Homemade Jewelry Cleaner

Craving: Something sparkly! Diamonds are a girls best friend.

After posting that craving, I am realizing that dogs are actually a girls best friends. But they aren't sparkly. Unless you count their eyes when you take pictures of them and they get all glowy!

I forgot my jewelry cleaner while I was in Alabama.

I LOVE my ring. LOVE it. Charlie got me the exact ring that I always dreamed of, and went beyond any expectations I could ever have in terms of quality etc. With that in mind, I do actually try to clean it as often as I can remember!

Usually with all the cooking and dishes I do, I remember to clean it frequently. I also try to remember to take it off when I put hair cream in or lotion/moisturizer on, but sometimes I forget.

While I was staying with Charlie's sister Sarah, I asked if she had any cleaner and she did not, so while she was at work I decided to put pinterest to some good use.

I totally forgot to take a before picture!

Ingredients:
1 cup of hot water
1 tbs salt
1 tbs baking soda
1 tbs dish soap
dirty ring



Let it soak in for a few minutes:


(I wear my grandmother's band, which is why there are two rings in there).

When it's finished, you can clean it off with a clean toothbrush or tinfoil, or you can just rinse it off with hot water.


The result:


Not the shiniest the ring has ever been, but pretty clean, especially compared to what it was!!!

I definitely recommend just getting jewelry cleaner (in fact, most jewelry stores will give it to you for free).  I usually take my rings off when I shower, and then when I'm finished applying all my lotions etc, the ring is good to go.

Engagement Pictures

Craving: something to check off the wedding to-do list!

Back in February, Charlie got me my dream present for Valentines Day, a Canon Rebel.
AMAZING. I love that I can take professional looking photographs now. Sadly, most of my blog pics are still from my phone, just because I always have it with me.

Our good friend, Ryan Malone, is our wedding photographer, but it was already July 4th and we did not have our engagement pictures. I started getting nervous and decided to ask Charlie's Uncle Will to snap some of us at the family Lake House.

My instructions for Uncle Will? "Just keep clicking, take pictures the whole time."

My instructions for me and Charlie?
1. Look online at engagement pictures and see what you like.
2. Have a beer. Or two. (seriously, this helped us).

There were SO many pictures. SO many. It was so hard to choose a few good ones. Uncle Will did such a great job, Thank you!!!

Here are some of my favorites:

Yes I know the photoshop on that is kinda overdone w/the sepia etc, but I love it!!! We actually chose that picture for our ketubah (Jewish marriage contract), and are having the text that we sign printed over the picture ( I used photoshop to do it, easy-peasy if anybody wants it done), and then we had it printed on a canvas from Sam's Club. Sam's and Costco both do canvas prints and it's much cheaper than going off of etsy.

After our engagement pics (and the two beers) we decided to jump off the dock. Dressed. Two beers in I was still clear enough to realize to change out of my silk shirt and put on a swim top!
Enjoy us jumping in!



Ready???



Set....



Go!







The really funny pictures come next when we jumped in again. I guess when I jumped in the first time my swim suit top fell a bit from the impact. Well on my second jump in, you can see that my hands are....supporting myself, shall we say, the WHOLE WAY DOWN! Hahaha. I didn't even realize I did that, but only Charlie gets to see my girls :-)

Back to July: "I want an apple for my birthday"

Craving: Catching up on the blog! Expect many posts and recipes coming soon.

No idea why I fell off the blogging bandwagon. I have replaced it with scentsy and wreath making. And working out - been working out a lot! Wedding weight goal - I will do it!

Back in July I turned 24 again (for the 4th year in a row).

As you all remember, Charlie and I were living in a hotel room for 2 months this summer. We were staying on base, and stores are closed on Mondays on military bases. We got back from a weekend away and it was too late to get some fruit. Then my birthday was on a Monday and all I wanted was an apple. Starting Sunday night, I just wanted that darn apple!

Monday morning Charlie came into the room during one of his breaks and when I came back in this is what I found:


Mmmmm coke zero. That was a buritto big enough for 3 of me, but I think I probably ate it all considering how much I weighed when I came back from AL, hahaha! (Okay in reality, my AL weight gain was not that drastic, and I attribute it to lays bbq chips).

Well, I opened my present, and it wasn't an apple, but an apple!!!!


I was in TOTAL shock. I had needed a new computer for forever, and was seriously not expecting it. It was actually from my parents and Charlie, and it's been phenomenal in wedding planning etc.

I have the best family in the world. Thanks Charlie and Ima/Aba.


Two recipes coming soon!

Savta Brownies, aka the best brownies you will ever have

Cravings: some cooler weather, enough August!

Hi all,
I thought maybe I would bookend the month of August with some blog posts seeing as I went from posting once or twice a day to 0. I got some inspiration today though.

While in Alabama, I got to spend some great time with lots of Charlie's family. Uncle Jim is his mom's youngest brother, and I got especially close to his two daughters Jessica and Samantha. We even have a  picture up on our fridge right now that Samantha drew for us (she is 6 years old, despite Charlie thinking she's 2). This has led to many jokes of walking toddlers being "2 weeks old" etc. Funnier if you're there for it.

Anyway, while visiting them in Auburn one weekend back in July, I asked Jessie if she wanted to bake some brownies. She ran to get a box mix and I told her she didn't know me well enough yet. After making this batch a couple of times over a few visits (sometimes with butter and sometimes with vegetable oil), I hope Jessie will never make boxed brownies again!!

My grandma is one of the best cooks I know, and she is famous for her "oogiot savta" (grandma cookies, little hard round butter cookies with ground almonds as their base), and her decadent brownies. She used to put walnuts in them but stopped a few years ago when one of my cousin's husband disclosed he was allergic. I like them both ways.

Now the debate: My grandma eats these freezing cold. Literally - she freezes them, and lets them sit out just long enough to thaw so they don't break your teeth. I'll take my beer cold, but my brownies hot, thank you very much!


Ingredients:

-4 eggs
-2 cups sugar
-4 ounces butter
-4 tbs cocoa powder
-1 cup flour
-2 tsp vanilla
-1 tsp instant coffee
- tbs liquer (originally the recipe called for brandy but in auburn alabama at 9 pm we only found some baileys - it worked)

Jessie really wanted to crack the eggs separately (which is a smart thing to do to ensure no shell gets in the batter).


Directions.
1. Melt your butter and cocoa together in the microwave

2. Measure your sugar and eggs and put in a stand mixer (hand mixer would work find too)

Beat sugar and eggs together and add in the butter/cocoa mixture:

3. Add in the baileys, vanilla, and coffee - mix until combined.

4. Slowly add the flour in and mix until combined.
5. Pour into a baking dish, and let settle for about 10 minutes before baking.
6. Bake at 350 for about 25 minutes. Let cool (if you can resist), cut them into squares, and enjoy.

The brownies come out fudgy, almost as if they are slightly under-cooked.


Yummmmmm. I want some now.

By the way, after you make them, refrigerate in an airtight container, and they last for a really long time. You can freeze them as well, but unlike my grandma, I recommend you nuke them before eating them from the freezer.

Reverse chocolate chip cookies

I was taking a bit of a blog hiatus just because I've been wedding planning and taking care of lots of odds and ends at the house with Charlie (who came back less than a week ago and already accomplished so much, hurrah!).

I made these cookies last night and HAD to post. I suspect I'll have about 32 posts in 3 days because I have all these back logs of pictures to upload. And stories too.

Since I made my grandma's brownies (I will post the recipe soon and you will never be able to eat a different brownie again without pouting)...well since making my grandmas brownies, I've been enjoying the thought of using cocoa powder in everything (chill anyone?). Why not my "OMG cookies" with some chocolate in the dough?


(sidenote, I made a regular batch as well and they just didn't turn out right for some reason. I think maybe the dough didn't cool enough. I guess even I can screw up my own cookie sometime!)

I had a bag of white chocolate chips in the pantry (note to self, buy more of these to have around). I thought it would be better to have white chocolate chips in the chocolate cookie. The result was AMAZING. Charlie had 4, and he's been doing so good with being healthy. Whoops!

Recipe (modified from original omg cookie)
Ingredients:
-2 sticks of room temp butter (or just melt it in the microwave if you're in a rush)
-1 1/4 cups brown sugar
-1/4 cup white sugar
-5 tbs unsweetened cocoa powder (I buy the Hersheys brand)
-1 egg and 1 yolk
-2 tbs milk
-1/2 tbs vanilla
-1 tsp kosher salt
-1 tsp baking soda
-2 1/4 cups of bread flour (remember, bread flour! important)
-2 cups (about one package) of white chocolate chips (I used nestle tollhouse but store brand would work too)

Directions:
1. Put the butter, brown and white sugar, and cocoa in a mixing bowl and use a hand mixer to mix together.
2. Add in the egg and yolk, vanilla, and milk, and mix to combine.
3. Add the salt, soda, and flour, one cup at a time, combining between each cup of flour.
4. Add the white chocolate chips and use a spatula or spoon to mix the batter together.
5. Refrigerate for at least one hour, but more would be better. Use a 1.5 ounce scoop (3 tbs), to scoop out the batter on to cookie trays, and bake for 12 minutes at 350 degrees.

Let them cool just long enough to not burn your tongue, and watch as your fiancé eats four.