nantucket cranberry "pie"

I love cooking. I love baking. One of my most favorite rooms in our house is the kitchen!  My husband and I are absolutely "foodies".  We love trying new restaurants, we love trying new recipes, and we love, love, love local flavor.  We are blessed to be from a unique area of New England that is steeped in history and culture, as is evident in our local flavors! One New England staple I can not get enough of is the cranberry!

Today, after returning home from work early (love working at a school!), I started on my cooking and baking for Thanksgiving tomorrow.  Thanksgiving will be at my mom and dad's house this year,  but we have our contributions we make to the feast every year!  Our chourico stuffing (...to die for, if I do say so myself! Recipe for that in a later post!), a butternut bisque (!!), an apple pie, and a new addition this year: a nantucket cranberry pie!  This pie came out delicious!  

I recommend you try it! Let me know what you think =) 

Ingredients:

• butter to grease your pie dish 
• 2 cups of cranberries (I probably used a little more than that!) 
• 3/4 cups pecans (chopped) 
• 2/3 cups sugar (for pie filling)

• 1 cup flour 
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 stick butter (melted) 
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon almost extract
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Instructions:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Butter a cake pan or pie pan (I used a glass 7" by 11" rectangle pan! It was all I had available) 

Add cranberries to the bottom of the pan. Add chopped pecans and 2/3 cup sugar.

In a separate mixing bowl, combine flour, 1 cup sugar, melted butter, eggs, almond extract, and salt. Stir until combined.

Spread batter over the top of the pie.  *this is tricky! I spooned it on the top and pressed it flat with my hands*

Bake for 40-50 minutes.

It is really that simple! How yummy does that look?!

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours <3 Enjoy family, friends, food, and football (if you are into that)!!

maternity pants?!

Ahhhh! I have reached a milestone in my pregnancy!  My first day in maternity pants!

At 22 weeks 4 days, I am still able to wear my pre-pregnancy pants comfortably (occasionally with my trusty waistband extender) with the exception of my go to straight leg black dress pants.  Due to the clasp closure, I can not use my waistband extenders! 

It was rather warm this morning (...enjoying it while it lasts! Snow tomorrow. Ohhh New England) and I didn't want to wear my boots. Instead I looked through the Rubbermaid bin of maternity clothes my girlfriend Stephanie gave me last Friday.  Right there on top was the cutest pair of black gap maternity pants size 2.  Tried them on and ohmygoodness! So comfortable! 

I am not sure how much longer I am going to be able to wear my regular pants comfortably! It may be time to invest in a few maternity staples =) 

Hurry up little one.... We still have a few months left, but mommy and daddy can't wait to meet you! 

... a wedding story

It's not every day you are lucky enough to marry your best friend and soul mate.

For me, that day was a little over a month ago: Wednesday, October 22, 2014.  That day marked the ten year anniversary of our very first date. The date was important enough to us that we went ahead and got married on a Wednesday evening in the company of our immediate family.  It could not have been a more perfect night. 

Having met ten years ago in college (I went two years early, he went one year late... fate? We think so!), we had a whirlwind of a relationship that was not always easy, but was always there for us.  We grew together, we grew separately, and ultimately we determined our love was the lasting, forever kind of love.  We talked of marriage, of houses, of babies.  We worked hard to establish ourselves in our respective careers before happening upon the most perfect little house for our family (the two of us, an annoying cat named Kitty, and one little Maltese, Nemo).  We took a risk, put engagement and wedding plans on hold, and became first time homeowners in November of 2013:

Is it not the most darling house you have ever seen? We are in love. 

As we settled into our new life, adopted a new little fur baby (Rugby the Maltese/Shih Tzu), and started on home renovations, marriage talk took center stage.  

I had predicted we would be engaged on October 22, 2014... our ten year anniversary, and as a result I started on the plans for a late summer 2015 wedding! Little did we know we woud receive life changing news in August 2014! 

It is a story I will share in a later post, however my handsome husband was told he would be unable to have children.  As a result, we had both agreed when the timing was right, we would begin the process of in-vitro.  Life is full of miracles, however, and the universe had alternate plans for us.  In August of this year we discovered we are expecting a little baby boy in March 2015. We were over-the-moon ecstatic!! There was just one small detail we wanted to finalize before the baby was to make its grand entrance: we wanted to be husband and wife.  

Can you really call it a shotgun wedding after ten years of being together? We don't think so!  We decided what better way to celebrate our anniversary and the great news of our son, than to marry on October 22.  We put the plans in motion in September, decided on an intimate elopement within the comfort of our own home, and had the most beautiful ceremony despite the rainy and windy nor'easter that was blowing outside.  It was perfect <3

I could not have asked for anything more!  Since it was only immediate family involved in the ceremony, my husband and I have decided to keep the late summer 2015 plans for our reception and celebration.  It will be so much fun! Now we (by we I actually mean "I") are debating on poses and background scenery for our "save the date" postcards! 

We have always been a couple that prefers to do things a little out of order =). It just works for us! 

welcome to my world:..

Hello world <3

I've always been one to journal. I kept a pen and paper journal for ten years and only missed four days in total.  I've decided that eight or so years is enough time off... it is time to get back into it!  My life has changed in so many beautiful ways since then and I can't wait to share it all with you! 

I am now 26 years old, in love with my wonderful and amazing husband, and expecting a baby! I could not be happier!! I can not wait to get started on this incredible journey with you all...

... That will have to wait until next time, however =) I am 22 weeks pregnant, just got home from work, enjoyed a delicious dinner with my husband, and now it's cuddle time with my boys (hubby and puppies) because this mama is sleepy <3