Because I Don't Have Enough Things to Feed

I just made a sourdough starter. I'm using this technique with a few modifications- namely, I only used 1 cup of water and 1 cup of (whole wheat flour) due to the size of my jar, and I added a handful of blueberries for their yeast. I'd say they were Maine blueberries but I'd be lying- the box says they were grown in New Jersey. I did buy them in a grocery store in Maine at least!

Anyway, here's a lovely picture of my starter. I think I'm going to name her Maude.

In other news, my weekend of camping was absolutely perfect. It was much cooler in Acadia National Park (I'm sure being in a well ventilated tent in a shady campground had something to do with that as well) and we were very happy with the Seawall campsite in general. You hike in up to 300 ft. to get to your campsite- which is far enough in that you don't feel like you're sleeping in a parking lot. The sites are close together, but wooded enough that you feel like you have a little bit of privacy. The facilities are clean and although there aren't showers, there are plenty of bathrooms and plenty of running water.

We ate ridiculously well on this trip- we had steaks planned for dinner the first night and impulsively stopped at the Trenton Lobster Pound on the way in and picked up a lobster to have Surf and Turf for dinner. Dessert, of course, was s'mores. Breakfast the next morning was bacon, eggs, and leftover steak. Lunch and dinner on Saturday were pretty unremarkable camping fare, but for dessert I stuffed bananas with chocolate, peanut butter and marshmallows, wrapped them in tin-foil and set them in the coals for 5 minutes. The result was delicious, messy, and decadent!

We did a few short hikes that didn't make up for the delicious calories we consumed but did provide us with some amazing views. All and all it was great to spend some time relaxing and enjoying being outside! These pictures are of Dr. Hubby on the Wonderland Trail which takes you down to a granite rock lined shore, and of me on the Ocean Path which winds along seacliffs overlooking the ocean.

Stocking Up

Spending lots of time at home has afforded me the opportunity to tackled several multi-hour projects. The result is that my freezer is quickly filling up! So far I've made veggie broth, mushroom broth (just the water I was soaking some dried morels in, but it's very flavorful) and chicken stock. I have plans to make bone broth next since I don't go more than a couple weeks without roasting a chicken.
I've also realized that when you live in a place that doesn't have year round 100% humidity, bread dries up instead of getting moldy within a day or two. As a result, I know have at least a year's supply of bread crumbs as well.
Of course the catch is that I need to actually use all this stuff before I completely fill up my freezer!
Still, it feels good to be a little less wasteful.

What I've been up to

Oh my gosh, it's been nearly a month since I've written! I've been busy settling in and enjoying Portland, but of course that means I've been putting off blogging for far too long.

Our drive up to Portland was exhausting but went really well, in that everything made it up in 1 piece and we didn't have any significant Penske-truck-pulling-a-trailer mishaps, but Dr. Hubby swears that he will never drive a moving truck again!


Our apartment is wonderful and nearly done- once I hang up our pictures and figure out where to store the colony of computer related cords living in the corner of our front room I'll post a bunch of pictures. :) I love it because we actually managed to avoid cramming every inch of it with furniture. Having a bit of space makes it feel very peaceful. That being said, we still feel like we have too much stuff and took another car load of things to goodwill once we got here. I also love our location- Munjoy Hill feels a lot like the Marigny in New Orleans and we are close to the water, a gorgeous park, tons of restaurants, a coffee shop, and a gourmet/healthy food market.

Portland is amazing. Living here right now really does feel like being on vacation. My "office" is a sunroom that had a great view of Casco Bay and I walk my dogs in the Eastern Promenade (a big park leading down to the bay) every day. I've taken them down to the beach a few times but they are horrified by the fact that the water moves! They really love being in the park though and when it's not crowded we take them off their leashes and let them run back and forth between us. Bernie, lazy creature that he is, kind of gamely trots along until he gets too tired, but Hereaux SPRINTS with this big doggie grin on his face. He is in doggie heaven here!

Eastern Promenade after a rain

The happiest I've ever seen my dogs

I've found a lot of things I love about Portland already- The weather, of course, is perfect. I've also joined a yoga studio that I really love, I run a weekly 5K race (and have plans to run many more races), I've gone to to Farmer's Market and tried every strange veggie I found (fiddleheads! kohlrabi! salad greens with edible flowers! garlic scapes!), I've done a First Friday Art Walk, I watched the 4th of July Fireworks over the Prom from my porch, I've eaten at a lot of great restaurants, and I've cooked some pretty good meals here as well. And of course, the only pictures I've taken have been of dogs and food. :)

Fiddleheads! (and grilled chicken)

Periwinkles- aka snails! I basically pulled these out of a tide pool and boiled them- they were tasted like clams!

Speaking of clams- this guy was the size of my palm. Divine paired with fresh bread from the Standard Baking Co.

I also really like how environmentally friendly Portland is. Gone are the days of having to drive to find a place to recycle (and only being able to recycle newspapers). We have free curbside recycling and we definitely generate more recycling than actual trash because they take everything. It's awesome. Less awesome is having to pay $1 per special trash bag to get rid of our trash, but in all honesty, I appreciate the incentive to not just throw away stuff. Because we are total cheapos, we've also started a compost bin (despite the fact that I have a black thumb and kill every plant I try to grow) and I have been saving a bag of veggie scraps in the freezer for stock. I actually made my first veggie stock on Monday and plan to make chicken stock from the bones of last night's roast chicken tomorrow.

Working at home is going pretty well- I've been able to meet or exceed all of my deadlines so far and I really enjoy wearing yoga pants all the time, eating omelets whenever I want to, and painting my nails unprofessional colors. :) It can feel a little isolating but I'm making a point to actually leave the house every day (and walking the dogs doesn't count) which helps me feel more connected to the outside world.

In the next few weeks I'm looking forward to camping in Acadia National Park (Dr. Hubby talked me into getting us new tent and me a sleeping bag), running more races, going to the Farmer's Market more regularly (I've missed the past 2 weeks), doing a walking tour of the Hidden Gardens of Munjoy Hill, and taking a trip back to New Orleans for work (I need my boudin fix!). I'll also be going to D.C. soon to visit friends, and will be celebrating my 30th birthday in NYC with my inlaws since my brother-in-law is turning 3o three days after I do!

There are a lot of things I want to do but don't have concrete plans for too- trail running, getting out on the water (be it in a kayak, paddle board or real boat, I'm not picky!), skiing and snowshoeing this winter, and making friends and workout buddies.

Overall, I miss my family and friends but am incredibly thrilled to finally living in Portland. I still walk around and think to myself- I can't believe I actually live here. :) So far, the adventure is going well!

Birthday Boy

This weekend, I helped my darling fiance celebrate his last birthday as an unmarried man! On Friday night, we enjoyed happy hour drinks and $0.75 sliders at the American Sector, then hung out with our friends Steph and Brandon at our house.
On Saturday, we attended Hogs for a Cause and ate lots of Barbecue while helping to support pediatric brain cancer research. I had pulled pork macaroni, boudin balls, brisket sliders, and a salted fudge brownie. Stephanie and Brandon gave him a confederate flag belt buckle/beer opener for his birthday. I'm sure the people in Maine will love it. :P

What a beautiful day for a BBQ!

That night, we went to the LPO and saw Sir James Galway. Sir James Galway was awesome- incredibly talented, very Irish, and really quite adorable. I told my darling fiance that I want to take him home and keep him in a shoe box under my bed. (For the record, I also feel this way about Danny Devito.)

Wearing the Derby hat I gave him for Valentine's Day and sporting a seriously cute beard

Sunday was my darling fiance's 31st birthday. Of course, I chose to celebrate this momentous occasion with lots of food. In the morning, I made him eggs with black truffle butter, and for dinner I bought a pheasant from Rare Cuts for him to cook on the grill. The pheasant turned out really well- I butterflied it, rubbed it with honey and olive oil, and then he weighed it down on the grill with several cast iron skillets and cooked it for 30 minutes, turning it every 10 minutes (then every 5 minutes for the last 10, so it would be even). I served it with a side salad and mashed celery root with cranberry wensleydale cheese.
Dessert was a double peanut butter iced cake with chocolate ganache. It was a hit. :)
Hopefully, we'll have at least as much fun next year for my darling fiance's first birhtday as a married man! :)

Crazy

Please excuse my even longer than usual absence from blogging. I've been unbelievably busy, both with wedding planning and with work. My company recently merged with another company and I've also taken on some new projects- and as a result I've been working at a frantic pace for weeks, with no end in sight.
Add to that the disruption of having my bathroom redone (it's done, thankfully) and dealing with a misbehaving cat (Pancake, obviously) and Mardi Gras festivities- and hopefully you'll understand why blogging has been at the bottom of my to do list. I think I'm managing pretty well, but when I'm this busy, my free moments are filled with a nagging anxiety that I'm forgetting something.
Of course, it hasn't all been bad- I had a good time during Mardi Gras, got fake eyelashes (so glam!) for the ball I attended this year (and as a trial for my wedding look), got a wonderful hot stone massage last Wednesday, and made some really awesome homemade granola tonight (seriously, go make this granola now- it's easy and so so good!).
I'm also doing pretty well in terms of not biting my nails. Getting a manicure every 3 weeks or so is really helping- as is wearing fun nail polish colors. My current favorite is OPI's Lucerne-tainly Look Marvelous, a platinum grey with kind of a satiny finish. It's kind of bold for nails, but I really loved wearing it during Mardi Gras.
The biggest news of course is that I'm getting married in a month!! Of course, I'm really excited and I know that any wedding related stress will be so worth it in the end. :)

Are there Mardi Gras parades/celebrations where you live?

Veggies are beautiful

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, I was able to go to the Farmer's Market again on Saturday! I think that the fresh vegetables there are always so beautiful and appetizing! I bought more than I really needed because everything looked so delicious.

Delicious Carrots

I forgot to take a picture of my green onions until after I chopped them up

Beautiful Kale- my favorite!

Red Potatoes

This Cabbage is about twice the size of my head- and it was only $1.50!!I've managed to work my way through two of these big tupperwares full of cabbage so far this week

I've also been snacking on Satsumas

Is there a Farmer's Market where you live?

Looking Forward

I've found that obsessing over what I'm going to pack for my honeymoon is way more fun than actually planning my honeymoon. Unsurprisingly, my obsession is mainly about what shoes I'll bring. Obviously my comfortable Naturalizers will be coming with me, but I also want a pair of sandals that are magically cute, dressy, and comfortable when walking long distances (oh and cheap too). I'm also harboring a mild longing for a pair of Sanuk's but I think they would look too sloppy and "American" to take to Europe.
I think my darling fiance is doing something similar. Despite not knowing where we'll be living next year, he's sending me links to apartments in a couple of our favorite cities. Fantasy apartment shopping is way more fun than residency interviews!
I wanted to blog about this because I felt weird having three posts in a row about king cake. Of course, I promptly realized that I blogged about my Naturalizers last week. I may have to change the name of my blog to Sugar and Shoes.
As far as other stuff that's going on- I still need to enter the race, but I'm pretty much officially running the Mardi Gras Marathon in February, I finally chose my hairpiece for my wedding (a bejeweled ribbon headband thingy), and I'm supposed to be trying Ethiopian food tonight.

How do you procrastinate?

Dispatches from Candyland

Today's King Cake was cream cheese (and ridiculously moist and delicious). It was sitting on the table in the breakroom alongside some blessedly small and thin cocoa cookies (which I also tried), several Ferrero Rocher truffles (which I ignored, though I love them), a couple of cookies bars (cranberry chocolate chip, I'm guessing, since I left them alone too), and a fruitcake (no thanks).

I think they're on to me....

King Cake Update

Today's King Cake was a donut king cake from a donut shop in Laplace (I think). It didn't taste like a King Cake so much as a giant cake donut topped with a delicious fluffy white icing and green, yellow, and purple sprinkles. Since it was a "weird cake" I tried it. I especially loved the icing which is saying a lot for me because I often dislike cake icing (yes, I'm weird). Of course, I spent the rest of the day craving sugar. It's so addictive!

Tis the Season

It is officially King Cake season in New Orleans! I make no secret of the fact that I LOVE King Cake. I love it so much I'm having King Cake instead of Wedding Cake at my wedding. However, my office tends to have 3-5 King Cakes a week in the breakroom and I really don't need to eat a slice of cake every day from now until Mardi Gras (March 8, this year).
Over the years, I've learned that the best way to curb my King Cake consumption without feeling deprived is to make a few rules for myself.

1. I can have a slice of the first King Cake of the season if I want to, regardless of what flavor it is. (If the first king cake that comes into my office is from some place like Winn Dixie, I tend to pass and hold out for a nicer first taste).
2. After my first slice of King Cake, I will only eat filled cakes in flavors that I really like- apple, praline, and cream cheese. Since the filled cakes are more expensive, people usually buy plain, which means I'm eating cake maybe once a week or once every other week by instituting this rule.
3. I'll also try specialty cakes (goat cheese and apple my friend Sarah got at Cake Cafe was the highlight of last year's cake season for me) and plain cakes from the really good bakeries (Haydel's, Randazzo's, and Gambino's) the first time they show up at the office.

It's much easier to pass up a mediocre slice of cake when I know I'm holding out for the good stuff. I will add that I'm still debating whether or not I want to try a Hubig's Pies King Cake...

Who makes your favorite King Cake?

Old Lady Shoes

I ran 16 miles yesterday! It was actually a pretty painful run because my right hip and knee were really hurting during the run for some reason, but after the run and today, I'm just having some run of the mill soreness. I'm crossing my fingers that I'm not injured (I don't think that I am) and in the meantime, wearing a pair of Naturalizers that my mom gave me because they didn't fit her. It's seriously like walking on air! Three cheers for old lady shoes! (Not that my mom is an old lady- I'm just saying Naturalizers seem to have a certain cachet among those who are pushing 70. Mom has resorted to such shoes because she has arthritis in her feet.)
In other news, I am cooking a ton of Mark Bittman recipes lately. Partly because I got the Food Matters Cookbook for Christmas (Thanks, Tyler!) and partly because he's been putting some really good recipes online lately. Last night I made a version of the chicken, broccoli, and mushroom stir fry in the article I just linked. I used carrots instead of mushrooms (darling fiance does not share my passionate love of mushrooms), added some shredded cabbage when everything else was almost done cooking, and used some sesame oil to finish the dish. I was really glad I added carrots to the stir fry because they were perfect with the ginger and garlic that the recipe calls for. I'm also pretty thrilled to get back on the veggie band wagon.
As for the cookbook, I can't say enough good things about it. I've poured through the book and dog eared the pages for a TON of recipes I want to try. I really like the approach of using meat as a seasoning rather than the focus of a dish, and I think he's done a good job of making sure that his recipes, despite being low-meat are veggie focused rather than just giant servings of carbs (and the carbs in the recipes are also exclusively whole grain). I think that his recipes are very straightforward and there is a nice balance of ingredients that appeal to me and flavor combinations that I wouldn't have thought of on my own but am excited to try (like navy beans and butternut squash). I also love that he provides tons of recipes for beans!
As for the recipes I've tried out- I made Jook (asian rice porridge, basically- it's creamy, comforting, and full of veggies), red bean and collard green soup (southern, yet healthy!), and pasta with tuna, capers, and tomato sauce (I was surprised by how much I liked this one. Tuna in olive oil is amazing.)

What's your favorite cookbook?

You might be a foodie...

• If you've ever been late to work b/c you were opening a pomegranate when you should have been drying your hair....
• If your cat is addicted to Greek yogurt.... (it's like having a small, sharp toothed food critic yowling at your feet whenever you go near the fridge)
• If the thing holding you back from vegetarianism is your love of pâté.... (and if you google pâté so you can copy and paste it to get the proper accents on the word)
• If you've ever made a vegetable dish for your non-veggie loving family and found out that they planted that very vegetable in their garden the next week....(I guess they liked my chard!)
• If that same family still complains about the time you made them eat "paper" and "foot cheese".... (the paper in question was rice paper wrapped around pork and shrimp spring rolls, and as for the cheese- they were on the Atkin's diet so I took them out for Charcuterie plates!)
• If everyone you know asks for recommendations about where to go for dinner....
• If you come up with an awesome recipe to blog about then realize that you're going to have to make it all over again so you can actually figure out what quantities of ingredients you used... (I'm officially promising you a healthy shrimp and grits recipe of my own devising- I made it last night and it was awesome- but I'll probably have to put off my re-do until after the holidays)

Do you have any weird quirks related to your hobbies?

Christmas Party Planning

Yesterday I mailed out the invitations to my yearly Christmas party which means it's time to start thinking about what I'm going to make this year!
Food I'm going to carry over from last year includes Baked Brie, Cranberry and Blue Cheese stuffed Endive, Bacon Wrapped Water Chestnuts (always a hit), and Rotel Dip (everyone LOVED this last year).
Additionally, I want to make meringues and either rosemary chocolate chip shortbread or Scottish shortbread for my sweets because they are all easy and can be made a couple days in advance. I also want to get a veggie tray. I enjoyed having pickled veggies last year, but I enjoyed a veggie tray at a Mardi Gras ball even more- so I think that's what I'll get this year. I'd also like to do some sort of bruschetta but I haven't decided what kind yet. Maybe fig and caramelized onion? I also think that this Beluga Lentil Crostini looks amazing but am not sure it would be a crowd pleaser... Cheese twists might be a fun way to use up the rest of my puff pastry left over from the Brie...

As usual, my darling fiance will be in charge of the drinks. I've had one request for Brandy Milk Punch already, and I don't think it's a Christmas party without a Poinsettia Cocktail- but the rest is up to him!

Do you like to host parties? I love to cook for a party, but I get stressed out by all the cleaning and preparations before hand- so one big party a year is perfect for me!

Meringues

My darling fiance's mother gave us a KitchenAid mixer as an early (and greatly appreciated) wedding gift. I wanted to try it out today, so I decided to make meringues! I've never actually had meringues (although I love lemon meringue and key lime pie), but I thought they'd be the perfect thing to make in my mixer since they are so difficult to make by hand. Luckily, they turned out to be simple and delicious with the help of my mixer.
I used a recipe posted by Jenna at Eat Live Run, and added mini dark chocolate chips because someone in her comments suggested doing so. I'm glad I did because the rich chocolate was the perfect counterpoint to the airy sweetness of the sweetened egg whites.
Basically, I just mixed 3 egg whites, 1/4 tsp of cream of tartar, and 3/4 of a cup of sugar until the egg whites formed stiff glossy peaks, then folded in 1/2 a cup of mini-chocolate chips. I used two spoons to plop little meringue clouds onto baking sheets lined with parchment paper and baked them at 200 F for nearly two hours. Mine took longer than Jenna's recipe called for and I think it's because mine were bigger meringue blobs rather than the little meringue kisses she made- so adjust your time according to the size of your meringue. Just don't open the oven for a least an hour if you don't want your meringues to crack!
When the meringues were done, they were hard on the outside, and they got slightly harder as they cooled. The insides were spongy and full of air. (and chocolate!) They're so good that I'm not sure I'm going to be able to take them to work to share!

Hello, Gorgeous

Egg whites and cream of tartar

Let's get this party started!

Something's Happening!Wow! All that delicious fluff from 3 little egg whites!

Adding Chocolate Chips
Happy Little Clouds
The finished meringues. I ate two of them right after I took this picture!

What's your favorite dessert?

Halloween Treats

Two posts in one day! My goodness!
I wanted to post a quick and easy Halloween goody that I made for my friend Sarah's Halloween party on Friday. I made "ghosts" buy piping vanilla frosting out of a plastic bag (just snip off a corner and don't seal the top unless you want to pop your bag) onto store bought 2-bite brownies (I'm obsessed with these things) and adding mini-chocolate chip eyes. So if you need something quick to bring to a Halloween get together- give this a try!
And now, as a bonus, our costumes. I was a ninja and my darling fiance was a retired General McChrystal, now endorsed by Bud Light Lime. (It's an inside joke but I love his costume, especially since I sewed the better part of the outside of a case onto that thing!) Enjoy!

Ottolenghi

My friend Kristi gave me the Ottolenghi Cookbook for my birthday and I promised to let her know how the recipes were. I decided the best way to do so would be to blog about it!
I wanted to make my darling fiance a fancy dinner and this seemed like the perfect excuse. After pouring through the cookbook several times, I decided to make two of the side dishes and serve them alongside roast chicken (b/c for some reason, side dishes and apps are always more appealing to me than entrees).
I decided to make roasted golden beets (the recipe called for mixed golden and red beets, but there were only golden ones at the store) and caramelized endives with Serrano Ham (I used prosciutto instead though though).
I made these dishes over the course of two nights. On the first night, I peeled and roasted the beets in foil and caramelized the endive halves in sugar and butter. The next evening, I assembled the roasted beet salad (using the herb mix from Whole Foods, along with sunflower seeds, and the recipe's maple dressing) then topped the endives with cream, cheese, thyme, breadcrumbs, and ham and baked them for 20 minutes.

Golden Beets Look Cool

Especially When You Peel Them

Halved EndivesCaramelizing Away- I Can't Even Describe How Great This Smelled

Ready to be Topped and BakedCompleted Salad with Beets, Sunflower Seeds, Baby Greens and Herbs

Endives Out of the Oven

Dinner is Served!

A few notes:
1) I washed the skillet after Pancaked stepped in it prior to cooking my endives. :)
2) The lighting in my kitchen is lousy, I cook at night, and my camera is old, so please excuse my picture quality.
3) The recipes I picked out were easy to follow and resulted in an excellent meal. My only issue with the cookbook is that all of the units are Britsh- so Celcius, ml, and grams. I did conversions for the stuff that seemed important but I was a little too lazy to figure out how many grams of salad I should have used and just winged it on things like that. Everything turned out fine, but if you are nit-picky converting everything could prove to be time consuming.

Overall I loved these recipes and I'm excited to cook more things out of this book. (I have my eye on mushrooms with barley and preserved lemons for this week.) Thanks for the awesome present, Kristi!

Fun with the rice cooker

Last night when I was about to toss my standard brown rice into the pot for my near weekly batch of rice and beans (to be consumed over the course of several lunches) I decided to get creative.
I used 1/3 cup of Black Japonica Rice, and about 1/4 cup or so of quinoa and amaranth. (I just scooped in a little of each.) I used about a cup of water, but next time I'll use a little more (I think my rice cooker tends to leave things a little underdone), but all in all it turned out really well- I just mixed the resulting grain mixture with a can of white beans, chopped tomato, some lemon juice, basil, and a tiny drizzle of almond oil. (Sitting overnight in the fridge with the liquid from the beans and lemon juice pretty much took care of the undercooked issue.)
It tastes really great, has a texture that's more interesting than my standard beans and rice, and looks pretty- the black rice and white beans are a neat combination. Best of all, it's packed with healthy protein, fiber, and vitamins!
Has anyone else cooked anything interesting lately?

Jello Cake

Last night I went to a "bring your favorite childhood food" dinner party (aka Ketchup and Carbfest 2010) and I brought the cake that my grandmommy (mom's mom) always made when I was growing up (frankly, it was either that or spaghetti with ketchup and cheese). It's simple and delicious and much more than the sum of its parts- so I thought I'd share the recipe here. It sounds weird, but I promise, it's pretty much the best thing ever.

Jello Cake

1 box yellow cake mix
1 box lemon jell0 gelatin (not pudding)- oddly enough, the cake doesn't taste lemony
1/3 cup water
1/3 cup canola oil
3 eggs

Combine ingredients and bake in a bundt pan for 40 minutes. Be sure to both oil (or PAM) and flour the pan before you put in the dough b/c I've learned the hard way that this cake loves to stick. Enjoy with fruit or ice cream.

Anniversary Weekend

This past weekend, my darling fiance and I celebrated our anniversary. It's a little early b/c our first day was actually right before Halloween, and we got engaged on Oct. 16, but this weekend worked out to be the best time for us to get away together. This is also technically our last anniversary in October, and we won't have another anniversary until April 9, 2012! (I did promise that I would make a cake next October anyway.)
On Saturday, we drove up River Road to Napoleonville, La and stayed at the Madewood Plantation. It was gorgeous! Having been a tour guide in an Antebellum home in Natchez (Rosalie), I've always wondered what it would be like to actually live in one and this was a little taste of that.
Our stay included a candlelight dinner with the other guests (as well as breakfast in the morning) so we knew that we would have to dress up for that. My darling fiance decided that he wanted to dress up all weekend, and so I followed suit. I must say, it made for some really fun pictures.
On the way home we drove down River Road on the other side of the river, so we saw lots of refineries, small towns, old cemetaries, and historic plantation houses (a strange combination, I know) on both legs of the trip.
After we got home on Sunday we decided to grill out. I bought Buffalo steaks out of curiosity and they were really tasty. We ended the night drinking Sazeracs because I bought my darling fiance the ingredients as part of his anniversary present (we celebrated our engagement last year in the Sazerac Bar, after all). The other part was the orange tie he's sporting in some of the pictures below- it's from Southern Proper and has shotguns on it. So of course he wanted to wear it immediately (hence our dressing up all weekend.)

Our Room- The Master Bedroom

Relaxing after our Car Ride

Our room led out to the veranda
My handsome fiance

Prior to Dinner we had wine and cheese and chance to explore the house- this was the ballroomAfter dinner there was coffee, brandy, and a slightly creepy portrait in the parlor

Exploring the grounds on Sunday
There were lots of other buildings on the property. Some were rather grand (like a riverboat captain's house that is being restored) and some were modest creole cottages like this one.
The separate kitchen was open for us to explore- I thought that this old stove was very picturesque.
Replicating Senior Pictures on the porch- haha!This is supposed to be my Southern Bell look- I think I just look skeptical. But you can see the pretty sapphire necklace my darling fiance gave me for our anniversary in this shot! :)