Fourth of July, or the anatomy of a great time

We had a fabulous fourth of July. Amidst fears of torrential downpours (it sprinkled on and off all day), we hosted our annual 4th of July party, complete with yummy food, the Independence Day movie, beautiful fireworks and great company. We initially wanted a small group because we can't fit that many people in the apartment, should it be really yucky outside. Then Tom met up with his soccer buddies on Tuesday, and suddenly we were expecting 16 people. In the end, we had a few no shows, but still a great time. I think this turned out to be our best 4th of July Party.
I woke up relatively early for a holiday, 8 am and started cooking at 8:30 am. First, the corn were shucked and put in the Crock Pot for 4 hours on low. I love our big Crock Pot.

The buffalo chicken dip went in the smaller Crock Pot (this one is a huge hit at parties), on low until all melted and combined. Then on warm until people get here.

Then I prepped the coleslaw. Publix had a sale, buy the dressing, get the bagged cabbage/coleslaw mix for free.

Finally I started to work on the cake. I had baked an Angel Food cake the night before but instead of using a tube pan, I used three round pans. I didn't expect the cake to be that much smaller than my trifle stand, but I think it still worked. I made a cheesecake dip to use as frosting (heavy whipping cream, sour cream, Neufchatel cheese (1/3 fat free cream cheese), sugar and vanilla. 
I brushed the cake with a mixture of pineapple juice and coconut rum. Layer cake, frosting, and berries. At the end of the night, there was less than half of the cake left.

I got to use this heavy baby, a wedding present from my former labmate Paula, to make the frosting.

I also had some of the cheesecake dip and made these strawberries as a gluten free dessert.

I was done in the kitchen by 10:30 and started to clean the house. Tom woke up and helped too. We were done by 2, with plenty of time for showers and relaxing before our friends came over at 4 pm. Tom grilled brats and his friend Chris brought ribs. Our friends also brought baked beans, potato salad, and Touchdown Taco dip.
One tip that I took to heart this time was to start the party with an empty dishwasher. And it made such a difference. Throughout the night I would just put dishes in the washer, and at the end of the night, I was done with clean up in less than 30 minutes. We also used disposable cups left over from the wedding, which also helped. Now for firework pictures.
Tom's:

Vulcan's:

Finally Friday

This week, I happened to catch David's Letterman Top 10 sung by Backstreet Boys.
It made my week:
http://www.cbs.com/shows/late_show/video/0_SX6k9WYaiHvlCnM4SUtWAjLh1jc8xZ/david-letterman-backstreet-boys-top-ten/

Weekend recap

This weekend was busy and lazy, if that makes any sense.
Friday, Tom had lab meeting and he brought red velvet cookies.

After work we went to Good People Brewery before meeting with Colm and Will at the new Birmingham Barons ballpark (my first time). Since it was a Friday night game, it concluded with fireworks. We had a wonderful time.

Saturday morning, I ran some quick errands, mostly to make these luggage tags. Every year, my mom sends me a Mauritius calendar and with our upcoming trip, these had pretty pictures to use for the tags.

Saturday afternoon, we treated ourselves to On Tap while watching the end of the Brewers game. We came home and watched Thor.

Sunday was a fabulous day which started with brunch at Five. We had never been, and we absolutely loved it. I had the best shrimp and grits in Alabama. Tom had egg Benedict served on crab cakes. Their Bloody Mary bar was very nice too. We were glad to go at 1:30 ish because it was less crowded but still very busy.
Then we went to the outlet mall, mostly because we were headed in that direction and Tom wanted new sunglasses. The reason why we were going to Leeds is because of fireworks. As you know, July 4th is coming and Tom loves his fireworks. Every year we go to the main warehouse in Leeds.

Then we ran to Brookwood Mall to grab a few things, came home and watched Jack Reacher and Snitch, we unexpectedly liked both.
And happy daddy's day :)

Wordless Wednesday

Tasty Tuesday

First weekend recap:
Friday was very low key, mostly because work has been very busy and stressful and with bad weather moving in, it was the perfect time for a major sinus headache. Tom picked up pizza on his way home, as if he sensed that I was upset. We got caught up on all the episodes of the Walking Dead.
Saturday, I ran errands in the morning and after lunch, Tom and I ventured out, first for a stroll at Best Buy (he was looking for a game, and I love checking out appliances), then to Yogurt Mountain. We eventually ended at Publix to figure out dinner plans. Brats on the grill it was.
Sunday, was Sunday Funday. We celebrated Nate's graduation first at Courtyard (because I was craving crawfish), then to Cocina for a few Margaritas. We had so much fun! It was a great way to decompress and get ready for this week.

Last night, I attempted cooking a whole chicken, because I've always wanted to, plus I don't have to cook much this week. It was a simple recipe from America's Test Kitchen. So with the leftovers, I can give in to my cravings for this week: salad, with chicken, dried cranberries, almonds, and blue cheese. I also made some fried chips, I love our new mandolin.

Tasty Tuesday and recap

Here is a recap of the main moments of the past few weeks.
I was inspired when I went to the grocery store and bought some veggies and two mangoes. Tom didn't care for eating mangoes on its own while I grew up eating them as an after dinner treat in the summer. So I improvised and made a mango salsa topping for grilled chicken, with a bonus of using cilantro from the balcony garden. Tom absolutely loved it. I also had some Brussels sprouts and spinach on hand so I made a maple and bacon Brussels sprouts and creamed spinach.

And just like that my inspiration went away. I barely cooked last week, we had grilled cheese one night for supper, french toast on another and I'm sure I skipped dinner altogether on some days.

This weekend was a bit better. Tom was super excited when we opened a wedding gift that came last week. Why? Because it was a dehydrator/jerky maker. So that's what we did on Friday night, make beef jerky. I don't think that we have any left.

Memorial weekend was quiet for the most part - Tom put in a lot of hours which meant that we couldn't go camping. I took it easy, finished thank you cards, and did a few chores around the house.  Tom declared that it isn't a holiday weekend without grilling and he made the most delicious steaks that I ever had. Our pepper plants are already producing although they are very mild. Tom stuffed them with sour cream, wrapped them in foil, and on the grill they went. He was also craving his mom's pickled cucumber, and Laurie was very kind to provide Grandma Skemp's recipe.

We also found out that something was wrong with my car, she's getting old (I got a new radiator put in yesterday). One of our water bottles in our emergency kit broke without our knowledge and a gallon later we had dripping water in our entry way. We were glad that our landlords live right next to us - Tom went and got them and they said that there were no water pipes in that spot. Crisis averted.

Tasty Tuesday

And I think I may be an inspired cook again.
It had been a while since we cooked at the house due to wedding leftovers and then my short work trip to DC. While I was there though, I went to this little Afghan restaurant close to the hotel and had some very tasty food (it was very similar to Pakistani food or a milder version of Indian food). I had their pumpkin dish and something that was very to lamb biryani but sweeter.

Kadu Buranee: Sautéed pumpkin with garlic yogurt and meat sauce

This weekend we celebrated our first anniversary; we started with red velvet cake and champagne, exchanged gifts, then saw Iron Man 3. Tom insisted on IMAX 3D. It was a great action flick. The plan was to have dinner at Cajun Steamer, which has decent Cajun food but with a 35 minute wait, we turned around and tried Southern Legacy BBQ and Brew. It was inexpensive and good. Tom had spicy wings (which were really spicy) and I had a burger (which was a bit overdone and dry). Their Southern Belle cocktail was very yummy and Tom liked their beer selection.
On Sunday we decided that we needed to eat healthier so I stocked up on some basic veggies. Sunday night I tried a recipe from the Bon Appetit cookbook from the Drankas (flank steak salad with shallots dressing) and a potato au gratin from Jacques Pepin. I did modify the recipe for the flank steak since I didn't have the full amount of red wine vinegar or shallots. I also had spinach on hand, and thought that maybe some tomatoes and homemade croutons would add a little something.

Then last night I made mushroom and shrimp orzo - the recipe from allrecipes called for a whole stick of butter but I thought that was overkill. But I liked that instead of the typical pasta recipe where you cook the pasta and strain, you actually use water and white wine and let it absorb, almost like a risotto. Served with some spinach and choice of dressing.

I miss an herb garden because these dishes would have been so much better with some cilantro or parsley. Maybe this will be a project for this weekend. Anyways, here is to more cooking, I hope!

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mommy Day! We love and miss you!

Weekend warrior

It might not have been a typical weekend warrior event but by the way that we both felt last night, I'd like to think that we worked really hard. We marked a new turn in our Larson household, starting to make Tom's room into "our" room (both my parents thought that the craft room was the master bedroom, after all, it does have a nice non-working fireplace and curtains).
We consolidated closets, boxes, and moved furniture around. We bought a new cabinet for the kitchen to help with storage. We installed a new bar in one of the closets to store all the leftover wine and beer. This is still work in progress. The place is starting to shape up and I already have doubts about the new location of the futon but we'll see. Next up on the list, curtains, pillows (I'm really inspired by Anne B's blog), more consolidating, and organizing the pantry.
For now, I'm excited to hang out with the girls at craft night tonight, my trip to DC, and our first anniversary.

Oh May!

Wedding craziness is past us, at least for now, until the third time.
It didn't feel quite right to have the May post on May 1st - that was Grandma Mae's birthday, and we had just been to her funeral a few weeks ago.

Excited: seeing all the wedding pictures soon
Worried: I don't think that I'm really worried right now
Watching: Scandal
Reading: nothing in particular
Listening to: nothing in particular
Creating:  I need to pick up a new craft/hobby
Cooking: I'm really inspired to cook and looking forward to trying recipes from my new cookbooks
Loving: Keurig Caribou coffee
Thinking: about my professional development and the Mauritian trip/wedding
Looking forward to: my upcoming trip to DC