Sneaky Photos of the Beach

While laying out in Galveston I found a few opportunities to snap some candid photos of random people and Bruce sleeping.

























I love the photo of Bruce's profile and the beach

back ground. It really brings out his freckles.

Honey Mustard Chicken with Mozzarella

 While in China, we discovered a little piece of heaven called Han's Deli. It was ran by a small Korean woman who spoke fairly good English. Ever since trying hers, I have had a special place in my heart for honey mustard chicken. Here is my favorite honey mustard chicken recipe.

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/easy-honey-mustard-mozzarella-chicken/detail.aspx

1.  I didn't have time to thaw the chicken completely, but it turned out fine. Use a cookie sheet lined with foil to lay out the chicken, and sprinkle with salt.

2. On the chicken: Drizzle with honey. Sprinkle with lemon pepper. Spread yellow mustard.


3. Bake at  375 degrees for 25 mins.






4. Pull out of oven and drizzle with more honey. Sprinkle with mozzarella cheese. Bake for another 10 minutes.









5. Serve hot with seasoned baked vegetables, buttered ciabatta bread, and fruit. Enjoy!

"They must not be working"

Thank you 999 Reasons to Laugh at Infertility for posting a similar video. It made my day. I loved it so much I youtube-ed it and found a whole story line! Awesome! I made my husband sit and watch it with me!

Scott and Angie Tie the Knot!

 Congratulations Scott & Angie!! I spent the better part of last week in California preparing for Angie and Scott's wedding reception. It was the perfect mixture of rustic antique and a country feel with a burst of soft purple to capture your attention.

Angie used bird cages to draw guests' attention to the center of the table. She accented it with 3 stacked books painted ivory, a short clear vase filled with purple and white flowers, and small off-white candle holders with lace detail. Everything sits on a burlap table runner trimmed with an off-white and purple print.

As much as I'd like to claim this cake I have to give credit to my mom who baked the cakes and laid the fondant. I was also inspired by a photo Angie provided for me. I did, however, make the fabric flowers! 

  This was such a cute idea my mom had. She bought the dresser off of craigslist.com and the shelf came from Good Will. She painted them white, added a few ornaments, and VOILA!! A cute place to put guests' presents.

Bridal shower cupcakes. I get to take credit for the decorations on the cupcakes . Zebra print was a lot harder than I thought it would be.

J. Crew Dress for Less

One of my new favorite blogs, Pin Tuck and Ruffles, gave me a novel idea. You can have cute dress and not pay $200 for it! Amazing! All you have to do is sew it yourself. I found that easier said them done. Nonetheless, I found this totally cute J.Crew dress and decided to give it a try. I did cheat (just a little) and used a pattern for the shape of the dress. And after much altering, here is the finished project!

I couldn't have done it with out my dear husband who pinned me into the dress, and my wonderful mother-in-law who made it fit right.

Saturday Morning Breakfast

This breakfast recipe was too good not to share.


French Toast with Vanilla Bourbon and Caramelized Bananas
by David Zinczenko and Matt Goulding for Eat This Not That

Ingredants:
2 Tbs butter
1/4 cup bourbon ( I nixed this and used extra vanilla instead)
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup crushed walnuts
2 ripe (but still firm) bananas sliced into 1/2" coins
1 cup 2% milk
3 eggs
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 Tbs vanilla
8 slices sturdy whole-grain bread

1. Heat butter in a medium nonstick pan over medium heat. Add 1Tbs vanilla, 1 Tbs water, brown sugar and stir until dissolved. Cook for 1-2 minutes until lightly bubbly. Add walnuts and cook additional 2 minutes; add the bananas and heat through. Stir in 1/4 cup milk and keep warm (not boiling).

2. In a separate bowl, whisk remaining 3/4 cup milk, eggs, cinnamon, and vanilla.
3. Pre-heat a large nonstick or cast iron skillet over medium heat. When skillet is warm, spray with light coating of nonstick cooking spray.
4. Working 2 pieces at a time, dip the bread into the milk and egg mixture. Soak both sides of bread. Add the bread to the hot skillet. Cook until golden brown on the bottom, flip and cook other side.
5. After cooking, serve on a plate, and top with the warm banana topping and glass of cold milk.

Makes 4 serving (and believe me, you will be full after 2 slices!)

Fancy Braid Headband

While shopping at Target saw a simple braided headband. Upon closer inspection I found it was made by weaving gray cotton fabric in to a thick 8 strand braid. I thought, "Hey, I could totally make this!" So here it is:

I started with an old white t-shirt I no longer wore. I cut off the sleeves and the hem at the bottom. Then I cut the fabric in to strips about 1-1 1/2 inches wide.

To hold the fabric still, I taped the ends to my coffee table. (In retrospect I would have tied the ends in a knot then taped it to the table.)

This is fun part! First, start by taking the outer most stand on the left and weaving OVER-UNDER-OVER. Next, weave the outer most strand on the right UNDER-OVER-UNDER, and across the first outside strand. And REPEAT!

As your braid gets going you want to tighten strands so they are even.

You should end up with a braid about 1 3/4 inches wide and 14 1/2 inches long. (The measurements will vary depending on how tight your braid is.)

Next, you will need scraps of your fabric, an elastic hair tie (about 2 1/4 inches long), and a glue gun.

Wrap your scrap fabric around the end of your braid and one end of the elastic hair tie. Get as much glue in and around the hair tie and fabric, without getting glue on the outside of the fabric. Continue to glue other end of the elastic to the braid. Let dry about 10 min. before wearing.

Ta-Da!