Monday, August 29, 2011

25

One word- IRENE (let's just say it is definitely not making the cut for the name of my first born!!!!!)

Despite Irene showing her pretty little ugly head, this weekend I celebrated 25 years of existence!!  Also celebrating was my cousin April!!  I've told this story umpteen times but Ap and I were born on the same day just hours apart!! I'm the oldest but only by a grain of sand ;)  LOVE YOU AP!!!

So, 25, the much talked about age.  You are now no longer an adolescent but rather an ADULT-- ekkk that sounds crazy!!! Perhaps not even carded in the liquor store....So what exactly is in a number? Here are some random facts about the number 25....
1. The number of cents in a quarter
2. The minimum age of candidates for election to the United States House of Representatives
3. The smallest square that is also a sum of two (non-zero) squares
4. The atomic number of manganese
5. The number of years of marriage marked in a silver wedding anniversary
6. An interstate that runs from New Mexico to Wyoming
For you sports fans, it's...
7. The size of the full roster on a Major League Baseball team for most of the season, except for regular-season games on or after September 1, when it expands to 40
8.  Typically reserved for the best slugger on the team
9. The number of points needed to win a set in volleyball under rally scoring rules

Who would've thunk?
 


Thanks to everyone that helped me ring in another year, especially Ry-- he's been the best!  Since Irene outwore her welcome a little too much my bday festivities will continue on into this week!! Excited for what's in store! I'll keep y'all updated!!

What did y'all do during hurricane Irene?? Did everyone make it out safely??  I know my family in Franklin is without power and water-- hope y'all get it back soon!! Special thanks to everyone that called and checked on my family in the Outer Banks! They made it out safely and with no major damage!!

B

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

SHAKE SHAKE rattle and RUMMMMBLE!

I'm sure most of you experienced the shaking and rattling that occurred yesterday and if you didn't I bet your sweet bottoms you heard about it!!!!!!  It was INSANE!!! I can honestly say I have never experienced anything quite like it! Our building frequently makes crazy noises and shakes here and there if a big gust of wind blows through but nothing to this effect!

I was standing in the door frame of my boss's office with my friend Katie.  We locked eyes and pretty much did not move until the ceiling tiles/ac units started to fall out of the ceiling!!!  We managed to shimmy to the closest desk and hide under until the shaking ceased!  Man oh man it was no joke!! We immediately evacuated the building and were sent home due to the condition of our building!!

I'm happy to say everyone I know is A-ok and all is calm now. We are back to work today but boy ohhhhh boy it was one for the books!!!



Where were y'all during the quake?? Hope everyone made it out safe and sound!

B

Monday, August 22, 2011

HOME sweet HOME

I went home this weekend and boy oh boy I forget every time just how much I love being there!! There is absolutely nothing better! Not sure whether its mom's stories of vacationing and running, Dad's constant and frantic running in and out, our snuggly little pups, D's all-nighters and morning recaps (if you only knew) or watching Big sit back and take it all in its a hard toss up!!

See what I mean-- nothing better :)
The best part of the whole weekend besides sitting out on the beach with our normal crowd (minus Tuttle of course), meeting up with my family to celebrate bdays, watching a 4 hour long cornhole tournament was...drumroleeeee.... my mom, the sweetest woman in all the world (seriously-- mine takes the cake for the best mama EVERRR!!!!!!) bought me a KITCHEN AID MIXERRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I just can't believe it!!  Mom and I baked up a storm all weekend-- pretty much anything and everything she had in the cupboards!!  It was soooooo GREAT!! Can't wait to bake more and more and MORE!!

THANKS MAMA-- LOVE YOU MORE!!!!!
Miss y'all already and can't wait to be back down in 2 weeks-- well I can because there are lots of good things happening but can't wait to all be back together!!!

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Restaurant Week!

If you haven't heard, it's RESTAURANT WEEK!!!!  For those of you who are unaware of what this is let me fill you in! :) You'll be glad I did!  The most prestige restaurants in the city help out us po' folks by offering a 3 course meal for a whopping $35! It's awesome-- highly recommend taking advantage of it and all it has to offer! :)  Last year Ry and I went to Chima!!  It's a Brazilian Steakhouse that has unlimited meat- sayy whatttt!!  These men decked out head to toe are constantly zooming through the tables with LARGE skewers of MEAT-- just MEAT and any kind of meat you can think of-- lamb, fillets, pork, chicken (don't waste your time-- we all know what it taste like), fish, and the list goes on!  Each table holds a "golden ticket"  You flip it one way or the other that signals these insanely fast men in some kind of crazy get up to bring on the meat or whooooa nelly hold on the meat-- you can constantly flip-- that's the beauty of it!! It's awesome!!  GO GO GO if you haven't!! Going in to it this year we knew it would be hard to beat!!

So where did we decide to go this year? The Prime Rib.  Why do you ask?  Well one because we would never be able to afford it otherwise, two because who would turn down Prime Rib and three because it was one of the only steakhouses that still had reservations open for the day and time we wanted!  It was so delicious!!  We both got salads to start things off, PRIME RIB- duh! with mash taters and creamed spinach and to finish it all off we went halfzies on the key lime pie and creme brulee.  Here are some shots from the night ;)

 Mr. Slick-willy himself! He's definitely part of the clean plate club!!

 Wining and dining- its what I do best! :)

Embarrassing but it had to be done :)

Where have y'all been for restaurant week?? Any suggestions?

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Bday recipes-- Jenna's treat!

Jenna requested a light summer treat-- nothing too heavy!  I had just the perfect concoction in mind!! This recipe can be executed in a bunch of different ways-- I decided to go the bite size route since we were eating dinner out!  This recipe is extremely simple and one that EVERYONE loves!!  The crust is composed of just a basic sugar cookie!

Sugar Cookie 
1 1/2 c unsalted butter, softened 
1 c sugar 
1 egg 
2 tsp vanilla extract 
4 1/2 c all-purpose flour 
1/2 tsp salt

Cook at 350F. 
In a bowl, beat butter and sugar until fluffy; beat in egg and vanilla extract. On low, beat in flour and salt. Divide dough in half; shape each half into a 1/2-inch-thick disk. Wrap in plastic wrap; chill until firm. On floured surface, roll dough 1/8-inch thick; cut into shapes. Transfer to ungreased baking sheet. Bake until lightly golden around the edges, 10 minutes. just your basic sugar cookie

Allow cookies to cool then add your fixings! :)

Cream Cheese Topping
4 ounces cream cheese
1/3 c sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract

Blend together until smooth.  Add this to the top of your cookies and sprinkle with your favorite fruit! AND HAPPY BDAY BIB!!





Bday recipes-- Tony's yellow cake

Tony, my boss, likes to keep things simple so he requested a basic yellow cake with chocolate icing! I couldn't keep it that simple so I kicked up just a notch! Take a lookski!

Yellow Cake recipe:
2 c of cake flour (4 tbsp of cornstarch fill remainder of measuring cup with regular flour)
2 tsp of baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 c butter
1 c sugar
3 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 c milk

Preheat oven to 350F

In bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt with a wire whisk.Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Add vanilla and mix until completely combines. Slowly add flour alternately with milk. At end of addition batter should be smooth. Bake Yellow Cake Recipe for 20 to 25 minutes. Link to recipe I used

I doubled this recipe for an EXTRA EXTRA big cake :)  Turned out great!  Allow both cakes to cool!

Coffee Butter-cream Filling
1/2 c butter, softened
1 1/2 c confectioners sugar
1/4 cup strong brewed coffee

Top one of the cakes with this then stack and ice the rest of the cake with Chocolate frosting!

Chocolate Frosting
1/2 c unsalted butter at room temperature (key that its unsalted real butter!)
2 c powdered sugar
3 tbsp cocoa powder
4 tbsp heavy cream
1 tsp vanilla extract

I sprinkled the top with the confectioners sugar to add a pretty little touch!!  Serve with a scoop of vanilla ice-cream and you have yourself a nice little treat!!!!


Friday, August 12, 2011

BIRTHDAY weeeeek!

Shewweee-- boy does time fly!! I cannot believe its been a whole week since I last posted!  CRAZY how fast this week went! From bday celebrations, dinner parties and drinks with friends-- it went by in a flash!! Did it go by fast for y'all?

I want to give a shout out to all the birthdays that occurred this week-- better late than ever- right!! I celebrated both my boss and JENNA BIBBLE's, or as my dad would say... SMUCKER's bday MONDAY-- Bib turned a quarter of a century old -- congrats old ladaaaay!!! We have come oh so far with Jenna's bday cele's!!!  My how we have grown up!! ;)  We had a great weekend full of memories- LOVE YOU GIRLS!!!!!

My Aunt D also had a bday-- wish I was closer to help celebrate but I was there in spirit!

I baked a lot on Sunday and Tuesday!!! I haven't had the chance to put up recipes and pics!  I promise I will do it the beginning of next week!

Hope you all enjoy your weekend!  Until next week!!

B

Friday, August 5, 2011

Nameless Dessert

Hiiii guyss!!! Happy Friday!!!! It's finally here! I feel like it has taken forever to get here!

Last night I was graced with the presence of my bestest friend from HS Stephanie Renee! It is so amazing how you have connections with people that never change!! Even though we haven't seen much of each other over the past couple of years, every time we get together we pick up right where we left off-- its such a great feeling!!  So to treat Steph I decided I had to make something a little special :)  Combining as many flavors as possible-- that would taste good together obviously! So here is what I came up with-- I really need help naming the cake-- all suggestions are welcomed!! :)  Send them on over!!



Cake ingredients:
2 c sugar
4 eggs
2 1/2 c flour
1 c milk
3/4 c veggie oil
2 1/4 tsp baking powder
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 c diced cherries (used the pencil technique again to remove pits :) )

**Combine sugar and eggs until the mixture becomes a yellow runny consistency. Add flour, milk and veggie oil, mix well (1-2 minutes with mixer).  Sprinkle in baking powder, vanilla and lastly cherries blend another 1-2 minutes.  Bake at 400 for 20-25 minutes.  I chose to go the double decker route! :)  MORE IS ALWAYS BETTER :)


Chocolate Filling and Icing
1/2 c unsalted butter at room temperature (key that its unsalted real butter!)
2 c powdered sugar
3 tbsp cocoa powder
4 tbsp heavy cream
1 tsp vanilla extract

** Whip all ingredients together until you get stiff peaks.

Almond Cream Cheese Icing
4 ounces cream cheese
2 c powdered sugar
1 tsp almond extract

**Whip all ingredients together until the stiff peaks show! 

Assembly required:)  Spread chocolate icing on top of one of the cakes sprinkle with chocolate chips :) EXTRA CHOCOLATE-- can't go wrong! Stack second cake on top and ice the sides with more chocolate icing!  Ice the top layer with the almond cream cheese icing.  To create a nice presentation sprinkle with diced cherries and lemon zest!  Slice and serve-- yummmmmyyy gooood!!!! 
Take a lookskie for your self!!! 






HOPE Y'ALL ENJOY-- Send over your suggestions for names... Can't wait to see what y'all come up with!!!
B