Pizza Hut Connect Holiday Party ON A BOAT!


Andrew

Samantha

This year our Pizza Hut Connect Holiday party was on a river boat. But not just any boat, this boat had glass walls and a glass ceiling so you could take in all of the views as you floated around the Chicago River. I heard it was so new that it had been on less than two dozen voyages so far! Dallas went to the Cowboys vs. Bears game, so Kristin came along as my +1.

Chris, Esther

A bunch of the leadership team flew in from Plano and spoke briefly. Artie is the CEO of Pizza Hut and Carol is the CTO of Pizza Hut.

A lot of recognition awards were given out by different leaders. This is Laura, our HR Director, recognizing someone.

To my surprise, I was recognized by my boss’s boss, Chuck. I was literally taking a bite of my salmon, when I looked up and was like “uh, he’s talking about my team.” A few seconds later he called out my name to come to the front.

Steve, Chad, Jatan, Jerry, Mayur

Jatan, Sampath

Chris, Esther

Jeremiah and his wife, Emily

Umesh, Kishore, Vinay, Elric, Tanya, Tanya’s husband, Kishore

Samantha and her husband

Janet and her husband

Savannah and Carol

Marc and Jeremiah

Madhan and his wife


Madhan and his wife

LaShunda and Umesh

Jess’s friend, Casey, Allison, Jess

After dinner there was a lot of dancing! Members of my team, especially Kishore, pulled me out onto the dance floor! Jim, the owner of Quikorder, attended the party and he even got pulled out onto the dance floor!

 Umesh, Jessica

 Umesh, Vinay

Back: Jeremiah, Madhan, Kishore, Chris, Fred, Sampath, Peter, Sheena, Harish, Jatan, Tanya
Front: Vinay, Umesh, Kishore, Mayur, Esther
Back: Jeremiah, Madhan, Kishore, Chris, Fred, Sampath, Peter, Mayur, Harish, Jatan, Tanya
Front: Vinay, Umesh, Kishore, Esther

 Savannah, Andrew, Carol, Umesh

 Susan, Jerry, Carlos

Casey and her husband


Allison, Carlos, Jessica, Susan

Susan, Me, Esther, Guadalupe

Catherine, Casey, Susan

Jeff, Samantha, Tom

Fred and his wife, Kerri, and Peter

Erin, LaShunda, Chuck, Sampath, Kishore

Fred, Kerri, Baby #3

Vinay, Jatan, Sampath, Kishore, and Kishore

After our 3-hour boat ride, everyone got off the boat and walked into River North to go out some more. I walked with them for a bit, but then got a ride home to relieve the babysitter (Ms. Lauren). Great time. So much fun hanging out with everyone outside of work. I wished I could have stayed out longer.. but then the next day I heard some people were out until the sun came up, so I was actually kind of glad for an excuse to go home!

Maida Heatter’s Denver Brownies

I made these brownies for a football party we had. The Packers were playing the Cowboys and we had a bunch of people over to celebrate. Packers won! The brownies looked fancy, but were pretty fast and easy to make! I love the Maida Heatter cookie book. Can never go wrong with it!

This is the note that Maida wrote about the brownie:

“When my husband and I were on tour for my chocolate book, I made hot fudge sauce on a Denver TV program. As we left the station, the receptionist handed me a recipe and said, “Since you like chocolate so much, you should have this recipe. When Julia Child was here, one of the men in the station made these for her and she loved them.” They are fancy little bite-size chocolate squares with a layer of white icing that is covered with chocolate icing. They look like elegant candy – make them for a party. They freeze well, but they are not for packing or mailing.”

DENVER BROWNIES
From: Maida Heatter’s Cookies
Yield: 64 tiny brownies

Brownie
¾ cup sifted all-purpose flour
¼ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
1/3 cup honey
2 tablespoons water or black coffee
4 ounces (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into pieces at room temperature
6 ounces semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs
6 ounces (generous 1 ½ cups) walnutsncut into medium-size pieces (Note: I used toasted pecans)
2 tablespoons bourbon, brandy or rum

Adjust a rack to the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 325°F. Prepare a 9-inch square cake pan as follows: turn the pan over and cover it with a 12-inch square of aluminum foil, shiny side down. Fold down the sides and the corner of the foil to shape it, remove the foil, the pan right side up, place the foil in the pan, and carefully press it into place. To butter the foil, put a piece of butter in the pan and place it in the oven to melt. Then brush it over the foil. Set the pan aside. (Note: I used parchment, not foil.)

Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

Place the honey, water or coffee, butter, and chocolate in a 2- to 3-quart sauce pan over moderate heat. Stir until the chocolate and butter are melted. Remove from the heat. With a wooden spoon, stir in the vanilla and then the eggs, one at a time. Mix well. Add the dry ingredients and whisk vigorously with a wire whisk until smooth. Stir in the nuts.

Turn the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top.

Bake for about 25 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the middle just barely comes out clean. Do not overbake.

Remove from the oven and brush the bourbon, brandy or rum over the hot cake. (Note: I forgot to do this step!)

Cool to tepid in the pan.

Cover the pan with a rack, turn over the pan and the rack, remove the pan and the foil, cover with another rack, and turn over again, leaving the cake right side up. Let stand to cool completely and then transfer to a small board. (The cake will be ¾ inch high.)

White Icing
4 ounces (1 stick) unsalted butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar

In the small bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter until soft. Add the vanilla and then gradually add the sugar, beating well until soft and fluffy.

Spread the white icing over the top of the cake. With a long narrow metal spatula, smooth top.

Refrigerate.

Chocolate Icing
6 ounces semisweet chocolate coarsely chopped
1 tablespoon vegetable shortening (Crisco or other)
1 tablespoon unsalted butter

Place the chocolate, shortening, and butter in the top of a small double boiler over hot water on moderate heat. Cover until partially melted. Then uncover and stir until completely melted and smooth. Remove from the heat.

Pour in a thick ribbon all over the white icing, working quickly before the chilled white icing sets the chocolate. With a long narrow metal spatula, smooth the top.

Refrigerate.

To cut, the chocolate might be so firm that it cracks while you cut it. Either let it stand at room temperature briefly or score the cutting lines gently and carefully with a long serrated knife, and then cut through with a long, thin, knife cutting straight down, not back and forth. First trim the edges slightly, then cut the cake into eight 1-inch strips. With a small, sharp paring knife, cut each strip into 1-inch squares.

Place the brownies in a single layer in a shallow covered box, or place them on a tray. Be sure the chocolate is firm and cover with plastic wrap.

Dallas’s First Trip to Lambeau Field for Packers vs. Cowboys

fullsizerender-4
(null)
(null)
img_8992
fullsizerender-5
(null)
We finally got tickets to Packers vs. Cowboys at Lambeau field after trying for at least a couple seasons! My mom’s coworkers often have tickets for sale but until now we’d been unsuccessful. This was Dallas’s first time to Lambeau field and my first regular season game in probably like 15+ years. Since my brother and I scalped tickets with my brother on his 21st birthday. I’ve been to scrimmages and preseason games, but not regular season.

This was also Dallas’s first time tailgating in the neighborhood. We parked in some guy’s yard and then joined the party! So much fun! We had a great time before and during the game. I sat right by two Packers fans, the season ticket holders that my mom works with. And Dallas happened to sit right by a Cowboys fan. He was visiting from Mexico City! Actually there were a lot of Cowboys fans there.

Brett Favre was honored at half time and his name was added to Lambeau Field next to Reggie White’s. Pretty epic. This guy was my quarterback for almost half of my life, so I try to forget about the bad stuff and remember the great.

Too bad the Packers lost though! As of right now we’re still married though!

(null)

We made a weekend of the trip and stayed with my parents. My dad helped Makai carve a pumpkin and we all went out for dinner to watch the Cubs in the playoffs. And the Wisconsin game.

fullsizerender-1

Packers vs. Cowboys: A House Divided

IMG_9621.JPG

IMG_9625.JPG

IMG_9624.JPG

We had a full house with many friends coming over to watch the Packers vs. the Cowboys. Most people did not really care who won but knew the stakes were high in our family. Makai remained neutral, wearing a sweater with no logos, just a football on it. Nothing got too crazy. It was an exciting game and the Packers came out ahead in the end. I’m doing my best not to gloat.