Griswald

This is my {read: my family's} cat, Griswald.

We call him Griz, or Grizzy for short.

In this picture he is probably confused as to why I am moving all of my stuff out of his house... which is likely why he jumped in my basket. :)

He is a very sweet cat and he always gives me a warm welcome when I visit home. I'm excited that I get to see him this weekend! {and my family.. :)}

Do you have any furry loves in your lives?

All for now,

Alexandra 

Snapshots of Texas // Spring Break // March 2012

This spring break we drove down to Texas.

Here is an overview of our trip. 

I will post later with specific locations if we have enough pictures to do so!

We stopped in:

Fort Worth

Kyle, Texas {yes seriously! :)}:

Corpus Christi:

San Antonio:

And finally...

Austin



Full posts are linked in above!

Where was your most memorable spring break or road trip?

All for now,

Alexandra  

New{ish} Couch!

One night {in February... :)} I just really needed to get out of the apartment.

So we decided to go to the Salvation Army and look around.

I didn't really expect to find anything, I just wanted to look around... but we ended up scoring an excellent deal!

This ADORABLE couch! :) For only $70!

I think it needs a cat, what do you think?

Found anything while great thrifting recently?

All for now,

Alexandra

Kyle's Birthday Week! {recipes #27-29}

This is my husband, Kyle! {whoa! I have a husband! :)}

We recently celebrated his 21st birthday! That's definitely blog-worthy, so here you go!

Story Behind Planning:

Kyle's birthday fell on a week that I had 2 massive tests this year.

One in Physiology and one in Chemistry.

Yuck.

Unfortunately they were the night of and the morning after his birthday.

So I decided to try to make his birthday as special as possible by making it into a birthday week!

Here is what we did!

Day 1: "Fancy" B-day Dinner!

He enjoys anything that includes gravy. We decided to try Pioneer Woman's recipe for chicken fried steak with mashed potatoes and gravy! Despite my nervousness making it, it turned out well! :)

{I am counting this as 3 recipes.. because it is.. so #'s 27-29}

Day 2: Two-for-One Tuesday at Sylas and Maddie's

This is a weekly ritual for us, so we certainly couldn't miss it on his birthday week! If you live in Lawrence, near Lawrence or visit Lawrence you must try this ice cream place!

Day 3: Breakfast in Bed

{his actual birthday!}

Breakfast burritos with salsa and oj!

Then for dinner we went to 23rd Street Brewery where he ordered his first drink out! :) {a white Russian}

Day 4: Playing hookie for a whole day out together!

First, we bought him some new clothes at Oak Park Mall. Then we stopped by Christopher Elbow's chocolate shop for some treats. We ended the night at the Legends, had BBQ and then played like kids at Dave and Buster's! It was so much fun!

Kyle with his "Raptor Captor" jackpot! :)

Day 5: Dinner with Friends!

We met some friends downtown at Rudy's Pizzaria! It was fun! I also made nutella cookies... SO GOOD! But I don't have a picture so I will post that later! :)

Then Juliet and I decided to look at clothes and online shop while the boys went out for some drinks :)

The Next Week:

The next week we went with his parents to the new casino out by the Legends. Its called Hollywood Casino and it was pretty fun! Kyle was able to play on the casino's money the whole time and I was able to turn their $5 into $80! :) It was a pretty nice casino, it had some non-smoking sections!

I hope Kyle had a good birthday week! I know that I had fun planning it! :)

What are your favorite birthday surprises for your significant other?

All for now,

Alexandra

Valentine's Day 2012 Part II: Dinner & Dessert {Recipes 25 & 26}

For the evening of Valentine's Day I also planned dinner.

I decided to try a couple of recipes from Pinterest!

One of Kyle's favorite things to order when we go out is a calzone.

So I decided to use pinterest to make one!

I also made a tomato and cheese appetizer.

Baked Parmasean Tomatoes

Recipe found here. 

These were pretty good, but not amazing. They are VERY HOT when they come out so be careful!! :) I think that adding the mozzarella would improve them a bit. :)

Homemade Calzone {step by step}

Ingredients:

1 premade or BEST homemeade pizza crust

pizza sauce

mozzarella and other Italian-y cheeses

toppings that you like

1) Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

2) Roll out pizza crust into a rectangle. {mine was not very rectangular but it worked out fine!}

3) Put sauce, toppings and cheese in the middle of the crust.

4) Use kitchen shears to cut the sides into strips.

5) Wrap the strips across the body of the calzone. {aka "wrap the baby," as they said on squidoo} This starts in the picture above and finishes in the one below. Press the dough together to make it stick.

6) Admire your work!

7) Bake for 25-30 minutes.

Enjoy!

This recipe was great! It was really easy and very adaptable. We made ours half veggie, half meat. You could also use this general idea to make a fruit breakfast braid. With a fruit/pie type filling in the middle and topping it with an icing after it comes out!

Surprise Dessert!

After all this cooking {and eating!}, Kyle surprised me with a Valentine's Day pie! He decided to make 2 of my favorite things {s'mores and pie} into one lovely creation!

This was SO delicious! :) Thank you my love!

For the recipe, check out his blog here.

Just a little warning... its MESSY! :)

:) I know that this entry is super late.. but I hope that you all had a lovely Valentine's day! :)

All for now,

Alexandra

Headed To Texas Y'all!

 We are off to explore Texas!

We decided to take a road trip stopping in 6 cities along the way. 

We will be gone for about a week and we are super excited!

My grandma and her boyfriend are staying down there so one of our stops is to visit them! :) 

This is a picture of me with my grandma last fall/winter when we each had a broken foot!

Road trips are a blast and we can't wait for our crash course in Texas culture! 

Tacos, beaches and warm weather here we come! 

Hope you all have a nice break/week! 

All for now,

Alexandra 

Look what my Kitchenaid Can Do!

I <3 my kitchenaid!

Look what it can do!

It shreds cooked chicken breasts! 

Steps!

1) Bring large pot of water to a rapid boil.

2) Add chicken breasts and boil for 25-30 minutes.

3) Remove from water and place in Kitchenaid mixing bowl. {while still hot}

4) Attach the non-hook, non-whisk paddle. And turn on!

5) Your chicken should be shredded!

I am SO impressed!

Thank you pinterest!!

Anyone know of any other crazy things a kitchenaid can do?

All for now,

Alexandra 

Valentine's Day 2012 Part I: Breakfast in Bed {Recipe #24}

Kyle and I love breakfast...

So I thought I would surprise him with breakfast in bed for Valentine's Day! 

I decided to do something out of the ordinary {for us}, French Toast.

....We both thought we didn't like French toast... but that is only because we didn't have this recipe before now!

In fact it was so good that I have decided that I will serve it at my bed and breakfast someday!

For those who are curious it has a raspberry fruit filling and is drizzled with honey rather than maple syrup!

I also made veggie and cheese scrambled eggs and chocolate milk for Kyle :) {just in case he didn't like the french toast, but he did!}

This is what the french toast is supposed to look like...

But Kyle does not like almonds so this is my piece.

I am pretty darn obsessed with this recipe...

I have already made it once more testing out blackberry filling.

Maybe I'll try cherry next?

How do you like to show your loved ones you care on Valentine's Day?

All for now,

Alexandra

Part II is coming soon! :)

Recipe #23: Blackberry Cobbler

A special but incredibly simple dessert!

Blackberry Cobbler

{borrowed and enjoyed from The Farm Chicks in the Kitchen}

Ingredients:

2 cups fresh blackberries {or 1 16 oz bag frozen}

3/4 cup flour

3/4 cup brown sugar {packed} 

3/4 cup old fashioned rolled oats

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 cup cold unsalted butter {1 stick} cut into small pieces

1/2 cup chopped walnuts {2 oz} optional

Vanilla Ice Cream to serve with

1) Heat Oven to 375 degrees F. Place blackberries in the bottom of an 8 inch square baking pan. 

2) Combine flour, brown sugar, oats and cinnamon in a mixing bowl. Cut the butter into the mixture with a pastry cutter or two forks, until the mixture forms large crumbs. 

3) Stir in walnuts if desired.

4) Sprinkle the mixture over the berries in the dish. Bake until the topping is browned and berries are bubbly, about 35-40 minutes.

5) Serve warm with vanilla ice cream.

Enjoy! 

What is your favorite cobbler or crisp recipe?

All for now,

Alexandra 

Addition: April 2012 made this with raspberry and it was FANTASTIC!