Uncle Cheesemonger

The arrival of a cheese package is always exciting, but this one was especially thrilling. A whole spread of pasteurized cheeses...including some faves, which I'd just assumed were no-nos. The godfather race heats up...

Bourbon and...Booties

A lot of things happen in your late 20s and early 30s. One of these is a new appreciation for wedding season--and getting really, really good at being a bridesmaid. I had the privilege of standing up with a good friend from high school at a beautiful June wedding.

Dinner, dancing, then home to bed after tenderly replacing the bridesmaids' dress in the closet throwing the dress over a chair.

Then, the morning-after ritual. Remove 79 bobby pins from hair. Locate all personal items to ensure they made it home from venue. Coffee. Did I put the good jewelry back in its home? Where are my shoes? More coffee. Ow ow my feet.

Only this time, there was some other business to attend to.

So then this happened...

Placed in a box and disguised as a "late birthday present" for BA, on the kitchen counter awaiting his awakening. Perhaps I should have taken his hangover into account and played it a little differently, but...I didn't. 

Then, a few weeks later, another photo shoot: 

As the tech said, "it's just a little peanut!" So all of this is to say that we can now put the blog (back) to use for a much more interesting purpose. Welcome to new readers, and we look forward to sharing this journey with friends and family near and far. 

Bachelorette Brownies

Before the brownies, some background.

About three years ago, BA was in the throes of studying for the Bar exam. Professionally sanctioned waterboarding, basically (for student and spouse alike). You know that thing that students do, where they claim "their" seats in a classroom over the course of the semester, even though there's no assigned seating? Apparently law students do this too, and BA always sat two seats over from Miss KC in their review course.

One day, the person who usually sat between them was absent (you've got to have a REALLY good reason to miss a Bar review session), so BA and KC struck up a conversation. Probably about whether their seatmate was dead. Long story short, KC's boyfriend was from Upstate New York as well, and went to high school with BA. They were a year apart, but had played hockey together. Post-college, both KC and the Upstate Boy resided here in the 'Ville.

So BA comes home and tells me I've just got to meet this girl, and that he thinks "we'd really get along." So he invites her over for dinner. Most wives would raise an eyebrow at their husbands bringing the pretty blonde from Bar review home for dinner, but we'll not go there. Most wives would also think that their husbands had drastically and tragically over-simplified what it means for girls to "really get along." But I went with it, and probably went with some wine, and wouldn't you know that we became fast friends.

Fast forward about two years from THAT, and Miss KC and her Upstate Boy moved in across the street from us. This was probably the most exciting development since margaritas in a bag. We really do borrow cups of sugar from one another (if by sugar I mean wine or cheese or cocktail napkins), and it's basically great all around. She's a lovely lady, always quick with advice and up for a good time--whether it's traipsing around town or watching Downton Abbey in soft pants. The boys are thick as thieves as well. They're true neighborfriends and we're so grateful.

Now for the brownies. Miss KC and her Upstate Boy are tying the knot this May (hooray!) and this weekend is the much-anticipated bachelorette. We begin with dinner at her casa [side note: a bachelorette party from which I can stumble walk home and sleep in my own bed? Yes please! Also, we are old.]. This morning, I was asked to be in charge of dessert. I had planned to make my go-to sea salt and caramel brownies, but was foiled by the lack of caramels in the pantry and was, frankly, too lazy to go to the grocery. But I had some other good supplies, and an idea formed. Next, an email exchange that went something like this:

Me:
brownies w/ Reese's cups

S'mores brownies

S'mores bars WITH REESES CUPS

please indicate your preference.

KC: How is this a real question? OBVI s'mores bars with reese's cups!

Me: Well, we haven't gotten to that all important how-do-you-feel-about-marshmallows point in our relationship, so I wanted to make sure you didn't have some weird aversion or something. 

KC: Quite the opposite.  I am embarrassed about my deep love of marshmallows, the likely reason we've never discussed  them.

And Bachelorette Brownies were born. I started with a recipe from here (yay Pinterest), but made some changes based on deciding to do whatever the f* I want, thankyouverymuch.

For the crust:
About 3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs (measurement approximate. Just grind a bunch up. I used the mini Cuisinart, but smashing would be fine and oh so fun)
1/2 stick butter (4 Tbsp), melted
1 Tbsp sugar
pinch of salt

Other ingredients:
A box of brownie mix--I used Ghirardelli Double Chocolate
Whatever other ingredients are called for by your brownie mix
Reese's peanut butter cups
Marshmallows

As suggested by the professional recipe blogger, I lined the pan with foil, leaving an overhang so that, theoretically, you just lift those babies out when you're done.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Mix the graham cracker crumbs, sugar, and salt together. Drizzle the butter over the top and mix with a fork until all the crumbs are evenly moistened.

Press the mixture into the bottom of the pan in an even layer.

Make your brownie mix! You are a culinary wizard! If you want to make it from scratch, the link above includes directions. I had the box in the pantry, so...smoke 'em if you got 'em. I poured about half of the brownie mix over the crust, so that it was entirely covered.

Cut up the Reese's and sprinkle them evenly over the brownie batter. You could also use actual peanut butter, but...again, I was pantry foraging and Lord knows I do not need those in there as temptation.

Pour the rest of the brownie batter over the Reese's layer.

Bake for 22-27 minutes or so--this will vary depending on your brownie mix and such, so I just kind of set it for 20 minutes and kept watching after that. You want to take them out before they are completely done. Remove brownies from oven and switch it to broiler. Place the marshmallows on top of the brownie layer. You could use minis, but I had super jumbo ones left over from a s'mores bar we had for a friend's birthday.

Return to oven and hover, checking frequently. I like my marshmallows golden, so I wanted them to get melty enough but not burn them. I hate burnt marshmallow. This may require frequent checking and maybe moving the pan closer to or further from the broiler.

I had hoped they would spread more, but they made kind of a weird dinner-roll effect. I was able to smoosh them down gently as they cooled (careful! Do not burn yourself on the liquid hot magma within!), so maybe a little better?

Despite their unfortunate resemblance to Krystal burgers, they were delicious.

First Signs

It's always amazing to me that things just come back.

French hydrangea

Peony

Mint

There should be plenty in time for Derby!

Magnolia

March Photos, Round 2

March 5: Smile. See what I did there?

March 6: 5pm. It's still light out, and the trees are starting to bloom. Exciting!

March 7: Something You Wore. Beloved boots. To Mumford & Sons at the Ryman. Amazing.

The Ryman is my absolute favorite place to see a show. There's not a bad seat in the house, and artists are so humbled and reverent to be playing in such a storied place. One band member said, "We get what it means to be here. We really do." It makes for a really awesome dynamic between the band and the crowd, because it feels like they're just as excited to be there as you are. There's a little magic in those pews, I tell ya. Also, tip of the hat to my youngest sister, who snagged one of the coveted Hatch Show Prints for me--she bought the last three. It will be framed and I think I already have a wall spot picked out. 

March 8: Window. I'll do ya one better.

March 9: Red. Yay Friday!

March Photos, Round 1

March 2: Fruit

March 3: Your Neighborhood. Taken after the March 2 storms. On the left, golf-ball sized hail and debris in the yard. Right, the sunset over the hill after everything passed. Then we walked down with neighborfriends to get some BBQ and beers to celebrate making it through. Adrenaline will leave you with a hangover, for sure. We were lucky to have no damage (other than some pockmarks in the ol' vehicles) and recognize that many others were not as fortunate. We will be thinking of them as they move through the coming weeks. 

March 4: Bedside. I admit to this photo being minimally styled, as I had to clear out the Gatorade graveyard that resulted from this weekend's tussle with the stomach bug. 

So far, "in like a lion" is right. High hopes for the rest of the month. 

March Photo-A-Day

This week's Downton Dinner wasn't much to write about (but the season finale...that's another story altogether. We're already in withdrawal), so no new recipes here. I also found that, in the absence of other posts, the recipe gig was a little one-note, and that's not the intention.

I saw a post on a different blog about a February photo-a-day challenge, and as it's a new month, I thought...why not give it a try?? It doesn't require much writing--Lord knows I have enough of that to do in real life--and they will likely be weekly photo dumps rather than daily posts, but I'm hoping it gives me a new way to look at and attend to the things around me this month. March always seems so full of promise--in like a lion; out like a lamb and all that--that it would be a shame to just let it blow by.

it's a really long month.

source

So, I cheated already. I didn't take this photo today. But if you don't get started somehow...

March 1: Up. View from beneath an antler chandelier.