What would you choose?

I am invited to a special breakfast at work for service awards. I am getting my 5 year. I get to choose one of the following- Engraved glass mug, acrylic paper weight, letter opener, gold plated business card case,pen with walnut case, or logo key chain.

I'm leaning towards the mug. I wonder if I can have it engraved with "best employee ever"
What would you choose?
-Rachel

What have I been up to?

Last night I went with a friend to see Les Miserables at the Moonlight Amphitheatre. It was really, really good. If you live in the San Diego area, you should check it out. One cool thing about the show is that hubs and I saw one of Victor Hugo's homes while in Paris. So, that was a cool tie in (picture is below).

Sunday's shower was for the same friend and it went really well. I made raspberry filled scones, spiked punch, and alcohol free sparkling raspberry lemonade. I also organized the games which turned out super cute, if I do say so myself. My two friends who co-hosted oversaw the remaining cooking/baking (mini frittata, mini cheesecakes, salad and cake) and coordinated the decorations. We also had some amazing roasted potatoes that looked as good as they tasted. Everyone seemed to have fun, especially the bride, which I think is the most important part. Plus, she got some awesome loot.

This weekend I am heading to San Francisco for the bachelorette party for the same friend. She actually introduced me to hubs and pretty much all the friends I made in SD, (except my knottie/nestie/foodblog buddies). Anyway, I am really looking forward to the weekend and celebrating her upcoming nuptials.

I've been promising some Europe wrap ups and I have several really good stories to share. I promise I'll get to them soon.

And to my TWD buddies, you'll want to know what happened when I visited one of Dorie's inspirations.

TWD: Grab & Grub.

This week's TWD recipe was granola grabbers chosen by Bad Girl Baking. You can find the recipe on page 82 of Baking. I'm keeping this short and sweet. The cookies were SUPER yum. I substituted craisins for raisins and I will most def make these again. I have no pictures but trust me - mine looked EXACTLY like the ones Dorie made. (You believe me, right?)

Please head over to Tuesdays with Dorie and show my fellow bakers some love.

Thanks!

PS It is almost my turn to pick. What will I choose??

Impressive

OK, so I am seriously impressed by this lady. I wish I could be more like her. However, I would have to draw the line at the toilet paper.

Help with drinks

Help please. Anyone have a good and easy recipe for bridal shower punch that doesn't involve sherbet? I found several online but would love a personal recommendation so I don't make disgustingness by mistake. I need to serve 20 people. Thanks!

If you will it...

All morning, I have been thinking about eating cheese. Then I went to drop off something to another department and the had a cheese tray! AND they offered me some!

Man I think Oprah's "Secret" lady was right. If you will it, it will come.

Yay cheese!
-Rachel

TWD - Blueberry Sour Cream Ice Cream

Such a deliciously simple dessert deserves a deliciously simple write up. I give you:

Blueberry Ice Cream Haikus

Tuesday's recipe
has come to call. Thankfully,
it 's easy peasy.

Who can resist the
tasty freshly sweet burst of
delicious berries?

Sweet, yet tart. Creamy.

Tiny berry bits throughout.

Another scoop, please!

Thanks to Dolores of Chronicles in Culinary Curiosity for this week's selection. Hop on over to Tuesdays with Dorie and show the other members some love!

My addiction to kitchen gadgets is getting ridic.

I really want this.

Do I have room for it? Nope.

Will I use it often? Probably not.

Do I still want it? Yes!

It would go so great with this week's TWD recipe. Delish!

I suppose I should just buy some store bought waffle cones and let it be.

 

A terrible airport experience turned amazing.

After being stuck for a zillion hours at JFK, hubs spotted this celeb and alerted me. I approached with camera. A very dorky exchange took place and the celeb's "smoking hot blond girlfriend" - hub's(accurate) description - took the picture. I figured that even if I was the dorkiest ever, I'd never see them again so I went for it. UM, except they were on our flight, standing next to us at baggage, the GF and I washed hands next to each other in the LAX toilet, etc. I was so embarrassed.



I've had a crush on Luke Wilson since 1997. In my day-dreams, our meeting never occurred at an airport when I had gone 24 hours since showering and brushing my teeth! But, I got the pic and well it was the best 7.5 hour layover ever! Thanks to Luke and his lady friend for being so cool.

CUPCAKE HERO: August

Laurie over at Quirky [Cupcake] is taking a well-deserved vacation from Cupcake Hero for a couple of months. What does that mean? It means that Teri of The 90/10 Rule & I are co-hosting Cupcake Hero for August. Hurray!

Teri and I must have the same cupcake loving brain as we started to discuss our theme ingredient, we BOTH thought of the same thing at the same time. Whoa! August's theme ingredient is:



That's right, people. The Cupcake Hero theme for August is jalapeños! What a better way to say goodbye to the sweet heat of summer with a some sweet heat of our own. :)

How in the name of baking will you incorporate jalapeños in a cupcake? That's exactly what we want to know & we can't wait to see the fiery-sweet goodness you bake up. So here's the deal--

*You must incorporate jalapeños in your entry.
*You may use jalapeños in any form.
*Sweet cupcakes only, no savory. (sorry, Bacon-Cheddar-Jalapeño-Salsa-Cornbread variations)

Email your entries to both of us by August 31 before midnight EST.

Teri -> ninet10 at gmail dot com
Rachel is --> inluv4life at gmail dot com

Please include ALL of the following:

1. Name
2. Link to your Cupcake Hero entry
3. Picture of your jalapeño cupcake creation (250px by 250px is preferred) and/or permission to use the image from your blog.

If you have questions, send an email or leave a comment.

Good luck!

Sorry this post is late! For some reason the drafts I set to automatically post while on vacay didn't happen and are not saved any longer. Ugh. Thanks to Teri and Laurie for being quick on the draw!

Cheers from the road!

Just have a quick moment at an Internet cafe to say hello. Hubs and I are in Dublin tonight and tomorrow before we head out to Paris. We met the loveliest group of Dubliners last night while in Doolin (Coastal County Clare). They were all on vacation from Dublin and had left the kids at home with a grandma while they went out for a few pints. I gave them this website and wanted to give a quick hello and thank you to them. Hubs and I had such a nice time meeting you all. ::waves::

For all my other readers (hi Mom!) I'll be blogging about the travels (and tastes) of our two weeks in Europe when we get home on August 6. Stay tuned!

Cheers!

Longest day

If the clock were moving any slower, it would be going backwards! I am so ready to leave for the day and finish packing for our trip. We leave Sunday!

The ILs are staying in our place while we are gone. Who can blame them for wanting a free summer vacation near the beach? It is a zillion degrees where they live.
-Rachel

Tonight is the night!

The new season of Project Runway starts tonight. I can't wait! Will you be watching?
-Rachel

TWD: Little white rabbit...

I'm late, I'm late for a very important date! Stay tuned...I might have a little WWD (Wednesday with Dorie) this week!

YAY!

Question

Hey married folks - when travelling, do you wear your jewelry (eg wedding rings)?
-Rachel

TWD - Double Crust Blueberry Pie

It's been a couple weeks since my last Tuesday's with Dorie post and I am super sad that I missed some good ones. We had back to back weddings and are getting ready for our big trip to Europe in a couple weeks so I've been slacking on baking. :(

But this week, I was able to get the recipe made and man was it delish! Thanks to Amy of South in your Mouth for choosing a winner.

Fiscal issues pushed me to use raspberries and blueberries. Using blueberries alone would have cost me over $15 just for the fruit! So I used about 2/3 raspberries and 1/3 blueberries and it tasted amazing. I think next time I'll cut the sugar down just a bit and add in a touch more flour since the raspberries give off more juice than the little blue guys.

I had some issues with the pie crust. This was my first homemade one! The bottom one was soft and wiggly after being rolled and I could not get it into the pie plate without it crumpling up into a ball. After about 10 attempts, I recruited hubs to help. I rolled the crust on parchment and we four-handed flipped the dough onto the pie plate. SUCCESS! So glad the hubs was around to help. The top crust was fine as it was in the fridge after being rolled and I learned that next time, I'll just chill both crusts post rolling in order to make them behave better.

Oh, one other crust-related issue. I created the most beautiful pinched top crust and it all fell off in the oven. I guess it was too heavy? The part that didn't fall off was burnt to all heaven so I used a sharp knife and cut it off. No one was the wiser. :D

Bottom line: DELISH! Another winner from Dorie.

Banana Pancakes!

While catching up on my Google Reader subscriptions this morning, I found a post by Nicole at Baking Bites about banana pancakes. She says that if you have one overly ripe banana, that's the perfect amount for this recipe. Funny, I had exactly one banana to use. So, I whipped up some banana pancakes per her instructions though mine were larger than hers, yet smaller than regular size. Hubs and I really enjoyed them and this recipe is going in the rotation! I think I might have to add some Nutella next time and see what happens. :D

Thanks, Nicole!

Weekend recap - and why I was MIA.

Update: If you saw this post in the first hour, you got to see pics of hubs. If not, sorry kids! He shall remain a man of mystery.

Oh man, I just had the most amazing weekend. One of my dearest friends got married in Napa this weekend and hubs and I turned it into a mini-vacation. Whee!




We stopped halfway up to visit hubs 'rents for a couple nights. We had such a fun time visiting with the ILs. I know it sounds like an intro to a joke on Last Comic Standing, but I really love my ILs. They are just great.



Thursday night, hubs and I went over to his childhood friend's home and we had a blast visiting with him, his wife, their adorable 2 year old son and 5 week old baby girl. (I won't post pics of other people's kids. Trust me though, they are adorable!) We all went to the farmers market and brought back tasty veggies to eat for part of our dinner. I was quite impressed with the quality of their market. Very nice!


When it was time to go home to bed, I tried to steal baby S but hubs made me give her back. I couldn't help it. I was mesmerized by her little baby sleepy sighs. Hubs gave me that look...maybe... I will get that puppy I've been wanting for a while after all!


On Friday morning, we got up early in order to get to Napa in time for the wedding weekend festivities. We enjoyed a lovely tour and tasting at Saintsbury with good friends. I had never been to Napa before and couldn't believe how beautiful it was, even with the slightly hazy skies left over from recent fires.


Friday night, we had a super yummy dinner, margaritas, and a lot of laughs with my friends. I stayed friends with three ladies from high school and was so glad we were all there to celebrate. I especially enjoyed the groom's special surprise dessert - a giant Texas cake. Fun times!


Saturday was spent poolside and I now have one lobster-red shin. I swear I applied sunscreen evenly but apparently the wine took over and I just slathered it on willy nilly. A sad lesson to learn, especially for this Whitey Whiterson. (I will not post of picture of the leg, sorry.)


The wedding was Saturday evening and words couldn't express how beautiful it was there in a tiny clearing under the trees overlooking the vineyard. The sun was starting to sink and the ambiance was perfect. When my friend J came down the aisle, there wasn't a dry eye. The ceremony, vows and loving looks were so incredibly genuine, we all knew we were part of something amazing.



The reception was in another beautiful locale, on the deck of a private residence overlooking a vineyard. Again, breathtaking views. But, more amazing than the views, food (delish) and wine (not a drop left) was celebrating with such a wonderful group of people.



Sunday, the group met up again for a sparkling wine tasting and it was the absolute perfect send off. We left with a few purchases, grins, and a buzz - at least I did, hubs was DD.








It could not have been a more perfect weekend and I am so thankful that hubs and I were two of the 22 guests chosen to celebrate with the happy couple. It meant the world to be there to see my friend off into the land of Mrs.

Whee!

It is officially summer, ya'll. Hurray!
-Rachel