Summer

The truth is the summer is my least favorite season. The sweltering heat, the dryness in the air, and the total lack of any creativity on my part. Being that August in upon us I figure I can start some new projects and get myself ready for a super crafty fall!
 In the past six years or so I have found that i really enjoy cooking. I watched this movie a few months back called Julia and Julia and it really was inspiring! The whole idea of cooking through an entire cook book seemed an impossible task and yet over the years many of the best cooks I know swear to this method. I haven't fully committed to this project yet but believe me I've been looking through my cook books trying to decide where to start. This is a definite possibility!
  I feel that I am a pretty decent cook being that my teacher was none other than the famous Grammy! I swear that everything that woman has ever made has been amazing. She truly has a knack for all things cooking and gardening too! I just feel that i have found myself stuck with the same 20 or so recipes that I know by heart. I think cooking some more complicated dishes will make me a better cook and spice up our weekly routine a bit! I plan to spend the next few days searching through my collection of cook books to chose one to start with! More to come...
 

The Challah Project

Challah is a bread that I was introduced to about five years ago and must say I find just fabulous! Not that bread in general isn't most peoples weakness but Challah is something completely different. Its sweet because its made with honey and is a wonderful treat in the morning with great cup of coffee or even as french toast (our favorite).

Its one of those things we have had a million times but I had never considered making it. Until now..... 'DUN DUN DUUUUNNNN!!!!'

I found a recipe online that seemed fairly simple. Its pretty basic as far as bread making goes. So heres the recipe!

• 2 1/2 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
• 1 tablespoon active dry yeast
• 1/2 cup honey
• 4 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 3 eggs
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 8 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1. In a large bowl, sprinkle yeast over barely warm water. Beat in honey, oil, 2 eggs, and salt. Add the flour one cup at a time, beating after each addition, graduating to kneading with hands as dough thickens. Knead until smooth and elastic and no longer sticky, adding flour as needed. Cover with a damp clean cloth and let rise for 1 1/2 hours or until dough has doubled in bulk.
  2. Punch down the risen dough and turn out onto floured board. Divide in half and knead each half for five minutes or so, adding flour as needed to keep from getting sticky. Divide each half into thirds and roll into long snake about 1 1/2 inches in diameter. Pinch the ends of the three snakes together firmly and braid from middle. Either leave as braid or form into a round braided loaf by bringing ends together, curving braid into a circle, pinch ends together. Grease two baking trays and place finished braid or round on each. Cover with towel and let rise about one hour.
  3. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
  4. Beat the remaining egg and brush a generous amount over each braid.
  5. Bake at 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) for about 40 minutes. Bread should have a nice hollow sound when thumped on the bottom. Cool on a rack for at least one hour before slicing.
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If you're fortunate enough to have a kitchen aid mixer this is a great time to bust it out... unless you're like me and have it sitting on your counter because you use it every day!

Once you have added so much flour your mixer looks like its having an a mini seizure on your counter its time to actually do some legit work. Roll up those sleeves and throw the remainder of the flower on the counter and start kneading the crap out of it until its smooth and not sticky... half way through my awesome kneading Craig looks at me and says.. Are you seriously wearing your ring while your doing that babe? haha... yes... yes i was. what can i say.. just another moment of my pure genius.

hahah ... yeah. i did. it was super fun picking the extra sticky dough out of all the tiny prongs.... awesome.

So after about a ten minute upper body workout kneading the dough you braid it and end up with something that looks like this

coat it with a beaten egg. Pop that amazing creation into the oven and........ POW! you should end up with something that looks like this... maybe even better... dont judge me, its my first time...

Pizza

Im not a big fan of pizza.. never really have been, Craig on the other hand cant get enough of it. I know it seems almost un-American of me but there was just something about the canned tomato sauce, greasy cheese, and lack of nutrition that kept pizza off my list of favorite foods. This was just the kind of thing to invoke my creativity and find a solution to keep us both happy.

I had read up on making pizza dough and kind of lost interest when it seemed overly involved. Then this week while on my weekly Trader Joe's run, I came across their brand of pizza dough for $1.29! I bought it and figured if I knew I had everything in the house to make an awesome pizza I probably would, so off to the cheese section I went! I came home with Motzerella, ricotta, parmisan and a fabulous pesto!

I sliced up some garlic and crushed a red pepper my sister grew and dried for me and we were ready to make pizza! I even found a jar of artichoke hearts in my cabinet and figured i could use that too. I have to say, I found that stretching the dough into a perfect circle was damn near impossible so Craig and I had a sorta rectangular pizza. . . . it was special like us. ha. It was easier that you could imagine once I won the battle with the dough. Pop that bad boy in at 450 degrees and 15-20 minutes later............ BAM! Awesome pizza, happy fiance, easy clean up and something pizza related I could actually stand to eat that didn't remind me of living in student housing.. so all in all- new recipe NAILED! Go me. Now go buy all this stuff so you can make this and be happy too..

The wedding.

Blogging is something I have always struggled with. I find myself so busy sometimes I don't have even a minute to compose my thoughts. This seems to be even more so the case in the last year since Craig and I first got engaged. However many of our friends and family are always asking what the latest news is so I figured this would be the easiest way to share that information with them and whoever else is interested!

So far we have selected the date as May 25th. It is a Friday which at first we were not sure was a good idea but after some discussion we decided this was best so we could have the rest of the weekend to spend with our wonderful family and friends! The Venue we picked is absolutely beautiful and we couldn't be happier! It is a place called the Villa in San Juan Capistrano. The building is very old and has a wonderful history. That was something that was very important to Craig and I. We knew we could have a ballroom wedding anywhere, it had to be someplace special, someplace that speaks to the creative, nostalgic and eclectic traits we both love so much in one another. We found just that.

The next thing we can check off our lists are the bridesmaids dresses. Those are picked, ordered and payed for! I went with Jamie (my maid of honor) to look for dresses and we ended up at this great place called celebrations where we found the perfect dress... I have to say I'm very lucky.. all of my bridesmaids are stunning and would look good in a paper bag!

Sandy has been hard at work the last week looking for a place to have our rehearsal dinner that could accommodate the entirety of our wedding party as we do not want to leave out our out of town guests. She succeeded as I knew she would. She found this amazing seafood grill with an outside patio overlooking the marina that the perfect size for our group ! The menu looks amazing!

Last Sunday Craig and I went to Bloomingdales to register for our wedding gifts. We had so much fun picking out all the things we want to have in our home together. I couldnt help but think about the fact that some day ill be feeding our children meals in the dishes we were picking, making birthday cakes in the cake pans i found, and serving our families holiday meals with the cookware we wanted. It was a wonderful moment, I was able to stop, take it all in and revel in what an amazing adventure we are embarking on, what a wonderful man I had by my side. We spent three and a half hours there.. I felt so bad for Craig, he was a total trooper though. We got through just about everything. Just a few more places to go.

Well thats all for today on the wedding. Ill keep everyone posted as more plans are made and more decisions are made! Thanks everyone for you're ongoing interest, love and support! XOXOX