Pink Simplicity

I've mentioned several times that we are foodies, and love cooking, so I thought I'd share a bit more of what goes on in our kitchen ;).

During the week, the cooking falls mostly to me, and I've made a list of easy, tasty recipes from several cookbooks for what we call our "Simple Meals." My husband got me this cookbook on our Valentine's Date, and I can't wait to add several of these recipes to the list.

But, on Saturday, well –that's what we call "Gourmet Night"! On Saturdays, we pull out the fancy cookbooks (mostly French),

hang out for a few hours in the kitchen, listen to old music, dance, laugh, chop, cook, taste, season, and eventually sit down to a really fun, relaxed dinner.

We are not expert chefs by any means. But, we laugh a lot and have a really good time

I mean come on – how cute are these tiny little hens ;)?

And, here my husband is

skillfully creating a nice golden brown skin on our Cornish hens with his blow torch (and, um, in case you were wondering – no – this was not part of the recipe ;). But, perfect cooking isn't really our goal – it's the joy of the process, the excitement and challenge of cooking something new, and the fun of being together that we are really after. And, mostly, we think our food is really tasty.

And, this past Saturday, a fun surprise we hadn't anticipated:

Three teeny, tiny wishbones ;)! Our son got one wish, and I got the other 2, but I gave one of my wishes to my husband (you can do that right?) – so we all got a wish.

And, we've added another special cooking night to the mix for the next several weeks! Did you all watch the first series of Planet Earth? I can't believe that was 10 years ago already. If you haven't watched it, really you should. It's an amazing glimpse at nature and wildlife from around the globe. Back then, we made it a special occasion every Sunday night for the family!

Well, Planet Earth II has just been released, so we are making a special Sunday night of it each week. And, this time, we decided to try recipes from a different country each week – so that we can taste the food from other places on the same night we get to see the nature and wildlife from other places around the world.

This past Sunday we did Indian food

Chicken Curry – very spicy, and really good! Plus, the first episode of Planet Earth II was amazing.

So, there's a little peek behind the scenes in our kitchen – definitely not always perfect, mostly very tasty, and always super fun!

TTFN,

Kelly

We love the movies, and we love to cook! So, every year, we celebrate Oscar Night, foodie style ;). 

We love going to restaurants, trying new things, and then trying to replicate them at home! So, this year, we decided to try making Escargot (guessing as best we could from the flavors we tasted at Le Fou Frog on our Valentine's Date)

They used tomato instead of lemon, and we loved it – ours turned out, well, almost as good! And we were super excited for our son to get to try them (he's a bit of a foodie, too).

My husband worked on the Steak Au Poirvre with a Brandy Sauce, while I worked on the rest

And, his steak truly was a little taste of heaven.   As was the Souffle Au Chocolat I baked us for dessert

We watched the Red Carpet special while we cleaned up the kitchen

and finished just in time to sit down, relax, and enjoy the Oscars

(and a bit of tracing Dresden petals and centers for me ;)!

We were really rooting for Viggo Mortenson – we thought he did an incredible job in the movie "Captain Fantastic" – which was our favorite of all of the Oscar Nominees this year (though we still haven't had the chance to see La La Land)!

Great food, great show – it was a night to remember ;).

TTFN,

Kelly

PS  To keep it simple, we choose a few of the more complicated French recipes (the escargot, steak au proivre, and soufflé in this case, and then add in some simple things we cook all the time (roasted asparagus, baked potatoes, bread)!  It also helps to keep the dishes down to a minimum ;)

My husband plans the most wonderful Valentine's Dates for us, and this year was no exception. He planned a weekend away for us in Kansas City. We started off with a trip to browse at Barnes & Noble (one of our favorite things)

Then, after browsing and buying a few books and some Godiva Chocolate for later, we headed into the city.

We checked into our hotel (The President's Hotel built in 1926, and recently restored – it's truly a beautiful, historic place)

We dressed for dinner, and headed to Le Fou Frog, a French restaurant we'd been wanting to try!

We are foodies to the core (French food being among our favorites) and Le Fou Frog did not disappoint! Among the highlights was our first time trying Escargot

I never thought I'd say this, but seriously – snails are delicious!

Even better than the food though, was this man's company

Oh, this man – he makes me laugh and feel all giddy inside, even after all these years

The weather was so nice, we got to eat outside (which is truly a treat for Valentine's Day in Missouri ;)!

Oh, and we also got to try Foie Gras

Not my favorite, but my husband loved it with his steak! We were stuffed and running late for the show, so we got dessert to go and headed to the Kansas City Music Hall to see The Phantom of the Opera.

We love going to plays and musicals, and have been to several, but this is our very first "Playbill" – how cool is that?

The show was amazing,

and my husband even gave me his jacket to keep me warm

Then, we walked back to the hotel for dessert

(that we ate with coffee stirrers from the room-because we didn't have any silverware ;)! And, a surprise

bottle of champagne waiting for us in the room!

To my incredible husband,

to my best friend and always my one and only Valentine – from the bottom of my heart – THANK YOU!

Nobody makes me smile

like you!

TTFN,

Kelly

This was so much fun you guys! I made His and Her Quilts for my husband and me, and oh my gosh – we love them.

It was a sentimental journey for me, making these quilts. We've been together for 25 years, and married for a little over 23. In a way, we've really grown up together – and we've become so much alike. So, it was a reflection on all of the ways in which we are the same – not just the human things like experiencing joy and sadness, love and fear, but more so, how we've really grown together as one. We've developed the same values and beliefs about what's truly important in life. We love our home, and do our remodeling projects together. We love to travel and experience new things together. We love going camping and getting out into nature. We are total foodies – we love to try new cuisines, and we love to cook together – and watch cooking shows together . . . . And, so these quilts are a reflection of the oneness, the sameness that we share. I used the same pattern design I created in EQ6, I used the same scrappy patchwork and scrappy binding. I even quilted them with the same quilting pantograph (Hearts Aflutter).

Yet, with all the sameness, we are also as different as night and day. As different as

Minnick & Simpson woven fabrics by Moda, and

Flower Sugar fabric by Lecien. We have different personalities – he's a guardian and I'm an idealist, I'm more optimistic, and he's more pessimistic. He's more strong willed, and I'm more of a softy. He loves dirt bikes and power tools, I love sewing and fabric. He's a socks and shoes wearing, ordered, scheduled person. I'm a barefoot, unscheduled, free spirit type. I'm flighty and he's grounded. He brings most of the roots and foundation to this marriage, I bring the wings and lots of adventure. Making these quilts made me really appreciate how both our similarities and our differences have really enhanced our lives.

This really was such a fun project – I might even do it again someday. But, in the meantime, these quilts are going to get a lot of use because (so very similar, yet so very different)

no big surprise – he loves his, and I love mine!

TTFN,

Kelly

Oh, I love you Missouri Star Quilt Company ;)!

My husband shot a picture of this while I was getting some Bloom and Bliss fabric cut to finish up my "You Sew Girl" pattern on a lightning fast trip to Hamilton! They have fun little signs like this all over their shops!

And, well, my husband shot this picture, and showed it to me laughing, because I almost never follow an entire pattern. And, I was like "Yes, Yes! They totally get me ;)!!

I start out thinking I'll do the pattern as it is, but then when I get to sewing, my creative juices get to flowing, and my sentimental heart gets all involved … and I go to him and say "hey, wouldn't this be cute if I added this block, because ya know, that's so us?", or "wouldn't it be fun if I changed it and did this instead?"

Quilts really are such personal things, such works of the heart! So, my philosophy of quilting would be this - "Put Your Heart Into It and Make It Yours".   If changing something gives it more heart or meaning or joy or cuteness for you or the person you're making it for – do it ;)!  Yes!  Yes!  A pattern is only a suggestion ;)!

I got a few more shots of some of the shops for you all

the Licensed fabric shop

Kids and Baby Shop

The Sew Seasonal Shop – one of my favorites along with the Florals Shop and the Reproductions Shop, this one has all of their holiday fabric!

I even got to see Jenny doing a Meet and Greet in the Basics shop ;)! This one is housed in the original JC Penney building – ya, J.C. Penney's started out in little ole Hamilton, Missouri!

Another favorite quote from Jenny is this: "Finished is better than perfect!" So true Jenny ;)!

TTFN,

Kelly

I'm the luckiest girl on the fay-fay-face of the earth-earth-earth-earth! I think Lou Gehrig was talking baseball, but I'm talking about being married to this man

He took Friday afternoon off from work to take me on a little road trip

to the Quilting Mecca of the World

Missouri Star Quilt Company!

We had lunch at Mama Hawk's Bakery

Yum! She had tons of funny things hanging in her little bakery, like this cute sign ;)

We also stopped at Tammy's Flowers and The Farm House, and saw lots of cute things, before with hit the fabric shops!

And, I feel bad about this, but seriously girls, once we got into the fabric shops, I was so lost in fabric and shopping that I completely forgot to take pictures. There are 12 different shops (basics, seasonal, floral, retro . . .). I'll try to go back and get pictures for ya! But, it was more fabric than I'd ever seen in one place at one time – and it was a little slice of heaven!

Then, my amazing husband took me for some fine dining in Hamilton! Yes, small Missouri town, Hamilton, has an incredible restaurant called The Blue Sage

we had the Antipasto for an appetizer,

side salad – oh my!

and the Lobster & Artichoke Stuffed Salmon for dinner! We were so full, we had to get dessert to go!

It was a super fun day! I'm so lucky to be Mrs. Guy, and can't thank my husband enough for taking me!

Back soon with pictures of my fabric finds ;)!

TTFN,

Kelly

My husband got us reservations at the Shakespeare Chateau Bed and Breakfast for Valentine's Day – and it is up there with some of the best Valentine's dates he's taken me on.

See, we're having a blast and we haven't even left the house yet! In all seriousness, here we are ready to go

So, no kidding – he got us the Romeo & Juliet Suite (get it – it's the Shakespeare Chateau ;)

The house was actually built in 1885 on Hall Street, also known as Millionaire's Row, and has been remarkably well preserved.

The wood work throughout the house and the 47 stained glass windows are a wonder to see.

Our suite was huge

and absolutely gorgeous! There's the sitting area where we had our morning coffee.

But, I'm getting ahead of myself

because here, we are about to head down for a special Valentine's dinner they have planned.

They brought in a local chef to cook the most delicious dinner. The Beef Wellington was perfect

but as always, my favorite part was the dessert

They even had a woman playing the harp for dinner music

and some fun readings from Shakespeare

And, before we knew it, the night had flown by, and it was time for breakfast.

I really can't thank my husband enough for all of the exciting adventures he takes me on! This is yet another fun place we really hope to visit again soon ;)

TTFN,

Kelly

I can't believe I haven't blogged since November. Life just got busy. But, I'm back to catch up. We celebrated our 22^nd Anniversary last November and my husband took me to Florida to celebrate, and we had a blast.

We hadn't been on a vacation without the kids in at least a couple of years, so it was a much needed getaway.

We spent the first day at Busch Gardens (because we are total roller coaster junkies)

It was all decorated, and lit up for Christmas - just amazing. Oh, and we like to see all of the animals, too

But, for the next several days, we just hung out at the beach

We took long morning walks

and evening strolls to watch the sunset

We ate every meal

breakfast

and dinner, outside on the deck, with the ocean breeze and the sound of the waves.

Twenty-two years of, well, mostly wedded bliss! I can't imagine my life without this amazing man ;)!

TTFN,

Kelly