Jeni's Splendid Ice Cream.

One of the many perks of working for Williams-Sonoma? Getting to meet amazing cookbook authors and testing their delicious recipes all while on the clock. Who could ask for a better way to spend the work day?!

Actually, Jeni Brinton Bauer was our first cookbook author to come to the West Des Moines Williams-Sonoma ever, and it was such a blast. I personally had to make (5) batches of her to die for Ugandan Vanilla Bean Ice Cream (pgs. 148-149 of her book) as well as her Berry Crisp Ice Cream (pgs. 196-198). I spent a big part of the day before her signing preparing. It was actually a lot easier to make than I thought it would be and I got to taste the results first :)


The next day, it was all about setting the store for Jeni's arrival. We were all so excited to meet her and know everything about her.


First look at her Berry Crisp Ice Cream creation. It was divine. The sweetness of the brandied cherries, was set off by the creamy not-so-sweet vanilla ice cream, and the "crisp" was a unexpected joy too!

Is that her?! NO, it's just my good friend Nancy, being silly and getting excited to meet Jeni herself.

There she is! She was so SUPER sweet and pleasant to work with and talk to. She talked to every single person and told us all about what inspires her flavors and what is she working on next. She was so taken aback by Des Moines. She loved the mix of old and new buildings in the downtown area. I told her all about the East Village and told her that she needed to run down to RAYGUN and get their famous "IDAWAHIO" t-shirt which pokes fun at people who confuse Idaho, Iowa, and Ohio, the famous potato-corn-tire "state" (Jeni is from Ohio).


She even took a picture with the team before she jetted off to Meredith's Better Homes & Garden's Ice Cream social, in her honor.


She is featured in August's issue of Better Homes & Gardens. The photo-article layout is beautiful and just makes you want to run and out all the unusual ingredients and combinations that she's come up with in her book.... Beet Ice Cream being one of them... it is truly a sweet treat :)

New Place.

The process of looking for the perfect place to live is quite frustrating.... mostly because the perfect place does not exist unless you are building & designing it yourself. So the closest thing we found was the Gateway Lofts building in downtown Des Moines.

Joseph and I literally looked at every condo and apartment building in the entire Des Moines metro. All the buildings had pro's and con's but we kept going back to the Gateway Lofts... but would you believe me if I told you that there was a waiting list?! Seriously...??

We thought it wouldn't be until late Fall that we would be able to get in but luckily we something opened up the 1st of July and we jumped at the opportunity! No it didn't have a patio or work-out room but they were two things we were willing to give up for 1,300 sq feet and underground parking (for the winter months...ugh!)


The first full day we spent in the apartment, it was a bunch of prepping because we were going to have people over during the 80/35 concert series weekend. We cleaned, unpacked, and organized as much as we could... all the while sipping on some bubb, of course ;)

Above is part of our lofted bedroom. I love the sky-light above the bed!


This is our work-in-progress living room, looking down from our bedroom. We are still deciding on color accents as we speak. We are going to paint the big wall behind the TV and have added some stuff since this picture but it at least gives you an idea.

This is one view of one side of the kitchen. Across from this is the counter area, stove, fridge...etc.

This is the another view of part of the kitchen area. I'm standing in the living room, and the stairs lead up to our bedroom. I am waiting to show you the second bedroom and bathroom(s) because they aren't finsihed yet. I am waiting on rugs and other accents before I can showcase them ;)

Like so far?? Getting this place for its official photo-op is taking a lot more time and money than I expected. We have twice the size place that we did in San Diego, so our old stuff didn't make quite a dent in filling this place up.

Stay tuned, more to come!

80/35.

Obviously I'm still behind in blogging since the epic 80/35 concert weekend was the first weekend in July :)

BUT in all seriousness, 80/35 was truly a lot of fun. If you aren't familiar... Des Moines started this Woodstock-ish concert weekend a few years ago which has slowly attracted some pretty big names... like Edward Sharp & Girl Talk. Why 80/35? It's the two big interstates that cross each other in Des Moines. Cute, eh?


The concert series started on a Saturday morning and features a few different stages, some free and some required a $25 ticket per day. I don't remember the line-up, mostly because I just went to enjoy with friends but Edward Sharp was pretty amazing.


Since it was also the first day we had moved into our new place*, we would walk back to our place in between bands that we really wanted to see. Really it was so we could get "re-hydrated" and out of the heat. These two decided to deck themselves out in glitter.... a lot of which is still in the cracks and crevices of our bathroom!


Bethany and I... most likely enjoying an nice cold adult beverage ;)


Emily Svec, Joseph, and I. Not my photo but I was tagged in it!


Everyone gets a little friendlier when they've been drinking.


Obviously Katie really enjoyed our mannequin ;)

Back to the concert series!


It was so HOT all weekend long, but that didn't stop us!

The nights were cool, and the shows... amazing! It was a really really fun weekend. Can't wait until next years! (This photo was taken by Anna Jones, a Des Moines photographer. Her work is pretty awesome, check it out here)

*more on our new place soon!

Fourth of July.

I don't know if I am ever going to make it past a month behind on blog updates.... but that is okay, right? It helps all myself and everyone else on special times in life.

What does your Fourth of July consist of? Usually for us it means, pool time, relaxing, tons of champagne and an abundance of lobster, crab legs, and overall really good food. This year's Fourth was a little different because all the bubbles had gone to our head and we jumped into our firetruck and this is what it looked like....


We had ton of people over at Joseph's parents house and we all piled in and drove up the driveway and into the neighborhood.

Des Moines is seriously the BEST place to live. Seriously, who drives around the neighborhood with an old firetruck while blasting music and blowing the siren! People either looked at us like we were insane fools or were just as excited as we were :)

Was it dangerous? Of course! But it was also memorable and a ton of fun!

After about (15) minutes of parading around the South Side, we drove back home and parked it right back where it was before we left... it might just be another year until we use it again... or quite possibly Labor Day weekend... hehe!

I've Never.

I pride myself on trying out new recipes or coming up with a good meal, but I think most people who enjoy cooking feel the same way. So if I see or hear of a new kitchen gadget, I like to try it too.

For (3) weeks in June, Joseph's mom and sister were in Europe for a school trip, so it was up to me to do all the cooking around the house. And since Joseph's dad bought a smoker, I thought I would see how well it worked, especially since I had never smoked anything before.



I decided to use it for Father's Day. It wasn't that hard to use at all. Joseph's dad showed me how to turn it on and I took care of the rest.


I even made my own pork butt rub! It had a lot of Spanish paprika, some cinnamon, brown sugar, among other secret ingredients ;)


Another thing I have never made before... Cole Slaw! I've never had one that I really liked until I had Grandma Moore's. Her's tasted different and had a nice texture. I asked her for the recipe and served it with the Smoked Pulled Pork... which I add Big Daddy's BBQ Sauce to, and served it as Sandwiches. Yum!

On different night, I made this home made spaghetti sauce with pasta and a fresh Summer Salad with stuff from Joseph's growing garden, yummmm!

Luna Bistro+Catering.

Have you heard of...

Luna Bistro+Catering

It's this cute new place in Des Moines East Village. Since visiting the week it first opened, we've tried to make it there every week or every other week at least. The decor is super cute and the food is amazing. Here is what we had...



For me? The Pork Cheek Tacos. AH-MAZING! I split each taco into two and had four smaller tacos (well I shared them of course). I learned from the chef/owner Chris that they had served them at this years Winefest, and obviously they were a hit.


Shannon had the Porchetta Open Faced Sandwich. Never heard of it? Try it! Slow roasted porchetta-style pork chop over bread. Yum!

And finally Joseph had the Hangar Steak Sandwich. Uh, delicious! The only negative part was that there wasn't more! The steak was cooked perfectly, and the lemon parsley olive oil was refreshing.

They served lunch daily and have a small wine and beer list. It's cute, cozy, and offers a great lunch option. If you happen to stumble upon it, at least stop in for a small plate and glass of wine.

You'll be pleasantly surprised.

Grandma's Braid Bread.

Does your family have a recipe that has been passed on from generation to generation? Or is there anyone who makes something special every time there is a family gathering or special occasion?

When I think of someone or something like that, I think of my Grandma (on my mom's side) because every Christmas she makes her amazing tamales. I have yet to taste anyone's as hers. The only down side is that she lives in Arizona, so I either have to go there or she has to fly here for the holidays. I've had her show me how to make them, but I forgot to write down the recipe, she does it by memory.

For Joseph's family, it is tradition to have Grandma Moore's Braid Bread at Thanksgiving. Last year for the holidays, we stayed in California so we asked Grandma Moore if she would share her recipe with us. I made it and it turned out okay. It looked like hers, smelled like hers, but didn't taste like hers... even the texture was a little off.

So, a couple weeks after moving back to Des Moines, we asked her to show us how to make it and we would document it. I told Joseph that we should all get together and learn how to make it, so Sophie joined us and this is what we learned.

We learned that this particular recipe has been passed down from generation to generation. As we stood around her kitchen listening to every instruction, you could see and hear how dear this recipe is to her heart.

She told us how she remembers having this bread often during the Great Depression. She remembers her mom making it, the smell of it baking and then eventually learning how to make it herself.

Every detail of her recipe is important, and not written on the recipe card. She told us how she knows when the yeast is ready to be added to the flour and eggs. How it should taste, and feel after its been all mixed together.

Even the eggs had to be added and let sit for a certain time.

The thing that reminded me about my Grandma, is that like her, Grandma Moore doesn't go by the specific measurements that she has written down. There isn't a specific measurement she says, because she does the recipe based on how it feels in her hands.

"More flour" she says!

Once she feels like the dough is ready, she shows us how to knead it. And you better believe that she has her own way of doing it.

Once she shows us, Sophie and I both try it out.

Grandma Moore wasn't shy about telling us that we were doing it wrong, and re-teaches us. Explaining her pull not push-or-smush method.

Once she was satisfied with our kneading, she told us to separate the dough into (3) equal parts. We had to make them into long "ropes".

It was then time to braid the three pieces together.

...and voila! The finished unbaked product.

I would have taken a picture of the fresh out-of-the-oven product, but that was prime eating time, just warm enough to spread some butter on. And believe me, it didn't even make it off the baking sheet, it was eaten that quick!

Thank you Grandma Moore for teaching us how to make your special bread. When the day comes that you can no longer make it (which we all pray is never, or at least not anytime soon), I hope we can continue your tradition.This post is for you, love you!