Love and Baking: Salem's Wedding, Part 1

Oh, little blog. You are so neglected. Life just goes too fast sometimes. But I'm sure you're all used to my belated posts by now, so I'll just carry on.

A few weeks ago, my eldest sister got married! George and his sons have been a part of our family for a while now, but it was nice to make it all official. And it was lots of fun to celebrate their now-completed family.

Of course, Salem first had to enjoy her last few days of "freedom" with a bachelorette party!

Dinner at Armida's, karaoke, and Just Dance 2. Good times!

Girl time is certainly important, but the main event was the wedding itself.

Getting ready for the ceremony.

We were very sad that my grandparents were unable to attend because my grandmother had a health scare just before the wedding. Luckily, Matt got into techie mode and set to work making sure they could see the ceremony. He ended up streaming live on the internet so that Grandma and Grandpa could watch from the hospital. It was great for other extended family members to watch, too! And I'm happy to say that Grandma is doing better.

Overall, it was a beautiful ceremony that was especially cool because it was the joining of a whole family. If only the baby hadn't whined the entire time. Oh, well. I guess it's to be expected of a two-year-old.

The awesome videographer, the little wedding-disruptor and me, and a beautiful wedding - complete with group hug!

After the wedding, we had parties galore! I mentioned in previous posts that I was "catering" (using the term loosely there) the dessert reception. I spent a lot of time practicing and perfecting recipes, and I had grand ideas of how the whole thing would turn out. I had visions of perfect sweets and pictures worthy of the blogs and websites that I often spend hours salivating over. Of course, I didn't realize how difficult it is to remember to take pictures of the baking process while stressing about getting everything done by a deadline. And good food photography also requires a good camera, a decent editing software (and ability), and great natural light in the kitchen. I don't really have those things. But maybe I will someday.

Anyway, I hope to do a post with my mediocre pictures of the baking, along with recipe details. That is, if anyone will be interested in reading it. But for now, here's the final product!

Sugar free cheesecakes with raspberry drizzle; chocolate amaretto balls rolled in cocoa, powdered sugar, chopped almonds, and sugar crystals; raspberry lemon bars; and mini cheesecakes topped with sweet sour cream topping, brown sugar raspberry sauce, and chocolate caramel drizzle. Not pictured: sea salt caramels.

The whole dessert table.

I feel pretty good about the way it all turned out. It was a lot of work (more than two solid days of cooking), but I think things were pretty tasty.

Of course, it was a wedding, so my desserts had to share the spotlight with the wedding cake. I would have been bitter about sharing my moment (not really), if the cake wasn't so awesome!

Beautiful! And yummy, too!

The cake was made by my aunt, and it had so many great details. Salem and George met through music, and it's a major part of their lives, so that was the theme of the cake. And there were models of every family member - including the pets!

The music was the theme from the Brady bunch, and Ellen even included a model of Gypsy, the dog that is still a part of the family in spirit. Plus, the happy couple at the top of the cake.

The reception continued with all the fun events usually found at a reception. And there was also a big party the following night to celebrate. But I'll have to post about those later (soon, I hope!).

I'll leave you with a final look at the happy family, finally complete!

Love. Awesome.

Super Bowl and Hockey Fun

Though I will acknowledge that I am not an athletic person, I have always been a pretty good sport spectator. I can drink beer, eat hot dogs, and cheer for my team with the best of them. This past month I exercised my awesome abilities a couple of times, first at a college hockey game with a friend, and then at the SUPER BOWL!

Well, not AT the Super Bowl, obviously. In my living room, watching the Super Bowl on TV. But there was still beer and cheering... but no hot dogs. Sadness.

Anyway, I was introduced to the University of North Dakota hockey team (not literally) when I went with a friend to her UND alumni association hockey watch party. Well, the Fighting Sioux were coming to Colorado Springs, so I tagged along with Rachel to watch the game.

Hockey! I love hockey. Crowd members brought along green food coloring to make their drinks more... green. It must have worked its magic, because the Sioux won!

Yay!

But the big game of the month was the Super Bowl. We had a little gathering at our house to watch. There were a lot of family members, and I didn't really care much about the outcome of the game, so I spent a lot more time talking and eating than I did watching. I guess I wasn't utilizing my awesome cheering skills much, after all. But it was still a good time!

Getting the kid ready to go out and play in the snow (she didn't care much about the game). Apparently, the gloves were confusing.

Even though I was paying very little attention, I somehow managed to watch the entire halftime show. Of course, the cute child dancing in front of the TV helped draw my attention.

She liked the Black Eyed Peas.

Watching Football.

Kids playing. They cared about the game about as much as I did.

With a crowd of people with hungry bellies coming over, I took the opportunity to practice my treats for Salem's wedding one last time. Here's a shot of the Super Bowl dessert spread. It'll give you a little sneak peak of some of the deliciousness of the wedding:

Yum.

The sporting events were definitely a good time. Watching sports is a pretty good excuse to hang out with friends and family. And I like any excuse to hang out and have fun.

Playing in the Snow

I've decided that February is just a good month for snowshoeing. Maybe it's because the preceding winter months are so busy that we don't seem to get around to snowshoeing until this time of year. Of course, Matt's skiing obsession has certainly helped occupy most of our weekends. Anyway, earlier this month we were finally able to get out and play in the Colorado snow (without skiing!).

Isn't Colorado beautiful?

Our first snowshoe of the year was up in Rocky Mountain National Park with Dave. The park has some of the best snowshoe hikes in the state, and it's especially beautiful when the sun is shining.

Playing on the hike, Matt and Dave pose for our thoughtful album cover, Dave does anything to get the good shot, and our little chickadee friend says hello.

Trying not to fall down the hill.

The following weekend, we were back out on the trails. This time, the sun wasn't shining, but we went to a great area that was free of any other hikers. We went along with our friend Rachel and her dog, Keva (you may remember them from last winter).

So serene.

Of course, we destroyed a little of the calm and serenity as we ran around and played.

Fun times.

Friends.

In a lot of ways, I like snowshoeing more than skiing (though I'm sure Matt would disagree). There's just something awesome about being off in the woods or in the middle of a frozen lake. While I'm already aching for spring, I'm hoping to get a couple more snowshoes in this year.

We're With the Band

I've always wanted to be in a band. More specifically, I've always wanted to be a drummer in a band. Unfortunately, other than a few weeks of horrible lessons I took from a friend in high school, I've never done anything to further this dream. While I don't anticipate this changing any time soon, I did have fun pretending to be in a band a few weeks ago.

Matt and I made plans with some friends to go skiing at Beaver Creek. Matt and Dave have connections (we're so cool) to someone who owns a bar up in Avon. Through our cool connections, we got a discounted rate at a hotel. Hooray for back-to-back ski days!

What I didn't realize was that the cheap rate was meant for the bands that play at the bar. Can you see where this is going yet? In order to check in to our room, we had to pose as the Pillow Fighters*. I was the drummer, of course.

*Name changed to protect innocent ears... or eyes, as the case may be.

In reality, it wasn't that big of a deal. Dave was a little embarrassed as he had to spell our band name (which was chosen by our connections - I'm sure they thought it was hilarious) to the desk clerk who couldn't find the reservation. And we heard that the real band was confused for us when they tried to check in. But we got a room, had good food and beer at the bar, and did lots of skiing. And the whole thing was pretty funny.

Anyway, Matt and I were excited to check out Beaver Creek for the first time, and it was nice to get away from the city for a couple days. Unfortunately, we hit quite a bit of snow and ski traffic on our way up, so we had to entertain ourselves on the long, four-hour drive.

Taking online surveys while we drive through the snow.

We finally made it to Beaver Creek and got right out on the mountain.

Yay skiing! Yay fires and comfy chairs!

We made it an early night (we certainly didn't act like the band) so that we could get back out early the next morning. While Saturday was snowy and cloudy, Sunday was beautifully bright and clear.

First run of the day.

Pretty.

I've had some up and down ski days recently, but I'm proud to say that I was mostly up on this trip. Maybe it was Matt's offer to take me out for ice cream every time I fell (the final total was 7). It made me a little less angry when I crashed, and in the end I felt like I was making progress.

Good times.

It was a cool trip. And it's possible that it refueled my desire to learn to play the drums. Maybe I have a new summer project...