happy birthday liz.

today was liz's birthday. she is one of my most favorite people in norman, if not the world. we celebrated liz's birth this past saturday.


i made a list of 27 things to do before i turn 27 (i know dorky....but also really inspiring...you should try it) and baking a cake once a month until then was one of the things i decided to do. i happened upon a blog post (can't remember exactly where) of someone who was going to do this as their new year's resolution and i thought it sounded like fun. i always wish i could make beautiful cakes. since this was my first true 'fancy' cake and since i am really just interested in learning how to decorate the cake i just used a box mix and left it super plain (a girl needs to learn the basics before she gets crazy, right?!).


seth and i also were trying to make a new recipe once a week (a new year's resolution that we are already having trouble keeping) and since it hadn't worked out all week, i made enchiladas from scratch for liz's birthday fiesta. i used the zesty chicken enchilada recipe from real simple. seth is a pro when it comes to enchiladas and he thought they were quite tasty (i did too, i'm just not an enchilada pro).


i don't think i have ever cooked with tomatillos before but they are so pretty and quite delicious if i might say so.


i almost forgot! i had to shred a chicken. ewwwww. i should preface this by saying that i don't like to eat meat with bones in it let alone dig inside a slimy, bony, whole chicken. ewwww. this was a big accomplishment for me.


since it was a fiesta we also broke out the fryer and made soapapillas. i think i might have liked the beignets better. we were trying to stretch the dough so they ended up a little small and deformed. they were good. but i think we will have to try soapapillas again for sure.


with all this caking and cooking and frying... needlesstosay. i was in the kitchen for most of the day on saturday... but it was all very gratifying (and tasty).

saturday night ended with a lot of crazy dancing and definitely a lot of laughter.

liz. happy birthday. at this point in the day your day is almost over. i hope your birthday was special... xoxo.

what a great stash.

since my days of willingly becoming unemployed i have been helping out at stash once in a while. this is a cool place. i was there on monday and drooled over about 10 things i would gladly have taken home with me in a heart beat if space or the bank account would allow me.

cool things at stash include beautifully packaged soap, cool old keys, lovely vintage scarves, a luscious ice bucket*, cool cards to give to loved ones*, oklahoma oil well pencil sharpeners*, a diner-esque straw holder, a wonderful beveled glass decanter*, cool potted succulents* (from green couch design), a really cool collection of bookends, gnomes for your garden, i mean the list goes on. and on. and on.
*pictured below.





if you need a gift for your valentine or even one for your mom. go to stash. you won't be disappointed.


on another note. a really exciting note! the new dustbowl website is up and waiting for you to check it out. the vendor application for the next dustbowl is there too. you should definitely go there... www.dustbowlartsmarket.com

treasures

seth and i woke up early this morning. well if you call 8:45am early....we wanted to make it to the OU surplus store (only open on wednesdays) before all the good stuff was gone. i am currently in the market for a shelf and/or filing cabinet to organize all my Pistachio supplies. Usually you can always find something to make your heart smile at the surplus store. today was no exception. there was this ridiculous glass case with two stuffed iguanas placed in a natural (but fake) habitat. this definitely made our hearts smile. we sort of made fun of it but then to our dismay we saw someone carrying it out. we hope that they bought it for a joke (because it was pretty ridiculous). and we also wish that we would have taken a photo of it.

today we didn't find anything. boo, i know. but in the past we have found some of our favorite chairs, fun desk accessories, a chalkboard the size of texas, the list goes on. i think our favorite find was this beautiful couch and its matching chair. not that we needed another couch (because we didn't!!!). but for $65 how do you pass up something so cool looking? i guess when you love something you make room for it in your life because i made room for the couch in my work room.


being the treasure hunter that i am i wasn't satisfied walking away from the surplus store empty handed so i talked seth into going to the Habitat for Humanity REstore. this place is really hit or miss. i have found a couple true gems here in the past though. the chandelier (which i plan on owning until the day i die) that we hung over our cake table at the wedding was from here along with a couple other more practical items (ie. coffee table).


today there was this amazing buffet and china display case. i wanted it so bad. already having way too much furniture we couldn't justify bringing it home. i am not sure what it is actually worth but it seemed like a steal of a deal. i told the ladies at Stash they needed to have it.


the other amazing thing that they had was the below light fixture. i loved the big globes so much i just couldn't leave without it. there is no better way to update your home than to hang new light fixtures and our bedroom is crying for us to rid it of its ugly ceiling fan. i know this type of light fixture is typically hung in a dining room but we are going to give it a new coat of paint and try it out in our bedroom*.


*i'll post an after picture assuming it will look good...i'll probably post one even if it looks bad.

recipes?

seth and i made chili one night last week. it was delicious despite the lack of spices. i think the copy of the recipe i was going off had been copied and jotted down one too many times. it didn't list any of the spices that should have been in there. seth and i, being the amateur chefs that we are, didn't realize until we were eating it.

like i said it was still very satisfying but seth and i decided that our joint new year's resolution would be to try a new recipe every week. i am sure we'll be picking up a pizza or chinese after failed attempts but i am excited. our weekly challenge sounds like a fun adventure to take with someone you love.

do you have a favorite recipe we should try? if so...send it our way.

not the best

do you ever just have a day that's 'not the best'? where you're in a funk? seth and i had one of those yesterday. to try and change the course of our day we picked up a most delicious whoopie pie from Crimson and Whipped Cream. They have amazing pastries.

they were also so kind to make our wedding cake and use seth's grandma ann's red velvet cake recipe.

if you need some treats for a special occasion or just a pick me up in the middle of the day - check them out. ps. their chocolate chip cookies are amazing. and they serve coffees too.

The Fryer

I got Seth a fryer for Christmas (maybe not the best thing for new year's resolutions). First fryer use: beingets. We used Paula Dean's French Quarter Beignet recipe. They were delicious.








The dough was a cinch to make and it took all of 5 minutes to prepare them once they were in the fryer. What a fun and yummy way to end a dinner party! Next time we want to try them with cinnamon and sugar. Our list of things we want to fry keeps growing and growing. I'll continue to post our frying adventures.

it is a new year.

christmas with the scotts.



new year's with julie & jo.