Persian (Food) Night!

Wow. Daniel's first blog post ever = too soooooo many views. (Excellent job, lover!) 

Who knew? I'm glad he gets to write half the updates on here now. Assignment-PASSED! :) 

So, as usual, I was lying awake last night wondering what to eat for dinner today. Weird a little bit much? I literally lie awake sometimes dreaming about what to cook up and experiment with next in the kitchen. It's a very obsessive (probably semi-unhealthy) relationship with food. I probably should've chased a career in the kitchen as a chef, baker, etc, etc, but then it'd be work and not fun anymore, right? At least I have Daniel who's willing to eat all of my food, and I'm pretty sure he lies when it doesn't taste good, because he's just THAT nice! (what a sweetheart. gosh. I KNOW!) 

Anyway, after mentally organizing my food calendar, I decided to cook up Persian food for dinner. 

YUMMMMMM. 

I love, LOVE, LOVE Persian food. 

I mainly was craving the white basmati rice with saffron and sour cherries dish with kabobs (I wish I could hoard this stuff. Like stash it in a giant burlap backpack, connect it to an IV, and absorb that shiz, but that'd be sort of psychotic...I think?) 

Seriously, though. My background on cooking Persian food is insanely minimal. Taking this into consideration, I decided to visit my local Trader Joe's (Gotta keep my Middle Eastern cooking skills authentic with the TJ, ya know?) Well, it was either Trader Joe's down the street or driving 23.5 miles to the nearest Persian Market. Again, I love Persian food...but I decided to make do with TJ's---mainly to save the environment one market trip at a time. GO ECO-FRIENDLY GREEN! Peace, love and joy <insert hippie slogan here> YAY!

My initial idea was to make the white basmati rice, cucumber yogurt dill sauce (or is it technically a salad??), beef for the slow cooker and....some sort of vegetable dish to keep it healthy. Unfortunately, my trip to TJ's was a major super duper fail and they lacked the beef chuck roast that I needed for my 5 hour slow cooker. SO---instead, I opted for a meat I haven't liked since my last trip to New Zealand. 

Lamb Loin Chops. 

(Barf, barf, gag, gag, super gaggy gag, and maybe another barf.) When I went to NZ a couple years back..I realized that their overabundance of sheep = feed all the tourists as much lamb steaks as possible. (No veggies, no fruit, just little lamby medium rare, bloody, bloody lamby steaks.) It might have actually been one really poorly prepared lamb steak that I had that really sent me over, and to this day...confirmed my dislike for this type of meat. BLAGH. However, since I'm such a considerate soon-to-be-wife (6 months left to go, woohoo!), I thought I'd treat Daniel to these small lamb steaks (one of his faves) and attempt to reinvigorate my once-many-moons-ago-love for lamb.  

I first started by preparing all my materials for my crockpot (nothing screams tenderoni like cooking meat for 5 hours on LOW!)

They are quite exquisite looking pieces of meat, at least.

I thinly diced a large onion, threw in some diced garlic, smothered my lamby chops with a yogurt/paprika/salt n' peppa mix and laid them altogether in a harmonious bed of happiness.

Umm...not sure if I seasoned this right since I pretty much made it up...but looks about right.

 Next, I prepped my cucumber yogurt sauce/salad (still unsure as to what it technically is qualified as...will maybe, probably google it later if I get bored enough) 

For the record, these cucumbers are called "PERSIAN Cucumbers". Way to stick to the recipe. Go me!

The dried herb mix was from the Persian market that Daniel's mom gave me some time ago. It smells DELICIOUS, and any Persians out there can correct me if I'm wrong..but I think it's called "Sabzi(sp???)" which is a mix of yummy scented herbs.

I threw my yogurt mixture in the fridge to marinate, and started on the rice! I literally debated for a good five minutes at TJ's whether or not to go with white basmati rice (om nom nom nom) or brown basmati rice (meh.) I really do not like brown rice. Like---at all---ever. BUT, since we're going on this silly thing in a couple weeks (our cruise in the Caribbeans Islands), I figured I'd make some sort of ditch effort to be somewhat health conscious. 

The rice was a complicated process. I'm STILL not sure if I even did it right---truth be told. 

I started off by boiling the basmati rice on high heat for about 5 minutes, and peeled and diced a few potatoes into about 1/4" thickness. 

SUPER STARCHES GET IN' MAH BELLY!!!!!!!!!!

 

Lightly sear the potato slices (salt & peppered, of course.)

 Pile on the cooked brown basmati rice from before into a "pyramid" shape, and after steaming for 30 minutes, flip over onto a serving platter....and VOILA!

Beauty, ay?

Final Dinner: Basmati Saffron Rice with potatoes, lamb chops and cucumber yogurt side.

Leek pictured with a delicious dressing. 

And friends, that's that. Next up, time to watch 'No Reservations: Paris'. AHHHHH, I die. 

Goodnight! :)

 

It's me, Daniel!

Well hello there friends,

Please forgive me---this is my first time. I'm not really sure what I am supposed to be doing, but it sort of looks like I am starting out in standard letter format. Not sure if that is proper protocol or if I should be using MLA, but then again I don't really care. Feels right to me, so lets just roll with it.

So, from what I understand Christine has been sharing with you guys a bit about our wedding planning process and a few other things that have been going on in our lives. It all seems so dreamy, right? There is a list that men have, its not an official list or anything, but all men have this list. It's a list of things they love to avoid if at all possible. Frequently sighted on these lists are colonoscopies, IRS Audits, eating Vegan food, and wedding planning.

Of the aforementioned items, the first two, I have zero experience with, so I cannot comment. I am sure Christine told you about our short lived experimentation with Veganism, and honestly, not that bad, especially the spaghetti squash and the eggplant fries. I would totally be up for either of those again.

As for wedding planning, it's well documented how treacherous it can be for the groom-to-be. Trying to find balance, and keep your fiancee, mother, and future mother-in-law happy can be challenging to say the least. Add on an additional layer of trying to manage financial considerations and you start to understand why Mr. Big left Carrie Bradshaw at the alter (bet you didn't see a Sex in the City reference coming up did you). I mean, the wedding planning process can be super stressful, and sometimes the wedding can become bigger than the actually process of getting married. (...if that makes sense?) Anyways, remember when I asked if it all seemed dreamy? Well, it should. I've seen enough guys in my day go through this unnecessarily painful process to know how thankful I should be that my amazing fiancee, mother, and soon to be mother-in-law have made this process so easy. Actually, as odd as it sounds, they have gone beyond making it easy, and they have actually made the process fun. Our photographer even said something to the effect of, she thought we looked like we were having more fun than other couples she has photographed.

I'm obviously looking forward to the wedding, and I can't wait to marry my bestie (for the record Lukas---I'm talking about Christine). Can't wait for our honeymoon, I think we are going to Thailand! (LADYBOYS!!!!!)

Anyways, I want to thank Christine, my mom, and Christine's mom. Wait, I am forgetting a few more people...my brothers wife, Lacey, my sister Michelle, and of course the maids of honor Anita and Debs for being so supportive and super awesome.

One last super important update, my homeboy McCrae (McCrazy, McCrayCray) had a little thing removed by the vet. Nothing major, but just made me realize how much I appreciate him.

Ode to McCrae

Anyways, thanks for hanging with us and we will chat soon. Probably not...I dont know who you are.

Oh, Herro!

DEEEERIVERY!

Surprise Flowers...

from?

Last Minute Jetsetters!

C: “I’m so excited to go to the Caribbeans!”

D: “It’s not the Caribbeans, it’s Caribbean.”

C: “No, it’s the Caribbeans!”

An hour later…

D: “You know that really famous movie with Johnny Depp? Where he’s on a ship…What’s that movie called again?”

C: “Titanic? Oh wait, that wasn’t Johnny Depp. That was Leo DiCaprio. Umm…Pirates of the Caribbean?”

D: “AH HA! See! It’s Caribbean!” 

C: “OMG. You’ve just enlightened me. It’s Pirates of the Caribbeans!!!!”  

D: “You’re just like Stewie from Family Guy (sigh).” 

(Note*: My whole life I've thought Caribbean(s) was plural!!! In any case...) 

For reference, if you haven’t seen the Family Guy episode with Stewie and his “Cool HWHIP”: 

Yakka, yakka, yakka! <Insert knee slap and cheese grin here>  
Okay, seriously, guys. We have some BIG NEWS.

Wait for it….

Wait for it….

We’re going to the Caribbeans islands next month!!!! AHHHHH!!! So one of Daniel’s best friends forever invited us to a 7 night cruise next month that leaves out of Florida and hits up: Cozumel, Haiti and Jamaica! EEEK! We’re sooooooooooo excited to go! It’s on Royal Caribbeans “Oasis of the Seas” which is one of the largest cruise ships worldwide. (It even has an onboard ice skating rink…TOO COOL OMACAAAA) The ship accommodates over 5,000+ passengers and has rock climbing walls and surf simulators!!!! AHHH!!!!

I need to CALM.IT.DOWN. I'm definitely not a newb to cruise trips (been on about 4 already), but this is Daniel's first time on a cruise and my first time not leaving to Mexico. (Ai ya ya!) 

We started out our healthy-slim-down-to-get-body-ready-for-our-cruise last night by hitting the gym (ran about 2.5 miles which is amazeballs for me since I hate running. Ugh.) and then ate rabbit food for dinner:

Om nom nom.

It was actually delicious after I doused it with a spicy, sesame vinaigrette that Daniel whipped up.

(Included in our delicate green salad was a head of chopped romaine lettuce, slivers of Asian pear, a creamy avocado in quarters, two hard boiled eggs sans yolk, cracked black pepper and Daniel’s secret sauce to bring to completion!)  

Gotta eat healthy to firm up this one pack, know what I mean? ;) 

Yesterday, I took my 'lil sister' from Big Brothers Big Sisters of OC to a tea party in Costa Mesa. (Scored a Groupon at Queens Bakery Cafe!) We each got to choose a pot of tea & biscuit to start (Hers: Cherry Roos, Mine: Masala Chai, and NTS: children don't like tea unless it's drowned in sugar.)
We were then presented with an array of small tea sandwiches and a combination of desserts.
Tea sandwiches compromised of:

• Cucumber Feta 
• Mint & Cheese
• Nutella and shaved Hazelnut

while mini desserts included:

• Strawberry Petit Fours
• Chocolate cupcakes with Strawberrycream Frosting
• Lemoncream Macaron! 

It may have been a combination of drinking hot tea in abnormally hot weather but while sitting there, I literally felt like a 500LB heifer going through menopause. (Hot flashes and all. And seriously?? C’mon, California…give us a break. It’s September and you’re still radiating 90+ degree heat screaming bloody Mary.)

Anyways mayonnaise, it's time to get back to work and figure out ways on avoiding more heat rashes. Peace out, friends!

CAKEPOPS by Yours Truly

I was working the other day and got this crazy itch out of nowhere to bake some CAKEPOPS! (Probably, because I'm getting ready to unveil my little Etsy shop that my younger sister and I are going to be opening soon! Stay tuned for that, by the way...Lucky me---I get to team up with my super fun, artsy sister and utilize our creative sides! What fun!!!)

Anyway, I've tried making cakepops before (almost two years ago, actually) and they were rather disastrous---mainly because I made the mistake of using chocolate bars and tried getting creative with what type of melted chocolate to go with. This time, I took the easy route and used Baker's bars which hardly need any extra attention! (Just a zap of the microwave, and voila!)

Ingredients: cake mix of choice, some premade frosting, styrofoam for cooling, lolli sticks and some Baker's chocolate

I first baked up the cake mix and waited about 15 minutes for the cake to cool.

I realized that pink, strawberry cake looks pretty ugly after baking. But no fret--the final results were still just as fabulous!

After cooling, I broke up my cake, threw it in a bowl...
and went to town breaking it up!

Next, I spooned some of the frosting into the cake batter. (Just a little bit at a time, though, because I didn't want the dough to be too wet.)



I then used a mini ice cream scooper to scoop out dough balls, and gently rolled them together! Prior to sticking the lolli sticks into the dough balls, I made sure I melted some chocolate and dipped the tips into them to ensure a nice hold within the dough ball. (The last time I made these, I failed to do this and the sticks kept falling out!)

Cute, right? BUT WAIT! They're not done yet. :)

After freezing the sticks and balls for a good 30 minute or so, I melted more chocolate and individually dipped them, and then set them back into my styrofoam block for cooling.




After testing out some different sprinkles and chocolate designs, they were ready to eat! I let Daniel have first dibs on which sprinkle cakepop he wanted....

He picked the one with pink sprinkles. ;)
(Oh, and the mister says he liked them a lot...but even better when cold!)



I had the one with pearl sprinkles!

AND after some cute packaging....success!!!!

I have officially mastered the art of CAKEPOPS.

Yay!

Wedding decor...

packages have begun to arrive! Woohoo!!!

Gashed Thumb. Owee Zowee!

This is what your thumb looks like when you're trying to cook dinner for your fiancee and your hands are wet so you gash it into a glass jar filled with marinara sauce while the jar is simultaneously crushing against a granite countertop. Thought I might need stitches, but I made it out alive. Oh well, at least the dinner was good! #battlewounds

Meatball Sammy for Dinner

And a side of brussel sprouts. YUMMMMMMMM.

My Quest to Find Spaghetti Squash!

I had received many suggestions to use spaghetti squash as a substitute for pasta noodles for the last year or so, and I had even gone to specialty stores to try to find this 'magical' spaghetti! I have walked down row after row....up and down, up and down, up and down all the shelves to try to find this product. 

WELL, MY FRIENDS---EUREKA!!! 

THIS HERE IS A SPAGHETTI SQUASH!!!!

Silly ol' me was looking in the dry noodle section the whole time! (I seriously thought spaghetti squash was dried spaghetti made out of squash...le sigh!) I stumbled across this beast over at my local 'Grower's Direct' market right next to all the other squash monstrosities. It was there all along.

With my new found spaghetti squash is a LOVE for this vegetable anomaly. After roasting for a good hour or so, the insides of this squash fluffs out like actual noodles. SHWAT???

I can officially die happy now. No, seriously. This squash is absolutely going to be the end of me. A squash overdose, perhaps? It is SOOOOOO stinking good!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

I topped off my spaghetti squash with a delicious lean beef marinara sauce and a side of roasted garlic and baked kale on the side. 

And, voila! Folks, this here is magical. The photo--in fact--doesn't do this squash justice. I could eat this for every meal---EVERY DAY. 

My tummy and health will thank me in...3....2....

:)

Handmade Fall Wreath!

With Fall right around the corner, I decided to put my artsy fartsy side to use and handmade a Thanksgiving/Fall Wreath for the front door! 

First step was to take yarn and wrap tightly around a foam wreath base. 

Get some different colored felt pieces in pretty fall colors. 

Cut out tiny leaves and glue with tacky glue----pinch with a little binder clip

Organize the felt rosettes in the color order to apply onto the wreath. 

Glue on and let dry. Ta da! 

Oh, and engagement photos are complete and ready to be ordered. Daniel and I are SUPER excited since they came out SOOOOOOOOOOO well. (Thank you Anna Jison!!!!!!)

Here's a little sneak peak of what's to come:

We are beyond pleased with our photographer's work, and cannot wait for the final edited photos!

By the way, Daniel will be doing a 'guest post' on here. Suggestions as to what topics you'd like him to discuss? (He asked for help.)

:0)

Post Engagement Shoot & One Pound Meatballs

Engagement Photoshoot? Check!

Daniel and I got off work early yesterday to head down to our venue (where we intend on tying the knot) and were able to take our photos yesterday. Weary about the 90+ degree weather out in the hillsides of Pala, we stalled as much as we could before picking up our wonderful photographer in San Clemente and headed out to our ranch photoshoot. 

The road that leads to....
wedding bells? :)

Pedro, the groundskeeper invited us in and allowed us to begin our photoshoot promptly at 4:30 PM. Our photographer, Anna, was amazing! With three big cameras wrapped around her neck, we took advantage of the 20 acre facility that was granted to us for a good three hours or so. It was funny doing our first photoshoot together. Daniel is a lot more natural at it than I thought he would be---and I found myself acting/feeling awkward for a considerable amount of the time we were having our photos taken! As always, he was able to make me laugh for a good portion of the time---he always does. After what felt like 5,000 shots and with the sun setting over the hills, we were all ready to pack up and head out.

Driving back down the mountains, I just  had to grab a shot of the sunset. It was a truly magical sight, and with all of us tired from posing in the heat all afternoon, it was a calming view to absorb in.  We decided to treat our photographer to dinner since we were all hungry and thirsty by this point and the nearest city would be miles and miles away. So, we headed down the street to the closest Italian restaurant where Daniel and I were considering to hold our rehearsal dinner. 

After being kindly greeted by the chef and owner himself, we're now quite certain this Italian restaurant is where we WILL be having our rehearsal dinner, after all! Friends---that photo above is my spaghetti and ONE POUND MEATBALL in all its savory glory! (My hunger spoke for me last when I decided to order this masterpiece. Oh well. At least I have lunch for today!) 

Sitting here today, writing this post...I'm more excited than ever. Thinking about how much fun it was for Daniel and I yesterday, I get giddy thinking about our life together and what it holds. Our photographer made a comment on the drive back to Orange County that's stuck in my head into this morning. She said it seems like we're actually enjoying our time planning the wedding together. (Whereas for many, it's typically a stressful time.) And to this...I realize, it's ever so true. I love, love, love planning this wedding, and I think it's quite simple as to why...because at the end of March next year, I get to marry this kiddo:

Photo compliments of Mrs. Janna Morgan!

Aint' life grand? I'd say so.

Red Hearts <3

Adding red hearts to our invites!