1 year down, ??? to go...

[y] today is our 1-year wedding anniversary. time flies...

i love you honey!

friends, thanks for pelting us with rose petals...

allrecipes.com

[y] my favorite recipe site is http://www.allrecipes.com/. almost everything i've tried (with 4-5 stars) has turned out fabulous. the key is to read people's comments because they give tips on how to tweak the recipes.

lately i've had a craving to just bake. but i've been too lazy to go to the store to buy ingredients that i don't already have. so i look in my fridge and see what i already have and type it in their advanced ingredient search. it finds recipes that contain the ingredients that you enter! here are recipes for a few things that i have made with ingredients that i had on hand:

1) apple strudel muffins: i had 1 apple that i had to use up before going on vacation so i found this recipe. i halved the recipe to make 6 muffins and added a small snack size cup of apple sauce and cinnamon. the muffins turned out super moist and yummy!

2) jacky's fruit and yogurt muffins: i had some yogurt and strawberries that i had to use up because i was tired of eating yogurt so i found this recipe. i followed the recipe exactly, except i used strawberries instead of blueberries, 4oz vanilla yogurt, 4oz strawberry yogurt, and a heaping teaspoon of baking powder (per the comments of some people). these muffins also turned out moist and yummy! be sure you use sweet strawberries, though...

3) easy cobbler: i had some ripe pears, canned pears, and strawberries to use up and i had seen this recipe on king kong rah rah rah's blog so i decided to try it out. add 1 tbsp of vanilla extract and cinnamon to the mix. when it's done, add a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top and you've got a winner! at least our small group liked it!

i guess i always have muffin ingredients at home (flour, sugar, vanilla, baking powder, baking soda, eggs). here are some other recipes for baked goodies that most of you have tried and liked =)

1) classic tiramisu: this recipe takes some perfecting. i wasn't successful the first few times and i realized it was a LOT easier to make with a kitchenaid stand mixer. i've changed up the recipe a few times by using different liqueur's or just plain coffee.

2) cream cheese sugar cookies with sugar cookie icing: i made these around christmas time, and I recently also made butterfly cookies. my coworkers have been the lucky recipients of these cookies, but i promise to make more! allrecipes even used a photo i submitted for the cookies:

here are pictures of the other sugar cookies i've made:

3) mom's zucchini bread: i made mini loaves and they turned out great...

4) bread pudding II: i haven't made this in a while, but it's pretty good...

5) baked brie with caramelized onions: i made this for a friend's bridal shower and it was a hit!

6) banana sour cream bread: this turned out pretty good, but it made a TON! my kitchenaid mixing bowl was almost overflowing. i recommend halving the recipe. i also iced it with cream cheese frosting.

ok so you're probably wondering if i ever do anything besides bake! well the answer is...yes, but for appetizers and entrees, i usually get my recipes from other cookbooks. BUT, here are some non-baking recipes that i've used from allrecipes.com.

1) luscious slush punch: i had this for the first time at a friend's bridal shower and LOVED it...so i made it for another friend's bridal shower!

2) famous butter chicken: this recipe was just ok...i probably didn't use enough butter. it got a lot of reviews though and it's simple to make.

ok that's it for today...maybe later i will post my favorite non-allrecipes.com recipes!

monthly post...

[yk] sorry that we have been slacking off on posting stuff! it's a weekly ritual for me to visit everyone's blog and see what everyone is up to. it's not fair for me to expect to see new posts from everyone when i barely update our own blog! so i will try to be better about that because i know i'm really bad about keeping in touch over the phone too...

so what have we been up to since our last blog post? well gordon is well into his summer term of seminary...1 class and 3 online classes...and is in a constant state of reading, paper writing, watching his classes online, and stressing. please continue to pray for his studies!

my baby brother graduated from high school and will be a longhorn next year...
we spent 5 days in new york for my sister, yvette's graduation from st. john's law school. she will be working at the Queens county courthouse prosecuting juvenile delinquents!
we saw all the sights around NYC sitting on the top of a red bus for 2 days. i never realized the diversity of architecture in NYC...it's really neat...wish houston had more of that architecture...

we even did this cool scavenger hunt around lower manhattan called accomplice: new york. i highly recommend it for anyone planning on visiting NYC. part of the hunt was to buy a $3 live frog from chinatown. if you want more details, let us know!

And this sunday is our 1-year wedding anniversay! gordon ordered a dozen cookie roses and they were delivered to my office...i love sugar cookies!

ok that's it for now...later, i will post about my latest 2 hobbies...baking and card-making!