Cake

Woo! We made it! We have been married for one whole year (plus some) annnd even ate frozen wedding cake. Before I give you a quick synopsis of frozen year old wedding cake eating, here's a recap complete with links of the twelve monthly anniversary dinners.

September 2013 | One Month

wedding reception remix

October 2013 | Two Months

mixed greens with scallops, butternut orzo, truffles

November 2013 | Three Months

spinach stuffed flank steak, gingered pear crisp

December 2013 | Four Months

crab cakes and parmesan orzo, chocolate beet cake

January 2014 | Five Months

salmon in puff pastry, brussels with cranberries and pecans, dulce de leche tiramisu

February 2014 | Six Months

lasagna roll-ups, chocolate strawberry shortcakes

March 2014 | Seven Months

lemon spaghetti with seared scallops, oreo cheesecake trifles with raspberries

April 2014 | Eight Months

fish baked in parchment, carrot cake cupcakes

May 2014 | Nine Months

lobster potato salad, blueberry orange fruit salad, apricot mascarpone tart

June 2014 | Ten Months

roasted beets with greens, lemon chicken with asparagus, palmies

July 2014 | Eleven Months

spaghetti and mussels, blueberry crumb cake

August 2014 | Twelve Months

celebrated with a housewarming

September 2014 | Thirteen Months

meatloaf, summer vegetables

As you just saw we celebrated the one year anniversary with a housewarming party. At the party I surprised Patrick with a *fresh* Daisy Cakes cake in one of our wedding cake flavors. Patrick somehow thought this meant he didn't have to eat frozen wedding cake so he didn't bring up eating frozen wedding cake - let's be honest... Patrick didn't want any of this frozen cake! I, on the other hand, completely forgot about the frozen wedding cake.

Then we were going to eat it on the thirteen months anniversary dinner night but I didn't remember the cake until a few hours before dinner and apparently these frozen cakes need at least 24 hours to defrost. So on we waited until October and Patrick couldn't delay the inevitable anymore. October 10th rolls around and it was a hectic day but the cake had already been defrosting! But finally on October 13th we kissed, said "I love you, what a great wedding day we had", and ate year and two months old cake.

And it was delicious.
Protip - freeze your wedding napkins in the bag with the cake!

Housewarming

After Patrick and I moved, we felt that it was only fitting to host a housewarming party! We invited over friends, family, and neighbors! This was a great way to meet and mingle with new and old friends.

We planned the event for mid-day Saturday which happened to coincide with our anniversary weekend. It was very special to celebrate our first anniversary with our nearest and dearest loved ones. It was almost like a mini-wedding celebration!

And because it was our first anniversary I decided to surprise Patrick with a Daisy Cakes red velvet cake. You may recall that our delicious wedding cake was made by them. Our wedding cake was split with a vanilla tier and red velvet. At the wedding we missed out on the red velvet tier and I wanted to make up for that. Here's the cake:

I found the cutest wedding couple figure from Etsy and purchased it as an anniversary topper

Below are some food / set up pictures with some notes on the layout. I have the recipes I used saved in this google document that you can access. I like to plan the food in various rooms to promote movement and mingling!

In the living room I had a card table set up with snack-y finger foods. This included a fruit platter, chips and dip with guacamole, veggies and dip, and mini quiche (to be placed on that white platter once warmed).

In the kitchen I had all the more substantial lunch-y foods. There was a broccoli salad, deviled eggs, orzo with watermelon, arugula, and feta salad, chicken salad with Mom's sourdough rolls, and finally pimento cheese and crackers. I also had drinks set up here. At one end of the table were pitchers of water and iced tea. There was some chilled white wine and beer in the beverage tub,

On the counter in the kitchen I had the crockpot warming bbq from Q-Shack and cole slaw with rolls.

In the dining room I had the desserts table. Patrick made banana pudding, his mother (who flew all the way in from Chicago from the occasion) made vanilla cupcakes with chocolate buttercream, and there was the Daisy Cakes red velvet cake. My mom had also brought up blonde brownies which were on the coffee table as welcome nibbles. My grandmother brought peanuts as another welcome nibbles too - thanks for all the contributions!

You may noticed that there are little identifying signs for the food. This isn't something I normally do but since we were inviting neighbors who we had never hosted (we did knock on doors and personally pass out our invitations) I wanted to make sure anyone with a food allergy or intolerance would feel like they could enjoy themselves at our party. 

You may also note that it was a lot of food and it was! We didn't require RSVPs from the neighbors so wanted to make sure there was plenty for everyone. We had about 25 folks stop by for the housewarming and called it a success!

The housewarming party was great motivation to have the house organized! There were a few boxes stashed in closets that have yet to be unpacked... working on that this week! 

Dupree says "I like to read the paper with dad"

Ninth Month Menu

Last month for our Ninth Month anniversary meal I thought it would be a fun change of pace to go on a picnic. I would make one exception to have this monthly anniversary meal on our fine china since it was such a nice weekend and we would still be commemorating the monthly anniversary. Fate would just so have it that the picnic spot would fail and we would return home to have a picnic on our fine china! I'll include our recipes first and then the failed picnic story below!

Lobster potato salad

Pimento cheese sandwiches

Blueberry orange fruit salad

Apricot mascarpone tart

served with Seaglass Chardonnay

Ina Garten's Lobster potato salad
Ingredients
1 1/2 lbs unpeeled small Yukon Gold potatoes
Kosher salt
3 tbsp Champagne vinegar
1/2 tsp Dijon mustard
1/2 tsp minced garlic
1 extra-large egg yolk, at room temperature (optional)
Freshly ground black pepper
1/2 c good olive oil
1/4 c dry white wine
3 tbsp drained capers
1 c thinly sliced scallions
1/2 c diced celery
1/2 c diced red onion
1 1/2 lb cooked lobster meat, diced
1 lemon
3 tbsp chopped fresh tarragon  
Directions
   Place the potatoes in a large pot and cover with water by 1 inch. Add 1 tablespoon salt and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer for 15 to 25 minutes, depending on the size of the potatoes, until just tender. (I use a small bamboo skewer to test them.) Drain in a colander, cover the colander with a clean kitchen towel, and allow the potatoes to steam for 5 to 10 minutes. Cut them in quarters or halves, depending on their size, and place them in a large bowl.
   Meanwhile, whisk together the vinegar, mustard, garlic, egg yolk, 2 teaspoons salt and 1 teaspoon pepper. While whisking, slowly pour in the olive oil, making an emulsion. Stir in the wine and capers. While the potatoes are still very warm, pour half the vinaigrette on the potatoes and toss them gently, allowing them to soak up the vinaigrette. Stir in the scallions, celery, red onion and lobster and add enough vinaigrette to moisten. Reserve any remaining vinaigrette. Add the zest and juice of the lemon, the tarragon, 2 teaspoons salt and 1 teaspoon pepper and toss carefully. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least an hour to allow the flavors to blend. Taste for seasonings and add more vinaigrette, if necessary. Serve at room temperature.

Apricot mascarpone tart
For two 8 inch tarts or one 9 x 13 pan of bars (we made bars and cut the recipe in half)
   For the topping
1 1/2 lbs pitted apricots
1 1/2 c sugar
2 cinnamon sticks
1 orange peel
3 c dry white wine
   For the filling
1 lb mascarpone
1 tsp vanilla
2 tbsp sugar
1/2 cup reduced apricot liquid
   For the tart
2 c all-purpose flour
8 oz unsalted butter, room temp
1/2 c powdered sugar
pinch of salt
Pre Heat oven to 350F
Directions
   For the crust, work together the flour, butter, powdered sugar and salt until it forms a dough (I needed to add a little water to make the dough come together). If making tarts, divide the dough in half. Sprinkle your work area with flour and roll out each ball of dough to about 1/4 thick and 10 inches wide. Lay each dough over a fluted tart pan and press the dough in.  Add a piece of parchment to the bottom of each tart pan on top of the dough, and add pie weights or dried beans to keep everything in place. Bake at 350F for 15 minutes, remove the parchment and weights, and bake for another 10 minutes until lightly golden brown.  Remove and cool.
   If making bars, spread the dough on the bottom of a greased 9×13″ baking dish lined with parchment folded over the sides (this is for easy bar removal) and pat down so it’s evenly distributed. Bake at 350F for 20-25 minutes, until lightly golden brown, remove, and cool.
   Combine apricots, sugar, cinnamon, orange peel and wine in a pot over medium-high heat. When mixture boils, reduce to simmer and cook for 45 to 50 minutes, until liquid has turned to syrup and the fruit is completely tender.  You should be able to cut and bite through it without much effort.  If it needs more time, cook it for another 5 minutes and test it again. Set aside a half cup of the liquid, and set aside the fruit until it cools to room temp (you don’t want it to melt the cheese when you combine everything).
   Whip the mascarpone with vanilla, sugar and liquid.  Spread over the shortbread crust. Top with apricots in a pretty pattern.  Brush with left over syrup to make it glisten.
   If you’re making this ahead, store it in the fridge and take it out about 20 minutes before serving to take the chill off.

Still smiling after our failed picnic! We're back home here and just finished setting up our outdoor table and chairs.

We had picnicked before at the Vineyards at Southpoint and loved it. The vineyard is a short drive away and gives us the opportunity to relax and leave behind all the major commotion of Durham. The vineyard is nestled in a lovely greenscape complete with grapevines, a pond that has a fountain, and lots of picnic tables. It was the perfect spot for an anniversary picnic! 

As you can see I planned us a nicer-than-average picnic for the special occasion. 

From top to bottom: Fruit salad, Apricot mascarpone tart, Pimento cheese sandwiches, Lobster potato salad

And then packed it all up

Well we get to the vineyard and it's closed for the season! I had looked them up before we left to verify their hours and it said open. It seems like the closing was very recent. They had an announcement on their facebook page that the winemakers have decided to focus on family even though the vineyard was doing well. Hopefully someone will open it back up! 

In the meantime we drove around to nearby parks to find a suitable replacement but I was being a bit picky and didn't want to settle for the sub par tables next to soccer fields (anniversary picnic, remember?!). We finally decided to go home, set up our outdoor dining set, and make a fancy picnic at home. Here's our tablescape complete with fine china and picnic food!

Even though I missed the winery picnic, it was nice to use our fine china and continue the monthly anniversary dinners!

Eighth Month Menu

Patrick and I are enjoying our monthly anniversary dinner celebrations so much! I'm getting a little sad each month we get closer to our first year anniversary dinner because these have been a lot of fun and a great time for us to reconnect during our busy lives and I will miss these first year monthly anniversary dinners. I'm certainly not sad that our one year anniversary seems to be approaching so quickly!! However I may have secretly decided to continue this little tradition even though Patrick thinks it will be too hard to continue each month.

One thing that is kind of difficult with these anniversary dinners is the menu. I do think if we continue with the anniversary dinner it may morph into a more casual menu or something that would've regularly been planned for the week and then we can just serve it with our formal place settings. Until we hit the year mark though I want to try to elevate the menu from our more casual weekday meals. The hard part is not so much planning a fancier menu rather it's coming up with different menus. One of my go to planned fancier meals is seared scallops and I don't want to have scallops each month! For this particular Eighth Month menu I decided to keep it light and simple since spring and fresh produce are on the way. I actually just went to the grocery store the day of our anniversary and selected a fish (halibut) that looked good and some seasonal produce (chioggia beets) that looked good! Here's what we did:

Fish baked in parchment

Lightly dressed arugula salad with chioaggi beets

Carrot cake cupcakes

Biltmore Spring Release White wine,

in honor of Patrick’s Biltmore proposal two years ago this month (April 27^th, 2012)

Fish baked in parchment from chow.com
Ingredients
1 (6-ounce) firm-fleshed white-fish fillet, such as halibut, cod, or haddock (the fillet should be between 3/4 and 1 1/4 inches thick)
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 bay leaf, cut in half (optional)
Fresh herbs, such as chives, parsley, tarragon, or chervil (optional)
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
3 thin lemon slices
1 tablespoon dry white wine or water
Directions
   Heat the oven to 400°F and arrange a rack in the middle.
   Draw out a large piece of parchment paper (about 17 by 11 inches) and, with one of the longer edges closest you, fold it in half from left to right. Using scissors, cut out a large heart shape.

I may have selected the recipe because of the parchment heart!!!

Place the fish in the center of one half of the parchment heart. (The heart should be large enough that there is at least a 1-1/2-inch border around the fillet.)
   Set the parchment heart on a baking sheet. Drizzle the fish with half of the olive oil, rub the oil all over the fillet, and season with salt and pepper. Lay half of the bay leaf and a few sprigs of herbs (if using) on top of the fish. Break the butter into little pieces and arrange them on top of the herbs. Place the lemon slices over everything and drizzle with the remaining oil.
   Fold the parchment heart over to cover the fish. (The edges of the heart should line up.) Starting at the rounded end, crimp the edges together, folding them over themselves and leaving the last two inches at the pointed end unfolded. Slightly tilt the package up and pour in the wine or water. Finish crimping the edges, then twist the pointed end around once and fold the “tail” under.

I recommend visiting the recipe website because it has step-by-step picture instructions for this step.

   Place the baking sheet in the oven and bake 10 minutes for a 3/4-inch-thick fillet or 12 minutes for a 1- to 1-1/4-inch-thick fillet.
   Remove the baking sheet from the oven and transfer the parchment package to a dinner plate. Serve immediately, cutting into the parchment tableside using scissors or a knife. Since we split a fish filet I opened the package and plated half of the filet on each plate then served.

Carrot Cake Cupcakes adapted from Cook's Illustrated
Ingredients

   Serves 15-20 *We cut the recipe in half and made cupcakes

For the cake

2 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour (12 1/2 ounces)

1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 1/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

1/2 teaspoon table salt

1 lb carrot, peeled (medium 6 to 7 carrots about 3 cups)

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar (10 1/2 ounces)

1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed (3 1/2 ounces)

4 large eggs

1 1/2 cups vegetable oil or 1 1/2 cups safflower oil or 1 1/2 cups canola oil

For the cream cheese frosting

8 ounces cream cheese, softened but still cool

5 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened but still cool

1 tablespoon sour cream

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/4 cups confectioners' sugar (4 1/2 ounces)

Directions

   For the cake: Adjust oven rack to middle position; heat oven to 350 degrees. Spray 13 by 9-inch baking pan (or 2, 9" round cake pans) with nonstick cooking spray. Line bottom of pan with parchment and spray parchment.

   Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and salt in large bowl; set aside.

   In food processor fitted with large shredding disk, shred carrots; transfer carrots to bowl and set aside. Wipe out food processor work bowl and fit with metal blade. Process granulated and brown sugars and eggs until frothy and thoroughly combined, about 20 seconds. With machine running, add oil through feed tube in steady stream. Process until mixture is light in color and well emulsified, about 20 seconds longer. Scrape mixture into medium bowl. Stir in carrots and dry ingredients until incorporated and no streaks of flour remain. Pour into prepared pan and bake until toothpick or skewer inserted into center of cake comes out clean, 35 to 40 minutes, rotating pan halfway through baking time. Cool cake to room temperature in pan on wire rack, about 2 hours.

   For the frosting: When cake is cool, process cream cheese, butter, sour cream, and vanilla in clean food processor work-bowl until combined, about 5 seconds, scraping down bowl with rubber spatula as needed. Add confectioners' sugar and process until smooth, about 10 seconds.

   Run paring knife around edge of cake to loosen from pan. Invert cake onto wire rack, peel off parchment, then invert again onto serving platter. Using icing spatula, spread frosting evenly over surface of cake. Cut into squares and serve. (Cover leftovers and refrigerate for up to 3 days.).

Since April also commemorated our engagement I couldn't pass up this Biltmore Spring Release white wine. Patrick proposed at Biltmore two springs ago -- here's our proposal blog post!

April was an exciting month for us! Stay tuned to the blog for these things we've been celebrating!

Seventh Month Menu

When Patrick and I were finalizing ceremony details for our wedding, one big decision was what time it would start! 11am - 11:30am - and 12noon were the options. At our venue we had the space from 11am-4pm. We weren't too keen on getting started right at 11am and debated quite a bit between 11:30am and 12noon. My mom felt like a noon wedding could be construed as a formal ("high noon" weddings, anyone??) wedding. We liked the sentiment that, according to some traditions, getting married on the half hour means the couple will have many blessings in their life as the minute hand is moving upwards and ascending to the heavens. And before we knew it we had set the ceremony for 11:30am!

And here we are now, on the up tick side of our first year of marriage! What fun it was to celebrate seven months together in March! I asked Patrick for anniversary dinner input and he requested one of his favorite dishes -- lemon spaghetti with seared scallops. So it's not a new recipe for the blog but still below. There was, however, a new dessert!

Lemon spaghetti with seared scallops
Ingredients
Table salt
1 pound spaghetti
¼ cup evoo, plus more for serving
1 medium shallot, minced
¼ cup heavy cream
2 tsps finely grated lemon zest and ¼ cup juice from 3 lemons
1 ounce finely grated Parmesan cheese (about ½ cup), plus more for servings
Ground black pepper
2 tablespoons shredded fresh basil leaves

Directions
   Bring 4 quarts water to boil in large Dutch oven over high heat. Add 1 tablespoon salt and pasta to boiling water; cook, stirring frequently, until al dente. Reserve 1¾ cups cooking water, drain pasta into colander, and set aside.
   Heat 1 tablespoon oil in now-empty Dutch oven over medium heat until shimmering. Add shallot and ½ teaspoon salt; cook until shallot is softened, about 2 minutes. Whisk 1½ cups of reserved pasta cooking water and cream into pot; bring to simmer and cook for 2 minutes. Remove pot from heat, return pasta, and stir until coated. Stir in remaining 3 tablespoons oil, lemon zest, lemon juice, cheese, and ½ teaspoon pepper.
   Cover and let pasta stand 2 minutes, tossing frequently and adjusting consistency with remaining ¼ cup reserved pasta water if necessary. Stir in basil and season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve, drizzling individual portions with oil and sprinkling with cheese.
 
Meanwhile sear scallops. Serve scallops atop lemon spaghetti.

Oreo cheesecake trifles with raspberries adapted from Curry & Comfort Blog
Ingredients
½ package of chocolate wafer cookies (approx. 20)
1 small box instant vanilla pudding
4 oz cream cheese, room temperature
½ cup whipped cream
Raspberries, for garnish 

Directions
   Whip cream cheese until smooth with electric mixer. Prepare pudding according to package directions and mix with cream cheese. Fold in half the whipped cream.
   Crush cookies in food processor.
   To assemble trifles, layer cookie and custard mixture alternately. Finish with whipped topping.
   Garnish with raspberries and additional cookie if desired.

Mini Cheesecakes

When Patrick and I were registering for the wedding we had a fairly good idea of what items we wanted to add to or upgrade in our kitchen. We researched these items and didn't have too much trouble selecting them. Finalizing our dishes (both formal and casual) did take a bit of back and forth but once decided we didn't look back!

Today we're featuring a "for fun" registry item -- mini springform pans! Crate and Barrel's Kaiser Nonstick mini springform pan to be exact (just 4.5" in diameter). This was a request from Patrick; in his words, it was so he could perfect cheesecakes without having to make large ones.

Imagine Patrick's excitement when we received these! Off I set to make us some mini cheesecakes. I ran across a perfect recipe from Kraft. It has a base recipe for regular cheesecake and then several "stir-in" flavors to personalize them. For our first venture into the world of mini cheesecakes we made regular and mocha.

Mini Cheesecakes from Kraft
   prep 20 min | total 5 hr 5 min | makes 4 mini cheesecakes
Ingredients
1 cup graham cracker crumbs
3 Tbsp sugar
3 Tbsp butter or margarine, melted
3 pkg (8 oz. each) cream cheese, softened
¾ cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
3 eggs

Directions
   Preheat oven to 300°F.
   Mix cracker crumbs, 3 Tbsp. sugar and the butter; press scant 1/3 cup crumb mixture onto bottom of each of four mini (4-1/2-inch) springform pans. Bake 7 min.
   Beat cream cheese, 3/4 cup sugar and the vanilla with electric mixer on medium speed until well blended. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing on low speed after each addition just until blended. Pour one-fourth of the batter (about 1 cup) into each of four bowls. If desired, add one of the Stir-In Ideas to each bowl of batter. Pour over crusts. Place pans on baking sheet.
   Bake 40 to 45 min. or until centers are almost set. Run knife or metal spatula around rims of pans to loosen cakes; cool before removing rims. Refrigerate at least 4 hours.

Stir-in Ideas: For each one-fourth portion of batter, stir in one of the following before pouring batter over crust and baking as directed.
   Apple Pie: Stir in 1/8 tsp. ground cinnamon. Top baked cheesecake with combined 1/2 cup warmed apple pie filling and 1/2 tsp. brown sugar. 

   Cherry: Bake mini cheesecake as directed without Stir-Ins. Just before serving, top with 1/3 cup cherry pie filling.

   Chocolate Chunk: Stir in 1 oz. Semi-Sweet Baking Chocolate, chopped. 

   Chocolate Royale: Stir in 2 oz. Semi-Sweet Baking Chocolate, melted.
   Citrus: Stir in 1 tsp. lemon, orange or lime juice; 1 tsp. flour and 1/4 tsp. grated lemon, orange or lime peel.
   Cookies and Cream: Stir in 1/4 cup chopped oreo Cookies.  
   Mocha: Mix 1 tsp. Instant Coffee granules with 2 tsp. hot water. Stir into batter along with 2 oz. Semi-Sweet Baking Chocolate, melted. 

   New York: Stir in 1/4 cup Sour Cream and 1 Tbsp. flour.

   Peanut Butter: Stir in 2 Tbsp. peanut butter and 1 Tbsp. milk. 

   S'Mores: Stir in 3 Tbsp. milk chocolate chips. Top baked cheesecake with 1/4 cup Miniature Marshmallows and 1 Tbsp. broken Honey Grahams.

We each had a quarter slice of both flavors! We served with a dollop of whipped cream.

Next I imagine we'll try peanut butter or s'mores. What would be your favorite stir-in?!

Six Months Anniversary Dinner

Last month, just a few days before Valentine's Day, we celebrated our six month anniversary! We had a very exciting Valentine's date planned so we moved our traditional Valentine's meal of manicotti to our anniversary dinner night.

We've been venturing into the homemade pasta world recently (see here here and here) so we decided to make an adapted lasagna roll-up (with homemade noodles) that would somewhat mimic manicotti. This turned out okay but not amazing so we'll share a recipe once it turns out a little better. I think what went wrong was our placement of the filling when rolling it up; we placed the filling only on one half of the noodle which meant after rolling it up there were a few rotations of just the noodle and that was a bit heavy. Next time we will slather the whole noodle with filling before rolling it up!

For dessert I chose a chocolate shortcake with strawberries in honor of Patrick's very first Valentine's gift to me. Way back in 2010 he had an Edible Arrangement sent to me with a bear stuffed animal. His accompanying note read "You are berry special to me." So I couldn't resist making him a berry special dessert as we celebrated our first Valentine's as a married couple!

Chocolate Strawberry Shortcakes from Taste of Home
   Prep 20 min | Bake 10 min | Serves 4
Ingredients
1/2 quart fresh strawberries, sliced
1/3 cup sugar, divided
1 cups all-purpose flour
2 tbsp baking cocoa
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsps baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup cold unsalted butter
1/3 cup + 1 tbsp miniature semisweet chocolate ships, divided
~1/3 c half-and-half cream
1 egg white, lightly beaten
1 1/2 tsps sugar
1/4 pint heavy whipping cream
1 1/4 tbsps confectioners’ sugar
1/3 c hot fudge ice cream topping, optional
10 fresh strawberries or grated chocolate for garnish, optional

Directions
   Combine strawberries and 2 tablespoons sugar; refrigerate if desired. In a large bowl, combine the flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, salt and remaining sugar. Cut in butter and 1/3 cup chips until crumbly. Add half-and-half and stir until just moistened.
   Divide dough into 4 patties, about 3/4-in. thick. Place on parchment paper-lined baking sheets. Brush with egg white; sprinkle with coarse sugar and remaining chips.

   Bake at 450° for 13 minutes or until toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, beat whipping cream and confectioners' sugar until stiff peaks form. Refrigerate.
   To assemble, split shortcakes in half. Place cake bottoms on dessert plates. Top with about two-thirds of the strawberries, whipped cream and fudge topping. Replace shortcake tops; top with remaining berries, cream and topping. Garnish with additional berries and chocolate if desired.


We celebrated Valentine's in downtown Durham! We started the evening at King's Daughters Inn for a wine and canape paired tasting. Then we went to the highly anticipated Book of Mormon musical at DPAC. Finally the evening concluded at Mateo's Tapas restaurant. It couldn't have been a better evening!

Wedding throwback: Parties

Patrick and I had a sixteen month engagement. During this time our family and friends expressed their excitement and approval of our upcoming union with various parties. The first was a spring shower hosted by close family friends. Then the groomsmen hosted Patrick in Savannah over St. Patrick's Day for his bachelor party and the bridesmaids hosted a fabulous DC Bachelorette party for myself. There were two summer social parties in my hometown to get together local folks. And finally a bridesmaids luncheon (which coincidentally kicked off the wedding the weekend) was hosted by my aunt!

Patrick and I were so humbled by the outpouring of love and support during this time. We had fun celebrating with everyone throughout the engagement. It was such a special time!

My phone put together this "gif" of Patrick opening this bottle of champagne. His sister sent it to DC for my bachelorette party but it didn't quite make it and arrived via Christine a little later. What a nice way to end the parties.

And this concludes our February Month of Love Wedding Throwback posts!! Woo hoo... if you missed any, here are all the links to the various wedding topics we blogged about:

   Addressing things

   Brocade themed wedding

   Pinterest non-inspiration

   Honeymoon

   Making felt flowers

   Thursday of wedding weekend

   More Pinterest inspiration

   Bridal portraits behind the scenes

   Tasting things

   Will you be my...

   Wedding day timeline

   Dressing the wedding party

Hope you enjoyed reading them as much as we loved getting married! Thanks for letting us share with you.

Wedding Throwback: Dressing the wedding party

This is our next to last wedding wrap up post! Today we'll go through a bit of the process of how the wedding party came to be adorned the way they did. Patrick and I were very mindful of our renovated textile warehouse venue, our daytime wedding, and the ambiance everything created together.

Patrick and I wanted to present a unified newlywed couple so early on in my dress selection process I asked him if he would want to wear a tuxedo or not. He was leaning towards a lightweight cotton suit. I knew this ruled out fancy ballgowns for me.

Off I went dress shopping. I actually selected my dress about a year before the wedding. Thankfully I loved it just as much on the wedding day as the day I selected it!

Here's the winner:

Even though I ended up with more ball gown than I was initially envisioning, I fell in love with their cotton shantung taffeta material. As soon I put it on I felt like it was perfect for our daytime wedding. It didn't have any frills and there was a bit of texture on the bodice. I thought the bow at the waistline added a nice feminine touch.

The bridesmaids' outfits were selected in March so about five months before the wedding. I had done a bit of research for styles I liked for the girls before we went to the store. After process of elimination from Rachel and Stephanie we ended up with two styles that they both liked and ultimately decided on this chiffon strapless dress with a sweetheart neckline that mirrored my dress (that's what made it the winner)! The tough decision was then decided on the color. We were torn with how blue or green the dresses should be. Ultimately we decided on 'peacock'.

Next up Patrick and the groomsmen! On a spring trip to Chicago to visit his family Patrick snagged his brother and best man for some suit shopping. They went all over Michigan Avenue and a J.Crew suit from the Ludlow collection caught his eye. He continued to browse for suits over the next few months but ultimately selected the J. Crew Ludlow cotton suit with a fine stripe.

This one didn't make the cut

To differentiate himself as the groom Patrick chose the 3 piece suit and added the vest to his ensemble while the groomsmen just wore the 2 piece suit.

Trying everything on after its arrival

Patrick wasn't quite out of the woods yet with outfit choices. He needed to finalize his tie and accessories! We stumbled upon a local NC store (flagship store is actually in downtown Raleigh) producing cotton bow ties. Patrick knew this would be the perfect addition to the Ludlow suit. There was quite a bit of debate about pattern and who would wear what. Ultimately we liked Patrick in a lone darker blue stripe with  pink accent stripes bow tie. The groomsmen wore a blue and white stripe bow tie with the ushers in a light blue and white stripe bow tie. Our ring bearer, Patrick's nephew, then wore the children's version of Patrick's bow tie. Everyone completed their outfit with a light pink pocket square.

Putting everything together.

So much to consider with dressing the wedding party! We thought we presented a uniform-looking wedding party without being too obvious.

Wedding throwback: Wedding day timeline

We are almost to the end of February and just about done with the wedding posts! I wasn't sure this was possible but I think all topics have just about been covered. Hooray!

Today we are sharing the wedding day timeline and one of our favorite parts of the weekend (besides from the whole getting married part) -- a food truck dinner! Since we had a daytime wedding the traditional wedding day timeline was very different for us.

This little clipboard had the timeline on it and greeted everyone at the reception desk.

Here's the excerpt for Saturday

The morning was certainly a little rushed! Everyone needed to be ready to leave by 10:30am but we wanted to start taking pictures around 9:30am. Unfortunately this ruled out a relaxing day at the salon with girls getting their hair done and drinking mimosas. The hair stylists arrived at 7am to get started on everyone. The guys had a bit more leeway and didn't meet in the groom's suite until 8:30am.

At 9:30am Patrick and I were both ready and kicked off the wedding party pictures with an intimate First Look session. This is when a couple chooses to see each other before the ceremony and the photographer captures the moment. It's certainly something that each couple should make sure is right for them but we would definitely recommend it. To me it was a more emotional moment than seeing Patrick at the end of the aisle. We were able to exchange quiet "I love you's" and have a few minutes alone together before the craziness of the day got started. By doing a First Look, this meant we were also able to take formal pictures before the ceremony (we also took some after the ceremony) but I will say my favorite formal pictures of just the two of us are the ones taken before. We look fresher and my makeup was flawless at that point. The next time we took formal pictures together (after the ceremony) was about noon so two and a half hours later! Here are a few snapshots our photographer put together from the First Look:

And then there were "I Do's" and food and cake and mingling and dancing aka the ceremony and reception.

Then here we are a little before 4pm leaving the reception (some couples haven't even gotten married by this time on a typical Saturday wedding!) ...

Then it was quiet time. From 4pm until 6pm Patrick and I were able to have some time to ourselves to reflect on our wedding! Actually about 4pm a summer thunderstorm rolled around so it was nice to listen to the rain together.

One of Patrick's tasks throughout the wedding planning process was to brainstorm a list of food trucks for us to contact for Saturday dinner. He quickly suggested his favorite truck that comes and parks outside his work on Wednesdays: the Deli-icious Food Truck! Actually there wasn't much of a list; there was only one line and it said "Deli-icious". Good thing they didn't turn us down! Here are a few snapshots of the food truck.

As mentioned previously we did not have a rocking party reception so we decided to conclude the evening in downtown Durham. Our friends joined us out for a more bit more lively fun. Here we are before going out:

It was such a wonderful day! We wouldn't have changed anything about our timeline. I loved marrying Patrick in the morning and not having to worry about jitters throughout the day.

Wedding throwback: Will you be my...

To me, asking your bestest friends to be in your wedding party should not be taken lightly. Standing next to someone as they join their lives with another is no small task! I decided to make personalized "Will you be my bridesmaid?" cards for each gal and hand deliver it to them to make it special.

I wanted to share how I crafted their cards on the blog today to continue with all the wedding throwback posts. Almost through February and these wedding posts... shew, they're hard work!

Step 1. Find a dress template
   Google Image search for "dress template"
Step 2. Acquire materials
   Materials needed: [in color of your choosing] glitter paper, wired mesh ribbon, and 1/2" thick ribbon, colored pencil, 5x7 cards
Step 3. Make miniature bridesmaid dress
   I traced the dress template onto the blue glitter paper and cut it out for the base. Next I cut a section of wired mesh ribbon slightly wider than the base. I glued the edges of the mesh ribbon behind the template (the top of the mesh ribbon went around the waistline and the bottom of the ribbon was the hemline). The 1/2" thick ribbon was then glued around the waistline to conceal the top of the mesh ribbon.
Step 4. Assemble card
   I glued the bridesmaid dress to the cards and wrote with the colored pencil "Will you be my" across the top of the card and "bridesmaid?" along the bottom.
Step 5. Write personalized note
   I flipped the card over and then wrote a personalized note to each bridesmaid.
Step 6. Deliver to bridesmaids!

At the time I wasn't sure what color the bridesmaid dresses would be but I knew blue was an option! I also thought this card was a simpler version of the "bridesmaid box" (as seen here on Pinterest). I was really pleased with how they turned out! You might can guess that Patrick did not make cards for his half of the wedding party.