Happy Birthday Maggie!!

My precious girl is four tonight at 11:35! I cannot believe how fast the years have gone by. I'm sure every mother understands that sentiment. She continues to make me smile and laugh every day. It's amazing to watch her grow into the woman God wants her to be. Her strong will spirit will serve her well to make it through this world. I love you Maggie! You're a beautiful gift from God and I pray your life is filled with many blessings!

A Day in the Life of Charlie...

Charlie is my beloved chocolate lab and is quite possibly one of the best dogs in the world. While I can't brag about how smart he is, his gentle spirit make up for it! Here is what his days are made of...

Here he is, enjoying a delicious breakfast of chicken and rice dog food. 

Charlie loves to chase the tennis ball. It's really the only toy he's ever  really shown any interest. Sometimes we bring over the neighbor's yellow lab, Denver, and let him and Charlie chase the ball together. 

After a bout of chasing the tennis ball, Charlie loves to relax by looking out the front door. He has a view of anything that goes on in the neighborhood. One of our neighbors' cat likes to tease Charlie by walking in front of the door, knowing that Charlie can't get out. I am contemplating letting Charlie out to teach that cat a lesson!

Charlie also does well with the little human in the house (a.k.a Maggie). She loves to grab his tennis ball and have him chase her all over the house. Charlie wags his tail the whole time! 

However, there are times where Charlie likes to hide away, especially from the little humans around here. His usual hiding places are under Mimi and Papas bed and under the dining room table. 

Naps are always in the order of business for Charlie. He has four beds throughout the house for him to lounge upon...he's one spoiled pooch! 

A Pickles and Ice Cream Baby Shower!

No, I am not having another baby but my dear friend Jessica is! Jessica and I have known each other since high school, so I was thrilled to throw such a good friend a shower! We had tons of fun and baby Sawyer received lots of precious outfits and toys! Here are a few pics from the event...

For beverages we had pink lemonade, water and champagne with strawberry puree, a recipe that I found on Pinterest. Jessica is having a girl so almost everything was pink! 

This was the beautiful door basket I bought at Roots on Augusta! They did a beautiful job and it really adds a cheery touch to the front door. 

Since the theme was Pickles and Ice Cream, I had vanilla and chocolate ice cream and then had several different toppings. I made a blueberry and raspberry sauce from fresh berries I bought at Publix. I also made cinnamon gnocchi, a Giada recipe, it was a huge hit! I also offered pomegranate and strawberry flavored balsamic vinegars that I bought at Palmetto Olive Oil Company. Maggie LOVES the "oil store" (as she calls it) and asks to go there often. She loves to dip the bread in the different flavored oils and chow down on the ice cream. However, I have yet to convince her to put the flavored balsamic vinegars on top! 

Of course we had to have pickle items for the shower...Jessica herself made delicious little pickle sandwiches with the pickles wrapped in white bread with a cream cheese spread. I purchased fried pickles from Mojo's Burgers and it's a good thing I ordered the large serving instead of the regular, there were very few left! Jessica's mom brought a delicious cake from a bakery in Anderson, called The Sweetery, it was strawberry cake with cream cheese frosting--DELICIOUS!!

For the favors, everyone got a baby food jar full of homemade pickles and some ice cream-shaped hard candy that I purchased off Oriental Trading. The pickle recipe was from my friend Melissa and is super easy and scrumptious...seriously, a perfect summer treat! Here's the recipe:
7 sliced cucumbers
1 cup thinly sliced onion
2 Tbsp salt
1 tsp mustard seed
1 tsp celery seed
2 cup sugar
1 cup apple cider vinegar
1 cup green pepper

1. Mix cucumbers, onion and salt. Let sed aside for 30 minutes, then drain.
2. Mix seeds, sugar and vinegar. Let sit until cucumbers are drained.
3. Pour sugar mixture over cucumbers and place in jars, containers, etc. Refrigerate for 3 days before eating.

The favors were the hit of the party and they turned out quite cute, in my opinion! I found the favor tags at the Stick To Your Story store on Etsy. Seriously, I cannot recommend this Etsy store enough, fast turn around and willing to do custom orders (I used them to do custom favor tags for Maggie's upcoming birthday party)! I love to throw a good party and I can see that desire, to be surrounded by friends, emerging in Maggie. I hope I can nurture her generous spirit that Jesus has given her! 

And here is a picture of the invite that I also got off Etsy...

Friday Fix-It Item

Last Friday Maggie and I made Peach and Basil Shortbread, it was a recipe out of the May issue of Cooking Light. It was absolutely delicious and since peaches are in season, it was cost effective as well! Maggie loves being in the kitchen and it's fun doing something creative together. I'll post some pictures shortly...

Here's the recipe (Serves 12):

Topping:

4 cups sliced peeled peaches (about 3 pounds)

1/3 cup sugar

1/3 cup small basil leaves

1 1/2 T fresh lemon juice

Shortcake:

9 ounces cake flour (about 2 1/4 cups)

1/2 cup sugar, divided

1 T baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

6 T chilled butter, cut into small pieces

1 cup low-fat buttermilk

Cooking spray

1 1/2 tsp fat-free milk

1/4 cup slivered almonds

3/4 cup plain nonfat Greek yogurt (we used Fage)

1. To prepare topping, combine peaches, 1/3 cup sugar, basil, and juice in a bowl; let stand 1 hour

2. Preheat oven to 400

3. To prepare shortcake, weight or lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups, and level with a knife. Combine flour, 7 tablespoons sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a bowl; stir with a whisk. Cut in butter with pastry blender or two knives until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Stir in buttermilk with a fork until combined (do not overmix). Spoon the dough into a 9-inch round metal baking pan coated with cooking spray. Gently brush the dough with milk. Sprinkle with remaining sugar and almonds. 

4. Bake at 400 for 23 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 5 minutes in pan on a wire rack. Remove shortcake from pan; cool completely on wire rack. 

5. Cut shortcake into 12 wedges. Top each with 1/3 cup peach mixture and 1 tablespoon yogurt. 

If you make it I hope you enjoy it! It's light and since peaches are in season it's quite delicious!! 

Mangia, 

Abby and Maggie

Friday is "fix it" day!

Since Maggie and I usually have Friday afternoons free, I have deemed them Friday fix-it day! I plan on each week having Maggie help me fix something special in the kitchen. Last week was our first week and we made...pesto!! We had so much fun and it turned out delicious, so much better than manufactured, in a jar pesto. Maggie was thrilled with the whole process from picking the basil to using the food processor! We used the Barefoot Contessa's recipe for pesto, which can be found here.

I think Ina Garten would approve!!

Things that make me happy...

I got to cut my first hydrangea blooms today! This makes me very happy...

Our Spring Break Trip to Disney...

Well, we couldn't make it a year without going to Disney and this time we stayed at the Animal Kingdom Lodge. I highly recommend it!! We enjoyed lots of character meals and Maggie even rode Splash Mountain!! Precious Maggie even got her very first haircut on Main Street at the Magic Kingdom...seriously, amazing trip! One of my favorite trips ever!