29 Weeks

Last weekend we had a great time camping in Paris Mountain State Park, SC with friends. Although it rained a bit on Friday night, we stayed mostly dry while playing dominoes until the wee hours of the night. And surprisingly I got along pretty well. I skipped out on the 10 mile hike Saturday and opted instead to finish the last book in the Hunger Games trilogy while lounging in a hammock. It was nice.

Husband builds a great fire

I'm not sure exactly why, but being in the great outdoors has always rejuvenated me. Connecting to God, connecting to nature, seeing the vast beauty and complexity of the natural world really speaks to my soul. And somehow I am able to dig deep and manage my gross fear of bugs. 

And who doesn't love evenings spent around a camp fire? Always so mesmerizing. It doesn't get much better than that.

Berry Scones with Orange Honey Butter

After getting my food processor this is one of the first recipes I made with it. I still love this recipe. It comes directly from Tyler Florence. It has become a go-to, reliable recipe for me.

The novelty of making your own butter from heavy cream with just a food processor is not lost on me. I love it. And especially love say, "Oh yes, I made this butter, would you like to try it." Honestly, there is nothing to it - but people don't realize that. It sounds quite impressive.

Orange Honey Butter 

Ingredients:
1 qt heavy cream
zest of 1 orange
1/2 cup honey
pinch of salt

Directions:
Put all in food processor and turn on high. After about 4 minutes the mixture will separate into butter solids and buttermilk. Strain the buttermilk and reserve for scone recipe. Squeeze the butter into a ball or any nice shape and refrigerate until ready to use.

28 Weeks

She received a package of beautiful homemade goodies
from Aunt Stephania including these little booties

It has been a week of shopping - and I love it! We kicked it off at a charity auction event for the Rotary. Anything that turns shopping into a competitive sport is really a bad idea for Husband and I. We're competitive people and we love to shop together. So when you combine that with a good cause we tend to walk away with lighter wallets. I'm totally thrilled about what we won (bought) from a corn hole game, private chef dinner for 8, week in the mountains, massage and even a whole bushel of peaches.



What else have we bought? We bought a crib!! We bought a great rocking chair!! I bought a bunch of goodies from Sephora!! And a ceiling fan for our bedroom. That room is always hot, so a fan and moving air should help us both sleep better. 


Funny (to me) antidote: I've been hot lately. Which isn't anything to laugh about, except in the car. Normally Husband freezes me out, but lately he's the one adjusting the air conditioning vents to bypass him and whines about it being too cold. Makes me giggle every time. 

27 Weeks

Another gift for our little girl! Uncle Jeff & Aunt Linda
gave her this beautiful set of monogrammed frames.

Whoa! Overnight I have entered a new phase of my pregnancy. I'm peeing more, eating more and sleeping less. And she is doing acrobatics... mostly off of my bladder. This week I had another doctor's appointment. It was a normal check up with more labs. The good news is that I don't have gestational diabetes.

26 Weeks

Happy Independence Day Holiday! We are having a great time at Wrightsville Beach, NC with my brother and his fiancé. They live right on the water which means that we have been relaxing and enjoying the water all week long. I love it! It has been a nice little vacay for Husband and I.

This week I think it's hitting us that we don't have too much time left - only a few months. We scheduled our pre-natal classes at the hospital. And with everything we have planned in the next few months, it wasn't easy to squeeze it all in. If she comes early it could get interesting. Our September is already chocked full of fun weekends with friends.

In other news the nursery has been painted Sherman- Williams Essential Gray. Next up is to determine which color of pink to paint the large accent wall. I like the gray, and it makes me feel like we are one step closer, but it definitely is not girly all by itself. Can't wait to start splashing pink around.

Peach Biscuit Cobbler

I've been talking about doing another peach dish for a while now. What has changed is that we have started getting a basket of fresh produce from a local farm each week. It is part of a Community Supported Agriculture program. It also forces us to eat produce that we may not typically grab. Last week's basket came with lots of beautiful peaches. So over the weekend I finally made Paula Deen's Peach Biscuit Cobbler.

I had planned to make it before but it took me a while to track down tapioca starch. My local grocer didn't carry it. We don't have a WholeFoods (yet) around here so I finally found it at EarthFare. I could have used a different starchy thickener... but 1.) I follow recipes and 2.) the tapioca gives the filling a shiny gloss that cornstarch (a traditional thickener) or xanthum gum (a low carb thickener) doesn't.

Instead of sprinkling a granular sugar on top of the biscuits as the recipe called for I used a sugar cinnamon mixture.