It's Been a Food Day :)

Hi Everyone! 


I spent most of today in the kitchen, which was a nice change from sitting at my desk. It's been a really busy weekend. Yesterday was Pete's funeral. It wasn't as emotional as I thought it would be, probably because it as a Catholic mass. I was distracted making sure I was doing everything right rather than actually processing why we were there and what I was experiencing. The Homily was wonderful though, and did make me tear up a couple times. But I figured I'd made it that far without losing it and I was going to try my best to make it to the end. It was a beautiful day out--couldn't have asked for a better one. And Brian and I really left feeling more positive than we've felt all week. There's no question where Pete is, and there's no question he'll be missed. But things are going to be okay. Here's the card I made for Pete. We gave it to his wife obviously, but I made it for him: 

This photo isn't the greatest. It says "Mere words cannot express the Hurt my Heart feels for You in your time of Loss." Everything looks kind of dull but the roses are a very vibrant red, and the text is stamped with a gold shimmer ink. It was really nice. :) 


So back to today and spending most of it in the kitchen. First, I made some Amish white bread with the help of my KitchenAid mixer. That thing makes bread SO EASY. Here's some photos of the process from beginning to end. Bread dough is just so beautiful. Here's an older photo that is my favorite of yeast rising: 

Here's one of the dough once it's doubled and is ready to be divided into two loaf pans: 

                                       

And here's the finished product. The texture today was perfect, with a crust that wasn't too crisp. We ate probably a quarter of one loaf as soon as it came out of the oven. You have to take advantage of that warm bread-it's just not the same if you microwave it later!

After the bread was done I made Crispy Salted White Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies. They are probably the best cookies I've ever had (or made for that matter). The recipe for this came from Smitten Kitchen. Several of my friends are obsessed with the site, and since I'm jealous because the woman is doing what I would love to do for a career, I don't check it very often. :) So anyways, I also used my KitchenAid for this project (first time using it for cookies) and it made things so FAST! Look at the Ghirardelli white chocolate below. Isn't that amazing? Chopping it into little pieces with a big, sharp butcher knife was like cutting butter. 

I don't know how I've lived for so long without one of these mixers. 

And finally, the finished cookies, ready for Brian to do a quality control check. 

You would think my evening might be done there, but no--I still had to make dinner! This was another Smitten Kitchen recipe: Martha's Mac and Cheese. It's made with fancy (i.e. expensive) cheeses, sharp white cheddar and gruyere. It was wonderful. I used part of a loaf of bread I had just made for the topping, and those little crunchy bread bits tossed in butter might be my favorite part of the dish. We're going to be eating leftovers of this mac & cheese for days!

Hope you all had a great weekend! It's back to the daily grind tomorrow. But with a holiday weekend coming up (and most of us off on Monday, right?) we have much to look forward to. 

Meg

P.S. Two sets of new thank you cards are up on Etsy. Check them out! :)