Lately,

Some of the highs from our recent happenings:

• Going to my first farmer's market. What was I thinking not going to the awesome Athen's Farmer's Market before this? I got the most delicious smelling bunch of basil, among other things and hurried home to make bruschetta with grilled bread and juicy tomatoes. The rest was whipped into homemade pesto and slathered on grilled pizza. Hello summer!
• Henry jumping to me in the pool. The pool is not the beach. The pool is not the splash pad. The pool is a lot more work for me and Henry. But he was brave and after coaxing rediscovered his love of leaping into the water and floating/swimming back to the steps. 
• Tabata training. Look it up, my new favorite cardio workout. 

•  Summer movie series: cool, dark theaters and lots of popcorn plus a ring pop.
• Roasting my first whole chicken. Another aha moment! Perfect dinner plus leftovers for a casserole and I even used the bones to make chicken stock in the crock pot. I feel kind of like a chef or just really awesome. 

• Finally got around to reading Bossypants by Tina Fey. It was hilarious and enjoyable. Makes me want to rewatch every episode of 30 Rock. Too bad I just got around to watching New Girl Season 2. I feel like there is so much good tv these days that you just have to pick and choose what you have time for. First world problems, right?

• We celebrated the first day of summer by going to Hodgson's to have ice cream. $1 scoops are quite the refreshing way to ring in the new season. 

• Henry has been really into building barricades these days. He will pull all the chairs, cushions and toy bins into a blockade around someone or something. Its fun to see his mind working, looking for weak spots, fortifying and planning. When he's done, he'll say "You're trapped Daddy!" 
• Oh and I was released from Primary. Its not really a high but it is something of note. Church sure is boring without having to run around for 2 hours. I guess its time to break out all my super high heels that I have put off wearing for practicality reasons.

eaten: peanut butter chocolate chip cookies

I never loved peanut butter growing up. I still kind of gag thinking about eating a peanut butter sandwich. Its a total texture thing for me. But mix peanut butter with some sugar and I am game. I have been casually looking for a classic, go-to peanut butter cookie for awhile. Casual as in its not my top priority when it comes to baking but it would be handy to have a good recipe on hand when the craving hits.

These are crisp but soft and so so good. Usually I find PB cookies to be too dry but these are not at all. And they freeze beautifully, just pop one out of the freezer and microwave for 20 seconds and you are in trouble. Serious trouble. And I would freeze about half as this makes a ton and its easier to feel good about yourself if you don't polish off dozens of cookies in a matter of days, right?

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Recipe and picture courtesy of Mel's Kitchen

Yield: Makes about 4-5 dozen

Ingredients

• 1 cup (16 tablespoons) butter, softened to room temperature
• 2 cups smooth or chunky peanut butter
• 1 ½ cups firmly packed light brown sugar
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 ½ tablespoons milk
• 1 ½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
• 1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 2 cups chocolate chips (or a combination of peanut butter and chocolate chips)

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a large bowl combine the butter and peanut butter and beat the mixture until it is light and fluffy (you can do this with a hand mixer or with an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment). Add the brown and white sugars and mix until well combined. Add the eggs and mix for 1-2 minutes, until the mixture is well combined and light in color. Add the milk and vanilla and mix. Add the dry ingredients and mix just briefly. While there are still large spots of flour, add the chocolate chips (or peanut butter chips or both) and mix until the flour is completely mixed in and the mixture is well combined. Let the cookie dough sit for 15 minutes before scooping onto the baking sheets. It will firm up as it sits.
3. When ready to bake, scoop tablespoon-sized balls of dough onto silpat or parchment-lined baking sheets leaving about 1 to 2 inches in between the cookies to allow for spreading as they bake. Bake for 10-11 minutes, taking care not to overbake in the slightest! Leave the cookies on the baking sheet for 2-3 minutes after baking before removing them to a cooling rack. This will help them set up and be firm enough to transfer without having them overbake in the oven. The cookies may look slightly underbaked but they will firm up as they cool. Resist the urge to eat them warm as they taste much better cooled.
4. I pop baked and cooled cookies into the freezer (in a large tupperware or freezer-safe ziploc bag) and they taste great out of the freezer, especially if they are left to sit at room temperature for a few minutes.

bexcaliber: process

Sometimes I get really stuck when it comes to my business. Since it is summer, I am more than happy to just go to the gym and then head off to have fun in the water or the movies. Coming in from the hot heat really leaves me drained and my energy is limited to getting dinner on the table and watching tv.

So the other week, its been about a month now actually, I was determined to make a go at being productive. Being creative is a whole other type of productivity. Its on thing to say, "I'm going to be productive and clean the house!" A list of chores ensues and you can easily cross them off. Done. Creativity is a whole different beast.

So I sat at the computer with photoshop open and turned on some music, Vampire Weekend and Matchbox 20-don't judge! Henry was happily planted in front of netflix and I "got to work." I think I also had a small pile of caramels next to me too. Let's work through my creative process for the day.

My first design was just playing around with dots and lines, above ^^^. To open the flood gates of brilliance I often start with throw away designs. The wheels start turning.

 

From there I went with straight up dots in the colors of my new floral fabric. It was cute but a little juvenile. I played around with empty space in spring colors. But I have seen this design before...keep trying.

 

What if I smudged each dot? Smudging in a circle around each set of four dots to blend and blur the colors. Its a little more artistic and has movement. Possibilities.

Then I get desperate and start messing with filters. Filters in photoshop can amuse me for hours. Who doesn't want to make their wedding pictures into comic strips? This stained glass simplifies the colors and really intensifies the white.

 

In the end I settle on this, three gigantic dots in black, charcoal and medium grey, smudged into a smoky, abstract, modern art awesomeness.  Simple is best. It reminds me of one of my favorite pieces of art in The Met Modern Art wing. Its a big black and white abstract piece. I tried to find a picture of it, the one of me standing next to it on our honeymoon but my laziness prevents me from hooking up the external hard drive. Trust me its awesome.

 

Anyway, here they are in the flesh as modern abstract art pillow covers. I am thrilled with how they turned out and secretly hope they don't sell so I can keep them for myself. Just kidding, please go buy one for your couch. Available now in the shop.

These are edgier than my previous designs but as I photographing them I was surprised by how easily they fit in with other patterns and fabrics. Versatile? Yes!

eaten: Steak Marinade

I got this recipe from my friend Molly only to realize that I had actually pinned the same recipe on Pinterest I just hadn't tried it yet. So it really is THAT great.

Are you ready for delicious steak hot off the grill? Then try this, so good!

Best Steak Marinade EVER:
1/3 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup olive oil
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
1 1/2 tbsp garlic powder
3 tbsp dried basil
1 1/2 tbsp dried parsley flakes
1 tsp ground pepper
1 tsp minced garlic

Combine all ingredients and pour over meat. Both times I made this I was organized enough to have the meat sit in it all day but I am sure you could get away with as little as 30 minutes. The longer the better though.
This makes enough for about 3-4 lbs of meat so I only used half and then saved the other half in the freezer for the next time we have steak. To be safe, never reuse marinade unless you boil it. 

Splash Pad

Athens finally got a splash pad!

Its about time too because Georgia is the perfect place to have something fun to keep you cool on hot, hot, hot summer days. We have been a couple of times and Henry loves it. He mainly loves the small fountains coming out of the ground that he can run through and spray in different directions with his foot. Sometimes he'll be brave and run through larger sprinklers. 

My summer just got that much better.

Underwear Pencil Skirt

Sometimes you just have to put all your underwear on.

Hysterical.

Carnival

A tiny carnival of rides come to Athens once a year. This year Henry spotted it and kept asking out it so we made it an FHE night of fun. Actually we only did two rides. One with Daddy and one with Mommy. I tried to convince him to go on the ferris wheel but he wanted to ride the train instead. We met in the middle with this petite but fierce rollercoaster.