Don't forget your apron!

So I'm slated to teach some friends how to make bread on Saturday (since it will be a perfect rainy day to do this!). Since I learned how to bake bread from my Gram I figured I'd call and get her exact recipe.....enjoy!

Evelyn Brown’s White Yeast Bread

1 ¼ C. milk
¼ c. shortening (a big glob)
2-3 T. sugar
1 ½ plus 5-5 ½ C. flour
2 T. yeast

Mix dry ingredients in large bowl.
Heat milk and shortening to 120 F. (very warm, but NOT hot!)
Gently pour milk mixture into flour. Add flour.
Knead for 10 minutes until dough makes cracks and no longer sticks to counter. (People don't knead enough- make sure they knead!)
Melt some butter to coat inside of bowl and roll ball of dough around to coat. Cover and let rise in warm spot for 1 hour. Poke fingers in top- if the holes stay- punch down and form into desired shape. Let rise again (20 min for rolls- 1 hour for loaf).
Bake at 350 F… 20 mins for rolls. 50 mins for loaf. Check periodically.
Eat warm with lots of butter! (Gram's exact words)

Strawberry SHortcake....

My Auntie Peg showcasing my Strawberry Shortcake nightie- circa 1983.

We went down to Mass this past weekend for some shopping and wedding related stuff :)

Besides losing my mother in Filene's for over 45 minutes, the weekend was great.

Oddly enough, I currently have a Strawberry Shortcake calendar on my wall....hmmm....time to grow up?!?

big ol' tree

I was taking engagement pictures in Meredith for this super cool couple- Amy & Adam& their doggie Ollie & this tree just happened to be on the property. They might actually get married in front of it- which would make for the coolest pictures for my portfolio- but we'll see :) I felt very small next to this monster! 

Jose

Sad news for the North Country... Sugar Hill Police Chief Jose Pequeno was seriously injured in Iraq. Jose is a friend to everyone in our community- he is all-round fantastic guy.
I loved dispatching for him- he was always happy and never gave me any attitude- in fact he usually put me in a better mood- no matter what time or type of call of it was.
I did yell at him once for calling me "m'aam" & from then on he always made a point of calling me m'aam- like I was some old lady!
He went to Iraq to serve our country & left behind his wife Kelly & their kids.
Jose is deep in our thought & prayers. If you link to carebridge above- just type in josepequeno when you search and his page will come up. Everyone has been leaving messages for him & his family is reading them to him. It is still unknown what the outcome of his injuries will be; but we pray that he will be just fine!

valentine pillow

My getcrafty year long swap partner- diane- sent me this nifty little pillow just in time for Valentine's Day :) It's so fabulously me- I feel like she already knows me..
Also note the new Garnet Hill comforter cover & sham. Feels like spring in our loft even though its a million degrees below zero out. Oscar's paws get so cold and he won't go outside unless I'm with him...
Last night we went out for a smancy fancy dinner at the Beal House Inn (complements of my fire chief). I had balsamic salmon with strawberries & kaluha creme brulee for dessert. yummmmm.Nate had a rack of lamb (sorry chloe) and blueberry cheesecake for dessert.
Okay, not much else to report.
 

TEN random things you might not know about me.

1. At age 7 I had a salamander, Sam. We found him in the woodpile and I made him a house in an old fishtank. My mom's friend, Robin, advised me that if I placed him in warm water he would liven up and wiggle around. Warm water didn't exist in our old tap. I boiled Sam to death....

2. Speaking of killing God's Creatures....in 8th grade my killer cat Clara brought in a live mouse. Chloe & Kristin Harrington were sleeping over. She dropped it on Kristin's sleeping bag, but she was sleeping and didn't know. The mousey ran into my closet and hid. Chloe & I trapped it and flushed it down the toilet. It was trying to swim out of the whrilpool. Why didn't we just release it outside?!?

3. I'm allergic to cocoanuts and my future mother in law is always making me & Nate these "Magic Cookie Bars." I can't even touch cocoanuts. Hmmmm.....

.4. I keep a journal but I don't write anything that I wouldn't want my future grand children to stumble upon- so it is pretty lame. And any journal entries from college that reference anything wild and crazy have been burned.


5. My belly button is pierced. I hate it. It's been in for 4+ years and I never went back to have the original ring changed. And I don't want to go back because I really don't want one of those freaks touching my stomache again.

6. This is really hard. I'm finding I don't have that much to say- which is not like me! I used to be anorexic & everytime I try to lose a few pounds certain family members are convinced that I'm going to look like a skelator again.

7. When I was 5 I was the cheerleading Mascot in my hometown. I even had a little mini cheerleading costume. In highschool, for a very brief time with Jolene, I cheerleaded again. But we really didn't like the girls on the team. They were nasty (with the exception of Sylvia) and not nasty like "mean girls"- nasty as in didn't shower....ugh.

8. Murder She Wrote is my favorite show. And the week I spent in the hospital it was never on. Sigh.

9. I read every single Nancy Drew (60+) & Hardy Boys that the public library had when I was in Grade School. I wanted to be a detective like Nancy- now I kinda am!


10. I love to bake & the harder the recipe the more I like it. Baked Alaskas, Martha Stewart fancy tarts, etc. How to Be a Domestic Goddess- Nigella Lawson is my favorite book :) Thanks Ronda!



.NINE places I've visited:

1. Toronto
2. Montreal
3. Michigan
4. New Mexico
5. Disney World
6. Waldo, Florida. hahaha
7. Hershey, PA
8. North Carolina
9. Yes- I know I'm extremely uncultered. I'm poor. I was supposed to spend a semester in Sweden but it fell through.

EIGHT ways to win my heart

1. bake me something yummy
2. hire me to photograph something
3. send me mail. real mail. like the post office mail.
4. pick me some flowers. i'm a girl, afterall.
5. say you love my crazy dog
6. loan me a great book
7. treat me to a latte
8. come over and do the laundry!

SEVEN things I want to do before I die

1. Move into our new house.
2. Have a baby.
3. Show my horse in a dressage show.
4. Have my photography featured in a wedding magazine.
5. Be one of the Union Leader's "40 under 40"
6. Run a 10k
7. Be the best wife & mom that I possibly can

.SIX things I'm afraid of

1. That I won't have enough fires each month and won't make enough money.
2. An electrical fire in the walls of this old timberbox
3. Oscar getting run over or doggy-napped
4. Not be able to have children
5. My parents and grandparents dying
6. My front tooth falling out

FIVE things I don't like

1. craftmatic adjustable bed ads. and any other annoying furniture ad. no offense jojo!
2. being called a princess-princesses don't set wedding budgets for 6k.
3. chinese food. i get sick every freaking single time & it doesn't even taste good going down.
4. rich people that go to the garnet hill sales in their bmw suvs. like they can't afford to shop out of the catalog? please.
5. when my house is even slightly messy....i can't handle it. yes- i know i have a problem.

FOUR ways to turn me off

1. Call me a princess. (again)
2. Fart and act like you didn't
3. Act like I'm an idiot because I'm not wealthy
4. Put down my family or friends

THREE things I do every day

1. obsessivly check my email...
2. drink at least 2 cups of coffee
3. crack my neck & hips

TWO things that make me happy

1. Cooking a huge meal for myself, my family, or my friends- okay Jess this is yours but is really is me too!

.2. Doing something crafty when my house is immaculately clean and i don't have any work hanging over my head.

ONE thing that is on my mind right now....

1. How will this weekend's Catholic Engaged Encounter go? Hopefully we will get something meaningful out of it and it won't be a complete waste of time.

That is it. The end. YOUR TURN.(thanks jess!)

Loon Mt.

So I worked a few days at Loon during the Christmas break week. This picture was taken on a day that people really didn't want to stand still long enough to get a picture taken. The wind bascially blew them all down the mountain before I could even approach them. I called it a day shortly I after I took this snap. (Note: my Austrailian Bride calls photos "snaps" which I think sounds pretty sweet).