dinner and a movie...and the dog park

- What just happened?! That's all I could think after Bob, Shannon, Adam and I left a late-night showing of Black Swan last night. It was the craziest, most disturbing movie I have seen in a long time. Shannon and I both agreed that it was edge-of-your-seat-fantastic, but I'm not sure the guys would agree. In fact, at one point, Bob turned to me and told me I wasn't allowed to pick any more movies! But I am certain it will sweep up the awards, and rightfully so...Natalie Portman was fantastic!

- Today, we met Adam, Shannon and Beauford, and Nicole and Etta for some fun at the dog park. If you've never taken your dog to the dog park - you should definitely check it out. This was Tanner's first visit and only Grace's second, but both seemed to really enjoy it. Beauford is most definitely the star of the dog park, but Grace managed to make a friend or two.

Etta and Tanner preferred to stay close to their mommas, but both explored a little - Tanner even tried to make a break for it when he squeezed through the chicken wire on the fence to catch up with a Boston Terrier!

- To wrap up this hodgepodge of a post, I made a delicious meal of Beef and Peppers tonight. It's easy and delicious - definitely a prerequisite to be on the meal rotation at the Somerville's!

Here's what you do:

Ingredients:
- 1 lb of beef for stew
- 1 green bell pepper and 1 red bell pepper, julienned
- 1 medium onion, julienned
- 16 oz. can of tomato sauce.
- Salt and pepper
- Elbow macaroni (I'm using half elbow and half bow-tie b/c that's what was in my pantry.)

(I skipped the red pepper this time around b/c they were really expensive at the grocery store - it adds great color though.)

Brown the meat, then add the peppers and onions to saute. Salt and pepper to taste. (I usually cut the meat up into smaller pieces as it's cooking.) Add 16 oz. tomato sauce and let cook on low as long as possible. This is one of those dishes that just gets better and better as it simmers. The longer it cooks, the more tender the beef will be. 

Serve over elbow macaroni with a good piece of bread and a little Parmesan. Enjoy!