Homemade Biscotti

Is there anything better than a cup of freshly ground Kona coffee and homemade biscotti for breakfast?! One of my friends sent me this wonderful recipe for biscotti. The adorable tea towel was apart of my Valentine's Day gift from my hubby. It's from a great vintage shop, House 8810.  Enjoy!

Ingredients
2 cups all purpose flower
1 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder
1/2 teaspoon of salt
3/4 cup unsalted butter at room temp
3/4 cup of sugar
2 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon of almond extract
1 cup of almonds/ of hazelnuts/ or pecans

oven 350.
1. mix flour,salt, baking powder = sift together
2. another bowl mix butter and sugar then add eggs and vanilla and almond until completely incorporated
3. after liquids are mixed slowly add the flower mixture
4. Then add the nuts

Divide the dough in half in log form on a pan with parchment paper. (so you have two 10 by 2 1/2 inch logs) leave 4 inched in between.
Bake for 17-20min until edges are golden brown and it is firm.
Let logs stand and cool for 10min
Then using a serrated knife slice into the biscotti shape.
Place slices cut side down and then bake till outside is golden brown 20min.
Let them cool 30min before icing (I melted a small bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips and sprinkled with finely chopped pecans)

Easter Joy!

Wow...it's been about 6 months since I last blogged! The title to this post is special in two ways: #1. It's almost Easter...#2. It bears the name of a particular person who berated encouraged me to make a post (sorry Steve, Joy's name was easier work with). It's been a great and busy 6 months.

We had our first house guest from the states, my college roommate Natasha. She came to Okinawa to celebrate Christmas and New Years with the Whites and it was an amazing trip! Robert went to Thailand for an exercise and completed a 7 week school called Sgts Course. I was able to go back to Texas and be a bridesmaid in my best friend, Ashlee's wedding and be there for the birth of baby Jonathan, my best friend Rebecca's little boy. I got to be a part of numerous other events and do tons of photo shoots. It was a great trip! But now I'm back in Okinawa and getting into the swing of things. And Sunday is EASTER! The day that we celebrate our Lord and Savior rising from the dead and saving all of us.

If you're like me and didn't have much time to get Easter decorations together, I have a very simple craft for you!
All you need is:
Eggs
Sharpies
And a little bit of patience

I found these on another blog, which I can't remember off the top of my head, I think they called them "doodle eggs." All you have to do is blow the yolk out of the eggs, so you're working with it completely hollow and dry. They get out your favorite Sharpies and get to work and this is what you can create:

Enjoy! And have a Happy Easter!

2 Years in Numbers

The other day Robert and I were talking about all the numbers that have been involved in the past 2 years of our marriage and between the two of us, this is what we came up with....

2 years of marriage (obviously)
1 name change
4 telephone numbers
3 moves (all technically overseas)
12 flights (4 were together)
4 addresses
5.5 months apart (not too shabby for a military couple)
4 major road trips
8,000+ miles covered on those road trips
2 trains rides
1 massive snow storm survived
16 inches of snow during that storm
7 hours spent driving 45 miles during that horrible snow storm
1 typhoon
2 earthquakes
1 boat ride
7 countries visited
16 states visited
1 re-enlistment
1 promotion
6 different jobs (oh the life of a Marine spouse)
2 churches
6 visits from friends and family
5 weddings attended
6 different living arrangements
10 gallons of paint used on our walls
2 front row seats to David Letterman on Robert's birthday
1 trip to Disney World
2 cars sold
2 foreign cars purchased
3 new passports
20,675 miles covered by military moves
Countless new friends

Love you baby! No place I'd rather be than with you!

All Month Long

It's October! This is a great month because it contains our anniversary, fall is here (well sort of...we do live in a tropical climate, let's just say there's been a cooler breeze lately), pumpkins are in season, and.....it's Breast Cancer Awareness Month! My sister-in-law Jamie is a breast cancer survivor, if you've never visited her blog you should check it out. I bought these pink shoes from Target to do my part in wearing pink all month long...I know, I know huge sacrifice on my part, but I do what I can!  Have a great month! I have tons of things to post.

Back In the Saddle

I thought I'd stick with the music theme since that's what my last two posts have been about. We're finally getting back into the swing of things. It's been a whirlwind since Robert arrived home. I've started teaching for UMUC (University of Maryland University College...if I could use one word to describe this name it would have to be redundant :D) on Kadena Air Station here in Okinawa. I absolutely love it but I designed the entire class from scratch so it's been quite a bit of work. Enough about all that...one of the first things we did when Robert got home was through a big ol party.

This was our appetizer...Marinated Cheese! Sounds kind of crazy, but it tastes delicious..it was a big hit. Here's the recipe. I'll be honest and admit that when I'm running a little behind I marinate it in Italian dressing marinade and add pimientos on top. I served it with sliced and toasted french baguettes, lightly seasoned with balsamic vinegar, garlic, and rosemary.

We also had shrimp etouffee and gumbo, two of Robert's favorites...can you tell he was born in Louisiana? As you can see, Tony Chachere's is a staple in our house and I can honestly say that everything I've put it on has been great: chicken, eggs, fish, beef, bratwurst, mac & cheese, fries, crackers...you get the general idea. 

Above is the shrimp etouffee which I cooked the night before in our giant cast iron dutch oven (pictured below). Our cast iron pot was a present from Robert's parents. As each one of our friends came in for dinner that night almost everyone of the said...wow, that is one huge pot! Huge thanks to in-laws for such impressive cookware. :D

We had about 15 people over for dinner which was a fabulous way to break in our brand....new.....TABLE!!! (as I was typing I definitely said that last line like I was Bob Barker). 

We got it at a store out in town that was going out of business. It was marked down by 50% and we LOVED it!

It's from Thailand and it makes are apartment feel so homey. What better way to break in our new table than gumbo and shrimp etouffee with good friends?!

The detail of the chairs are my favorite part. Plus the fact that we can have more than two people over at a time to eat dinner...haha! Enjoy!

Back Home

Robert made it home safely yesterday afternoon. I want to thank all my wonderful friends and family for the many prayers, notes, emails, text messages, packages, phone calls and dinner dates. Through the past three months I've realized even more so how blessed I am to have so many wonderful people apart of my life! Robert's about to get home from his first day back at work, so I'll wrap this up. I heard this song today (yes, on Pandora) and it's so true. Robert, in the words of Ray LaMontagne...you are the BEST thing! So glad you're home baby!

Made my day...

This song came on my Pandora this morning and I decided to look up the music video and I couldn't help but smile...love it! Maybe because he calls her "baby girl" and that's what Robert calls me or maybe because it say's "i love you" a million times, maybe because the lyrics, "my momma told me don't lose you 'cause the best luck I had was you" make me think of Robert's mom setting us up, maybe because all the people in the video dance a hundred times better than I do...or maybe it's all those things! Enjoy...