And yet another pie recipe...

Coconut Cream Pie

courtesy of Taste of the South Magazine, don't remember the issue (www.tasteofthesouthmagazine.com)

makes: 1 10 inch deep dish pie

preparation: 30 minutes

cook: 15 minutes

refrigerate: 2 hours

bake: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

3 1/4 cups whole milk

1/4 cup unsalted butter (I used Smart Balance and it worked great)

3 eggs

1 2/3 cups sugar

1/2 cup cornstarch

1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 (15 ounce) package refrigerated piecrust (1 sheet) OR use this recipe (I use butter instead of shortening)

2 cups sweetened flaked coconut

1 (12 ounce) container frozen non-dairy whipped topping, thawed OR make your own, recipe at bottom

Garnish: 1/4 cup toasted coconut

Directions:

1. In a large saucepan, combine milk and butter and bring to a boil over medium heat. Remove from heat.

2. In a large bowl, combine eggs, sugar, and cornstarch. Beat at medium speed with an electirc mixer for 5 minutes.

3. Add half of the milk mixture to egg mixture and whisk constantly to prevent curdling. When mixture is smooth and thick, add remaining milk mixture, whisking well. Return to saucepan.

4. Reduce heat to a simmer. Once simmering, whisk constantly for 10 minutes. Remove from heat and add vanilla, stirring to mix well. At this point it should be thick like a custard.

5. Fill a large bowl with ice and add water to make an ice bath.

6. Transfer hot custard mixture to a stainless steel bowl and set bowl over ice bath to cool to room temperature. Whisk once more for good measure. Once cooled, refrigerate for 1 to 2 hours.

7. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

8. Unroll piecrust and fit into a 10 inch deep dish pie pan. Place a square of parchment paper or aluminum foil in center of piecrust. Fill center with pie weights, dried beans, or rice.

9. Bake for 20 minutes, or until lightly browned. If using the homemade pie crust, it will take a little longer to bake. Keep checking on it so it doesn't get too brown.

10. When custard mixture has cooled and thickened, add coconut, stirring to mix well. Spoon custard into cooled piecrust. Top with sipped topping. Sprinkle with toasted coconut, if desired.

Whipped Cream

1cup whipping cream

2Tbps powdered sugar

Whisk whipping cream until foamy. Gradually add powdered sugar and beat on medium-high speed until peaks start to form and is at consistency you prefer

In a Pie Baking Mood

Lately, I have been making a lot of pies. Peach, lemon, coconut cream...they are so delicious! I don't really like cake too much, so I prefer pie and as it turns out...I've found some really good recipes. Here's one for peach pie:

Brown Sugar-Cinnamon Peach Pie

courtesy of Southern Living, July 2011

makes: 8 servings

hands on time: 30 minutes

total time: 4 hours, 50 minutes *seriously, it takes a long time

Ingredients:

1 1/3 cups cold butter

4 1/4 cups all purpose flour, divided

1 1/2 tsp salt

1/2 to 3/4 cup ice-cold water

8 large fresh, firm, ripe peaches (about 4 lbs)

1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/8 tsp salt

1/2 Tbsp butter, cut into pieces

1 large egg, beaten

1 1/2 Tbsp granulated sugar

Directions:

1. Cut 1 1/3 cups butter into small cubes, and chill 15 minutes. Stir together 4 cups flour and 1 1/2 tsp salt. Cut butter into flour mixture with a pastry blender (I just used my hands) until mixture resembles small peas. Gradually stir in 1/2 cup ice water with a fork, stirring until dry ingredients are moistened and dough begins to form a ball and leaves sides of bowl, adding more ice water, 1 Tbps at a time, if necessary. Turn dough out onto a piece of plastic wrap; press and shape dough into 2 flat disks. Wrap each disk in plastic wrap, and chill 30 minutes to 24 hours.

2. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Place 1 dough disk on a lightly floured surface; sprinkle dough lightly with flour. Roll dough to about 1/4 inch thickness. Starting at 1 edge of dough, wrap dough around rolling pin. Place rolling pin over a 9 inch pie plate and unroll dough over pie plate (seriously, why has no one told me this trick before. It worked perfectly!). Press dough into pie plate.

3. Roll remaining dough disk to about 1/ 4 inch thickness on a lightly floured surface.

4. Peel peaches, and cut into 1 /2 inch think slices; cut slices in half. Stir together brown sugar, next 3 ingredients, and remaining 1/4 cup flour in a bowl; add peaches, stirring to coat. Immediately spoon peach mixture into pie crust in pie plate, and dot with 1 1/2 Tbps butter. (Do not make mixture ahead of time or it will become to juicy)

5. Carefully place remaining pie crust over filling; press edges of crusts together and seal. Cut off excess crust and reserve. Crimp edges of pie. If desired, re-roll excess crust to 1/4 inch thickness. Cut into 3 inch leaves using a knife. Brush top of pie with beaten egg; top with leaves. Brush leaves with egg; sprinkle with 1 1/2 Tbps granulated sugar. Cut 4-5 slits in top of pie for steam to escape.

6. Freeze pie for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, heat a jelly roll pan in over for 10 minutes. Place pie on hot jelly roll pan.

7. Bake at 425 on lower oven rack 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 375 and back 40 minutes. Cover loosely with aluminum foil to prevent excessive browning and bake 25 more minutes or until juices are think and bubbly (juices will bubble through top). Transfer to wire rack and cool 2 hours before serving.

For a lattice top, cut remaining dough disk in Step 3 into 3 (1 1/2 inch wide) strips and 8 (1/4 inch wide) strips using a fluted pastry wheel. Process as directed through Step 4. In Step 5, replace whole crust with dough strips, making a lattice design. Omit pastry leaves. Brush lattice with beaten egg and sprinkle with sugar. Omit slits in crust. Process as directed in Steps 6 and 7 shielding just the edges with foil.

And there you have it! Best peach pie ever.

Thursday Latelies...a little late

Iced Coffee!!!

The Civil Wars Check them out!

Pretty Life Anonymous

Thursday Latelies

It's Thursday!!



Hope you have been finding the little things (and big things!) to be thankful for day to day in your life! Doing the Thursday Latelies has really helped me be aware of the things I have and how fortunate I really am!

Here's another link to Bex's blog if you want to check it out and see the other Thursday Latelies!

ANNIVERSARY!!!

Today is the day! Our 5 year anniversary! I cannot believe it's been 5 years!

I know people always say this, but it's really true...I love Ethan now more than I did 5 years ago and more than I thought possible. I cannot imagine what it's going to be like when we hit our 50th and even further!

As promised, this is my favorite picture from our wedding:

I love it for so many reasons. We both look so happy to be with each other. You can see my dress and you can see my flowers (which I LOVED, by the way!). This is us walking out of the reception to begin our life together. So sweet. It still hangs in our apartment today!

Sweet side note about our photographer, once again...when we came back from our honeymoon, this was waiting for us...blown up....and framed. How sweet is that?!

So thankful I married my best friend 5 years ago today. Looking forward to what God has for us this year!

Thursday Latelies

Sorry this took a day to post. I was trying to figure out a new way to upload video. Vimeo. That's the way to go!

1. Bex! Check it out...you'll be glad you did!

2. Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Nail Polish in Lightening

3. The End of Christianity, by William Dembski

4. Sseko Designs. I want the Starboard Stripe, Marigold, and Metallic Ava right now the most!

Anniversary Week part 4

This is one of my favorite pictures from the wedding:

Why? Because my grandmother passed away less than a year after my wedding. It was really the last time the family got to be around her in her truest sense of herself, if that makes sense. She was just tickled the whole day that her great-granddaughter was getting married! And she loved Ethan to death so it was a really special day. I told her that I liked her dress that she bought for the wedding...her response: Well, when you get back, you can borrow it! It would look good on ya! She's hilarious!

I wasn't really keen on having pictures of just me taken on the day of the wedding. I preferred the ones with Ethan in them too, but for some reason, I really like this one:

I was about to enter the chapel where I was going to get married. I was going to take a few pictures and then see Ethan. I was nervous and super excited all at the same time. I think Matt captured that on my face here.

Have I mentioned that we just love our photographer? Let me tell you...it was one of the best things to have a great friend taking your photos. Matt caught some of the sweetest moments during the day. Besides the fact that he is a talented photographer, he is our friend and he knew the kinds of pictures we'd like and he knew what our emotions would be. He did a fantastic job! Matt's wife, Elissa, is one of my oldest and dearest friends and she has a really fun blog! You should read it! I swear she's going to write a book one day! (Right, Liss? Will you thank me in the acknowledgement section?!? Pretty please?!)

Anyway, I'm saving my most favorite picture for Friday...

Anniversary Week part 3

We were finishing up taking all our pictures and I was tired. However, in a wedding dress you can't just plop down in a chair, so I decided to go ahead and just rest where I was. I love that you can see how attentive Ethan is! He is seriously the best.

Again, another sweet moment captured by our great photographer, Matt. So glad you were there to catch all these!

Anniversary Week Part 2

I never get tired of talking Ethan. Hope you don't mind!

This is one of my favorite pictures from our wedding day. We saw each other before the wedding and I was already in the chapel so Ethan just came in to see me! I was one big ball of tears! I love that our sweet photographer captured the actual first moment we saw each other. I think that's why I love it so much...I can still remember everything about that moment:

Love that guy.

Anniversary Week

This week, Ethan and I will celebrate our 5th wedding anniversary! I cannot believe it!

Our pastor in Mississippi and his wife take a picture every year on their anniversary holding up the number of fingers for the number of years they have been married. We always thought this was adorable, so we decided to follow suit.

Since we are coming up on our 5th one, I thought a look back at the previous 4 would be fun...

They have been the best 5 years of my life! Ethan is everything I ever prayed for in a husband and more than I could have ever known I wanted. I am truly blessed to be his wife!

I Heart Coffee!

Ethan and I like coffee.

I mean, really really really like coffee.

While Ethan was at the Catalyst conference in Dallas, he was able to try Project 7 coffee. They had a booth set up and were giving out free cups of coffee all during the conference. Ethan was so happy about that! The coffee was tasty, so he kept going back. Then he found out that Project 7 actually supports causes with the purchase of their products, like coffee. Ethan brought several canisters home. And it is delicious!

For every canister of coffee you buy, you support a cause. For example, the 7 Blend coffee (our favorite) provides clean water for one year for one person for each canister.

Pretty cool, right?

So we decided that we like the coffee so much and we believe in what they do that we decided to continue buying from Project 7. We are now members of the coffee club where we get 2 canisters of 7 Blend sent to our door every month. This year we will have had great coffee and provided clean water for 24 people for a full year. That's amazing! But they have 6 other causes they support, too!

I say all this not to make us look awesome because we are not. Project 7 is! We're thankful for companies like this and we are happy to support them. Check them out! And if you want to try some coffee....come over and we'll brew you a cup to try!

Thursday Latelies

Here's a link to Bex's blog.

Maybe next week I'll be prepared with a longer list, but for today, I think my list of 1 is just fine!

Totally Worth It

Hello, again. It's been a while.

So, I am one of those.

I definitely got up in time to watch the Royal Wedding live, not for all the pre-wedding coverage, just the wedding itself. I was up in time to see this:

Cate looked absolutely perfect. And so did Pippa, I think.

I love this shot:

I mean, I do not know these people, but they seem to really love each other and I like that.

Adorable:

I read that Cate took lessons from a make up artist in London and did her OWN makeup for the wedding. I did some of mine, but I'm glad I had my sweet bf, Kimmie, to help with makeup and hair! I cannot imagine doing my own before, oh, about 2 billion people watch me get married. Good for you, Cate!

So I may or may not have been made fun of a little bit for waking up for it, but I am so happy I did. My grandmother is British and I have always been fascinated by the royals. It was a great wedding and processional. I hope they are happy together! And honestly, we should pray for them because their ceremony was remarkably Christian. Maybe one day they will really believe it in their hearts. What a change that would be for England!

Not So Good At This

So, I'm not so good at this whole blogging thing when I don't really haven't anything going on and school is CRAZY!

However, I have a few minutes that I should actually be writing a paper, but instead, I will blog. I

mean, I owe it to you, right?

Last weekend, Ethan and I went to Passion with our college students. My goodness. What a weekend!

I never went when I was in college and I'm sad I didn't. However, I am very thankful that I got to

go now. We heard Louie Giglio, Francis Chan and John Piper speak. We were led in worship by Chris

Tomlin, Christy Nockels, Kristian Stanfill, Charlie Hall, and David Crowder. LeCrae even showed up.

It was an amazing weekend. I learned so much and it was just the rejuvenation that I needed!

During spring break, when Ethan was gone, my friend, DeAnna, and I made wreaths. One of the blogs

I follow (Hi, Linley) posted a DIY on this a while back and I have been wanting to make it since I saw

it. I talked DeAnna into doing it with me. They turned out SO good! Here's mine:

DeAnna did her roses all taupe colored and it looked amazing. Mine was too heavy to hang on my door outside on the existing nail, so i propped it up on my desk and I think I love it there:

Although it took longer than I thought it would, it was really really easy and cheap! Here's the direct link to the rose wreath DIY: here!

Check out all her DIYs here. I want to make the coasters, moss covered letters, and her latest clutch.

Anyway, that's all for tonight. I need to go write that paper.

Life Lately

Recently, Ethan and I have talked about getting our eyes checked out. We figured that we read so much and sit a computer so much that it would be good to figure out how our little eyes are doing. So we did some research, found a good opthamologist, and made appointments. Then we found a better opthamologist, made appointments with her and canceled our other ones. Saturday we show up for out appointments and the doctor was so sweet. She let me ask all my questions and made me feel like I was a smart patient for asking so many questions and wanting to know the details. I always think I'm annoying when I do that, and maybe I am, but she made me feel good about it. The diagnosis? My right eye is far sighted and my left eye is near sighted, but both are just barely that way. So apparently, my eyes only work together for about 3 hours a day and then they start to compete against each other. This has caused all sorts of little issues, like feeling dizzy, slow to focus on things, headaches. And I know what you're thinking...how did you not know you had a vision problem? Well, friend, I've never had one before and all my symptoms were so slight that I never put them all together. So there. Now I have glasses. And now that I'm not feeling cross-eyed as much, I'm really getting used to them. Here they are:

Ethan needs glasses too, but his aren't ready yet. Actually, his glasses are only for reading and studying. His eyes aren't really that bad, but the doctor wants him to prevent any damage from straining them so much.

All that to say, we're glasses wearers now. And we also really like our opthamologist. And I now have a new (rather expensive) accessory to put with my outfits. Although I only have one pair right now. That's ok...I really like the pair I got.

Hiatus

I took an unintentional hiatus from the blog. I just didn't have anything to say once I quit doing 30 for 30. My life is really not all that interesting, although I greatly enjoy it, so I figure nobody really wants to know what all is going on. But then I read other people's blogs about random stuff and I enjoy that, so I'm back!

Spring break was last week. I didn't go anywhere fun, but I had a good time anyway. Ethan went skiing in Colorado so I had people over every night and it was awesome! Look at Ethan, a natural at all things athletic:

He's cute!

Anyway, I thought I would share with you some pictures that are kind of old, some from early on in our marriage and some from early in our move to Texas. I think they are fun.

This is at our rehearsal dinner at Fat Tuesdays in Jackson, MS. Great food, great people. We look like babies:


This is my great grandma. She passed away a few years ago and I am so thankful she was able to be at my wedding in good health. She was hilarious. This will always be one of my favorite pictures:

When Ethan and I were first married, we helped run a tutoring center in a lower income apartment complex. We LOVED the kids there so much. We had a group come and play soccer with our kids one summer and this little guy didn't want to run around much, thus he became my attachment for the day. I'm glad they snapped this picture:

Ethan and I got to go to LA for a conference. This is us at Dodger stadium looking out over the city. I love it:

My sister...even though I have the scary eyes in this pic, I really like this one. I can SORT OF see how people think we look alike here:

I love Puerto Rico. So much. The country. The people. The food. The frappes. This is us on a mission trip there a few years ago in front of the best frappe stand:

We are SO good at Rock Band:

That is all for today. Thanks for looking/reading!

Favorite Hair Products

So, as of right now, I have a few favorites.

My hair is weird.

It used to be really curly:

me and kimmie, circa 2007

Now, it's like this:

Actually, I'm growing it out now, but you get the idea.

Anyway, so I have been using a lot more heat on it than I d

id when it was curly and I am trying to take care of it. My hair gets really oily at the roots, but dry on the ends.

1. I really like the new Tresseme Dry Shampoo. I blogged about it earlier in this post. I bought the correct brush and I have been using it. Let me tell you something...it totally works! I spray it on my roots around my face, leave for a few minutes, brush it out and I'm good to go. It leaves my hair looking, feeling, and smelling clean without weighing it down at all. I'm a fan. It is allowing me to be gentler on my hair because I don't have to wash and dry it every day. Hooray!

2. I bought this product this weekend and I love it. It works just as promised!!

Nexxus Pro Mend

Like I said, it works as promised. I bought the leave in conditioner only and I have used it twice now and I'm not kidding, my split ends are repaired now. It smells great and it doesn't weigh my hair down. I am a big fan now, I may even purchase other products in this line.

3. I bought a teasing comb. I watched a hair tutorial by Linley on her blog (which is awesome, by the way) and she talked about how to add volume to your hair with a teasing comb. Well I bought one and I love it. Don't judge me.

Just wanted to share those few things.

I hope you all had a great Wednesday. Mine was ok, thanks for asking!

30 for 30 Recap

I just wanted to see what my 30 for 30 outfits looked like, side by side. I don't think it's really bad. For my first time around, I think I overall really enjoyed the challenge.

If you care, here's the recap:

Day 26-30

So I'm all caught up on photos.

Please excuse the numbers on the photos. I got all confused!

Day 27:

Day 28:

Day 29, day time:

Day 29, night:

Day 30:

Funny story:

When Ethan and I went to Mississippi a few weeks ago, my dad was talking to me about this whole challenge. I showed him Kendi's blog as I was explaining the point of the challenge and why I was doing it. We came across a picture of Kendi with her fake glasses on and I just mentioned that they were an accessory, she doesn't actually wear glasses. Well, he thought that was funny. He had to run to the store later and when he came home, be brought me a 3 pack of reader glasses and insisted that I take a picture with them on to be like "Kendri," as he calls her.

So this one's for you, Dad:

I'm working on some collage pictures to recap. I'll post that later.

Still Vote for Kimmie!!!

Vote here.

She's in the running. Kimmie is #13 right now, but we only have 2 days to get her to #1. We can do this!!

Five Things Friday

For Five Things Friday, I am giving you my 5 favorite websites where you can shop guilt free. What does that mean? Well, it means that when you purchase something from their sites, you are actually helping someone! I'll explain:

1. fashionABLE

The scarves sold on this website are made by women in Africa. When you purchase a scarf, the money goes back to them, providing for them and their families and creating more jobs for other women who are stuck in poverty.

I love this yellow one:

2. Sseko Designs (say-ko)

The sandals sold by Sseko Designs are made by women in Uganda. They work for 9 months to earn money to pay for a university education. It's a really cool site and company. The sandals come with a sole and then with removable straps. You can purchase as many straps as you want and tie them in about a bizillion different ways. I ordered some in January and I LOVE them.

I really like these (and a blue and white stripe one):

3. Noonday Collection

At Noonday Collection, you can purchase accessories for you and your home. They are all handmade by artisans across the world, providing income for them to keep them out of poverty. The proceeds from the purchase go toward the Noonday family's adoption from Rwanda. Once they raise their money, they will continue raising money to support other families who are adopting.

I love these items, but I had a REALLY hard time selecting a top 3:

4. TOMS

Who doesn't love a good pair of TOMS? You probably already know that when you purchase a pair of TOMS, they give a pair to someone in poverty who doesn't own shoes, playing a part in helping to prevent diseases people contract by walking barefoot so much.

I have 2 pair already, but I love the spring line. My 3 favs are:

5. The Ho Family

I love these people! Calvin and Erica are really good friends of ours and we just adore their family, including little Liam, who currently lives in Ethiopia, waiting to join his forever family, the Hos. They are raising money to bring Liam home and I love the options they have. I have purchased coffee bean bracelets from them as gifts and they were a big hit. I love that they have coffee (from Just Love Coffee) you can buy, and the company gives money back to them for their adoption fund. Please check out their site and see how absolutely adorable their family is!

Case in point:

Happy weekend!

Love to you!

Vote for Kimmie!!

This is my friend, Kimmie:



She is one of my heroes! Seriously.

She has overcome so much in her only 27 years and she is such a solid believer in Jesus.

She has entered a contest to win a trip to Hawaii and she really deserves to win. But, I bet you're like me and you're thinking, why should I vote for this girl that I don't even know and help her win a trip to Hawaii. Well, let me share with you some reasons:

1. She has survived 2 brain surgeries. She thought she could never have a baby and she DID!
2. She completed P90X after having her baby and looks AMAZING
3. She and her husband didn't get a honeymoon so winning a trip to Hawaii would be awesome
4. She loves Jesus
5. She's hilarious. Just check out her blog.
6. Because if you like me at all, then you'll love Kimmie and she could use your vote!!

We have til Friday to get her to number one so please vote every day on every computer you can. Don't forget to verify the vote after you click the vote button. I'll update her link every day so you can find her directly.


Please please please do this for Kimmie, William, and bebe Willow! :)

Vote here.

I Made It!!

Today is the last day of 30 for 30!!!

I could not be any happier that I made it to the end. I know I've failed on my posting as of late, but I will update with the end of the pictures to complete my journey.

For now, let me share with you what I learned and why I am thankful that I participated in this challenge:

1. I do not have a lot of money to just go shopping all the time. The main thing about this challenge is that you are not allowed to shop and you have to use only what you pick as your 30 items to remix into different outfits. I learned that I don't have to shop in stores, but I can shop my closet!

2. I learned more about what I do and do not like. For example, as it turns out, I really like tucking shirts in to skirts and pants. I've never really done that before because I always thought it would look funny. I tried it a few times and decided that I really like the look and that I can pull it off. I also have a new found love for belts.

3. I am so happy to know how many different outfits I have in my closet right now. I can't wait to expand it out to the rest of my clothes and see really what I've got going on!

4. I found some really cool blogs and made some cool blog "friends."

5. I discovered Picnik, via Linley at Dwelling and Telling.

6. I kept up with my blog better than I ever have before.

7. I have the satisfaction of knowing I started AND finished something challenging.

So, there you have it! I think I may do the next one and if I do, I want you to participate with me!!

Pretend

Today I bought some new nail polish. I'm really excited about it. It's OPI Show It and Glow It and it's in the glitter line. I painted my nails already and I really really like it!

So let's pretend that I took a picture on Friday. In the picture, I was wearing my black dress pants, my blue sweater, my gray booties, my great grandmothers old owl necklace, with curly hair and a yellow headband made by my friend. Wasn't that fun? Good, that was day 25.

So this weekend has been full and crazy. Friday after work I went to the youth girls retreat at church, called Unify. It was really cool. It's student led and the whole thing is about how to be unified as girls in the youth group. I thought they did a great job!

Saturday, I went to a wedding shower for a sweet friend that is getting married in 2 weeks. Her wedding will be my first experience as a wedding director/coordinator. FUN! This is what I wore to the shower (Day 26 part 1):

Later that evening, our college ministry was invited to a game night with the singles group from church. We played bunko and this random fact get to know you game. It was really fun. This is what I wore to that (Day 26 part 2):

Today was a great day at church. We've been in Ecclesiastes this week. We talked about how everything in life is really meaningless unless you are following God. True purpose comes from Him and Him alone. We can pursue lots of things and be really successful at them, but it is useless outside of a relationship with God.

Great reminder for motive and why we do what we do. Thankful for purpose!