Wedding Cake: Check!

This afternoon Bryan and I tackled the difficult job of selecting a cake. It's true, it was a tough job, but someone had to do it. ;-) We were able to design our two cakes. We are confident that our guests will enjoy the tasty treats we selected. Bryan is especially excited that one of the cakes will be adorned with buttons and knobs!

Engagement Announcement in Clinton, Iowa

Our Engagement Announcement recently appeared in the Clinton Herald.

Belshazzar's Feast

Honestly, I think there is room for a few more musicians on this stage.

Orchestra Party 2009

Tonight we are hosting the Annual Orchestra Appreciation Party. These are some of the gifts for the members of the orchestra.

Ink cartridges vs. Inkjet Printers

This weekend I am printing our wedding invitations. Janet designed an amazing suite for the invitation that I'll be printing at home.

Needless to say, I am becoming very familiar with paper and printers this weekend.

So, might I just say - the pricing structure for inkjet cartridges is a little out of whack. It would actually be cheaper for us to purchase a new inkjet printer instead of a replacement cartridge. However, since I have currently used 4 color cartridges I don't think this is the best idea - after all, that would mean I would have 4 printers lying around the house. We try to be environmentally friendly with our purchase practices. (In fact the invitations will be printed on recycled paper and sent in envelopes made from recycled paper). However, it seems the big box mentality wishes to punish us for the ecological choice by pricing the replacement cartridge for a printer to be more expensive that a replacement printer (which by the way comes with two of the aforementioned ink cartridges). Our materialistic society has created this unfortunate set of circumstances.

How do we change this phenonemon? Can we?

Potatoes Gratin with Gruyere

Anyone who knows me knows that I am not the world's greatest fan of cheese. However, I do think that an Easter ham is best served with some potatoes gratin. This yummy recipe will make you a believer as well. (Thanks for the recipe, Kelly!)

Potatoes Gratin with Gruyere
(4 servings)

1 cup half and half or light cream
1/8 tsp ground red pepper (cayenne)
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 lbs (3 medium) Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced
3 oz. (3/4 cup) Gruyere cheese, shredded

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Grease shallow 4 cup baking disk or 9" glass pie plate. Set Aside.

2. In a 3 quart sauce pan, combine half and half, ground red pepper, and salt. Heat to boiling over medium high heat. Add potatoes and cook 2-3 minutes or until half & half mixture thickens slightly, stirring gently.

3. Transfer half of potatoes to prepared gratin dish Sprinkle with 1/2 cup of Gruyere. Top with remaing mixture and rest of Gruyere.

4. Bake Gratin 35-40 minutes or until potatoes are fork tender and top is golden and bubbly.

Engagement Announcement

It's in the paper! Click here.

Today was a productive day.

It's true, today was a productive day. Ok, I suppose we need a few productive days since we are reaching crunch time - 86 days and counting?

Today, we finalized the proof for our wedding invitations. (Thanks, Janet! You rock!) Now I have only to assemble the invites.

We met with our caterer and finalized a menu. (Check!) It should be a yummy meal, and there should be munchies throughout the evening.

We finalized the rental of tables and chairs for the reception site (Check!)

And we did it all without Bryan having a major heart attack.

I think we are on our way to planning a fabulous evening for all of our friends and family (and I do mean all!)

UPDATE: Doh! I'm a dork! The other big item of the day was that I picked up my dress after completing the final round of alterations! Woohoo!