Reading through Home Comforts

Last weekend, we went to Half-Price Books and massively scored – so many amazing books, and most of them on clearance. It was wonderful. (I love books, as you might recall.) One of the books I found (not on sale, though the same price as on Amazon) was Cheryl Mendelson’s Home Comforts. It’s a giant book, so I’ve been reading the interesting chapters and skimming the rest, but there’s so much good reference information in here! This will be a great one to keep on the shelf.

From reading it, I’ve been inspired to maintain the house at a higher level daily. Sure, we’ve been managing, and it’s been better lately than it ever was (thanks, bons, for bringing me to a higher standard!) but with a little bit more effort, the house will run even more smoothly. I’m starting with the kitchen. Little things – making sure all the counters are wiped clean and putting all the clean dishes away before bed. I’m hoping I can graduate to sweeping daily and having a regular laundry schedule!

The book isn’t for the faint of heart, but the mixture of light humor, history, and pure knowledge/information is impressive, to say the least. I highly recommend it!

T-minus 301: pictures with the pups

I think I’m going to put up our engagement pictures in a series of small posts rather than one big one. After all, I plan on showing you all of them, and there are many! If you find crazy picture posts to be dreary, feel free to skip reading these ones, but I sure hope you stick around anyways!

So let me preface this by saying that we had an absolutely fabulous time taking these pictures. It was great to not only get comfortable in front of the camera, but to get some wonderful pictures of ourselves and our pups. Suitable for future wedding projects as well as albums, wall hangings, newspaper announcements, and Christmas gifts, too! Again, if you’re wedding planning and waffling about having engagement pictures done, I highly recommend it!

All photo credit goes to the fabulous Jennifer and Andrew Yonda of Yonda Photography. We started out our session in the house and yard with the dogs. They were abysmally-behaved. Nothing would calm them down. But we got some entertaining pictures of dogs in action with us in the shots too, which is really what we were hoping for.

Each dog got their chance to be the focus of the shot. Benny (Abigail) was decidedly evil throughout.

Darbaby framed our feet nicely.

And of course, Fritz and his very large, clean ears.

Yep, a day in our lives with three dogs and new visitors can be maddening. The second one is called “Out the Window” or “How to make three dogs (kind of) do what you want”.

And here’s some individual shots. Tim and Darbaby in their natural element, and me reading a book. Mom, here’s another one for your collection! (Growing up, I was forever and always seen with a nose buried in a book, often in some strange location or another. Mom and Grandma have captured quite the collection of pictures over the years, and I love having another one to add!)

So then in an effort to calm the dogs and change it up a bit, we headed outside to the backyard. As you can see, I am not the puppy whisperer. They do not heed my calls.

But Benny and Darwin sure are beautiful.

So we played around in the yard and tried to get some group shots. And I think you might agree that there were some successes.

I have to stop and catch my breath after looking at these. Those three furry monsters are our entertainment and our comfort, and they make our home “home”. But that guy…I love him so much. I’m so comfortable, so happy, so enlivened when we’re just hanging out together, and I see that coming across in these pictures, and it’s amazing.

Benny gets uncomfortable when I express mushy feelings for her dad. She PLOTS things.

Do you see the evil? Evil! Mayhem! She LEAPS at us and knocks us over!

Tim’s got it under control. I find it hilarious.

And as Tim and I smile happily and goofily, Fritz mirrors our happy goofy smile in the background.

That’s all for now…more to come soon!

T-minus 302: party garland!

A few days (weeks?!) ago I posted a discussion of cool ways to incorporate fabric into our reception. Today I finally found the article that I’d read a long while ago discussing how to make a garland with various shapes incorporated into it: Molly’s Party Garland from Purl Bee. I love how easy it seems to go once the shapes are all cut out, and I love love love the varieties of fabric. I think I’d prefer going with different sizes of the same shape (the upside down triangle) if I were to do it.

[image cropped from the link above]

Like I really need more projects to do! But it’s so beautiful. If you’re planning a wedding or a party, have you had any ideas about decorating the rafters of your venue?

T-minus 303: engagement photos have landed!

I’m thrilled beyond belief to say that our engagement pictures have landed, and they rock. There are so many different locations and moments that I didn’t realize were caught. The difference between a shot taken by us with our little dinky point-and-shoot and a shot taken by Jennifer and Andrew with their fancypants cameras and insane talent…it’s night and day. We had so much fun at our engagement session with them, and love the images that came out of the day.

See how excited Abigail is about getting at the pictures?

I’ll only post one for now, so that you don’t get sick of them when the big post comes. If you want to see a few more, check out our photographers’ blog! I’ll be posting the rest in a few days.

Butternut Squash Bisque

So we tried this recipe and loved it so much, we made a double batch a week later! Are you in the mood for a nice fall soup, complex and full of flavors? Try this! Butternut Squash Bisque, adapted from Better Homes and Gardens.

Butternut Squash Bisque

Ingredients

• 2-1/2- to 3-lb. butternut squash

• 1/4 cup butter
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 3 large carrots, coarsely chopped
• 1 tsp celery seed
• 1 leek, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 large apples, cored and chopped
• 48 oz (6 cups) vegetable stock
• 1 cup apple beer (or regular beer, or apple cider, or apple juice)
• 2 canned chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, coarsely chopped
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 3 oz. smoked Gouda cheese, finely shredded

Directions

1. Seed and cube butternut squash. Chop and prepare all other vegetables. In 6-qt. Dutch oven or stock pot, melt butter over medium-high heat. Add onion, celery seed, and garlic and cook 5 minutes. Add squash, carrot, and leek (picture to the left). Cook, stirring frequently, 10 minutes or until vegetables are tender. Add apples, broth, cider, and peppers. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Cover; simmer 25-40 minutes or until vegetables and apples are tender (picture below). Remove from heat; cool slightly.

2. When slightly cooled, puree in pot using an immersion blender. (Or puree in batches in a blender; return soup to saucepan.) Blend in sour cream. Return to pot and heat through. Turn off heat; stir in shredded Gouda until melted. Makes 8 servings.

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Like I said, we couldn’t get enough of this soup. Weigh your butternut squash carefully, and don’t leave out the chipotle peppers or a dollop of adobo sauce – key for adding an extra splash of flavor. And don’t feel bad at all about the amount of sour cream and Gouda that’s being added. It’s not all that much per serving, and just look how healthy the rest of it is! Live a little, don’t worry so much. Enjoy things that are tasty.