What I Crave

I am in love with this bench from Pottery Barn - we almost bought it last fall, but for some reason decided not to...however, that was a mistake. The timing is not right for the bench to be purchased now, but I am literally collecting change and saving for it!! Our bench would be in black and go beneath our organization wall system in the kitchen. I'd probably do silver/metal baskets instead of wicker.

I'm also craving the rug above - I love all the colors and how it's whimsical but yet still classy. I will have it someday!!

Protector of the Catnip

Here is our baby, Kiki, protecting the precious catnip that she loves to lay ON TOP OF and eat whenever I'm working in the flower beds. :-) This picture is about a month old, and the catnip is now about 4 times the size with adorable purple flowers all over it! I'm excited because I saved the Gerbera daisies from the slugs, bugs, etc., and now they're all huge, healthy, and flowering. My poor marigolds have not met such a fate - they are completely leafless right now :( Not sure why - we bug sprayed again today, but I am thinking it's something else. Let me know if you have a suggestion!

Summer = Peaches

I've spent the last few evenings working on a little side gift for my future cousin, Bethany, who is getting married this Saturday in Naperville, IL. We're all making the trek to the wedding, and I'm looking forward to seeing the whole family together. My gift (aside from the check they'll get) is a collection of good, classic recipes that Bethany can use - she is a self-proclaimed NON cook, so I figured I would pass along some of our favorites/best ones that she may want someday. It's actually quite time-consuming to write them all out (just don't want to type AND printer is down) and I keep adding more to the pile of my favorites! If I typed them, I could always print them out for all the future newlyweds...hmm...maybe that's an idea.

Anyway, after a morning of tutoring and taking the Jeep in for some maintenance, I decided to take advantage of the super lovely peaches that I found at the store...and make some peach cobbler. It's tart and sweet at the same time, and is EXCELLENT with whipped cream flavored with vanilla and cinnamon...a great summer dessert. Unfortunately, a lot of it will go to waste in our house - we are one-serving dessert people...so my parents will most likely get the rest. I always seem to do that to them! I thought I'd share the recipe - I am not sure where it came from, but I've had it for several years. It's been popular in the past...so enjoy!

**Oh yeah - and how about strawberry shortcake and blueberry pie for other classic summer desserts?? The pie recipe I have is great, and I'll share it during blueberry season, but the shortcake recipe I'm keeping secret a little longer. :-)

Peach Cobbler
Filling:
6 large peaches, cut into medium slices (not too thin)
1/4 cup sugar
1 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
1 tsp. cornstarch

Biscuit Topping:
1 c. all-purpose flour
1/2 c. sugar
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
3/4 stick cold, unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1/4 cup boiling water

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Toss peaches with sugar, lemon juice, and cornstarch i a 2-qt. nonreactive baking dish. Bake in middle of oven for 10 minutes.

While peaches bake, make the biscuit topping...stir together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Blend in butter with your fingertips or a pastry blender or 2 forks, until mixture resembles coarse meal. If it gets too thick or hard to do, pop it in the fridge for 20 min. Stir in water until just combined.

Remove peaches from oven (keep oven on) and drop spoonfulls of topping over them. Sprinkle a little sugar over the topping. Bake in the middle of the oven until topping is golden, about 25 minutes. (Topping will spread as it bakes.) Serve with whipped cream and vanilla ice cream - serves approx. 4-6.

THANK YOU

Special thanks to Roy, Adam's dad, for getting our booties in gear, regarding our Thanksgiving visit to Plano, Texas for the holiday weekend. Greatly needed and much appreciated. I will be an official "Hubner" when I sit down for turkey dinner!! :) Yay!

Things I Love Today

Well, today I love several things...thought I'd share. Rainy days make me want to sleep, read, be cozy, and think...
I recently pulled out my all-time favorite book, A Walk Across America by Peter Jenkins. I can read it over and over again, and still love it...check it out.

Adam's quirky sayings...he and I have different meanings for the words "cottage" and "cabin." I feel that a cabin is some lodgy place in the woods with old, rustic woodsy furniture. He feels that any residence on water or in the woods is a cabin. We are always correcting each other on this, playfully, and today he was on the phone and was correcting himself. It was cute. Sounds dumb I suppose, but it's just one of the many things I love about him.

Good friends - it's funny how many times you have the realization of who your true friends are. There are times when some people just don't come through for you, and unfortunately that's just how life is. However...my true friends have been there for me more times than i can count, and I love them for it. See pics above.

Pasta. I love it and crave it almost every day. I'm not a sweets person, but I am a pasta person. Tonight I'm using the basil I've been growing, as well as my new food processor (well, new at Christmas from mom and dad) to make homemade PESTO that I'll put on pasta and feed to Adam and I tonight. I've been excited about this all day.

Our home. I try to never take it for granted, and to steal the words of a co-worker, "I crave my house." Adam and I love being home.

The many times throughout the day where I'm grateful for such a supportive, kind, calm, loving, romantic fiance...I'm spoiled beyond belief and he is wonderful. :-)

Great Movie to Rent

We just watched Dan in Real Life, with Steve Carrell and Dane Cook - actually, even more of a great cast, too...it was a sweet, sweet movie and refreshingly NOT raunchy, weird, dumb, etc. Steve Carrell plays a more serious role (although he obviously makes you laugh at times,) and he is very, very good. I even cried a bit!!

I highly recommend it, and so does Adam!! :)

Other Bloggers...

I have to share a few websites/blogs that I love to read when I have a minute - I am always impressed with the photography blogs, and the bakerella blog has a lot of good recipes - awesome!!

A wonderful, local photographer - she is THE hot thing, according to the girls on theknot.com!
http://amycarrollphoto.blogspot.com/

Our awesome wedding photographer, Terri - beautiful photos and beautiful person!
http://www.terrigillisphotography.com/blog/

I just love this one, as she often posts recipes!
http://www.bakerella.blogspot.com/

Napa Crunch Salad & 4th of July!

Happy July 4th!!
Adam and I spent two wonderful days at my mom's cottage this weekend, and we had a great time sitting in the sun. We played bean bags (well, Adam did) and rode the wave runners and pontoon! My sister was in town from Chicago with her boyfriend Tyler, and my brother was there too. On Friday, my mom's friend Suzanne came for the day, and we really enjoyed talking with her and squeezing incriminating "Karen" stories out of her - which were actually not all that incriminating after all. :) On Saturday, my uncle Bob, Kerri, and Angie were there, and we had fun playing with Angie in the water and taking a very exciting pontoon boat ride. :) I was able to assist my mom in making dinner both nights, and the salad was such a hit (and it is whenever anyone brings it) - so I decided to post the recipe for my version. Someone brought it to our neighborhood party this summer, and it was repeatedly talked about there, too. Enjoy!

Nappa Crunch Salad
Salad
1 head Nappa cabbage (yes, there are 2 p's) shredded
1 bunch green onions, sliced
1/4 cup margarine or butter
2 pkgs. Ramen noodles (any flavor), broken into small pieces (crush in bag before opening)
**note - do NOT use flavor packets
3 oz. slivered almonds
1/8 cup sesame seeds

Dressing (you will not use all of it)
3/4 cup canola oil (I always take a little away and sub with sesame seed oil - just a bit)
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup cider vinegar
2 tsp soy sauce
1/8 tsp black pepper

1. In a large bowl, combine cabbage and onions
2. In frying pan, melt butter over medium heat. Add Ramen noodles. As noodles begin to brown, add almonds, then sesame seeds, stirring frequently. When everything is golden brown, remove from heat; allow to cool completely.
3. For dressing: in jar with a tight fitting lid, combine oil, sugar, vinegar, soy sauce, and pepper; shake well.
4. When ready to serve, add browned noodle mixture to cabbage. Toss well with dressing.
**NOTE - you will not use all the dressing! Less is more with this salad.

On the 4th of July evening, we watched the fireworks from the sports deck of Plaza Towers (downtown GR) with Kurt, Brandi, Aaron, Erin, and KC. We tried to have dinner somewhere downtown with Erin and KC beforehand, but we found that the majority of the restaurants downtown were completely closed!! So weird. We ended up eating at The Woods and it was actually quite good. After the fireworks, we went out for a drink and I had an absolutely terrible headache, so we left and went home. I believe it was a migraine, as I've never experienced anything that bad before!

It's now Sunday, and in about an hour, we're headed out to Aaron and Heather's for a beach day and a cookout for an early dinner. Adam has decided that I have to apply his sunscreen from now on, as when he does it himself, he still burns quite ridiculously...we'll see how he handles day 3 in the sun today! I watched him do it, and I believe the problem is that he's just too fast...he rubs it on himself at lightning speed!! Really. I tease, but Adam is such a good sport about pretty much everything...whatever plans we have or end up making last minute, he goes with the flow and has a good time - no complaints. What an awesome guy. :)

Great Night!

Today I spent some time cooking and preparing for our family cookout on the 4th of July at my mom's cottage...I put myself in charge of the salads, with my mom making most of the other food!! We're heading to the cottage on Friday morning, and then meeting up with friends Friday night in downtown GR...should be a busy day and I'm hoping to get some sun!!

Tonight I went to dinner with friends from work, and then we went to Jillian's house afterward and talked and had some wine...we had a great time, and it was good to see my work buddies again. I spend literally hours talking to them every day during the school year, and then when summer hits it's like we don't even know each other!! So, needless to say, it was great to hang out tonight. Jillian and her husband BJ do some amazing things through their church and mission trips to Guatemala - such unselfish giving and such great role models to others...impressive. :)

I'm currently watching the Tigers and Adam is on his way home...the first baseman for the Mariners is Richie Sexson, who we met in San Francisco last summer - we were eating lunch at the bar of a restaurant, and he and a few other players were next to us - I knew he was a pro athlete upon glancing at him...giant guy and just looked like it...he was in SF for the all-star game. I love celebrity sightings. :)

I wish Adam would hurry up and get home, because I can't stand being home alone at night, when the windows are open; I'm a bit of a scaredy-cat!! Kiki is not going to protect me, I'm afraid. :) The other night I looked through the window that overlooks the deck/is next to our loveseat - and I saw an eyeball looking back at me. It was probably someone's dog, but it freaked me out and I can't stop looking outside now. I would like to think it was a ferocious coyote ready to attack me and Kiki, but I am thinking racoon or dog in reality. Still - freaky. At least it didn't look human! The girls from work suggested we get motion lights...but that might freak me out more than usual, which I probably don't want!

I want to wish everyone a wonderful 4th of July - enjoy the day and respect the freedom that our country has earned!! Safe travels and God bless! :)

Wedding Stress - and Garlic Bread Recipe!

Today was full of major stress - first, we had another "snag" with our wedding invitations - and then it dawned on me, after speaking to several wedding-related people, that I was not at all prepared for decorating the wedding ceremony or reception...I guess I was assuming things would be taken care of for us (microphones, candles, etc.) - but when I stop and think about it now, it just doesn't make much sense and of COURSE I need to plan for that stuff!! Anyway, it's on it's way to being all set and I figured things out and sent more emails...it's just a lot of planning and preparation. Plus, cake and florist need to work together, coordinator and chair cover person need to work together, invitation designer and photographer need to work together, etc...it is a lot of coordinating, if you ask me!! Anyway, my next step is to complete the addressing/assembling of the invitations, get postage on them, and go to Ikea for a few cute details!!

**I have to thank Jim, the fabulous man that is creating our floral masterpieces as well as the catering manager for our reception - he had great ideas today and made me feel awesome and comfortable!!!**

I think my problem is that I don't have a certain style or theme for our wedding - I look at so much of what I like online, which is usually postings from other people's blogs/websites, and I like a mismatch of styles - I love vintage, glam - but also traditional, classic - as well as funky, colorful, retro...but I think our wedding will be pretty classy, traditional, fancy with touches of other styles.

Today I took the June calendar off the wall and put August up!!! I can SEE the wedding date now!! It's crazy how fast it went (the engagement.) I am so glad we didn't wait longer to get married - I would go nuts! I want to be married like, yesterday. :)

Tomorrow I'm off to the beach with my friends, bridesmaids - and I am looking so forward to a day of girl talk, relaxation, and laughing. I feel like when I'm home during the day, I don't laugh much (at least not as much as I did when I was teaching!!) - speaking of teaching, I had the pleasure of seeing the lovely Venckus family today, including their adorable daughter Gertie. I am tutoring her in reading and some math this summer - it's so much fun. She is awesome, and I loved what we worked on today!! I told Adam the other day, that I was missing teaching...and I do! I am surprised it took me until July - but I am ready to meet my new group of kids and start fresh and make some learning happen!

Here's a great recipe for Cheesy Garlic Bread - I received it from my friend Katy years ago, and made it for the first time, when the fam was over for dinner last Friday night, and it was a hit!!

Cheesy Garlic Bread
1 medium loaf French Bread
1/2 cup butter, soft
1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese
2 cloves garlic, halved
1 Tbsp. dried parsley

Slice the bread in half, lengthwise so you have two long pieces. Rub slices and top of loaf with garlic halves. Mince garlic. Combine with butter, garlic, parsley, and parmesan in a small bowl. Spread butter mixture between bread slices and on top. Wrap loaf in foil, leaving top partially uncovered. Bake until heated through - about 15-25 min at 375' - peek to make sure butter has melted. Cut in 1 inch intervals and serve!