The End Of The Beginning

Happy Tuesday everyone! What a crazy few weeks it has been! I am so excited to announce that I started a new job this week. It’s with a smaller firm then my previous position but I am heading up the marketing department here. Day 2 and I can happily say that I already feel that it’s an improvement from where I was before. Everyone has been so welcoming and I’m excited to really stake a claim here. The best part about this position is that it’s only 2.7 miles from my house; you can’t beat a 7 minute commute! I think the only thing I’ll miss from my last position is Mrs. Nittany Lion, my co-worker and best friend, but seeing as how she is a bridesmaid in our wedding I know I’ll be seeing a lot of her in the coming months!

So this past weekend we went to the Tim McGraw concert at Jiffy Lube Pavilion in Bristow, VA. It’s a really great venue for outdoor concerts, especially country ones! Saturday couldn’t have been more perfect, there was an excellent breeze that made tailgating so enjoyable and we had pretty fantastic seats. Tim put on a great show, he played most of the crowd favorites, however he did leave out a few that we were looking forward to! Here are some pics from our tailgating fun :) Anyone notice the grump-a-lump in the background in the first picture?!

I also wanted to share this amazing steak marinade that I made on Sunday when my sister and her husband came over for a bbq! I actually have made it twice now, once with t-bone steaks and once with thinly cut strip steaks. Both times were delicious! I put the real recipe below, however I noted the elements that I changed!

1/3 cup soy sauce (I used low sodium)

1/2 cup olive oil (I used extra light virgin olive oil)

1/3 cup lemon juice (I used fresh squeezed)

1/4 cup worcestershire sauce

1 1/2 tbsp garlic powder

3 tbsp dried basil

1 1/2 tbsp dried parsley flakes (I used cilantro flakes instead)

1 tsp ground white pepper

1/8 tsp cayenne (I just did 5-6 shakes from the bottle)

1 tsp minced garlic (I used 1 heaping tsp of chopped garlic)

I would highly, HIGHLY recommend this marinade, the second time around I marinated the steaks for 24 hours, definitely too long with such a strong mixture, I would say to marinade no more than 8 hours (as was recommended in the original recipe!) They were still delicious but you could tell that it was just a bit too much flavor. Anyway, I hope you enjoy! :)