Happy Easter!

What a wonderful Easter we had in the rainy South! While it was sunny and hot in Oregon, we suffered through the cold and rain. On the up side the drains Scott and I dug out seem to be working well!

The festivities started off with decorating eggs. I wanted to try using beet juice to dye the eggs since I had some in the fridge from Pa-Paw's delicious homemade pickled beets! I guess I should have read up on it a little because they didn't work out quite as I was hoping. Scott had never drawn on his eggs with crayon, can you believe that!? Me either. We didn't make many eggs as Scott doesn't like them and I knew his Aunt Kuawana was bringing deviled eggs for Easter lunch. After we did our best to draw out any artistic abilities, we popped those bad boys in the beet juice and moved on.

The 3 stages of egg decorating.

Next up? Cupcakes of course! It wouldn't be Easter, or any holiday for that matter, without a little sweet treat! A few years ago I perfected my carrot cake recipe (you can find it here) and knew that this was just want I wanted to contribute to lunch. I shredded carrots until my fingers and cutting board were stained orange, whipped up the batter and filled my most Easter like cupcake liners. I don't know if I was just really in the mood for cream cheese frosting or if it really was just that good, but for some reason I feel that this batch was the best I've ever made. Scott not only cleaned the beaters for me, he also sucked out the rest of the frosting from my piping bags!

Yummy!

After the cupcakes were frosted Scott helped me set up the make shift buffet table with plates cloth and napkins so it was one less thing to go in the morning. Man I love a good reason to pull out my party planning skills! Poor Scott doesn't know what he is getting himself into...

Table set up.

After a very long day it was finally time for bed. I made Scott go into the bedroom and close the door so I could hide his Easter Basket - another thing he has never done, but was a trooper about it and hid mine too.

My Easter basket full of my favorite things!

My sisters will be the first to tell you, I am always the first one awake. If a holiday is involved I wake up even earlier. It is like my body just knows that there is something special waiting for me as soon as the clock strikes midnight... I let Scott sleep as long as I could an finally made him get up so we could start our day. I searched for my basket first and missed it initially, Scott's was a little more out in the open (behind the pillows on the couch). I was thrilled with the Easter Bunny. New shoes, seeds for the garden, candy and hair ties (the only kind my hair likes!)! Scott made out with candy, a new CD and Farkle - a ridiculously fun dice game I've played with Krystal's grandparents.

Scott's basket.

After church Scott's family and Rachel joined us for Easter lunch. As I said, Scott's Aunt made lunch and brought it over, his mom Vanessa made Coca Cola Cake. Everything was delicious and I am so grateful that Scott's family has been so good to me.

These are a few of my favorite things from today! 

It was a pretty perfect day in my opinion topped off with a late afternoon nap, Dirty Dancing, and Disney movies!  

How our Garden Grows

Spring has sprung! And with it the garden is getting ready to be planted! Pa-Paw (Scott's grandpa) brought the tractor over and got the land ready for our garden. It had a huge tiller on the bask that left the ground deeply churned but smooth on top as well. I must admit the area is H.U.G.E. Like 12x30 feet and that is a conservative guess! We won't fill it up this year as we are going to start small, but I am excited to see how it grows!

Falling in love with farm equipment!

I guess the rule of thumb here is to plant on Good Friday and as that is just around the corner, I'll be quite the busy girl this weekend! We have been battling overnight freezing temperatures, and when we tilled the garden it was only 32 degrees outside. We'll have to double check with Pa-Paw if he still thinks Friday is the day to plant. 

On Thursday Scott and I are going to the local swap meet where apparently you can find the best starter plants. I can't wait! I've already talked to friends and family of Scott's and based on what they are planting have convinced each other to have our own produce swaps. 

Our huge garden space.

So far the plan is tomatoes, green cucumbers, white cucumbers (supposedly the best & sweetest), yellow squash, zucchini and my herbs. I am also anxious to get some flowers in the ground and add a little color to the yard.

To say that I am a happy girl is an understatement :) I'll keep you posted on how things are growing!

Claremont Park

We decided to take advantage of a sunny day and check out the local park in Scott's town. I love parks and Rachel and I often go for a picnic, people watch or just enjoy the sun.

Welcome to the park!

The park was lovely, and although we were the only ones there, I can picture it full of families when the weather is warmer. It offered 4 different play areas (which we tried out of course), a stage/amphitheater, fire pit, picnic areas and so much more! The fire pit really won me over! It also featured a mural of the town's history and markers noting which kind of tree's were growing.

Boys will be boys... 

I can't wait for a warm spring day to have our own picnic in the park and people watch. Scott suggested we get some tennis racquets and take advantage of the courts! Man, do I love this guy :)

Herbs - Round 2

I finally got my first round of herbs planted in pots! I probably kept them in their egg carton for a little to long so I am hoping they will bounce back and really flourish. They green onions were a total bust, but I have a feeling I might try that again.

Basil starts!

I also started some rosemary and dill for my second attempt at growing herbs from seed. By the time the garden is ready for planting these herbs should be mature enough to stand on their own!

Round 2

Growing garden! 

My goal is to be able to walk out the back door and have everything I need at my finger tips an from the looks of it, I am on my way!

In a pinch Chicken Tacos

I was rummaging through my fridge the other day trying to find something to make for Rachel and I to eat and decided that there wasn't much to choose from. I had the usual - eggs, tortillas, milk, cheese and lettuce (but not enough for us both to have salad). There was also 1 chicken breast, 1/2 an onion, 2 green onions and some left over cilantro from a few days ago.

Chicken tacos was the way to go.

I seasoned the chicken breast with a little salt & pepper I threw it in the oven at 350 and prepared the rest of the fixings while it cooked.

I was lucky to have the left over cilantro and onions (my favorite combination to accompany a Latin feast) and chopped them both finely, shredded the remainder of the iceberg lettuce, and chopped up the green onion.  I also took out the tortillas and hot sauce. Right on queue the chicken was done. Now I am not a huge fan of those seasoning packets so after I chopped up the chicken and tossed it in a bowl I added a splash of various spices.

I think Rachel was impressed :) I know I was! My mom has always had the ability to make something from nothing and I am happy to know she has taught me well. A well stocked spice cabinet can take even the most simple ingredients and make them extraordinary.

Homemade Taco Seasoning 

1/4 t cumin

1/4 t garlic powder

1/4 t onion powder

1/4 t red pepper flakes

1/4 t paprika

1/4 t salt

1/4 t chili powder

Mix well.

Do you have any spice combinations that are your go-to in a pinch? I'd love to hear about them!

Beer Bread

When my mom and sister April helped me move from Portland to Charlotte - 9 months ago - they bought a 12 pack of bud light. The days were long and hot, like 107 degrees hot, so I don't blame them. When they caught their flight home I was left with 11 beers in my fridge where the sat for 9 months. I was craving a taste of home and remembered that my Cousin Melanie makes the best beer bread so I searched out a simple recipe.

There are tons of variations of beer bread, which I hadn't realized! You can add herbs, cheese, honey, even garlic! Why had I not thought of this before?! I decided a sweeter bread was want I was in the mood for so after comparing a few recipes this is what I came up with.



Sweet Beer Bread

Ingredients

• 3 cups flour
• 3 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 12 ounce can or bottle of beer
• 1 stick butter, melted

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375°F

In a medium bowl sift together all dry ingredients.

Add beer and stir with a wooden spoon until just incorporated. You don't want to over mix.

Pour 1/2 of your melted butter into your loaf pan.

Pour beer bread batter into pan, add remaining melted butter over the top of the beer bread batter.

Bake for 1 hour.

Remove from oven and allow to cool for 15 minutes before removing from pan.

The bread comes out so crusty and sweet, but not overly sweet. This also makes great toast! The once the direct heat hits those sugars, magic happens. I can't wait to try some of the other variations I've read about and maybe even a few of my own! 

Moo-Moo Mini Golf

Always looking for something new to do, Scott suggested a round of mini golf and ice cream. Of course I wasn't going to object! So we headed to a new part of town to get out putting on. 

It was a cute indoor course with cow/movie star theme attached to an ice cream parlor. The course was actually pretty challenging, well as challenging as a course could be I guess, with lots of little twists and turns. Maybe we were just a little out of practice :)

After Scott beat me, just barley, we treated ourselves to a sweet treat. They had ton's of flavors to chose from and they are all made just down the road at their creamery and although I wanted to try them all, we stuck with some fun sundaes Some of us had trouble keeping the ice cream in our mouths...

We had a blast. Sometimes it is nice to break from the normal grown up chores and try something new.

I can't wait for our next date!