.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

.epitome of girliness.

saturday was an epitome of girliness for my bestie and i... we were initially supposed to go camping but because of various reasons it fell through. so whats the next best thing to do on a day off? girly stuff of course! ha ha. we had an awesome lunch - yummy wine and drinks - watched movies - did our toenails and my personal favorite - baked! :) it was a fun filled day!

the day made me decide that we need to do themed lunches/dinners from now on also! marissa wanted to make this yummy strawberry spinach salad recipe she has, so that was already on the lunch menu.

then i stumbled across a homemade strawberry wine cooler! what a fun idea! and boy oh boy it was amazing... refreshing and different. i was immediately in love. it was either that or a combination of wine, pedicures and 80's movies? ;)

then i followed everything up with a recipe i was dying to try - coconut cupcakes with a delicious coconut butter cream frosting! mmmmmm! of course, the consistency of the frosting wasn't up to par for me and my frosting skills were a bit off - but that's what happens when two of you finish off 2 bottles of wine. especially when you're about 5'! ha ha.

anyhow, hope you've enjoyed the food/drink/dessert pictures. of course, i could post recipes, but i'm not sure anyone ever reads this. sigh. if you want recipes let me know! more then happy to share.

ciao! sc

.mission: attempting clam chowder.

i absolutely, 100% hate clams... or pretty much any shell fish with the exception of crab. its a texture issue, plus i think they are all chewy and gross! however, my fiance ♥loves♥ clams. he went clamming with a buddy a few weeks ago and brought home tons of the gross little critters. luckily they were all cleaned, vacuum packed and ready to freeze.

he knows i love to cook and bake, but i drew the line with the clams. i wasn't going to fry the critters, or do anything with them. he looked so disappointed, so i decided to compromise (which, i believe is the source of a great relationship) with clam chowder. i've had it before - it reminds me of potato chowder, but i always end up picking out the gross little clam pieces.

i had a heck of a time finding a recipe that looked good. everyone called for canned clams - what about the real deal fresh kind? finally a co-worker showed me a recipe she's been dying to try. i read it over and almost gagged - i had to go buy clam juice?? really? sick! but, i love my man and i'd do anything for him, including cooking something i absolutely cannot stand.

so, i get home, get a quick workout in and run upstairs (we live in a condo building) and rush to start his clam chowder. things were going really good at first, it was pretty much like making any other soup... saute the onions in delicious melted butter goodness, yadda yadda... i mean, until the very end it was alright. then came the moment of truth, i had to cut open the sealed baggy of clams. siiick! but, being the woman that i am (trying to be an awesome future wife), i soldiered through. the things were so stinky and slimy and disgusting. but i made it through.

when the chowder was all done, i was more interested in trying to get a decent picture of it to show to my mom then i was interested in actually eating the stuff. (my mother hates clams more then i do! lol. and she didn't believe i would actually cook them.) the chowder wasn't bad. i liked the flavor, minus the clams. although, in my defense, i did try multiple of them... i just can't get over the texture. yuckie!

anyhow, here is the picture... east hampton clam chowder with home-made biscuits!

.strawberry rhubarb deliciousness!.

it feels so great to be able to bake again! johnny and i took a break from eating sweets/desserts and that meant my baking also went on a hiatus. i have been able to start baking again starting april 20, and boy oh boy am i a happy camper!!

last weekend my mom was very busy with moving/packing, etc. so we decided that we would spend time together and celebrate mother's day this weekend. i was given some rhubarb at work by a co-worker this week and i immediately began reminiscing about my childhood! my mom always made such yummy desserts with rhubarb because my grandparents have a big rhubarb plant in their garden. so in memory of my childhood, i decided a strawberry rhubarb crisp was in order! yuum!

can't wait to dive into this deliciousness tonight!

ciao! sc