.its been a while.

wow! its crazy how quickly time goes when you're planning a wedding and still trying to maintain a nomal life. we are now 16 (SIXTEEN!!!!) days away from the wedding. we are soo excited! and thankful for a three day weekend coming up so we can finalize stuff! the next few weeks are going to go just way too fast! but we are beyond ready for this, we are so excited to finally be married!

because things have been so hectic i haven't had a chance to post anything lately. so i figured i would just post a 'collage' of pictures from my latest baking and cooking endeavors! yummy!

stuffed bell peppers!                        chicken enchi'mamas'!

island spice pork tenderloin!                 stef's homemade granola!

grandma c's lemon bars!

i also made some yummy coconut cupcakes for my bridal shower, but in the excitement of it all i forgot to photograph them! crap! lol. oh well.

the stuffed bell peppers were my fiance's idea. whenever he says he wants something i usually end up making it, after intense recipe research of course! :)

the chicken enchi'mamas' are a recipe i've made before but the second time around - OH MY GOODNESS! yuuuumy! its a totally 'from scratch' recipe, you make the enchilada sauce and the whole deal. soo delicious. and of course my fiance nick named them! ;-)

island spice pork tenderloin is recipe i found on http://www.annies-eats.com/, its seriously so simple and absolutely delicious. its a staple around our house now! we've made it multiple times since my first try.

my homemade granola is sooo yummy! it has everything in it and i am obsessed with it now! after the first try at it, my fiance told me he doesn't want us to buy cereal anymore! he loves it with milk, and i love it in my greek yogurt. its a very loved recipe now! i'm getting hungry just thinking about it!!

ohhh grandma c's lemon bars! where do i begin?? you know those recipes that bring you straight back to your childhood? this dessert is one of those! the recipe is perfect. the crust part is crisp, not mushy and the topping is gooey lemony goodness. LOVE this recipe. i finally got it from my mom, and made it during the middle of what us washingtonians refer to as a 'heat wave'. they're such a refreshing dessert during hot weather! :)

one last photo! what remained of my mini coconut cupcakes! they were so cute, they even had zebra cupcake liners to match the theme my friends came up with! they were a coconut cupcake with coconut buttercream! delish! :)

happy friday everyone!

xoxo

sc

.part deux: the road to delicious: pizza!.

mmmm! my pizza experiment was a partial success! it would have been a complete success if it were for a few extraneous factors. 1) i had parchment paper, or better yet, a pizza peel... 2) i had more time... 3) my pizza crust wasn't so thick. lol.

sooo here's how it came down... i got home after running wedding errands and pulled out the pizza dough which i had prepared earlier in the day. this way it would get optimal time to warm up (or so i thought). after pulling it out, i did random things around the house, and then decided to start the pizza sauce... after that i cooked the sausage... then i thought i should try to form the dough - but it was still cold! it had been out for over 30 minutes! so, long story short, i did the best i could but the dough was less then cooperative and ended up being suuuuper thick! which actually isn't a problem - it just became a deep dish! haha. then came the issue of transporting to the pizza stone - that was a debacle! i am quickly going to run out and get parchment paper to have on hand for the future. or maybe someone will be generous and buy me a pizza peel for my wedding gift! :D

anyway - the pizza was a success, although it had to bake a little longer to cook the center since the dough was formed so thick (oops!). but it was yummy! the dough was crisp on the bottom and the crust - but the best part? no grease! take that pizza hut! yuuum.

now for the best part! pictures!

sooo yummy - especially with extra pizza sauce to dip the yummy thick crust!!

i try (for the most part) to eat balanced meals, so we of course had to have a veggie! staying with the theme - i made us an italian chop chop salad! what better way to use some of the left over salami (yum!)?

it was the perfect accompaniment!

until my next food adventure...

xoxo

sc

.the road to delicious: pizza!.

i got this wild hair to make homemade pizza. i have never attempted it except for when i was a child... my mom would make the dough from scratch, let it rise, roll it out and let us do the toppings! it was so fun. so i decided to start the process early this morning; evidently from what i read, you can pre-make the dough and place in the refrigerator and bring it out later in the day. this is preferable for a working person such as myself - plus my fiance is working seven, twelve hour shifts and by the time he gets home, he wants to relax, eat and sleep! and i don't blame him! so i'm hoping to get this pizza in the oven and cooled by the time he gets home.

5 am
step 1: pizza dough

so this is the dough... its rising right now, but hopefully this project will all turn out - otherwise looks like its store bought crust or papa murphys for din tonight! haha.

so i will post updates on this process later tonight or tomorrow... wish me luck! i'm a homemade pizza n00b!

xoxo

sc

.b f f.

yes, you read my title right - bff! haha. this blog is about my best friend kindle. we have been best friends since the day we met in 7th grade - which doesn't sound that impressive, but as we get older i'm certain it will. when we were 19, she decided to move to texas, get married and have a baby - it was a big year for her. lol. anyway, i hardly see her, maybe once or twice a year. and she is currently visiting washington (home) for a few weeks. i got to see her this week, tuesday and again on wednesday... and man, i sure miss her already. i just wanted to share a few pics of her and her adorable baby girl, kylee who is almost three. time seriously flies! i remember holding her when she was only hours old. gah!

stefanie and kindle

so cute! kylee and mama!

Mariss and Stef :)

the other cool thing about tuesday was that we did a big ladies dinner - and my two best friends marissa and kindle got to meet each other :) mariss is my maid of honor in my wedding, so i only thought it appropriate that she should meet the other bestie. lol.

me, amber and rach!

awwwh fun times.

ciao!