What A Beautiful Day...

I just had to take advantage of it this morning and go out for a jog. 2.15 miles... not bad. I have to thank www.mapmyrun.com for doing the measurements. It was 65 with a slight wind and beautiful sun when I went... now its about 78 still breezy and still VERY sunny. It is just gorgeous here in East Texas!

That is definitely one thing that I have loved since we moved here... I never knew what 4 seasons were until we moved here. My previous residences of South Texas and South Louisiana are 1 1/2 seasons... Summer and maybe a week or 2 of winter! Add in the 100% humidity about 360 days of the year and it's not the nicest weather. Though living there for 24 of my years I never thought I would say that... but back then I didn't know what I was missing!

Tomorrow night is the first night of my cake decorating class and I CAN'T WAIT! I am so excited about learning how to correctly ice a cake and how to make the little flowers. Next I will have to learn how to bake a really good cake from scratch. Any recipe suggestions? I have made cupcakes from scratch once now, but I am yet to attempt a cake... guess that will probably be coming early next week. Oh and we get to learn how to make butter cream icing! MMMMM! More to come about the class, and hopefully some pictures of my creations!

We are off to my parents right after class tomorrow (hopefully barring no work emergencies for Keith) to enjoy the Easter weekend! I can't wait to go shopping with my mom and Keith and my dad are going to try and get in 2 rounds of golf. We always have a great time when we go to my parents, and we both get to do what we want this way! Plus there is always good food to be had in Houston! I mean there are like 4,000 restaurants there! I wonder where I should convince them to take me :)

What I have learned...

On March 29th, we marked 18 months of marriage... and even though I am about a week late and 18 months may not seem like a long time, I thought I would share with you the few things I have learned over those months.

1. No matter if you don't think you will ever need them, register for more towels that you could ever possibly need in life. This includes both kitchen towels and regular bath towels. You seriously would think that we ate them by how quickly we go through them.
2. Even if you are not an avid drinker always keep beer and wine in your house. One day, one of you or even both is going to need them after a long day of work. This is even more true now that we live in a dry county and can't exactly run out to the gas station to buy beer.
3. Men can wear more clothes in one day than some people wear in a week. I never thought I would see someone change as much as Keith does. In one day I have seen him in shorts and a t-shirt, cover-alls for work, in jeans and a t-shirt, and then back in a different pair of shorts and a t-shirt.
4. Once you are married, men really do forget how to do much for themselves. When I was gone for a week with my parents, I came home to more laundry than I have ever seen (see number 3) and none of it was mine.
5. It will make your life much better if you just do the laundry for both of you. As much as you wish that he would notice that his clothes are piling up, he is not going to, and it will help you to keep your sanity if you just do it.
6. Let him be honest if he doesn't like what you cook. That is all I have to say about that.
7. Men are in charge of the remote... end of story. You will never get control of it unless he is not at home. I still see this in my parents 35+ years of marriage.
8. The house will never be 100% clean... oh god I can't imagine what it will be like when we bring kids into this world.
9. You must have only one person in charge of the finances. It is too complicated for both of you to be dealing with that. He knows I'm in charge of the bills and we must be in agreeance for money spent over 100 dollars. This just really makes life so much better.
10. If we are going somewhere in one car... I'm just going to let him drive. It is just the smart thing to do.

So I hope you have enjoyed what I have learned during marriage. But really the number one thing I have learned is that I love my husband and we have a great relationship and I really don't know what I would do without him!

Now back to the laundry :)

On To Monday...

Well the weekend is now over... and I wish it was still Saturday... now it is Monday, and it is 46 degrees outside and windy (like 20 mph). I wanted to go run outside so bad today, so I got dressed made it halfway down the street and turned around. I just was not able to do it with the wind. I guess instead I will do some cleaning and laundry... not really in the mood to drive to the gym.

We had a really great weekend here with the in-laws. I did lots of shopping with my MIL and got lots of bargains.
I got this shirt at Ann Taylor Loft... and thanks to a coupon and a gift card from my mom... only had to spend 13 bucks!
I was so excited to see all the cute spring clothes in the Loft... unfortunately can't spend the money right now, but let me share with you some of the pieces that if I could I would buy!
I tried on both and wanted to buy them so bad... but I let my head win instead of my shopping self. But I do have to say the best thing about my trip to the Loft, was the fact that I would have needed a size 8 in those shorts. Now this might not seem like a big thing to most people, but I have been a size 12 for as long as I can remember. I go into my closet, and I only own 1 pair of size 10 pants, and to need an 8 just makes me ridiculously happy! It feels so good to know that the past 10 months in the gym have really done something for me.

I also bought a new pair of workout capris and Nike zip-up at JCPenney's and had a 15% off plus they were already 20% off, so I got a great deal on those too! I just LOVE getting a good deal!

Sunday my in-laws left, and I had the opportunity to be a greeter for the Tyler Historic Home Tour. Here is a link to the house I was at. I had such a good time and the house was AMAZING! Unfortunately, I was at the front door and decided to wear a dress, and almost froze to death thanks to the wind, but I toughed out my 2 hours and really had a good time. Makes me really excited for when I am in charge of the AAUW Holiday in the Pines home tour in December!

Ready for the Weekend!

Ok now that I have finally finished posting all of my recipes, I can get back to work... Right! Work has been so ridiculously slow it isn't even funny. I have done more searching on the internet for absolutly nothing that I can't even handle it anymore. I have decided to sign off at 11 today and go with the in-laws to Canton for First Monday.

If you are ever in the East Texas area the weekend before the First Monday of the month, you HAVE to go to Canton. It is probably the largest open air market in the country and it is just awesome. Here is a link to the website so you can get an idea of what it is. When we first moved here we went and we got all kinds of decorations for the house. The in-laws want to go to get some new things for their house since what they had was not enough for the house! I am hoping to find something for the wall in our extra bedroom and maybe something else fun!

Tonight we are going to our favorite Latin restaurant and I can't wait. We have not been there since before Christmas and I am so ready for it!

Alright since this is the 4th post of the day, I am done...

Grilled Salmon with Spinach with Tomatoes

For dinner the other night I had leftover spinach from the salad I had to make for our Gourmet Group and some frozen salmon (I prefer fresh but it's what I had) so I decided to do some searching and here is what I came up with.

Grilled Salmon

3 Garlic Cloves (chopped fine)
3 Tablespoons Olive Oil
Juice of 1 Lemon
Salt
Pepper
Cajun Seasoning (we use Tony's)
3 Salmon fillets

In Ziploc bag, combine marinade ingredients and place salmon in bag for 1 hour. Once fully marinaded grill about 4-5 minutes per side.

Spinach with Tomatoes

1 bag fresh baby spinach
1 tomato (chopped)
1 large garlic clove (chopped fine)
1/4 red onion (diced)
2 tablespoons chicken broth
olive oil
Parmigiana cheese

Warm olive oil in pan. Add garlic and onion and saute until soft. Add spinach and cover until starting to wilt. Add chicken broth and cook until all spinach has wilted down until about 1/3 amount. Add tomato and continue to cook until tomato has softened. Grate cheese over spinach and tomatoes and serve.

We really enjoyed this even though it was just thrown together with what I had on hand!

Chocolate Chip Pecan Cookies

This was cookie number 2...

Chocolate Chip Pecan Cookies
adapted from Good Things Catered... adapted from America's Test Kitchen

Ingredients:
2 cups plus 2 Tbsp all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
12 Tbsp (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted & cooled until warm
1 c brown sugar, packed
1/2 c granulated sugar
1 large egg plus 1 yolk
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup chopped pecans

Directions:
-Adjust oven racks to upper & lower -middle positions & heat oven to 325. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.
-Whisk dry ingredients together; set aside.
-With electric mixer, or by hand, mix butter & sugars until thoroughly combined.
-Beat in egg, yolk and vanilla until combined.
-Add dry ingredients & beat at low speed just until combined. Stir in chips and pecans.
-Roll scant 1/2 cup dough into ball. Holding dough ball in fingertips of both hands, pull into 2 equal halves. Rotate halves 90 degrees and, with jagged surfaces facing up, place formed dough onto cookie sheet, leaving ample room between each ball.
-Bake, reversing position of cookie sheets halfway through baking, until cookies are light golden brown and outer edges start to harden yet centers are still soft & puffy (about 11 minutes in my oven).
-Cool cookies on sheets until able to lift without breaking and place on wire rack to cool.

Peanut Butter Cookies

So I promised Keith I would make cookies for his work this week... so here is what we started with

Peanut Butter Cookies
Adapted from FoodNetwork.com

Ingredients
1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1 large egg, room temperature
3/4 cup smooth peanut butter
1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
Pinch of fine salt
Granulated sugar, as needed

Directions
-In an electric mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment, or with a hand-held electric mixer, combine the butter and brown sugar on low speed until just incorporated. Raise the speed to high and mix until light and fluffy, about 10 minutes. (Occasionally turn the mixer off, and scrape the sides of the bowl down with a rubber spatula.)
-Add the egg and peanut butter and continue mixing until fully incorporated.
-Meanwhile, in a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt.
-Reduce the speed of the mixer to low and add the flour mixture. Raise the speed to medium and mix briefly until smooth dough is formed. Form the dough into a disc, wrap it in plastic wrap, and refrigerate until firm.
-Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheet pans with parchment paper. Using a 2-teaspoon-sized ice cream scoop, melon ballers, or your hands, form the dough into about 50 small balls. Put sugar on a pie plate or dish. Roll the dough balls in the sugar to coat lightly.
-Arrange the dough about an inch apart on the prepared pans. Using the tines of a fork, flatten the dough balls slightly, while making cross-hatch marks on their tops. Bake the cookies in batches, turning the pans once, until lightly browned, about 15 minutes per batch. (My oven cooks ridiculously fast so I cooked them 5 minutes then turned the pan and cooked an additional 4) Let the cookies cool slightly on the baking sheets, and then transfer to racks to cool completely. Store in a sealed container.