I have complete faith that my Arizona Cardinals will win the George Halas Trophy in the NFC Championship Game game today – along with their ticket to Super Bowl 50!

Just like I have faith that this soup can help cure, or at least bring relief to, the flu.  The flu is traveling like wildfire and now Dave has it.  I made this soup for him last night and he’s on the mend today, in time for the big game.

I found the version of the recipe when a friend posted it on Facebook. It sounded like the perfect remedy, especially after giving it a few healthier tweaks. Now it’s ready to share with you.  Round up the ingredients, pop it all in a slow-cooker and it’ll be ready for kickoff at 4:40 PM!

It is soul-soothing and absolutely fabulous, just like the Cards! #riseupredsea #birdgang

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Getting back into the swing of it, blogging-wise, has been harder than I ever imagined it would be. Since I missed it so much, I thought I’d fall right back into the rhythm. Um, not so much!

I want to blame it on the holidays. Thanksgiving, out-of-town family, Christmas, even more family from out-of-town, New Year’s, and more family have made it hard to want to sit down at the computer and “work.” But that’s really not it. I blogged religiously for more than 5 years, through every major holiday and life event, so I can not claim that the season is the issue.

I’m just out of the habit, and until I get back on track, posts will be spotty. I’m now prepared for that reality and I hope that you’ll stick with me through this transition.

Marissa & Jeff drove back to Austin on Saturday. They had flown in two weeks ago but drove back so they could take all their wedding and wedding shower gifts. They made it back in record time, arriving home, safe and sound, by mid-morning on Sunday.

On Friday night, for their last dinner at home, I made a pan of super-easy and super-yummy tamale enchiladas. So yummy, in fact, that I couldn’t get a photo of the pan before they were all but gone!

I bought the tamales from a young woman who was selling them at Connor’s apartment building. She had two adorable little ones in-tow, so how could I say no?  I bought a dozen green chile-chicken tamales and a dozen red chile-pork tamales. I should say, that’s what I thought I bought, she accidentally gave me only six green chile (1 bag) and a dozen and a half (3 bags) of red chile.

A few nights before, we enjoyed 6 of the green and 6 of the red, served in the traditional style. That was nice, but to my taste, tamales are a bit dry. So serving the remaining dozen red chile tamales enchilada-style was way more fun!

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When I returned to posting last month I mentioned that there had been some changes at our house.

Here is change number one…

… and change number two.

Meet Bombay and Bailey.

If you’re wondering if they are named after Bailey’s Irish Cream and Bombay Sapphire Gin. Why, yes, they are.

Our first pet was a dog named Kahlua. Our second dog was Tanqueray. Both were Keeshonds. Once I have a theme, I stick with it.

I found Bombay outside a friend’s house back in May and brought him home.

It was love at first sight.

Problem was, that Bombay was separated from his litter-mates too early and didn’t know how to play without biting hard and scratching like crazy.

After nearly 2 months of torn-up hands and arms, I went to the Humane Society and brought home, swwet Bailey.

Bailey taught Bombay to be civilized. She is an absolute sweetheart but is also a major troublemaker. She may be small but she has no fear and no shame. At least Bombay will wait until you’re not looking to do something bad. Bailey will do it right in front of you and not care how much trouble she gets in. She has racked up more timeouts than your average toddler. Her timeouts consist of being locked in the laundry room. She hates it but it doesn’t deter her at all!

The two of them even have their own Bragelina-style name – Bombailey.

Bombailey has caused a huge dilemma for me this Christmas. What am I going to do with two kittens and a Christmas tree filled with Waterford, fragile glass, vintage and crystal ornaments?

I’ve posted my concerns about it on Facebook for weeks now and my friends have been of little help, basically mocking and taunting me with frightening (OK, and funny) videos and photos like this and this.

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Instead of the recipe I was planning to post today, I just have to wish a happy birthday to my beautiful newlywed daughter, Marissa.

Thank you for allowing me to be so instrumental in planning your big day. It was my joy and my honor, just as it has been to be your mom for these blessed years. The world is brighter and more beautiful because you are in it.

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The last post about Marissa’s bridal shower is “the dessert post” … you know – just saving the best for last!

Before I share the recipes that Raina used for her cookie trio, I want to tell you about the iced Vietnamese coffee that we served, along with iced chai tea, milk, and chocolate milk, at the Milk & Cookies dessert station.

Vietnamese coffee is a blend of cold brew coffee and sweetened condensed milk. I used a 50/50 ratio of Press Coffee Roasters Cold Brew and sweetened condensed milk. I mixed them together the night before and served them over ice. So Good!

On the lunch buffet table, along with the salad, savory tart, and bruschetta, we served my Lemon Glazed Blueberry Bread. It was an extra loaf I had baked for a cooking class the week before. Barb stored it in her freezer, defrosted it in the fridge, and then glazed it just before serving.

Now for Raina’s scrumptious cookies!

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Kim made a delicious and beautiful assortment of four bruschettas for Marissa’s bridal shower. All flavors in the variety are inspired by the bruschetta menu from the ever-popular (since its opening in 2001) Postino Wine Cafe. Kim didn’t have recipes to give me, since she just throws these babies together organically and naturally. But don’t worry, I’ve written up recipes for you. There are no specific quantities, make as many or as few as you need.

At Postino, French bread is used as the base and then the slices are cut in half after they are topped. For the shower, Kim used baguettes to make smaller, more individual-sized pieces.

Bread

• 1 baguette, cut into 3/4-inch-thick slices
• Olive oil
• 3 peeled garlic cloves, flattened

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Drizzle bread slices with olive oil and bake at 350 just until warm and slightly crisp.  Remove from oven and rub with garlic cloves let cool for a few minutes before topping.

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Here is the recipe for Barb’s delicious tart…. enjoy!

Asparagus and Roasted Red Bell Pepper Tart

Pastry

• 1  1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• ½ cup unsalted butter, chilled and cut into pieces
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons sour cream
• 2 tablespoons ice water

Filling

• 1 pound fresh asparagus
• 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
• 2 cups grated Gruyere cheese
• 1 red bell pepper, roasted, seeded, peeled, and diced
• 3 ounces cream cheese
• 1/2 heavy cream
• 2 egg yolks
• 1 whole egg
• Salt and pepper to taste

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My dear friends, Barb and Kim, made the most delicious food for Marissa’s bridal shower. Kim made four different bruschetta and Barb made a beautiful salad and savory tarts.

I didn’t get any photos of the individual dishes, so I’ll do the best I can cropping from the few buffet photos I do have, my apologies ahead of time because the photos won’t do the recipes justice.

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What should I share first? The good or the bad? I think we’ll start with the bad/ugly, that way we’ll end on a good/pretty note.

Even the bad craft starts out pretty…

I spotted these adorable folded book art pieces in the San Francisco Nordstrom’s Wedding Suite, while dress shopping with Marissa and Kaley, back in November.

I knew that I wanted to make one for Marissa, so when the theme was set for the shower, this was a no-brainer.

I went online to find out how but since I could not find any step-by-step instructions, I had to wing it.

I found a cool vintage hardback book and decided to go with the easiest design, a heart.

As I folded back the pages, it quickly became evident that this is harder than it looks. Plus, the book I chose was too vintage, the pages were delicate and would tear as I folded.

Stupidly, I kept at it far too long. It was very clear that this was not working, long before I threw in the towel.

I grabbed another, not-so-vintage thicker book, and started over.

Then, for obvious reasons, I gave up! My gut feeling is that there must be math involved in this project. No wonder it was too difficult for me … I do not “do” math!

I still wanted Marissa to have a book like this, even if not in time for the shower. So, I have purchased one from a professional folded-book artist HERE.  I am not going to share which book, since I haven’t given it to her yet, but rest assured, it is pretty!

I had much better results with this next project:

My favorite craft/decor item for Marissa’s bridal shower was these succulent book planters! Of course, I found the idea on Pinterest!

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Sloane and I got together on Sunday afternoons for several weeks before Marissa’s bridal shower to make crafts.  It was a fun reason to get together for sister-bonding time.

We wrapped wine bottles with pages from a large Currier and Ives picture book that I found at Sweet Salvage a couple of years ago. A heart punch was used on the book pages that were used for the inside of small canning jars.

The same punches were used to make book-page heart confetti.

The bottles were topped off with large burlap bows.

While the jars were trimmed with twine.  The wine bottles held miniature pink and white roses and the jars were lit up with battery-operated votives. They were then scattered around the buffet, lunch table, bar, and dessert credenza.

We rolled and wrapped white cloth napkins with torn book pages, tied with baker’s twine and embellished with tiny “congratulations” flags.

One of the few details that slipped through the cracks that busy morning was making sure that Marissa’s place-setting received the napkin that said “A King and His Queen.”  It makes me wonder if the guest who had that napkin noticed and thought anything about it.

A few weeks after Valentine’s Day, I was in Micheal’s (I spend a lot of time at Micheal’s and Hobby Lobby!) and found these simple berry baskets on clearance. I scooped them up without an idea in mind about what I would do with them. Once Sloane and I decided on the “Milk & Cookies” dessert idea … they found their purpose. We lined the inside with book pages and decorated the outside with our heart confetti.

We used stencils, book pages, and a couple of burlap flag banners from Hobby Lobby to make these.

It took some time to come up with just how to fit “The Future Mrs. Sandell” on a banner with only twelve flags!

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