Fun-filled Weekend

Well it's been yet another fun-filled, exciting weekend in the Tepe household. We had another wedding to attend and Mal came to visit from Lex. Oh, and did I mention we had to take our car to the shop yet again?

Friday morning we took the Mazda to a repair shop to get checked out. Dan hit a large bump in the road on Thursday and it began making a terrible noise. We think it was a problem that was initially caused when the car was hit back in January during a snowy period. Turns out we need rear brakes replaced and a new exhaust = $$$. But thank goodness we had the trusty Celica, and Mal, to get us around in the meantime.

So I dropped Dan off at work and began preparing for our special guest. I picked up the apartment and made some cookies. Have you ever tried crinkle cookies? They ended up tasting really good but they are a PAIN to make! Hands down the messiest baking endeavor I've attempted.

Just into the oven.

I used the recipe from the Better Homes & Gardens Cookbook, except substituted cocoa powder for the melted bar chocolate. Turned out very well.

Again, very tasty cookies but very messy process. Do you have any tips to make it better?

Since Mal wasn't coming until Saturday afternoon, Friday night Dan and I just took it easy. Saturday morning I got up for a qick run, or what I thought would be a quick run. Unbeknownst to me, the first Saturday in August in Old Louisville (our neighborhood) is neighborhood yard sale day. I felt like every 5 seconds I was stopping to check out a piece of furniture or antique set of dishes. And it was such a pleasant morning for walking the sidewalks, so needless to say, I didn't do much running.

Just a few hours later, and after a major cleaning spree, Mal arrived and she and I headed out to get lunch. We ended up going to Whole Foods, which is really a grocery store but you can get prepared food there as well. We perused the aisles for a little bit, just admiring the fresh food items and experiencing the "organic-ness" of it all. We finally settled on our lunch selections: sushi for Mal, salad for me, and fruit to share. We also both got organic teas; I think we agreed that while it was much healthier, it was not near as tasty as Karen's.

After lunch we made quick mall run, then headed back to the apt so Dan and I could get ready for the wedding. One of the girls in my discipleship group through UofL was getting married! This was my 6th wedding this summer, and one that I was "dragging" Dan to also.

Yes, that is Dan wearing a pink tie!

Myself, Abbi, Alisha, Angela, and Tiffany. All of these girls are in my d-group. Don't you love the teal necklaces and pink chucks?

Dan and I left the wedding early (sort of...Dan would disagree) because we left Mal at the apt to just hang out while we were gone. Soon after we returned we got busy on a new adventure: dyeing Mal's hair. Now I am no expert in this area because I've never had color of any kind put into my hair. I guess this is why Micah had her doubts of my abilities to do a sufficient job. However, I was confident. I had colored my cousin Lauren's hair once and my mom's too (wait...I mean...um....not my mom's...). So Mal mixed the color and we got to work.

Right before this I said, "Dan, can you come take a picture of us?" Mal added, "For the blog!" We had to capture this moment of course! And by the way, Mal is sitting on the green milk can that sat in Grandma Cash's house by the phone.

Unfortunately we didn't take an "after" picture, but her hair did turn out well if I do say so myself. We spent the rest of the evening just watching TV and of course Mal and I both ended up falling asleep on the couch.

This morning Mal and I went to eat breakfast at Toast on Market downtown. It's a quaint little restaurant with really good food, especially breakfast food. This must be true; why else would we wait over an hour for a table? The hour went by quickly with coffee and conversation. I had raspberry lemonade, bacon, and a lemon souffle pancake (sooo good). Mal had fruit, a scrambled egg, and a blueberry-pecan pancake.

After breakfast (or was it lunch? We left at 1:00.) we shopped for a little bit at a few of our favorite spots: Marshall's, Dick's Sporting Goods, and TJ Maxx. And no afternoon of shopping and driving around town would be complete without a snack, a snack of the frozen kind. Graeter's never disappoints.

Mal went back to Lex later this afternoon, and Dan and I are presently enjoying a very delicious and healthy dinner of pepperoni pizza. It was a really fun weekend and now we get to enjoy a quiet night at home. Although this is no ordinary Sunday night. Why do you ask? Two words: WHO DEY. The Bengals are on TV and Dan is very excited about watching them. I am excited as well; football season is my favorite and knowing that it starts soon is making me very happy. But one of my faves comes on tonight too, HGTV Design Star.

Having two TVs is nice sometimes. :-)

It's Official...I'm on the Blogwagon!

Well here we go, my very first post. I thought long and hard about material I wanted to include. A "welcome to my blog" post...a "I have high expectations for this blog" post....no, not intereseting enough. What IS interesting enough? Why cookies of course!

Most everyone that knows me knows that I love to bake. Dan is one spoiled hubby because at least once each week I am baking some sort of muffin, cookie, or bread. (Yes, he is very thankful.) The regulars are usually chocolate chip cookies or banana nut bread...always from scratch of course. But then there are the decorative sugar cookies I make for holidays....right Mom? Each year for Christmas I take home a tin full of sweet stockings and snowflakes. "You didn't make these," says my mom every year.

Speaking of home and mom, Dan and I will be taking the 4-hour trip to my home, Fulton, or what we all affectionately call "the Flip," this weekend. Our good friends from college, Bo and Susan, are getting married in Murray, so of course this warranted a weekend of fun with the in-laws, the Deans. Oh, there's nothing like a weekend with the in-laws huh? I know Dan secretly tries to get out of these weekends, but I see right past his schemes. (Just kidding...sort of. My family loves Dan and he loves them. You just have to know my family; it is overwhelming, and loud, and lots of fun.)

So of course this trip to the Flip is really just a good excuse to make something sweet for us to nibble on late at night or while sitting by the pool. Sometimes I like to play it safe and make a simple chocolate chip cookie or brownie. However, there are times when trying a new recipe is in order. The most memorable example of this was when I made brownies for our "girl cousins" trip to Seagrove Beach, FL last summer. My sisters and cousins tasted the brownies.."these are good"...."these are so moist." They were at this moment unaware of a secret ingredient used in making these brownies. Needless to say, they will never eat brownies made with black bean puree in them. (They really are good and the puree is a good substitute for eggs and oil.) Now whenever I make something new they are sure to ask, "Is there anything weird in here?" haha

So for this weekend's trip to Fulton I decided to try out a recipe I found in Martha Stewart's monthly publication Everyday Food. I buy this mini-magazine most months. It has good recipes and information. It really encourages quick meals and using fresh ingredients, but let's be real: Martha's idea of quick and my idea of quick are often quite different. The recipe I tried is from the Cookie Jar section, Salted Toffee-Chocolate Squares.

And no, there are no weird ingredients in these squares.

These squares are definitely tasty...just don't ask how much butter I used. They should make for a nice snack this weekend....just don't let Duke have any!

Welcome to the blog!