kitty meow meows.

So today I made a few purchases from the sale rack at Urban Outfitters.  I got a new lomography camera (can't wait to use it by the way), a couple belts, shoes, and some extras from their apartment section. {Read: It might sound like I spent a fortune, but I'm always one for a deal, and they had a killer sale on their already sale items.  Yippee!}  Let me just say right now, that I cannot wait to use the camera.  However, I'm still trying to find a store that has 120 film and can process 120 film.  (If you have suggestions, please let me know!) You will be the first to see the pictures when I can actually figure out the logistics of getting them developed!

And now onto those "extras".  Oh wait, side note: Remember when I took pictures of everything Hubs (Chef) cooked?  Well, he has continued cooking, but I haven't continued taking pictures.  Why?  Mostly because he cooks a lot, and I'm usually so starved from being at school for 12 hours, that I just stuff my face the instant I walk through the door.  So, don't fret, he's still a master chef, and his food is still amazing.  I'm just slack-a-lackin'....;) 

Okay, for real now, about those "extras".  I got a super deal on three books.  Two were cookbooks for Hubs, one about food trucks (love them), and the other about fearless baking (I supposed I can try and conquer this one).  The third was....wellll...I'll just show you the picture.

 Yes, I bought a cat coffee table book.  And here's another purchase.  Mind you, each of these was $2.50.  I told you this sale was goooood.  


The second purchase has infinitely improved my key situation.  Take a look.

 

On top of the "I thought it was a cat sweater", and these new purchases, I think I'm really starting to embrace this cat parent persona.  That just sounds weird.  After today, I made a decision that these will be the last of my cat inspired purchases.  Unless an amazing sale comes along again. 

peaches for me!

I almost forgot!  I made peach pie last weekend.  I know....I can't really believe I baked anything either.  It turned out surprisingly scrumptious.  It was even better warm with some vanilla bean ice cream over the top.  Mmmmmm...

  

Recipe

Necessities:

10 fresh peaches, pitted and sliced

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup white sugar

1/4 cup butter

1 recipe pastry for a 9 inch double crust pie

Instructions

1. Mix flour, sugar and butter into crumb stage.
2. Place one crust in the bottom of a 9 inch pie plate. Line the shell with some sliced peaches. Sprinkle some of the butter mixture on top of the peaches, then put more peaches on top of the the crumb mixture. Continue layering until both the peaches and crumbs are gone.
3. Top with lattice strips of pie crust.
4. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 45 minutes, or until crust is golden. Allow pie to cool before slicing. Best when eaten fresh.

...okay okay...I have a confession to make.  I didn't make the crust from scratch.  Something to work on for next time I guess.  Not having a ton of time = not enough time to make the crust from scratch!  And there ya' have it!  Not everyone can be perfect...except Martha. 

T-minus 8 days!

That's right folks! Eight days and we'll be hitched! I cannot wait!

This summer has gone pretty fast, but I've made a point of enjoying the time I've had off. I think I've been pretty successful with that. I run almost everyday, and I really enjoy the scenery here. I think it's beautiful, especially with the sun hitting the tops of the hills in the early morning. I've also taken time to catch up with some movies I've been meaning to watch. I've hung out with a couple friends that are still in town. I take naps with my lil' kitty girls. The boy and I hang out, stress-free from school. Oh, and you'll all never believe this...I've started cooking. I figured, "Hey, I have all of this extra time....might as well learn to cook!"

The start of Thai Chicken Stirfry

I started with a Thai chicken stir-fry. Unfortunately I didn't take any photos of the finished product, but golly! was it delish! The boy even liked it. I put pea pods in it as well, and they were super fresh and sweet! I made the sauce from scratch too. I know those are words you probably never thought I'd speak. Let's say it one more time for good measure, from scratch.

Coconut Crusted Chicken Strips

The next thing I made was Coconut crusted chicken strips with a homemade pineapple-mango salsa. I know! Sounds tasty, and it was tasty.

Peach Turnovers

And lastly (so far) I made Peach Turnovers. I never thought I was a baker...mostly because the last time I made cupcakes, I almost forgot the eggs. {READ: Almost, as in, I didn't, but I didn't notice I forgot them...so if there wasn't someone else watching me, they would have been a flop.} But these were surprisingly easy, and they were ohmygosh heavenly!!!!!!!!! I even made icing from scratch, and because I love sugar, I added more powdered sugar than required, and it made it even better! The boy even loved them :) I'll admit it, I was licking the icing from the bowl.

I'm cooking again today for Momma. I've gotta figure out what I want to make, but I'm hoping to use a lot of fresh veggies, because they are so good, and good for you! I'll keep you all updated.

In unrelated news, the boy and I celebrated our bachelor(ette) parties these past few weeks. The boy went up to MN to his Aunt and Uncle's lovely lakeside house. I was seriously jealous. It sounded like they had tons of fun, but I don't know how much fun because they all say, "what happened at the bachelor party, stays at the bachelor party" ;) Ohhh boys..

I can't wait for the wedding, and I can't wait to finally show my dress, shoes, accessories, hair, everything! It's been way too long to keep these secrets from everyone, including the boy. (His suit looks fabulous, by the way.) Every time someone mentions my dress, I cut them off mid-sentence because I don't want them letting something slip accidentally...{You all know who you are... ;) }

It's also been way too long since I've seen some of our family, and I'm ecstatic that most can make it! It will be such a great day/night. We are so very excited.

I will try to write one last time before I'm a Mrs.!

<3

I may have just given us Hypertension

Saying that my cooking skills are lacking is an understatement. A large one at that.

I had one amazing food day in my life. It was this years Thanksgiving with the boy and roommate. I made some pretty tasty yams. The boy actually likened them to his Grandmother's. Nice.

*I thought now would be a good place for a cooking picture of me, however, there are no pictures of me cooking that I could find, except one. And this isn't even a legit cooking picture. I'm just stabbing the knife into the meat to look like I'm doing something.*
Beyond that, I cannot cook. Well, I can maybe make a pizza (home-made actually), or even rice with teriyaki veggies (this got me through finals week). Still though, food is not my forte.

Tonight I decided I was going to cook Parmesan Crusted Tilapia with buttered noodles. Sounds good right? I thought so too.

I began by finding a recipe online. I settled with one of Rachael Ray's recipes. She seemed legit. Next I pulled out the frozen tilapia fillets from the freezer. I wasn't even sure you could bake frozen fish, so to Google I went. 'Can you bake frozen tilapia'. Enter. This was a good start. Next, I covered the frozen tilapia in "paprika", (That is in quotations for a reason, you'll see why soon enough) and parmesan. Just sticking with the recipe. Then I preheated the oven to 400 degrees, and waited.

After about five minutes, I decided I could probably start the noodles while I was waiting for the oven to preheat, so I put some water in the pan, and put the burner on high. Waiting some more. The oven finally beeps, and in go the tilapia fillets. I got sick of waiting for the water to boil, so I dumped the noodles into the pot, and swirled them around once.

Five minutes passes. I decide to flip the fillets and season the other side. As I'm coating the other side with "paprika", boy walks in and says "that's not paprika". "Yes it is." To my surprise, it was actually not paprika, it was seasoning salt. Main ingredient being...you guessed it..salt. Why it's the exact same red color as paprika is dumb, but I thought it would be okay because it also had paprika in its list of ingredients. Oh well. No harm done. Maybe...

I swirled the noodles again, this time they stuck to the bottom of the pan because I didn't originally add enough water. The boy grabs the pan and fills up the pot a little bit more so that it can actually cook all of the noodles. I also flipped the fillets to the other side again (at least I can flip). They seemed to be doing well. Five minutes left on those.

After a while the noodles were done, and I strained them. I put them back into the pot and lost a lot in the process. You see, the strainer was larger than the pot, so they just fell out of the strainer into the sink, missing the pot completely. Still okay I think. A 90% average is really good in some things.

Tilapia looked done, I plated both fillets. It smelled really good, so I was expecting the best.

Boy takes the first bite, and he makes all of these weird faces because it's really hot. Or so I thought. I laughed because, duh, hot food will be hot straight from the oven, but no...it was really just exceedingly salty. Oops. Here's where that "seasoning salt" comes back to haunt me. The fish was overall cooked very well, but the taste was almost nonexistent.

Here's a picture of the delectable dish.
To express how great the meal really was, the boy had a few choice words to say. "You would make any professional chef cringe because you have a complete disregard for technique." Compliments.

Food rating was split into three parts as to prevent an averaging down curve.
Noodles: 7
Fish tenderness: 8
Taste: no taste score because his tongue went into a salt coma, so there was no taste.

It was so bad, that he's even saying he'll be cooking tomorrow.

I never really thought I was a bad cook, or had a problem with cooking...until today. I guess I really do spend too much time studying, and therefore I've really never learned to cook. I didn't think it was something you needed to be taught, but I thought wrong. The boy's getting the short end of the stick when it comes to my wifely cooking duties.

Positive end note: "Noodles were top notch, I'm eating them tomorrow." Success.