Cooking Club

Wednesday, July 13, I had a little dinner party at our place.  I'd come across Shauna Niequist's  Cooking Club idea on her blog.  Basically, it's a great excuse to get together with friends and learn to cook new things. 

Molly, Anna, Ashley Baronet, and me

SMoo, Kelley Caldwell and Claire

Each person brings a food item (already made) based on the theme (this time it was Italian).  Then you get to share the ingredients, how you made it and any tips or challenges you had. 



This was the first time I've put the leaf in my grandmother's table at the apartment, and I was able to use all seven of my plates!  (Yes, I could only find seven at HomeGoods.  But they were so cute, I bought them and have been on the hunt for another one ever since.)

Ashley brought salad with red onions, parmesan cheese and artichokes.  It was delicious.

Molly brought this tomato and cheese salad.  It was quite tasty!

We also had stuffed tomatos, bruchetta, biscotti with ice cream.  We had lots of tomato and cheese dishes, but that's what happens when you have an Italian theme! 

I made Adam's famous lasagna recipe, which became a team effort.  When I planned this Cooking Club dinner several weeks ago, I sent out an email for three dates, and then picked one that most everyone could attend.  What I did not anticipate or forsee was that this wedding planning taking up every afternoon after work, leaving little time for other things (simple things like grocery shopping). 

On the days that Adam is working, I try to do a lot of wedding things in the afternoon and hang out with friends and family at night.  I have tried super hard not to fall off the face of the earth just because I'm dating (or marrying) someone, haha.  His schedule makes it easier to have that balance in my life, so I'm grateful.  :-)  When AMP and I are together, we can do normal non-wedding things like feed the ducks, make dinner and work out.  (I try.  It doesn't always happen this way, though, especially as we get closer and closer!)

The day before Cooking Club, Adam went to the store and bought all the ingredients for me.  Then I came home from his place, and Claire sat with me as I made lasagna at 10:30 at  night.  The next afternoon, I was getting my hair and makup runthrough for my bridal portrait, so Claire stuck it in the oven before I got home.  Total team effort.  And I'm so grateful, because it meant a fun dinner with friends! 

Molly offered to host the next Cooking Club at her new home after she moves in!  I'm looking forward to getting together again with these girls and trying new things.  My guess is that Molly will choose either an Asian theme or a Mexican theme...we shall see!!

Weekend Six: Surprise Date

July 9, 10 and 11

We started Friday afternoon off with a dance lesson.  Claire is helping us with our first dance.  (Yes, we met two-stepping, but that doesn't always cut it for every song.  It was quite entertaining to practice in our living room.  (Pretty small for a dance floor!)

Claire is showing me my part.  I'm going to need a few more lessons.  :-)

After a Taco Salad dinner and watching Cats and Dogs 2, I could hardly keep my eyes open (not to mention that Dad and I had a late night the night before).  I have discovered that since turning 24, I can no longer stay up past 10:30 very well.  Does this mean I'm old??  I'd planned a surprise date for Adam on Saturday, and he got his first clue that night.  {I was going to print them out and make them cute, but my printer was out of ink.  Plan B.}

We made the trip down to Fair Park and discovered that parking alone costs $12.  No where on the museum's website did they mention ANYTHING about parking.  Lesson learned. 

We spent the afternoon there and saw learned about Chinasaurs,  DNA and Texas wildlife.  While we stopped to rest our legs, AMP got his second clue.  I'd gotten the idea for the Surprise date and Drive-In in Ennis from one of my favorite blogs, Today's Letters. 

The Drive-In movie didn't start until 8:30, but they said that spots fill up and such, so I wanted to make sure we made it.  Well, we did--7:00, and we were the third car in the lot for Cars 2 in 3-D.  Oh well.  This meant we didn't have to stand in line to wait for our food.  We loaded up on Reece's Pieces and popcorn later, too.

We brought our new fold-up outdoor chairs to sit in, and tuned in to the radio station to hear the movie.  Last month, Adam used part of his birthday gift card to Dick's Sporting Goods on a chair for each of us.  We realized this might be a good purchase when we went camping and ended up sitting on the picnic table bench while our friends lounged more comfortably in their chairs.  I felt like such an adult, (being prepared) unloading these from our car.  Ha.

The movie was really cute and very creative.  I (typcially) laugh very easily.  I knew it was a success when I heard AMP laughing next to me pretty often.  Victory. 

It was after 11 when we left to drive back, making it a late night for the fireman working the next morning.  I probably could've split these surprises up, but we have very few open weekends in the near future, so I just went for it.  Sometimes you just need to have a whole day of fun!

Sunday, Mom came over and we hung out.  She helped me hang up my clothes (thanks, Mom!) and we just enjoyed chatting it up.  No matter how old I get, Sunday afternoons always mean family time to me.  In college, I would typically hang out with a Waco family at their house.  This warded off homesickness most of the time.  :-)  Now, we're close again, and I love being able to hang with fam.  But I'm sure no one's surprised!

A Dad and Daughter Date

I'm attempting to catch up on blogging after working in Florida last week, so here goes...

Thursday, July 8, Dad and I went on a little date.  This is not the first date we've been on, nor will it be our last, I'm sure. 

You see, we started these when I was in elementary school.  My neighbor was in Indian Princesses, which was some sort of outdoorsy thing dads and daughters could do together.  In theory, it was great.  But not long after our first meeting where we chose "Little Bear" and :"Big Bear" as our Indian Names, Dad made a proposition to me.

The whole point was to spend quality time together.  We could do that with 20 other people, or, he proposed, we could go on dates just the two of us.  Well, being a lover of quality time with people in small groups, I instantly chose the dates.  And we didn't have to camp or anything (a win/win for both of us, I think!) 

So, back to our most recent date...

One of our favorite musicians is Marc Broussard, and he was playing at the House of Blues.  After dinner at Uncle Julio's (my fave!), we headed Downtown. 



You'd think that with all the concerts of Troy's that we sat stood through, we'd remember that nothing starts when the ticket says, and there are always opening acts.  Well, we didn't.  So we had some nice bonding time waiting out in the heat, and then we finally got to go in around 7:45, where there were two opening acts.  

We've escaped the heat and found our seats!

The opener for the opener, a Canadian girls group. 

In between acts, we talked a lot of music.  I'm so grateful that my parents instilled a love for music in both me and Troy.  We aren't really coordinated enough to dance well.  We aren't very athletic.  But we can sing and appreciate good music, and for that I am thankful.

Marc Broussard came on stage about 10:30.  He was really great!  He has a great stage presence, and he writes great songs.  It was a fun time with my Dad.  Here's to more Dad/Daughter dates!

Current Reading List

I thought I'd share my current book list.  For some reason, when I have very little to do, I don't read.  But when I have about a zillion things going on, I reach for a book.  Go figure.  My college roomies can attest to this, that when I got stressed, I would read.  Yet again, another reason I perplexed them, I am sure.  :-)  But I think I just like to have a little escape.  So this is what I've read recently...

Cold Tangerines by Shauna Niequist
Anna got me hooked on this book, full of short-story memoirs about celebrating life.  Her blog is similar, and Anna and I have both read through the entire thing a few times.  Seriously, her writing is just that good.

Bittersweet by Shauna Niequist
Yes, I'm hooked on this author and anxiously awaiting her third book.  This one is more about change and how it shapes us.  It's not quite as "happy" as her first book, but it is so good.  I can really resonate with this at the moment because my life is all about...change.

Found Art by Leeana Tankersly
I discovered this through Shauna Niequist, and I really enjoyed it.  This is her story of marrying a Navy Seal and the first year they were married and lived in the Middle East.  She talks about what she learned living over there and about re-entry into the "real world" when they came back. This resonated with me because I think she was incredibly brave to go around the world and live in a new place with a new husband and a new life, totally away from anything comfortable. 

Next up on my list are the Maisie Dobbs series by Jacqueline Winspear.  Maisie is a British psycologist and detective in the 1940s.  I love a series, and I've read the first three.  I need to do a little searching to make sure I read them in order, but it looks like she has about five in this series.  So good.

Ok, your turn.  What's on your reading list??

Wedding Details: Flowers, Cake & A Gift

On Monday, the actual Fourth of July, I ran some errands, worked out at the Station with AMP, and got to stay for dinner.  Several of the guys were asking me if I'd freaked out about wedding plans or if I was really stressed or anything.  Honestly, I haven't been (yet), and it's my goal to try and stay as calm as possible about things.  I think they're just waiting for me to crack!  

Later that evening, I caught up with Anna, and then went to see fireworks in Plano with the Flaggs and my mom.  Anna and I had a slumber party that night, and I learned about music on GrooveShark while she cleaned her room.  Occasionally, we like to keep each other company while doing this task.  I think we both inherited the I-don't-pick-up-my-clothes gene in our family.  {I'm hoping this magically disappears when I get married.  Ha.}  Laura made me a smoothie the next morning, which was a treat.  I keep telling Anna how lucky she is to have someone make her breakfast...I definitely miss that from being at home!

Tuesday was fun because we got several wedding things knocked out.  Mom and I spent two hours with a florist.  I so wish I had a photo with the 75-year-old, yellow pants and toupe-wearing man that we visited with.   (I realize this may cause some alarm as to what my flowers may look like, if the man I just described is designing them.)  He is truly so creative.  I started to describe what I wanted, and he began to draw.  It was unreal to me how he knew what I was wanting before I even finished.  I am so excited to see how things turn out!

That afternoon, Adam met us at Stein's Bakery for cake tasting.  We got to pick four flavors to try, and then we decided how the cake will look.  

Adam saw Mom in action firsthand, and said later, "She's really good at this whole thing, isn't she?"  Yes, she's a great question-asker/get-things-done person.  We are having a lot of fun planning the wedding together!  

They had this super-cheesy wedding cake setup that we all decided to pose in front of.  Gotta love the fake flowers.

Our gifts are being shipped to my parents, just because they have more space.  I brought our first gift with us so we could open it together.  :-)  

Here we are with our very own little canister.  

(That sounds sooo sappy.)

Hooray for long weekends and wedding planning.  Only 77 more days!

A Second Clue for AMP

Clue Number Two

A movie under the stars?

With other CARS??,

Sounds like a date!  

Summer Weekend Five: The 4th

This weekend was especially long because of the July 4th Holiday.  And, no surprise, I loved it!  It started off on Friday with a half day off, so after working from home that morning, I got to join our BSB moms for a birthday lunch.  Normally it's just a mom thing, but Allison and Diane were in town from Houston and making a surprise appearance, so I got to come so I could visit and meet Miss Madeleine!  

Madeleine is 8 Months old, and she is just precious.  It was a bit surreal to see a lifelong friend as a mom.  Allison's such a natural and super laid back, and I loved catching up with her.  I got to spend some quality time with Little M and get my baby fix. :-)   I realized later that I had that sweet baby smell on my shoulder.  Love it.

{I recently explained to Adam that holding a baby does not make me want one.  In fact the best part is being able to give them back.  However, usually being around a dog makes me want one.  So maybe we can go with a dog first.  Ha.}

Friday night, SMoo and I went to In-N-Out Burgers up in Allen.  We went early because we figured the line would be so long, but we were in and out (ha) in less than an hour.  I'd never been before, and it was really yummy!  I was really surprised at how inexpensive everything was and how they only had three choices on the menu.  After a trip to HomeGoods, we looked up the "secret menu" options online that you just have to know to ask for.  Pretty cool.

Now, don't let this photo fool you.  We didn't just head to the lake on Saturday and hop right on the jet skis.  Nope!  In fact, this was the first time we'd gotten any toys out this summer.  Everyone's been so busy that we haven't really had a chance to visit GBC until now.  

We got one jet ski out after charging the battery (you have to do that after they've been up all winter...and summer), and promptly got stuck when we turned it off to look at something in the water.  A nice (local...you can only imagine the colorful personalities!) group of people on a pontoon boat were nearby, so they towed us back to the house.  It took a while, but we made it back, and we were so glad they were willing to help!  Lesson learned: when you take out a toy for the first time, it's best to have a phone and a rope with you!

Here's Adam winning major favorite (almost) son-in-law points: he played games with Sheri.  This is one of her absolute favorite things, and if it was a love language, I'm certain she would have it.  Mom generally beats me at most things, so I don't like to play.  {I'm a great sport/daughter/competitor.  Not.}  BUT I did play the next night with them.   

After that, we all went to see Larry Crowne, and it was really cute.  The guy working the counter repeated several times, "Well, I've already clocked out, but I guess I'll stay and help my co-workers."  Oh Gun Barrel City.  Your professionalism astounds me.  

Sunday, I got to see Lyndsy!  It's been April since we've been able to catch up, and it was such a treat.  I can't wait for her to be back in Dallas from Austin when her internship is up so we can hang out again.  

Here we are finally out on the jet-skis after Adam and Dad worked most of the afternoon on locating batteries (they had to go to three places), and then installing them.  Again with Adam earning some points here...

While they were working on that, I was able to help mom with some computer things.  She is super-savvy when it comes to the computer (she has a Mac, y'all...and she knows how to use it).  But she usually saves up about several questions that she has for me or Troy and catches us when we have time.  I always like helping her figure stuff out and showing her shortcuts and whatnot.  She's a good little student.  :-)

We watched Fireworks Sunday night, and it was quite a show all across the lake.  Dad took this photo of us with our feet hanging off into the lake.  I love it.  

I still had two more days off (for realz), and we did a lot of wedding errands.  More on that later...

A Clue for AMP

Clue Number One

Let’s go where NATURE and SCIENCE collide,

To see where DINOs roam and old bones hide.

In the Country

We went up to Celina for a wedding back in May.  Adam was a groomsman, and it was out at a vineyard up there.  It took about an hour to get there, but once we did, it felt like we were in another country.  The sun was setting as we made our way from the rehearsal to the rehearsal dinner Friday night.  Adam got out of the car and took these for me.  I love the light in them.

{In the vineyards with Mr. Handsome}

Summer Weekend Four: Penguins, Parties and Parents

Have you seen Mr. Popper's Penguins yet?  AMP and I went to see it last Friday, and we both really enjoyed it!  We're not usually go-to-the-theater kind of people (we've only been to three movies together!), but I really wanted to see this, and I'm so glad we went.  Next up on our list is Cars 2, and we also want to see Larry Crowne.  Maybe we can hit some of these up while we're at the lake and it doesn't cost $20 to go to the theater!  :-)

Saturday, Mary Ellen came back in town, and she brought Lindsey with her, too!  It was fun to catch up and see them.  They drove up for Jordan's wedding (another Tri Delt) here in Dallas and stayed with me.  I borrowed my parents' air mattress and set it up in our third room/office.  It was a great excuse for me to clean that out and get it organized.  I'm not looking forward to packing this place come September!  {I don't think AMP realizes how much stuff I actually have.  Oh well!}

{Mary Ellen, Me, Jordan (the bride) and Lindsey at Baylor Homecoming last year}

While they were at the wedding, I went to a surprise birthday party for a friend from church.  It was fun to see them!  I didn't know it was going to be on the patio of a restaurant & was SO HOT.  But next time I'll know not to wear jeans there. :-)

I was waiting for them to come home and was already in bed when Claire and SMoo walked in to the apartment.  They came in my room and crawled in bed with me for about 30 minutes.  We had a great mini-slumber party.  I told them that I will definitely still need my girls' nights after I get married!

Sunday night, AMP and I went to hear the 86:12 Home Concert.  The kids sang all their songs and we got to hear some great stories from their week in NYC.  My favorite part was watching the parents of the kids as they were speaking or singing solos.  You could just see how proud they were.  

At the end when they were recognizing the music minister and youth pastor and saying thank you, the kids also stopped to thank Mom for all her planning.  She does a great job of delegating, but she is pretty much the logistical master-mind behind the trip.  She got a standing ovation and all the kids started saying, "Sheri!  Sheri!  Sheri!" from the choir loft.  The sweetest part to me, though, was watching Papa, who came with Jonita and the Flaggs.  He had tears in his eyes at this moment.  You're never too old to be proud of your kids!

We ate at Houlihan's for dinner that night afterwards.  Everyone was in rare form that night (as you can see from Mom's glasses), and I laughed extra-hard.  One of my favorite things is spending time with my family, and I love how Adam just fits right in.  It always makes my little heart so happy.  :-)

Photoshop Fun

I've been accused of being a slacker in the blog department lately.  I don't mind being given a hard time about this...it's just nice to know somebody reads this thing!  Here are a few photos from our Florida Family getaway that I never posted.  I also had a bit of fun in Photoshop.  Enjoy...

Troy decided that we needed to order Room Service one morning for breakfast.  So we did.  {He gets away with a lot!}  We enjoyed it out on the balcony of our room and had good conversations.  I especially loved this part of our vacation.

The Fab Four.

This was the night our family all met up for dinner together.   

Love them.

Summer Weekend Three: Father's Day Weekend & some recipes

As I mentioned before, we celebrated Father's Day with my Dad earlier in the week.  He and my mom left for New York City to take 200 kids there for a mission trip.  (There were also 30 other adults, but still...  That's a lot of kids!)  This weekend, I made two recipes from a cook book my Aunt Laura put together for me as a graduation gift.  It has lots of recipes from family and friends all in one place.  I love it!  I thought I'd share the recipes, so they're mixed in with this post.

Friday night, I made Lemon Roasted Chicken for dinner for me & AMP.  This is the third time I've made it, and I finally figured out the secret: use a small cooking dish, not a 9 x 13 pan!  It's not hard, but it does require a bit of chopping and you just need to be near the oven since you keep adding things.  (It's not one of those things you can just pop in and walk away!)

Lemon Roasted Chicken

Ingredients:

1 1/2 lbs. new potatoes, cut in cubes

3 T butter, cut into small pieces

Salt & Pepper 

2 lbs.  chicken tenderloins

1 lb. asparagus, trimmed and cut into 2 in. pieces

1 lemon (you can cut into wedges, or you can do thin round slices like I did, above)

6 sprigs of Thyme (I always forget to buy this at the store, and it tastes fine without it!)

• Preheat oven to 475 degrees.  Place potatoes and half of butter in a casserole dish & season w/ salt and pepper.  Do not cover.  Roast in oven, tossing once, until potatoes are golden, 20-25 minutes.
• Place chicken on top of potatoes and season with salt & pepper.  Roast until chicken begins to brown, about 15 mins.
• Scatter asparagus, lemon, remaining butter and Thyme around chicken. 
• Continue roasting until asparagus is tender & chicken is opaque throughout, 5-15 mins.
• Serve chicken, veggies and lemon drizzled with pan juices.  
• Serves 4-6

Saturday, we hung out at my parents' pool with Mark, Laura and Anna a bit.  Their pool has gotten more use this summer than in the 10 years we've lived in that house, combined.  It's a popular place to be!  It was a fun day to relax and hang out.  We are appreciating the Flagg Family's donation of pool floats to the house, most definitely.  :-)

We went on a date to Carrabba's that night, too.  Yum!  I felt all gross from being outside, so I took my time getting ready.  Adam came and knocked on my door and asked what I was doing.  He said, "Um, are you ok in there?  What'cha doin...it's been 50 minutes?!"  I laughed and informed him that really that wasn't very long for a girl going on a date to get ready!  :-)  I needed to feel girly, ok??

Sunday I sang at church.  This is one of my absolute favorite things to do.  Mark, Laura, Anna, Papa and Jonita came, and it was a treat to get to have them there.

Then Laura hosted Father's Day lunch for us, grilling steak and chicken kabobs.  Anna made fruit salad and I made Nanny's peach cobbler (recipe below).  

{Mark and Papa get new clothes for Father's Day}

I spent the rest of the afternoon hanging out with them while they watched the PGA Tournament.  I just did some wedding-idea browsing on the computer.  It was so nice to be around family and just hang out.  Have I mentioned that we love having the Flaggs back in D-town?  We do.

Here's the peach cobbler recipe.  Nanny won first place with this recipe in the "Mrs. Lubbock" contest.  We are so proud.  :-)

Shirley's Peach Cobbler

1/4 lb. margarine

1 c flour

3/4 cup sugar and 1/2 cup sugar 

1 1/2 tsp. baking powder

3/4 c milk

2 cans sliced peaches (29 oz size)

Cinnamon

• Melt margarine in 9 x 13 pan.  
• In a large bowl, mix 3/4 c sugar, flower, baking powder & milk.  Pour mixture over butter.  
• Spoon both cans of peaches over the mixture.  Save the peach juice.
• POur half to one can of juice over everything in the pan until mixture is covered.
• Sprinkle additional 1/2 cup sugar over mixture
• Sprinkle cinnamon over the top.
• Cook at 375 degrees uncovered for 45 minutes to 1 hour.  Best served with Blue Bell Vanilla!