A real deer for the Holidays!

I'm getting a little ancy for the Holidays... I can't wait!

I was looking through some pics and came across these: animal topiaries, including a deer one! One of the companies I broker for, grows these great topiaries out of boxwoods, arborvitaes, and junipers- perfect for our harsh Midwest winters because they retain their green color (although not as lush as compared to Spring). They are completely real and definitely turn heads! They only require water and some hair cuts here and there.

Do you need a reindeer, just in time for the Holidays?

 Or maybe an elephant or sea creature?

I really like the deer, and would plant it in a landscape (maybe have Adam put some Christmas lights on it...) but these others would be perfect for a children's garden/ park somewhere!

This goes to show, there are no limits when it comes to gardening....

Sewing projects

In the past couple of days, I have been keeping busy by making some dresses, skirts, shirts, and a jacket because I have been a little too picky at the stores. I either like the styles and hate the colors, or like the colors and hate the styles. I can drive myself a little crazy.

I grew up around sewing and really enjoy it. Every Christmas and Easter, my mom would make dresses for the special church occasions. Usually it involved lots of sparkly fabrics and layers (especially Christmas). I probably resembled a small cupcake, and the more I think about it- maybe that is why I put my foot down and went with a short vintage inspired wedding dress. Here's a pic...I didn't make this dress.

I went to the fabric store during Small Business Saturday. I picked out some amazing patterns ( DKNY, Michael Kors, and others!) and some wonderful fabrics. At the moment, I'm working on a dress, but I have lots of others that I hope to accomplish this winter. Stay tuned....

The very first Krupicka Thanksgiving

Yesterday was a pretty big day for us- our first Thanksgiving! I have to admit, it was a little over the top...

We hosted the event and had friends over, starting with drinks and appetizers and then a full Thanksgiving meal. For the wedding, Adam and I received plenty of wonderful cooking utensils and pieces of our china pattern: Spode Woodland. It was such a great time putting these presents to good use!

The chaos started the night before. We were on the hunt for placemats and couldn't find any to match our unique china pattern. So, that meant a field trip to the fabric store and making our own placemats. They had a wonderful canvas fabric that matched the pattern perfectly.

Thanksgiving day, meant picking up fresh flowers and arranging them for the tables. I picked up ornamental cabbages, mums, goldenrod, and a few sunflowers. I was thinking more along the lines of oranges and yellows, but the mums were in yellow, purple, and red. All in all, it worked well with the cabbages.

Then the cooking began. We had jalapeno and cilantro marinated shrimp, the famous Prairiefire dip, cheese and meat trays, mashed potatoes, gravy, stuffing, green bean casserole, salad with dried cranberries and walnuts, Grandma E's homemade rolls, cranberries, turkey, sweet potatoes (my favorite!), and a homemade pumpkin pie. It feels like there should be more? My friend Becky brought over a delicious pumpkin roll, which I have never had in the Midwest but its amazing! Other friends brought over a sweet potato pie, Bang Bang shrimp (similar to Bonefish Grill, one of my favorite hangouts), and collards.

We were absolutely stuffed and struggling to stay awake afterwards.

Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving, filled with great food, friends, family, and maybe even a little football!

The Proposal... all over a recipe!

With Thanksgiving, comes the anniversary of the unique proposal.

As I mentioned before, Adam (my now husband) and I like to cook, a lot. He had this recipe he would make for get togethers called Prairiefire. Its a cheese dip with layers of flavor- sweet, hot, spicy- and its best with Fritoes corn chips. He said he wouldn't share it with me until we were engaged or married, so I would try and guess the ingredients. I would always come so close to getting the recipe, but no luck.

Anyways, we were in Arizona for Thanksgiving two years ago. Adam's parents had built a home outside of Tucson and it is a great getaway, especially during the Holidays. It was raining that morning and Adam was acting strange. Turns out, he wanted to go on a hike in the Catalina mountains and that is where the proposal was going to happen. The day before, Adam's parents hiked the trail and hid a box under some rocks. In the box, was the recipe for Prairiefire. Here's the backside- I would get in trouble if I shared it...

We made it to the pools, Adam found the little rock pile with the recipe card. He was trying to talk to me about geocatching (where you leave little treasures for other hikers to find and can map it out on GPS, I still really don't know all that well exactly!). I was in shock, and said yes. After my arms stopped flailing, I tried the ring on, which was custom made from a private family jeweler in Chicago. It was beautiful and we hiked down the mountains, to his family. Later on that day, we had Thanksgiving dinner/ engagement party and frozen Champagne (Adam's dad left it in the freezer to chill, and it was a little forgotten).

We received a really nice gift from Adam's family: a recipe box. Throughout the vacation, Adam and I were busy copying family recipes. Adam's grandma offered up lots of great recipes from her mother. It was a really special time.

Tomorrow is the big Thanksgiving dinner, the first official Krupicka one. We are having friends over and entertaining in Northern Virginia. Before that, lots and lots to do (grocery shopping, floral arrangement, making placements, tons of cooking and cleaning!). It will be a late night and early morning, but well worth it.

Enjoy yours!

Salad dressing crisis

Tonight we had spinach ravioli, green beans, and a fresh salad. I was really looking forward to the fresh salad.

After I washed and prepared the salad greens, tomatoes, onions, and Parmesan cheese- I found out that Adam pitched the small collection of salad dressings because they were a little older. I left for the Midwest last year in January, so its probably fair. 

So, I thought about driving to the grocery store but decided against it because of the traffic. Traffic in Northern Virginia is a nightmare (which is why I really, really, really appreciate Iowa's wide open spaces and not so much traffic).

Instead, we made our own dressing- mix these up to taste and I guarantee it beats anything you've had! The fresh, clean taste is unbelievable!

Olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
lemon juice
lemon zest
salt and pepper

I'm ready for another (not really, but it was really delicious!).

Birthday meal recipes...

The most amazing leftovers, ever!

Last night was the birthday meal: homemade pasta and homemade seafood alfredo. For a veggie, we had roasted asparagus and the dessert-  unbelievable triple chocolate mousse.

Here are some of the recipes...

Homemade Pasta
1 whole egg, plus 2 egg yolks
1 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
unbleached white flour, approximately 2 cups (add enough so the dough is able to be kneaded and tacky)
pinch of salt

Mix all ingredients together and knead for approximately 10 minutes. Let the dough rest for 30 minutes. We used the KitchenAid mixer with the pasta attachment (lovely wedding present!). Otherwise you could slice into thin strips. Place pasta in boiling water for approximately 8-10 minutes.


Homemade Alfredo Sauce
Heat 1 pint of heavy cream and 1 stick of butter. Once heated, add 1 cup of grated Parmesan cheese. Season with salt and pepper to taste, maybe even some corn starch to thicken.

Seafood
We cooked some fresh salmon (pan seared with olive oil, salt and pepper). Then placed in the stove and combined with garlic marinated shrimp. Combine with homemade pasta and alfredo.

I added some dill weed to my salmon portion- it was delicious. Adam is not a fan, but I was just fine with it! 

Enjoy!

Birthday Meal

So, I made to the Washington D.C. area safe and sound. Rocco (cat) and all.

My birthday was on Tuesday, but during that time I didn't really do anything too special. I was on the road visiting customers and Adam and I decided to have a cooking night once I arrived. That means that I pick out the menu and we go to one of our favorite places: Wegman's (http://www.wegmans.com). This grocery store is amazing- each one has its own pastry department that reminds me of my French adventures. I love to gawk and check out the tarts, cheesecakes, chocolate cakes, and tons of other sugary, heavenly treats. I have a sweet tooth, and also an amazing dentist in Fairfax, Virginia!

Here's the chocolate mousse... despite kind of a traumatic ride home. Regardless, it was absolutely delish!

We LOVE to cook... and I could grocery shop all day, anywhere! Sometimes Adam and I disagree about who is cooking but somehow, we don't starve. In fact, we usually make extras or try out new recipes, so we can be pretty popular at times! Adam even proposed over a secret family recipe- Prairie Fire... I will write about that next week.

Here's a pic of us...

Tonight, there's talk of salmon with homemade pasta, perhaps a dill/ olive oil sauce. Most likely, roasted asparagus with prosciutto and a special treat from Wegman's. We might even make a cake. Either way, I will bring my appetite!

Stay turned...