Forever

Tim is in California---without me. Sure, it's for a good cause and stuff... But does it really take a whole week for church training?! 

Anyway, this gives me plenty of time for blogging, baking, and wedding planning.

Because, oh yeah, WE'RE GETTING MARRIED!

I'm a little excited.

I'm going to share the proposal story, just because I like it so much. Feel free to read along, kids.

The morning of March 22nd started out pretty normal. But as I went through my day, my mom was teary eyed and hugged me often. Huge are my favorite, so I didn't complain. 

Tim called in the afternoon to make sure I would be ready for our date. (Of course I would be! I never make him wait...)

When I came out with my first outfit, my mom and sister sent me back to find something else. After three outfit changes, Tim arrived, and I was cleared to leave the house. 

We started at our most favorite restaurant, Bistro 121. I ordered my favorite pasta and Tim got steak. 

Next, we drove over to the boardwalk downtown and got a carriage ride. So romantical, right?!
After the ride, we walked on the boardwalk. Tim seemed so distant and distracted, I thought something was wrong. Little did I know that he was trying to find our families who were hiding out, waiting for the big moment!

He couldn't find them, they were in a different spot than planned, so he stopped me under a lamppost, got down on his knee and and and 

Pulled out receipt paper. I was confused.

Second try, he pulled out the most beautiful ring I have ever seen, told me how much he loved me, and asked if I would spend the rest of my life with him.

I said yes, of course!!

When I looked up, I saw our families running toward us with cameras flashing.

It was sort of perfect.

 

So, now I get to spend the rest of my life with the one God made for me. Excited is an understatement!

The Best *Iced* Mocha in Town

I had been craving an iced mocha, so my loverly boyfriend took the hint (if you call threats a hint, then yes, I took the hint) and brought me to get one. He's the best!
I know we may not look like it, but we are old enough to drink coffee. And we're still young enough to eat dessert before dinner. Go us!
Now the greatest place to get an iced mocha in town is Stellar Beans!
What separates Stellar Beans iced mochas from the coffee competition, is its balance of flavor.
Iced mochas at other coffee shops tend to be either overly bitter and overpower the chocolate (which defeats the purpose of getting a CHOCOLATE drink!), or be overly sweet and have very little coffee flavor (which is girlier than drinking an iced mocha).
Stellar Beans, on the other hand, somehow manages to create a mochalocity of deliciousness!!! It reminds of us the chocolate milk we used to drink as kids, while still having enough coffee to keep us adults alive. Because we consider ourselves adults....
Coffee isn't all they have to offer at Stellar Beans. Check out their site and Facebook page for upcoming concerts, artsy shows, and delicious menu items.
In other words, we totally dig Stellar Beans.

Although we're big supporters of using forks, if you drink with one, you're a DORK!

 

<3 Tim & Bron

Mama's kind of Cookin'



Sometimes you just need some good southern food.

Since we had such a good response with our first post, we thought we'd share a secret family recipe with y'all.

It's called mama's chicken 'n' dumplins!

It was my turn to cook for Timmy boy, so I broke out my mama's (well technically my great-grandma's) recipe.

Here's how it went down:

I boiled 4 large chicken breasts, with a little salt & pepper, for about an hour and allowed the water to cook down so that I had a nice, rich broth. When the chicken was nearly done, I started on the dumplings.

To make the dumplings I used 15 tortillas, and roughly 3/4 cup of flour.

Taking one tortilla at a time, I began sprinkling flour over it and stacking another tortilla on top, and sprinkling that one with flour...blah blah blah... This continued until I had all 15 tortillas covered with flour and nicely stacked. I then cut them into strips vertically and horizontally, creating pretty, little bite-sized squares. While Bronwyn was busy making the dumplings, I was busy asking her when it would be ready. (every FIVE MINUTES.) Don't lie, you know it was at least five and a half.

Anyway, I took my chicken out of the pot and added the dumplings. Tip of the day, do not stir the dumplings, just pat them down with your spoon, until covered with broth. I allowed them to cook for 10 minutes before adding the chicken (which I tore into bite-sized pieces) and a container of, yes store bought, chicken broth. And it still wasn't ready!

I then seasoned with salt and a lot of pepper, and let the chicken n dumplins simmer and get to know each other for about 15 minutes.

 

Now I was FINALLY able to serve this delectable dinner to the dude who was starving to death.... Oh wait, scratch that! I forgot about the green beans! Dangit!

 

I fried 2 strips of bacon in a pot, can't make it too healthy, huh Bronwyn. poured my frozen green beans over them with a tidbit of water, covered & let them cook on med. heat for a few minutes. Then, I added salt, pepper, garlic, and a tbs. of butter, stirred it up and let it finish cooking for another 5 minutes.

The End.

What about the delicious brownies??

I'll get to that ;)

 



This picture perfectly describes how Tim feels at each meal.

The song that plays in his head.....

 

The Delicious Brownies:
I may have cheated a bit on this one.... I used a box brownie mix ;/ Don't judge me. I promise to share my home-made one soon!
Sooo make your brownies according to the box directions, then top them with my home-made frosting!
You'll need 3 oz. choc. chips, 6 tbs, butter, softened, 1 cup powdered sugar, 2 tbs. cream (or canned milk if you don't have cream handy), and 1 tsp. vanilla.
Melt the chocolate. In a small bowl, beat butter until creamy; gradually add sugar, cream (or milk), and vanilla beating until smooth. Add chocolate; beat to spreading consistency (add more cream/milk if needed).
This is my favoritest chocolate frosting! It's okay to love me for it.

Nothing shared today can be eaten with anything but a fork.

SO! Use a fork, Dork!

 

<3 Tim and Bron

Steak Night: Mexican style

Do you ever feel like trading the night out for a night in? Tonight was one of those nights for us.
We were too lazy to call in for reservations and drive out to a restaurant, but still wanted yummy food.
Tim, as usual, had steak on his mind. If ya know what I mean. 
I, on the other hand, wanted a special, fancy, loaded baked potato.
So, we decided we'd have good ol fashioned meat and potatoes!
Tim, being the grill master that he is, got to be head chef tonight.
Here's how it went down:
Because I'm such a masculine man, the steak I chose for myself was the biggest T-bone I could find.
So Bronwyn could keep up her wonderful figure, I gave her a smaller Delmonico.
I decided for tonight's menu, that we would prepare Mexican style steak, and baked potatoes loaded with grilled peppers and onions.
For the steaks, I used my Mexican steak rub (found on my BBQ King Page). I marinated them in a combo of butter, Worcestershire sauce, and lime juice. Oh yeahhh buddy! 
I let the steaks sit and marinate for about an hour, before putting them on the grill.
The most important thing when grilling steaks is to get your fire as hot as possible, so that they are properly seared and the juices are locked in. Doesn't Tim sound so professional? He has tips for days.

I have a medium size pit and it takes me about eight pounds of coals to reach the optimum temperature.
At the guesstimated temperature of 400 degrees, it should take 4 minutes on each side to reach medium to medium rare(depending on the thickness of your steak, of course). You should never eat meat straight off the grill. Let it sit for 10-15 minutes to ensure that it's at its juiciest, and best flavor.
Now for my FAVORITE part of tonight!! 
For the grilled onions and peppers, you will need a pot or skillet that is safe to go on the grill.  
The best way to find out, is to do what we did; just put it on the grill. If it melts, it isn't safe....
Once you figured out which pot to use, slice one onion and one bell pepper, or a hotter pepper if you like spicy food, and throw them into the pot. Add 2 tbs. butter, 1 tbs. Worcestershire sauce, 1 tsp. soy sauce, about a tsp. chili powder, 1/2 tsp. cumin, 1 tsp. garlic powder, half a lime, and one slice of raw, thick cut bacon. Combine all ingredients in the pot, place on grill with the lid on for 10 minutes. After the 10 minutes are up, remove the lid to allow the smoke flavor to get all up in the vegetables, and cook for another 5 minutes, or until bacon is cooked through. Remove the lime before serving.
For the potatoes, if I need to explain that to you, GET OUT OF THE KITCHEN.
Gosh Tim, that's the only thing I did tonight! Let me explain! (and don't feel bad if you're still reading this.)
I washed 4 large russet potatoes, stabbed them a few (hundred) times with a fork, placed them on a cookie sheet, and baked them on 400 degrees for a little over an hour. The end.
When everything was done, we loaded our plates with Mexican style steaks, and complicatedly made potatoes, which were topped with the onion bell pepper mix. 

  

Enjoy the delicious night in!! 

You must eat this with a fork, dork!

 ~Tim & Bron