Baked up. Pretty, although I had concerns.

I made croissants today! The theme of my life lately has been layers. What better way to celebrate this theme by making the flakiest of pastries. The croissant.

That is a lot of butter for a small amount of dough.

Thanks to layers and layers of folded butter steaming up in the oven, the croissants because beautifully soft and flaky. It’s much like yeasted pie crust. I love pie crust. And I love bread. Pie crust + bread = croissant. It doesn’t get much better than that.

But like the rest of my life, the results of this baking experiment did not look so promising. I made the mistake if peeking in the oven during the baking process. The croissants looked like they were melting! Not good.

Croissants shaped. Before rising.

This made me sad, because the croissants looked beautiful when I shaped them.

Croissants after rising. Ready for the oven.

And even more more beautiful when they rose.

A big ol' croissant ready to be part of a meal.

And thankfully…gorgeous when they finished baking. They were good enough to include in our dinner tonight.

Coconut and toffee peanut shrimp

Two types of shrimps. One with coconut and one with toffee peanuts. Both delicious.

A delicious meal.

Salad, shrimp, and croissant. It was a great meal. Kind of like a deconstructed sandwich. I always take my sandwiches apart, so why not just put the elements on a plate. Make into a sandwich if you want. If not, well then you can enjoy each piece on its own. Like the flaky, buttery croissant. I want more of this pastry. But I will wait patiently for breakfast.

Until then, my tummy will digest happily.

Bottle cap sculptures!

The prince and I decided to have some fun the other night and played with bottle caps. We drink a lot of beer. Well, we each drink about a beer a night. That adds up.

It was great to lose ourselves in this arts and craft project. We’re good at acting like four year olds.

Life has layers. Life has ups and downs. It isn’t one dimensional and we are never filled with only one emotion. In a single day, we can go from exhuberantly ecstatis to crying to angry. It’s the layers in life that make everything interesting. What would a relationship be like if you always agreed and were always smiling? Life is not a fairy tale where there is one obstacle and then…ta-dah, your life is perfect forever and ever. There will always be layers.

Peanut butter chocolate chip cookie dough brownie cake.

This fantastic dessert has layers. I had the option of crating it without layers. But the layers were needed.

Look at that cookie dough layer

This is a very fudgy thick rich brownie, cut in half and filled with a peanut butter chocolate chip cookie dough filling. It is then topped with more cookie dough and chocolate ganache.

The top of the brownie cake. Delicious toffee peanuts.

Then some delicious toffee peanuts to add a little crunch and draw out the taste of natural peanuts from the peanut butter cookie dough.

Time to serve!

The layers certainly elevate this dessert. It could easily be a typical cookie dough brownie.

A piece of goodness.

Instead, it is world of chocolate, cookie dough layers, that certainly bring a smile to your face. This may make an appearance at our wedding as the groom’s cake. I am making the cakes and desserts in order to save money and indulge myself in my love of baking.

Lam burgers with yogurt sauce.

Burgers are another vehicle for layers of flavor. This burger is made of ground lamb. The patty has garlic, salt, pepper, and lemon zest. The sauce is a yogurt, garlic, lemony sauce. There is also tomato and cucumber. Served on dark rye. Such a fresh take on a burger. Such great layers of flavor.

My first experience with spaghetti squash. There are layers and layers of strands of squash.

Spaghetti squash = a delicious side dish.

The verdict? Such a nice crunch and flavor. I have found a new vegetable love.

Layers certainly are importance. So important that it is going to be an element of our wedding. You see, I have HUGE news. After scouring the internet and looking at hundreds of bridal gowns and after trying on at least 50 dresses, I have found THE dress. It snuck up on me. It came out of nowhere. I would have never imagined this dress in my wildest dreams.

We were walking around the bridal store, Blue Bridal in Austin TX, and I saw the dress out of the corner of my eye. It is impossible to miss. I scrunched my nose and said it looked like layer cake. Needless to say, it did not make into the fitting room. After trying on 5 very blah dresses, the consultant brought two dresses over. One of them was Layer Cake. She said she was curious to see how it looked on me. Since it was different and I was pretty bored in that shop and bored with the consultant, I agreed to try it on. I could always take it right off if I hated it. Well, I almost did take it right off. I laughed at myself, scrunched my face, and started swishing in front of the mirror. I almost didn’t walk out of the dressing room, but I thought it would be funny to show my future mother and granny in law. I walked out and announced, “This is the Layer Cake!” Their expression was laughter and awe.

I looked in the larger mirror and started to notice something about myself in the dress. It was different. I evoked such a visceral response. It made me laugh. It made me come alive. Layer Cake is not a safe dress. It is not generic or even a generic silhouette. It has sparkle, softness, and flow. It has a wow factor. And it definitely captures the story of our relationship. My relationship doesn’t always make me happy, in fact sometimes it drives me cray. So I need a dress that drove me crazy.

Anyone can wear a ball gown and feel like a princess. Some girls find their Cinderalla dress, their Ariel dress, their Belle dress. But me, I found an Astrid dress. I am going to wear Layer Cake and have fun being me.

The turkey day set up!

The spread looked great on the table. I introduced each dish, in proper chef style, and waiting patiently and nervously as people dug in. I have to admit that I was scared to see whether or not people would like this slightly different take on Thanksgiving.

My plate. A little bit of everything.

People loved it. They loved every part, especially the cranberry salsa/sauce, which was my favorite part, too. It felt great to be accepted as a chef and to feel the affirmation that I am not being ridiculous in pursuing my passion for food and cooking. Maybe I am, in fact, great at this. And maybe it is what I should do with my life.

A slice of apple cheesecake crumble pie

This is what I love about cooking. It is an opportunity to use my creativity and my passion to create great food. I can work with colors, flavors, and textures. I can pour all of myself into these great product. And then, I can share it with everyone. I can put all of myself on the table, quite literally. Then, all of my creations are actually ingested by people, and my passion, my creativity, becaomes a part of each person. It is this insane relationship between chef and consumer that I never thought about before. Food is serious, but it is also fun and live giving, affirming. This is why it is such a central idea to this one holiday. People share in ingesting the same foods, all especially prepared for them, and they enjoy each other’s company. I know that it isn’t all about the food. But the food is the physical pleasure of the holiday.

A note:

Brides is having a contest to win a free honeymoon to Fiji. I entered Stephen and myself. Please go here and vote!

Here is the menu, in no particular order.

Dessert: Apple Cheesecake Crumble Pie

The apple filling.

This is a pie I made a while ago. I decided to revive it and serve it tomorrow, because, well, it is delicious and different. It gives you the best of several worlds. Apples.

The crumble!

Crumble topping, which adds so much texture and sweetness, and in my opinion, really makes the pie.

Cheesecake filling

The filling is beautiful when it comes together well like it did today!

The pie, assembled and baked.

A lovely pie, ready to chill and get ready for tomorrow! Hopefully everyone loves it.

Side dish: Stuffing

Veggies sauteeing, soon to be combined with some delicious focaccia chunks!

I decided to make a slightly Southwest stuffing. I used homemade focaccia, corn, celery, poblano, onions, and pumpkin seeds to create this masterpiece.

Stuffing ready to be baked.

It looked so great with all of the vegetables and the homemade bread. Fresh ingredients really make a difference. The healthiest dish ever? Nah. But the most wholesome and hearty and satisfying? Maybe.

Stuffing baked!

We shall see tomorrow when we dig into it. My stuffing tyle is more of a bread pudding. Where you can cut a chunk and it stays together. Yum.

Condiment: Cranberry salsa/sauce

Cranberry sauce/salsa. Amazing.

Umm…this salsa is great. It has poblano, red bell peppers, orange zest, orange juice, pumpkin seeds, and cranberries.

Side: Sweet Potato fritters

Sweet potato fritters.

Sweet potato fritters. In my opinion. Thanksgiving isn’t Thanksgiving without sweet potatoes. So I decided to make these little guys up.

Vegetable: Colorful salad/slaw

Fresh veggie salad or slaw. Whatever you want to call it.

This salad has: radishes, kale, cabbage, carrots, and green beans. It is fresh, colorful, and delicious.

Main dish: Turkey legs.

Roasted turkey legs

I roasted turkey legs and pulled the meat for our turkey soft tacos tomorrow. Call me crazy, but I have something against dried out turkey. And everyone knows that the best part of turkey is using it in fun ways as leftovers. Well, why not serve the fun dishes for Thanksgiving?

Bread: Sweet potato biscuits

Sweet potato biscuits.

These were thrown together as an afterthought. I had the butts of my sweet potatoes left over so I cooked them, mashed them, and then transformed them into gorgeous biscuits.

Biscuits up close and personal. Snack time!

They are light, flakey, and slightly rich from the sweet potatoes.

Bread: Wheat tortillas for the soft tacos!

Wheat tortillas.

The tortillas are for use with the turkey. Of course, the biscuits can be used with the turkey, too. Bascially, I hope everyone has fun playing with their food.

Taste test time.

For dinner, taste testing some of the Thanksgiving feast!

I didn’t have time to prepare a whole other meal for dinner. So I decided to throw together a little trial of tomorrow. The verdict? Incredible.

I wish everyone a happy thanksgiving. Eat and be happy. But more importantly, enjoy the company of the one’s you love and who love you.

Magic. Pure magic.

This princess has been easily overwhelmed lately. I feel like I should have a job by now. That I should be doing something “bigger” with my days. I go about my day, to appointments, to stores, wishing that I was one of the employees or doctors. Wishing that I had some type of “purpose” to my day. I am going dizzy with trying to find a perfect dress and plan the perfect day that is a perfect reflction of my prince and I.

The problem?

Too many perfects in that picture. Stephen and I are far from perfect. We are perfect for each other, but we are not perfect people. So how can I expect a “perfect” wedding. Instead, I want a fun day with great details that are unique to us. I want the day to convey how in love we are and how committed we are to a life together.

I want to write out a piece of our story. A piece of what makes us..well, us. And what I am looking for in the wedding day. The feel. The theme. The heart of it all.

We are fighters. We don’t follow rules, in fact we go behind their backs. We started dating during the semester when I was his TA instead of waiting. The effect was clear. From the moment I agreed to go over to a mutual friend’s house to share beer and hang out, I knew that something BIG was happening. It was that simple. Simple never means easy. In fact, simple equals extreme difficulty. After all, it is always hard to simplify something long and complicated. We are not complicated or fussy, but we are fighters.

We look amazing in blue jeans and tees. We love good food, from a medium rare filet mignon to a cheeseburger with french fries. Good food, like our love, is simple. But good food, like our love, should always be an adventure. We got engaged at Iceberg Lake in Glacier National Park. The beauty of this area kept me returning to take in the glacier lily-studded fields that led up to the ice berg studded lake. We will always go big before we give up.

We have fun. We spend a lot of time sitting in a rut, but we are constantly fighting to get out. The fight is complete with screams and laughter. It isn’t pretty, which neither of us are. But it is real. And that is what we both are. Real.

If I had to describe what I want in my wedding dress, to encapsulate the experience that is Astrid and Stephen, the words would be:

Classic. We are celebrated our love. This should always be treated in a classy way.

Comfortable. We are together because we feel at home with each other. We want everyone to feel comfortable at our wedding.

Princess. I will always be a princess, and I do want to find that dress that makes me run around and twirl. I want to feel pretty!

Flowy. I want the day to run smoothly and I want my dress to have great movement to it. Soft movement.

Sassy. A little attitude is needed. When I know what I want I will speak up and be sassy about it.

Quirky. There needs to be goofy and silly elements to the wedding day. We may want something classic. But we want classic with a twist!

Magical and Whimsical. Those two words say it all. There is nothing wrong with dreaming like a 4 year old and having a blast on the big day. Lots of laughter, smiles, and hugs. Please!

Burgers never fail to satisfy.

We adore burgers. Simple, delicious, amazing. Always.

Fried sweet potato "pancakes"

I attempted to make tater tots out of a sweet potato. They did not hold. So I salvaged the few that were frying, added an egg, and ta-dah! Sweet potato pancakes. Delicious.

more pie, please

For every overwhelmed princess there is a slice of pie. A slice of amazing coconut custard with a chocolatey layer and crisp, sweet crust. It fixes everything to know that I can make great things with my two hands. I may not be perfect. I may not have everything, or even anything, figured out, but I can create. No one will ever take that away from me.

Scone dough. Perfect with apple jewels.

This princess loves baked goods. She loves how the dough feels between her fingers. She loves how the finished product smells coming out of the oven. And she loves how they taste. Soft. Comforting. Delicious. This princess dreams of waking up every day of her life with the mission of baking up loks of treats for people. She has sold her scones once, so the dream is 100% possible. Until then, she will serve these scones to her prince.

Breakfast! Whole wheat apple cinnamon.

And he will love them as part of a balanced breakfast. After all, having a morning meal is essential to this princess’s happiness and health. Especially when she can share it with her prince.

Medium rare steak with yuca fries. It's fajita night!

Today we got amazing meat for mor than half the price. I made some fajitas using top sirloin, cooking medium rare. After all, medium rare is the only way you should ever eat good meat. Served with yuca on the side, is really the only way to go.

Mango pico. A great topping for great steak.

And topped with a nice pico made with mango, it was a nice, light fresh meal. Well, for this princess it was kind of light. For the prince…he lovs his yuca, steak, and cheese a bit much.

Black bottomed coconut custard pie.

For dessert, I made a pie. A coconut custard pie with a chocolate bottom.

Pie = happy

The caption says it all. The homemade crust is amazing. Especially with a layer of chocolate on it. Pie crust is a love affair. I cannot belive I once declared myself a non pie person. After making some delicious piece, I am realizing that I am definitely a pie person. I am just a picky pie person!

Weekends are good. Especially those where you cross something important off of your wedding list. Venue = done! Everything else? Don’t even get me started…that’s what more weekends are for.

The venue! Love at first step.

The prince and I had a lovely couple of days in Austin, TX. In fact, it was kind of like a fairy tale. After a few consecutive evenings of fighting over really stupid things, such as which day of the week to have the wedding or how the prince puts his sentences together (I know, I know), we managed to have a great time. We visited a few venues and actually found THE wedding venues. We found our castle and it is definitely us. The Inn at Wild Rose Hall is exactly what we were looking for. We wanted something in Austin, but away from the horrible crowds and traffic. We wanted something that screamed Texas country. We wanted a place where our guests would feel as comfortable and as home as we do there. And, as an added bonus, this venue lets us have the venue from Friday afternoon to Sunday morning! We get to have 12 friends stay with us and we get a nice home base for out pseudo-destination wedding. This means I can cook up Sunday brunch, and we can have a Friday night dress rehearsal PIZZA PARTY if we wanted.

We are both very excited, because now the fact that we are getting married is real.

Drinks at Franks. In jars!

The adventure was also filled with excellent food. Every place was phenomenal. The frist stop: Frank’s. This place has hot dogs. Amazing hot dogs.

The Chicago Hot Dog!

I ordered the Chicago, which has day glo relish, peppers, pickles, onions, tomatos, and mustard on a poppy seed bun. Yum.

Cheese waffle fries.

We shared cheese waffle fries for an appetizer. Like a loaded baked potato, but on crispy, salty waffle fries. I have a love affair with salty things. Especially if they are salty cheesey things.

Vegan chocolate cake. Great ending to a veggie/vegan meal.

The prince even humored his princess and went to my favorite vegetarian restaurant, Mother’s. This place has all vegetarian and vegan options. They have fresh juices (carrot is my favorite), and even terrific vegan desserts such as the chocolate cake we ate. The prince was impressed that he got so full from a vegetarian meal. I was not surprised. I was surprised that I was able to fit so many veggies from my stir fry in my tummy. I also have a love affair with vegetables. And a love affair with chocolate. Okay, maybe it’s just a food thing.

The trip to Austin was a success. Great food, great lodging, great company.

Fried pretzel dough bites.

Back to our castle, dinner consisted of a few delicious items, included little fried pretzel dough bites.

Pretzel bite dipped in mustard. These are addicting!

Dipped in mustard, these little babies were quite addicting. Pretzel dough will be a constant thing in my life from now on.

Broccoli cheese soup.

The main attraction was a broccoli cheese soup. Lots of veggies and broccoli purreed with water and a splash of soy milk. Lots of cheedar and blue cheese made this soup nice and fully and hearty. I topped the prince’s with a dollop of sour cream. The bestg soup I have made to date. But that isn’t saying much, I’m not the best soup maker. Probably because I am not the biggest soup eater.

The original purpose of our trip to Austin was established over a month ago when I found out that NEDA was having a walk in Austin. It was inspirational to be around so many people who struggle with something I have struggled with for years and who want to make their lives better. We were all there to start living our lives, or to support someone whose life has been or is currently taken away by an ed. My prince came with me and that meant a lot. Maybe being fully recovered is a reality, and maybe one day I will get there. Until then, I promise to start taking big steps to living my life, to having more fun, and to just being bigger in all aspects. Stop being so scared!! It’s crazy when the thickest thorns and the scariest dragons are those within your own mind, because those are the hardest to fight.

What if, in extracting these monsters, you lose your mind entirely?

Then again, what is there to lose?

Flowers, flowers, and more flowers.

“A musician must make music, an artist must paint, a poet must write, if he is to be ultimately at peace with himself. What one can be, one must be.” ~Abraham Maslow

Being creative is like breathing. I can doodle for hours and hours and cannot help but have my breath taken away by what appears on the paper. I believe that everyone has something HUGE inside them that needs to come out. Some people do it through writing, some through music, some through fitness, some through dance, some through art. We all have something that we need to do. It is my breathing. My release.

Snails under a daisy

I am coming up with potential images for wedding invitations. The above is two snails under a daisy. Daisies are my favorite flower, and snails are simply amazing little creatures.

Snails casting a love spell.

This one is two snails holding magic wands with their tails and casting a love spell on each other. Magic and stars are going to have a significant part in the wedding and will be part of the theme. So this logo would be great. Plus, it is completely unique. Everyone uses flowers, but no one uses magic wands!

A new favorite candy! Chocolate + caramel + hazelnut

I have discovered a new favorite candy and have found a way to bake with it. These little have spheres are a toffee coating with caramel, chocolate, and a hazlenut inside. Stuff this inside of cookie dough, and…ta-dah!

Toffifay, meet cookie dough! You will be wrapped!

You have a fun baking project that will entertain any kid. Or, if you are me, you will be greatly entertained by yourself as you roll the cookie dough around the candy.

Shaped and rolled in sugar.

Rolled and ready to go in the oven. I was slightly concerned that they would flatten out. Next time, I will take a precaution and chill the cookies before baking.

Baked up.

They actually baked up without spreading, and the candies stayed inside of the dough. These cookies smelled so great. The combination of toffee, caramel, and chocolate from the candy melting inside and the butter, vanilla, and dark brown sugar from the cookie dough was yummy.

These bites taste even better than they smell!

But not as yummy as these cookies taste. They are trouble! Thankfully they are small little guys that pack a huge punch. These would make fantastic christmas or holiday cookies.

Plantain pancakes. A new way to eat my favorite starch.

I love plantains. In fact, they are probably my favorite starch. Tonight I turned a ripe plantain into pancakes. They were a great vehicle for some cheese, pulled chicken, and veggies. Traditional taco toppings on a plantain pancake. Pretty amazing, actually. Then again, it is always fun to get creative with food.

Plantain pancaked topped with pulled chicken, cheese, and veggies.

Believe just five percent more that you are worth it. Whatver it is you are dreaming of or wanting in life, you deserve it. It doesn’t matter how many other people wish for the same thing. If you truly believe that you deserve what you want, them nothing can stop you. But you need to give 100% of yourself to your dream. You cannot only partially apply yourself, because you might as well just be sitting on your butt doing nothing. Identify your goal, dream, wish, and find a way to do it!! Then do it.

The problem:

I have only been partially applying myself to my dreams. I do love to cook and bake, but I have been playing it lazy and safe by simply cooking in my apartment. I could take a next step by baking people presents and mailing some baked goods on a semi-regular basis. It’s good practice and it prevents food waste. As far as a career as a chef goes, I can keep streamlining my technique and my own recipes. I can also start planning a move to Houston or Austin so that I can find actual work. I have been playing to waiting game here in College Station and to be honest, I am done waiting for life to begin. Life needs to be now.

Drawing is fun and I have been getting great practice. But I would love to have a line of stationary. To do this, I need to practice more and develope a brand that I can reproduce and transform into a logo for cards, envelopes, postcards, etc.

One of my biggest dreams is pretty vague, but I have not been trying at all to achieve it. I want to volunteer and help people. I need to reach out and get out there. Burst out of my bubble and stop feeling held back by other people. Be me. If I have an open heart, anything can happen.

I refuse to be a victim of my own life and truly want to have fun in my life and have more adventures. Laugh more. Smile more. Dance more. Love more.

A tree of our love life.

This princess loves her prince very much. Much like the snails proclaiming their love for each other underneath the tree, we are in this for the long, slow haul that is life. When I was a much younger princess, one of my favorite books was The Giver. I liked the idea of having someone pick your career for you. I miss the days of guidance counselors and personality tests. Where you could dream of your career without acting on it yet. Everyone knew you would succeed and assumed you would get whever you needed to go. But what if, like this princess, you never figured out what you truly wanted. All I focused on was my next 100% on a test, or the next award. I never focused on what I wanted and needed in life. I spent my free time doing home work and projects, intent on scoring well and getting into a great college. Because a great college means that the rest of your life will be a breeze. Or so everything thinks and that’s what they tell you.

So now here I am, a very expensive college degree under my belt, and nothing to show for it except anxiety. It has not all been for nothing. I have figured out what I need to take care of myself. I know that certain environments are hazardous to my health and that I need to be productive in a way that makes me proud of myself. I do not want to compromise myself as an individual in the quest for “success”. I love to cook, and now have a culinary certificate. I love to draw and spend a lot of my spare time creating art. I love to do yoga and walk, so those are my fitness pursuits. I love my prince, but I cannot be the best princess for him if I am unhappy with my lot in life.

You see, I know that I have so much potential. I am a great listener and have learned great compassion. I am a great leader and great at making schedules and plans. I am a good writer and actually have good penmanship. I am adventurous and not afraid to take risks. I am extremely punctual and responsible. I still feel like I am trapped in a kind of cell or in a tower waiting for someone to give me my life back. But honestly, I am not sure what to do with my life.

So I write more, draw more, cook more, walk more, stretch more, and dream more.

Snacks! Peanut butter, banana, maple syrup, whole wheat flour, cocoa powder, and an egg.

I make myself a treat-like snack that is filled with all sorts of good stuff. 1/2 cup peanut butter, 1 ripe banana, 1 tbsp maple syrup, 1 egg, 1/2 cup whole wheat flour, 1 tbsp cocoa powder, 1 tsp baking powder, 1 tsp salt. These cookies are dense and cakey with a slight sweetness. They make a great afternoon snack if you have a deadly sweet tooth like I do!

Tortilla filled with avocado and cheese, dipped in egg wash, and fried.

One of my favorite things to do with a tortilla is to batter it like you would french toast. I did this today, except I added some avocado and cheese and rolled the tortilla. Then I fried it. Um. Delicious! I will do this for a dessert at some point in the future.

Turkey chili! With a fried yuca puff.

The prince is stressed today, so I made him a good hearty meal. Some turkey chili filled with all sorts of goodies, including beer, apple, onions, garlic, tomatoes. I fried up some left over cooked yuca and served them with the chili.

Pretty please, with cheese on top.

With or without cheese, it was a nice bowl of chili. Hearty, yet light enough and nutritious enough to fully enjoy it.

For hire: A princess who can cook your meals, be your personal therapist, teach you yoga, and draw pictures for you. She also happens to have a bachelors in Geology and Theater, most of a masters in Geology, and a cooking certificate. Any takers?

A doodle a day keeps the crazies away.

Today I watched the story of another princess. Rapunzel. I found myself laughing as she went through everything she did during the day. She painted the walls, read books, learned things, baked, wrote, etc. She just did everything in her power to keep herself occupied in her lonely existence. Yes, she had her pet iguana. Yes, she had her mother. But an iguana certainly cannot speak or introduce you to the world. And her mother was the one keeping her inside of her tower in the first place. Yes, her mother loved her. But the love was too much. It was the love of possession and selfishness, where you won’t share what you love with the world for the fear of losing it.

Rapunzel made it through each day waiting for the day where she would get the opportunity to actually live her life.

College Station has been feeling very much like a tower lately. I have nowhere to shine or thrive. Yes, I can cook and bake to my heart’s content. And yes, I can draw, doodle, paint, and simply enjoy being creative. But I am not actually doing anaything. At all. I am not interacting with anyone out in the “real world”, I am not learning anything new. To put it simply…I am not challenging myself. And I need a challenge!

I feel like I am merely waiting for something bigger. Waiting for something to happen, such as moving to the city (either Houston or Austin) to find an actual job, or a magical purpose-filled mission to fall onto my lap. Tomorrow Stephen has a phone interview with a company in Houston (good luck!!), and this weekend we are going to Austin to tour 5 different wedding venues and participate in the Austin NEDA walk. Possibilities for the future and supporting a great cause sound like life might be right around the corner!

Until then, I will have fun keeping myself busy within my tour with my very own cast of characters.

Bread before being boiled.

Today’s productivity included making pretzel bread rolls to use in tonight’s dinner. I made the dough with about one third whole wheat flour and soy milk instead of water.

Bread, boiled, prepped, and ready to bake!

The rolls were boiled, like pretzels or bagels, and then topped with a milk glaze and some cheddar cheese.

Delicious cheddar pretzel bread rolls.

They made beautiful rolls that tasted great, too. I gave in and had one for an afternoon snack. That is the curse of being a chef. You gotta taste whatever you make before you feed it to someone else, even if the other perosn is my fiance. Or maybe that is just my excuse and my way to accept my perpetually expanding wasitline.

Brats with saurkraut on pretzel rolls!

The rolls were used as a vehical for beer simmered brats stuffed with cheddar cheese and accompanied by saurkraut. Saurkraut is one of my favorite things…actually anything pickled.

Ready to eat!

A simple and comforting meal, made whole by a nice salad which included green beans sauteed with bacon and garlic.

Rapunzel’s story really stuck with me. What took her so long to jump from her tower? Eighteen years is a long time to trapped somewhere, especially when you do not have bars on your window to prevent you from climbing down your own hair. It is just a fact of life that we get comfortable being bored. I am finding myself scheduling my days and obsessing about little details taht really dont matter. At all. One day I will be brave enough to live without my equivalent of Rapunzel’s long golden hair, and finally cut it off.

One day.