One of us is pregnant! WooHoo!

I’m sad to see this weekend come to end, but so happy that summer (well, at least fake summer for another month) is here. I’m so ready for flip flops, cotton dresses and an excuse to eat frozen yogurt for lunch every day.

How did you spend the weekend? Do you have any traditions for this weekend? Did you do something special to honor those who are and who have served in the military?

I went to visit my parents in Rehoboth for a few days.  We took a power walk along the boardwalk on Saturday morning. At 10:30 am, the beach was already packed with people enjoying the Ocean Breeze on that very hot day.

We skipped the beach this trip – I only like to sit at the beach when its hot enough to take a dip in the water.  In May, the Atlantic Ocean is still a bit too chilly for my tastes!

We did head on over to the pool in my parent’s neighborhood, and got some good vitamin D. (While wearing Neutrogenia’s SPF 70, don’t you worry.)

On Monday I spent the day redoing our back garden, planting new plants, essentially planting new life.  It was the perfect alone time to spend the day reflecting on what Memorial Day is all about.  Something much bigger, much  greater than hot dogs, berry pie and crowded beaches.   Thank you to all those who serve, who have served, and to those who have paid the ultimate price.  Our lives are better because of what you have done.

A few months ago on Pinterest I found some monograms made from wine corks.  Amazing.  It was like my dream. Monograms and wine corks, together?! Naturally I needed to recreate this myself.  It turned out pretty cute!

I wanted to hang it on my door, but I don’t know how it’ll hold up – i’m afraid that I won’t be able to stop it from hitting the door again and again when it opens and closes.  I will test it out and let you know where its final spot ends up being.

Here’s the tutorial if you want to recreate one for your home!

Start with a wooden letter. I got one from Michael’s for about $3.

I used some craft paint to paint the letter a color closer to cork.

Then I looked through my corks, found the broken ones, and cut a few manually to be different shapes, textures, etc.

The I started playing around with where I would place each cork. Here I was trying to respect the curve of the letter.

I used Aleene’s Tacky Glue to stick the corks onto the letter.

I made sure to wipe off excess glue with my fingernail.

Here’s a cork I cut in half.

and these two I was trying to fit together on the curve.

Use just a little glue – not too much.

And that’s it! We’re done!

In my kitchen cabinet the other day there was: half a bag of chocolate chips, half a bag of butterscotch chips, half a bag of walnuts, and some Ghirardelli chocolate squares.  The half-open bags were making me crazy. So I decided to make Kitchen Sink cookies, which I made up a few months ago. I called them Kitchen Sink cookies because you literally throw in everything but the kitchen sink!

This time around I used these ingredients - these are all half-filled bags!

These are left over from our Xmas party – for some reason, the husband thinks Ghirardelli squares = Xmas.  Who knows, but I like them, so I’ll go with it!

Of course, what’s a cookie without potato chips?!

I used this basic recipe for chocolate chip cookies that I worked out a few months back. The dark brown sugar makes all the difference. This time, I also used REAL vanilla extract from Madagascar.  (It was all the organic market by me had.) Normally, I go cheap-o on the imitation.  Never, ever again on the cheap stuff.  There is a difference!  I will splurge on vanilla from now on.

I mixed the chocolates in! Some of the chocolate squares where caramel and super-gooey in the middle. I wish I had had more of these to add in.

Then, the potato chips and walnuts:

Getting ready to bake!

All done! I never had a cooling rack before I got married and registered for all those crazy things you think you can’t live without. But my goodness cooling racks do make baking easier! If you don’t have one, they’re super cheap and absolutely worth it.  It makes the cooling process much, much faster and neater – because your cookies will be flat – and easier than using 1 million plates.

Happy Monday everyone! Or, should I say, Happy Almost Summer! I can not wait for Memorial Day. The attitude in New York just changes once it hits. People are more relaxed, anxious to be outside, and ready to hit the beach. With summer on the brain the ONLY thing I wanted for dinner tonight was homemade guac. I used my easy recipe here, added some chips and a very tasty dinner was had. I mean, I guess guac isn’t really dinner, but I decided it was.

I spent most of the weekend in the Poconos, cheering the sweet husband along as he ran the Pocono marathon. I unfortunately didn’t get any good pictures of him running to post, but know that he looks really cute when he runs.  I was a little jealous I couldn’t run this time around, but that’s ok.  The 80-degree heat was far too hot for a marathon.

I also bought a few basil plants to plant outside in my planter. I’m not sure why they’re so droopy.  I’m hoping a few days of sunlight and they’ll be growing tall!

Normally when I travel I just throw balls of yarn in my bag.  (Mom, I know you’re not shocked by this.)  Let’s just say that’s a little messy.  And by a little, I mean, ALOT.  I spend tons of time chasing around yarn!  But now it’s all nice and neat and ready for my trip to the Poconos this weekend.  (The Sweet Hubby is running a marathon – wish him luck!)

Of course, I’m loving the preppy stripes inside.

The bag is waterproof – it has a bit of that plastic-y feel, so it would actually be perfect for wet bathing suits following the pool or beach. The drawstring is SUPER tight, so you wouldn’t worry about it getting your other clothes wet. They also sent me this cute case, which would probably be good for pencils, or perfume or make-up, since its waterproof.

But I use it for knitting needles to sew of the ends of my projects, and scissors!

You can order them online, here: http://hadakishop.com/  The site has a variety of other sizes and colors.  These aren’t ones they sent me, but I’m loving these, too. Isn’t this cute for summer? As a beach/pool bag?

And these dots are just too much. LOVE.

And I love the greens/blues in this make-up case:

 To comply with FTC regulations, Hadaki sent me samples for free. But I only wrote about them because I liked them!  As a rule, we will review any product, but will only include ones in the blog that we would have purchased ourselves. 

It’s an amazing organization that helps young women – those under 40 – who have been diagnosed with or are survivors of breast cancer.  YSC offers resources, connections and outreach so women feel supported, empowered and hopeful.

Lia and I have participated in fundraisers for the organization over the years, and last night was no exception. We were lucky enough to accompany our company’s CEO to the annual “Living In Pink” Gala, which was a Casino night.  We had a blast gambling with fake money, and were moved by the stories of women our own age battling this disease.  To learn more, check out their website here.  They have 30 affiliates across the United States!

Why did he say this? And WHY did he specify that he wanted it from scratch? Becuase he knew I would do it. And, of course I did.

I should probably also mention that I’ve never actually had a Boston Cream pie before.  Or seen one, even. I mean, I’m sure I’ve SEEN one. But I didn’t know what it was.

So I did what anyone would do: I went to Pinterest. I checked out a bunch of recipes and decided to go with this one from The Hungry Mouse’s blog.  It looked fairly easy to follow, and it was!  A few things:

1. I did this on a Wednesday night. It wasn’t QUITE enough time.  I’d suggest making this on a weekend.

2. The Hungry Mouse used toasted almonds on the side of her pie.  The sweet hubby isn’t really one for almonds, so I skipped this step.

3. I put the chocolate on a bit too early. So… some of it ran over the sides.  When I realized this, I decided to sprinkle some all over the sides, so that it looked intentional. I think it looks pretty good!

4. I don’t have a double boiler, so I used my copper risotto pot on top of a larger sauce pan (totally makeshift) for the custard and the chocolate.  The copper pot is SUCH a luxury, and it cooks delicate items like this perfectly.  But i’m sure a regular double boiler or another makeshift two-pot duo like The Hungry Mouse uses in her pictures would be perfect.

4. The finished pie was really, really, good. Particuarly the custard.  That was my favorite part!  I thought the cake part was just a TAD too dry, but I really don’t think I overcooked it.  I would have preferred it to be a bit fluffier, but that’s just how I like my cake.  Fluffy like box mix!

If you’re looking for a good receipe, I would recomend this one, and its very easy to follow, which is key. Get the whole recipe here. 

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First, you cook the onions:Because I know cooking things like milk and cheese are sensitive, I used my copper pot.  It’s a risotto pot, but I thought its shape would be perfect for this!  The pot is so amazing – not a thing stuck, it cooked it perfectly.

I mixed in the flour…And whisked in the milk….I used Cabot cheese, because its the best!

Finally I added the cheese, again, whisk, whisk, whisk!
And, added in the pasta!  I served it with pulled pork, yum, yum, yum! 

I made a cake, and I thought it was so pretty.  It was plain yellow cake, box mix, of course, with Dunkin Hines Chocolate Frosting. Almost no work on my part.  But still. I love box mix cake.  To me, its better than the fanciest cake you can buy.  It’s just delicious.

And, I thought it was so pretty sitting on this pink depression era cake plate my sweet cousin gave me for my wedding. Some people put antiques on display. I like to use them. For everything. Including box mix cakes that you make on a Saturday for no reason at all.  Well, maybe to fatten my husband up.  I guess that’s the real reason.