Tuesday, December 11, 2012

Tasty Tuesday: Alton Brown's Granola Bars.

When my parents met us downtown for Second Sunday, my mom gave me a baggie of these granola bars she made. Once Cameron and I got into them later that day, we immediately devoured them.  They were so good! Naturally, I asked my mom for the recipe and she led me to Alton Brown. This man always has great recipes.

 Alton Brown's Granola Bars
Recipe found here

8 ounces old-fashioned rolled oats, approximately 2 cups
1 1/2 ounces raw sunflower seeds, approximately 1/2 cup
3 ounces sliced almonds, approximately 1 cup
1 1/2 ounces wheat germ, approximately 1/2 cup (apparently you can find this at the regular grocery store)
6 ounces honey, approximately 1/2 cup
1 3/4 ounces dark brown sugar, approximately 1/4 cup packed
1-ounce unsalted butter, plus extra for pan
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
6 1/2 ounces chopped dried fruit, any combination of apricots, cherries or blueberries (My mom used Craisins.)

Butter a 9 by 9-inch (or 9x13) glass baking dish and set aside. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. 

Spread the oats, sunflower seeds, almonds, and wheat germ onto a half-sheet pan. Place in the oven and toast for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. 

In the meantime, combine the honey, brown sugar, butter, extract and salt in a medium saucepan and place over medium heat. Cook until the brown sugar has completely dissolved. 

Once the oat mixture is done, remove it from the oven and reduce the heat to 300 degrees F. Immediately add the oat mixture to the liquid mixture, add the dried fruit, and stir to combine. 

Turn mixture out into the prepared baking dish and press down, evenly distributing the mixture in the dish and place in the oven to bake for 25 minutes. 

Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely. 

Cut into squares and store in an airtight container for up to a week.

Monday, December 10, 2012

Weekend Recap + Menu Monday.

Monday again already?!? I need one more day to sleep in!!
 
Friday night was lowkey - grilled some steaks, picked up this sweater from Target, and saw Skyfall.
 
Saturday was my work Christmas party. It wasn't a blast, but it was nice talking to everyone outside of work. The food was good!
 
Sunday we went to brunch at Sunrise Bistro with Emily, Caroline & Andy, then we headed downtown for Second Sunday on King Street! It was Cameron and my first time going to Second Sunday and we loved it! Ok, maybe I enjoyed it a tad more than Cameron since there was a lot of browsing in the store. Loved seeing all of the dogs, familiar faces and discovering new stores.

Me, Emily & Caroline with our King of Pops popsicles. The chocolate sea salt is SO SO GOOD!!

 
15 days until Christmas!!
Hope everyone has a great week!
 
----------
Also, as requested by Emily, Menu Monday is back!
 
Monday - PW's spicy Dr. Pepper BBQ, spinach gratin & sweet potatoes
Tuesday -
Chicken & artichoke pasta
Wednesday - Lasagna Soup
Thursday - Working event until 7pm aka whatever we can find in the fridge
Friday - Homemade pizza
Saturday - Friend's Christmas Party
Sunday -
Buffalo chicken soup

Friday, December 7, 2012

Friday Lovin'.

It's Friiiiiiiiiiiday! Finally! 
I'll be spending all day today getting ready for our company Christmas party tomorrow night and I'm real excited about it!  And Sunday we're planning on going to Second Sunday on King Street!

Here are some things that made me happy this week..

I ordered a dress from Rent the Runway (click that link to sign up for RTR and receive a $20 credit on your first order!) for my bridal shower that is being held in January! I wanted to go the non-traditional not white route and I thought this Trina Turk dress was super cute. 


 This brownie brittle I snatched up at my last Harris Teeter run. They are SO good. Other than chocolate chip, it also comes in toffee crunch and traditional walnut. Go get some ASAP!

I received a gift card to Urban Nirvana LAST Christmas and still hadn't used it until yesterday. I was waiting for that *perfect* moment to get a massage, but never got around to it. And call me crazy, but I'd rather splurge on some fancy shampoo & conditioner, than get a massage. I'm weird like that and so that's what I did yesterday. 

Have a great weekend!
What are your plans??

Wednesday, December 5, 2012

Wedding Wednesday: Updates.

Rather than posting my long checklist, I've decided to give a little summary of what I got accomplished in November and what I am planning on accomplishing in December!

The biggest thing that we checked off was our food tasting (it got bumped up a week)! And let me tell you - it was GOOD. We did not leave hungry and our guests will not leave the reception hungry either. I won't spill the beans on everything we're having, but you KNOW I've got to have my fried pickles! :)
Also in November, we received the pom poms in the mail that we'll be using for our send off and got even more excited about using them after seeing Amanda's wedding video because she used pom poms, too, and they looked like so much fun! 

I also finished the shopping for all of my bridesmaids gifts!

In December I plan to:
-continue working on putting together the invitations
-purchase Cameron's wedding band
-stare at my bridal portrait pictures daily (my mom told me not to admit this haha)
-attempt again to get our passports
-celebrate our engage-iversary!
-start getting extremely anxious when we hit the 3 month countdown

Tuesday, December 4, 2012

Tasty Tuesday: Spinach Artichoke Alfredo Pizza

Not gonna lie, I had all intentions of making this for dinner last night, but after a trip to Costco and the grocery store it was getting too late, so I just picked up a similar frozen version instead. :) Don't judge.


Spinach Artichoke Alfredo Pizza
Picture and recipe found here.
 
This recipe makes one pizza heavy on toppings or two pizzas lighter on the toppings, whichever you prefer.
 
½ pint (1 cup) heavy cream
½ cup butter
2 tbsp cream cheese
¾ cup grated parmesan cheese
1 tsp garlic powder
1½ cups mozzarella cheese, shredded
6 oz of fresh spinach, roughly chopped
1 can of artichoke hearts, rinsed and squeezed dry, roughly chopped
1-2 tubes/recipes of your favorite pizza crust
 
Preheat oven to 425° if you're using homemade dough. If you're using the stuff that comes in a tube, follow the cooking instructions on the label.
 
In a medium saucepan over low heat, stir together the cream, butter, and cream cheese until fully melted.
 
Stir in the parmesan cheese and garlic powder. Continue to cook and stir for 15 minutes.
Meanwhile, place spinach in a saute pan with a tablespoon of water over medium high heat and saute until wilted.
 
Once spinach is fully wilted, place it onto a clean kitchen towel and wring out all of the liquid by twisting the towel into a ball with the spinach inside. Once you've squeezed out all of the liquid, add it to the sauce.
 
Spread the sauce over the pizza crust. You might have some left over for dipping depending on how saucy you like your pizza.
 
Place artichoke pieces over sauce then top with mozzarella cheese.
 
Bake for 15 minutes or until you start to see the cheese browning. Let sit 5 minutes before slicing.


Monday, December 3, 2012

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas! {and a Very Special Birthday}

Good Monday morning to you! We had quite an eventful weekend and I don't foresee the next few weekends in December slowing down either. Christmas parties galore! 

Here is what we did this weekend...

Friday night Cameron's work had their annual holiday oyster roast. I need to find out exactly where they get their oysters from because they are maybe the best I've ever had, year after year. After the party, we went to Voodoo in the Avondale area for a few drinks. If you have never been to Voodoo and ordered the truffle oil tater tots, please go immediately. And pair them with the duck sliders. You can thank me later. :)

Saturday I had to work a wedding and was also hired to set up & coordinate the reception. This is not something I normally do, but if it's a smaller wedding and the price it right, of course I will. The poor bride was so nervous and anxious that her stomach was messed up the majority of the night and actually wound up leaving her own reception early. I felt so bad for her. 
Sunday was a very special day. We celebrated Cameron's grandmother's (whom he calls Rara) 92nd birthday! We ate brunch with her and other family members at the Country Club of Charleston and my chicken caesar salad was delicious!
After brunch, Cameron and I went to go pick out our Christmas tree! He had strict orders on no decorating for Christmas until it turned December. We picked out our tree in beautiful 74* temperature, hence the reason Cameron is wearing a t-shirt, shorts, and flip flops. :) I had the best time just decorating the house with him and listening to Christmas music.
Did you decorate for Christmas this weekend?