Mmmmm....Pie

Last night I baked my very first Strawberry Rhubarb Pie. It is the prettiest pie I have ever baked. Unfortunately, it is too pretty to eat.
Last night, after it came out of the oven and sat for a minute I decided we couldn't do it. It was going to be our dinner because I had been busy baking since 6 and Asher was working. But like I said, it was too pretty to eat. So I made Asher a toasted cheese sandwich and off I went to bed. It was after midnight. Why did it take me so long to bake this one special pie? I cleaned out the refrigerator in the meantime. I think I threw away one entire shopping trip to Winco in rotten vegetables. I am ashamed we didn't eat them before they grew fur.
But back to my pretty pie. I used a new recipe for the crust, this one has sugar in it (and both butter and shortening)! And the whole reason I picked is was because of a line on the Smitten Kitchen recipe:
Certain pies, like, say, this Lattice-Topped Strawberry Rhubarb Pie, should be made every Memorial Day weekend, creating the most delicious bridge between rhubarb and strawberry season, during the most welcome break between winter and summer.
Isn't that perfect? I made it with rhubarb from Aunt Mirna mixed with some from Pike Place Market and strawberries from Safeway. They were kind of sour but this recipe has both white and brown sugar in it. I think we are in for a treat...when I decide it's okay to destroy it.

****Okay, I JUST realized, looking at the pictures compared to Smitten Kitchen's pie that I didn't weave the lattice like I should have, I just layed the strips on top of eachother willy-nilly. This is good news because now we can eat my ugly pie. Anyone want to come over tonight for pie?

Look What Kate Added...

Kate Spade added more servingware to my Gwinnett Lane china!

Salt&Pepper, Pitcher, Two-Tier Serving Dish, Cake Plate.

I'm giddy with excitement!

Mrs. Shortcake

With the first beautiful weekend of the summer extending into the work week, it was impossible to resist a flat of ripe, sugary strawberries. It felt like summer! They were on sale at Winco for $4.75 and while other people where scrutinizing each flat, the first one I put my hands on contained dozens of perfect specimens. Later in the evening, they made delicious shortcake for me and my hubby.

Invest in the fat kind

Never scrimp and save and try to get by on "Low Fat Show Churned Cookies & Cream" ice cream. It was $2.99 for a gallon instead of $3.99 so to save a buck I bought the Safeway brand. I've tested other brands of slow churned at Dev's and they were yummy but....seriously, it is not worth the lack of fat and $1 difference.
This "ice cream" actually tasted warm straight out of the freezer. It was the frothy texture and fake-sweetness and it was no good.
Take me on my word.

They're just words but....

Over the weekend, I coordinated my brother-in-law's sister's wedding (my sister's husband's sister). It sounds complicated but we are actually close families since my sister and her husband have been together for 11 years. I volunteered to help Katie with her wedding to build my portfolio for my new event planning business. And also, because I had heard they could use the help.

At the rehearsal we ran through the processional order and proceeded to eat a 7 course Italian meal that ended with tiramisu. Ugh, it was delicious. Katie's fiance's family was there from New York so we were all very loud and animated and it was the best combo of Northwesterners and New Yorkers that we had at our wedding. The best man, complete with Long Island accent and Irish eyes twinkling, proceeded to both kick a bum out of the restaurant who was asking for money and soothe a little baby boy who would not stop crying. He also made me cry during his speech and then had me laughing my head off with an interpretive ribbon dance. Seriously! The photographer, a close family friend, danced with the bride and he was holding her so tight. His sister grabbed his camera to try to document it but she couldn't figure out how to work it. After the dance ended, he was visible choked up with tears in his eyes. It was the sweetest moment. A fantastic group of people.

Katie had asked me to show up at 3 on Sunday but thankfully I knew better. I got there at 11:30 and got to add flower arranger to my list of duties. Katie had asked me for the ceremony that we used so she could use it as a guideline. I took out some of our very personal things but left some others like the welcome and the ring exchange ceremony for her to use as guidance. She ended up loving it and using it for their ceremony. Asher and I sat there, a few rows back, listening to our words in another beautiful wedding and it all felt so fresh again. It was just what we needed and reminded us that it is me and him, better or worse, we gotta work it out. They are just words but they sealed us, and now Katie and Michael, together as family.

It is hard doing the coordinating. I am so sore today and very sleepy but I loved it. When I was planning our wedding I knew I loved it but I have had my doubts about whether I just loved it because it was my own wedding. Yes, my wedding was special beyond words but also I just love weddings and I am really good at planning and telling people what to do and where to go (bossy? yes, bossy). And I guess I never would have known that if I hadn't had my own wedding. So I'm going forward with it. And I have another wedding on October 11th, for a stranger I met on Craigslist, and now I am totally confident that I can pull it off.

Indian Food...Strangely Easy

This doesn't really warrant its own post but....

Tasty Bite makes Indian food that you can boil in the stove in a pot of hot water (they spell tasty right, unlike my arch enemy you know who you are). When you pour it out, it is sometimes very good, sometimes OK. Never bad. It is vegetarian with lots of veggies or lentils, even cashews. Sometimes it is soupy and when I pour it on the plate I have to build rice walls to block the flavors from running into each other. We have tried a bunch of different flavors because the organic market carries a huge variety. We've had this two nights this week and because we had two flavors each time, it turned out to be a $5 meal, total, for both of us. And Big Boy was totally begging for some too, obviously feeling back to normal.