Buy Local (Part 2)

While at Capitol Market this last weekend with my Mom and three of my sisters, I set out to find a pretty plant for our back porch.  Along the way my mom found a flat of flowers for around her back patio!!!

I was so excited when I found these pretty flowers (already potted - I'm a sucker for convenience)!

They look great on our porch!

Finally, I found something that I've been looking for recently!  I've been doing a lot of cooking lately and every recipe I try calls for some sort of fresh herb.  Mostly stuff like thyme, rosemary, basil...you get the picture.  I find myself going to the grocery store almost daily looking for these things (and buying them fresh is not cheap).  At one of the farmer's stands they had all sorts of flowers and a section of herbs.  This potted herb plant was only $15 and it has everything I could ever need in it!

Can't wait to start cooking with these!

Buy Local (part 1)

This is my favorite time of the year.  As Spring turns to Summer my grocery trips become less hearty crock-pot food and more fresh produce!  This year (our first summer in Charleston, WV) I've made a commitment to buy local.  I usually try to go organic (Matt and I eat cage-free eggs, drink organic milk, try to find free-range chicken, etc) but this year I'll stick to that, and try looking for food at local markets too.  As I looked around the city I noticed Capitol Market.  I asked Matt to join me as I went shopping for our weekly produce there.  It was great buying it from the people who farmed this yummy food!  So try it this summer, go to the local Farmer's Market and support those people out there making an honest living!

1 month ago

I can't believe it!  An entire month has already gone by since we got married.  Time seems to be flying by and I'm so thankful to be able to look back at some of my posts to see what we've been up to.  Saying that this last month has brought on some changes would be an understatement.  I wanted to take today and re-cap our wedding.  It's nice to be able to look back on the fond memories, and I also have realized that this blog doesn't have any wedding details on it except for the header and the 1 post I did about the wedding.

Enjoy some pictures!

The Bridal Party

My best friends from highschool!

Travel Monday - Connecticut (and a little NYC too)

I was thinking about it the other day and it has been 2 years already since Matt graduated college, we loaded up all of his belongings in his truck and hit the road for a VERY long car ride from VA to CT. 

It was right before the fourth of July in 2009.  We got to a very empty and dark apartment in Norwalk, CT around 4am.  Then we blew up an airmattress and slept for 3 hours before getting up with the sun and unloading the Uhaul.  It was an exciting day to be in a new town and 2 of our best friends arrived later that day.  We all took the train in to NYC the next morning and spent the day exploring.

Here we are at the Hard Rock Cafe in Times Square!

We spent the fourth of July setting off fireworks in the front yard of Matt's new apartment in CT.

And the next day we visited the local aquarium!

I can't believe it has been 2 years since Matt made that move.  Over the next year (and flights to CT nearly every other weekend) we really explored everything the state had to offer.

From hiking in Hartford, CT

to visiting Yale in New Haven, CT

and eating at lots of local food joints in between,

we had an awesome year exploring the North East together!

Relaxing Sunday

Today Matt and I are off to church together!  Then we're excited to have my parents and sister (Ally) come to pick up my other two sisters (Madison and Cassidy) that have been with us for the past week.  Hopefully the weather will hold off this afternoon so we can get in some boat time!!!  Seems like a great way to end the week!

To junk drawer or not to junk drawer?

That, my friends, is the real question in the Mantiply apartment this week.  (O.K...lets me honest, it has been a point of contention for about a month now.)

Every family has one, right?  I've become a true neat freak.  It's my need to have control I'm not sure what it is that has me doing this recently but I just like everything to have a place, and be in it!  I'm not so much a clean freak (the vacuuming, dusting, scrubbing, washing toilets tends to get lost in the shuffle) but every night I obsessively put things away.  Last night I don't think my sister was done chewing her last bite of her cookie before I had her plate in the dishwasher.  The problem?  Some things just don't have a place.  Receipts that you know you'll need eventually, coupons for the car inspection, buy 1 get 1 free dinner coupons for places we actually eat, lighters, random pens, paper, instruction manuals.  Basically it is stuff that is too important to throw away, but not important enough to have a designated home.  So it goes in a junk drawer!

Matt is so opposed to this idea that it isn't even funny.  Literally coming from the guy who can live in a mess (clothes, trash, dishes and everything laying all around in plain sight) but can't stand knowing that we have a DRAWER filled with junk.

The worst part of this ongoing "disagreement"?  Heaven forbid Matt ask me where something is and my response be "the junk drawer".  He stomps over to it and everything that he pulls out that isn't what he's looking for gets thrown on the floor in a fit of rage while the words "I HATE THIS MESS" come spewing out of his mouth.  (Quite amusing to watch from my end, but not fun when I find it is me who has to clean it all up.)

Maybe in the near future we'll invest in one of these

Source: Blisstree

Hopefully this will solve our problem.  Afterall, Matt HATED a drawer that we had full of utensils and cooking stuff (pizza wheel, measuring cups, peelers, apple slicer, etc) and once I got a silverware organizer, he said "this drawer looks so good now".  HAHA...maybe the messy one does crave a little organization here and there too!  For now...we'll keep the feud going...we're both able to laugh about it!

It doesn't get better than this!

Yesterday we took the boat out for the first time.  Luckily we purchased the boat from a great marina that set up a time for us to have the guy that sold us the boat take us out on it and show us everything we would need to know.  After some quality time with him, we took him back to the dock, loaded up all of our stuff (towels, coolers, sunscreen, first aid kits, etc...).  We were off for the rest of the day, exploring the river that is right in our backyard!  Everyone enjoyed themselves (except for the 30 minutes that we got caught in a random summer downpour).  We had so much fun, but let me say that when people tell you that a boat is a lot of work...they are not kidding.  I learned more about responsibility in one afternoon than I have in years.  What a great time we had, and Matt and I can't wait to get more visitors to take out on the boat!

Chicken Cordon Bleu

As promised, here is the recipe for the Chicken Cordon Bleu that I made the other day!  It is one of Matt's favorite foods and his Mom gave me the recipe at my bridal shower.  I was excited to take this one on since I have never made it before, and the recipe was way easier than I could have imagined.  It turned out delicious!

I'm on a boat!

We pulled the trigger...and by we, I mean Matt.  I'm considering this boat to be Matt's boat since it was 1) his idea to get it and 2) his money to pay for it.  This is something that I'm starting to realize is the hardest thing to get used to.  Although in my mind it's Matt's stuff, to everyone else (including Matt) this is our stuff.  I have to start changing my mindset.  While I consider this Matt's big purchase, it was definitely a mutual decision.  We spent a lot of time discussing how/when/why/if we were going to take the plunge and buy a boat.  We're so excited to have family and friends come and visit and spend countless summer days on the water making memories.  This first year of marriage we're going to justify things, go places, and do stuff that in the future we know we won't be able to do.  We're excited for these new adventures, and this boat is just the beginning!

Rustic Apple Tart

This morning I work up to make our house guests (and Matt) Monkey bread for breakfast before we head off to sign papers for the boat.  I'm dumb and didn't read the recipe last night (which clearly states the dough must rise for 2 hours) ugh.  Anyways...plan B was a Rustic Apple Tart that came in the recipe book with my Kitchenaid Mixer.  It was a definite crowd pleaser and very easy to make!  (But also quite messy)

First you start with 6 large, green, peeled apples.  We used Granny Smith (yum!)

Next you Core and Slice the apples.  The recipe calls for thin slices so I actually used a sharp knife and halved these slices.

In a large bowl you toss together the apple slices with 2 Tbs of lemon juice and 1/4 cup of sugar.

Next (in the Kitchenaid on speed 2) you mix 

1/3 cup light brown sugar

1/2 cup flour

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 stick butter (softened) (this is 1/4 cup)

Then you set the apples and the crumble mix to the side

Take 1 9 inch unbaked pie crust and roll it out to 13 inches

Transfer it to a baking sheet (I used dark Caphalon non-stick) and pile on the apples (leave a 2 inch border). Spread the crumble mixture on top and fold over the sides to create a seal on the apples (don't be afraid to fold the dough over itself).

Bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes.  The recipe doesn't call for this, but after 30 minutes I pulled the rack out and coated the edges with melted butter then stuck it back in for 5 minutes.

I would say it was a hit!  yum!

Travel Monday

Richmond, VA

Ok...clearly Richmond is where I'm from, but this weekend we got to "travel" there from WV for a wedding and much needed catching-up-with-friends time!

There is so much I love about this little city that I've realized sometime in the future I'll have to do a post about some of the great spots to visit if you are ever in that area.

But today the post is about a great wedding we went to on Saturday in downtown Richmond.  (Actually just a few blocks from where Matt and I had our reception.)

The beautiful bride and her father walking down the aisle.

The cookie favors made by a good friend of mine (find her over here)

The girls at the wedding reception

Matt and I at the reception

The beautiful cake

The first dance

Hermitage High School group (plus Ben)!