Cooking with the Hubster

Okay, maybe he can't really cook. But boy oh boy does he make a meeeeeean chocolate malt. I love chocolate but have never cared for chocolate ice cream. That is until I stole my first sip of his chocolate malt at Mr. Freeze. Ever since then I've been converted. Now we live oh so very far away from Mr. Freeze and have to fend for ourselves. Nathan has taken to making his own malts. Simple and goooood!

- vanilla ice cream
- chocolate malt powder
- a splash of milk
- stainless steel bowl
- hand mixer



Everytime they taste divine. Especially when we whip us some fresh whipped cream for on top!

Hard, Soft or Chewy?

How do you like your chocolate chip cookies?? We're fans of soft and chewy.

Baking Bust

For my bookclub this month I decided to make a gluten-free dessert. One of my girlfriends has a gluten allergy and rarely gets to eat the sweet goodies people bring to bookclub. So this was my attempt at satisfying her sweet tooth.






The recipe basically consisted of cooking shredded beets in agave nectar then pureeing them and baking them.

It. was. awful.

Even with a sprinkle of powdered sugar...



And a strawberry...



Just plain awful...

Graduation Caps

I made these for a high school graduation party a couple weeks ago. The client at first wanted some sort of graduation cupcakes for her sons party but once I found this idea she was on board for these instead. Then the fun began...finding the perfect tassel (I had to cut strands of really skinny candy), the perfect candy piece on top (I sorted through the bulk candies to get 20 yellow mini m&m's) and the perfect chocolate (lordie this took four stores and six different chocolate squares before finding the right ones). It was a fun challenge and they turned out pretty cute...I would love to do one next year and incorporate it onto a cupcake or larger cake!

Strawberry Season Scones

I decided to make something because I had soooo many strawberries and vanilla yogurt to use up. I remembered seeing this recipe for strawberry scones on one of my very favorite food blogs and thought I'd give it a try. Well I am so thankful that I did because they were delicious! I only made two of the eight and froze the other six. I was able to make the remaining six scones when my parents were here just a week later and they tasted just as good.

I also made the oatmeal raspberry scones while my parents were here and froze half of them to bake later. So nice to know that we can have a yummy homemade breakfast treat straight from the freezer!

Sweet Caroline

A few weeks ago I made the favors for a baby shower. The baby-to-be has the sweetest name, Caroline! I hope her mama liked the favors...

Pre Father's Day Cupcakes

This past weekend we celebrated Father's Day with my dad since he and my mom had come for a visit. I saw this recipe for black forest cupcakes on Annie's Eats and thought we'd try them when my dad was here. My mom will often buy a black forest cake when we celebrate his birthday so why not try a cupcake version for father's day? I wasn't too thrilled with how dry the chocolate cake turned out but nobody seemed to mind! I think overall everyone enjoyed them.

Ketchup

I promise you will NEVER meet anyone who loves it more than this guy!



We had an oyster festival near our neighborhood today and I really wanted to go because they were having a Journey cover band perform. So after dropping off my latest cookie order (for a baby shower) we stopped by Chickfila because I was dying for a split (that's half tea/half lemonade in cfa language...we call it an arnold palmer) and the mister decided waffle fries were a must. Well we were both pretty excited by the ketchup they gave him...so convenient in it's new container that is both dunk and squeeze friendly!

Here's a sample of the music we got to enjoy...they are SO good! This is our second time seeing them...I love hearing live music and they are great to listen to! Trial by Fire

A Wedding in Paradise

One of Nate's dearest friends got married in early May. We were so glad to be a part of their big day but also excited to have a mini-vacation. I took an extra day off of work so we could spend an extra day in paradise. We were in Ocean Reef, Florida. You need to be sponsored by a member of the club in order to enter the island/resort so it's suuuuuper safe. They give you one card that doubles as a room key and the "credit card" for anything. Literally, every restaurant, shop and bar took the room key as payment...I don't think you can really use cash much at all. It was super convenient to not have to worry about your id and credit card/cash when you were out and about.

We started our vacation playing croquet. The game itself is so fun but way more difficult than your average backyard experience. At the club where we played with the other wedding guests you have to wear all white. What a challenge for Nate but I was super excited to buy a white dress that I'd been eyeing at Anthro. Here's a picture of us in action...sort of.



We spent most of Saturday riding bikes around the island. We rode by the homes of many ridiculously fortunate people! Then we spent a bit of time in the pool area before the big event. Could you ever leave this place?



Here's us during the main event...the wedding was held just down the little path on a place called "the point."



The water surrounds the point so 3/4 of your view are water water water. So pretty and peaceful.



The happy couple...I "borrowed" this picture from Bryan...gorgeous, right?



We took a walk on the piers after the main course of the reception. Nate fell in love with every yacht he saw. I told him to keep his fingers crossed and it might just happen. He's so very literal.



We took one more picture after the brunch on Sunday before we left paradise.



Hoenstly...how could anyone be unhappy when they woke up to this gorgeous water everyday?