Rawrrr! Raspberry, Buttercream Frosting

Ever wondered how wonderful fresh, fruit frosting would be? Yeah, I had too! 

Check this out!

For the cake, I made a classic white wedding cake! I thought, "hey, I'm getting pretty experimental with the frosting flavors, so let's keep it tame this first time around!" The above image also showcases traditional, cream cheese frosting, which I will be doing a post on later!

Raspberry Frosting Ingredients:

• 1 stick of unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 1/2 cups of fresh raspberries
• 1/2 teaspoon of fresh lemon juice
• 4 cups of powdered sugara pinch of kosher saltHeat your raspberry on medium in a small saucepan, and use a spoon to stir occasionally. You will want to let the raspberries melt, but do not let the heat get so hot that they start to boil. You will need to keep an eye on them to make sure they don't. Once they've completely broken down to juice and seeds, set  it aside to cool. When the melted raspberry is room temperature, cream the butter in a large mixing bowl. Add about one half of your powdered sugar, the raspberry sauce, 1/2 teaspoon of fresh lemon juice and a pinch of kosher salt. Mix the ingredients together until it's smooth. Add your remaining powdered sugar, and continue to mix until it is spreading consistency.If you find that the frosting isn't sweet to your liking, go ahead and add more powdered sugar!This was just super easy! It was just so cute seeing everything coming together, and I kept thinking this would be perfect for a girls' night out, or even a bachelorette party! Gotta love pink leopard print! I also added a few sugar pearls for that extra girly touch!

From Stressed to Serenity in 8 minutes

Photo Credit: Cathy Lee Photography

First, be sure to try and remove yourself from any other  noises that can be distracting (i.e. shutting a window, turning off the tv, etc.) 

Also, be sure to shut off all of the lights or shut your window shades.

Lie down on your back on the floor, with your palms raised to the ceiling.

Close your eyes and picture yourself alone in a place where you feel most relaxed.

If you are having difficulty finding that place, 

imagine you are at a waterfall or the beach.

As you listen, take slow & deep breaths in through your nose and out through your mouth.

Ready?

Go ahead and press the "play" button, and enjoy this time for you and only you.

Feel better? I thought you would! I know I sure do when I do exactly what you just did!

Photo Credit: Cathy Lee Photography

This song has been scientifically proven to be the most relaxing song ever. 

I know, right?! It's so awesome.

Feel free to bookmark this page, 

and revisit this when you feel that you need to re-center yourself.

Yummy, Homemade Pretzels

With an entire ball of pizza dough sitting in my fridge, I thought to myself, "Why don't I make something besides pizza?" Well, on this particularly rainy day, I opted to be a bit more adventurous with pizza dough than I normally would be. And pretzels it was!
I remember in kindergarten we made pretzels out of pizza dough, and given the fact that I have grown a little bit in my culinary skills since then, I thought "why not?"

Now here is where I was indecisive: salted vs. cinnamon sugar?

I couldn't make up my mind, so I opted to make a few of both!
(I've decided until I nail the cinnamon sugar recipe that I'll stick to making these delectable salt ones!)

Ingredients:

• Pizza Dough (thawed)
• 1 egg
• Salt
• Cinnamon (optional)
• Sugar (optional)

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

First, go ahead and cover your working space with flour. Just like you would when you're rolling out a pizza.

Roll out your pizza so that it covers the cookie sheet completely (especially if you're using a standard cookie sheet). You'll want your dough to be at least 15 inches long.

Using a pizza cutter, divvey up your dough into 1 inch wide pieces.

Place your pretzel dough onto your baking sheet, and shape it into whatever kind you want.
I opted for a humbled version of the traditional, homemade pretzel. I have seen some crazy pretzels shapes before (including but not limited to treble clefs and stars), but it's totally up to you!

When you have all of your pretzels ready, you can go ahead and grab a bowl to prepare the egg. With a small bowl, crack your egg into it and then whip it with a fork sufficiently. If you have a cooking brush, use that to coat your pretzels with your beaten egg. If not, and you're cool with getting your hands dirty, just dive in with your hands and gently rub the egg all over the dough.

Now that that's all set, you can decide what kind of pretzel you want! I would DEFINITELY reccomend the salted one! It's a classic flavor that really you can't go wrong with (and tastes divine with some mustard).

Place your pretzels into the oven for 15-20 minutes, checking on them to see if they fit your desired level of golden brown-ness.

 

They're pretty cute, right?! I know it's not just me. I posted a small, sneak peek of this post onto Instagram and my phone blew up with comments of positive feedback! I would highly encourage all of you to try this recipe! It's easy, fun, and it really brings you back to a time when you were young and making these in school (except now I know that my hands were clean when I was cooking and preparing it...6 year old Cathy? Maybe not so much haha)

We Need Some New Pictures

See? We can get some super cute ones when we're on our best behavior! These are two years old, too. But you know I was thinking, since we're so childish, we always end up with these kinds of pictures. Well, at least we're true to who we are, right? Our children will understand some days years and years from now. But yeah, I am excited to get some pictures on our honeymooniversary!

Our Honeymoon! 69 Days and Counting!

Photo Credit: Carnival.com

We are boarding the Carnival Glory on July 16 to celebrate our 1 year of marriage and taking our honeymoon-iversary from Boston to see New Brunswick and Nova Scotia!