Newlyweds: Week One

One week ago today, Ryan’s brother and his new bride pledged their lives and their love to one another in front of an intimate group of family and close friends on the beach.  Tears were shed, laughs ensued, and it was all followed by one heck of a party afterward at the beach house we rented:

While the ladies took the morning off to visit the spa, the men were left to enjoy a morning on the beach before the festivities of the evening began.  Peanut enjoyed her first ever manicure.  I think she’s hooked, and my mom might just never forgive me for that.  (Sorry, Mom.)

The porches were decorated with hundreds of clear lights and beautifully decorated tables, adorned with the bride and groom’s engagement photos and a scrumptious spread of tropical food and drink.  The catered dinner consisted of coconut shrimp, barbecued chicken kebabs, and crab cakes.  Ryan’s cousin Shanna provided pitchers of “TropiShannas,” a sangria recipe I hear she spent weeks perfecting.  Alas, I did not get to sample… but perhaps she’ll make them again!  In addition, the cookie table was extensive and varied, with zucchini chocolate chip cookies, ladyfingers, pecan tassies, truffles, and coconut macaroons.  There was also a chocolate fountain with fruit to dip, which was all but devoured (in fact, a story has been making rounds that my own sister was found with a chocolate beard.  Fortunately, “RyRy” found her first and got her cleaned up before I discovered the mess.  She enjoyed it, though, and I’m certain she wasn’t the only one- kid or grownup alike- who had chocolate all over her face.)

My contribution was a couple of appetizers: a watermelon salsa served with tortilla chips (which I think was a pretty big hit!) in a watermelon bowl; a spinach dip and a crab dip, both served in bread bowls; and a 3-in-1 cheese ball, the crab dip and cheese balls from a Country Cooking: Bridal Edition cookbook I received as a gift for our wedding a few years ago.  Everything but the watermelon salsa I was able to make ahead and freeze so that on the actual wedding day, the spinach dip and the crab dip just had to go into the oven for a short time before going to the table.  Here are the recipes I used for the crab dip and cheese balls:

Three-in-One Cheese Ball

1 package cream cheese, softened

4 cups (16 ounces) shredded cheddar cheese, room temperature

2 tablespoons milk

2 tablespoons finely chopped onion

2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

 

Coarsely cracked black pepper

     1/2 cup crumbled bleu cheese (I substituted Feta)

Minced fresh parsley

     1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

Finely chopped pecans

Assorted crackers

 

In a mixing bowl, beat cream cheese, cheddar cheese, onion, and Worcestershire sauce until fluffy.  If a smoother spread is desired, process in a food processor until creamy.  Divide into thirds (about one cup each).  Shape first portion into a ball; roll in cracked pepper.  Add the bleu cheese to the second portion; mix well.  Shape into a ball; roll in parsley.  Add garlic powder to the remaining portion; mix well.  Shape into a ball; roll in nuts.  Cover and refrigerate.  Remove from refrigerator and let stand 15 minutes before serving.  

 

Hot Crab Dip

2 cans (6 ounces each) crabmeat, drained and cartilage removed

2 packages (8 ounces each) cream cheese, softened

1/2 small onion, finely chopped

1 tablespoon prepared horseradish

2 dashes Worcestershire sauce

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1/3 cup slivered almonds

Assorted crackers

 

In a mixing bowl, combine the first seven ingredients.  Spread in a 1-quart baking dish.  Sprinkle with almonds.  Bake at 350 for 10-15 minutes or until mixture bubbles.   

 

Lindsay and Kevin rounded out their wedding day by spending their wedding night in a quaint little B&B nearby, but like the rest of us cut their vacation short with the threat of Irene.  However, we were blessed that their day went off as perfectly as we could have hoped for.  

 

 

To my “big brother” and new sister-in-law, I send warm wishes for a long, loving, happy marriage.  One week in, ten million more to go (that’s somewhere in the neighborhood of like 192,307 years, if I did my math right)!  I am so proud to have been part of your day- to have been a witness to such a deeply touching and beautiful ceremony.  In his best man speech, Ryan offered the following advice: “Kevin, memorize the following two words- ‘yes, dear.’  And Lindsay, remember to let Kevin think he’s the boss.”  Have fun together.  If you can’t laugh with one another, what do you have?  And to that I would add, remember to always put one another first.  When it comes down to it, having each other is what really matters.  Make it count.  Each and every day. 

Much love-

xoxo,

~d

Good Night, Irene

Dear Irene,

You do know you ruined my vacation, right?  You know that your impending presence on the island where we had stationed for a week of wedding, sand, sun, and fun came to an abrupt halt as you reared your ugly head, don’t you?  Then again, that was always your plan, wasn’t it?

See this image, Irene?  The one of my sister and my husband walking hand-in-hand toward the beach?  The very image that brought tears to my eyes as I captured it?  This, Irene, is what you disrupted.  You stole from us one final day of beach play and boogie-boarding, dipping our toes in the water and chairs in the sand.  You left us with no choice but to pack the cars hastily and get the hell outta Dodge before you could harm this child who means so very much to me.  You hit before we could get Peanut out on the pier, before we could play mini-golf and get ice cream for dessert.

But what you didn’t interrupt were the five days of warm, sunny weather that we had to enjoy at the beach.  Five days of sun, sand, and plain good company as I watched my little sister enjoy her first ever experience at the ocean while chatting away with my new sister-in-law.  I watched my sister learn to boogie-board; I watched her find her first sand dollar and little-bitty conch shell.  I helped to officially welcome Lindsay into our family.  Those memories, Irene, are ones your winds can’t blow away.

 

 

 

 

 

 

What you didn’t disrupt, was the most perfect beach wedding ever, with the most beautiful bride any of us had ever seen and the most enamored groom in the history of the world.  That small, intimate ceremony was far beyond your reach, and we are so grateful that you couldn’t get your winds and rain to us on that day.  I wish I had a photo to share, to prove that you didn’t destroy what my sister described as the best part of her beach vacation, but I didn’t take any at the wedding.  And if I had, it wouldn’t have done justice to what we were witness to that evening.

Good night, Irene.  You may have blown away the last day of our vacation, but our island emerged intact and our memories escaped unscathed.  Sucker.

xoxo,

~d

Where to Begin?

I know, I know.

I made my way back here last week on my normal Monday and Wednesday schedule, but somehow Friday slipped away from me.

Perhaps I was realizing that my days with my little brother were quickly slipping away.  Coming home from volunteering today, it made me lonely to see what was missing from the pile in the garage:

Cory’s visit last week kept me busy- catching up on life on the farm, as well as keeping up with the kid’s appetite.  He’s a football player, and if by no other distinguishing factor than his appetite!  It’s so much fun to cook for Cory, since he so thoroughly enjoys almost any food imaginable.  Plus, he has an awesome sense of humor.

Anyway, we wrapped up his visit with a bang…

...or maybe just a flame...

making mountain pies (moon pies?  camper pies?  I’ve heard so many names for them!  Is there proper terminology?)  Regardless, Wednesday night was our first campfire of the year, and it was the perfect night for it.

Thursday was the first day of the local annual motorcycle rally.  Since Cory had never been before, we drove downtown to watch the motorcycle parade roll in.

Our town shuts down several blocks for the bikes to park.  This was a side street, not the street where most of the motorcycles were parked.

The main street that was blocked off was parked four bikes deep- one row per curb and two in the middle of the street

This guy attends every year.  And every year he leaves his “girlfriend” on the motorcycle while he parties.  She sits there patiently waiting for him.  Always in a different outfit.

He brings the same "date" every year, and she's always dressed differently

Meanwhile, I scoped out the best place to find a cold drink.  This looked like a good option.  Sort of like the Adult Ice Cream window, no?

Yes, beer window. What more could one ask for?

Friday we drove to a nearby steam engine show.  Cause you can take the boy out of the country butcha can’t take the country out of the boy.

I know nothing about this piece of machinery, except that it's old. And probably steam-powered.

And we learned how chain saws have evolved in their design over time.  I was genuinely surprised when nobody jumped out at me wearing a bloody hockey mask and carrying one of these things…

Chain saws. Creepy.

Finally, we had to leave to get Cory home.  Much as I loved having him here last week, he was very much missed at home and my parents are glad to have him home again.  The weekend was crazy and busy and fun- and I have enough stories from those two days for a whole other post, so I’ll leave it at this for now and promise you that if you tune in Wednesday, I’ll fill you in on the rest.  How about you?  What festivals and parties does your town celebrate?

Till then,

xoxo,

~d