Cake and carbs

As promised here are some of the newbies (as in recipes) we tried when the Bitters came to town. Can you say carbs?

I made (for the first time) Annie's Eats tuxedo cake (sans chocolate topping, I ran out of time) and homemade bagels. Simply put, they were both amazing (pats self on back). I will show you a not super great picture of the cake, which was giant by the way. Seriously, both were extremely tasty. In fact, the bagels were so good I forgot to take a picture. Fear not though, I made another batch to take home to Virginia so I'll post some pictures soon!

I told you it was huge.

VAY CAY!

I'm taking a vacation! Well, sort of. I'm actually on furlough (ugh.) and so I've hopped a plane to the fine state of Virginia where I plan to spend my entire unpaid week off (I do get to collect unemployment, thanks Alabama!) livin' it up visiting with friends and family and stuffing about 200 wedding invitations.

In the spirit of vacation, I thought I would post some recipes that scream fun and relaxation. And what says vacation better than salsa and margaritas?! Nothing, that's what.

This salsa from Pioneer Woman and is amazing. It can easily be made in the blender or food processor. It makes a massive amount of salsa so you might want to half the recipe if you're not planning on entertaining a large crowd.

And what better to go with some spicy salsa, but a nice cold maragarita. This is my own maragrita recipe, which I have titled "the poor man's margarita."





 Follow these steps:

-- Fill a pilsner glass with ice.

-- Pour a shot of tequila into the glass.

-- Pour a half shot of triple sec into the glass.

-- Fill glass to the top with limeade (I recommend Simply Limeade).

-- Stir, garnish with lime and enjoy!

Cheers! I may have to mix one of these up while stuffing those invites!

My latest Etsy purchase

Every now and then my Internet window shopping will turn into an actual purchase. I bought a few Christmas gifts (for my mom and my sister, who could post some pics here if they want!) from Etsy, but had yet to buy anything for myself. Well, armed with a 10 percent off coupon, which was burning a hole in my pocket I bought these bad boys, which cost me a grand total of nine bucks including shipping. 

I think the bows are super cute and these are a thrifty find, especially compared with some higher end options out there, which I also happened to adore, but just can't afford. See here.

-- Uncommon Goods forget me knot silver earrings $100

-- Kate Spade double bow studs $45

-- Marc Jacobs Bianca bows $48

Calling all Rams fans

Let's be real, you won't see a mention of sports on this blog most of the time, unless that is I'm complaining about Andy's work schedule or my belligerent neighbors celebrating an Auburn win. But I'm gonna break with tradition here to call your attention to something truly amazing.

The Virginia Commonwealth University (my aluma mater, what, what!) Rams are going to the NCAA tourney. And while this isn't "stop the presses" huge (hello, the Rams are no stranger to the big dance) it is the first time VCU has gotten at at-large bid.

As you might imagine I'm pretty freakin' excited plus I'll be in River City to watch my team. I might even make a few snacks for the big game, but without a Kitchen Aid (hello, mom, what are you thinking?!) my options will be somewhat limited. Stay tuned for more info on VCU and snacks.

Source

Old standbys

So I promised some more deets on what we snacked on when the soon-to-be in-laws came for a visit (hi Jim and Rose!). So with this post I will share some of my old standbys when it comes to snacks for company. They are easy, tasty and will impress your crowd whether it's parents or ravenous young men hungry for food and football (we seem to have a lot of the latter at Casa de McBitter).

Pizza bites, mmmm.

So first up, the pizza bite. What's more delicious than a bite size morsel of pizza? Nothing. Seriously, if you find something more satisfying than this let me know, you might also be able to solve global warming and peace in the Middle East. You can find the recipe over at Annie's Eats.

Sammies.

My other regular entertaining snack is also from Annie's Eats, enter the ham and cheese pretzel bites (sorry I forgot to take a picture). Are you sensing a trend? Bite sized treats are the best. It takes a little extra time to make the pretzel dough and boil the finished product, but believe me the hassle is well worth it.

And my final standby snack is the ham and cheese sammies from Tasty Kitchen. Yum. These are insanely easy to make ahead of time and you can just pop them in the oven 15 minutes before your guests arrive.

Enjoy! Look for a future post on some new recipes I tried out when the Bitters came for a visit, there will be cake and carbs!

Map art

Remember many posts ago when I teased and tantalized you with map art?! Well, the explanation is here. Hold on to your hats because it's good! Sadly, I did not come up with this great idea on my own. Instead I found it here at Anything Pretty. Basically you take an old map or atlas (who needs those with GPS anyway?!) and you cut it to match a frame or mat. Easy enough, right? Right.

I had an old atlas (thanks Dad!) and thought 'what the heck am I going to do with this?!' Before pitching I looked through and decided to mat maps of Minneapolis, Minn. (where Andy's from) and Richmond, Va. (where I'm from, Richmond represent! What! What!) next to one another.

I'm pretty happy with the finished product and so is Andy. He's got a small fascination with maps. See below for a map he drew of Minnesota and Wisconsin on our first date. We keep it on a memory board above the sink with some other odds and ends (check out our old Virginia (is for lovers) licenses nestled in there).

Carnation infatuation

OK, so plenty of people out there (read: flower snobs) think carnations are a lame filler flower. Perhaps you've seen the episode of Sex and the City that references such a debate? Well, I'm here to say carnations are freakin' awesome. They are cheap, they are full and lush, and all gathered together sans baby's breath are so so so pretty. I plan on having carnation centerpieces at THE wedding (almost less than 100 days away FYI) and carnation bouquets.

I fashioned an awesome wedding-esque carnation centerpiece just in time for a visit from the almost in-laws (read more about their visit and the goodies we noshed on in a future post). Fresh flowers are nice when there are guest, otherwise we usually don't have them. (HINT, HINT, Andy). Anyway, here's picture (or two) of my fresh carnies! I bought three bouquets of carnations at Kroger (three for $12, what, what!) and put them in pilsner glass. Taaa daa!

Cupcake Monday!

So several of my colleagues have advised me Monday should be treat day. After all Mondays all on their own are pretty lame, so why not perk up the start of the work week with some sweet treats? So I've been trying to bring in some sort of goodie on Monday with varying degrees of success. Usually cookies are my treat of choice (see peanut butter, white chocolate, pretzel cookies below) because they are easy to make and transport.

BUT this Monday is a birthday so I threw caution to the wind and made some special cupcakes. Enter chocolate cupcakes with strawberry swiss-meringue buttercream frosting recipe via Pink Parsley Catering. The frosting almost threw me, I had to really crank up the Kitchen Aid to get the right consistency but after a few minutes it was perfect. Stay tuned and I'll let you know what the co-workers think.

Pretend Internet shopping -- the Etsy addition

You asked, so I'll answer. OK, so maybe you didn't ask but I said I would explain "pretend Internet shopping" and I will. So here it goes. Basically it's window shopping on the web. I do a lot of looking and very little buying. Awesome?! Right? Right. OK, so it's a little boring but being dull never killed anyone, at least not that I'm aware of.

So anyway, pretend Internet shopping. It's a nice way to unwind after a long day or kill some time surfing the web. Sure, I'll shop J. Crew or Nordstrom -- the old standbys, but lately my obsession is Etsy. But be careful. It's easy to get carried away with this one and soon you'll find yourself wondering where the afternoon went and coveting several dozen items. Handbags? Jewelry? Stationary? Baking supplies? Etsy has got it. For those not in the know, Etsy is an online market place where folks sell homemade and vintage items.

Here's a look at what Etsy items I'm eying. Look for a post coming soon about my successful Etsy purchases and pretend Internet shopping -- the Etsy wedding addition.

-- monogrammed pilsner glasses, cheers! $20 

-- bow pillow $24

-- monogrammed iPod case $55

-- six chord dip dye necklace $72

-- personalized necklace $46.98

-- wooden love letters $40

-- gold bow earrings $9

-- believe it print $18

-- Richmond, Va. skyline print $35