happy mother’s day!

have i ever told you about my mom? she’s pretty great.

she calls me her “favorite” because she read somewhere that you’re not supposed to do that to your children. so, she’ll leave me messages on my phone that start with “hi my favorite, it’s your mom…” and i’m sure any eavesdroppers are totally appalled. she thinks it’s funny, though, because i’m an only child. so, i am her favorite.

happy mother’s day, mom. you’re the best little mom in the entire world and my favorite.

 

Picture Post: A California Christmas

Since Brian and I got a fancy new camera, we’ve both been taking more pictures. Here are some that I took on our recent trip to California for Christmas. The first is a sunset taken from the beach in front of our house. Ah-mazing.

The house we stayed in is on the far right. It was so cute – an old, 1920s beach ranch once owned by Rudy Valentino.

This picture was taken right outside our house – isn’t the falling apart tire swing sort of neat?

And since we were in CA, we saw some surfers (on Christmas Day, of course).

Also taken on our Christmas Day drive:

{in case you can’t tell, that is a fish, not a bone}

{i know it’s a little whitewashed, but I kinda like it}

While we were in CA, we went to see the Getty Villa, which was stunning. Brian took this amazing picture, which will likely find itself on our walls.

Our house, from the beach, a little more close up:

Another beautiful sunset…

My cute parents:

Pretty great trip – I can’t believe it’s already behind me. At least I have these pictures – what a difference a good camera makes!!

Did you go anywhere fun for the holidays?

 

Christmas Baking

We are going to be spending Christmas with my parents this year and as has been the case since I was a little one (well old enough to wield a mixing spoon), I will be in charge of desserts. I thought I would share with you what I’m planning to make in case you are looking for some last-minute recipes!

My plan is to make cookies for the week and then a fancy dessert for Christmas dinner.

Cookies in my family are tough because Brian doesn’t really like chocolatey cookies, my mom doesn’t like super sweet confections and my dad always wants the cookies his mom made growing up. So I’ve decide to make three kids of cookies, so everyone can be happy (gosh, I’m so nice, aren’t I?).

Despite his lukewarm feelings towards chocolate, Brian loves these chocolate chip cookies.

Source: macheesmo.com via Natalie on Pinterest

 

They’re the ones whose dough I mention in my ‘about me’ list – I keep it in the fridge so I can make a few at a time (and occasionally eat for dinner). I follow the recipe to-the-tee. They are amazing. For real. A-M-A-Z-I-N-G.

For my mom, I’m making peanut butter cookies, with a little twist. I take a basic PB cookie recipe and right when I take them out of the oven, I stick a mini Reese’s cup in the middle. It’s like those peanut blossom things, but waaaay better. ‘Cause the Reese’s stays soft and sorta just melts in your mouth… mmm…

Source: joythebaker.com via Natalie on Pinterest

I use Joy the Baker’s Flourless PB Cookie recipe as a base, but I add some things to it to make it extra chewy. To her recipe, I add:

1 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
1 tbsp flour (you can omit if you want to go gluten-free, but I think it makes the cookies super chewy)

I use a teaspoon to drop the cookies on a cookie sheet (they grow a lot, so I think it’s better to keep ‘em small). Bake them for 8-10 minutes. While they’re baking, unwrap lots and lots of mini Reese’s cups (some will be for nibbling while you work). When the cookies done  baking, pull them out and smush a Reese’s cup in the middle of each one.

You can also do this in a mini muffin tin a la Iowa Girl Eats. I like the look of the drop cookies, myself, but they would be tasty either way!

My last cookie will be my grandmother’s Toffee Whites, which have nothing to do with toffee or anything white and I can’t tell you anything about them because the recipe is closely guarded. {For real, my aunt was only given it after she had been married to my uncle, my grandmother’s son, for 15 years.} Maybe I’ll share a pic with you once they’re made… maybe…

And for Christmas dinner, Nikki’s Bread Pudding. She doesn’t have the recipe up on her blog, but maybe if we bribe her she’ll share it with us. It is soooo good and includes a delish homemade caramel sauce… mmm…

I hope to share pictures of all my Christmas baking adventures next week, but in the meantime, what are you making for the holidays? Anything secret family recipes up your sleeve?

Thanksgiving 2010

As I mentioned yesterday, Brian and I are hosting Thanksgiving this year.  That’s right, in just two weeks, my parents, Brian’s parents, and Brian’s brother are all eating a meal I will prepare in my kitchen and serve in my dining room.  This is terrifies me and elates me all at the same time.

I’m nervous because:

1) we only have four chairs
2) I’ve never made a turkey before and
3) there is a chance no matter what I make, I won’t live up to my own ridiculously high standards for a Thanksgiving meal.

However, the thing that is keeping me going is the fact that my whole family will be here and I’m pretty sure they’ll love me even if I totally mess up Thanksgiving (I mean, at least it’s not Christmas).

So, in preparation for the big day, I’m going to be testing recipes to decide which are going to make an appearance on my Thanksgiving table.  Thankfully, I have a rough idea of the menu I want:

Turkey
Gravy
Stuffing
Potatoes
Sweet Potatoes
Greens
Salad
Cranberry Sauce
Dessert(s)

Since hosting Thanksgiving is a pretty grown up thing to do, I think it totally makes sense for me to subject all of you , my dear readers, to the various recipes I attempt.  Though, just to warn you, I’m not planning to make a turkey before the big day (I like to live dangerously).

Hope you enjoy!

 

Happy Engage-aversary!

One year ago yesterday, Brian proposed.  If we weren’t saving up for a million and one other things for our house and future, I would totally be getting him this:

{from Uncommon Goods via Unplggd}

Thanksgiving with my *NEW* in-laws!

While I’m waiting to get the professional pictures from the wedding, I thought I’d tell you a little about my first Thanksgiving as a Mrs.

First of all, it was the last part of my almost month-long vacation (which started with the wedding) and Brian and I spent it in his hometown with my new in-laws! While this was not my first Thanksgiving with his family, it was my first as an “official” member of the family.   Happily, it was just as wonderful as it has been in past years, with some fun little newlywed-related things sprinkled in…

His mom kept asking people if they’d met “her daughter” (i.e. me)

(This picture is of me and my then future mother-in-law right before it became official!)

It was the first time I was introduced to someone as Brian’s wife

(This is right after we were pronounced “husband and wife” – Brian’s parents are in the foreground with their backs to the camera.)

We played Trivial Pursuit for nearly 5 hours, which was full of (mostly) lighthearted teasing, silly guesses, and Brian’s brother kicking our butts.  It was great – like I was part of their family all along…

(Image is from Amazon.com)

Even though I’ve known Brian’s family for quite a while now, it was wonderful to spend the holiday with them and know that this is now my family, too.  Something to really be thankful for…

How did you guys spend your Thanksgiving?  I hope you had a good one!

Home Sweet Home

I’m back from my three week hiatus from my real life and I am intrigued to discover that despite my near-perfect wedding and blissful honeymoon, I am super happy to be home.

I missed my bed like you wouldn’t believe.

I missed Chambers tackling me when I come home for lunch.

I missed talking to my parents whenever I want to (I called my dad today to just ask him one question.  It was great.).

I missed all the office chatter (and being around girls, who actually want to hear me go on and on about my attempts to make chocolate chip cookies).

I missed sipping coffee while watching GMA in the morning.

I missed working out (I know.  I’m truly shocked about this one.).

I missed my enormous, really unattractive sweatpants.

I missed my cookbooks and using my kitchen.

I missed So You Think You Can Dance.

But the best part about missing all this is that I never once missed Brian because he was there with me at the near-perfect wedding, he was there for our blissful honeymoon, and he’s here with me now.

Sitting next to me typing on his own computer… it’s good to be home.

My new toy!

For my birthday this year, my parents gave me a “digital video recorder” (apparently they’re not calling them camcorders anymore… who knew?).  I am so excited about it!  I remember watching short videos of me as a child and I can’t wait to use this to capture all the fun (and really exciting) things that go on in my life.  I recorded the below video as a thank you to my parents (and so they can ooh and ahh about how smart their grandpuppy is):

 

Thanks mom and dad! xo

Brian and I

I was just reviewing my blog and though it really is starting to take shape, I realized there are zero pictures of Brian and I! Here are some of my recent ones along with some oldies (but goodies):

(a friend’s wedding in December 2008)

 
(Connor Formal at Davidson in 2004)

(Thanksgiving 2008)

 
(at the Biltmore, 2007)

 
(another friend’s wedding in October 2007)

And just because Brian is just so gosh darned cute, here is one of my favorites of just him:

(Brian in his Vero Beach Dodgers uniform, 2006)

  

And who can resist Brian AND Chambers…