95% Success Rate
It actually happened and most of it was good.
Sure, we could complain about small bits and pieces and some people. But I think this right here, is enough of a comment.
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The Groom
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The Groom
The Final Countdown – Weather Update
Whatever we did worked, it should be sunny and bright all day long. Now it’s just cold feet, not weather, we have to worry about.
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The Groom
The Final Countdown – Weather Special
It’s still on, none of you fret you're pretty little hearts out.
Right now the 10–Day forecast says partly cloudy for the day and showers during the night. A few hours ago it was sunny and warm (no rain), and just before that it was scattered showers.
Time will tell. If you pray, do it harder.
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The Bride
We’re the most unreliable bloggers ever.
So, it looks like we are actually going to get married this year. Despite our best efforts, we’ve been unable to find a rental house to host our wedding. But, we finally found something that will hopefully allow us to have the casual, free-flowing feel we were looking for. Nothing is official yet, but we are in the process of securing The Hermitage in Ho-Ho-Kus. And the date, you ask?
The eleventh of September. Which is how I will insist on saying it from now on.
So, we have a lot to do between now and then. In fact, we have just under 13 weeks. Yikes.
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Teresa
eh-HEM, bloggers. Lets get some confirmation on some dates. I got parties to crash!
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Teresa
which is to say, is it the 11th for sure?
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The Groom
Yes. And it’s amazing.
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The Groom
Enragement Party Wrap-Up
Despite the fact that the event was well over a month ago, I'd like to take a minute to thank everyone who could—and couldn't—attend the Engagement Party.
I do have to say that I had a great time–a lot of great memories.
It was good to see both our families coming together and mingling. Everyone flowing through the house freely was absolutely wonderful.
In fact, and I think Christine agrees with me, I'd love for the wedding to have the same feel: free & open.
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The Groom
Enragement Party
There will be an engagement party on September 19th, 2009 at around 3pm. Invites will be sent out either the 25th (or 26th) of August; cutting it short, we know.
Despite my best wishes to have the invitations contain a limerick; they do not. So consider yourself lucky.
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Lindsay Graham
Mom and Terre will be there – of course.
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Lindsay Graham
Did you spell check the heading of this page? or is that just part of your dark humor Ashley????
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The Groom
Humor, of course…
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John Mayo
Christine & Ashley…. unfortunately, we have to send regrets for the party. Life in Connecticut in early September gets in the way, including coaching soccer, walking in a parade with a bunch of “Brownies” and attending an agricultural fair…. all in a days work for the parents of Alex & Sam. However, much to your delight, we offer Richard & Kay to represent us at your fine affair. Sorry we won’t be able to attend. Hope you have a great time. John & Holley
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The Bride
Early Ideas
On the subject of what kind of wedding we wanted, we’ve always said we’d have a small wedding. Neither of us is the “big wedding” type, we don’t have bunches of money to spend, and overall the whole idea of a huge thing is just kind of exhausting.
We haven’t really started planning, but we do have some thoughts on what we want… or in some cases, what we don’t want:
- A non-standard venue. We don’t want to be in a traditional reception hall, with assigned seating and a big dance floor. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, but we’re thinking something a bit more intimate. Ideally, we want to rent a big mansion type thing, and do both the ceremony and reception right there. We’re trying to find something either in the north end of Long Beach Island, or somewhere in the lower Hudson Valley – both beautiful places that we’ve enjoyed together.
- As for the date, we are thinking fall of 2010. Given our idea of venues, and the fact that we I want to do as much as possible outside, it will ideally be early September. Here’s the dilemma, though: the first weekend in September is Labor Day, and the second weekend is September 11th. Not exactly a festive and romantic date.
- A casual, family-style barbecue as our rehearsal dinner at our weekend-wedding mansion. There are a few people that we know we can count on to help us pull this off (and we love them).
So that’s where we are at so far. Nothing concrete, just some ideas. As Ashley reminds me when I start to get worked up, we have a lot of time to figure things out.
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Teresa
Chateau Hathorn in Warwick NY has a the mansion wedding down…and is great in the fall (it is close to where we went apple picking for my 16th B-day…if you are one to remember that sort of thing). My friend Allison got married there, if you want more info…
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Heather Graham
Im exctied. more to write, soon. after today….. and our time together
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Lou Ann Preston
I tried to find the house on seaview, but no luck. I’ll try again this weekend.
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Margaret A. Peet, Esq.
Hullo, darlings.
Honestly, the 3rd week in September should be fine. It stays warm and nice well into October now. Then you avoid those less festive (or other festive) weekends.The burning question, though, is this: Will Christine be wearing a great big poofie cupcake of a wedding gown??
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The Groom
We’re Engaged
The rumours are true, the engagement happened on June 12th, 2009 over a game of Trivial Pursuit.
The actual question on the card was, “How many stripes run the full width of the U.S. Flag?”
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The Bride
Easier Than PB&J
I remember about a year ago, when I first started experimenting in the kitchen, I made sausage and peppers for the first time. Ashley took one bite and told me that I should start my own website. I laughed, thinking that was what computer geeks say instead of, “this is really good” when they like something. Now, a year later, here it is.
Honestly, I barely consider this to even be a recipe; I never thought about posting it because it seems similar to posting a recipe for a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. But perhaps is not as straightforward as I think it is. When I made this two weeks ago for my sister’s graduation party, it was one of the first things to go; people that didn’t know I had made it were telling me how good it was. So, since I took pictures, and I haven’t really cooked much in the past week, I give you the easiest recipe for sausage and peppers ever.
Sausage and Peppers
- 1 pound italian sausage (hot or sweet)
- 1 red bell pepper, sliced
- 1 green bell pepper, sliced
- 1-2 yellow onions, sliced
- 2-3 garlic cloves, minced
- 4 tbsp olive oil
- salt and crushed red pepper, to taste
- 1 tbsp dried oregano
Preheat oven to 350°. Heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil in a large sautee pan over medium-high heat. Add the sausages and brown on all sides, about 7-10 minutes (they will remain pink in the middle). Remove the sausages and drain on paper towels. Lower the heat to medium, and add the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil to the pan. Add the peppers, onions and garlic. Season with salt, red pepper and oregano. Cook until the edges of the peppers and onions begin to brown, about five minutes.
While the vegetables are cooking, slice the sausages diagonally into bite-sized pieces. When the peppers and onions are done, combine them with the sausages in a large casserole dish. Bake until the sausages are no longer pink in the middle, about 20-25 minutes.
Makes 5-6 servings
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Nascar_Lover77
I made this last night and it rocked. I served it over rice and it was the bomb diggity. Thanks!
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Sharon
I love sausage and peppers too! Here is what I made.
http://birdfood-sharona.blogspot.com/2007/07/chorizo-sausage-and-peppers-mmm-mmm.html
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The Bride
Deep Fried Delicious
I’m not a very big fan of turkey. On Thanksgiving, my plate is generally full of stuffing and mashed potatoes, with just the tiniest piece of turkey. I’ve always heard that deep-fried turkey, however, will turn even the most anti-turkey person into a fan. And now I know it’s true.
Ashley’s birthday was this week, and he decided that this year for his party, we were deep frying a turkey. It was essentially his task, because I was a little nervous about the whole thing. Everyone has seen those clips on the news of exploding fryers and holidays gone awry, and it took awhile for me to get that out of my head. But, we did a lot of research before hand, and we were quite prepared. It turns out, the main reason there are fiery incidents surrounding deep fried turkey is because people are stupid. Oil and water are not friends, and if water comes in contact with 350 degree oil, the outcome will include big red trucks and sirens. If you make sure that your turkey is completely defrosted and dry, you should be in deep-fried, flame-free bliss in no time.
We got a fryer at Lowe’s for about fifty dollars, which was less than I thought we were going to spend on it. We also found that you can buy a five-gallon jug of peanut oil there for about twenty bucks, FYI. In accordance with our obsession with Alton Brown, we followed his instructions and his recipe for the brine. Ashley fried the turkey, and it was amazing. The meat was moist and flavorful (I didn’t even salt it), and the skin was crispy and delicious. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to eat a roasted turkey ever again.
Deep Fried Turkey
Recipe from Alton Brown
- 6 quarts hot water
- 1 pound kosher salt
- 1 pound dark brown sugar
- 5 pounds ice
- 1 (13 to 14-pound) turkey, with giblets removed
- Approximately 4 to 4 ½ gallons peanut oil*
*Cook’s Note: In order to determine the correct amount of oil, place the turkey into the pot that you will be frying it in, add water just until it barely covers the top of the turkey and is at least 4 to 5 inches below the top of the pot. This will be the amount of oil you use for frying the turkey.
Place the hot water, kosher salt and brown sugar into a 5-gallon upright drink cooler and stir until the salt and sugar dissolve completely. Add the ice and stir until the mixture is cool. Gently lower the turkey into the container. If necessary, weigh down the bird to ensure that it is fully immersed in the brine. Cover and set in a cool dry place for 8 to 16 hours.
Remove the turkey from the brine, rinse and pat dry. Allow to sit at room temperature for at least 30 minutes prior to cooking.
Place the oil into a 28 to 30-quart pot and set over high heat on an outside propane burner with a sturdy structure. Bring the temperature of the oil to 250 degrees F. Once the temperature has reached 250, slowly lower the bird into the oil and bring the temperature to 350 degrees F. Once it has reached 350, lower the heat in order to maintain 350 degrees F. After 35 minutes, check the temperature of the turkey using a probe thermometer. Once the breast reaches 151 degrees F, gently remove from the oil and allow to rest for a minimum of 30 minutes prior to carving. The bird will reach an internal temperature of 161 degrees F due to carry over cooking. Carve as desired.
Teresa are discussing. 
John Mayo, 
Lindsay Graham are discussing. 
Lou Ann Preston, 
Heather Graham and one other person are discussing. 
Nascar_Lover77 are discussing. 
The Groom 1.13am on Wed, Sep 15th, 2010 Permalink
Oops, perhaps I should mention that I never had a single doubt about marrying the best lady ever.