Wine Pairing

 Last Wednesday Micah and I went to a Rodney Strong wine pairing at Tuscan Moon.

The event was hosted on their patio and the weather was perfect.

The evening started with a glass of prosecco.

 Next was the appetizer. Lilies and radishes with whipped butter served with a glass of Knotty Pines Zinfandel 2012.

The second course was a cucumber soup with crab served with a glass of Chalk Hill Chardonnay 2012. We bought a bottle of this chardonnay at the end of the night. So good!

               

The third course was Strawberries and Wild Boar served with a glass of Symmetry 2011. The Symmetry was out of this world good. Oh my goodness.

The fourth course was called Truffle Tremor and in my opinion was the most tasty course. The cheese and the fresh raspberries served with the glass of Russian River Pinot Noir 2012 was a perfect combination.

                   

                 

And dessert.

Blueberries and Walnut Crumble served over fresh whipped cream. Yum!

This was served with a glass of Charlotte's Home Sauvignon Blanc 2013.

A perfect finish.

                           

It was a wonderful evening.

my little itty bitty green thumb

Someday I hope to have a huge beautiful garden that we can practically live off of in the summer. As for now, we live in a rental, we stuck with potted plants and a few flowers out front.

This is our Meyer lemon tree. The blooms smell wonderful. All the credit goes to my man on this one. He brought it home this spring and it is my favorite.

   

     

I love tomatoes!

 I always seem to have really good luck with them. I'm excited for them to ripen so I can make yummy summer recipes.

                                                        

Another one that my man gets all the credit for.

Originally I had an eggplant in this pot but it lived a very short life. These cantaloupe seem to be thriving though!

Peppers. Not my favorite veggie but a good staple in a garden nonetheless.

Honestly, now that I'm looking at all these plants, Micah picked out most of them. Another good choice on his part because this rose bush is doing wonderfully.

This is one of my favorites. So pretty and pink!

 That's a little glimpse into what I'm growing this year. I hope to add to it every year and turn my itty bitty green thumb into a full grown one.

Maple Oatmeal Cookies

Maple Oatmeal Cookies

Makes 2 dozen cookies

3/4 cup butter (1 1/2 sticks), at room temperature

1 1/4 cups maple syrup

1 egg

2 tsp. vanilla

1 1/2 cups flour

1/2 tsp. salt

2 1/4 cups old-fashioned oats

1 bar dark chocolate, crumbled

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees and lightly coat your baking sheets with coconut oil. Add the butter and the maple syrup to the bowl of your stand mixer and beat on medium speed until the ingredients are thoroughly mixed, around 2 minutes. Add the egg and vanilla and beat for another minute. Add the flour and salt. Mix until combined. Add the oats and combine. Last but not least, add the dark chocolate (yum!). The mixture will be a bit sticky so I suggest you wet your hands before handling the dough.

Roll the dough into 1.5 inch balls and place them on the prepared cookie sheet approximately 2 inches apart. Bake for 10 to 14 minutes until the edges begin to brown and the centers are set. Let cool and then serve!

I'll be honest, I don't think this recipe is perfect yet. While very yummy, I think the recipe could use some additions (or subtractions) here or there. Make your own variations and see what you like best. Have fun and enjoy!

A day at the zoo!

Last Sunday afternoon Micah and I decided that we needed to go on a little adventure. We decided on the zoo and it did not disappoint. Here is a look at our little adventure!

Excited!

Monkey!

Roar!

                                       

 I like him. The baby wallaby and the husband.

 My favorite animal at this zoo. Usually the elephants are my favorite but this zoo was without.

We made a pit stop at Trader Joe's since we do not have one close by. We purchased the mystery item and got a free tote! Perfect end to a perfect day.

Honey Lemonade!

I had a hankering for lemonade. I'm not a fan of a lot of sugar so I decided to try making it with honey. It turned out quite nicely. I think next time I'll use a little bit more honey and make a bigger batch. Perfect treat for a hot summer day!

For this recipe, I used:

4 cups water

3 lemons

1 orange

1/4 cup honey

                        

Directions: 

Warm water on stove top. Add honey and stir until dissolved. Next, juice your lemons and orange. Add the juice to the water and honey mixture, stir until mixed. Pour over ice or let it sit in the fridge until cold.