A Reason to Celebrate
Today Nathan and I are celebrating the three year anniversary of our wedding! What an amazing three years it's been...looking forward to many, many more.
And Baby Makes Three Peas
Soon-to-be-new-parents, Raia & Jeff are expecting a new addition their family very soon! For their wedding invitation they played on the words "two peas in a pod." So, we thought it was quite perfect that their shower invitation feature "three peas in a pod."
To make sure this new mom and dad are stocked with bedtime stories, we (the hosts) included a blank bookplate as part of the invitation for guests to place in a book for baby.
Wedding Wednesday: Sarah & Micah
Sarah and Micah were married this summer at the lovely McNay Art Muesum in San Antonio, Texas. I worked with this lovely bride on her Save the Date where we let the Spanish architectural elements from the venue inspire us. Sarah was kind enough to share a few photographs from their wedding, thanks Sarah!
Flowers: Alamo Plants & Petals
Photographer: David Sixt
Catering & Cake: Page Barteau Catering
Venue: McNay Art Museum
Ceremony: St. John's Lutheran Church
Wedding Planner: Betty Parish
Do-it-Yourself Paper Flowers
I recently stumbled upon this genius way to make easy paper roses...and now I can't stop making them.
Step 1: Draw a spiral on a 6x6" square piece of paper.
Step 2: Cut out spiral.
Step 3: Starting from the outside, roll the paper in until you reach the center of the spiral. When you release the coil the paper will spring back a bit. Dab a dot of glue at the bottom to the shape.
Check back soon to see what I've done with all the paper roses that I can't get enough of.
Because Baking is Creative: Macaroons!
Oh, dear bloggies, I have not forgotten you. Sorry for the silence on this here blog lately. The good news is that I've been up to some fun projects that you'll get a peek of very soon. And the other good news is that I've been thinking of you, and I had these 5 ingredients, so I made you some macaroons...and I think that even if you don't like coconut, you'll like these! I never knew how easy macaroons were to make.
Chocolate Dipped Toasted Coconut Macaroons
from Alton Brown
4 large egg whites
pinch of salt
1/2 cup sugar
12 ounces sweetened shredded coconut, toasted
6 ounces dark chocolate chunks or chips
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Place coconut on a baking sheet, spread out evenly and place in the oven. Return to the oven every five minutes to stir the browning coconut. Once evenly browned, after about 15 minutes, remove the the oven and allow to cool.
In a mixer fitted with a whip attachment, whip egg whites and salt until they become white and begin to stiffen. Add sugar in 3 parts. Continue to whip until the egg whites are very stiff. Fold in toasted coconut.
On parchment lined cookie sheets, drop a teaspoon of the mixture leaving 1 to 2 inches around each cookie.Place into the oven and bake for 15 to 20 minutes. The outside should be golden brown but the insides should still be moist.
Place chocolate chunks in a heatproof bowl. Place bowl over a pan of simmering water so that the bottom of the bowl does not touch the simmering water. Allow to melt. Stir until loose and creamy. Partially dip the macaroons in the chocolate then allow to cool and harden on a parchment lined sheet. You can place the pan of chocolate dipped cookies in the refrigerator to speed up the hardening process.
Because Baking is Creative: Apple Crisp
Right now in Santa Barbara we're experiencing the humble beginning of apple season. Last week a dear friend left on my doormat a bag-o-apples from her back yard tree. I was ecstatic! So ecstatic that I made an Apple Crisp and managed to take photos of it before it was gone!
This is a good old traditional recipe. Butter, check. Sugar, check. Cinnamon, check. You can't go wrong! Well, I guess you could if you didn't eat it warm with some vanilla ice cream on top. Don't forget that part. (That's me in the spoon!)
Happy baking!
Apple Crisp
Bake in an 8×8 baking dish
Filling:
5 to 6 medium-size apples, peeled, cored and cut into 1/4-inch slices. (About 7.5 cups)
3 tbsp granulated sugar
1.5 tsp cinnamon
Topping:
1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/3 cups lightly packed brown sugar
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 stick unsalted butter, well-softened
2/3 cup finely chopped pecans (optional)
1/3 cup quick oats
Preheat the oven to 350. Generously grease an 8×8 baking pan with butter.
Place a layer of apple slices in the bottom of the pan and dust with sugar/cinnamon mixture. Continue layering apples and dusting with cinnamon/sugar until done. Toss the apple mixture until evenly coated in cinnamon sugar. The apples should be just about to the top of the pan (they will cook down).
For the topping, place the flour, brown sugar, nuts, cinnamon and oats in a large bowl and stir well with a wooden spoon. Work the butter into the mixture with your fingertips until evenly distributed. Take one full handful of the topping and toss it into the sugared apple mixture. Spread the rest of the topping evenly over the apples. (I usually end up with a dough-like topping that I just lay on top of the apples).
Bake the crisp in the dish on a baking sheet on the center oven rack until the topping is crunchy and the apples are bubbling, 55-60 minutes.
Plan B
There's an adage at the design firm where I once worked that if design doesn't work out for us, then Plan B is that we'll be professional gift wrappers. First, I love wrapping gifts. Second, is there such a thing as a professional gift wrapper? Third, I think a career in design is working out for me right now.
I love pretty paper, newspaper, the funnies, craft paper, raphia, perfectly creased corners...sigh...I love putting my very own touch on packaging a gift. I suppose it's all part of the gift-giving/receiving experience, right? There seems to be something in the water in Santa Barbara, and many of my girlfriends are having babies, so I've had the chance to wrap lots of presents lately. I like it.
