oh boy! (and cheese grits)

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blueberry spritzers

chicken + apricot puffs

white cheese grits

fruit cups

parmesan cheese straws

tomato bruschetta

chocolate + vanilla cupcakes

chocolate truffles

5 of my friends are pregnant right now, and all having boys! crazy.  some girls and i threw a little baby shower for one of them, our friend lisa, a few weeks ago and it was a great time. annie & lauren did most of the work (including the hand-stiched name and homemade chocolate truffles!) and it turned out so cute. but the star of the show, besides lisa's belly, were the cheese grits!!! everyone loved them. so here's the recipe.
annie's cheese grits 
1 qt. milk
1 c. quick grits
2 sticks real butter
1 ½ c. shredded Monterey Jack cheese
1/3 c. freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1 t. salt
1/8 t. pepper
Melt 1 stick of butter in saucepan then add 1 qt. milk.  Bring almost to a boil then add grits.  Cook until thick.

Add salt and pepper.  Mix in mixer for 5 minutes.  Mix in 1 stick of melted butter and Monterey cheese.  Mix 5 minutes more.  Pour into greased casserole.  Sprinkle top with Parmesan cheese.

Bake at 400 for 30-40 minutes.

enjoy! 

lately...

this past week or so was a little more crazier than usual.

one of my friends had to be away for 2 weeks 

helping her parents with the aftermath of an oregon landslide. 

so, long story short -

we had the privilege of keeping her children during the weekdays

while their daddy was in class. 

it was super fun and insightful getting to play mom of 4 for a little bit. 

(shout out to mom - you're amazing!!)

the girls are incredibly sweet and well mannered. 

we had a nice little routine down

and they even took naps at the same time in the afternoons. 

i think it helped that the 3 oldest were girls. 

we made smoothies, 

colored, painted, did puzzles, 

hot glued a wreath, 

watched babe, danced on the bed, 

made fruit loop necklaces....

not sure what i would've done if i had all boys!!!

\

thanks to:

mom, for the cute kitchen towel and fridge magnets.

aunt kathryn, for the paints. big hit.  

aunt gen, for the bathrobe ivy adores. 

eli, for balancing us out a bit! 

hope you all had a nice weekend! 

phone numbers

please send me yours so i have it again... any which way you please.

(on here, email or to my same phone #)

i lost my phone... what a drag.

thanks so much!

easter garden party

we hosted a few friends for the easter holiday in our little garden behind our flat.

it was fun getting everything ready - really just a bunch of flowers, chocolate bars for place cards, some pretty napkins and a lot of desserts!

huge thanks to kevin for the yard work and lugging up the tables!

as is our favorite custom, we all contributed to the dinner

and it was delicious.

a very beautiful day.

no one could find plastic eggs (trust us, we tried) but jess came to the rescue and filled little bags with the goodies. we couldn't find easter baskets either so it was total improv all around.

just before bed, i remembered ivy's easter basket that i hid away in the closet. it was impossible to find regular baskets anywhere, so things had to get a little creative. it was tiny but i think she still loved it. favorite thing: the stickers! i knew it.

hope you all had a wonderful easter!

matthew 28:6

happy st. patrick's day!

the hays threw a little irish bash to celebrate st. patrick's day. as usual, we all pitched in a thing or two and before you know it - we're ready to party!

kate, ivy, aed and amelie



thanks hays!

irish soda bread recipe: HERE.

it's the easiest and quickest bread ever.

fun in pitscottie/corn pudding

last sunday, the buchanans graciously had some of us over to their house in pitscottie, just outside of st. andrews. it was a beautiful day, i even wore flip flops (which was probably a stretch.) the kiddos played outside in their amazing backyard. we all pitched in a dish, travis grilled our meats, jess baked chocolate cupcakes and i was in heaven. (that's the only cheeseburger i've had here!) once again, i wish i had more pics but i'm doing the best i can (have i mentioned i'm fat and lazy?) thanks buchanans!

TEXAS CORN PUDDING

from Junior League of Houston's Peacemeals cookbook

• 5 T butter
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 1 jalapeno (I couldn't find one)
• 1 T minced garlic
• 6 cups corn
• 2 tsp chopped fresh thyme
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp cayenne
• 1/4 cup flour
• 4 eggs
• 2 cups heavy cream
• 1 T sugar
• 1 tsp pepper
• 1 cup shredded swiss or cheddar
• 1/4 cup chopped green onions

Preheat to 350. Lightly butter a 9x13. Melt the butter in a large saute pan over medium heat. Cook the onions, jalapeno and garlic for 5 minutes or until tender. Add the corn, thyme, salt and cayenne. Stir in the flour and mix well. Remove from heat and separate into two equal portions. Puree one portion in a food processor or blender, then mix the two portions back together. Set aside to cool. Combine The eggs, cream, sugar, pepper, cheese and green onions in a large bowl, whisking to combine. Add the corn mixture to the egg mixture and combine well. Pour into prepared dish and bake 50 minutes to 1 hour or until the center is set.

Serves 8.

Notes: If you aren't trying to feed a crowd, divide the recipe into smaller casseroles and freeze. I made 1 large casserole (served 8) and 1 small (serves 2) that I froze.

Definitely will make this again!

enjoy!

homemade naan

joy hosted this month's dinner club and chose indian for our theme. we were all a little nervous for this one but it turned out to be one of the best ones! the food was soooooo good- can't wait to get everyone's recipes, which i'll try to share on here. (the host for each month chooses the theme, and afterwards, collects all the recipes to send out to each participant. so fun.) anyway, i made naan. so yummy and very simple. honestly.

RECIPE:

1/2 cup warm water

2 tsp. active dry yeast

1 tsp. sugar

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for rolling

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 cup canola oil

1/3 cup plain yogurt

1 large egg

In a large bowl, stir together the water, yeast and sugar and let stand for 5 minutes, until foamy.

Stir in the flour, salt, oil, yogurt and egg and stir, then knead until you have a soft, pliable dough. (1-2 minutes). Cover with a tea towel and let rise until doubled in size; about an hour.

Pinch off a handful and on a lightly floured surface, roll out each piece into a thin circle or oval.

Cook each naan in a nice hot skillet drizzled with oil (just a teeny tiny bit) until blistered and cooked, flipping as necessary. (When the surface has big blisters and is golden on the bottom, flip it over and cook until golden on the other side.)

Makes about 8-12 naan.

happy birthday jenny!!

over the weekend...

last weekend, our sweet friends wes and elizabeth from san antonio came to visit us at the ranch. and they brought with them the cutest little 3 month old baby boy who goes by the name of luke. he and ivy just talked the day away...

craig and rib also came and we had a great time. we'll miss them all very much next year!

thanks for coming out brights! we love your little family!