52 Pix - Week 21

So my weekly photo also happens to be a sales pitch. Last week I made a pizza and will declare that Publix has the BEST pizza dough I have ever had. I've tried to make pizzas with Boboli and Pillsbury crust - but the Publix dough is ridiculously good; I promise you'll love it.

Since I'm growing basil & oregano in my patio garden, I decided to use some fresh items for the pizza (homemade pesto - way easier than I thought it would be and also, very tasty).

This is how the dough can be found - in the deli section - in a mini-fridge (they also offer a wheat dough) - look for it next time you're shopping! You won't regret it. :)

Little Tiger

This weekend I had the opportunity to snap some photos of Amy's little boy, Blake. Blake is almost 1 - which is so hard to believe! - and such a fun little guy. We've been trying to get together and take some photos for FOREVER and of course the weekend we finally are both available is 97 degrees! Nevertheless, Blake was a champ and toughed out the heat and the camera shoot.


He was looking down at the water below and kept putting his hand up on the rail - how cute is that?

Fun side note - when I started working and got to know Amy, we discovered she already knew my sister, Holly, from their time at Auburn. I love when life feels like a small world. :) Blake is destined to be shouting "War Eagle" all his life (hence the Tiger-themed post title) as he was born into quite possibly the biggest Auburn-loving family that exists. It was fitting that in order to get him to smile sometimes we had to sing the Auburn fight song....

It really was such a fun time to hang out with the Barnes family on Sunday - Blake is precious with his many expressions of deep thought, investigation and happiness! Thank you so much for a great afternoon - and enduring the heat! :)

52 Pix - Week 20

Cooper Ruthven

You've seen this little guy before - he is the youngest little pup in Emily's family. We did a nice little trade off last week where we kept Gabby & Cooper while they were out of town and they kept Mulligan while we were in Houston. Despite the size difference, he and Mully played the WHOLE time.

He let me snap a few photos of him so he gets adequate publicity in the Ruthven house (sister Gabby had her photo shoot about a year ago). We love this little guy, don't you? :)

Happy in Houston

This past weekend, JNS and I made the much anticipated trip to Houston, TX to visit friends. I have only been there once (to visit MK back in 2007 when she first moved there!) and he hasn't been there at all. We have said we were going to do it for FOREVER and with him going back to school in the fall, we knew our opportunities for travel might be limited, so we booked it! :)

We stayed with the Eller's (see precious house above) in their home in the Heights area of Houston. Catie & David became great friends of ours in 2008 when we first joined a community group (aka small group) through Buckhead Church. It really was so neat to form a friendship that was cultivated in Atlanta and has continued through their time in Houston. We are so excited they are moving to Charlotte (they're both from NC) in just a few weeks - although they won't be right here - they will be so much closer!

We flew in Friday and met MK for dinner at El Tiempo. The wait was outrageous (which was par for the course as our flight had been delayed like 2.5 hrs) but it meant lots of catching up, chatting and laughing. We met in 2003 during the first week of school at UGA - we had both pledged KD and were riding together to the big pledge retreat. We became great friends through those college years - hard to believe we've already been out of school for 4 years....which means MK has been in Houston way too long!!!! :)

We ate lunch on Saturday at the most adorable little place called Tiny Boxwoods. It was a restaurant connected to a nursery (as in plants, not babies). It was so cozy and the weather was amazing - so we ate outside, took our time, and just enjoyed it!

With the Eller's above; Matt & MK below

So great to finally get to meet Matt - MK has talked about her boyfriend, Matt, for so long and I've never been able to meet him. Partly because I haven't been to Houston since she started dating him, AND when they came to Atlanta we were out of town getting our little Mully. So fun getting to meet him and spend time with them together...we'd love to spend more time with them in Atlanta. C'mon, take a hint from the Eller's - don't get too comfortable there - you have to move back to the Southeast, okay? :)

Catie's refreshing Sangria :)

Last picture before Catie took us back to the airport. It really was such a wonderful trip - we got to spend such quality time with friends, the weather was beautiful, we got a personal tour from the locals, ate some delicious food and had safe travels! I don't think we could have asked for a better trip.... It really was so fun to see the city that our friends call home and especially to see how they have found happiness where they are. Neither one was 100% excited to move there as it meant moving away from friends/family, finding a job or starting a new one, feeling far away, etc. They are great examples of not letting your circumstances determine your happiness, but letting your happiness and joy shine through the circumstances.

Thank you so much to Catie, David, Mary Katherine & Matt for an awesome visit - we loved it. :)

52 Pix - Week 19

Week 18's pic was from Mother's Day - so fun to get to celebrate that day with several of the special mom's in our life. Here was a picture at our house of Holly with her girls & Nana!

So thankful for my mom, grandmothers and mother-in-law!

52 Pix - Week 18

I'm ALMOST caught up on my weekly photos. 1 more this week and I'm there!

I've always loved fresh flowers in the house - despite the expense and short life span, it is a simple pleasure in life! Last week I went to Costco and got several different flowers bouquets and then re-arranged them myself. It was more difficult than I thought, but still so much fun. And it's one of those thing that provides a visual end-product that makes a project feel truly complete!

The picture above is of one of the flowers (name unknown...Mama would be disappointed) - I just loved the color and the unique shape. I never really loved macro photography on nature....but I think I'm changing my mind.

Cookbook Challenge

This month I decided to try something from my latest cookbook purchase (and according to JNS, my last)....Bon Appetit, Y'all (Virginia Willis) I bought this cookbook when I took a cooking class with Laura at The Cook's Warehouse. Students saved 10% that night on anything in the store - which was ridiculous because idiots like me think that sounds great (when in fact I only saved $2 - ha). Well, I've decided that the cookbook was a good purchase because after flipping through it, I saw so many recipes that sounded terrific! So more to come from this....but for today, I'm showing the Oven-Fried Chicken Breasts with Pecan Crust.

Ingredients:

1/4 cup coarse salt

2 Tbl sugar

1 Tbl sweet Hungarian paprika

4 cloves garlic

2 bay leaves

4 cups buttermilk

4-6 (8 oz) boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1/2 cup fresh or panko breadcrumbs

3.4 cup finely chopped pecans

2 Tbl canola oil

2 large eggs

2 Tbl Dijon mustard

1 tsp chopped fresh thyme

freshly ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a rimmed baking sheet with aluminium foil. Then set a large wire rack on the foil

Begin by brining the chicken - combine salt, sugar, paprika, garlic and bay leaves in large nonreactive container, add buttermilk and stir until salt is dissolved. Immerse the chicken and marinate at room temperate for 30 minutes (the book says any longer and the chicken will be too salty - I accidentally did it for almost two hours and it was fine...just rinse the chicken before you proceed)

Meanwhile, combine the breadcrumbs and pecans in a shallow dish. Add the oil and toss well to coat.

In a second shallow dish, combine the eggs, mustard and thyme. Season both mixtures with pepper. Working with one piece at a time, remove the chicken from the brine and shake off any excess liquid. Dip the chicken into the egg mixture, coating both sides. Place the breasts in the breadcrumb mixture, sprinkle with crumbs to cover and press so the coating adheres. Turn the chicken over and repeat the process.

Place the coated breasts on the rack set on the baking sheet. Bake until the chicken is golden brown and the juices run clear, 20-25 minutes.

The recipe says to serve with the Vidalia Honey Mustard Dressing recipe that is in the cookbook...I chose to serve it with creamed corn and green beans (no sauces). We thought it was really good - had a nice crisp to it, but no actual deep-frying!