Amy's Bridal Shower!

 

For the past two months, we have been secretly planning my little sister's bridal shower.  She is getting married in September, but we wanted to have the shower early since summers are always crazy for everyone.  And let's just say, she was totally surprised!  

We went with a 1950s theme and asked guests to dress in their finest 1950s housewife attire.  I made a lot of the decorations, with some help from friends and family.  The favors were also all handmade.  Jeremy even helped out!  He made Happy Birthday Veronica signs to trick Amy.  He also made direction cards that we placed in each of the invitations.  And the shower wouldn't be complete without a 1950s soundtrack, complete with little commercial breaks, all put together by Jeremy!  

Now on to pictures!

My mom and grandparents made quiche and finger sandwiches (tuna salad, ham salad and egg salad).  Brian's (Amy's fiance) mom put together some turkey and roast beef finger sandwiches as well.  We also had help with the salads and appetizers from friends and family.

And no party could be complete without cake!  Our aunt made this awesome retro mixer cake.  She spent hours on it and it came out beautiful!  The mixer part is rice crispy treats and the bowl and batter is cake and icing.  Not only did it look great, it tasted great!

What I've Been Up To...

I haven't wrote a post in a while, so I will just post some pictures of what I've been up to.  I'm trying to increase the numbers of meals I actually prepare and cook, and I've been sewing like crazy, along with some projects that will remain a secret since they are gifts.  So here are some pictures.  Hopefully I will have some time this week to explain what each thing is and provide a recipe or explanation on how I made some of the items.

Roasted Red Pepper and Mozzarella Panini 

And I actually make my own roasted red peppers....  To make these, I cut a large red pepper in half, and place it, skin side up, directly on the oven rack and turn the broiler on.  Once the skin is blackened, I flip them over and let the other side cook a little.  After they are done in the oven, I place the peppers in a plastic container and put the lid on the container.  Then let the pepper sit for about 15 minutes, or even longer.  This makes the skin super easy to peel off.  And then you have fresh roasted red peppers that are super yummy and sweet!

And now on to some the things I've been sewing.  I don't have pictures of the rag quilt that I made for a friend's mom.  I will try to get pictures and post those eventually.  Below are some pictures of a credit card/business card holder.  But I think it would also make a great way to give a gift card.  I used some scrap pieces of fabric and came up with these.

And here is a sneak peak of something that I recently started...

Birthday Present!

My niece turned four this past week and I wanted to make her something fun for her birthday.  She loves dress up and when I saw this skirt, I knew I had to make it for her!  I purchased the pattern, because I knew I wouldn't be able to figure out how to even start making the skirt and I knew I would use again for other birthday gifts (I have five nieces!).

After lots of sewing, ruffling, seam ripping, and sewing some more...this is what I came up with.

Yummy Alfredo Sauce

I decided that I wanted to try and make my own alfredo sauce.  I really don't care for the stuff in the jar and I'm not sure about the stuff that comes in the packet and you just add milk.  So after a little looking online, I found this recipe.  I followed the recipe and it came out perfect!  Very simple to make and super quick.  I served it over some angel hair pasta and broccoli.  Much better then any of that alfredo sauce in the jar!

Wednesday Night Chili!

After hearing the weather report Tuesday night, I knew Wednesday would be a snow day for Jeremy and me.  I figured I make a big ol' pot of chili for dinner on Wednesday.  Personally, I think the best way to eat chili is after its been in the slow cooker all day long.  I really don't follow a recipe for chili...I just add things that I think will make everything taste good.  

To make this chili, I cooked up 2 pounds of ground turkey and 2 Tbsp. of chili powder, added in some minced garlic, peppers and onions.  In the slow cooker, I added in a jar of whatever spaghetti sauce we had in our pantry, and a can of rotelle (diced tomatoes and green chilies).  Once the turkey was cooked through, I added it to the slow cooker and mixed everything together.  I set it to 8-hours and just let it simmer all day. 

Right before we were ready to eat, I made some cornbread.  My favorite mix is the Jiffy brand, that comes in the blue box.  It's cheap and easy to make (all you add is eggs and milk).  

I like to top my chili off with some cheese and sour cream.  

What a great meal for a snowy, windy night!