scalloped edged circles punched out with a paper punch (adapted from Nest Of Posies.)

The dessert table decorated with white tablecloth, red runner, and the handmade garland.

The drinks station set up on the counter.

The Mediterranean Dip with Toasted Pita Chips. Recipe to come soon, this one is a keeper!

The Tex-Mex Pimiento Cheese Dip before it went into the oven.
$Tex-Mex Pimiento Cheese Dip with Tortilla Chips$

After is came out of the oven, it was gone after a few minutes. Please don’t worry though- I have made it twice since because I wanted to get good photos of it cooked. The sacrifices that I make for our loyal 2S2C readers! Kidding- this dip is seriously amazing, I really have made it twice since, but it was by no means a sacrifice. Yum!!
Delicious Baked Beans, and yes, that is bacon on the top.

Sliders with your choice of cheeses or no cheese. I have decided that a slider is the perfect size burger for me. I was so full after one (and all that pimiento cheese dip .)

We had these really cute squeeze bottles filled with ketchup, mustard and mayonnaise and a bowl of dill pickle chips for the sliders.

Mixed greens salad topped with Strawberries, candied almonds, grilled chicken and poppy-seed dressing.   This is one of my favorite summer salads.

A tower of my classic vanilla cupcakes and buttercream frosting.

The cupcake liners are also from Shop Sweet Lulu. Love them! They really inspired me to keep the cupcakes simple with white frosting and flag toppers.

These Sea Salt Caramel Brownies were heaven! I am dreaming about them now.

The White Trash Party Mix placed in small polka dot red and blue paper cups, which we also bought at Shop Sweet Lulu.   I added patriotic sprinkles to this batch of white trash and I was so happy with the results.

Last, but not least, the sugar cookie party favors were given to everyone as they left.

This party was a lot of fun to pull together with my mom and sisters.   I know that Fourth of July has already passed, but many of these ideas can be translated into Summer cookouts or summer birthday parties. I can’t wait to share more details about the recipes and craft ideas from this party with you for the next week or two.   Stay tuned!

Posted by 2 Sisters 2 Cities on July 5, 2012

One of my favorite party favors to give out are decorated cut-out sugar cookies in plastic treat bags.   I have made sugar cookie party favors before for my flood party, my nephew’s 1st birthday party (picture below), and they were one of my 12 Christmas cookies last Christmas.

As you can see from my pictures, I am gradually getting better at making these cut-outs. I don’t have the steadiest hand when I am trying to pipe straight lines but I am definitely getting better and faster.

The whole process to prep for these cut-out sugar cookies started the Saturday before the party.   I made three batches of cookie dough and make assorted sizes of stars.
Check out this post for the recipe

Place cooled sugar cookies in stacks in airtight containers.   These will be iced the following day.

Pipe the edges of the cookies with royal icing.

I use a combination of table space and stacking cookie sheets while the icing dries.

Once piping is dried, you can start the flooding process.   I use squeeze bottles to make the process quicker.

Allow the cookies to dry after the flooding step. Once cookies are completely dried I like to pipe the edges again so they have clean lines, this part is optional.   Let cookies dry completely and then put cookies in airtight containers layered between wax paper.   Keep the cookies in the containers until the day before party.

To make the sugar cookie party favors on the day of the party, place the cookies in treat bags and tie with ribbons or twist ties. For this party, I placed three different size stars, in red, white, and blue and tied them with red, white and blue ribbon to go with the theme.

You can easily customize these cut-out cookies to match your party’s theme by the cookies cutters you select, how you decorate them, and how you package them together. For my flood party, I placed a boat cookie and an umbrella cookie in each bag and tied them with a silver twist tie. Then, for my nephew’s party I just placed one birthday cake cookie in each bag and tied them with bright polka dot ribbon.

One of my favorite places to buy cookie cutters is The Cookie Cutter Shop. Check out their cookie cutters to get inspiration for for your next party!

Posted by 2 Sisters 2 Cities on July 4, 2012

Happy Fourth of July everyone! I had quite the busy weekend preparing for a luncheon at my parent’s house for our extended family. Every year on 4th of July weekend, my entire family on my Dad’s side get together for a family reunion. We meet at retreat center in Syracuse that is only 20 minutes from my parent’s home. For the last two years we have hosted a lunch and wiffle ball tournament at my parent’s home.

With all of the blogs my mom, my sisters, and I read, we had a lot of great ideas for the party. I will be posting about the party for the next couple of days. This first post is about how to make a pennant banner which is something I created with Patriotic fabrics to be a decoration at the party. I was so pumped about the results, I want to make one for every holiday now!

How to Make a Pennant Banner:

Supplies
2-6 different types of fabric
solid thin ribbon (match fabrics)
Pennant Pattern
Pins
Fabric Scissors
Pinking Shears
Sewing Machine
Iron and Ironing Board

Iron fabric and then on cutting board, pin pattern to folded fabric and cut out flags. (I used straight fabric scissors to cut the top and pinking shears to cut the sides.)
If cutting out two layers on a fold, be sure to cut the folded line after to make 2 separate flags.

Cut as many flags as you need. I made 36 flags total, 6 of each type of fabric.

Iron the pennant flags, folding over the edge (line showed in pattern.)

With sewing machine, sew ribbon so that it is sandwiched between the fabric in the turned over edge, making sure to catch the ribbon in the stitch.
Continue with rest of flags putting them right next to one another and repeating the order of the fabric (ex. red, white, blue, red, white, blue, etc. )

Cut off excess folded over corners so that they aren’t seen from the front of the flag.

Hang up and enjoy! The best thing about the pennant banner is that it can be used over and over again. This patriotic banner is perfect for Memorial Day, Fourth of July, Flag Day, and Labor Day! You could also make a pennant banner for birthday parties, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Easter, St Patrick’s Day, etc. You could also color-coordinate the flags to match a baby’s nursery or child’s room!

Can you see my helper in the window?

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Posted by 2 Sisters 2 Cities on May 29, 2012

As you know, M and I are originally from the Syracuse area before our big city callings. Our parents still live in the ‘Cuse so we visit quite often (for our Mom’s amazing cooking of course.) One thing that Syracuse is known for is a barbeque joint called the Dinosaur Bar-B-Que. Both M and I took our boyfriend’s (now M’s husband) to Dinosaur on their first visits to Syracuse and of course it was a big hit to both. Every time we go to Syracuse my boyfriend wants to go the Dinosaur BBQ. What is funny is that they just opened one in Newark, NJ and have had one in Harlem for awhile, yet we only go to the original in Syracuse.

If you have ever seen the episode of Man vs. Food where Adam is in Syracuse – he goes to the Dinosaur BBQ and orders the Pork Sket Sandwich (pulled pork, beef brisket, coleslaw, cheddar cheese, and pickled jalapeños.) The last time I was there- I ordered this and it was soooo good but very huge. Over time, I have come up with a Dinosaur eating strategy so I don’t overdo it and go into a ribs/pulled pork coma (which has happened many times!) Whatever I order I only eat half and package the rest to bring home. The food always reheats easily and taste just as good the next day.

Here is the outside

We ordered some Wango Tango Wings as a starter- Sorry the photography is so bad. I was using my iPhone because I didn’t want to whip out my huge camera in the bar (plus the bar is pretty dark.)

Here are all their sauces they keep on the table. They sell these in the grocery store and they are so good. My favorite is the Sensuous Slathering Sauce, which is their barbeque sauce. I often bring home a bottle or two when I visit my parents.

Moist Towelettes are a must after those wings!

This is the Carolina Pulled Pork Sandwich with a side of their Macaroni Salad. It’s the most delicious smoked pulled pork with Sensuous Slathering Sauce topped with their special recipe of coleslaw. As you can tell from the picture- it is extremely messy and I can’t emphasize enough the tastiness ( I apologize for the picture quality again!)

Here is a look at the bar and you can see my boyfriend’s Mets hat. This area is usually packed with people waiting to be seated (We went to lunch at 11:30 to avoid the wait.)

See you again soon Dino!

Have you ever been to any of the Dinosaur Bar-B-Ques? What is your favorite thing to order there?

Posted by 2 Sisters 2 Cities on May 9, 2012

I got the opportunity to visit my boyfriend while he is working in Costa Rica. He brought flowers and wine when he came back to the hotel from work! ( I had to be creative about finding a vase, so I used our ice bucket with a bag liner.) They instantly made our hotel room more comfortable ( or maybe it was the two glasses of wine!)

My boyfriend’s co-worker and co-worker’s girlfriend were also in CR at the same time, so we were able to explore the country together. Better yet, they both spoke fluent Spanish, so we also had our own translators ( I took 5 years of Spanish in Middle/ High School and could only remember a couple of words- hola and gracias.)

The hotel we stayed at had really delicious breakfast every morning. I had an omelet, fresh orange juice, fresh pineapple, and coffee every morning. Here was our view while eating breakfast:

We rented a car so we made day trips everyday from our hotel, right outside of San Jose. One day we visited Volcan Poas (about an hour and twenty minutes away.) There was a $10 admission for each person, but it was well worth it. We put on our long pants and bug spray and hiked (more like walked because all the trails are paved) to the volcano’s crater. I was not expecting to see the crater so suddenly when I came to the first clearing. It was pretty smoky, so it wasn’t until after I got to the ledge of the lookout did I see this.

Yeah it was pretty sweet. Volcan Poas has the second largest crater in the world so this is pretty awesome. We then hiked to a lake nearby. Pretty…

Close to Volcan Poas are the La Paz Waterfall Gardens. This cost is $35 a person, but was also worth it be because there is so much to do there (it takes about 3 hours to see everything.). The lodge where you enter is very cute and has the coolest bathrooms with stone waterfalls for the sinks. It also has great views overlooking the rainforest:

We started with the wildlife section. There are different areas for different rainforest animals. The best part was the birds which were all around you when you walked through the area. My favorite part was the toucans. They were so cute and I got to hold one on my arm! There he is!

There were also parts for butterflies, hummingbirds, snakes (I avoided this one), frogs (ran through this one), jungle cats, and monkeys. The jungle cats and monkeys were caged separately so there were no real interaction with them. Although this place was basically a zoo, it was really cool to see all the animals of the area- especially the toucans!
Oh hi!

We then somehow got a ride on a cart pulled by two bulls. I am not quite sure how this happened since all the interaction was in Spanish, but we got a free bull ride (brought me back to the days of playing Oregon Trail.)

Next, we hiked to the four waterfalls, and once again, I use the term hike softly. We saw some really amazing views of the waterfalls and the rainforest. There was so many great scenes for pictures. M and I got so many great photos of us from our trip which is great because we do not have a lot of photos we love of us together.

We got very close to one of the waterfalls.

We finished the waterfall adventure at another lodge with a gift shop were my boyfriend bought me a toucan magnet and a little monkey ( yeah, I bet my nephew T is going jealous of my monkey because he loves him some monkeys!)

Another day we went to the beach on the Pacific side. This took us three hours to get to. It was overcast that day, so although beautiful, the beaches were a little dreary. We still went in the ocean and it was surprisingly warm!

Another day we drove about an hour and a half to another Volcano- Volcano Izura, which is still active. We found a small hotel that had a hot springs pool that is heated from the volcano. We also had our own tour guide, who showed us around the place.

The trip was a lot of fun and soon as you knew it, it was time to go home . :( There was many parts of the country that we didn’t get to visit because they were just too far to travel in one day. Even though, all the tour books and websites I read said how bad the roads were – they were not impossible to get around (or so it looked from the backseat:)). I would recommend staying at multiple hotels to be able to see and travel around the country more. We wanted to go visit the Arenal Volcano area on our last day but it was 3 and a half hours away and way too far for us to do in one day.

*Trip tip- The couple we were traveling with have traveled a lot and had a great idea to go to the local grocery store to buy food, snacks, and a Styrofoam cooler for our day trips to save money. We found a Wal-Mart (of all places) and stocked up on water, soda, granola bars, and snacks. They do this everywhere they visit.

Overall, it was a really great trip and it was very sad to leave my boyfriend and come back to the U.S. Although I did miss my apartment and my blog! Have you ever traveled to Costa Rica? If so, what was your favorite part?