TWD ~ Espresso Chocolate Shortbread Cookies

As I type this I don't think there are any cookies left because we might have eaten them all. These were a very simple and easy recipe to make. I didn't use bittersweet chocolate, but substituted that for Heath Chocolate pieces. It was so simple to roll these out while in a gallon zip lock bag. It kept everything nice and in place. I almost didn't refrigerate them, but I'm glad I did because these will definitely crumble on you if you don't. We tried them warm from the oven and thought they were pretty darn good.

To Market To Market

Almost every Saturday I head over to the local farmer's market. Some days I go for zucchini, some days, like the day before my wedding, I go for the flowers. This weekend i went to get all the ingredients i needed to make fresh salsa! Fiesta! I picked up tomatoes, onions, peppers and cilantro. Plus some freshly made cookies, hot pickled green beans and flowers.

I made two different salsas and some guacamole. All fresh from local farmers. mmmmm

TWD ~ Crunchy & Custardy Peach Tart

Whoo Whee! This was a fun one to make! I had my new assistant helping me out. A.K.A. Husband Extraordinaire. His job was to make the streusel and the cream. Ladies & Gentlemen I think we have ourselves a chef. We had fun make the "spokes" on the pie. I would typically put the peach slices haphazardly all over the pie. Where my mathematician hubby insisted that the peaches should go in a symmetrical form... he was right! It looked way prettier. I usually make substitutions when I bake, but this tart was very strait forward. I had made the sweet dough many times when I made Dorie's French Pear Tart. So i could practically make that one in my sleep. Everything went really well with the tart, but I put the streusel on too soon. So I covered it with tin foil and then took it off after 20 minutes, and then baked it for another 20 minutes.

Every time I peered into the oven I would see it bubbling and crisping and I couldn't wait to take a bite.

Dorie said that you could serve it warm or serve it cold, and since we couldn't wait, we tried it warm. I was a bit sceptical because i don't like cream based tarts, but this one was delicious! A new favorite at our home!

TWD ~ Oatmeal Breakfast Bread

Hello! I'm baking again! It's been awhile because I've been a bit busy planning... a Wedding! Last Sunday I got married (see previous post). So I have put Tuesdays with Dorie on the back burner. But I am officially back and ready to bake. My hubby is pretty happy about that too.

This week's recipe is Oatmeal Breakfast Bread. Not sure why the recipe signals out the oatmeal, when I think the star of the show is the dried fruit. (I just used dried apples, someone who I love very much detests raisins). I also left the walnuts off the topping too. So really this was more like an apple cinnamon breakfast bread. Either way the whole house smells delicious!

I took it out of the oven when the bread turned a golden brown. Dorie says you should wait until the bread is room temperature to cut it and eat it. But we couldn't wait! Complete success... it might now even make it to breakfast!

8\8\10

The wedding day is here and gone. It's hard to believe that all that time and work and now it's just a memory. The wedding weekend was a blur, but it was also so much fun. I had all my favorite people by my side. We jammed packed a lot of events in 3 days, but I wouldn't have it any other way. Friday night was a night out for my bachelorette. Let me tell you that having a bachelorette two days before your wedding is crazy! You want to have a lot of fun, but all you can think about is what needs to get done. Nonetheless, I really had a wonderful time with all my favorite ladies! Saturday was a day of picking out flowers at the Farmer's Market, Pedicures with my girls and a really wonderful rehearsal dinner in my backyard. I had so much fun just hanging out and chatting with all the people we love so much. We had the food catered by Famous Dave's and I think people all had fun munchin' on the corn bread!

And that brings us to the wedding day. HOTTEST DAY IN ALMOST 100 YEARS!! I am not even kidding, nope, not even a little. It was painfully hot, humid and sticky. Let me tell you that it is really hard to feel beautiful on your wedding day with sweat dripping down your face. ick. BUT... everything else about the day was beautiful and wonderful! There were no major complications, everything looked beautiful and the ceremony was amazing!
Tim and I did our own vows, along with friends reading poems, prayers and singing.
I could barely get through my vows... it was so hard to fight back the tears. I think i loved the ceremony best out of all the events. Our location was on a park reserve with a barn pavilion for the reception. The sky was bright and the lake and greenery were spectacular. At the reception we went all out with a photo booth, candy buffet, dessert bar, dance and fun picnic-type food. We all sweated happily together and it seemed like, despite the heat, everyone was having a great time!
It all went by so fast! Everyone says that, but it really did! I could hardly catch my breath, no time to sit, just moving around, greeting friends and loved ones and SWEATING!
But who cares about a little (ok a lot) of sweat when I got to marry the most wonderful man in the world! I am so happy to spend my days on this earth with someone that makes life so much sweeter!
Here are a few pics of our wedding day...
Enjoy!

my cutie pie brother Buddy

Rev. Kyle & Tim


the happy couple

our cake, that we forgot to cut... and eat!

S+T Forever!

dessert table

cousin of honor kelly giving a toast... beautiful!

my handsome hubby!

ceremony site

we do!

converse all stars

lovely ellen reading The Prayer of St. Francis

my most gorgeous and fabulous bridesmaids, kelly, shannon & rachel

"s"

farmers market flowers

at my parent's house

hair flower change mid reception

I Do!