I Had No Idea This Much Went Into a Wedding...

I know that my writing is getting a little sparse and that I am regretfully not cooking right now, but I would like you to know that this is because I am swamped with wedding details. Honestly when did this stuff get so complicated? Back in the pre-civil war times a couple would just have their families present in the fancy room of the house, have a small ceremony and then eat and dance until the sun came up! This idea is great, but I am sure that they did not spend anywhere near the amount of money that American's today do. Where did we as American's lose our minds and think that we have to spend thousands of dollars on an exaggerated version of this same event?
I am thankful that I do not have to wear a dress that looks like this...or the undergarments that bind you into it.Plus it looks itchy!

I find that I am up to my eyeballs in guest list, invitations, dress measurements, hotel calling and other crazy things that accompany ones wedding preparation. So I apologize for the lack in my writing but all of my writing seems to be going into emails and the planner. So I will give a brief summary of what Marc and I have been up to.




To begin I joined a new gym. We decided last month that it would be best for us to quit the YMCA since we were never going. Now before you question why we would join another gym let me explain why we never went to the YMCA. First of all the hours stink! Of course they work for some people, but the Y's intention to work around church schedules does not help me fit in a work out. Plus the peak times made it impossible. Now for those of you who do not know I work second shift in a mental health facility. This means that I go in at 3 and get off at 11:30. So how do I find time to work out in the non-peak times. I can get up at 430am to be at the gym by 5am when they opened. This won't work bc I don't get home until midnight. 6-8am are peak times where everyone comes in before work. So 8am sounds good right? Wrong! The nursery opens at 8am so the Mom Army comes in and takes over the entire gym and fills up all the classes. This goes on until about 11am when I would normally go, but this time never worked either because I felt rushed and I really hated that I got to work out just because I was fast enough to beat the feeble old man to the treadmill. And of course I could work out after work....oh wait no I can't because the YMCA closes at 8pm. Plus did I mention that there was always a chance that you would be accosted by one of the heathen children that run rampant around there? So we quit!

This was a huge blow to me because I could (at least sometimes) brave the insanity and attempt to workout between screaming babies and waiting in line for a machine. But now I don't have to! Marc and I joined Anytime Fitness. A 24 gym that only allows people over 16 to work out! And since it is 24 hours I can work out at midnight. On Tuesday night I went for the first time and fell in love! There was no one in there so I could pull out the bands, balls, bosu ball, mats, and weights that I needed and take up the whole floor! No one was there to make me feel uncomfortable or insecure. It was just me and a room full of machines. It was amazing and I had the best workout of my life! I got to jump around from machine to machine and not have to reset anything! However, this did cause some down time because I have never had the freedom to use whatever I wanted whenever I wanted!

I am not only working out for my health and of course to fit into my bikini for the honeymoon, but I am also going to run a 5k at the end of the month.It is the Running To Beat The Blues 5k here in Nashville. I know that I will not win or even place, but it is for a good cause and a great way to get myself involved and in shape!

Marc has entered into the world of photography by purchasing a fancy new camera. Thank goodness Beau is a natural model and can (and will) pose for the camera for hours on end. Sadie and I however feel like we have the paparazzi chasing us and we don't like it.






We Do have some pretty fun things on the calendar:

This weekend we are going to the spaghetti dinner benefit for our neighbor who has been diagnosed with ALS. Neva is amazing and her smile through all of this is not only contagious but truly inspirational! We are truly blown away by the outpouring of love and support that this amazing woman is getting! Hopefully we can set up even more events and raise awareness about this disease. Maybe another 5k?

The same night at the 5k March 27th we are going to a wine tasting at the Hilton here in town. With 50 plus wines and food, it promises to be a fun night. I just hope that my buddy Cole and her man David will join us!

We also have Tin Pan South going on here in Nashville the following weekend. It is a huge song writers festival that I have been trying to get Marc to every year...and this year we are going out at least one night of it! :) This is also open to anyone who wants to tag along with us!

I also have some Red Canna and Blue Iris that Christi gave me to plant. I am excited to see my yard this summer when it is in full bloom with tons of gorgeous flowers! The veggie garden I fear may not happen this summer...or night just be a pot of tomatoes and a patio herb garden. Hopefully I can do it all, but I fear that I will burn out!




I plan to start the dinner party back up this coming Wednesday! The country for the week is Sudan! Thanks for being patient on my hiatus!

The Potato Bomb is Not My Only Reason For Procrastination!

As with any project of this magnitude one is bound to have a miss here and there, I just didn't think that it would be with this country. Lithuanian seemed like it would be a slam dunk! How could two recipes consisting of potatoes, minced meat, bacon, butter, sour cream and eggs be bad? This just sounded to me like the makings of one amazing loaded baked potato...I think my over-confidence in this one is what did me in.

 Do these look like ingredients that will make a bad meal?

So I peeled an entire bag of potatoes...this I am positive is someone's eternal damnation in hell...because it sucks!

 

Then you grate the potatoes. This made more complicated by my food processors decision to not work using the grating attachment.

RECIPES

KUGELI

10 large potatoes grated
1/2 lb. bacon
1 stick butter
2 large onions chopped
4 eggs
1 cup hot milk
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp. pepper

Brown bacon, dry, and dice into pieces.

Brown onions in butter.

Add to grated potatoes.

Stir in salt, pepper and milk.

Add beaten eggs in last, stir well.

Set oven at 350 degrees.

Grease one large pan (10 x 13 inches) or two small (8 x 8 inches) pans. Bake for 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 hour. 

This came out looking like hashbrowns...but tasted like something that came out the back side of a chicken. :(  A total MISS!!!

I also attempted to make potato dumplings...but whoever came up with this recipe OBVIOUSLY left out some very important parts....

Cepelinai

Ingredients:

• Dumpling Mixture: 
• 8 large Idaho potatoes, peeled and finely grated
• 2 large Idaho potatoes, peeled, boiled and riced
• 1 medium onion, peeled and finely grated
• 1 teaspoon salt, more or less to taste .
• Meat Mixture:
• 1 pound ground pork or 1/3 pound pork, 1/3 pound beef, 1/3 pound veal
• 1 medium onion, peeled and finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1 large beaten egg
• Gravy:
• 1/2 pound bacon, diced
• 1 large chopped onion
• 1 cup sour cream
• Black pepper to taste

This is what it ended up being....a weird potato soup. SOOOOOO Wrong!

So I tried to save it by frying them....also did not work.

I ended up with an ugly and pretty gross dish.

So we fixed it by ordering this!!!!





Yes it was one of those nights...but great friends and a pizza back-up make any night good! This week I am foregoing International night so that we can take Jason and Christi to Arrington Vineyards for a wine tasting! Have a great week!

And so you all know.... The Potato Bomb is Not My Only Reason For Procrastination, I am also doing quite a bit of wedding planning and that has taken my mind away from the culinary world. Not to mention I am back on South Beach as the wedding countdown has begun. Only 79 more days until I am Mrs. Meeker.