Something to remember

My mom forwarded me some pictures from the dinner in the sky website. Apparently you can rent this service, and time any where, as long as there is an appropriately sized surface that can be secured.



What a unique way to celebrate, the table holds 22 people, great for an intimate rehearsal dinner, or small wedding party. Just make sure to limit peoples fluid intake...

Little Bites

We hope that everybody survived the holidays and had a wonderful and stress free New Year. We had a good month, but are really happy that it is over. New Years was really laid back as we moved back into our house after some plumbing issues, and had Curt and Bonnie over to dinner while they were gearing up to leave for their wedding. We are so excited for all that this year has ahead and are so happy to share in this great time in so many peoples lives.

photo from cupcake bake shop

As part of my daily, weekly and monthly blog tour that I do from my PowerBook I like to look at a series of inspirational food blogs. I have a dream of doing a smaller version of my own on this site. More to get us on a more stable path to eating healthy and at home on a regular basis. I am thinking that it might be motivation for us if we know that we made a commitment to cooking all the recipes from our favorite cook books and sharing them with all of you and how they turn out. That being said, at this point it is just a dream, but an achievable one. One of the sites that I like to visit is Cupcake Bakeshop. There is a featured recipe every month, always unusual and always well styled. I love the little paper cups that they use to bake the cakes in, just the rite amount of sweat and such a nice turn from the standard. Any of you who have had my cupcakes knows that I love to try and use other non traditional papers for the cakes.

Creat Your Own Cookbook

I am so excited about this new site that I found via another one of my favorite food blogs, well really my favorite food blog. The blog is 101 cookbooks and an amazing resource. Heidi's food is amazing, and she published her first cookbook earlier this year and it is where I go to first for recipes these days.

So the new find is TasteBook.com, this site is just so great. It enables the user to create their own hard bound cookbook. You can choose from ones that have already been compiled, Heidi has one, which is great and made up of her favorite recipes from her past years of blogging. Or, you can create and publish your own family recipes and upload photos to go along with them, I think this is such a great gift. When you purchase a cookbook you receive 100 recipe credits, much like in itunes if you purchase a gift card. You can then edit already created books, so that you are only receiving recipes that you want. The site is also paired with epicurious.com and you can search through their data base of 25, 000 recipes. The book is made so that you can take out, and insert recipes as you need. So when you order a book you do not need to use all of your credits as once, you can order them as you need or find them. I cannot wait to create my own and give it as gifts...


Also, JP received a really lovely voice mail from his Dad yesterday that he shared with me and it was really uplifting, heart warming, and gave us a little wedding cheer that we needed. I just wanted to share that tid bit, because it really meant so much to us.

We hope that everyone is having a good and cheery holiday season. Ours has not been that crazy yet, but in saying that, we have plans every night from Wednesday to Sunday... and it just keeps going from there.

Family time

It has been about a week, well exactly a week since our last entry. We have been busy with family and wedding arrangements. My Mom came into town on Tuesday afternoon and we were off and running on Wednesday at Hitched in DC, our first bridal salon. We had a wonderful experience there and found a dress that we both loved.

Wednesday morning we also picked up all kinds of goodies as Atwater's in Belvedire Square. We love this place and could eat there for every meal. They make wonderful breads, all from certified organic flours ground at a family mill, and with great additions like grains, nuts, fruits and seeds, all organic as well. They also make splendid soups that are different each day. While I was enjoying my lunch there a few weeks ago they had order forms out on the counter for Thanksgiving treats that they would be offering. Let's just say that I might have gotten a bit to excited and ordered a bit to much for the four of us, but we are moving through it all quite well and it should all be gone by the time that my parents leave tomorrow morning. Just in case you were wondering here is the run down of what we got. One quart of lobster butternut squash bisque, amazing but rich. One quart of roasted fall vegetable minestrone, i heard it was good, but there were a few to many veggies in it for me. A brioche, huge, we are still plowing through that, I might cut it and freeze it for french toast on some lazy Sunday morning. There was also a round of cranberry and walnut bread which was a great hit and we are going to pick some up for my parents to take home with them. And the finale were three pies. The first was a sweet potato, second was an apple pie with cheddar cheese crust, and the third a pecan pie, not to gooey or sweet, just right and the first pie to be finished as well.

On Thanksgiving we went to JP's grandparents house for lunch and my parents were able to meet his family. We had a really nice time and enjoyed being with family and friends.

Friday we had the misfortune of going to a bridal salon in Pikesville, Maryland, a suburb of Baltimore. The place was horrible, very uninviting, overall really creepy. My Dad said that it was like being at a used car lot. The sales woman was trying to pressure me into buying from them and did not listen to anything that I was say in regards to what I wanted. Needless to say we left quickly and without a dress.


Saturday was much more productive. We all went to brunch at Golden West in Hampden, a neighborhood in Baltimore that JP and I really like. JP lived there for two years and I am currently working at a store there, but more about that later. We then went to Chelle Paperie, and met with Katie about our invitations. We all loved what she had come up with and are really excited about the finished product. I know that I have mentioned the store before, however I just found there blog and it is really nice so that is the link that I used for this mention of the store, I suggest that you check it out.

After the the invitations we trekked down to DC to go back to Hitched to show Dad the dress that I am in love with. He put his stamp of approval on it, we did measurements and in a few months, well about 6 we will have a dress! I am so excited and cannot wait to see the finished product.

Today we are cooking the turkey that my Dad transported from Missouri here on Thursday. It is a heritage Red Bourbon turkey, they are very tasty and we are all excited to sit down to a turkey dinner, again.

Cheers