I survived June

June is almost over. What does that mean?  Summer swimming and diving are over.  Diving Championships were Sunday and Addison did great he got 5th place.  Addison is eligible to swim at the County Meet but that is not until July 14.  So now we don't have to go to 3 practices a day.  He will still have to practice a week before the County Meet, but it won't be as crazy as June.  I will now have time to finish orders and enjoy my summer.  I don't have to sit and wait for Addison 2 hours every morning, afternoon, and then night.  I can actually clean and organize my house.  No more 4 hour meets twice a week.  Oh I can start cooking again.  I just bought a canning book that I am really interested in using.  I should try me first recipe this week.  Where is that book?  I have no earthly idea where I put that book.  Did I mention that I need to clean and organize my house?

Well, Addison is gone this week at Diving Camp so I will have time do all the stuff I love to do.  Unfortunately, I am not cool anymore and my meaning of a good time is cleaning, organizing, crafting, cooking, and baking.  What happened to the days I would go out every night and not get home until 5 AM?  Hey, Chosen One  and Melissa, Do you remember those nights?  A loud smokey club does not appeal to me what so ever.  And we all know my raver pants do not fit anymore.  :)  Now a really great restaurant, with great friends, great food and great wine.  That's more like it.  Maybe I should try a new restaurant this week.  Any suggestions Melissa?

While I am blogging, I am on the phone with The Chosen One and she is sharing a recipe for Split Pea Soup.  I am thinking it will be the perfect to make this week.  I thought it would be nice to share it with you guys also.

By the way, I have asked The Chosen One many of times to guest blog.  She loves cooking and crafting just as much as I do.  She would have some great recipes to share.  But, she always says she too busy.  So come on blog world, let's convince The Chosen One to guest blog at least once a month.

Here's the Split Pea Soup recipe:

The Chosen One's Split Pea Soup

by Faith Ishii

1 medium to large onion chopped fine
2 or 3 carrots chopped fine
3 cloves garlic, minced
6-8 cups chicken broth
1 pound split peas, soak for 2 hours
1 ham hock or ham (as much as you would like)
2 bay leaves


Put all vegetables and 2 tablespoons of oil in a pot and cook until translucent.  Add chicken broth, split peas, ham, and bay leaves.Bring to a boil.  Then lower the heat, cover and simmer for 2 hours. Add salt and pepper to taste.  Serve warm with a nice crusty bread.

Well, I need to go and start doing things on my crazy long list.

Talk to you soon,

Father's Day Tickets

Father's Day is Sunday.  Addison and JT are going to the Braves game tomorrow with Addison's friend Mason and his father.  I think they will have a blast watching baseball, eating hot dogs and drinking beer (the Fathers not the sons).   Addison also bought JT a couple of Star Wars inspired t-shirts on Etsy that will be here later on this week.  Men are so different than women.  I could tell you 5 things I want right now but when you ask JT he says he doesn't want anything.  I had to email JT pictures of shirts for him to even think about what he wanted.  He finally told Addison which two he liked so Addison could purchase them.  By the way Addison is growing up to fast.  He has his own debit card now and is all about saving his money.  I was proud when he went online and bought something for his Dad.

Here's are the two shirts Addison bought for JT, he got them on Etsy from Engram Clothing:

We are NOT a family of nerds I promise,  ;) ;)

Tomorrow I will go over to Mason's house and hang out with his mother, Lisa and his two younger sisters.  Hey, the men will be gone so we will just watch girly movies and do girly stuff.  I guess I might bake JT's favorite cake for him since I won't have to make dinner.  I'm such a great wife.

I came up with some Father's Day Tickets for a last minute present.  JT, Addison, The Chosen One, Adrian, and I came up with a ticket.  I bet you can guess which ticket is mine (it is not the Hall Pass one).  I hope you enjoy this free download.  Just click on the link or picture below.  Print them out, cut them, and tie them together. Or I guess you could just give him the whole sheet of paper and he can cut it when he wants to use one.  A Perfect Father's Day present for a Perfect Father.

Father's Day  Tickets

I would also like to Thank all my readers and customers.  I have been getting a lot of orders lately in my Etsy store.  I am so grateful that you all are enjoying what I am creating.  I have been very busy this summer with Addison and crafting orders but I am  not complaining.  Thank You again.

Talk to you soon,

The Great Gatsby Dinner Party

Today I will finally talk about my best dinner party to date. I knew I wanted to do something special for The Great Gatsby movie's opening weekend.  When big movies are coming out, we usually get a group together to go to dinner and then the movie.  I had not planned a Girls Night Out for  a while and I thought the Gatsby movie would be a great movie to see with a bunch of girls.

 I talk to Melissa and we planned to have a small dinner party with cocktails, champagne, dinner and dessert at her place instead of going out to dinner.  We thought it would be nicer and more intimate than a noisy restaurant.  It also gave Melissa and I reason to cook for everyone.

First, we planned the menu and who was making what.  I also had to add my love of paper in the diner so I even made menus for the party.

I made 3 Stuffed Red Snappers.  I also made my favorite soup Roasted Butternut Squash.  Melissa made Roasted Potatoes and Green Beans.

For dessert, I made a Lemon Bundt cake and Vanilla Ice Cream.  Homemade ice cream is so good.  Every time I make it Addison and JT are so happy.  Luckily, I eneded up making a lot so I was able to bring some home.

I didn't want to just cook for the party.  I also wanted to craft something.  While thinking about my 20s outfit I wonder where I could purchase a headpiece.  I decided instead of buying myself one I would make some for all the ladies attending the party.  The wonderful world of Etsy, I bought the supplies and made these headpieces:

I love the way theses turned out and everyone loved them.  Val said she was going to wear her to work the next week.

                         


Jason was excited about the Gatsby movie also so he said he would like to attend the dinner and he would be bartender.  Jason made an excellent bartender and loved being the only man with a group of beautiful ladies.

We also knew that everyone had to dress up in roaring 20s outfits and everyone did.  Everyone showed up so beautiful in their Gatsby outfits ready to party.

And the group picture!!!

We had a blast!!! I can't wait until the next dinner party. I think there should be another theme. What do you think?

I say YES!!!!!

1st day of Summer Break and Tamales

School is out for summer!!!  We spent the 1st day going to swim practice and then getting milk shakes. It's not that hot yet so I am enjoying the cool summer breeze before it gets crazy hot and we don't want to do anything.  Addison has a busy schedule this summer but we are still going to enjoy some time together. Before I was in school but I only had a couple of classes so I was still able to spend time with him during the summer.  When I get a full time job I am going to miss our summers together.  I will have to remember that he is getting older and in 2 years he is not going to want to spend his summers with me.  He will be driving around with his friends and hanging out with them.  Well, I will take what I can get and this summer will be incredible.

I promised I would talk about everything you guys missed since I didn't post for a month.  Let's talk about the Tamale Party first.

The Chosen One promised to teach me how to make homemade tamales.  She learned from a friend and it was his Mexican grandmother's recipe.  The Chosen One promised to fly to Atlanta for Cinco de Mayo and we would make tamales together.  Well, that didn't happen but she did make it up to me.  Since she couldn't make it to Atlanta, she set up a video chat class.  She sent me a list of ingredients, that I got the day before.  Then we woke up around 9 AM and started making tamales together via FaceTime.  It was a lot of fun, until her phone fell in water and my phone fell in lard.  But our phones our ok and that tamales were delicious.

I did have a major problem with having my dough float.  The Chosen One whipped her stock, masa, and lard together with such ease.  She dropped some dough in a glass of water and voilà it floats.  My dough story was not that great.  I whipped and whipped until my mixer started heating up and moving across the counter top.  Dough was flying everywhere (I still probably have it in my kitchen after cleaning it many of times).  I dropped my dough in a glass of water and sink.  Whipped again....dropped in water....sink.  Whipped again...dropped in water...sink.  I was starting to get frustrated so we decided to add more lard. Then whipped again...dropped in water...sink. I then added more stock, whipped again...dropped in water...sink.  Finally I found the right proportion of lard and stock, whipped again....dropped in water...float!!!   I was so happy.  The Chosen One not so much because I think it took me 30 minutes just to get my dough the float and she was waiting one me for the next step.  Luckily, after the dough floats you can start making your tamales.  So JT and Addison helped me wrap about 60 tamales in corn husks and then they were ready to steam.

The Chosen One warned me I was going to have a lot of tamales so I decided to invite people over to have a Cinco de Mayo party.  Everyone came over around 6 PM and brought side dishes and beer.  The tamales were ready on time and turned out good for my first try.  Next time I would like to braise the pork before putting them in the tamales and master the dough.  Everyone enjoyed the meal and we had great conversation.  I also made a Trés Léché cake and an Espresso and Carmel flan.

I really enjoy cooking and having everyone over.  I also realized in my perfect world I would love to throw or attend a dinner party every weekend.  I need a bigger house and a bigger kitchen.  :)

Here are some picture of the wonderful food:

Doesn't everything look delicious?  Addison made the corn and bean salsa with Melissa's help.  Melissa made the Spanish Rice and the Guacamole.   And the power of electronics The Chosen One taught me how to make homemade tamales.  Don't you love how electronics can help our lives?

Next, I will post about the Great Gatsby dinner party we had.  Hey, better late than never.

Talk to you soon,