A week or so I mentioned that I bought a set of cookie cutters so I can make flower cookies for our wedding favors. I was pumped about them because I used my 40% off J0-Ann's coupon and got them for cheap! Every once in a while they will send me a 10% off your entire purchase, but that hasn't happened in a while.... man!!! Anyways, here are the cookie cutters I bought:
I'm testing out recipes for our cookies. First of all, I wanted to see how the flower cookie cutters would work. Second, I wanted to compare cookie recipes. Finally, I wanted to see how bright I could get the frosting to look. The cookies need to be BRIGHT yellow, orange, and pink. Ed just loves cookies, so he is more than willing to eat anything I bake. The first recipe I used was for my Grandma Arleen's Sour Cream Cookies. My grandma passed away when I was two, so my mom has made these cookies every year to help us keep her memory alive. Anyways, I love them! Here's the recipe if anyone is interested and the final product! I used the three biggest cutters for these. The pink one is the biggest and quite the cookie! I think we're going to go with the yellow size.
Grandma Arleen's Sour Cream Cookies
1 C. Sugar1 C. Sour Cream
3 C. Four1 Egg, beaten
1 tsp. Salt1/4 tsp. Vanilla
1 tsp. Baking Soda1 Tbl. Real Lemon Juice
1 C. Butter, firm(Mix these liquids together)
Sift together dry ingredients and cut in butter. Stir liquid ingredients into flour/butter mixture. Use hands to form into a ball of dough. Chill overnight.
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Roll out dough on floured surface to a scant 1/4" thickness. Don't roll too thin though! Bake for 6 min. on a greased or paper lined cookie sheet. Don't overbake-watch carefully.
Frosting
2 1/2 C. Sifted Powdered Sugar
2 Tbl. Butter, melted
3 Tbl. Milk
1 Tbl. Lemon Juice
2 drops of Lemon Extract
Stir together till smooth. Frost cookies and enjoy!
I'm going to try and make more cookies as soon as these are devoured! Cross your fingers that we can have these as our wedding favors. I read that our reception site won't allow your guests to consume food on the premise that has been made somewhere else. I hope I can still bake these!
Oh, and for those of you who are aspiring bakers, I bought the coolest cookbook yesterday. Again, I was at Jo-Ann's getting things for the wedding. I found myself with a 50% off coupon, but everything in the store was on sale! I had to search hard to find something. Low and behold I found this baking cookbook that I have had my eyes on. It's called Anyone Can Bake from Better Home's and Garden's. It's amazing! I already know how to bake, but it has really cool directions with pictures on how to do virtually EVERYTHING related to baking. The recipes are great because they range in skill level. I think I fall somewhere in the middle, so this is perfect for me!
There's also a cooking version, Anyone Can Cook, that I ordered on Amazon last night because I liked this baking one so much! Ed and I love cooking together, so I'm looking forward to getting this in the mail tomorrow!
We officially have a ring bearer! Ed's cousin's son is going to do us the honor! He just happens to be the same age as our flower girl, so everything will work out just perfectly. Now I just have to pick out a pillow design. Therein the problem lies!
I really would like to incorporate our daisy theme into the pillow, but I almost think that it makes the pillow look too fun. I am also in love with the idea of doing a lace pillow. I'd just have to find the right lace pattern and then lay that over a colored piece of fabric so you'd be able to see the lace.
When I went to the fabric store today I was very discouraged because I couldn't find any fabrics in the colors I wanted. I had gone there with my list of things: yellow fabric to go under the centerpieces; ivory for the flower girl basket; lace for the ring bearer pillow.... I didn't buy any fabric! Now, I didn't want to become bride-zilla in Jo-Ann's, so I took a deep breath and continued on with my shopping mission. I left the store with a daisy cookie cutter that we're going to use as a part of our favors.
Both Ed and I think that Pablo would do a good job as a ring-dog, but I don't think that will happen. One can always dream!
I was just looking for ring bearer pillow options because I want to go out and buy the fabric for it tomorrow. In my search for the perfect pillow, I stumbled across this one. Ed is a HUGE Cubs fan and would probably die if we did this at our wedding. How about we don't do this but say we did!
Whew! Is it just me or did Christmas go by fast!!!! It's almost a blur to me now. Ed and I had our first Christmas a week before the "Real Christmas" with his family in Eau Claire. Ed and I made a delicious dinner for everyone: Pesto Manicotti with Spinach, along with bread, and salad. Let's just say it was a true crowd pleaser! Yum! For dessert I made White Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake. Actually, it was more like Oreo cheesecake. When I was making it, I accidentally forgot to add the eggs, so I just dumped out the cheesecake, Oreo crust and all, and added the eggs. Then I had to make another crust. I used a WHOLE package of cookies in this thing! So tasty though!
Here's my future family:
My Miller men all got matching blue/plaid pajama bottoms. I thought Ed and his brother David were just precious the morning after we opened presents. They had on matching outfits! Now don't they look like they shared the womb?
I went to Milwaukee the week before Christmas to spend a little time with Ed. We had to order our Christmas present: a queen sized mattress! (We got bedding from my parent's, picture to come later). There is this adorable house across from Ed's apartment. Someday I hope we can have a house this color. They even decorate their little tree out front.
We spent Christmas Eve and Christmas day with my family in Madison. My mom made her traditional lasagna and we ate them on her precious Christmas tree plates. Ed and I actually got my mom two more plates so she would have a set of six so everyone can eat together. We thought we'd be sneaky and add the new plates in the china cabnet so my mom would notice when she got them out to wash them. We even put a card on top! My mom was totally oblivious to her little present. Ed and I finally said something and then the light bulb went off!
As my family knows, I just can't resist a good picture in front of the Christmas tree this time of year. So, I had my dad take a couple of Ed and I in front of our REAL tree. (Ed comes from a fake tree family.... but I've decided that we are going to be real tree people once we're married).
This year we did our presents differently. Andrew, my brother, was spending Christmas eve with his girlfriend, and wasn't going to be at our house to open presents. So, we loaded up Santa's sleigh and brought all the presents to my grandma's house. We had a fest that rivaled Thanksgiving. Grandma made a delicious pork roast, mashed potatoes, gravy, tons of veggies, and the list goes on and on. It was soooo good! I felt like a beached whale! AND we had banana cream pie and grasshopper pie for dessert! My grandma makes the best pies - hands down!
Opening presents was like a free-for-all. We had to open them quick because we had to call England and talk to my family over there. Nicole and I got matching footie pajamas with Sock Monkey feet (oh, and Andrew got Ed Civ4 and he just loves it!):
And here's my Benz family picture for this year:
On our way back to Ed's house, we stopped downtown and walked in this little park. All the trees had lights on them. It was just to beautiful for us to simply drive by and look. It was a little chili out and I'd forgotten my gloves at Grandma's house. Ed let me wear his gloves, but they are so big on my hands, making it tricky to take pictures. But, here's what we've got:
Like I said earlier, Ed and I decided to buy a mattress for Christmas. It's a very practical gift in our opinion. Plus, Ed's old mattress was SUPER old - at least 45 years. Hopefully he sleeps much better now! ;- ) About the bedding, I found it on super sale at Target. I just love saving money! Now all we need is a headboard and a side table.
I'm looking forward to January very much! We have so much wedding planning to do, and I'm hoping that we can get most, if not all, of it done next month. June 4th will be here before we know it.
So I was looking at flower girl dresses this afternoon instead of studying for a final that I have tomorrow morning (and I'm sure my grade will reflect that...). There are sooo many CUTE dresses out there. I have no idea how we're ever going to pick one!
Our flower girl is simply adorable too! She has been practicing since she found out she was going to be a flower girl! How precious! I have a picture of her out in her backyard 'practicing' for the big. She wants us to get married very soon because she just can't wait! (That makes two of us!!!) I'm very happy to have her as our flower girl! She is my cousin's daughter, and I was a bridesmaid when my cousin was married, making it all the more special.
Now, this is the dress that I just L-O-V-E! Pink is one of the accent colors in our wedding, and there are little daisies on the dress. What a perfect dress for a little princess!
I think it's a natural girl instinct to like every single dress that you see, like this (LOVE the shoes):
And this one is cute as well (I actually think this is my favorite) :
Oh, and this too:
For this very reason Ed and I have decided to have different acts on our wedding day; sort of like in a play. I can start out wearing the dress I've already bought, then change into something else for pictures, and then something else for the reception. Or heck! Why don't we just change every hour to make it easier? This also saves Ed the hassle of what he should wear to the wedding. He can start with something I've picked, and then move on into unchartered fashion territory (like athletic pants with brown shoes- please see picture below: Ed insists that these two clothing items match - I think not!). I love you but this just doesn't work together...
This way we can just keep changing things up! AND our flower girl too! How will I/we ever pick a dress? Please comment!
I went to Milwaukee the week before Christmas to spend a little time with Ed. We had to order our Christmas present: a queen sized mattress! (We got bedding from my parent's, picture to come later). There is this adorable house across from Ed's apartment. Someday I hope we can have a house this color. They even decorate their little tree out front.
And here's my Benz family picture for this year:
Now, this is the dress that I just L-O-V-E! Pink is one of the accent colors in our wedding, and there are little daisies on the dress. What a perfect dress for a little princess!
