Thanksgiving 2010

I figured before Thanksgiving was too far in the past (and it’s already been a week), I should post about it and the cooking I did for the holiday.  My love and I were lucky enough to be invited to our friends’ house to celebrate and we had a really wonderful time.  Thanksgiving is one of my very favorite holidays.  I mean, what’s not to like about a holiday centered around getting together with family, friends, football, and food?

What was really great too, was that I got assigned food to bring.  Yay!  Since I live so far away from my family, I long for the parties I miss and the food I don’t get to bring to them.  I get jealous when I hear of the cupcakes and dessert my cousin got to make.  :(

Back to Thanksgiving though…I got assigned dessert, but I kind of got carried away reading my recipe book and ended up making an appetizer and side too.  I’ll post recipes later, but here’s what I brought to the festivities: Deviled Eggs, Mini Cornbread Muffins, Peanut Butter Marshmallow Crunch Brownies (which are always a hit), Creamy Lemon Dessert, and I picked up a store-bought Pumpkin Pie.

Thanksgiving was wonderful and our hosts were beyond gracious.  There was so much yummy food (delicious crab dip, tasty turkey, succulent honey baked ham, yummy spiced cider, and so much other great stuff) that my tummy is still recovering from the over indulging.  I LOVE THANKSGIVING!!!

     

Credit: All food pictured make by me and all photos taken by me as well.

Things that make me happy.

Things that make me happy this lovely Friday:

1. Summer sun and weather in September.
2. Going to the dog park with my miniature poodle Madison to visit her doggy friends.
3. Soft ripe avocados.
4. Three-day weekends spent with my love.
5. Having wonderful friends that think about me even when I’m 2000 miles away.

I’ve never considered myself to be a person with tons of friends.  But the friends I do have are wonderful.  Quality over quantity is a good motto for life.

Speaking of great friends…on a whim, Stephanie sent me a package and a note.  Isn’t that sweet?  Surprises like that are awesome and it really made my day.  What a great way to begin the weekend.

(contents of the surprise package from my best friend)

Side note: I love that she’s using the personalized note cards I got her as a bridal shower gift.  That makes me happy too.

Credit: Photo taken by me.  Card in photo by Sweet Life Paper via Etsy.  Laptop case by Victoria’s Secret.

Macarons OR Macaroons???

First, let me start off by saying that I am unsure when the spelling m-a-c-a-r-o-n is appropriate or when to instead use m-a-c-a-r-o-o-n. I was always under the impression that macaroons were the cookies made from shaved coconut and that macarons were the little colorful French sandwich cookies. I wish I knew if I were in fact correct in that distinction or not, but alas I may never know because I find contradictory information around every turn.

Now let the jealousy ensue…

In July my best friend and her new husband went on their honeymoon to France. And because she is very sweet and thoughtful, on a stop to the famous Laduree Paris, they picked me up a box of French macarons (as you can see I am choosing to use this spelling…even though Laduree’s own website uses the alternate spelling).

One magical day in the middle of July I received a package in the mail. And inside that package was the most lovely little box I have ever seen.

(amazingly lovely Laduree Paris macaron box)

Isn’t it amazingly lovely?

Opening that lovely little box was like opening a present inside a present. Everything was so unbelievably beautiful that I wanted to be very careful not to rip anything and ruin all its prettiness.

(carefully working my way to the macarons inside)

When I finally succeeded in carefully opening that lovely little box, it was filled with some of the most beautiful cookies I have ever seen. A little worse for the ware due to traveling in a suitcase back from France, and then traveling through the mail from Wisconsin to my doorstep, but still beautiful (just a tad crumbly).

(macarons from Laduree Paris, plus a few crumbs)

That didn’t change how yummy they were. I slowly worked my way through the box of colorful macarons flavor by flavor, having one cookie a day (sometimes two when I just couldn’t resist). I wanted these special decadent cookies to last as long as possible.

Until one day when I was left with one last lonely single macaron (and some crumbs).

(the last macaron, pistachio flavored I believe)

That was a sad day. But I took photos of each of the lovely little cookies and tried my best to determine the flavor of each along the way.

(Rose? Chocolate.)

(Coffee. Blackcurrant violet?)

(Vanilla. Raspberry.)

(Pistachio? Lemon.)

I wonder if some day I will have the pleasure of enjoying more of these gorgeous macarons. Perhaps if I ever visit Paris again (*crossing my fingers*).

For more reading regarding Laduree see:

• Made With Pink
• Lovely
• Lisa is Bossy
• Tongue in Cheek
• Dreamville
• Just Jared

And to see my entire Laduree macaron flikr set see:

• French Macarons

Credit: All photos taken by me. Beautiful French cookies made by Laduree Paris.

Wedding Cards

The summer is wedding season and here are the cards I made to celebrate a few friends getting married this year.

The first is a card that I made for my best friend for her bridal shower.

The second is a card that I made for the same bride for her Bachelorette party. Beware, it’s mildly risqué. :)

The third is a wedding card that I made for my friend Shannon that just got married in a really cute and fun cowboy-themed wedding back in April (come to think of it, I’m going to add a few photos from the cowboy wedding below so you can see for yourself). And the fourth is the wedding card for my best friend Stephanie and her new husband Charlie.

And here are photos to show you just how awesome the cowboy-themed wedding was. It was in a backyard (and front yard too!) mind you. They couldn’t have done a better job putting together such an awesome wedding.

Credit: All photos taken by me, except the last five photos which were taken by Sean Tracey Photography. He did such a fabulous job…be sure to check out his website.