our first snow

Weathermen can't be trusted.

That's why when it started to SNOW on Sunday, we were all shocked! AND excited!
There had been some rumors spreading around that it was supposed to snow last weekend. But, we weren't particularly bothered -- there had been many-a-snow-rumor since we moved here, so we went about our days like normal. All it took was one facebook status to bring us off our tushes, and out the door. And sure enough, snow!! Pouring down upon us!
Our yard (a.k.a. apartment complex, yard just sounds cozier) was quickly transformed:

Now, before you make fun of us, remember: we're desert people.

Through and through.

So this was a MIRACLE of the Lord.

Even Luna was really confused. Poor little thing was born in the summer! She was as baffled as we were!

We decided to take immediate emergency action, and get ourselves bundled up and to a coffee shop PRONTO.

Although we did take a moment or two to dance around :)

After realizing that our key coffee shop choices were closed on Sundays, we decided to head to the nearest Starbucks. We were a little too giddy, I have to tell you. We were singing, and all kinds of excited all the way down the road. I even took a little video, to capture the pure bliss.

It's kind of hysterical how terrible I am with a video camera.

*Video interpretation: Starbucks + Snow = Paradise

           












We're such posers. We ended up staying at Starbucks for maybe 20 minutes or so, because it was crowded and we got bored. Oh well. At least I got my cappuccino, and Dusty got absolutely no homework done.

Procrastination complete!   

It snowed all night long, and we opened all the blinds in our apartment so we could sit in bed and watch the snow fall while we watched movies on Netflix :) the only thing left was to pray for a snow day.

I wish you could have seen Dusty's reaction to the possibility.

"A SNOW DAY? I've been dreaming of one for my WHOLE LIFE."

He's pretty cute.

Did we get a snow day? Stay tuned to find out. :)

In love,

Cait

Sweet and Salty

A little bit o' fish, a lotta on my dish.
Some spuds so sweet, they rock the beat.

I really should've been a rapper, I think.
I think a better title for these recipes would be "spicy and savory" or "tangy and spicy" or something, but technically, it's a sweet potato recipe and a fish stick recipe -- so sweet and salty is gonna work!

Spicy Disks of Yum
Scrumptuous Sweet Potatoes

Ingredients:
Sweet Potatoes
1 & 1/2 tablespoons light brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon New Mexico chili powder
1/2 teaspoon smoked sweet paprika
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon chipotle chili powder
1/8 teaspoon granulated garlic
Butter
Olive Oil


Take your sweet potatoes, and cut them into disks. My potatoes were on the small side, but I would recommend about an inch thick.

Fill a pot with water, and boil your potatoes with some salt for about 10 minutes, until the potatoes are softening. You don't want to cook them all the way through quite yet.
Set them aside on a cooling rack, or some parchment paper. (I used a cookie sheet).

Blend your spices together, making sure to get everything nice and blended! Add some fresh black pepper, for good measure.

Using a fork or spoon, (or even the bottom of a clear bowl!) slightly smash in the tops of your potato disks. This will allow for fantastic absorption of spices, as well as some sharp edges for extra crisping!

Drizzle some butter and olive oil on each disk, then begin to add dollops of spices to the warm surfaces of your potatoes.

Turn the disks over, and repeat with the oil/butter/spice mixture.
Roast them in the oven for about 15 minutes or so, at 375º. Turn them over and roast for another 10 minutes or so -- get them all nice and toasty!
The result is a ridiculously delicious spicy sweet crunch, followed by a creamy potato filling.
Both my hubby and I were floored with how good they were!

Parmesan SeaStickness
Spicy Fish Sticks!

Ingredients:
1 pound of cod fillets (Halibut or Tilapia would work too)
1 cup all-purpose flour
3 large eggs
1 1/2 cup bread crumbs
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, finely grated
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1 teaspoon kosher salt




I ended up using Tilapia for this recipe, but I would highly recommend cod, simply because I think cod makes for the best fish sticks!

I absolutely loved the parmesan and crushed red pepper combo here. As I've stated before, I love spicyness -- so any chance I get to incorporate it into our dinners, I do! So this recipe was already perfect to add to my collection.

I had some frozen tilapia in our freezer, which I let thaw out, and then cut into little rectangle sticklings.

**Make sure you rinse and pat your fish dry, before cutting them and coating in the "batter".

I then set aside 3 different containers:
A bowl for the whisked eggs, a bowl for the flour, and a small plate for the bread crumb mixture (parmesan, bread crumbs, crushed red pepper and salt).
For my bread crumbs, I simply toasted (really toasted) some sandwich bread from my pantry.

I then just placed them in a bowl, and crunched them up into fine bread crumbs! They worked great. If you're ever in a pinch and don't have store bought bread crumbs, your regular bread will do the trick!

Now comes the fun part. Roll your fish pieces in the flour, dunk them in the eggs, and then roll them in the bread crump mixture!

Yummy!
You can place them on a baking sheet, and either fry them up in hot oil on your stove, or throw them in the oven. The choice is yours!

To fry, add about a cup of oil to a skillet heated on medium-high. Using tongs (if you have them), carefully add fish sticks and fry them for 1-3 minutes on each side, then place them on a paper towel to drain.

To bake, preheat your oven to 450 and bake for 15-20 minutes until edges are golden brown.

For our yummy dinner, I simply sliced a lemon to serve with the fish sticks, rather than making a mayonnaise-based sauce. I fried the surface of the lemon halves in oil and white wine, which gave the fish sticks some great extra flavor!

 

I will fight to the death, arguing with anyone that says fish sticks and sweet potatoes don't go together.

:)

Happy Dining!

In love,
Cait

i love food

A "date night" almost always involves food -- but I'm convinced that even if lunch or dinner wasn't an expectation for a date, I would make it one. I somehow always manage to point everything back to food.
And don't worry -- I'm still within the average weight for my age and height, although I might not be without constant supervision.
Lucky for me, we went to a stellar restaurant for Valentine's Day!

We got dressed up all fancy (which meant staying in our school/work clothes, actually) and headed out to our surprise dinner location! All I knew was that we had a reservation somewhere...

 

We ended up at an Italian Bistro called Isabella's.

I had actually never heard of this place before, except through facebook, when one of our friends posted how excited she was to be going there for Valentine's Day. (I think we seemed a little stalker-ish, when we realized we were also both going to the same showing of "The Vow" right after dinner...)

The restaurant is so nice. It's about 15 minutes away, and look how adorable?

I never would have guessed this little gem was hidden inside this strip of stores. The inside was romantic and candelit, and had such a nice cozy layout.

 

A restaurant is really only as good as it's beginning bread.

So we knew instantly that this was going to be fantastic.





I got the best salad while we were there. It was a fig and gorgonzola salad, with candied walnuts and an apple dressing. It was so delicious! Right up my alley.

Dusty got the Lobster Bisque (so proud of him, and his seafood-loving ways).

We dined, and laughed, and enjoyed the atmosphere. We were quite fancy, really.
SO fancy, in fact, that I was even wearing lipstick.
You should know that this is unprecedented, except when previously forced.

And since both of us love carbs, erego we love pasta, we decided that this trip to Isabella's should be properly Italian.

My mouth is watering again.

(That really is kind of a gross phrase, I apologize.)

I'm going to skip any kind of ado, and just copy and paste the actual menu description here:

Caitlin ordered:

Roasted Butternut Squash & Sage Pasta 
linguine tossed with roasted butternut squash, sage, parmesan, and brown butter; toasted walnuts

Dusty ordered:
Spicy Chicken & Sausage Orecchiette 

Italian sausage and white meat chicken in a light garlic & parmesan cream sauce

We both ended up agreeing that Dusty's was better overall, but oh, oh, oh, they were so good.

Something about the spicy sausage with the creamy sauce in Dusty's dish was addicting.

Or maybe it was just the pasta. :)

I've already gone this far, so I may as well show you the delectable dessert we devoured.

I'm a coffee person. If you don't know this about me, we're probably not friends...

There are two things I love most in the taste-bud world. Coffee, and spicyness. I started eating salsa around the time I learned how to talk, and started drinking coffee around age 10 - they're the two things Dusty has never tried to talk me out of having on a regular basis.

I think he thinks I'm cute or something :)

So with my cappuccino in hand, we both shared the fluffiest, creamiest, most delightful mocha cheesecake on the planet. Truly, truly, what a cloud would taste like if you soaked it in java. And butter. And cream, maybe, too.

Happy day :)

Bravo, Isabella's. We'll be back.

In love,
Cait

the desert calls to me

I love the desert.
When I was little, I used to pretend to have conversations with creosote bushes.
I used to talk to them like they knew me, because they had always been there growing up. I'd walk down our dirt driveway and comment on the weather, or pull some small leaves off of their branches because I loved the smell of them so much.

Since moving to Virginia, the desert has become even more beautiful to me. I have been to so many beautiful places, particularly on our drive out here. Driving through the gorgeous greenery of Kentucky, I was amazed at how distinctly different it was from home, and yet I found it equally as beautiful as the desert.

The world really is a pretty amazing place, to hold so much diversity, and so much beauty, all at once!

To me, Arizona means open skies, bright stars, gorgeous sunsets, horses, rain, heat, family, and love.

My husband and I met there, dated there, fell in love there, married there, and honeymooned there.
This was our actual wedding:

It was a perfect, wonderful day. I'm an incredible homebody, and am currently in a constant state of homesickness for the beautiful Arizona state.

As I've been reminiscing on some of my favorite moments, they keep leading me back to our "Trash the Dress" shoot that we took after our honeymoon.

We arrived from our little getaway in the mountains, where I had cropped my hair short to further signify my new beginning, to meet our wedding photographer for our post-honeymoon session. For all intents and purposes, it was a "Trash the Dress" shoot -- although I was definitely NOT trashing my dress. :)

These are some of my all-time favorite pictures. They are rendered even more meaningful by the setting of my parent's home, the place where I grew up. It was the only house I had ever lived in, and it holds all of my childhood memories, and more. Our photographer, Rilie, is so fantastic.
Look through our desert whimsy photo shoot, and enjoy the beauty of Arizona :)



My mother is a fabulous horse trainer,
and I have spent many hours climbing and playing on her haystacks.



I think Dustin fell in love with me because we had horses; look at that face. 
He's always wanted to be a cowboy. 





Ride me off into the sunset.



a gentleman and his lady.



We felt so chic. My parent's property is so full of hidden treasures, and wonderful animals. The desert and the sunshine made for a lovely winter's day. We had a few friends greet us along our way.

This next shot is my favorite picture of my entire life. I think it has a lot to do with the fact that it combines Love Story by Taylor Swift, and The Princess Bride.

"Farm boy, polish my horse's saddle. I want to see my face shinig in it by morning."
"As you wish." 



 

Mr. Wild.



I love everything about the desert.

Our desert.



Our Mountain.

I love looking back through these pictures. They are still, quiet moments of romance. They capture us, the beginning of our marriage, the landscape of our love and relationship, and some of the best places and memories of my younger life. We are so fortunate to have had an opportunity to have stellar wedding pictures, as well as an incredibly meaningful "Just Married" photo shoot.

So this, is love.

I love having someone to share my life with. To make new memories, and travel to new places, and find new beauties out in the great wide world. However, I also love having someone by my side that loves the desert as much as I do. We are both loving Virginia, and loving the experiences that Dustin being in law school brings.

But one of the best things about Dustin is that he longs to return to Arizona, and our sweet desert life, just as much as I do.

Praise the Lord. :)

Cheers to reminiscing, and to looking forward as well!

In love,

Cait