The Best Seat in the House...

...is now the couch we got delivered on Saturday. And we spent part of the weekend tying it all together. I've been collecting things here and there with this couch in mind since our wedding...ok, not this exact couch but something along these lines and it finally came together!

These shelves have some of the frames and the clock we got for our wedding, plus pictures from our wedding as well as the little kitty picture holders my aunt gave me a few years back.The quilt on the couch is the one my grandma made us for our wedding...I picked it when I was with her and the rest of my family on a shopping trip in Des Moines and the window is something I altered to hold photographs of both of our families.The couch came with two pillows that are actually like small cushions that aren't...um....exactly my taste. But there were two and they are cat-sized, so I decided to let them think we got the pillows for them. At least Baci seems content with his. And now the pillows get used, and the cats have a comfy place to sleep.By the end of the first day both cats had decided this was going to be the new hangout, and they're right...this will be the best seat in the house!We moved the TV from where the couch is now, which meant some rearranging of that wall too. We ordered one large print from our wedding to hang on the white wall behind the TV, but we're trying to find a 12x18 frame for it.

So that was our excitement for the weekend.

It's here!!!!

Some birthday cards

Here's a few cards I've made recently. The one above I made for my cousin. She likes modern and funky and bold things so that's why I chose the patterns and colors that I did. The cardstock is embossed w/ cupcakes and is from the Love, Elsie collection by KI Memories; the patterned paper is 3 Bugs in a Rug, the chipboard cupcake button is also Love, Elsie and then I used some thin twine and stitching rubons from my stash to add some texture/detail. Oh, and the stamp around the button is from Close to My Heart.

The card below is one I made for my uncle the cowboy. I picked up these papers months ago with him in mind and I've been patiently waiting to use them. The papers are from the Sharon Ann Collection, the ribbon is from my stash, the charm is Flair Designs (?) and the die cuts are from My Mind's Eye. I printed the greeting on a transparency w/ brown ink.

And below is the inside. I printed the greeting on some of the patterned paper, again in brown and made a mini-library pocket on my Silhouette to hold his gift card and the left hand side.

New Recipe - Fruit Tart

Updated 3/27/08: Here's pictures per your request. I've made this dish twice and both times it turned out wonderfully. Once w/ apricot preserves, the other with strawberry...I liked the strawberry better. Also, the first time had kiwi which added fun color/texture/shapes but this weekend the kiwis didn't look that great at the store, so we didn't get any. That's the fun of this recipe though: flexibility!

Many of us are preparing for Easter weekend which means family-time and special meals. Let me share this recipe with you...I'll be making it tomorrow. It's from a friend at work:

Fruit Tart
CRUST:
2/3 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup confectioners' sugar
3/4 cups all-purpose flour

*When you stir up the crust it is the consistency of sticky sugar cookie dough...don't panic...it turns out good! Also, when you go to take it out of the oven, it may have risen close to the top of the pan. Don't worry...it will sink back down when you take it out of the oven.

FILLING:
2 ounces of vanilla or white chocolate chips, melted
2 tablespoons of Preserves
1/4 cup heavy whipping cream
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, whipped
1 (20 ounce) can pineapple chunks, undrained*
1 pint fresh strawberries, sliced
1 (11 ounce) can mandarin oranges, drained
2 kiwifruit, peeled and sliced

*Make sure you save the pineapple juice to make the glaze with! Or, if you're like me and don't pay attention to that helpful tidbit, make sure you have internet access so you can find a glaze recipe that doesn't require fruit juice! :)


GLAZE:
3 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon lemon or lime juice

DIRECTIONS For crust, In a small mixing bowl, cream butter and confectioners' sugar until light and fluffy. Gradually add flour; mix well. Press into an ungreased 11-in. tart pan with removable bottom. Bake at 300 degrees F for 22-24 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool on a wire rack.
For filling, in a small mixing bowl, beat melted chips and whipping cream. Add cream cheese and preserves and beat until smooth. Spread over crust. Refrigerate for 30 minutes. Drain and rinse fruit; reserve 1/2 cup of juice from canned fruit, set aside. Arrange fruit over filling.
For glaze, in a small saucepan, combine sugar and cornstarch. Stir in lemon juice and reserved pineapple juice until smooth. Bring to a boil over medium heat; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Cool; brush over fruit. Refrigerate for 1 hour before serving. Refrigerate leftovers.

*** I found it easier to have the butter partially melted when creaming it with the sugar and flour. When pressing dough into pan, only have dough be a thin layer (it will rise) and have it partially up on the sides of the pan. You can substitute any fruit you desire, just be sure to have a different flavor of preserves for a variety; the fruit can be as heavy or light as you wish. The portions of fruit above are for heavy fruit, you will have leftover fruit. Also, you can try doubling the recipe if you wish and putting it in a 9"x13" cake pan, or 12"x17" Cookie/Jello pan. ***

Enjoy and happy Easter!!!

Having a WILD time!

It's well past time for another post, and it'll be a long one as we've been busy!

A few weeks ago (wow, time flies...) Greg and some of his peers from work participated in the Skyway Open downtown. Architecture firms from the area compete to design mini-golf holes that are then set up and played in the skyways dowtown. This was their hole. If you look closely, you can see that it spells Minneapolis as you move left to right. The "M" is that smokestack at the far left, the I is laying flat taking up the whole width, etc. Greg's big contribution was the windmill serving as the second I at the right. The windmill even moves.Their concept was that the city gets greener as you move to the right, signifying our move into greener times in the future.

Last week my uncle and his buddies (cowboy re-enactors) were in town to promote the fine state of South Dakota. South Dakota is promoting tourism in its neighboring states and as part of this campaign they wrapped two of the lightrail trains with images from South Dakota. We got to have dinner with them while they were in town. Unfortunately, I didn't have my camera (I know, I know) so no pictures of my uncle. But they did make headlines here. You can also see their website here: Wild West Creations. Being with these guys in public was fun: sooooo many people are drawn to them...they want to know what their up to, they have all kinds of questions about them, and little boys especially just stand there in awe!

Also, we recently gathered with a group of friends from college. It's hard to believe we've known them for going on 12 years! We had a game night, complete with homemade cream soda, Balderdash, foozball on a brand-spankin' new table, and appetizers. Here's a picture of one of the two newest friends in our gang:

I got to babysit for the other newest friend in our circle from college last night. We had a good time playing, singing, and watching Cars. Although, I have to say all these little ones we know are such good kids that we're going to have really high expectations when we have our own.


Also, last but certainly not least, this week we got tickets to the Wild. It was probably one of the best games that we could've gotten tickets to, not only was there a good fight, but we went into overtime and then a shootout. We ended up losing (bummer!) but what a night!

So now the weekend is upon us. Greg is working, and I have a little bit of work I should do, too. The cats are snoozing the day away and I'm going to spend the evening doing something I want to do. Not sure what that is yet!

Have a great weekend everybody!