The last group of peaches were invited to dinner. These peaches wanted to be the star of the show, but became best friends with some tomatoes, peppers, and spices, and decided to share the spotlight with them. Together, they made a salsa worth filling up on.
And thus concludes the story of the little box of peaches that found a nice home in our hearts, and bellies.
The second group of spunky peaches were made into a pie. This pie was not without obstacles. Being 70% juice, the peaches started out by resisting their new pie occupation. But with careful preparation, and a prayer as we placed it in the oven, the peaches came together again, this time to make something that forever will remind me of summer.
These poor peaches were orphans. Can you believe that at one point in their sweet lives, they weren’t wanted? My little heart breaks. Thankfully, they were taken in by the most wonderful family, and with a little help, they went on to become amazing things. The juiciest peaches mixed with an inordinate amount of sugar, and became jam. The jam became part of breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and will continue to sweeten our lives even after the seasons change.
I was on my way home from work last week and this car not so gracefully cut me off to merge into my lane. I was about to get upset but I couldn’t because this car reminded me of the day I got married to the girl. It was the same make and model that I rented the weekend of our wedding and it’s the car that we first rode in as an officially married couple. So any white Toyota 4-Runners out there, feel free to cut me off any day!
The best way to start a morning that marks the first day of the 2013 college football season is with a big cup of coffee. In a Longhorn mug. #HookEm
So there are two things that most influenced the summer of salads: 1. A new cookbook. 2. A Rachael Ray magazine that I stole (not maliciously) from work. I am really exploring outside the normal tomato/cucumber/green pepper standard. Getting more creative with my lettuce every day.
There was the orange, radish, and jicama, with ginger dressing.
Green apple, cheddar, and dried cranberries.
Tomato, bacon, and avocado. (Always a yum combo)
Strawberries, blueberries, almonds, and goat cheese.
Peaches, steak, red pepper, and goat cheese. (super cool work lunch at my desk)
Let me know if you have a fav combo that I need to try!
How great are these lighthouse stamps? The colors are so amazing. Write a letter today!
And then every stamp I used in a wedding related project came together to mail one letter to Canada. Teamwork.
So of course, we are incredibly thankful for all the wedding love and support. We feel so lucky and blessed. But why didn’t anyone mention to me how grueling writing thank you notes was gonna be?? I spent a whole weekend making the actual cards, while racking my brain of all the different ways I could say thank you, we appreciate (insert house item here).
So I took my inspiration from the masters- our grandparents. They write the most wonderful handwritten cards, with just random stories and tidbits. So thank you, everyone, for all the thoughtful gifts and love. And also, please enjoy all our random stories about the new house, the seeds I just planted, the dolphins we saw on our honeymoon, and our new blinds.
I like to imagine that my plants are happy to see me when I come home from work. Inside, they are like little puppies wagging their tails because I am, finally, home. We also have a silly puppy that does that, but I know the plants feel that way too. We are getting quite the collection of little green guys placed randomly throughout the house.
I think since cakes are mostly for special occasions, we don’t get a whole lot of chances to practice making them. Just a birthday every so often. Cakes are unlike cookies in this way, since you can make cookies just because you don’t have any. Cake is not a ever-replenishing resource.
This cake was all the way homemade, and the special occasion was that I was at home and we were almost out of pie. It is a peanut butter cake, with a thick chocolate cream filling, with a generous heaping of chocolate butter frosting on top. Betty Crocker does not mess around with chocolate frosting. I am not a huge frosting person, but I could eat that stuff right off the spatula.
guy and his girl 