Words of Wisdom on Friday from: Mama

Today, this first Friday after the ceremony of marriage, I have chosen a quote from William Shakespeare.

"My heart is ever at your service."

.... On a side note, I promise to be back to my normal blogging schedule next week! I have so much to catch up on and write about!

Words of Wisdom from Mama

My sweetest gift will soon become my daughter in law. I have chosen this poem to reflect my feelings;

I wanted to tell you on this day;
How much you mean to me;
And welcome you with open arms
Into our family;

It was so easy for me to see;
Right from the very start
The special way you loved my son;
The kindness in your heart;

Thank you for the happiness;
You have brought into his life;
I know that he is very proud;
to have you as his wife;

And on the day that you shall wed;
How happy I will be;
For my son shall gain a loving wife;
And a daughter will be given to me


Source:Family friend poems 

I guess we are kind of alike.

And we have fun too!

Dani Elle, you must know; The Dad shares this sentiment. We love you with all our heart.

Garden

Well, we finally got the garden planted a few weekends ago. And boy, was it hard work! I met my parents out at the garden at 9:00am and we didn't leave until about 12:30pm! It was hot, sunny, and a perfect day to be outside enjoying nature and soaking up summer! By soaking up summer, I mean I wore SPF 70 and a sun hat to shield my face from the sun. Hey, who said you can't enjoy summer and still be the whitest girl on the block? 

We planted sooo many vegetables this year! I can't wait to start seeing them grow; and, most of all, eat them! We've got: red, white, and yellow onions, broccoli, cauliflower, spinach, kale, lettuce, green beans, peas, tomatoes (4 different varieties), green pepper, yellow pepper, jalapeno pepper, thai chile pepper, cucumbers, zucchinis, squash, and carrots. I'm sure I'm forgetting something... I have it all written down on the back of a box. Once I get that transferred onto graph paper and have it all mapped out, I will share that with you. But, for now... you'll just have to deal with some action shots of getting the garden started. 

Weeding... by far the worst part!

My Dad planting onions, and my Mom picking weeds/rocks/grass

We take a stake at each end and tie a piece of string to each to make a straight line.

Marm on Monday: Canoeing

Yesterday, My Sweet, my soon to be in laws (in 12 days!), and I went canoeing. My Sweet and I love this place in Trego, WI called Jack's. It's just great. Very scenic, no bugs, the river is the perfect depth and length, and the 2 hour drive to get there is just great when you're surrounded by people you love so much!

Do you enjoy My Sweet's swim trunks from the 80's?

Words of Wisdom From Mom: Easy Grilling

Danielle's Mom here today...

Easy grilln

 

 

Have you ever looked at the front of a magazine and read, "easy grillin recipes page 75"? So you turn to page 75 and you see a recipe with 25 ingredients and 3/4 page of directions, then turn to the next page cause you are sure you have the  wrong page? Sure enough, another recipe- this time with 15 ingredient's and 1/2 page.

 

 So, you think to yourself "uh, if this is easy I don't want to see the hard ones!"

 

Don't get me wrong, I love to cook; but 25 ingredients and 25 steps? Not easy in my book- maybe in Danielle and Chana's- but, not mine. Especially when the sun is shinning and the family is outside enjoying in.

 

I want to share with you some "easy grllin" tips: 

 

Can of Bushes baked beans or even pork-n-beans will work  take the paper off, open the can, and stick it on the grill.  (Oh, don't forget to stir them they like to settle to the bottom of the can). 

 

I love fresh vegetables so any time they can be used-bonus! Danielle gave her dad a veg pan for the grill last year and it is wonderful. Line it with aluminum foil, take what ever vegetables you like cut them up add a little olive oil or butter, seasoning to taste and wonderful fresh veg.  (If you do potatoes precook them in the microwave they tend to take a little longer to cook then other vegs). If you do not have a veg pan line a sheet of aluminum foil with olive oil add the vegs and either oil or (my favorite) butter; wrap the vegies tightly and put that right on the grill. If that seems a little too much,  an easy potato is to take frozen hashbrown, let them thaw a little,  put them in aluminum foil with butter, fold the sides up to seal the edges and you have an easy potato!

 

I am a bread girl  and fortunate  for me we have a wonderful bakery in town.

One of my summer favorites is french bread on the grill.

Sure you can buy garlic bread or texas toast already prepared that is the easiest way but for just a couple of steps you can make the best bread ever.

Sheet of aluminum foil (my best friend in the summer) big enough to go over the bread.

Cut the bread to your desired length.

Every ? inches cut the bread vertically-this is a personal preference... if you like them thick make your cuts further apart.

On the ends and in between each slice add butter about this much _____ or a little more. Sprinkle onion and garlic salt or powder. This also is a personal preference you can add what ever you spice you like. If you like cheese add it. Experiment with what your family likes.

 

now for grilllin times....hmmm

 

Danielle's Dad, say, "Hi," to Danielle's dad, is the expert at the grill. No, I am serious he is a master griller. His number one advice is to cook slow.

These are the directions he told me:

Put the can of beans on the grill until they boil. Stir and cook 5 minutes more,  stir and turn grill down. Add meat, vegs. My fav -the bread- is put on last; maybe 15 minutes before the rest of your food is done. The bread is done when the butter and or cheeses is melted  

And most importantly, according to dad, make sure to have a couple extra pieces cause the only way to know if it is done, is by taste testing. Good to know. So when you are making the bread and you want 6 pieces at the serving table... make 8 so the master griller can have 2! This is new information to me. Hmmmmm

 

So, grlilln is as easy as 123!

 

Make sure to have plenty of aluminum foil and butter.

Enjoy!

If you have a question never hesitate to ask.

Pleasant Surprises...

A few days after my bridal shower, I came home and a box was at my front door.

I had no idea why there was a box at my front door... so I proceeded to open it and found this:

There was a card inside from my Bestie saying she wished she could have been at the shower. How sweet, huh? It was such a surprise and I loved it so much! So... I had been dying to use it! I found a really yummy sounding strawberry shortcake recipe (Thanks Sahlfs for letting me rip out a magazine page!)  and decided this woud be the perfect opportunity to use my new Martha stand. The recipe is from June 2012 Taste of Home Magazine.

As a storage stand...

And as a display case...

What do you think? Pretty, huh?!

Thanks Bestie!!!

Wedding Wednesdays: The Men

From left to right: Evan(Roomie), Kyle and My Sweet

My wonderful brother in law Zachary

Justy and My Sweet

Last week on Wedding Wednesday I talked about what the girls were wearing for our wedding. So... today I thought I'd share what the men will be wearing for our wedding! The colors are black and white with silver accents. When we went to the tux shop, my Sweet decided on suits- not tuxes. What's the difference, you may be wondering? I wondered the same thing! Basically the difference is that on tux pants there is a silk line down the outside seams of the pants and around the collar of the jacket. That wasn't my Sweet's style so that was a no go. Also, we decided against vests. This was for a few reasons, 1. We didn't want the men any warmer than they already would be, and 2. We wanted to keep the black and white theme and not introduce another "primary" color. If we had chosen a vest color it would have made sense to do silver and we just wanted silver as an accent, not an actual color... you following me here? Good!

Isn't he so handsome?

My Sweet trying on for sizing

Here's what they will be wearing

Handmade ( by my Gram) pocket square
with embroidered initials. My Sweet's has
our monogram!

Craft Table Curtains

In our office at home, I have a craft table. My sewing machine calls this craft table home...So do many other things! One thing that give me anxiety is clutter; it looks messy, unimportant, and chaotic. So, to eliminate some of the clutter I decided to make some curtains for the table and use underneath the table for storage space. If I store my craft type stuff under the table, then it will be at the ready when I'm "in the zone" and will be out of the way (and out of my eyesight) when I'm not "in the zone."

What do you think of my new curtains?

After

Before- not sure why, but I
de-cluttered before taking this pic!

I love polka dots!

Top folded over to make a hole for the tension rod.

Marm on Monday: Dinner

My Sweet was in charge of dinner tonight. When he's in charge of dinner that means 1 of 2 things:
1. Macaroni and Cheese, or 2. Pizza and popcorn. Does anyone else eat pizza and popcorn together? If not- you really should, it's delicious!

Tonight it was pizza and popcorn. We usually go to Papa Murphy's to get it. There's always an insert with a $2 off coupon. And we're all about saving our hard earned dollars.

Here's my man in action:

Dishing up the pizza.

Making the popcorn. Thanks for the popcorn maker, Mom!

Enjoying the fruits of his labor

Words of Wisdom from Mama: Traveling

Hello readers. It's the Groom's Mama here today...


As travelers we have found Mark Twain to be of great inspiration. That is why I find one of his quotes so profound:


"Travel is fatal to racism, bigotry, and narrow mindedness"

Lough Eske Castle in Ireland. The Groom's great Grandfather's homeland.

The Groom's Dad slaying a dragon.

Handsome Groom wearing his Ireland shirt.