New Counters!

Ben and I got new counters!! Our old counters were only OKAY. When we moved in, the formica was peeling off. Dad fixed it up with some glue, and made these nice wooden edges to hold everything in (thanks, Pa!). That made it absolutely livable for the past two years. But it was hard to clean and just not the BEST. I spend a lot of time cooking in this kitchen, so it was definitely time for an upgrade! Here are the counters before:





And here are the NEW counters! They are Corian and they are THE BEST. They have these little subtle bits of SPARKLE throughout and it makes me soooo happy! It's a subtle, amazing sparkle. You walk through the kitchen, and glittering SPARKLES catch your eye!! And the counters are so satisfying to clean because they LITERALLY SPARKLE.







With a seamless sink! SO EASY TO CLEAN!



Here is a video to show the subtle sparkle. It's hard to capture on film, but you can see them sparkling!

Happy Father's Day!

We had plans to celebrate Father's Day with a burrito feast at our house tonight. After enjoying that Golden Peach Soup with Shrimp & Crab Seviche last night, I knew I had to add it to the menu for tonight. I thought Dad would just love it!! Plus I wanted to eat it again ASAP!! So I went out and picked up more peaches! Yay, round TWO!!



Oh, hi! It was the perfect start to our burrito feast.



Mmm, burrito.



All wrapped up!



Plus an enormous salad.



Mom also made a delicious peach crisp. It was yummy to start and end the night with peaches. I forgot to get a picture of the dessert, though! After dinner we played euchre. It was fun to get to enjoy a delicious dinner in honor of an awesome dad! I love you, Pa!

Cooking Club at Valerie's

Valerie was the host of this month's cooking club. The first thing I saw when I walked into her kitchen was this gorgeous loaf of wine cheese bread!! I was first introduced to this AMAZING BREAD at Nancy's Infused Vodka Cooking Club in January 2010. I think I have probably mentioned it at every single cooking club (and various other social functions, too) since then. So I was OVERJOYED when Valerie said she would be making it again tonight!! Behind it is her other dish for the evening - Tuna, Pasta and Pecan Salad.



I had to have a little moment alone with the wine cheese bread. Look, that one pocket of cheese in the foreground looks like a heart! I think it loves me back!!



I had to tear myself away from the loaf, because it was time to start eating!



Yumi made a deconstructed eggplant parmesan.



It was so much lighter and more summery than traditional eggplant parmesan! There was also a lemony olive oil to drizzle on top.



I was up next, and I served a Golden Peach Soup with Shrimp & Crab Seviche. I wanted to try this recipe because I am OBSESSED with fresh peaches, and also because I love seafood. This recipe ROCKED. Three pounds of peaches!! Here is a link to the recipe, I highly recommend it!



Served with some slices of the dreamy wine cheese bread and I was in HEAVEN.



Emily made a french onion tart! Ooh la la!



We ate the tart along with Valerie's tuna pecan pasta salad and Summer's green bean, quinoa, and crispy shallot salad. This trio went great together!



Mmmmmm!!!



We were pretty full, so we decided to take a little walk. We checked out the garden.



Nancy did a bit of modeling!



Then we ventured back to the house for some fun and games.



Fun and LAUGHING!



We played Balderdash and had dessert. Nancy made TWO KINDS of ice cream sandwiches. Whoa. Chocolate, cherry & pecan cookies with vanilla ice cream, and triple chocolate cookies with vanilla ice cream!!!!



They were so, so, so, so, so, so, SOOOOOOO GOOD.



I was in LOVE.



As we continued the game, my appetite inched slowly back, and I found myself walking out to the dining room several times to slice off "tiny bites" of the wine cheese loaf. Finally, after the millionth tiny bite I said "screw it!" and just grabbed the rest! MMM!!!



It was a fantastic and delicious night and it was magical to be reunited with my favorite wine cheese bread. I can't wait until we cross paths again.

Warrior Dash

Summer and I ran the Warrior Dash this weekend in Logan! We were really impressed with how organized the event is. The Warrior Dash is a 5k with lots of obstacles like mud pits, fire pits, rope climbs, etc.





Before the race. Look at how nice and clean our tank tops are!



FIRE PIT!



MUD PIT!



This is AFTER we hosed off.



Warrior!



Warrior!



Warriors everywhere.



Summer and some random girl.



Bus ride back to our car.



On the way back to Athens, we spotted a fruit stand selling sweet georgia peaches!!!!!!!! YES!!!!! Peaches are my favorite fruit of the whole summer and these were AWESOME AWESOME PEACHES. I bought a basket and they're already all gone. YUM.