Isn't He Lovely?

I seem to always end up taking pictures of the Gordo when I have the camera out. How can you not love that face? :) I can't believe that he's almost a year old. *Sniff* It seems like only yesterday he was hobbling around on a big farm with his siblings and I could fit him in my hand.

Man, if I'm this bad with my puppy, imagine how I will be with a kid :)

Justin and Gordo Photo Shoot

So, it's time for Justin's graduation announcements, so I decided we needed a current picture. Luckily, I had the equipment handy :)





I think these are real keepers :)

The First Anniversary Extravaganza!

Well, it is hard to believe, but Justin and I have been married for one year today!

We wanted to do something special, but our schedules wouldn't allow us to go away anywhere, so...

We went spent the weekend at Disney and the Waldorf Astoria Orlando :)

I know, it seems a bit extreme, but never fear, the Waldorf had a good price going so I took advantage of it.


This was our beautiful room on the top floor :) We felt like such bumpkins, but it was such an amazing experience.

So, on Friday, we checked into the hotel, and started off with Animal Kingdom. I hadn't been there since three months after it opened and Justin hadn't been at all, so it seemed like a good place to kick off our trip. We had so much fun! What could be better than a zoo with a theme park twist?!

This yetti ball thing was just so cute! It was in the Expedition Everest ride - which was awesome! I highly recommend it.
Justin wasn't quite as impressed as I was :)

These statues just looked so much like us...





Justin just loves when I make him wear silly hats for pictures.

And who says you can't see far away places on a budget? This was the rather convincing looking Mount Everest with a fantastic roller coaster inside.


Here we are on the Kilimanjaro Safari ride, which was an instant favorite. We got up close and personal with lots of African animals, including this guy:

Also, as big fans of Meerkat Manor, we had to stop and see these guys:


And Gorillas are always cool:


We had such a fun day at Animal Kingdom, and when we came back to the hotel, they had Mimosa waiting for us.

Ah the perks of 5 stars. They gave us a card wishing us a happy anniversary too.


Don't worry, we didn't get all boozed up on free champagne. We did, however, drink the fresh squeezed orange juice. And it was delicious.

So, our one night in the Waldorf Astoria ended too soon, but after we technically checked out, we wandered around to see the sights of the beautiful hotel.

This is the iconic clock in the lobby with the fantastic domed ceiling.

And a really cool high backed chair.

So, we kept right on trucking and spent our Saturday beginning with Disney's Hollywood Studios, a.k.a. MGM if you're old like us.


Here we are in New York :)

And of course we had to go to the Honey I shrunk the Kids playground. And finally someone offered to take a picture of the both of us. I almost fell off the ant I was trying to hop on it so fast. Such is life.


So, our fun weekend was coming to a close and we had a nice relaxing day today. We capped it all off by eating our saved wedding cake.

We were kind of worried as I've heard some stories of cake being one big chunk of freezer burn, but ours was delicious. Thank you mom and being so careful with your wrapping it :)


Yum... vanilla cake with butter cream icing and lemon filing. Delicious :) And it to make it even better, it was made by my best friend Leigh - her cakes are so good they survive the year! :)


We had a lot of fun fulfilling this tradition together and marking our first year. I know that there will be many many more years to follow and I'm so excited to see what they bring! Love you, Justin!

I Know I've Been Putting A Lot Of Baked Goods Up Here But ...

This is possibly the prettiest looking food item I have ever produced :)

Just look at that swirl! These are Butterscotch Cream Cheese Swirl Brownies. I have yet to taste them, but they look absolutely delicious!
This is a little recipe from the Magnolia Bakery in NYC :) If you want the recipe, I can give it to you upon request. They aren't technically "brownies" when you think about it; they're more like "orangies".

I'm trying to decide what to make for the Annual Young Women's Camp Fundraiser Dessert Auction. Last year, I made flan which was delicious but under-appreciated (I know this because my parents bought it). At the time, I thought that flan was a pretty fancy dish that people would want to bid on, but I was wrong. I think it cost me more to make than it brought in.
So, this year, I am determined to make something that sounds so scrumptious that it will cause an all out bidding war!

What do you think?

Here is a list of some tasty sounding treats I am considering - please tell me which one you think will be the most popular:

Butterscotch Cream Cheese Swirl Brownies (pictured above)
Red Velvet Cupcakes (from scratch with the Hummingbird Bakery's recipe)
Black Bottom Cupcakes (chocolate sponge cake with chocolate chip cheesecake on top)
Peanut Butter Fudge Brownies (this is a three layer brownie)
Heath Bar Almond Crunch Cheesecake
Gooey Coconut Dream Bars (from Amy's Bread)
Zesty Lemon Bars (Also Amy's Bread)

So, tell me what you think! I will let Justin sample the Butterscotch brownies when he gets home to see if they are a real contender.

Another thought is: should I just make a dessert bread? Anyway ... I'm rambling.

What say you?!

The Hair, It Is A-Changing

Well, today was a momentous day. I have made a serious change... to my hair!

First, let me explain my hair history. I didn't have any hair at all until I was a year old, even then it was just fuzz. By the time I was two, I had pretty much a bowl cut just because it had finally grown down that long. Throughout the rest of my young life, my mom always had my hair cut with bangs. By the time I was 14, I had had enough of the bangs. I was finally old enough to have a say in what I looked like, and I decided to grow out my bangs.

It took me almost 3 years to grow them out.

Those of you who knew me back then know that I wore a headband everyday for years - this was because I was growing out my bangs.

So, ever since then, I have always kept to a similar haircut: Mid length and layered.

So, yesterday, I made a hair appointment and started thinking about change. I had contemplated various hair cuts over the years, but my highly analytical brain always talked me out of it due to the slow rate of growth if I didn't like it.

Today, I took the plunge:



With the talent of the lovely Tara (the only one I trust with my hair), I now have BANGS!

It was quite a shock at first. It didn't feel like it was my hair, more like I was wearing a nice wig :) But it is indeed my hair.
This is an after shot of the carnage. Almost half of my head was laying on the floor.

So, now and for at least a few years to come, I will look very different. I really do like it, but it will certainly take some getting used to. I feel so mod and fashion forward. Hopefully I can make the rest of my attire live up to the new do!

Another Week, Another Bread...

So, it seems that Monday has become bread-day.

I made a new bread last Monday, and I have made a new bread again this Monday :)

I've been looking through me cookbooks lately, and I was intrigued by Martha Stewart's recipe for Coca Bread.

Martha says that this is a traditional Spanish yeast bread (even though I couldn't find any pictures or recipes of it anywhere except in Martha's cookbook).

Here's the recipe:

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp + 1 tsp active dry yeast
• 1/3 cup warm water (110F)
• 1 1/4 cups sugar
• 5 to 6 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 1 cup milk, at room temperature
• 4 large eggs
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) melted butter - plus more for the pan
• 1/4 cup honey, for drizzling

Directions

1. In a small bowl, combine yeast and warm water; let stand until foamy, about 10 minutes. In a bowl, combine 1 cup of sugar, 4 cups flour, and salt. With a wooden spoon, stir in yeast mixture, milk, 3 eggs, and 1/2 cup melted butter until combined. Using your hands, work the remaining flour into the dough, 1/4 cup at a time, until dough isn't sticky.
2. On a lightly floured surface, knead the dough until it develops a smooth satiny texture and springs back when you poke it with your finger, about 5 minutes. Form the dough into a ball, and place in a lightly buttered bowl, rotating the dough in the bowl to coat with the butter. Cover with plastic wrap, and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
3. Preheat the oven to 400F. Generously grease two baking sheets with some of the melted butter. Turn the dough to a clean work surface, and cut in half. Place half of the dough on each prepared baking sheet, and press into two 8x17" rectangles. Allow the dough to proof(?) for 15 minutes. In a small bowl, whisk the remaining 1 egg with 1 tbsp water, abd brush onto the dough.
4. Generously sprinkle the dough with the remaining 1/4 cup of sugar, and drizzle with honey. Bake until golden and crispy, about 18 minutes. Transfer the breads to wire racks to cool.

So, there's that. And here is the first picture of Coca Bread on the internet thus far :)
This bread is really more of a dessert or a sweet breakfast food. It is really sweet from the sugar and honey and it's absolutely fantastic when it's fresh and warm. It was nice and yeasty :)

I promise to write something about our actual life here soon. For now, it's just so much easier to enjoy the bread :)

Hollah for Challah!

So, I was inspired by a fellow blogger. She's one of the young women (I'm the 1st counselor in young women). She has started a brownie blog and it got me all excited; I was sending her all kinds of recipes which got me thinking about baking and it just opened the flood gates.
So, yesterday, I decided to make Challah.

Challah is the bread traditionally eaten on the Jewish sabbath. I was always intrigued by the name when I saw it in cook books, so I decided to take the plunge and make it!
It was a little different from other breads I've tried, but it came out really pretty! You actually separate the dough into three sections, roll them out like snakes, and then braid them. After you let it rise for about an hour, you beat an egg and brush it all over the bread.

The result of the egg wash was a nice shiny finish. With the braiding and the shine, it was really a very nice looking loaf. :)

I highly recommend it. If you're interested, here is the recipe I used and it came out great:

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 cups warm water (110 degrees F)
• 1 tbsp active dry yeast
• 1/2 cup honey
• 4 tbsp vegetable oil (I used olive oil)
• 3 eggs
• 1 tbsp salt
• 8 cups all purpose flour
• 1 tbsp poppy seeds (optional - I didn't use these)

Directions

1. In a large bowl, sprinkle yeast over barely warm water (110 degrees). Beat in honey, oil, 2 eggs, and salt. Add the flour one cup at a time, beating after each addition, eventually kneading with your hands as the dough gets thicker. Cover with a damp cloth and let rise for 1 1.2 hours or until dough has doubled in size.
2. Punch down the risen dough and turn out onto a floured board. Divide in half and knead each loaf for about 5 minutes or so, adding flour as needed to keep it from getting sticky. Divide each half into thirds and roll into long snakes about 1 1.2 inches in diameter. Pinch the ends of the three snakes together firmly and braid from the middle. Grease two baking trays and place a finished loaf on each. Cover with a towel and let rise for one hour.
3. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
4. Beat the remaining egg and brush a generous amount over each braid. Sprinkle with poppy seed if desired.
5. Bake at 375F for about 40 minutes. The bread should have a nice hollow sound when thumped on the bottom. Cool on a rack for at least an hour before slicing.

So, yeah. There it is. You should totally try it. Maybe you will become addicted to making bread like I have :)