7 Quick Takes (vol. 10)

It has been a fabulous few weeks, so I'll share a bit of the randomness with all of you lovelies :)

~~ 1 ~~

See these two adorable boys? Well I enjoyed a lovely afternoon celebrating their Birthdays. Check out some of Bonnie's fabulous creations for the day here.

~~ 2 ~~

So Monroe, Wisconsin hosts the Green County Cheese Days every other year. I think I have to go.

 

 the theme song, yes it's awesome!

 

~~ 3 ~~

I love fall :) I am currently drinking a caramel apple spice from Starbucks and it's like drinking an apple pie. Love it. I am ready for apple picking and corn mazes, campfires and fall colors. Oh! And homemade soups and stews :) and hoodies, I can go on, but I will spare you.

~~ 4 ~~

The church I work for had our annual parish picnic last Sunday. It was a wonderful afternoon of food and games. I love it because everyone is always in a good mood, no complaints, just enjoyment of the weather, and each other.

 Our two great priests

Maynard (Madison Mallards Mascot) doing his usual pose   ~    A bit of dining music       

~~ 5 ~~

I just watched Sundays at Tiffany's. It was super cute, great if you're in the mood for a Hallmark or lifetime-esque movie (evidently it actually is a Lifetime movie). I totally get in those moods.

~~ 6 ~~

So even though I am no longer in school, don't teach and don't have children in school, life still seems to follow the "school schedule". Two of the young adult groups I am in are starting up new books. So for the next few weeks I will be rereading Style, Se.x and Substance along with The Screwtape Letters. I really excited to discuss both books.

~~ 7 ~~

 

It's Friday and I have no plans set in stone, which means it will be a fabulously packed weekend doing a bit of everything :)

 Alright, that's all from me for this lovely Friday. Enjoy the weekend! 

For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!

A Little Food Post

I've had a bit of free time, so I have been happily spending it in the kitchen. I was talking with my friends a few weeks ago about the challenge of using what you already have on hand and cooking fabulous (new) recipes with those ingredients instead of finding the recipe and then having to go out and buy the ingredients. Liking this idea, and what it would mean to the many neglected odds and ends in my pantry, I decided to do just that. Below are some of the recipes that came from my odd collection of ingredients. I'm big on bread, can you tell?

Cheesy Garlic Bread Sticks

I didn't use Lauren's pizza dough recipe, but instead used my simple recipe from my Better Homes and Gardens cookbook. Dipped it in some pizza sauce and it was pretty amazing :)

Beer Bread

This recipe is ridiculously easy. It's fabulous for that can of beer that someone brought over to your place and left and has been sitting in your fridge for months...This would be amazing with a fresh bowl of soup.

Raspberry Muffins

So see these 6 beautiful muffins? That's all this recipe makes! It's amazing. I'm always nervous about doubling or halving new recipes, afraid that my proportions will be off. Uma has already done the dirty work and here's a lovely recipe if there's only one or two of you in the house. I used butter milk instead of regular milk (yes, ridiculous that that's what I had on hand) and of course added a bit more vanilla :)

Lemon Basil Pesto Pasta

picture from here

If you've got fresh herbs and want a very flavorful side, this recipe is great. I did not use anchovy fillets (shockingly I did not have any on hand) but did have capers, that are who knows how old, that were dieing to be used. Also, I feel like I never have the right type of mustard for recipes. I just used plain old yellow mustard in this recipe and it turned out quite nicely.

How about all of you? Any clean out the pantry recipes you've found and love?

What a Weekend!

It's September, it's beautiful, fall is almost here :) I had a lovely weekend with friends.

I attended the Wisconsin State Cow Chip Festival, I figured I had to do it, and since I was actually in the state this year for Labor Day weekend I figured this was the perfect year. They have a different theme each year and this year's was Pirates of the Cowwabean.

It was a bit intense.

Look at the dedication!

It was also a lot of fun

Saturday I had the pleasure of attending a friend's beautiful wedding.

 

It was a wonderful day with college friends. Everyone had a fabulous time!

 

Sunday I was off to the Taste of Madison. Amazing! The capital square was filled with people and such a great combination of food.

Here's my friend with some chocolate covered bacon on a stick :)

The rest of the weekend was spent at my friend's house on the lake, complete with kyaking and pontoon boating, guitar sing-alongs and games. Then it was over for dinner with the boyfriend. All in all it was a pretty fabulous weekend! 

I hope you all enjoyed your weekend and are having a wonderful week thus far!