sslyby

I'm going to see these guys tomorrow. CANT WAIT!

snickerdoodles

So, Chris has been asking me to make these snickerdoodle cookies for about a year now [this is kind of like how it took me 2 years to make him his beef stew]. Since I've been having this "must cook everything" phase, I thought I would take full advantage of it [plus be a good girlfriend!] and bake these delightfull cookies. We did make these together [thanks for the help babe!!!] and it was pretty easy!





[makes about 48 cookies]

1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup shortening
1 1/2 cups white sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons white sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon


1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).

2. Cream together butter, shortening, 1 1/2 cups sugar, the eggs and the vanilla. Blend in the flour, cream of tartar, soda and salt. Shape dough by rounded spoonfuls into balls.

3. Mix the 2 tablespoons sugar and the cinnamon. Roll balls of dough in mixture. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheets.

4. Bake 8 to 10 minutes, or until set but not too hard. Remove immediately from baking sheets.

on the fence

It's been so lovely outside lately so the boyfriend and I decided to go out and take some pictures. I'm actually wearing the thrifted button-up and belt from this post. Check it outtt.





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my dumpling

So I've been a little adventurous in the kitchen lately. You can actually tell from my very high grocery bill! I really just want to learn how to make anything and everything that I find delicious. If you know me that means almost everything! Last week, I thought I would break out the crock pot and venture out of my "kitchen comfort zone" and make chicken and dumplings. It was DELISH! The only thing I would do different next time is make more dumplings. Down below is the recipe that is enough for 8 servings. Enjoy!







4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
2 tablespoons butter
2 (10.75 ounce) cans condensed cream of chicken soup
1 onion, finely diced
2 (10 ounce) packages refrigerated biscuit dough, torn into pieces
chicken stock
salt
pepper

1. Place the chicken, butter, soup, and onion in a slow cooker, and fill with enough chicken stock to cover. Season with the salt and pepper.

2. Cover, and cook for 5 to 6 hours on High. About 30 minutes before serving, place the torn biscuit dough in the slow cooker. Cook until the dough is no longer raw in the center.

* Since my crock pot is a fast cooker [weird right?] I only cooked my chicken on high for about 2 1/2 hours. I then took the chicken out, cut it into pieces and set it aside. Then I added the biscuit pieces in the crock pot and cooked those on high for about 1 hour. When the dumplings were done I poured the chicken back in, mixed it all together, and voila! If you don't know how your crock pot cooks, I would check it every couple hours so you don't over cook the chicken breast!

rosey posey

Yay for the weekend!!! Last night the boyfriend and I decided to have a date night and it was wonderful! We went to the movies [I finally saw Scott Pilgrim vs the World], ate some delicious cheese steaks, and went shopping! My boyfriend was feeling really nice and decided to buy me the skirt I'm wearing in the photos below. I guess he really likes it because he wanted to take pictures today. So here they are! Hope you like and I hope everything is lovely for you all!

[click to view largerrrr]



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Coquet Coquette

Of Montreal, I love you. You never disappoint!





Ugh. I know. I need to stop being a slacker.

slip away

The New Pornographers are one of my favorite bands, so I was pretty excited to find out that Kathryn Calder was working on a solo project. She just released a new record called Are You My Mother and I really like it so far. Here is a video from her new album. Enjoy!

ze bleu

Since Chris took me to such a wonderful dinner, I decided I would make him a little something something[don't I usually cook anyways, you ask? yes! yes! now shhhh!]. I know one of his favorite meals that I make is chicken cordon bleu, so I made that since it's been forever since the last time I made it. I follow this recipe, but I usually cut back on the salt. It's a little different, but still very tasty.




This picture right here has nothing to do with the dinner I prepared, but I did find it humorous that the banana I ate yesterday had a smiley.




*Oh! I'm going to take this off the food subject and let you all know that I set up my Etsy store [again]! I added PayPal [finally] to make it easier for everyone. So check it out here!

bon appetit!

Yesterday, Chris and I celebrated our 3 year anniversary! He took me out to this super nice French restaurant in Great Falls called L'Auberge Chez Francois. I ate until my heart and stomach were content. I started off with French onion soup, cheese, tomato, and herb quiche[compliments of the chef], and a tasty Caesar salad. I cleansed my palate with homemade orange sorbet topped with a candied violet petal and dug into my main meal, which was sautéed twin Angus beef tenderloins, with wild mushrooms, asparagus and béarnaise sauce. It was amazing. I was pretty much full at this point, but I wasn't going to stop at the best part - DESSERT! The restaurant surprised us with an extra dessert, chocolate ice cream surrounded with crunchy meringue, whip cream, chocolate shavings, raspberry sauce, and mint leaves. Then we also ate baked Alaska and espresso creme brulee. By the time I was done, I just wanted to be rolled out of the restaurant. I'm pretty sure I had the biggest food baby in history after eating all that food. I had died and gone to heaven and just ate ate ate. What a great time!


me [extremely happy] and my French onion soup


my dinner - the twins


Chris' dinner - jumbo lump crab meat & lobster tail


espresso creme brulee


baked Alaska

virgins

I just found out that The Morning Benders are working on a new song called Virgins. I love what I'm hearing already, but I pretty much love everything from them. I mean, how can you not with that melt your heart voice? *swoon*