This week marks the TENTH anniversary of starting my blog.  I cannot believe it’s been that long.  I am 50 years old, so I’ve been blogging for 20% of my life – so crazy!

I did a big recap last year – you can check it out here.  I am thrilled that my Chopping Block friend Sam has offered to hand craft a kitchen knife to one lucky reader – retail value $185!

You can check out Sam’s handiwork below – he not only refurbishes old knives, but hand crafts new ones as well.  I promise you it will become your favorite kitchen knife.  

To enter the giveaway, just tell me what state (or country?!) you live in.  Sorry, I can only ship to the U.S.  Good luck – I’ll pick a winner on Friday.

I was supposed to help Hannah’s friend move on Saturday, but it ended up being a cleaning day, and she didn’t move any furniture in yet.  My friend Jacky had invited me to her house, and I thought I couldn’t go, but when that fell through, I jumped in my car to drive an hour to Jacky’s house.  It was so fun and I got to meet a lot of great people – including Nick and Alicia who follow me on Instagram.  As I was walking up to Jacky’s house, a woman on the porch yelled “are you My Bizzy Kitchen?!”   

Alas, Jacky doesn’t like to be in my pictures OR stories, so this is the best I can do – her taking a picture of this delicious Korean BBQ burger.  This burger was so flavorful – it had a chili lemongrass sauce that was infused not only in the burger but in the sauce as well.  Topped with a tangy slaw and fresh cilantro, I can’t wait to make this again.  Jacky also made some of the leftover meat into meatballs to have as an appetizer the next day – love that idea.  Thanks for having me over Jacky!

Kudos to Jacky’s husband for grilling 😀

Sunday my friend Tia had an amazing party for her husband’s 40th birthday.  Through Tia, I have become friends with Christina below – I call her my Instagram daughter because she’s not much older than Joe and Hannah.  She’s super sweet, and lives near where I grew up, and I know this is just the beginning of a great friendship.  

Thanks for inviting me Tia – I had such a fun time!

Earlier on Saturday I took a poll on Instragram to see what people thought of those capri jeans I was wearing – I wasn’t sure if I was too old to pull them off, but with an 80% thumbs up – I bought them.  They are super comfy and I like how they went with that blue top. 

My Mom and Jacob’s grandpa came over for Labor Day yesterday.  When I have a meal in the late afternoon, I rarely eat breakfast – I had a couple cups of coffee and then made 1/2 a skinny quesadilla (1/2 low carb wrap with 1 ounce Trader Joe’s lite mozzarella) and was able to enjoy my picky plate appetizer and dinner.  

That below is the perfect combination – sturdy cracker, baked brie, hard salami and a candied jalapeno.  Yum.

Jacob’s grandpa brought over a pork belly a couple weeks ago for me to grill on my Pit Barrel Cooker. Holy balls, was this delicious!   I’ve never cooked a pork belly before, but I used Pit Barrel’s beef and game rub, and then let it cook low and slow for 4 hours, then let it cool an hour before slicing.  Juicy, and tender.  Yes, there is a lot of fat on a pork belly, but the meat itself is pretty lean.  

My plate – I also grilled some romaine for a salad, had macaroni salad, some red potatoes.  This was delicious, and I had plenty of leftovers for Jacob to take to his Dad.  #winning

Roman is about the most patient dog I know.  He doesn’t beg like Rummy does.  He quietly sits there and waits for anyone to give him an extra taste.  

I hope you had a wonderful long weekend!  And I want to thank each and every one of you who have stopped by my little corner of the Internet – whether you’ve followed for one week, one year – or some of you nearly all 10 years!  It means more to me than you’ll ever know.

Happy Tuesday my friends – make it a great day!