Eat : Fire Roasted Salsa

My garden has been out of control lately. All I am growing are tomatoes but I think thus far I have probably harvested 40+ tomatoes off three plants. On top of that, I had quite a few leftover tomatoes from the caprese salad at the shower. I needed to use them before I lost them so the only natural thing to do was make salsa!

This may be my most favorite salsa I have made … ever. Its east peasy and so good. I initially found the recipe from Leslie which lead me to the original source at One Particular Kitchen

Every thing you need is pictured below. Slice those tomatoes in half, quarter your onions, lay out the garlic, and prep your seranos. I halved my peppers and removed the seeds. I also used 12 peppers instead of 22 and think my tomatoes totaled about 12. When I do this again Ill either up the amount of peppers or leave a few seeds in. The seranos add a great flavor, I just want a bit more heat.

Roast your veggies until the tomatoes look soft and the onions start to char. You'll notice my peppers and garlic are on a different pan than the tomatoes/onions. This was completely on purpose as I knew they wouldn’t need to roast near as long. If you want to decrease even more of the heat in the peppers, roast them for a bit longer. The caramelization will counteract the heat and add a bit of sweetness.

I had all intentions of canning a good portion of this but there is no way – its going to be all gone before I have a chance to. Its just that good!

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Capture : Christmas Mini Session

Y’all! I cannot wait for this mini session. Planning is underway and its going to be one for the books.
You’ll remember Brit from all the recent work she has done for me (here, here, and here) well we decided to team up and tackle your Christmas cards for you! That’s right. Sign up for the styled mini session (“styled” inspiration below) and you will get a 30 minute photo session with 10 edited images and 25 custom Christmas cards. Its such a great deal so act fast! Space is limited, so make sure and claim the time that works best for you NOW.
Ill leave you with a bit of our inspiration for styling this shoot.




(source)
NOTE:: 25-75 cards $1.75 each // 75+ cards $1.50 each // Custom Addressing $0.35 per address (I highly recommend this) // $10 per person (if more than 6 people)
All cards come with envelopes and custom return address labeling

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Celebrate : Make her blush

So far you have seen the invites, inspiration, and a fun little bunting décor. Now lets get to the actual party!

We started the party off right with a little wine tasting. Everyone had their own stem-less wine glass to use (and take home!) for the tasting. All four “blush” wines were in separate crafts to insure they remained nameless until after the voting was finished. The idea was to enjoy a glass of each and then vote by placing their swizzle stick in a coordinating glass with the wine they enjoyed the most.

While enjoying the various wines we snacked on yummy appetizers such as spinach artichoke dip, fruit, trail mix, capriesse salad, mozzarella roll ups, and cookies. I set the tables with vintage china that I had on hand. Surprisingly enough, I had 20 place settings. (hangs head in shame) Once everyone was finished eating we got started on our mad libs. This was one of the funniest parts of the shower. Everyone grouped into groups of 3 or so and filled out the bridal mad lib which I found here. I added a place on the back of each card for the ladies to fill in the blanks first without reading the mad lib. Once the blanks were filled in they would flip it over and fill out the mad lib with the words they chose on the back. This makes it even funnier. I really like the break from a normal shower game and think everyone else liked getting a little creative.

Like any good personal shower we collectively named all of her lingerie with a baseball theme (the groom plays professionally). I then took all the names we agreed upon and put them in his “pick your pleasure” book to use on the honeymoon. The idea is that he picks based on the name only. Too fun!

I had so much fun putting this shower together but even more fun celebrating my very best friend in all the land.

Lauren – you are going to make one stunning bride but even more one amazing wife. Love You!!

Special thanks to my mom and brother for individually painting all 30 wine glasses!

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Create : Fabric Bunting

You have probably seen these buntings all over pinterest.If not just go here , I have managed to pin a few.

Though they are not the cheapest decoration, they are the easiest.

For each type of fabric I bought a yard – six patterns = six yards. I left the fabric folded at their natural fold (from the bolt) and cut two inch strips width wise. **Cut fold to salvage** This might be the most time consuming part but turn on some music or a movie and get to cutting. **A rotary cutter and mat will make this a thousand times easier**

After all your strips are cut you will pick a layout and start tying your strips to a piece of twine. As you can tell from above, I knotted mine and then went back and added ribbon. The texture and shimmer the ribbon gives it makes a world of difference. You could also add burlap or pom pom yarn or even lace.

Six yards of fabric cut into two inch strips got me two 5ft buntings. If you wanted them longer then simply space your knot/strips a bit farther – and for a shorter bunting then squish those babies together. The fabric with the lace (pictured) cost me around $50. Considering the lace wasn’t used for this, I would tally this project up to $40 for two buntings.

After searching around on etsy I would say that’s a tad bit of a savings.

One thing to note – not all my fabric has pattern. I have two yards with a loud pattern (grey floral and hot pink chevron) but the other two patterns are subtle and I also got two yards of solid fabric. The solid really helps anchor your bunting. Seems a bit boring when picking out fabric but trust me it’s a necessity.

Have you made a fabric bunting before? Any tips or tricks?

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Celebrate : Aaron and April Shower

I cannot believe its been so long since I have last posted. Y’all, life got really crazy and doesn’t seem to be slowing down any time soon.

TWO whole weeks ago my aunt threw a shower for my soon to be sister in law at my parents house.

It was so much fun and I think everyone thoroughly enjoyed celebrating April.

Didn’t my aunt do such a great job? Tasty food, cute wine glasses, and fun all around.

April – it was so fun to celebrate with you and I cannot wait to watch you become Mrs. Rogers!

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