What a crazy Fall!

Quick update...more to come this weekend.

*Wedding plans are coming along nicely! Things crossed off the list:

• Date set. Hooray! 
• Only a few tears shed over how to work our guest list that is restricted by venue and budget! I think we are on the right track now.
• All members of the wedding party thankfully agreed to be a part of our big day!
• Dress picked and ordered
• Cake ordered...cake tasting is so delicious
• Meal options tasted and chosen
• Officiant selected and secured

Things in the works:

• Finalizing the DJ choice
• Securing photographer...meeting on Friday for this one
• Ideas for flowers, bridesmaids dresses, programs, favors, invitations, hotel bookings, hairstyles

Things that are on the periphery and/or haven't even been approached:

• Accessories
• Salon choice
• Rehearsal dinner
• SO many things...

Thankfully, my lovely matron of honor and I are heading to the Bridal Expo in a few weeks to get ideas. Pinterest was also helpful before I sort of unintentionally disconnected from it for awhile. I need to get back on there. Great ideas, I tell you!

In other news:
My brother got married. This was definitely a story!

I decided to finish up my masters this year and had no idea how this would work with my current schedule. It's hard, you guys. My emotions have been all over the place from being overtired, stressed, and just worn out.

We took our last trip of 2011 this past weekend and found ourselves in a snowstorm! Crazy PA weather.

I've been doing a weight check-in with friends at school on a weekly basis...hoping it would help motivate me. Although I've been rising at an ungodly hour three days a week to get an hour walk in, it's just not enough. AND it's negating the research that says you need sleep to lose weight. I haven't lost a pound, instead, I've gained 3! Well, in order to get all of my school work, grad work, and life done, I rarely hit bed before 11:30 these days and then turning around for a 4:30 wake-up has been killer.

So, some of the poundage I'm hauling along with flab is due to a new phase of cooking in the Angel-Edwards condo! We are taking cooking classes...remind me to tell you that flambe story! It's a doozy. Anyhow, back to the topic at hand...experimenting with breads, desserts, and savory sauces do nothing for the waistline! Hoping to get all of this under control while still being able to enjoy food.

Well, that's my quarterly update for now. Perhaps pictures will be coming your way soon!

Good night, fine friends...

Bowled Over!

As Steve and I have merged our households together, we realized we both have a love for kitchen gadgets, containers, and so on. A few weekends ago, I became more aware of just HOW many bowls we have. This is only a small sampling...but a few of my favorite ones!

Measuring bowls from World Market...love that store!

And they stack to save space!

We got the four bowls during a quick spree at The Machine Shed. Random, you say? Yes. The one in the back with the yellow and green mix is from Pier One (back in the day!) Finally, the one holding those delicious looking tomatoes is from our trip to Colonial Williamsburg. It's got a beautiful designed glaze inside.

Playing with angles

Inside our hutch...another assortment of little dishes. LOVE.

What's Cooking?

One of the hobbies both Steve and I have been delving into is cooking. It's something I do really enjoy. Prior to meeting Steve I rarely cooked for a few reasons.

• Living with the family: This left for little refrigerator room. If I did have things in the refrigerator they would often disappear (Thanks, Dad and Joe!) leaving me with missing ingredients for my recipes.
• Living with the family: The other side of cooking while living with the family was that sometimes I had to make enough for everybody. Often, this had to be done on a schedule that worked for everyone else.
  
• Living on my own: Well, cooking for one can be tough. If you are okay with eating the same food for an entire week, this is a great option. Although I don't mind leftovers, I do tire of them easily.

So, now that I have access to my own kitchen and sharing said space with my hot-stuff-in-the-kitchen fiancee, the cooking bug has hit. He is a FANTASTIC cook. We like to cook together, but I'm also trying to branch out on my own.

I'm not making anything especially difficult, but am developing a comfort in the kitchen. In the past, I have always been diligent about following recipes to a fault. I'm starting to step outside of this slowly! Another thing I'm working on is getting everything done at the same time.

I decided I would start to post some of the recipes we've been enjoying! It's been nice having someone to enjoy a good meal with and offer feedback. Steve's been a sport and I must say I've come a long way! One night, early in the dating stages, I tried to impress him by cooking him dinner. Thankfully, I had already lured him in with my Red Pepper Lasagna (meatless, too!); but had tried to cater to his meat-eating ways. I am not comfortable with cooking meat. I tend to worry that I'll either overcook and people will need gallons of water to choke it down or undercook it and give unsuspecting guests food poisoning. Raw meat also freaks me out to a certain extent. I've grown so much that I can now cut raw chicken without gagging. I can't, however, eat chicken on the bone...too creepy.

Anyhow, I went out and got a pork roast, put it in the oven and upon Steve's arrival checked it. It was rather pink, so continued to cook while we caught up on the week's events. After a little time, I checked it again...still not cooked through. AH! It took a ridiculous amount of time to finish cooking. Steve ate it and sweetly pretended it was delicious. I was leery, so ate the smallest piece possible. Like I said, I've come a long way!

Stay tuned for the following recipes:

Sloppy Joe's
Tikka Masala
Red Pepper Lasagna
Lemon Chive Potatoes
Lemon Pancakes
Butterscotch Meringue bars
and more!

Stay tuned!

Ooh...also...we are looking into taking a bunch of cooking classes at WCTC this Fall or Spring. How fun is that?