Re-Visited: Cooking Club #14

[Original post date Dec. 2011. --Updated 4/7/15: original separate content, with updated photos and/or more details, if available.]


---> Cooking Club is coming up soon, and now that I'm blogging, I want to share these moments but I thought I should play catch-up first. So without further ado, here (and in more posts to come) is what we've been up to. Enjoy!

#14 August: Special Diet

The Menu:
       Appetizers
Green Stuffed Appetizer Shells (Vegetarian)
Barbecued Baguettes (Vegetarian)
Party Stuffed Pinwheels (Vegetarian)
       Main Course
Italian Zucchini Pie (Vegetarian)
       Side
Coleslaw (Sugar Free)
       Dessert
Vegan Cupcakes

Jessica had the theme for this month. Lately, we had been talking about trying more vegan and gluten-free recipes because some of our family members have special diets. However, the ingredients for "special diets" can be quite on the expensive side. And when you're on a tight budget, it's not the easiest to do. Hence the reason most of us chose to go vegetarian for this month's menu. [Isn't it amazing what a few years can do? These ingredients are nowhere near as expensive now. Awesome.]

I was excited to skim through my vegetarian recipes, hungry to try something new. After much consideration, I chose the Italian Zucchini Pie, out of The 1,000 Best Recipes.

My husband and I have been on a huge zucchini kick lately. I've used it shredded, fried, baked, in patty form and, Mr. B's personal favorite, Zucchini Chips (<--- find this recipe here).

Zucchini and cheese in a pie, yes please. It sounded delicious. It looked delicious. It smelled delicious. The filling was delicious...the crust...was a little hard.

I'd make this again in a heart beat, but with a different crust recipe.

Italian Zucchini Pie
*adapted from The 1,000 Best Recipes

Serves 6

2 1/2 c flour
1/2 tsp salt + 1/4 tsp
1/3 c olive oil
1 egg, beaten + 3 eggs & 1 egg, lightly beaten for glaze
3-4 Tbsp iced water
1 1/4 lb zucchini, grated
5 oz provolone cheese, grated
4 oz cottage cheese
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp finely chopped basil
pinch of nutmeg

In a large bowl, mix flour and salt and make a well. Combine oil and beaten egg, and almost all of the water and add to flour. Mix until mixture comes together in beads, adding more water if needed. Gather into a ball, wrap in plastic and chill 30 minutes.

Preheat oven 400 degrees. Heat a baking sheet. Grease a 7" pie dish. Toss zucchini with 1/4 tsp salt and place in colander for 30 minutes to drain. Squeeze out any excess liquid with your hands. Place in a large bowl and add cheeses, 3 eggs, garlic, basil and nutmeg. Season well and mix thoroughly.

Roll out 2/3 of the pastry until large enough to line base and side of pie dish. Spoon zucchini filling into pastry shell and level surface. Brush exposed rim of dough with lightly beaten egg. Roll out remaining dough to make a lid. Cover filling with it, pressing edges together firmly. Trim edges. Crimp rim. Prick top all over with a skewer and brush with egg.

Bake on hot sheet for 50 minutes or until golden.

My other favorite this month was Jenny's Coleslaw. I usually like my coleslaw a little thicker and not as sweet, but I found it to be quite tasty.

[Oh, and if you couldn't tell by now, I forgot my camera. I don't have any of the other tasty dishes. Fail.]

*I hope you enjoyed these Cooking Club snippets. I've finally caught up! I hope these themes, and even Cooking Club itself, inspire you to gather with your friends and family in the kitchen, and make sweet moments (and delicious food) of your own.

**I've only included the recipes to the dishes I made. Only because I'm unsure of where everyone got theirs...and hey, we gotta give credit where credit is due. If you have any questions about the other dishes, I'll ask the other members where they got their recipes and pass it along!

Check out our previous meetings!
Cooking Club #1-4
Cooking Club #5-8
Cooking Club #9-12
Cooking Club #13

With Love and God Bless,
Brindi

Lately

1. This open-faced "skinny" egg salad on toasted Ezekiel bread with alfalfa sprouts. SHUT THE FRONT DOOR. I've had it for my work lunch for a dozen days in a row now. I used the healthy egg salad recipe from Dashing Dish's new cookbook, and you can find that recipe here.

2. Y'all, the library is full of crazy just waiting to happen. The other day we had a patron come in, and in quite a hurry I might add, and while on his cell phone he asked my co-worker, "how long are you supposed to cook pizza rolls in the oven?" My co-worker politely said she wasn't sure. The man then got off the phone, walked over to the movie section, and within 30 seconds rushed out of the library informing us he "really had to go." .... .... .... You can't make this stuff up.

3. Flat Whites with coconut milk from Starbucks have been my go-to beverage of choice lately. I am enjoying these, more than I thought I would. I first had a flat white a while back with whole milk (the original way), but it was too rich I couldn't even stomach a tall. I tried it with coconut milk and it's much, much better. I just wish Starbucks would use a brand of coconut milk that doesn't have the ingredient carrageenan. This is one ingredient I will avoid at all costs, and I have ever since reading Angela's post two years ago. When I discovered it in the ingredient list, I was pretty devastated. <--- not an exaggeration. There goes my coconut milk switch. There are plenty of brands out there without this toxic ingredient. I expect better, Starbucks!!

4. All the birthday cakes of late. This is why I gave up sugar for Lent (among other things). Because, yes, my sugar fast this past January was quite the opposite. Eat sugar all the time. And I am not this person at all. Seriously. Yet, it seems since Thanksgiving I haven't been able to say no. My self control seems to be buried under all the snow, lost along with the grass. And it's not even good sugar!

5. Not only do I get to see my best friend tomorrow, but I get to see most of my good friends as well. Hosting jewelry parties, well hosting in general, is something I love to do. Bonus: Mama is able to come! Double bonus: Daddy's coming along and they're visiting for the weekend! I haven't seen my parents since the holidays. This weekend may spoil me.

6. Oh, and we're getting chickens. This is Mr. B's want. To say he's ecstatic is an understatement. I am interested.


With Love and God Bless,
Brindi

Lately, I'm Obsessed

1. I.cannot.stop.drinking.LaCroix. I.am.obsessed.with.this.sparkling.water. My current favorite is the Peach Pear. I mean you should see the recycling bin at work....

2. My last few Sunday mornings have been spent poring over my latest cookbook purchases. How Sweet Eats and Dashing Dish (plus the Dashing Dish Devotional), these girls did amazing jobs with their books. Which, of course, comes as no surprise. Have you checked out their blogs?! I've been following these chicas for years and am super excited for them.

3. So, Mr. Darcy has his own Instagram account. You can follow him here @thedarcychronicles.

This is completely ridiculous, I know. You can blame Mr. B. It was his idea. He was jealous of all the other corgis out there with accounts, and I mean a plethora of corgis with accounts. Where do people find the time to manage it??! When I walk through the door, Mr B is all "Have you posted a photo today? Have you seen his number of followers? You need to post for them! They want to know what he's doing." Hello? I don't even know what I'm doing. He is getting crazy.

4. Reading all of the new Youth Media Award WINNERS. They were announced this past Monday. I must get on this. Drop everything and put these suckers on hold. So said every present (and past, ahem,) Youth Services Librarian.

5. Ummm, did I mention I'm going to see GARTH BROOKS tonight??!!!!! GAHHHHHHHH! I can't sit down. I can't focus. I may just put on some music and feed the preschoolers sugar for story time today.  We all need to get excited! I think his "People Loving People" would be appropriate.... I'm sure it's best I'm only working half a day. I'm sure it's best for all. GAHHHHHHHH!

And if this happened?

I.Would.Have.Died. Right.There.Y'all.

AFTER the song, of course.

With Love and God Bless,
Brindi

Annnddd We Turned THREE... (Over a Month Ago)

HAPPY {BELATED} BIRTHDAY, BLOG!

Ummm, it's the holidays. Thanksgiving just finished. CHRISTMAS IS COMING!! Oh, and I was in Maine. Forgive me. I fell behind. I had plans. Honestly, I remembered Sweet B's anniversary was approaching and I had plans.

And then I glanced at the calendar, and oh my stars, it's November! And anything related to the month of October left my mind completely.

Whoops.

When I finally realized I missed my date, I glanced at the up-coming weeks to find a day in need of celebration and cake.

Who waits for a time to celebrate with cake? Who needs the excuse? [I raise my hand.]

Who is the lamest person on Earth? [I raise my hand, reluctantly, but nobody can see me so I'm not too embarrassed.]

I know. I know. Please don't stop reading. I'm sorry. I'm not a cake person. I just don't have the sweet tooth I once had. No? Not believable? Okay, then I can't have a cake just sitting around the house because I will eat it all myself and then I'll have to do more than just a yoga workout to make up for it or live with the fact that I can't fit into my skinny jeans because I just ate an entire cake by myself and this will not help the fact that cookie baking season is right around the corner and that's a sure bet my skinny jeans will be out of commission until January anyway and with all the baking and eating and sampling and eating when will I have the time to do more than a yoga workout let alone even attempt to try on my skinny jeans?

I digress. The cake. The cake was.... a TRIFLE.

Surprise!

Yes, this mess happened.

I had everything I needed to make this beautiful, eye-catching, four-layer Thanksgiving dessert. Everything except a sturdy cake. The pumpkin in the cake batter made it extremely moist and once halved, the layers just leaned into a hot mess. I took one look at my cake stand, flipped it over into a bowl, and created this beautiful, eye-catching Thanksgiving trifle. No one knew. Except I told everybody. And now I'm telling you.

I'm not really one for secrets. Unless it's a big, juicy one then by all means...let me grab my coffee.

I found the recipe for this pumpkin cake in The Chew cookbook I received last Christmas, and ever since I have had my eye on Carla Hall's stunning Pumpkin Cake with a Chocolate Ganache. It's just gorgeous. The perfect centerpiece of a great meal. Well, this just goes to show any cake can inspire the perfect TRIFLE centerpiece.

This was absolutely as mouthwatering as its photo. However, I made many substitutions, so I'm providing my adapted recipe below. The biggest adjustment was the sugar. OH MY STARS! I could not believe how much sugar was in this recipe. My teeth hurt just reading the ingredient list. My teeth thanked me later. Yikes. And my sweets-loving father-in-law also thanked me. To say it's rich and decadent is an understatement. To say it's absolutely delicious is also an understatement. The perfect showstopper.


Layered Pumpkin Trifle with Chocolate Ganache
*adapted from Carla Hall's recipe

Serves 12

Pumpkin Chocolate Cake:

1 1/2 c sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
2 large eggs 

2 flax eggs (1 T flax seed + 3 T water per egg)
1 c all-purpose flour

1 c whole wheat pastry flour
2 t baking soda
1 t baking powder
3 t pumpkin pie spice
1 t salt
2 c pumpkin puree

Mascarpone Filling:

2 c powdered sugar
1 t vanilla extract
1 T pumpkin pie spice
1 c pumpkin puree
2 t salt  

2 cups mascarpone  (I could not find this anywhere, locally, so I made my own version: combine 2 (8-oz) pkgs Neufchatel cream cheese, 1/4 c heavy whipping cream, and 2 1/2 T plain Greek yogurt until fluffy. This should equal 2 cups.)

Dark Chocolate Ganache:

3 T corn syrup
6 oz heavy whipping cream
12 oz dark chocolate, chopped into small bits  (I like 85% dark)
1/2 t vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter and flour 2 9" cake pans. Combine sugar, vegetable oil, eggs, and flax eggs in a large mixing bowl and mix well. Whisk dry ingredients in a separate bowl. Stir the dry into the wet ingredients until just combined. Fold in the pumpkin puree. Divide batter between the two prepared cake pans. Bake 35 to 40 minutes. Rotate pans half way through cooking. When a toothpick comes out clean, the cakes are done. Let cool for 5 minutes and then turn cakes out onto cooling racks. While the cakes are cooking make the filling. Beat the mascarpone (or mascarpone substitute) and the pumpkin puree until blended, then add the pumpkin pie spice, salt, and powdered sugar. Mix at a high speed until blended (about 1 minute). Once it's fully combined add vanilla and beat for another 30 seconds. Make the ganache in a small saucepan. Combine the corn syrup and cream and bring to a simmer. Add the chocolate and stir until smooth. Remove from heat and add vanilla. Once the cakes have cooled completely, make the trifle or the original cake version.... 

Trifle: Tear the cake into chunks, using hands or a knife. Alternately layer the cake pieces, mascarpone mixture, and the chocolate ganache. No rhyme or reason, just make it look beautiful :)

Cake: Cut through each cake horizontally with a serrated knife (there will now be four rounds of cake to work with). Spread the filling evenly between the layers. Once assembled, transfer cake to a cake stand with parchment paper lined around the edges (to keep the cake stand clean). Pour the ganache over the cake. Once the ganache is set, remove the parchment.

*Notes: I let my cake rounds cool over night before slicing, and I also made the mascarpone mixture the night before and chilled in the fridge until ready to use.)
 

With Love and God Bless,
Brindi

I Promise, This Is It for A While....

I discovered a few more favorites. Let me tell y'all about them.

A few notables worth mentioning include both of Yotam Ottolenghi's books, Plenty and Jerusalem. These cookbooks are not only beautifully photographed, but have me wishing I had more time at home to create these heavenly dishes. And thinking I could easily be satisfied on a Jerusalem-inspired diet. The Four and Twenty Blackbirds Pie Book has me convinced I'm a closet pie lover. Although I can't seem to make a decent crust to save my life, I know with patience and this cookbook these two sisters could teach me the delicate trade. And, yes, I finally got my hands on Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams at Home. It was everything I thought it would be and more. I was drooling over every page. I know [good] ice cream is my true dessert love. However, I couldn't help but think I'd better stick to visiting her ice cream shop or finding her ice cream in stores rather than make it myself. It's a bit intense. The best part is learning about how her ingredients are all local and Ohio-grown, if possible.

Of course, I fell in love with Pioneer Woman's latest cookbook endeavor, A Year of Holidays. I'm pretty sure Mr. B knows this had better find it's way under the Christmas tree this year. I really, really love her cookbook layouts, the way she includes snippets of family-life and story insights is fun and refreshing. Although my favorite part of this particular cookbook are the convenient holiday menu spreads.

Another favorite was Gwyneth Paltrow's It's All Good. I found that I enjoyed this second cookbook much more than her first one. I liked her reasoning behind her restorative diet and why she eats the way she does. My favorite part is the weekly recipe guides in the back, and the "go-to" food section. The meals seem adaptable and without fuss.

But the one book out of this pile I'm dying to put on my shelf is The Oh She Glows Cookbook. I have been an avid fan of Angela's blog for years, and could not hold back my excitement when she let her readers know of her publishing date. And now she has her own Tea Shoppe!?! LOVE HER! The layout of this cookbook is gorgeous and it's equally user-friendly. I'm not sure if I can hold off until Christmas, especially if my gift-buying self winds up in a bookstore. Eeek!

Okay, I think I'm done with my cookbook kick.

With Love and God Bless,
Brindi

What's on My Kitchen [Book]Shelf?

My cookbook shelf, that is.

I've been bringing home bagfuls of cookbooks, unloading them onto the kitchen table, and leafing through them like crazy, and realized I neglected my own. Since my last cookbook shelf look-in back when the blog first started (in 2011!), my lifestyle, diet, and tastes have changed considerably.

Since then I've weeded (library term!) my cookbooks because I need space for my beloved new ones. I kept a handful of them, and boxed up the rest for our next yard sale, making plenty of space for the countless number of newbies on my list of need-to-buy SOON. Among those headed out the door were the Cookies, Bars, and Brownies and the Fast Fixes with Mixes because, let's face it, I don't use box mixes. I make desserts from scratch. I try with every being in my body to avoid the chemically processed stuff like cream of "whatever" soup and soup mixes. Instead I make these items from scratch and store in my pantry, so when a recipe suggests these toxic ingredients, I readily pull out my homemade versions. As for the sweets cookbook, I have enough pinned desserts that I won't even know it's gone.

Within my old favorites, I've noticed I haven't thumbed through my old favorite, The 1,000 Best Recipes, nor The Chocolate and Coffee Bible. This makes me sad and I hope to remedy this very soon. There are some wonderful recipes in those cookbooks, sinful desserts and rich dishes just waiting to be made. Over the past few years, I learned how to replace ingredients with healthier-better-for-you ingredients. This will help when I do dig out my old favorites.

My latest additions include Pioneer Woman's first and second cookbooks. This woman is just fabulous, and I loved tuning into her show on The Food Network, but now I just satisfy myself with her blog pieces. She's hilarious. And her recipes are just as delicious. I find they're easily adaptable to what meat is on sale that week, the current veggie season, and versatile depending on diet needs.

A few years ago I add The Daniel Fast to my cooking collection, and since then, sadly, I have only tried a handful of its recipes. I am quite determined to submit to a full 21-day Daniel fast at some point, but I want to try more of the recipes first so I will know what I like and have meal ideas at arms length when the time comes.

Back when I had cable I was obsessed with The Chew. What food lover isn't? While it's not my favorite cookbook, there are still quite a few decent and fast dishes in there. Great for weeknights. Oh, and the other Chew books, Food. Life. Fun. and Celebrates the Holidays, are on my list, too. Obviously.

Honestly, my Christmas list year is full of cookbook needs wants.

Just look at all of those tabbed pages. Full of recipes I am excited to try. ASAP. I need to do a "cooking through a [cookbook] month/blog series." Sort of Julie & Julia style. My intentions are there; they're just distracted by Pinterest. Maybe a goal for next year....

Any new cookbooks you added to your collection recently?

With Love and God Bless,
Brindi

Currently

I'm currently....

Watching.... Outlander series on STARZ. Well, I'm not watching it on TV because we haven't had cable in over a year, and our "bunny ears" only allows us to view the local stations for FREE (which means I still see my beloved Browns!), and I'd never subscribe to STARZ anyway. But, alas, that's the station that picked up my favorite historical-fiction series. You can watch the first episode online, but the rest... However, my kind co-worker is downloading the goods and sharing. So, yes, I'm playing catch-up on the first six episodes. There are parts I dislike and disagree with, and have left me going, "Wait. What?! That's not right! Where's wee Roger?!" But for the most part, I like it. Yet, I find I'm skipping a few parts. A little too "bare" for me.

Eating.... PEACHES. They're my favorite. I.cannot.get.enough. But right at this moment I'm devouring this Blueberry Zucchini Bread. While I was off yesterday, I realized I hadn't made any zucchini bread this summer. I knew that had to change immediately, and headed to the farmer's market to purchase an abundance (and I mean an abundance) of one of my garden favorites. On a sad note: this loaf was gone within 24 hours. I am savoring this last piece slowly.

Planning.... social dates with friends, book club, family and most importantly, time with my husband. Summer came and went in a blur, and I never had time to enjoy it really, or see much of the people that matter most to me. The next month or two awaits gelato, football games, a camping trip, fall festivals, Target dates, day trips, Starbucks chats, birthday celebrations, bonfires, and "Gone with the Wind." <--- anyone else attending a theater showing to celebrate its 75 years??!!

Reading.... cooooookbooooks. But, of course, you know this already because I mentioned it here and here, and I have plans of mentioning it on here a few more times. Pretty much until you're blue in the face, and have stopped reading this blog because you've spent your last paycheck on these mouth-watering books. However, now you have a beautiful and eclectic collection. You're welcome.

Actually, I promise I am reading non-related kitchen/cooking books as well. Like a few YA novels, such as An Abundance of Katherines, and The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. (Sadly, not a fan of either.) Also, I'm dabbling in the Steampunk genre for book club this month with Etiquette and Espionage. Not yet finished and still not quite sure how I feel about this one....

Inspired by.... the new Bible study I'm in the midst of right now. It's focused on Esther, and even though God's name isn't mentioned in her book, it's easy to find the presence of God and his plan. It's causing me to take a step back and view my life. All the crazy and laughable plans I had for my life. The plans I thought I had when I graduated high school. The plans I made when I finished college with my under-grad. The plans I have now. God's plans are beautiful. And bigger.

Excited about.... FALL! The colors, the COLORS! Mr. Darcy is constantly bringing in sticks and leaves. I can't wait until I rake up a big pile just to watch him run through it with pure glee. I love this puppy. Let's hope Mr. B allows us to do this once before he gets all clean-lawn-happy with his new tractor leaf collector toy thingy. <--- that's a thing, right?

With Love and God Bless,
Brindi

Cookbooks Galore

Actually, "cookbooks galore" is kind of an understatement. It's more along the lines of Mr. B's question the other day about whether or not we'll see our dining room table anytime soon. I'm sure the staff at my library and my local library are thinking the same thing: she's addicted. And I can't help it. Cookbooks are fabulous!! All of the amazing, mouth-watering photographs just scream get in the kitchen and make me. Cookbooks are beautiful. I love exploring new dishes, learning what people put on their own tables, and discovering the stories behind why they make the food they make and how each ended up in the kitchen. If I could actually afford my champagne taste, I'm sure I'd have a wall of cookbooks in my kitchen instead of two over-flowing shelves. But since I understand that if I were to buy every eye-catching cookbook that crossed my path Mr. B would demand control of my paycheck, thank God for libraries!

I can peruse as many of these tasty books as I dare, and discover my favorites, which I immediately run out and purchase or add to my every-growing "WANT" list. This past month I have done just that. I've been up to my eyeballs in cookbooks. Ooohing and Ahhhing over the incredible photos and recipes, with many "Why didn't I think to do that?" or "I must make this now" moments.

Giada's most recent cookbook sent me to the bookstore the very next day. Happy birthday to me, I exclaimed as I dragged Mr. B to the checkout counter, after explaining that "yes, I know my gift card is less than the cost of the book, but look! I'm buying you a Fantasy Football magazine, too!" I mean, if I'm putting money on the card I may as well put money on the card. You know, what I mean?

I think Feel Good Food is by far, Giada's best cookbook because it's on the healthier and lighter side, and it features a few personal daily beauty, travel, home, and other tips/secrets as well. The layout is lovely, and I wanted to make [almost] every.single.recipe. Gah! Yes, I had to immediately run out and snatch this up.

Out of this hoard of cookbooks, my other favorites included Chloe's Vegan Desserts and Eat Raw, Not Cooked. I'm not sure where I came across these two, but they were on my "to read" list and the library had 'em, so I requested 'em. Chloe's beautiful dessert-filled book is the perfect gift for my vegan friends. Heck, I'm won over by anything that highlights my beloved coconut oil. I knew I had to make something immediately, and thought the Chocolate Chip Cookies were the perfect place to start. Although, I made a few changes when it came to the sugar, this is by far the best recipe when you want to freeze the cookie dough and snack on it later. OH.EM.GEE. I couldn't stop. I used 85% dark chocolate chunks as my chips, and while Mr. B found it to be slightly "dry" (I took that to mean not as sweet and heavy). It must have been successful, because once he devoured his baked batch of cookies, he intruded upon my cookie dough. While I'm fully aware that "vegan" is not always synonymous with "healthy," with a few substitutions this could be a great go-to cookbook when it comes to feeding my vegan friends.

Eat Raw, Not Cooked is also one I could easily use every day during the summer, when it's way too hot to turn on the stove (if you have one that works), or your grill has been totaled. I was joking with my co-worker that the good Lord might have dropped this very cookbook in my lap for a reason. He knew I was going to need it! However, now I'm convinced I need a dehydrator. And more time. And I'm going to need more money.

I must own both of these very soon.

Stay tuned for my next batch of cookbook reviews because I'm a hoarder and a lover of all things food. I've only scratched the surface of the dining room table.

With Love and God Bless,
Brindi

A Week of Food

A photographic stroll through this week's eats. YUM.

Frozen {vegan!} cookie dough is a great snack when forced to endure loud noises resulting in crazy migraines. I found this fabulous chocolate chip cookie recipe in this mouth-watering vegan desserts cookbook. <--- my latest must-own-right-now item.

It's National Eat a Peach Day, and I've had my share of this juicy heaven's nectar this week, believe you me. Nosiree, I can't stop. Peach-aholic, right here!

With Love and God Bless,
Brindi

House Update: The Kitchen

Y'all, it's been one year and the kitchen is almost finished!!!

These last few weeks Daddy has been up installing the new counter tops and, my favorite piece, the island. It's beautiful and completes the kitchen, while providing storage for pots, pans, jars, AND my cookbooks! My father does amazing and gorgeous work; he is unbelievably talented at his craft. Mr. B and I have done so much to this kitchen, not because it needed it (other than the fact that the wallpaper needed to come down) but we wanted to make it our own, or I should say my own since I'm the one actually in the kitchen.

Let's take a walk down memory lane, shall we?

 

Ughhh....other than the wallpaper, the kitchen was absolutely fine. There wasn't anything wrong with it, we just wanted it updated. To make it our own. We updated the refrigerator, mainly because it kept freezing our food, and Mr. B surprised me by installing a new microwave while I was in Chicago. He was tired of looking at the messed up door. We drew out a plan and a timeline on what we wanted to do with our new home, saved up the money, and now--one year later--my kitchen is complete (almost). Once Mr. B and I finished painting, Daddy came up to install the back splash, which I love.

But the counter tops, I despised. They had to go. I mean they were okay, but I know what my father can do. I watched him build and supply many, many customers with beautiful cabinets and counter tops over the years, and I knew (finally!) it was my turn. And it's absolutely perfect. I am in love with my kitchen.

Isn't it beautiful?! I keep smiling like a little schoolgirl with a crush every time I walk into this kitchen.

I continue to be in awe of what my father can do at his craft. It's absolutely flawless, and his attention to detail is superb. He really keeps in mind what the customer wants and he delivers. When he was asking me questions about the island, at the time, I had no idea which side I wanted to display the cookbooks or the storage doors. It makes you really think about your space. And that's what he does. Daddy makes you think about what works best for you. How I actually use my kitchen, what's convenient to me, where do we walk, how much space do we need to open the fridge and the dishwasher....He's brilliant.

And if you're interested, visit his Facebook page, Creative Woodworks, for an estimate, or to contact him with any questions. (There are also pictures of his other beautiful wood works, so check it out!)

And, now, a sneak peek at the dining room....

Here's a closer look at my new coffee/tea bar!!!















We re-purposed the old island by turning it into the coffee bar I have longed for desperately since I was in college. Eventually I plan to paint it and strip the wood, and possibly have my father install a shelf, or drawer, of some sort in place of the stools. Also, I'd like to put a shelving unit above the bar along with some coffee and tea decor. It's a work in progress. But more importantly, I'm loving the free counter top space!

One room at a time....

With Love and God Bless,
Brindi

Inside My Life

Every once in a while I plan to share little tidbits of my beautiful, blessed life with all of you. And I'm kicking it off today!


What I ate for breakfast today: Oats in a Jar!!!! I love my oatmeal and peanut butter, and combining the two is a great way to get the last scrapings out of that jar.

I love breakfast. It's like my favorite meal besides dessert.


Since I love to try new recipes, which is one of the reasons for starting Sweet B's, I constantly peruse my cookbook collection (and I have a lot on my Christmas list this year) and decided to give you a tour.

These are my go-to favorites. When I moved into my first apartment with my friend Jessica, I pretty much made almost every recipe in the Taste of Home's Fast Fixes with Mixes. And when my husband decided to toss The 1,000 Best Recipes aside, I dog-eared almost every page. The pictures in this book are mouth-watering. Mr. B's favorite is Everyday Cooking, which his mom gave him when he moved out on his own. The Chocolate and Coffee Bible is a must. (But I'm more excited about the coffee part.)

Next up, my second favorites. The Sunday Night Football Cookbook has some hidden gems that are amazing, which is where I found my classic Cornbread Casserole recipe that I must make for every Thanksgiving. Cookies, Bars, and Brownies come in handy around the holidays, and I wish I used Smoothies and Juices every day.

These usually get shoved to the back and over-looked, but occasionally I'll discover a dish worth making. (Mr. B dislikes any cookbook that doesn't display pictures...he likes to see his end result.)

However, this is my cookbook. It has family recipes, family favorites and recipes I find around the web and drool over while watching Food Network. This is what I would grab if my house caught on fire and I had to grab one thing...and Squirrely, and my jewelry box, and my quilt rack, and my scrapbooks, and my FRIENDS collection, and my cast iron skillet.....ummm, never mind.

Circa 2007. Go Kent State Flashes (Black squirrels are our un-official mascots.)

This is Squirrely. My husband bought him for me along with a dozen peach and pink roses for our very first Valentine's Day together (over 6 years ago). Squirrely stills sleeps in bed with me, and Mr. B can't believe he allows it.

This is our cat, Siamese. Mr. B has had her since before he was driving (and he won't be naming our children; he likes to point out the obvious).

She's 14 and my husband and I are beginning to think she'll live forever which means I'll never get my Chihuahua. Don't be fooled by her beautiful appearance...she'll hiss and claw ya as sure as I'm sittin' here.

We don't need children, we have this lovely feline that wakes Mr. B up every morning because her bowl is empty, meows complains like crazy when no one is paying attention to her, sleeps in our bed when we're not home, walks all over our dining room table while we're sleeping (which just so happens to be glass, so her little paw prints greet us in the morning), tries to steal Mr. B's pizza bread and Kool-Aid (yes, he's five lol), puts her little paws in my cake while it's cooling on the counter, stares us down until we open the blinds so she can put her feet up and look out the window to see what's happening in the parking lot, waits until we go to bed so she can run around the house like crazy to keep her figure (I'm positive our neighbors think we're hiding a Retriever in the apartment), and kneads her blanket until she drives us insane.

I just wanted to show you her darling face because I'm sure you'll be hearing a lot about her.

When my husband and I found this video a few weeks ago, we thought it was just perfect.

And this one, too.

 

She so silly.

With Love and God Bless,

Brindi