Non-Freaky Flashback and I Like it Spicy Part 3

As I mentioned, Wednesday was my third wedding anniversary (Whoo hoo!!), so I thought it would be fun and entertaining to post some pics from our wedding back in 2007. I suppose it's a little narcissistic to have a post filled with almost nothing but pictures of me, but I guess this is my blog and my wedding, so it's ok, right? :)

This is one of my favorite pictures from that day. Oh, and this is D without a beard! He has had one now for so long that I almost forget what he looks like without it. We look so young here!



Young and in love!

I loved my hair--it was so big and poufy! Any you know what they say about big hair don't you?? Well, I guess they don't say anything, but I sawy it's H-O-T! Actually my hair stylist always jokes "the higher the hair, the closer to heaven!" I must be an angel by now :)

As you can see, I did have a cute little (faux) fur-hooded cape, which was smart for January, but I did not actually wear it for most of our pictures outside (not smart). The photographer wanted to show off my dress. I remember it being 19 freaking degrees that day. Brrrr!! Oh well--I guess loves keeps you warm!

We were married here:

But held our reception in an aquarium!

I worked as the Marketing Coordinator there at the time, and we were trying to promote the facility for event rentals. I convinced my bosses to let me host my reception there for free and then we could use the pictures in our marketing materials. It was so awesome! As anyone who has planned a wedding knows, reception rentals can take up a HUGE portion of your budget, so it gave us a lot of leeway (and a lot of fun) to have it there.

Obviously, we had pictures of the food:

Dustin and I had originally wanted to have a carnival theme to our reception with mini hamburgers, popcorn and cotton candy, but our parents threw a big fit so that was out.

I kept the cotton candy--that was non-negotiable!


Instead, we settled on a "dipping" bar with both sweet and savory options. I think we had a spicy cheese and an alfredo, an artichoke dip and a chili dip, all with pretzels, crackers and veggies.

We also had a dipping desserts station with white and dark chocolate, caramel, tons of fruit, brownies, marshmallows and other sweets.

This was just flavored water--it was all in a pink theme, so if I can remember correctly, it was lemon, strawberry, cherry and grapefruit.

As you can see, all the pics have kind of a nautical theme here--all the food was inside the "sunken ship!"

I was so glad to be able to have our reception somewhere fun. Not just for us, but for our guests. I wanted to be able to give everyone something to do, so they got to walk through all the galleries and look at the fish and play in the touchpool.

I mean, how boring is it to go to a wedding where all you do is walk through a greeting line, grab a plate of hors d'ouerves and then try to mix awkwardly with people you don't know? Ugh. A lot of Utah weddings are like that. Not all of them though! And not mine. It always makes me happy because people will still say that they remember it to this day.



I didn't want a wedding cake, since it is so hard to find one that is pretty AND tastes good. I thought cupcakes would be better. I am a cupcake kind of gal, anyway :)

For as fun as our wedding was, I have to say that each day beyond that has been all the more wonderful and filled with love. Our marriage isn't perfect, and neither are our lives. We have had our share of trials and hard times since then, but we love each other, and I am so grateful that we found each other--and that I tricked D into marrying me!

I wish the photographer had taken some more pics of the food for ya, but I didn't get to eat much that day, so I probably couldn't tell you much more about it!

What I CAN tell you about though, is some more wonderful and spicy food that I have had the pleasure of indulging in recently!

Thanks to my sweet friend Abby, I had some luscious Christmas goodies to experiment with:


Super spicy and very gingery ginger snaps. OMG, these were so good! They actually had little pieces of crystallized ginger IN them. Yum!

But my new favorite thing has got to be these guys:

They are the perfect blend of sweet and spicy with tons of cayenne, cinnamon and a touch of cumin. I have been keeping them within arm's reach at all times and loving them in a new CCC.

Cottage cheese with cinnamon and stevia, Fiber One, Quaker Oat Squares and Cinnamon Life sprinkled with a healthy dose of chopped sweet and spicy nuts. So good! Thanks Abby! You are an amazing chef and inspiration!

I also stumbled upon this discovery, which I highly recommend you try as soon as possible...



Sweet potato with Laughing Cow, cinnamon, Sun Crystals and dried cranberries. Maybe not the most original offering, but definitely a delicious one!

What's YOUR favorite spicy creation? Happy Friday everyone! I hope you have a fantastic weekend! xoxo

I Like it Spicy Part 2

Wow, what a champ! Two blog posts in this week and at least one more coming up tomorrow. My hats off to you ladies who post daily-- I could never manage to squeeze it all in! And speaking of squeezing, I have a lot to pack into this post, so let's get to it!


You may recall from my previous post, my love for all things spicy, and my affinity for gingerbread. I've melded the two nicely together in this delightful dandy of a breakfast bowl:

Cottage cheese, copious amounts of cinnamon, slightly more judicious amounts of ginger, cloves and nutmeg (to taste), cereal trio,the requisite Fiber One and the mightiest of maple peanut butters, all drizzled with molasses.

Puts me in the holiday mood just thinking about it :)

I've also been in particularly cheery mood since receiving my goodie box loaded with fun things to try. My latest experiment involved the salt-free Chili Lime Seasoning blend by Mrs. Dash.
I love all the spices used in this blend including chili peppers, cumin and cayenne, plus the sour lime. But I also really liked the fact that this didn't contain any added salt. D likes to pour half a slat shaker on his food at meals--more out of habit than anything I think--so it's always nice to know I'm not contributing to any premature hypertension :) I have been obsessed with salmon lately, and this seemed like the perfect thing to pep it up. easiest thing ever (seen here with Tina's roasted broccoli and rosemary acorn squash). I just squirted a little lime juice on my salmon fillets, then sprinkled on the seasoning blend before popping them in the oven. They came out perfectly spicy and delicious, and I don't even think Dustin swiped the salt to douse his plate. But he probably just did it when I wasn't looking ;)

And now for the freaky part! I know you all missed this last week when I flaked out ( or maybe not), so I tried to come up with a real doozy for this installment. Guess what this is?


No, not worms, slugs or seaweed...
Pickled cactus! Awesome! Way back in the summer, I joked about munching on some pokey plants, and I finally found some that are safe to eat!

Well, these prickly pickles may not taste like worms, but they kind of felt that way all sliding around in my mouth.

Suggestion: do not eat these plain. Instead, dice them into a quesadilla or mix them up with some bbq sauce and cooked ground beef on top of a taco salad. That way they add a nice smokey and subtly spicy taste without the disgusting sluggy side effects.

Well, I have to peace out because Dustin's entire family is coming over for dinner tonight to celebrate our Christmas with them (they're headed to NYC *jealous*) and I am in charge of whipping up our holiday meal.

At my parents' house, we always have steak and lobster (neither or which I really care for) on Christmas Eve and then turkey on Christmas day. I actually got into a huge argument with my mom over whether or not we had ever had anything besides turkey on Christmas (for the record, we HAVE, Mom!). I've got some yummy things on the menu for tomorrow, but tell me--what do you usually eat for your Christmas dinner?

P.S. You all were so sweet to compliment my gingerbread cookies in the last post--makes me smile! xoxo

Sammie Saturday: Sweet, Spicy and Scary

You all saw yesterday in my fabulous package from Allison, those famous flattened bananas. I always think they look so interesting on her blog--all rolled up in a peanut butter blanket. Yum! I have been so excited to try them. Of course I chomped on one free form and they were delish----but I was struck with a brilliant idea to use them in a sandwich. Now, I think this sammie could almost have qualified for FFF yesterday. But since today is Sammie Saturday, and also Halloween, where all freaky things are appropriate, I wanted to save it for today.

In my scary sammie:
Fluffy whole wheat bread, chunky peanut butter, sweet and spicy ginger preserves and, the star of the circus: flattened banana.Sadly, this was not as amazing as I'd hoped, but still quite an interesting blend of flavors! The ginger gave the sammie quite a spicy little kick, but the banana was almost invisible against the stronger flavor. Too bad, but it wasn't awful--you can't mess up peanut butter all the way!

Not to be deterred, I tried another little concoction with the same sweet, spicy and savory combination in mind:
Sandwich thin with PB2 and chili mango!
Hee hee. Kind of looks like a hamburger!

This was actually the better of the two, and I would totally try this again using regular pb instead of the fake stuff. I liked this creation because neither flavor really overpowered the other, and they melded quite nicely. I imagine this is what my coveted spicy peanut butter tastes like, but for now I can only guess :)

It has occurred to me that I eat a lot of sandwiches because I always have multiple items to post on Saturday. It's kind of nice to have a lot of material to choose from!

Today, though, I also wanted to share a different type of creation with you. My sister reads my blog and is a big proponent of food adventures and experimentation with me. She tries raw food with me, brings me stuff for FFF and generally encourages me not to be a stick in the mud with Ed. She is the bomb.

She was also quite intrigued by my pumpkin CCC I posted a few weeks ago, thanks in part to Miss April, who originated the breakfast pie idea. Well, Sis gave it a try, and I think it's safe to say she loves it just as much as I do, because she put her own spin on it and made a desert trifle as a variation! She even took it to a couple pot lucks this past week, so watch out world--the CCC is catching on!

I promised her I'd share the recipe--there's even a family secret in there :) Here's her email to me after her experimentations:

Emily,
Just in case you wanted an "official" recipe for those parfaits.
1 24 oz (I think) container of cottage cheese
1 15 oz can of pumpkin
3/4 cup brown sugar
cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves to taste ('cause I like cloves)

Blend together (I did the CC first, then added everything else and it turned out much better than when I threw everything in together on Sunday).

I layered that with Grandma Brown's Cream Puff Fudge Sauce:
1/4 cup butter
1 1/2 squares of bakers chocolate plus 1/4 cup cocoa
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup of cream
1 teaspoon of vanilla

Melt butter and chocolate Mix sugar, cocoa, add to mixture. Stir until smooth. Add cream slowly, stir, bring to boil slowly, and then add vanilla. Remove from stove and let cool. (I made a double batch, and had some left over. Its a hardship.)

Layer pumpkin concoction and fudge sauce in pretty glass, garnish with cute graham crackers and serve. I got 8 servings out of this, but they were pretty generous (like, I was the only person to finish mine ) if you can find smaller cups you could probably 12 servings. That's all! Have a good night.
Love you,
S

Isn't she sweet? And you guys all better feel cool and loved, because our Grandma Brown's Cream Puffs are the stuff of legend in my family, and the sauce is definitely the best part! (P.S. I do think you ARE cool and I DO love you).

She sent me a pic to go along with her creation--even though it's just from her camera phone and a little blurry, I can still see the deliciousness!
Anyway, glad she tried it out and dubbed it good enough for company!

You guys cracked me up yesterday with what you'd be if you were what you ate. Yog messes, gooey globs and perfect peanuts...I think we would all be yummy, that's for sure!

Part of this post published earlier today due to a silly error, so sorry about that! I hope you all have a wonderful and fun Halloween! Are you going to have little trick or treaters? If so, what are you giving out?

I'm so excited to see all the little ghosts and goblins (and princesses and superheros) this year in our new house! I decided to give out cans of kid-friendly pop like rootbeer, orange soda and Sprite. I always thought that stuff was so cool when I was little. Hopefully it's still cool and I'm not dreadfully out of touch! I mean, they already get enough candy--they need something equally cavity-causing to wash it down, right? Plus, that way, I don't have any leftover bags of candy staring me down all week. It's a win/win. xoxo

You are what you eat..and FFF #11

With all Low's talk about tomato overdoses on her post the other day, it really got me thinking about the old adage "you are what you eat..."

If that's true, than I must be....

delicious

CCC with baked apples, raisins, typical cereal trio and maple almond butter. Mmmm.


warm and comforting
Cheater Beef Stew:

• make a pot roast with potatoes and carrots (and onions, obv) in a slow cooker for Sunday dinner--add two cups of extra water to your roast as it cooks to make broth
• reserve leftover potatoes, carrots and onions in broth, chop leftover beef and return to broth
• add 1 package frozen green beans or other veggies plus additional 1 c. water, Worcestershire sauce, oregano, s&p to taste
• bring to a low simmer, remove from heat and refrigerate--I find it easiest to do all of this right in my crockpot--less hassle and cleanup
  
• When ready for some warm, home-cooked goodness, remove from fridge, skim any fat left on top (mine was super lean, so I didn't really have to do this), and pour into a large pot
• Bring to a rolling boil and then add 1/4-1/3 c. flour, dissolved in 1 c. water
• Whisk in slowly and return to boil until stew reaches desired thickness
• Ladle into bowls and serve with thick pieces of toast slathered with pumpkin butter...perfect fall/winter/snows in October meal
  

sweet and exciting
I was so thrilled to spot this on the shelf at my local WF the other day. Usually, we don't get stuff like this, or it comes around really late. I mean, we STILL don't have the pineapple chobani (c'mon peeps, what are you waiting for??). Just like the container says, it was very smooth and creamy. But also very sweet and semi-sticky. I loved the spice, but the pumpkin flavor was kind of vague. I think I would much prefer my own version of pumpkin pie yogurt with greek, real pumpkin and enormous amounts of cinnamon :)

daring
Ok, I know this just looks like a regular sandwich, but in reality, it was a food adventure, fear conquer and craving satisfier all in one. This is, in fact, the new (ish) Buffalo Chicken Sub from our love/hate chain Subway. I loveeee me some buffalo flavor, and I have been dying to try this forever.

Of course, when I really want something different from the ush, Ed likes to throw a big temper tantrum. But I threw one right back--after all, it says it's for a limited time only! I don't want to miss out! I ordered mine on toasty whole wheat with onions (duh), spinach, ridic banana peppers and sweet onion dressing (should have gotten the honey mustard--oh well, guess I'll just have to hit it for round two ;) ). It was pretty good, pretty spicy and pretty satisfying for a not-so large meal, which was the big shock. I guess that's what happens when you actually eat what you want.

full of love and friendship

This part of the post has been a long time coming. A while ago, I received a package from everyone's funny friend and way-cool bloggerista, Allison from Green Dog Wine.

I was seriously flabbergasted by how much neat-o stuff she sent me! Pictured above: goddess dressing, yummy blueberry bars, PUMPKIN BUTTER, the famous flattened bananas and mini pb cups (!!!).
Don't you think those would be perfect in a bowl of oats? I know a couple of ladies who would love the pb combo and the candy for breakfast bowl!

spicy and exotic
Allison was also rad enough to include something extra special for my Freaky Food Friday this week:

Aye aye aye! My brother in law spent some time in Mexico for a couple of years and would totally dig this stuff. He came back with an obsession for mole, and luckily, I am able to share the adoration of chili-licious sweet stuff.
These chunks of mango are perfectly juicy and absolutely coated with chili powder. I love 'em!
Definitely a little salsa dance on my tongue :)


Of course, if I was really what I ate, I might be cottage cheese and baby carrots, but I prefer to think I have at least a few of the attributes listed above. Thanks again to Allison for her lovely and incredibly generous package and all my fun new finds. Certainly an ideal way to kick off a weekend full of tricks n' treats!

How about all of you? What would YOU be if you truly were what you eat? I know you'll have great answers for this one! xoxo

Oh, P.S.! I just updated my blogroll with some new love--if I missed you, please let me know! Also, make sure to welcome back Deliciously Fit Lainie, who has some very exciting news!

Freaky Food Friday Round Four aka Spicy Sundae

I haven't blogged for a day, but man, it feels like a week! Missed you blog! But, I made a brief appearance over at Janetha's yesterday, so maybe that counts a little? Luckily I can come back with a bang. Prepare yourself for this one. If you are a bit squeamish or a more traditional ice cream-ish, read no further!

Inspired by my first attempt at spicy oats, which went slightly awry when I added a sweetened cereal to the mix, I have been mulling over the spicy-sweet combo for a while. Don't hate. Behold, the Spicy Sundae! A lovely scoop of Dreyer's Vanilla Frozen Yogurt Blends, topped with a river of Frank's and a sprinkling of salted peanuts. I was very dubious at first bite, but once I got all the peanuts out of the way and got down to my man Frank, it was all good. I swear. Not kidding. I loved the contrast between the sweet and the spice. The peppers almost seemed to make the ice cream sweeter, and it tasted almost like a spicy creamsicle.

Would I eat this again? You betcha! While not on a regular basis, this seems like the kind of thing you just get smacked over craving one day. I triple dog, double spice dare you to try this. Any takers? Happy Friday everyone! xoxo