Travel, Sangria, and Baked Jalapenos

This past week and a half has been a whirlwind of travel.  From Denver to D.C. to Jacksonville/Orlando and back to D.C. again.  Whew!  This week was rough after flying back home on 4 hours of sleep and then working a full work week.  There really just aren't enough hours in the day to get everything done!

A side note with all that travel: I think I'm done flying with U.S. Airways.  I've only flown two round trips with them, but every time something goes wrong.  This time their bag handlers tore my bag.  I don't even think it tore on the baggage conveyor belt; in fact, it looks like it was slashed with a knife or something.  I could have carried it on, but they had everyone in Zone 4 and higher gate check their bags because there was allegedly no overhead bin space left.  That turned out to be complete crap, by the way; there were a handful of completely empty bins.  Not only that, but in my experience they always board late, take off late, or delay your flight for "weather"-related reasons.  Every other airline I've flown with (United, Delta, Jet Blue, Copa, Aer Lingus, SAS, Icelandair) I have had, hands down, a much better experience.  At this point I'd rather pay the extra $20 to fly with someone else besides U.S. Airways.  Rant over.

Anyway, I visited my dear friend Lynn in Jacksonville and Orlando this past weekend.  Beach time was a must.  And I was introduced to the app Untappd, which allows you to "check-in" the beers you've tried and rate them.  It's great for keeping track of what you've tried.  Who knew this world existed?!

Now I'm currently unwinding and sipping on some homemade ice coffee.  Who needs Dunkin Donuts or Starbucks when you can make your own?  Two spoonfuls of sugar, milk/creamer, and coffee.  Voila.  That's all you need!

And since we're talking about food, it's time to share some photos!

I made white sangria for the USA vs. Germany World Cup game on Thursday.  (The USA got through to the next round, phew!)  Sangria is pretty simple to make and I modified this recipe from one I found on Buzzfeed.  For this recipe I used one bottle of Chardonnay, 1/4 cup of brandy, 1 cup of Trader Joe's Italian Blood Orange soda, 1 small can of ginger ale, and diced mangoes and strawberries.  I added a mint garnish.  Delish!

This is my second time making these Bacon Corn Salsa Stuffed Jalapenos.  I found the recipe on Baked by Rachel and oh my are they delicious!  And they have bacon in them, which is always a plus!