Agrodolce // Wedding Anniversary II

Aloha friends! It's been a while, hasn't it? We've had more visitors than we can count over the past few weeks and months. Between house guests Bryce and I managed to sneak off to a nice dinner to celebrate our 2nd wedding anniversary at Agrodolce, known for their Organic Sicilian Cuisine. We went to Sicily on our honeymoon, right around our first anniversary, so it was more than appropriate.

 

Seattle Summer and Fresh Figs

It's summertime in Seattle. Summer officially kicked off last Saturday, June 21, with the nearby Fremont Fair and Solstice Parade, including a naked bike ride! I'll spare you those photos. You're welcome!

What I will share is a photo of three fully clothed humans - Mike (Bryce's Dad), Bryce, and I. Mike is our first summer visitor and, of course, we dragged him through the (Pike Place) market on Saturday morning. The crowd was crowded and the weather was great. This, from what I understand, is Seattle in the Summer.

Food Tasting for Our Wedding

...because we're going to the Chapel and we're...gonna get maaaaaarried!

Then we'll leave the Chapel and head to a Historic Battleship for drinks, tours, dinner, and dancing. Among the other wedding planning items we've checked off of our list, the most fun was food tasting! Duh.

My Bridal Shower

On just my second day home in Pittsburgh, My Sandy threw me a Bridal Shower!

You may have no idea who Sandy is and why she's claimed as "mine", aside from a fair assumption that it probably has something to do with me being a selfish only child! My Dad works with Sandy's husband John and way back in 1985, while my Mom was pregnant with yours truly, the stars aligned for their family and ours. Sandy is a nanny and the way the story goes is that my parents brought a six-week-old-me to their house where they sat in the formal living room for our interview. Surely I didn't say too much that day...

Sandy took care of me for many years, until I was old enough to go to school. During that time the formal living room was always off-limits to myself and the other rugrats children who filled her home with fun, among other things (diapers, tears, time-outs, etc). Because I also have an Aunt Sandy, she became MY Sandy! Our families became and still remain very, very close. Those early years offered me a starring role as an adorable flower girl in both of Sandy and John's daughters' weddings! [Sandy and John's son-in-law is also to blame for my becoming a Nittany Lion!] As their family grew and the need for vacations became more pronounced, my teenage self was invited to many beaches to help with the grandkids. More recently I've been promoted to family member status and allowed in the formal living room on holidays and special occasions. We're truly like family and holidays aren't complete until I've visited with BOTH theirs and my own :)

That all being said, I was honored and excited to be having my own bridal shower in such great company and in the living room! My Sandy is one of the kindest and most gracious ladies I know and the shower hosted by her reflected that in every way. She's well aware of my food obsession and even took my quirky request for a food-related shower seriously!

The food was throughout the house and done just right! The esteemed living room had cheese, salami, and crackers, individual veggies with dill dip (so cute!), pepperoni and cheese rollups, and cashews. See the Hawaiian flower napkins and tropical confetti?! It's only fitting, right?

W&M Burger

W&M Burger is a classic, old fashioned burger place like I've never seen before. Here in Hawaii it's sometimes hard to find buildings, stores, apartments, and so on, with character. Most of the architecture here is screaming 70s and cramped-because-there-are-too-many-people-on-this-island. Charming, right?

W&M Burger looks like it came straight from a Wild West movie, except the squeaky, swinging doors have been replaced with an ordering window! It's wedged randomly between two larger buildings and set back from the road just far enough for about 6 - 8 parking spaces, two of which can be seen in this photo.

Anniversary #4

Bryce and I have officially survived and celebrated our fourth year together! I'll have to admit the past year was certainly the most trying and rewarding of our relationship thus far. Since our third anniversary we've moved apartments twice, gotten engaged, gone to 2 weddings, traveled to California (for Thanksgiving), San Fran, Pittsburgh, and Boston [no post!? WTH Ang?] and both secured new jobs!

After such a year we enjoyed a low key anniversary together. I was welcomed home with some lovely flowers :)

Meet Candy

The day has finally come. Bryce and I are now the proud owners parents of a KitchenAid Stand Mixer! We're thrilled to add this to the list of our favorite kitchen gadgets.

Cue Stevie Wonder's Isn't She Lovely... Meet Candy.

Our Big Fat Italian Easter

Happy Easter! Despite living in a house filled with adults, I still like to spend Easter celebrating traditions from my childhood. That means this guy shows up in full force!

S'more Birthday Fun - Bryce's 27th

It's no shock to any of our friends (or my blog readers) that Bryce and I go all out, and then over the top, for birthdays. This year my birthday celebration was a month long and included 3 obnoxious posts: a birthday BBQ with friends, a journey to an outlet mall though the snow to acquire gifts, and a just-the-two-of-us dinner at an Italian restaurant. Now it's Bryce's turn!

If you don't know what a Spam musubi is, read about it here before going any farther! Bryce's birthday began with presents and cards first thing in the morning. He's a big fan of Spam musubi and when I saw this bag in the store it really got me thinking...

Baci Bistro Birthday Dinner

After hearing so many great things about it, Bryce and I went to Baci Bistro for a belated birthday dinner for my 26th. 

I swear this is the last obnoxious birthday post but I JUST LOVE BIRTHDAYS. Read about the trip to the Le Creuset outlet to acquire my gifts and the birthday BBQ celebration! Now that mine is offically over, Bryce's is in just 3 weeks.

So we'd heard all about Baci Bistro, a small Italian restaurant in Kailua with incredible cheesecake and a Monday night offer of 25% off of your entire bill! We'd pushed our date back for four Mondays in a row due to scheduling issues and illness, but we finally made it. There's no way we were going to go on any other day of the week - NO WAY.

Clearly I don't look too upset to stretch out my birthday celebration with one last meal! The key to a great dirty martini is to order it dirty, take a sip, and then send it back for more olive juice.

B[LT] My Valentine and Italian Cream Cake

Happy Valentine's Day!

This year's day-o-love was anything but typical for Bryce and I (especially compared to last year's at-home FEAST and clever and athletic dessert).

First, we decided not to buy gifts. I owe him a 20 minute back massage and he agreed to see a chick-flick with me, The Vow! Good deal.

Second, we could only be together for lunch! Rather than make a full dinner-type meal, I made one of his favorite lunches: a BLT sandwich on sourdough bread.

The Le Creuset Outlet

Well, I'm officially 26 now. Scary, right?

 

Just after Christmas, Bryce, My Sandy, and I drove an hour North of Pittsburgh to go to the Le Creuset outlet store! This trip had been planned for months in advance and we even braved a little bit of snow to get there. 

We're Engaged

It's officially official - Bryce and I are engaged! We tried to tell as many people in person as we could before letting it become public knowledge via facebook - the jumbotron of gossip.


Bryce and I celebrated our third anniversary (of dating) back in August. In our three + years together we've had many conversations about getting married, during which I'd mentioned several things (huge hints) that I didn't think were noted so well by my tricky fiance:

• I'd always dreamed of a proposal/engagement somewhere romantic, outdoors, and crowd-free

• Being so far away from my family sucks and if we were going to get engaged, I'd want to tell them in person rather than making a list of people to call

Bryce totally had me believing that we weren't getting engaged until after he finished school (in May) so when he popped the question on a hike on December 9, I was shocked and excited. Okay... maybe I had a feeling something strange was going on that morning, but no sooner than that! We went on a sunrise hike and he proposed at the top, it was incredible, romantic, and perfect - dirty sneakers and all.

There was only one other hiker around and he stopped to take some pictures for us. We had to catch him quickly before he left and I'm clearly still crying in these photos!

Anniversary #3

On August 14, 2008, I went on my first real "grown up" date - which meant dinner at a nice restaurant and drinks (legally).  [Remember, I was only 22 and fresh out of college at the time!]  Bryce and I had met a couple weeks earlier and he asked to take me to dinner.  Ummmm yes please, cute guy!  He chose the restaurant, Uncle Bo's.  I asked the girls at my office if they knew the place.  They did and they warned me: "It looks like a chicken shack from the front, but don't be scared it's really nice inside!"  That statement couldn't be more true.  The restaurant is located right on a busy street and is painted yellow and red, yuck!  Inside it's very classy, trendy, and fun :)  It's nothing like a chicken shack.

The first date was great, thankfully!  Now here we are, just one day shy of 3 years later!  We decided to celebrate year #3 with another dinner at Uncle Bo's last night.  We enjoyed drinks, pupus (appetizers), and dessert!  

I never had escargot before and decided that it was time to snack on snails!  Uncle's escargot are broiled with garlic butter and melted mozzarella.  

Memorial Day Cook-In

Happy Memorial Day!

Today, Bryce and I flew back to Hawaii after spending some time in California.  He went for 2 weeks and I went for a 4-day weekend.  On Saturday, Bryce was the best man to his cousin Bryn during his wedding to his lovely bride Melany!  Needless to say, we ate and drank like Kings and Queens all weekend long.  (Post on wedding cakes coming soon!)

When we got home the first of the avocados had fallen from the tree in our yard!  Other than those, there wasn't much to eat.  We decided to have a Memorial Day Cook-In and just relax at home.

Our menu included Spinach, Avocado, and Orange Salad and Maryland Fried Chicken with Creamy Gravy, both from the Better Homes & Gardens cookbook, plus some homemade mashed potatoes.

Spinach, Avocado, and Orange Salad

6 ounces fresh baby spinach
2 oranges, peeled and sectioned
1 cup fresh raspberries
2 avocados, halved, seeded, peeled, and sliced
1/4 cup raspberry vinegar
1/4 cup olive oil
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
2 teaspoons honey

Place spinach in a large bowl or serving planner.  Arrange raspberries, orange, and avocado on spinach.

For dressing, combine vinegar, oil, Dijon mustard, and honey.  Mix well.  Instead of shaking the dressing in a screw-top jar as suggested, I used my Pampered Chef salad dressing mixer!  Pour over the spinach mixture.

This salad was so easy to make and is so, so beautiful!  It sure beats a regular lettuce and veggies salad.  The dressing was really refreshing and we want to try it on a regular salad!

Before the dressing.

With dressing.

Such beautiful colors and varied textures, it deserves a close up!

Maryland Fried Chicken with Creamy Gravy


I'm posting the recipe although I didn't make it, Bryce did!


1 egg, beaten
3 tablespoons milk
1 cup finely crushed saltine crackers (28 crackers)
1 teaspoon dried thyme, crushed
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
2.5 pounds chicken thighs
2 to 3 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup milk
1 recipe Creamy Gravy

In a small bowl combine the egg and the 3 tablespoons milk.  In another bowl combine crushed crackers, thyme, paprika, and pepper.  Dip chicken pieces, one at a time, in egg mixture; roll in cracker mixture.

Here's Bryce, hard at work!

In a large skillet brown chicken in hot oil over medium heat for 10 to 15 minutes, turning occasionally.

Add 1 cup milk to skillet.  Heat just to boiling.  Reduce heat to medium low; partially coved skillet.  Cook for 35 minutes.  Uncover; cook about 10 minutes more or until chicken is no longer pink.

Remove chicken, cover, and keep warm.

Make Creamy Gravy:


Combine 3/4 cup milk, 3 tablespoons flour, 1/4 teaspoon salt,  and 1/8 teaspoon black pepper in a container with lid; cover and shake until well combined.  Add to skillet with drippings from chicken.  Stir in an additional 1 cup milk.  Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until thickened and bubbly.  Cook and stir for one minute more.

The chicken was very tender and juicy and the coating was just right!  The creamy dressing was delicious and the mashed potatoes made a perfect side.  

Favorite: Buff Chix Dip

Buffalo chicken dip and I began our red-hot romance back in 2007.  I distinctly remember the first time we met, it was at a Saint Patrick's Day party at my cousin's friends house.  It was love at first, fiery bite.  

Bryce is also a big fan of this dip and enjoys binging on the good stuff every time he's around my Mom, since she cooks to order!  No lie, as soon as plane tickets are purchased Carol asks "Are you craving anything?"  Italian Mothers show their love through food :)  Back to the dip... on Bryce's first visit to Pittsburgh he ate Buff Chix Dip, and only that, for dinner.  My parents recently visited us here in Hawaii and my Mom left a batch in our fridge.  

On one particular night Bryce stumbled into our apartment after having a bit too much fun out on the town.  I could hear the fridge opening and closing, the microwave beeping, drawers slamming, utensils clanking, and Bryce causing a general ruckus.  I woke up and had to come into the kitchen to see what he was up to.  He was scooping the dip out of the large pot in the fridge and into a small tupperware, then reheating that in the microwave, and finally, violently shoveling the dip into his mouth with tortilla chips.  I watched him drunkely put a tupperware full of chips (just chips) into the fridge and call it a night on the couch.  Ahh... the joys of college life!  The next morning I was watching TV from the living room floor while he slept on the couch.  He woke up in a cheerful mood and started chatting immediately, telling me that he was starving and hadn't eaten anything since dinner the night before!  Before I could even open my mouth to tell him about his drunken feast - I saw it... the buffalo chicken dip on his foot!  It was all the proof he needed to believe my story, although we opened the fridge to see the chilled chips in the tupperware container and also found a spoon dropped into the pot of dip!  We then spent the rest of the morning laughing, and probably eating more dip... 

So when Bryce's birthday rolled around just this week, BCD was a must on the party food list.  Believe it or not I actually didn't have a recipe for the stuff.  I found one here, then combined it with my Mom's recipe, and doubled the quantity.

Drain 4 (10 oz) cans of chicken and put into a large pan over medium heat.

Veteran's Day, Deserts, and Desserts

To help you remember how to spell dessert (yummy after dinner sweets) versus desert (a warm sandy location) here's a trick - dessert has more s's because you always want more! 

Bryce and I met in August of 2008.  Three months earlier he'd completed his time in the United States Marine Corps: 4 years of weekly haircuts, camouflage, yes sirs, 1 tour of Iraq (speaking of the desert), some time as an MP, pecker checker, you name it, he did it!  OOH RAH.  For our first Veteran's Day I threw him a little shin dig: we had machine guns, sand storms, terrorists... kidding!  We had name tags, printed menus (AMERICAN cheeseburgers, FREEDOM fries, and Wave Your FLAG Cheesecake), toy Marines, Veteran's Day print outs, and activities - Bryce had to come up with a list of Military slang terms for us civilians to decode!  Blanket party anyone?!  We were brand new and it was super cute, awwwwwe :)  You'll notice his lack-of-weekly-haircuts in the photos, he went through an "I'm a civilian now and I'm NOT cutting my hair" phase for quite some time.  

   

I made the flag cake again in 2009 so this year it was getting old and un-fun.  Plus, that recipe is time consuming!  This year I decided to try out those scrumptious mini cheesecakes my Mom has been making my whole life, since the others I've tried this year hadn't turned out so well (remember the Mini Orange and Chocolate Cheesecake ordeal?)  I topped them with red strawberries, white Cool Whip, and blue-berries and they were ever so adorable as much as they were patriotic.  

Mini-Cheesecakes:

12 vanilla wafers
16 oz cream cheese - softened
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 eggs

Place foil liners in each muffin tin & one vanilla wafer in each liner.

In the mixer combine cream cheese, vanilla, and sugar.  Then add eggs, mix well, and pour over wafers, filling each compartment 3/4 full (which I can never seem to do evenly).  

Bake for 25 minutes at 325*

Chill, then top with desired fruit, nuts, chocolate, etc.  My Mom usually does cherry pie filling, MMM! 

In all seriousness, Veteran's Day means so much more than silly parties and red, white, and blue desserts.  I am so proud of and thankful for Bryce, and of all our Veterans, for sacrificing their lives for our country's freedom.  The land of the free because of the brave.  Thank you! 

And just for fun, here's civilian Bryce in 2009 with the cutest little boot camper I've ever seen in my life, aka USMC Bryce in 2004.  

My Assistant & Food Tester

Otherwise known as Bryce, my boyfriend!  I must say he's a lucky guy to reap the benefits of my food obsession!  He's been known to complain about a few extra pounds he's put on since we met, but I have no regrets.  "The way to a man's heart is through his stomach," right?


When we first started dating I suggested we cook and enjoy dinner together at his house.  His place at the time consisted of one health-conscious girl who ate her own grub, and 3 - 4 meat consuming men at any given time.  They would make a huge pot of brown rice and either A) ground beef or B) chicken with one condiment (BBQ sauce, buffalo sauce, ketchup, etc) every single night!  Gross.  So I selected a yummy/healthy recipe for whole wheat pasta with green beans & tomatoes, lemon, and ricotta cheese and we ate dinner together saving plenty for leftovers.  The next night I went over to find the boys eating the leftover pasta which they had added ground beef to!  Way to ruin the light and healthy recipe.

Needless to say, his food intake has changed a bit since then.  I do most of the cooking but I do ask for his help from time to time.  Who knew Bryce is fantastic at icing cakes?! 

He normally won't admit if he doesn't like something I've made, but he'll spend all day picking capers out of a dish!

Telling the mushrooms who's boss.

Enjoying some homemade mac & cheese.

  

Making deviled eggs on Easter!

Displaying some fried rice.

Taco night!