You're My Sugar Pie

In case you haven't noticed from my constant references to their blog or from my incessant pinning of their ideas...I'm mildly obsessed with the lifestyle blog A Beautiful Mess. (But I mean, come on, who isn't? These ladies are, number one, absolutely adorable and, number two, insanely talented and creative.) This blog, which documents the work and inspirations of sisters Elsie and Emma, consistently inspires me to keep writing, working, and perfecting my own creative work--be it home decor, creative writing, photography, cooking, or art. This blog literally offers something for every reader. Today, however, I decided to do more than simply read and admire their quirky handiwork. I decided to test out one of the recipes over which I so often gawk and drool. And now? Now I'm completely head over heels for this peanut-butter pie recipe . Yes, my heart has been stolen by a slice of pie. Sincere apologies to my dear husband, but really...when you taste this delicious little bit of sweet heaven... you will understand. I can't wait to test it out on our families at Thanksgiving this Thursday!

Before adding the peanuts and chocolate chips garnish

It actually looks like it should! I'm so proud!
Also- aren't those little white pumpkins adorable? 

Recipe from A Beautiful Mess, as stated above. 

Pie Ingredients: 
graham cracker crust (I went the easy route and bought a Keebler Ready Crust)
6 oz dark chocolate chips (plus some extras for garnish!)
2 cups whipping cream
8 oz package cream cheese
1 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
chopped peanuts and chocolate sauce for garnish (optional)

Instructions: 

• In a small pot, melt together your chocolate chips and 1/2 cup whipping cream. Stir until just melted and no lumps remain. Remove from heat. Pour over the graham cracker crust. Set aside and let cool while you prepare the next layer. 
• In a mixer, combine peanut butter. brown sugar, cream cheese, and 1/4 cup whipping cream. Mix until light and fluffy
• Add in the vanilla extract and remaining 1 and 1/4 whipping cream. Continue to beat until the peanut-butter mixture forms stiff peaks. Spoon over the chocolate layer. Cover and freeze overnight.
• Be sure to allow the pie to soften slightly before serving. Garnish with chopped peanuts and remaining chocolate chips and drizzle with chocolate sauce. Enjoy!

I highly recommend making this pie. Its so yummy and very easy to make. It only took me a few minutes and was a good new-wife-new-cook recipe. That means it caused me no stress and no panic whatsoever. I'm sure I'll be reusing this recipe in the future. (Finally my constant reading of A Beautiful Mess has a practical result; and my hubby can't tease me about my blog obsession anymore because he likes the pie as much as I do. He gave the pie an eyebrow raise and "hmm" of approval. That's volumes for this man of few words.)

This will be my last post until after the turkey holiday. Tomorrow brings some exciting opportunities, as well as a nice, long car trip down to Virginia. I can't wait for the long weekend of family, food, and friends. I'll return on Monday! Have a wonderful rest of your week and eat lots of yummy food!

Lovelies 11.20

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Day 20: Today I'm thankful for my sweet sister Heidi. She's the kind of woman I think all women cheer and root for. A woman who runs from before the sun comes up until after the sun goes down. She dazzles the customers and bosses at work and then cuddles on her two baby boys at home. Makes money for the company then makes dinner for her family of four. She'll tell you off in a minute if she thinks you're wrong, but she's also the sweetest, most tender-hearted woman I've ever met. I've seen her pull over to help a stranded kitten or lost dog on the side of the road, and I've seen her exercise unlimited amounts of patience with her toddler son, when I long ago would've pulled my hair and probably his out too. Basically, other than my husband, there's no one else I'd rather have by my side and there's no one else who I can guarantee always has my back. So today I give a hearty thanks that she was born before me and put up with my goofy little-girl-ness, ponytails, plastic ponies, and all, for all those years before I grew into--I hope!-- a tolerable woman and friend and little sis. 


There. See? I'm remembering this November-Give-Thanks thing. It helps when I sign on facebook and see others faithfully logging in their grateful little status updates. But honestly, I think there's something wholesome about taking a moment, everyday, to sit down and come up with at least one thing for which you can shout out a thankful praise. It reminds me of how much I really do have to praise and laugh and smile about.

Today, I'd  like to share with you some little lovelies for which I am also thankful. These finds mainly are gleaned from my Pinterest boards, Etsy favorites, and blog roll.

Here you go:

• this mid-century stoneware
• this Flannery O'Connor quote
• this fantastic Colorado house tour
• my new favorite Etsy shop -- TheScribblePad
• a feeling of winter
• a cup of steaming homemade spice chai tea
• a slice of Guinness chocolate cake
• one of my Christmas wishes
• a cardigan to fuel my black-and-white addiction
• my new favorite blog-to-read
• a post about the reasons behind blogging-- personal and otherwise
• a beautiful, powerful song that can mean anything you need it to--mommy, wife, or friend

Only a few more days until tummy-stuffing, family love, and turkey-induced sleepiness! Prepare your pantries, waistlines, and over-worked ovens! Turkey Day is one its way!

Have a happy Tuesday, friends.

Smooth & Jolly: A Post about Food + Frederick

Some decorations from the weekend

This past weekend consisted of jingle bells, nutmeg-sprinkled eggnog, a little Christmas shopping, a little Christmas wishing, peanut-butter-pie planning, Panthers cheering, and a frothing glass of Dunkel Weizen.

Saturday night, my hubby took me on a date to Brewer's Alley, a fantastically yummy restaurant in downtown Frederick. We've strolled past its doors several times and have been meaning to get in there. Thank the starry heavens we finally did! Undoubtedly, its the best place we've dined so far in our new hometown.

The restaurant site originally operated as Frederick's townhall. That was in 1746. Since then, it has morphed from office spaces, farmer's market, opera house, movie theater, and now this fantastic restaurant and micro-brewery where they generously pour tall, frothing glasses of nutty-dark beer. Now, Mark and I aren't really beer drinkers and rarely drink in general. But when you step into a place like this and smell the spice of good food cooking and have a stained glass king-and-stein staring down at you.... you have to try something new. And let me just say, one sip will make you sit up and take notice. It'll be the smoothest, richest flavor that's ever flowed over your tongue.

You're probably thinking "yea, but its probably an expensive glass." Well, you would be wrong, my friend. The homebrew was as economically priced as (and we honestly think perhaps even cheaper than)  the drink menus old standbys. And why you would want grocery-store-quality BudLight when you could have a tall glass of amazing I don't know. At one point during the evening, Mark and I glanced across the room and saw a lady ordering just that. We both felt the urge to raise our glasses and cry "Sacrilege!"

Obviously, we didn't. But still.
Ah well.  To each her own. Everyone has a favorite flavor,  I suppose.

I have now waxed eloquent for long enough about this restaurant. Time to move on to the rest of the day's tasks: more job applications, Christmas wrapping, and laundry to prepare for holiday packing. Woohoo! Only three more days until Turkey Day! Which means hitting the treadmill a little harder in anticipation.

Until next time,
Abi.

Day 19: Today I'm thankful for a relaxing weekend of fun and laughs-- a perfect way to prepare for the short, holiday week ahead. 

Coffee & Milk

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Here's something I've come to crave and love with a sincere strength: the sounds that rustle in the quiet of our home, on an early weekend morning. Still half-drawn, the blinds filter a creamy half-light so, at first, only half of our living area has any sun. I usually take my coffee and snuggle, blanket and book, into the patch that falls across the left wing of our sofa. A hazy quiet, a sleepy quiet still fills our home, wall to wall. And for a good thirty minutes or so, the only things that disturb that quiet are the muffled ticking of the kitchen clock, the rustle of my book pages, and the snuffled breathing of my husband still snoozing away in the other room. I'm the early riser, not him. Even after a late night, I make myself get up just so I can enjoy these little cozy moments, all alone and listening.

And this dark, steaming mug of joe makes it all the better.

Day 17: I think I missed a few days... I guess I'm a little lackadaisical in my thanks-giving. Today, I'm thankful for the fluttery excitement that signals the imminent arrival of a holiday. Sometimes I think the best part of a holiday is the anticipation and planning. But the time spent laughing and talking and sipping hot drinks with family is pretty spectacular too. 

Dear Mister

Dear Mr. Hobbs: Today's post is a letter to you. Oh the privilege! You should feel so lucky to have a little tiny plot of cyberspace dedicated solely to your handsome, bespectacled person. (Heehee). Here are a few things:

Thanks for bringing me to Frederick; its a pretty town with especially spicy hot-wings. I know I whined and moaned about moving so far away for a good while (translated: a year or two...) but I think its been good for me. Your little supplanted Georgian seems to me doing okay, so far anyway, even if she does get weird looks in the grocery for calling the shopping cart a "buggy." I know we'll put down roots and find a more permanent home of our very own someday... but for now I like our little Maryland condo. Its a happy place.

You know something else? People always say when you move in with someone you discover all their "annoying habits." Well, either you're continuing to disguise them perfectly or you don't have any. Oh, other than leaving your jeans on the floor...and singing way-too-cheery songs just long enough to get them stuck on my head...I've been looking over a four-leaf clover ALL DAY because of you. But somehow that just makes me beam a big dumb smile more so than it annoys me.

And lastly, if you need to knife someone again on Battlefield 3, I recommend RB this time.

Love you more than anything else.
Really.
Oh, and is pizza okay tonight?

signed,
your girl.

Sampling 1

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Here's a sampling of a creative nonfiction essay I'm currently working on. This is a glimpse of the first rough draft.  Please feel free to let me know what you think. The working title is "Tattoo." 

GENTLE DEAD-BROKE QH gelding. 15hh.  Flashy sorrel. 

Easy keeper. Good lesson horse for beg-int'm rider, great on trails. 

$2000 OBO. 

There was nothing flashy about this animal. He simply wasn't pretty. IF he was eye-catching, it was because of the utter awkwardness of his entire body.: a nightmare of configuration, a failed model in need of a redo. Knobbly-kneed. Skinny-necked. A slooping, protuberant snout. Equally protuberant hips. The worst part, however, was his tail. Cropped abrupt and short, it was a  tattered scrub-brush of a thing. Occasionally it would give a desperate flicker, trying in vain to swat the flies just out of its reach. Too short to do any good. 

Docile and droop-eared, the horse stood on his line, chewing and rubbing the fat coil of his tongue over and under the bridle's bit. Over and under. Over and under. 

"Whatcha think?" the woman at the other end of his lead asked me. Her streaked blond hair was clenched in a ponytail and a cigarette dangled from her mouth, its smoke curling toward the horse. 

I looked back at the gelding. Mud-caked and standing in the thick slop of the riding pen. They hadn't even cleaned him up for a sale. 

"Yea, I'll ride him," I said. 

Thirteen years old and at once fascinated and terrified of myself, I wasn't aware that I had options. I was more acutely aware of all the open space around my elongating limbs than I was about my own voice saying no. 

The woman tossed me the rope and yanked a saddle and pad from the corral fence. She slapped them onto the horse's skinny bare back. Sweat and dust matted the pad's underside, flaky like old dried icing. At the sudden touch of the cloth, the horse's skin twitched and shuddered, as if he were twittering away a worrisome bug, but otherwise his demeanor of mute boredom (or perhaps long-suffering)  didn't waver. 

A jerk and a switch of leather and the saddle cinch was tightened, ready to go. 

The woman's palm slapped the saddle seat. "Hop on up." 

The braided lead left a smear of mud on my hands. I wiped one palm on my jeans but only further embedded the dirt in my skin. I glanced over my shoulder at my mother waiting at the fence. She shrugged. Go ahead if you want. I looked back at my waiting mount and the impatient woman. The skin around the saddle-cinch had puckered and folded, caught in a tight pinch. A wrinkled old grape. My eyes fluttered to the woman as I quickly slipped a finger behind the cinch. A quick tug loosened it. 

I snapped my hand to my neck, pretended to scratch in a pathetic effort to disguise my tampering. I heard a chuckle and felt heat spread across my cheeks. 

"Ok," I said to no one in particular and swung into the saddle. The pointed tip of an ear rotated back toward me. 

"You good?" 

"Yea," I muttered. 

More soon! 

Thanks for reading!

Currently 11.14

old + weathered, but still capable of beauty

Thankful for: (#14) Being married one month. Its hard to believe that a month has whirled by since that day with the vows and bells and bows. Its hard to believe, too, that I have spent a month of days with Mark. After being so used to seeing each other on occasional weekends, it still feels like such a treasure to spend so much time together. I wonder if being around him will ever be old hat? I don't think so--no more than being around yourself is old-hat. It just is. And its wonderfully perfect. We celebrated with painted daisies, homemade Mexican-bean-and-sausage soup, and Xbox live. Well...Mark celebrated with that last one. I knitted a Christmas gift. Little old couple already.

Reading: I really need to pay more attention to book-jacket descriptions. I picked up Phillipa Gregory's Wideacre, the first book in a trilogy of the same name. I usually select my books by recommendation--be it friend. professor, or newspaper review--and then read the first few pages to see if the prose captures my fancy or not. I have read other historical novels by Gregory, specifically her series about Lancaster and York. Who doesn't enjoy feuding cousins, right? Anyway... my read-a-few-pages test failed me. Let me just throw a few words at you. Seduction. Betrayal. Murder. Incest. Deception. Yes. That. And the problem is, I hate stopping a book half way through; so here I go, wallowing through the mire to the end, I suppose.

Listening to: Brandi Carlile's Bear Creek. I'm pretty sure she has the most soulful voice I have ever encountered. Your opinion may differ, but she certainly gets my soul to rocking and my boots to tapping.

Loving: My Yamaha keyboard, a surprise welcome-home gift from my daddy. He knew how much I would miss my piano so he sneaked and bought me a substitute. I have to say, I think my playing has improved this past month. Probably due to the fact that every day, after a morning of frantic application submissions, I sit and play for about an hour or so. The thing I love most about this keyboard: it senses if I hit the keys harder... so I can determine volume by touch, just as with an actual piano. This is truly great, people. The little things do matter; they determine the whole song.

Planning: To bake this peanut butter pie. Pretty spectacular, huh? For some reason, I've been dying to bake a pie. Maybe its because I have my own place now with my own kitchen things ...including pie dishes and cute aprons. Whatever the cause, this pie is happening next week! Turkey Day is almost here! Fast and be ready! We're getting there.

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