2nd annual voight christmas party

okay - time to get serious and focus back on christmas.

the second weekend of december was the second annual voight christmas party. this year, it was a little more "homey" since i have had some time to make my mark on the house (last year brandt had just moved in and it was still very "bachelor").

we had many wonderful friends and family stop by over the course of the evening. after several days (okay, so maybe since thanksgiving) of decorating, making and planning - here is how it turned out!

the living room (note the new mantle we added just the weekend before!)

got this idea from a magazine (sad to report, milo has since discovered this and ate one of the presents!)the hot chocolate station in the nook!chocolate peppermint martinis!the spread, atop the christmas runner i made (there are bells hanging if you can't see!)we had to move some things around to create some space - the empty plate was waiting for a warm plate of the miller family traditional "spicy bites" an awesome feta/hummus/cream cheese/veggie spread that brandt ate by the loadred pepper/asparagus crostinis (in shapes of stars compliments of my mom's tools!)

my favorite (and new) creation - cream cheese stuffed black olives - aka christmas penguins!

something other than christmas

i know - that seems crazy and absurd! i love christmas.

but i also love my amazing husband who just sent me flowers while i am here in tampa for work! it was not only a great surprise, but a well needed note of encouragement.

so though i believe we should fully embrace the spirit of christmas beginning immediately after thanksgiving, i also think i need to take a moment from posting about our cute christmas cottage and remember the amazing man who makes help me make that house a home.

it almost makes me feel bad for wearing flip flops today and him having to order pizza for dinner tonight. almost...

aint it a beauty?

below is the official 2009 voight light display installed by mr. voight himself (with the assistance of his own vanna white holding the extension ladder sturdy!)

this year, i am proud to say my husband made it to the VERY top with the lights! perhaps he was more skilled this year as a "husband" instead of a "fiance"? didn't he do such a great job?

i am waiting for the time to come when we have inflatable christmas characters and flashing lights all over...shucks, my own mr. griswold

best sleep-talking story EVER

and may be one of the shortest stories you will ever hear me tell. it goes like this...

2:30 a.m., thursday morning

brandt: I LOVE THE LITTLE MERMAID!!! (said in an almost defensive tone)

p.s. he swears he has never seen this disney classic before...

'tis the season!

the only change from when i took the two photos below is that our tree has almost ALL of our gifts under it now (wrapped of course!) i just love this wine rack more and more each day and season! what else to post, you ask? photos of the outside lights of course....perhaps tomorrow! for now, you can find me sitting on our couch each night, staring at our cute little home :)

almost december

it is almost december and officially time to begin basking in joy of the christmas season! yesterday we picked out our tree (named doug) at sullivans, which has become our tradition over the last three years , and got him all gussied up. the perfect day was topped off with some hot chocolate in a new (belated part of a wedding gift) "V" mug!

it is official...

they are friends!

shaggedy shag

...is actual name of the rug we purchased [finally] for our bedroom. slightly odd, but i'll take it...considering it is fun to say and oh-so-soft.

after positioning and re-positioning the rug, we have finally figured out how to optimize the room layout and the dimensions of the new rug.

milo seems very happy about this new purchase. as you can imagine, we made sure to stick around this time to mediate, in case the bedroom rug said something nasty to the poor innocent dog (as it turns out, shaggedy sag is nothing like that mean oriental living room rug).

you see, adding rugs to the house not only helps keep in heat and make us look like more pulled together homeowners, but it helps the little buddy on many aspects of life. for example, before life with rugs, milo couldn't chew bones -the little boogers would slip right away. he also couldn't take immediate naps in the middle of the room because it was too cold of a surface for his prissy self. needless to say, i'm not sure what this dog will do if our next house has carpet...

i always did love horses....

this past sunday night we were lucky enough to go to the infamous colts v patriots game with some of our friends. needless to say it was a night full of emotions (and good company!) and is something that i'm pretty sure brandt will credit his "lucky" jeans to for the years to come.

our friend megan is a wonderful photographer here in indy and documented the whole night on her blog - check it out to read up a little more on our crazy night and see some awesome photos.

for your immediate gratification, below is the one photo taken with my iPhone...does anyone know what is about to come? oh yes, yet another shameless plug for that new digital SLR for christmas....i mean, it is slightly embarrassing when you compare quality :)

if you are still thinking about "man-poo"...

...you aren't alone!

our weekend trip to evansville was full of some great blog talk. as it turns out, many people really enjoyed the man-poo post from a few months ago.

as it also turns out, many people now think of us/brandt during their daily shower regiment....in a not-so-weird-or-creepy-way. i enjoy the fact that we can challenge you, as loyal readers, to stop and think about your own actions and how they may or may not impact the flow of shampoo (or lack thereof) of your loved ones.

during what was truly the most unique dinner experience i have had in a long while (including discussions of steinmart deals, crazy coffee cocktails and out of control sandwich swapping) i took a few notes from conversations...again, all going back to the man-poo.

unidentified person #1: i mean, when you think body wash you think loofah...and that just doesn't really look good walking into the freshmen dorms....

unidentified person #2: you're right - i mean, they have loofah with bunnies on them, cats, lambs...it can come off a little wrong. i don't blame you

unidentified person #3: yeah, i used to use ivory soap until i heard it solves leg cramps if you put it under your pillow. so now i use bar soap for my leg cramps and liquid soap in the shower

personification...

...is something that brings me great joy in life!

take winston, for example. my mother-in-law gave him to me last halloween. she thought was just giving me a nice piece of seasonal decor....but within minutes, he had a formal name, became part of the family and brought many great moments of entertainment to all my apartment guests in '08.

this year, winston made his debut at the voight home. the little guy was so excited - he got to look out the window at all the cars driving by each day and shine his alternating colors to the world, bringing world peace and happiness to all, of course....

that was until the dog got bored. or winston said something nasty to milo.

don't be shelfish....

ok - lame title, but the awesome new shelves built by the mr. and mrs. this past weekend are posted below...and i do have to say we are pretty proud (note the spotlight feature was previously existing in the niche!)

to all you loyal blog followers out there:

uncle steve: do you wish you had made awesome shelves from scratch too?!
krista: i swear we arent a totally lame married couple and still do awesome, exciting things here in indiana - somehow they just don't ever make the blog...
jaci: maybe your baby wants some shelves?
brandt's coworkers: note that brandt watched the colts game during most of the post-installation activities (i painted, caulked and perfected these bad boys)
brandt's mom: brandt did a really great job making measurements and getting the glass and quarter-rounds cut
tiff and jenn: hi pretties!
hilary: do you still read this?
overhisers: do you think your fancy camera could capture them any better than the iPhone?!

halloween

$5 to the first one to guess who we were this year....

little buddy

little buddy is just the best friends. and because he is so animated, i have yet another photo storyline tale to share.

as some background to the eye patch, yet again we have faced another husband eye fiasco (the first being a case of pink eye at the end of the honeymoon). this time, the hubs spent a good 72 hours at home with his eye swollen shut after he managed to scratch the cornea of his right eye. and if you have seen the movie 'knocked up', this is where you laugh at his pink eye.... i know you are all aware of my great story-telling capabilities, so i will have to share the details of the midnight eye discovery and early morning blind-man doctor visit another time in person...

"hey, dad, you okay?"

"i love you, best friend. here is a kiss"
"okay, yeah, that's a good idea...let's just sleep"

a halloween tale

once upon a time in a cute little butler neighborhood, a newlywed couple spent a weekend spicing up their curb appeal to put them in the proper fall spirit.

they bought pumpkins and hay, and even offered a spot to a warty, green pimpled pumpkin on their porch to compliment their magnificent mums. aren't they just so cute?

and though she wasn't the prettiest addition, a pumpkin named lucy was born at a monthly wine club gathering with girlfriends (don't worry children, wine club is tame now so there is no danger in the whole knife/wine thing....)

but then, the evil, mean and hungry chipmunks snuck on the porch in the dead of night (or while the cute couple was at work) and began to eat lucy's face!

day by day, (by day by day) she is slowly disappearing....

new "panes"

yesterday our five spankin' new windows were installed. they look as good as one can imagine new windows looking: aluminum clad on the outside and fancy-pants wood on the inside to keep the house looking "originial".

now, not only do i have a clue what we will use as small talk with people regarding the happenings of our lives, but the hubs wants to play the "let's not turn on the heat and see how much the house warms up naturally now that we have new windows" game.

better hunker down. it is going to be a looooong winter.

midnight critters

so we have now moved past the "slapping your wife in the middle of the night" phase to "wake up your wife because you are concerned about the very large critter lurking across the floor of the dining room in the middle of the night" phase.

perhaps it is the weather? change in diet? either way, the dog's slumber seems to never be disturbed by the ginormous rodents playing in the house in the middle of the night.

some nights, he convinces me in my slumber to actually get out of bed with him so we can try to catch it.

homemade

here is my homemade fall wreath. i can just hear the "oohs and ahhhs" now.

this weekend i will try and convince the hubs to go to a pumpkin patch to complete our fall decor.

apparently, i have given up "making" for crafting lately?!

time for a change...

when i first met my husband, he had never mowed the yard before...

ten years later, my hubs is out changing the oil in the car! i'm so proud - he is such a great husband!

$2 if you can name the other voight auto body shop member featured in this photo....

the five-hour rug

did you read that one post about how our beloved dog ate our brand new spankin' rug? oh wait, that's right...i remember now. i haven't been able to really blog about it until now...you know, after the tears settled (i kid).

that's right. he ate a hole the size of your hand in the middle of the rug. i'm sure the poor little buddy didn't mean to destroy our five-hour old rug - maybe the rug was picking on him? calling him names? didn't smell right? either way, something went down in the voight house that night that sure wasn't pretty...

BUT, in the words of my mother's late night text to calm me:

"material things can be replaced. the love and joy that milo has brought you cannot be bought. be thankful the rug didn't bite him back."

the rug is still pretty. we have forgiven the pup. and semi-fixed the rug. life goes on. just remember when our kids use that classic excuse down the road, "my dog ate my homework", it just very well may be true.

see how i cropped out the portion with the hole? you woulda never noticed.... ;)

it's a girl!

so one of my best friends has up and gotten pregnant.

go figure, just when i finally entered the same life stage as her….it was only 3.5 years of a lag between her marriage and mine, was it that much to ask?! selfishly i wished she could’ve delayed a little longer so we could go through this fun stage in life together, but if you know jaci at all, you know this baby was a long time coming. she was ready to be a mom yesterday. but im sure, however, we can coordinate her #2 with our #1 latear down the road...once she is back in the midwest living down the street from us in indianapolis….no pressure.

this sweet baby is a complete blessing to the moores and is going to be so well loved. and as all new-age moms do, she has been comparing her child to fruits and vegetables on her blog, compliments of daily updates via babycenter.com (oh, if you are curious, last week the baby was the size of an onion!)

today, she called me to tell me they are having a little girl! i realized i had yet to blog about this great news over the last few months, so i felt compelled to let you all in on her life today because is so dear to me.

so lookout world – you are going to have a knockout, gorgeous little girl on your hands come next february…complete with high energy, bows, pearls and some evansville west-side inappropriate jokes!

oh, and this is us - in the same life stage...all for about one month!

what's new with you?

last weekend we met up with one of brandt’s old friends from law school. when he asked what’s been going on with us, my husband replied without hesitation, “we’re getting new windows”. i don’t think that was the answer the friend was looking for. it wasn’t mine either.

welcome, fall!

the beginnings of the voight homemade fall décor - compliments of my iPhone as always!

stay tuned...my computer is slow and the others are still downloading!

man-poo (similar to shampoo)

dear suave,

after getting married six months ago, i started to notice a differing ratio between my shampoo and conditioner bottles. i’m sure you can imagine how very confusing and disturbing this was to me, as i, like most women, mastered the art of even distribution between shampoo and conditioner at a very early age.

going through puberty, we want to make sure our hair is thoroughly hydrated to assist us in the de-frizzing of our untamed wigs and help us offset the appearance of colored braces and pudgy faces. this tender young age is most likely when our love for conditioner first began. but then, while living at home, it is more our parent’s purchasing problem, not ours…right?

it isn’t until around the time you enter college and begin to supply your own hair care products that you realize how inconvenient it is to run out of conditioner weeks before you need shampoo. not to mention is it not very cost effective. this, dear suave, is when a young women masters her skills of “even distribution”.

so over the last several years, i have perfected my usage, timing it just so perfectly with my wal-mart runs every few months. it was glorious. that is until recently.

after i returned from the honeymoon, i noticed the ratio was off. how could this be?! but this time, to my amazement, it was reversed - there was no shampoo and too much conditioner! how does this happen, right?

after carefully wathing for a few more weeks, i bring it up to my new knight-in-shining-armor only to find out that shampoo is his go to gal. this one bottle is used for his head AND body. what? and then, to top it off, he BYPASSES the wonderful conditioner bottle?

this was crazy. i had married a man of laziness. why can't he just use the body soap we have in effort to keep our ratios even?

but last week, at wal-mart, i noticed your product. and would like to thank you for your thoughtfulness. a shampoo, conditioner and body wash all in one. genious!

apparently there are other men out there like my husband…

phases

i know, i know...you've missed me. you've noticed, right? perhaps you felt you just havent had as much motivation to help you through your week? you couldn't figure out which direction was up without the images of voight dinners and dog tails/tales? lucky you. being the good friend that i am, i am here to save you with yet another post and insight into the voight life.

when i chose the blog title for today, i meant for it to reflect more on the fact that i (along with my husband) am guilty of taking on "phases" of life. for him, his phases are things like learning french, candle making (hey, i hear all the hot men do it these days!) and rock carving. for me, well, mine tend to be along the lines of planning events, things to do and the ongoing diets. and apparently this blog...

putting our efforts together makes us one hot mess. our love for short-lived phases has allowed the phases in our lives to prosper and multiply. remember that one post about flexitarianism? yeah. we still think about it. but must admit our meat intake has not fluctuated much at all. however, i do recognize our phases and can call 'em when i see 'em...so that's a step, right? i guess we are just big dreamers, and no harm in that!

but as i was thinking about our phases and how i may have lost your loyalty as a reader, i started to ponder more about the relevance of the title and how it applies to my life right now. thus, inspiring me to address my struggle for finding my place in this phase of life.

for those of you that know me well, you know just how sensitive and emotional i can be. and going through phases at times when others are not, or vice versa, is a big power struggle for me. which has brought me to my current place of trying to identify those living relationships in my life and letting go of old ones.

and that is hard. how do you define the relationships that are relevant and thriving, and at the same time, let go of old ones? this is where i really struggle. however, in thinking about this, i am finding that many of those relationships most likely died a long time ago and i am only just now realizing it.

and then the turmoil sets in. i take it personally. finding the staleness in those relationships makes me feel guilty, like maybe i should have done something more. but then i think about the efforts i made, and how maybe they let me go a long time ago, but i never noticed...i just kept struggling to keep lines of communication open for the sake of great memories. but then again, why do i feel as though i am responsible for this? they let me go too. so why do i feel guilty? why do i wonder why they don't seem to care about letting go of my friendship?

i know that many friendships in life serve a purpose. some are lifelong. some are merely meant to get you through the drama of high school, the confusion and fun of college or perhaps pull you together during a tough time in life. but i feel a sense of loyalty to those phases in my life that i cant let go. even though they are not loyal back. but im learning, that to be content in life, in my marriage, i need to do it. i have to pull up my pant strings, or shoe strings, or however that saying goes, and fix my emotional problem and just let them go.

the list goes on and on thinking about all the wonderful people who have played a role in my life...i wouldn't be where i am today without them. so thank you to them! however, you can't be everything to everyone and those who are in the now, those invested in me today, are the people that i need to focus on. not the lost college friends who don't make an effort. or the high school friends that left emails unanswered. or the single friend reaching out to other people now that i share my life so much more with one other person. i need to focus on those present day encouragements and great friends who miss me when i take a break from party planning. and find joy in the wonderful man i married.

friendships were not meant to wholly define us or give us our purpose in life. they are just one blessing from God - one that allows you to grow closer to Him. like my husband, our marriage was designed to bring us closer to God. and if that isn't happening, something is failing. i think this applies to friendships. friends should bring you closer to God - whether they are believers that encourage you in your walk or are those who simply challenge you to think about how your relationship with God is being displayed - friends should allow you to grow closer to God. not distract us by causing us to mill over the past or focusing our efforts on keeping the friendship afloat...

baby....

little buddy was snuggling with me on the couch - pimped out like a small child. never noticed he looked so pink...must be those summer allergies?

can't fight the family genes....

this wedding day photo of me was recently uploaded on facebook from one of my wonderful bridesmaids. (i cropped out my mom because i knew she'd make a comment if she found out i was "blogging" pictures of her...).

so then my sister sent me this photo of ellie at the state fair last week.

my husband's response? "wow, you have an incredibly expressive family...."

i'm not sure if it is the parent or child initiating the expressions, but either way...it runs in the family!

made from scratch

you know how in every movie there comes a point where the movie title is oh-so-casually inserted into the script? i'm sure this is no news to you, i mean, there is nothing casual about it. for instance, a classic college favorite: "how to lose a guy in 10 days". hello?! it took about 8 minutes for that one to pop out of kate hudson's mouth. in fact, if for some odd reason a movie makes it the entire way through without a reference, i actually find myself a little sad and disspointed...wondering if i somehow missed the reference, thus failing as a self proclaimed movie junkie like that of dawson leery (okay, so i've never really made that claim nor desired to be that into movies, but thought no blog would ever be complete with a reference to dawson's creek which did indeed influence all of our lives in some way, shape or form...)

so finally - it has come to fruition.here it is...my muffins made 100% from scratch. peanut butter muffins with chocolate chips at that. and really good - no lie!

well, now that i think about it so was the vegan cake and a few others...but i feel like this one was that one shining moment of success for me as a "maker" (rember not cook or bake, but make!) or well, maybe it is because the vegan cake made everyone question me as a person...

find your happy place

sometimes I can't sleep at night just knowing my pup may feel neglected from the family blog. After his big, and may I add popular, debut on the blog with his nightly bone routine, I thought a "post frisbee" photo would warm everyone's heart today. If you look closely, you can see he is smiling through this crazed face...as he had just had some rounds in the backyard with his second favorite person in the world...his deep tissue massage therapist. Aka, my husband. Notice he is actually in his lap when this photo was taken-waiting for papa's magic to begin. This, my dear friends, is milo's happy place...where's yours?

happy [late] birthday to me!

Just in case you weren't aware, my birthday has already come and gone. Sad, I know...no one wanted it to come to an end. Seriously. I mean...even though it was in May...

And for this year's monumental celebration (which I will add this was during the beginning stages of the blog), my in-laws came up to celebrate and also gave me some money to use on anything my heart desired. Nothing leftover from the wedding or not to go into savings...but something fun for me to splurge on.

I pondered for a while on what my funds should support...a new cozy rug for my feet this winter, greeting me each day as I arise from bed? Or what about a mantle above our fireplace to display that perfect wedding photo? And after thinking, and milling over the perfect addition to the Voight home, I stumbled upon an item I had seen before- but never really considered buying for myself.

And with this, I proudly introduce you to my new ledges from pottery barn. Yes, a little more cream than the perfecly painted trim done by my mother, but perfect nontheless! I even shopped around for a variety of awesome frames to sweetly greet our house guests. I hope to spray paint the ledges to match before fall...and of course get some photos in the frames!

ain't no donut bank...

Okay-so if you know me at all, you must be at least slightly aware for my love of the Evansville Donut Bank. If you want to assess your knowledge of me even more, then you should question whether you know about my life dream to open my own pastry shop. So you can only imagine my joy when I woke up Saturday morning to a food nerwork special on the best donuts in the country. Despite it being before 9am, I decided I should join in on the fun and make my own...and my sleeping husband of course!

So down memory lane I went to my middle and high school memories of jill hickey's mom making homemade donuts for us in the morning after a sleepover full of swimming and papa johns. The recipe is pretty simple--a package of pilsbury biscuits, chocolate icing, sprinkles and of course a pan of oil....

Just make sure to keep the pan and oil in low to medium heat--or you'll end up with a disguised ball of dough covered in icing and sprinkles...not that I would know!

come on over!

Well friends...it finally happened. We up and got domesticated and purchased our dining room table!! Though it is taking some time to get used to eating at a table..you know with napkins and silverware and all...but is has already come to good use entertaining family and friends

You may notice that right now we have only four chairs, but the husband has insisted he search for two MATCHING chairs with arms - I told him he has 'till Christmas until we complete our set. Afterall, I was insistent during the whole process the table could grow with is by having a leaf and more than a few chairs.

All in all, it is a perfect arts and crafts addition to our wonderful home - but as with all things house oriented, the completion of one item opens the door to just one more...so hello saving for a fancypants rug to go underneath!

a twist on chocolate cake

since i'm no professional baker, i literally took this recipe word for word and attempted a masterpiece. it comes from one of the new blogs i follow: joy the baker - all in all i was pretty pleased with my work of edible art - though the avocado icing was an interesting twist to my chocolate lovers heart.

so as promised, here is my sunday "making" results. below is my process for a vegan chocolate cake with avocado icing (be oh so proud sonja!) the cake was pretty tasty - though it wasn't as chocolaty as the boxed rendition betty offers. and instead of eggs and butter you use a whole, mashed avocado to supply the fats - and you really can't taste it...i promise. for those of you loyal readers, this time was a greater success with confronting the fruit - so thanks for your tips!

here are all the items i had to buy, that most people probably already have in their house. i told b it was an investment though - so hopefully i'll start using this stuff more often!

below is the batter post avocado - it was pretty yummy!

Vegan Chocolate Cake with Avocado

what you'll need:
3 cups all-purpose flour
6 Tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2
teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 cups
granulated sugar
1/4 cup vegetable oil (I used almond oil)
1/2 cup soft
avocado, well mashed, about 1 medium avocado
2 cups water
2 Tablespoons
white vinegar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

what to do:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Grease and flour two 8 or 9-inch rounds. Set aside.
Sift together all of the dry ingredients except the sugar. Set that aside too.
Mix all the wet ingredients together in a bowl, including the super
mashed avocado.
Add sugar into the wet mix and stir.
Mix the wet with the dry all at once, and beat with a whisk (by hand) until smooth.
Pour batter into a greased cake tins.
Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, until a toothpick
inserted comes out clean.
Let cakes cool in pan for 15 minutes, then turn out onto cooling racks to cool completely before frosting with avocado buttercream.

Avocado Buttercream Frosting
8 ounces of avocado meat, about 2 small to medium, very ripe
avocados
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1 pound powdered sugar, sifted
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Peel and pit the soft avocados. It’s important to use the ripest avocados you can get your hands on. If the avocados have brown spots in the meat, avoid those spots when you scoop the meat into the bowl.
Place the avocado meat into the bowl of a stand mixer fit with the whisk attachment. Add lemon juice and whisk the avocado on medium speed, until slightly lightened in color and smooth, about 2-3 minutes.
Add the powdered sugar a little at a time and beat.
Add vanilla extract until combined.
If not using right away, store in the refrigerator. Don’t worry. It won’t turn brown!

here is Joy's official blog post about it and don't judge on how awesome her photo is compared to mine!


here is my work of art! my rendition looks a little more like a shrek cake - anyone want me to bake this for their kid?!
and in the end, of course, you get one happy, full husband!

berry baking

so recently, i have been getting into the world of food. not in the sense that i am just now beginning my love affair with great tasting foods, i mean, ive always known i have been blessed with amazingly alert taste buds, but more in the "life application of food".

in doing this, i have been battling between cooking and baking. because, yes, virginia, there is a difference. to start, i have to state that i am not yet going to claim a love for one over the other, but have instead been struggling with my inner self on which i have a better calling for.

cooking, you see, is more of the fresh, on the stove variety. this seems to fall more along the lines of, you know, a greek style zucchini salad or spanikopida. these are obviously all wonderfully delicious options, but seem to take a lot of care and attention throughout the entire cooking experience.

on the other hand, you have baking. and to me, (and please remember this is no professional opinion) the world of baking includes more “dry” ingredients and more time is spent in the oven than actually monitoring the process via grill, stove, skillet, etc. these also tend to make sweeter foods when i "bake"...

my mother has always been more of the baker. and im starting to think i fall more in her footsteps. but im keeping my options open. i like the idea of cooking and am still working on those skills – but things you bake tend to turn out better for me. or at least capture my attention a little better.

a few weeks ago we discussed flexitarianism and the world of trying new foods to “make” (see how i intentionally did not use “cooking” or “baking” here to put myself in a box?) since then, i have been following my taste buds to a variety of food blogs (thanks, sonja!) this has thus inspired me to attempt a new “phase” for the blog – which entails attempting a new recipe each sunday, with of course a monday photo and recipe post.

and with that, i post this past weekend’s project: baking a mixed berry buckle. what i learned?

• i like to bake.
• i had most of the ingredients already in my kitchen, surprisingly enough.
• i like berries.
• i like desserts.
• i still prefer desserts with chocolate incorporated.
• my husband did not yet try what i baked.
• this next week i want to try something to put in my yet-to-be-used cake stand.

mixed berry buckle

what you will need:
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for baking dish
1 cup granulated sugar3 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla1 cup all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
3 cups mixed berries, such as raspberries, strawberries (halved or quartered) and raspberries
vanilla ice cream, for serving (optional)

directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 2-quart oval or square baking dish. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar with an electric mixer until fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition to combine. Add vanilla and beat to combine. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, salt, and baking powder; with mixer on low speed, gradually add flour mixture until incorporated.
Spread batter in baking dish. Scatter raspberries on top. Bake until a toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out clean and top is golden brown, 45 to 50 minutes. Let cool 20 minutes. With a large spoon, scoop out onto serving plates; serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, if desired.

here are more details: http://www.blogger.com/thekitchensinkrecipes.com/2009/06/29/bust-wide-open/#more-5703

i get it from my momma

yesterday i celebrated the second of three birthday celebrations (count it three) for my sister at my mom's. i mean, honestly, who makes that big of a production out of their birthday? ;)

so my mom has always been #1 when it comes to heartfelt birthday cake creations. for my 14th birthday, she even made a phone cake - decked out with sweet tart candies and licorice for phone numbers and the cord! over the years she has worked on an assortment of cakes - i'm sure there was even a phenomenal horse cake effort at one point! needless to say, i have had a plethora of wonderful cakes in my lifetime - so i thought i would post a photo of her latest creation for my big sister - half s'more and half reese cup! it looked great with homemade peanut butter and marshmallow frosting and tasted even better.

what have we learned, readers? that i get it from my momma. my desire to learn to bake, create and of course devour my achievements!