Monday, July 26, 2010

Deck Warming Party

This weekend, our dear friends the Kenyons, invited us up to Creston, IA for their deck warming party. The party was a total blast complete with great food, live music courtesy of Matt & Emily, a bountiful selection of wine, and a blind whiskey sampling. I also made sangria, which I had never made before. It was a total hit! Unfortunately, non of my pictures turned out so there is no documentation of the event. This could have been due to the sangria:) Since the sangria was sort of my frienemy for providing loads of fun, but ruining my pictures at the same time, I thought I'd post the recipe.

Raspberry-Peach Sangria
2 thinly sliced peaches
1 quart raspberries
3 Tbsp. sugar
1/2 C. peach schnapps
1 bottle white wine (we used chardonnay, but any other white wine would be fine)

Mix ingredients in a large pitcher. Chill for several hours and serve with ice. As the night progressed, we added more wine and schnapps to the mix to stretch the recipe. It will be a hit for sure!

Friday, July 23, 2010

Making the Best of It

Last week, I finally returned from my trip to Tennessee. This trip was totally unexpected. The weekend of the 4th of July, my grandfather went into the hospital. He is experiencing congestive heart failure and has now finally moved into a nursing home. So, it has been difficult for me to post much of anything because I am still kind of recovering and coping with slowly losing my last grandparent. To make things easier for my mom, who has been driving down almost every other week or every third week to take care of my grandfather while attendant care is unavailable, my sister, Erin, and I went to help my mom with all the duties that go with an aging parent. For the first time, I understood on of the many intricate parts and complexities of the life cycle.




To make the best of the situation, we stopped at a restaurant called Lamberts. Lamberts, if any of you know about the history, is the home of the throwed rolls. Filled with massive plates of Southern cuisine, you have your bread tossed through the air. If you are not a good catcher, it could end up on the floor or worse pounding your neighbor in the face. Once we arrived in Union City, Tennessee, Erin baked a lime tart per my grandfather's request. We delivered the tart with a pampering party. I also had the joy of taking what we call the Stinkin' Lincoln out for a cruise. While the trip was very difficult, I made sure everyone made the best out of the situation.