Hearty dinner for the hubby

My husband likes "hearty" food.  Think casseroles and meat.  Lots of meat.  Too bad he married a vegetarian!  I will say that we do have meat in our house and, sometimes, I make it for him.  Last night was a perfect example, T and I went out for lunch and she had a sandwich she was raving over.   So I figured I would recreate it for Markers at home.  Homemade pretzel "bun," caramelized onion, turkey, pepperoni toasted and then topped with shredded lettuce, tomato and mustard.  I added the onion and pepperoni to my version because I'm crazy like that.

Here's the recipe for the homemade pretzels*:

INGREDIENTS

1 packages active dry yeast

2 cups warm water (110 degrees to 115 degrees)

1/4 cup sugar

1t salt

2T butter or margarine, softened

1 egg

3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 egg yolk

2 t water

coarse salt or, in my case Lawry's seasoned salt

DIRECTIONS

1. In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Let sit according to package directions.

2.  Add sugar, salt, butter and egg. Stir in 1 1/2 cups of flour; mix well.

3. Continue adding enough additional flour to make a stiff dough. Knead dough 8-10 minutes on lightly floured surface--flour your hands too!--until smooth (I actually just ran my bomb diggity Kitchenaid mixer for an extra 5 minutes.  I mean, it has a bread hook). 

4.  Shape into a 12-inch log then cut in half length wise and then width wise.  Cut each section into thirds.  Now you have 12 equal-ish  pieces.

5. Roll each piece into a 15-in. rope.   Coil the rope around itself into a round shape for use as a bun.  Twist a few into the traditional pretzel shape, or witch fingers** and place on a well-greased baking sheet.

6. Set aside and let dough rise for 30 minutes.  

7.  In a small bowl, combine egg yolk and water; brush over the pretzels. Sprinkle with coarse salt if desired (I used Lawry's seasoned salt and garlic salt on mine).

8. Bake at 400 degrees F for 15-20 minutes, until golden brown.

*Funny story:  the pretzel recipe is from my middle school home economics class--I still have the handout and a handwritten copy that I must have made as well.  I enjoyed this class and spent much time after class there.  Or was that because we purposely flooded the sink and another time I watched other kids wad up dough (or in one instance raw meatballs) and stick it to the ceiling?

SANDWICH BUILD

INGREDIENTS

2 T sliced onion

3 deli slices, turkey

4 pepperoni discs

1-2T shredded cheese (I used the "pizza" blend we already had opened)

DIRECTIONS
1. sautee up the onion

2. Remove pretzel bun from oven (see recipe above) and then top with sliced turkey, pepperoni, onions, shredded cheese

3. toast over medium heat for about one minute per side

4. remove from heat and top with fresh shredded  lettuce, tomato slices and yellow mustard

**witches' fingers:

paint sliced almonds with red food coloring and press them really hard onto 3 to 4-inch pretzel ropes, score in "knuckles" with a knife and then bake!  Thanks to Martha Stewart for the idea :)

 

Put a cork in it

We have amassed an excessive number of wine corks since moving into our new place this past June.   Our little collecter bottle was overflowing into a nearby drawer.  Awhile back I attended a bridal shower for a dear friend at her new friend's home.  And in that home I saw painted corks tossed into a large vase--apparently I packed that away in my memory because I took that idea as my own:

I chose two purple spray paint variations to match the new throw pillows I got and used some of the dozens of vases I have from our wedding still.  I think it turned out cute and adds some new color to the living room.  Too bad I accidentally sprayed some of the balcony (despite every effort to cover it with garbage bags).  As an FYI corks are kind of a PIA to spray paint but the mantle is high enough up that only tall people will look closely to see how they turned out. 

SPICY ASIAN....rice

Clever title, I know.   I'm a huge blogger slacker...so I will now post many in an attempt to cover my slacker ways.

For this dish I used Basmati rice and medium firm tofu and white wine vinegar (so fancy). But I just went with my generic soy sauce and I skipped toasted seasame oil b/c who has that?! And, to toot my own horn, while reading the NY Times I found out cooking oil is basically a gigantic rip off.  Oh yes, I also couldn't find scallions at the market...ahem, Kroger...so I substituted fresh chives. I think next time I will use softer tofu and add some crushed peanuts for a little crunch and overall pizazz but it was quite tasty!


Adapted from The Co-Op Cookbook, by Rosemary Fifield (Chelsea Green, 2000).

INGREDIENTS

1 cup aromatic white rice (jasmine, Texmati, or basmati)
1/4 cup silken tofu
1/3 cup smooth peanut butter
2 tablespoons vinegar (unseasoned) or white wine vinegar
1 tablespoon tamari or good-quality soy sauce
2 teaspoons lime juice
1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
1 clove garlic
1/4 teaspoon hot red pepper flakes
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
4 scallions, thinly sliced


DIRECTIONS

1. In a medium saucepan, combine the white rice and 2 cups of water; bring to a boil. Reduce the heat, cover, and simmer for 20 minutes or until all the liquid is absorbed.


2. Remove from heat and let sit for 10 minutes, then fluff with fork. Keep the pan covered until ready to serve.


3. In a blender or food processor, combine the tofu, peanut butter, vinegar, tamari, lime juice, sesame oil, garlic, and red pepper flakes. Puree until smooth. Stir in the cilantro and scallions. Add rice, mix well, and serve.


Serves 6.

Artichoke Rice Salad

Here's an old post from my Facebook "Notes" page that I thought I should also include here because the dish is so tasty :)  I no longer have a photo so here's one I found on Google Images:

June 15, 2010
We celebrated Grace's birthday at our house last night (Mark's mommy)...I tried out a new recipe to compliment Mark's amazing grilled, cedar plank salmon. The cold rice salad was very fresh and summery or as Mark said: "it's a burst of fresh flavors with every bite"

RECIPE (found this on CDKitchen.com):

2 cups cooked rice (I used minute rice)
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
4 medium green onions, chopped
1 small red bell pepper, chopped (I accidentally purchased yellow and it was still delish)
1 can (14 oz size) artichoke hearts, drained, cut into fourths

***Lemon Vinaigrette***
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 tablespoon grated lemon peel
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 clove garlic, finely chopped

Directions:

Cook rice in water as directed on package.

In medium bowl, mix rice and remaining salad ingredients.

In small bowl, mix all vinaigrette ingredients with wire whisk until blended. Add to salad; toss to mix. Cover and refrigerate at least 3 hours until chilled.

 

Dinner in 15 minutes?! Vegetarian Taco Salad!

OK, so if I go to the gym after work I don't get home until late and by that point I am ready to eat ANYTHING.  But if I did that the whole hour at the gym would be wasted.  Now that I'm cooking I tend to have some random ingredients around from various recipes and I am starting to learn what goes together.  Today I knew I needed to get some protein and veggies in my system so I created this vegetarian taco salad:

Me Gusta Ensalada de Taco

INGREDIENTS
1 can black beans
1 tablespoon of cajun spices*
1/2 tablespoon red pepper flakes
A few good shakes of hot sauce
2 stalks/stems (whatever they are) green onions, chopped
1 sliced roasted red pepper
Romaine lettuce
If desired:
Ranch dressing
Shredded cheese (cheddar, colby, jack...)
5 or so tortilla chips

DIRECTIONS
Put the beans in a saucepan, juice and all--crank the stove to a 6 (medium to medium-high heat).  Add green onions and cajun spices, cover.  Take the Romaine lettuce heart/stalk/whatever it is, wash and chop then set aside.  Add the roasted red pepper slices, red pepper flakes and hot sauce to the beans then re-cover.  Eventually the bean mixture should begin to simmer (that doesn't sound very professional but it's true and hey, I'm not a professional).  Let this simmer a minute or so and with a slotted spoon dish out the goodness on top of the lettuce leaving the liquid behind.  Add a drizzle of Ranch dressing or a good grab of shredded cheese, crushed tortilla chips.

*Cajun Seasoning with Green Onions by Cajun Land is something I picked up in New Orleans when I was there for work last year. You can order using the link above but here's what is listed in the ingredients list; I have to think you could mimic at home:
-salt
-spices
-onion
-garlic
-red pepper
-green onion

Comforting food

T spent the weekend with us and since she likes both cooking and macaroni-n-cheese I thought this would be a perfect dish....then I remembered that most kids like Kraft or Velveeta Mac-n-Cheese so this might not be as big a hit as I first thought.  I was right but it was still fun to make!  This is slightly adapted from Patti LaBelle's recipe she made on Oprah forever ago, "Over-the-Rainbow Macaroni and Cheese." The result is a creamy, filling dish and the cheese combinations work well together without being overly fancy.

Sara's "Sitting-on-top-of-the-Rainbow-with-Patti-LaBelle" Macaroni and Cheese

INGREDIENTS:

1lb Elbow Macaroni or similar (I used Rotini this time but will likely stick to the ‘bows)
8 Tbsp (1 stick) Butter
1/2 Cup (2 ounces) Shredded Muenster Cheese
1/2 Cup (2 ounces) Shredded Mild Cheddar Cheese
1/2 Cup (2 ounces) Shredded Sharp Cheddar Cheese
1/2 Cup (2 ounces) Shredded Monterey Jack
2 Cups Half-And-Half (this is the same as one pint)
1 Cup (8 ounces) Velveeta, cut into small cubes
2 Large Eggs, lightly beaten
Salt & Pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS:
 1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly butter (or Pam spray) a deep 2 1/2-quart casserole dish.

 2. Bring a large pot of water to a boil over high heat. Add pasta and cook until it is just tender, about 7 minutes. Do not overcook. Drain well.

3. In the now empty cooking pot, melt eight tablespoons of the butter. Return pasta to the cooking pot and stir thoroughly. In a large bowl, mix the  shredded cheeses (Muenster, mild and sharp Cheddar, and Monterey Jack). To the macaroni, add the half-and-half, 1 1/2 cups of the shredded cheese, the cubed Velveeta and the eggs. Season with salt and pepper. Transfer to the buttered casserole dish. Sprinkle with the remaining 1/2 cup of shredded cheese.

3.5. If you desire a “crunchy top” as my husband calls it mix about 1/2 cup of bread crumbs with one-ish tablespoon of melted butter, then top the dish with this crust. I inadvertantly left the butter out of my creation (pictured below) so the crust was kind of lame.  I've also read about using corn flakes or potato chips as a crunchy top...will have to try that and let you know!

4. Bake until it's bubbling around the edges, about 35 minutes. Serve hot.

Here is a quick image...we definitely ate a helping or two before we stopped to take a picture:

Easy Vegetarian

Ha, that title made me laugh.

Since the wedding is done and there's no more planning I spend my free time using my sweet new pots and pans.  I've been doing some Google searches for a blog by a vegetarian. Half the ones I found had recipes with Chicken or Venison.  The other half featured 147 ingredients and an equal number of photos of actually making the dish OR ramblings about the "vegetarian lifestyle."  Obviously kind of boring.

So this blog will now morph to house my recipes, I have had lots of "friends" on Facebook try out the simple vegetarian recipes I make--most are variations of recipes I find in magazines or newspapers or online.  Maybe some other folks will too!

Updates and recipes are a-coming!

slacking on the updates

seriously behind.  thank you notes did go out though....woo....

Next blog button

I should stop hitting that "next blog" button at the top...I get sucked in to other people's writing...for WAY too long.  But today I found my way to this one and if I link my blog to theirs I am entered to win a delightful dress.  It's 100% impractical but it makes me want to get married (again) on a rocky beach.  Somewhere up north perhaps?  Is three months too early for a vow renewal?  Plus, I love seeing someone with innovative marketing ideas...a giveaway in exchange for free press?  Fantastic plan!

Updates of randomness

1. We hosted our first party in our new place, 41 family/friends came!!!  So far, there only appears to be one small brownish colored spot on the carpet.  Impressive considering Costco catered the whole thing so there was food EVERYWHERE.

2. Mark will be 29 tomorrow.  I took him "Outback tonight!" because he loves steak, chain restaurants and I had a coupon.  Man, I'm an awesome wife.

3. The completely written thank you notes are sitting in a corner of our office waiting to be addressed, sealed and mailed.  Uh....next week?

4. Have you been on MySpace lately?  I went on tonight.  It's not that exciting since most people I know are either no longer on the site or haven't logged in for more than 30 days.  Rather than scope out other pages I looked at old photos from the MySpace era of 3-5 years ago--or the 3-5 gym nights per week era.  I don't think I'm fat but I was definitely thinner in the MySpace era....so I'm going back to that era, who's with me!?!  Surveys and slimmer stomachs await.

Day of the Dad

I didn't buy Mark a Father's Day gift.  He's not my dad, right?!  Hmmm.  The more I thought about it the worse I felt.  He is a really great dad to T, which is amazing since that's not always easy to do when you're a weekend parent.  It makes me so happy to see what his presence does for her. Plus, I know how lucky our children, and myself, will be once we decide to make some.  Or adopt some, depending on whether my hypochondriac self allows for 9-months of major body changes or as Mark says, "depends on if you're too old."  I just turned 30 punk!!! 

So, despite the fact my husband is concerned I'm old already, I found this rad dude shirt in a dark blue color so he can rock it with jeans or dress pants:

Thank goodness Mark will wear it with a belt....

Score

Dear Husband,

Neener-neener I finished ALL my thank you notes...well except for how I confused the two Jan's gifts.  I will fix that and then be finished with ALL my thank you notes.

So sexyface, did you finish yours? .........You are the weakest link!  Oh good point, I didn't print out the list and Google Documents confuses you.  I get confused trying to set up our home printer so I guess we are even.  I'll print it before I leave work today!

LYL,
Your wife

Thank you notes. They aren't writing themselves

So far I wrote all the thank you notes for my family gift givers.
And I would say I'm more than halfway through my friend gift givers.
Mark wrote three notes for his family gift givers before he told me he doesn't "really want to write them."  DUH, it's time consuming and hard to think of different ways to say thank you over and over and over.  But you do it, especially when we have been blessed with so many GENEROUS friends and family!!!

Consider this one big "Thank You" and your personal note should be coming...soon!

Pro photos - sneak peek

I am literally in awe of these images and will let them speak for themselves!

Detroit Photographer:

Dionne & Joe at The Shooting Gallery

www.theshootinggallery.com

(side steps at Fort Street Presbyterian in Detroit)

(side steps at Fort Street Presbyterian in Detroit)

(Hart Plaza, Detroit)

unBELIZEable part 2

OK…I’m just picking this up again, thank goodness when I initially started trying to write I made a quick outline of the remaining days! Old age is a B.

Day five: After trying to sleep in a little we sunscreened ourselves up and rented a golf cart for a few hours to do some souvenir shopping. See, on the island transportation is a bit different. There are minivan taxis, a few cars/motorcycles/trucks, bikes and golf carts! Of course, tourists like us think, “neat a golf cart!” and shell out big bucks to rent them even when a free bike beckons. But you get less sweaty and let’s be honest it’s going to be fun zipping around in a golf cart. Except for the gigantic pedestrian bumps (two foot tall speed bumps) every 25 yards, those hurt like a mother in a golf cart. I was over it before it started. LOL. We seriously did so much touristy shopping I thought I would pass out but we ended up with a Belikin beer shirt for Mark, a tee & jewelry for Taylor and a new dress for me. It was almost worth the incessant walking around a different store with essentially the same stuff.

We finally had lunch on the beach at the restaurant Mark wanted to try, Wild Mango’s. It was good, we saw the owner heading to a water taxi with kids and wine, and the margaritas improved my mood and almost got rid of the bump induced headache. On our way back we explored the areas just south of our hotel by golf cart and saw an area where the molestation of crocodiles was prohibited. Mark was intrigued.


That afternoon we spent the rest of the day at the pool and Mark got the crocodile molestation scoop from a waiter. Apparently, a local teen had been feeding the giant crocs chicken and they became a bit tame. So tame, in fact, the kid would do tricks like place his hat/sunglasses in the mouth of the crocodile. Tourists would come watch and the kid collected some cash but then the government decided that this was too dangerous and shut him down. Then the waiter insisted we would see a crocodile if we went a dusk, telling this to Mark would be the equivalent of telling the hyper-hypo kid from SNL the ice cream truck swings through the playground at dusk. So along comes dusk and off we go on our trusty bicycles. I watched for them from the road, a good 30 yards away from water’s edge. Mark not only went to the water’s edge he went out onto a peninsula to investigate. Sure enough, he found one and then proceeded to THROW A STICK AT IT. I pretty much passed/flipped out yelling all my crocodile knowledge to him, “run in a zig zag! They rely on the element of surprise! Make eye contact! Get the Sam Hill away from there right now!!” I had to fake a seizure to get him out of there. Who throws sticks at crocodiles?!?! My husband…great.

No clue what we did for dinner, probably because I was still too freaked out from the crocodile incident. Assuming we went into town again with our favorite cabbie.


Day six: Adventure day! We had signed up to do a tour of some Mayan Ruins and go cave tubing. The ruins, Xunantunich, were so cool. I also can not only prononuce that word but spelled it right without looking it up.  I think I should clap it out....Anyway they are the second highest ruins in Belize and it only took us a few hours to get there by boat and then van. We used a tour company that our hotel set up for us, Searious Adventures. Excellent language pun and excellent guides! I felt like we learned a lot that day and we got to eat lunch off the beaten path. Then we went cave tubing which sounds awesome! Except you have to get down this river with zero current, and you must form a human chain with the other strangers on your tour. Add to that nerdy life vests and helmets (there were no rapids or any possible way to tip over) and it’s not quite all you think it’s going to be. Overall we enjoyed the trip but think the full day at a larger ruins location would’ve been better.

Since our day was so long and, of course, hot we wanted to do an earlier dinner close to the hotel. Enter the Hidden Treasure. We’d heard others say how great the food was and were eager to check it out. Everyone knows the US economy has tanked but it was particularly interesting to see how that plays out in an area that relies so heavily on tourism, specifically US tourists. On a beach walk one afternoon we saw what we thought was people building a palapa bar (beach hut style bar). Instead they were taking it down, no business. The owner was there supervising and she instructed us to fix the economy and return so she could reopen. We all laughed but it was an awful feeling! OK, so back to dinner, there was one other couple in this huge open air restaurant. Our waiter was young and super friendly. Seeing as how it was our one week anniversary we had an appetizer, bottle of wine and a fantastic dinner but it wasn’t cheap. Hidden Treasure was by far our favorite restaurant, the food was phenomenal and the location quaint—plus they pick you up and drop you off at Victoria House free of charge. After dinner the head chef even stopped out to give me instructions on how to make the coconut rice! Eventually a few more parties wandered in but they have to be hurting just as much as anyone else on the island.

We attempted a bar crawl by walking back down toward some other hotels but didn’t see anyone out and ended up back at the Victoria House bar for a nightcap.


Day seven: Sad, our last full day. We decided another long bike ride was in order, this time we ventured way beyond our initial ride up the island. In fact we went insanely far—probably about 10 miles up the island. And it was great! I did have to commandeer a resort beach hammock to cool off but we had a blast. We hit up the bar over the water (Palapa's) that was closed the last time we did a big bike ride and left our graffiti behind. Mark even took me to the now open Legends for a burger where veggie burgers make the cut. Just not that day.

We cooled off back at the pool and got ready for dinner which, again, I can’t remember the name of.


Day eight: Home again. Boo! Good thing Mark took the next day off too and got our vacation laundry finished.

unBELIZEable part 1

When I travel I’m a huge nerd and keep a journal. In all the chaos leading up to our honeymoon I didn’t even get a new one nor did I even think of it until the trip was almost over. I’m bummed so I’m going to try and remember it all now:


Day one: e-a-r-l-y flight. But we made it to Belize and waited about 40 minutes for our puddle jumper to San Pedro. There were a handful of other newlywed couples waiting for flights but no one was staying at our hotel. There was an older couple who was going to Victoria House—this made me nervous since we both had anticipated going out and doing something with at least one other couple one night…or more! The little plane was hilarious and hot. We flew over the like bay and pulled in on a concrete runway to a dilapidated shack and dirt baggage claim area. We jumped in a taxi with the other couple and giddily scoped the landscape until we got to Victoria House.

Once we got to the hotel we were given a delicious fruit drink and shown to our room. Gorgeous! Small but exceptional and we had a private balcony overlooking the grounds. We stripped down and put on bathing suits (dirty minded people!) and toured the hotel property. AWESOME! Then we napped by the pool.

Mark made a reservation for Sunset Grill, we were still on our wedding high and had a great dinner though the food was less than stellar. I had shrimp for the first time in ages and it was good. I think the bottle of wine was a help in eating that.

Day two: Pool day. All day, we ate breakfast at the hotel and we took a bike ride up over the bridge. It was so early that none of the restaurants/bars were open on that side of the bridge. The bridge was about 2 miles from our hotel and it was 86% humidity on top of being in the 80s. but it was actually pretty cool to just tool around like that. After the long ride we cooled off then got hot again and laid out while mapping out the rest of our vacation. Dinner was at The Tackle Box. Local joint by the water taxi station that was actually pretty good. Not sure if we were still tired from the wedding or not but we went back to the hotel, played some Rummikub (score! We saw this at lunch and were so pumped!) and went to bed. It was like 8:30.

Crap I’m on day two and not remembering—boo! Wait, I’m remembering (I went back and filled it in!)


Day three: Snorkel trip to the Hol Chan Marine Reserve. Absolutely amazing trip, we saw so many different fish and in pretty deep water. For some reason I was FREEZING while we snorkeled, maybe it’s because my back was slowly frying into a gorgeous shade of crimson. While in Shark Ray Alley we definitely saw lots of nurse sharks and when I jumped off the boat I managed to land on a Sting Ray that had been chilling UNDER the boat until the moment I decided to plop in. Mark got a big kick out of that. I should have reminded him that Steve Irwin was probably laughing about sting rays too!


The other couple on our tour, Kristin and Hamilton, was a super fun couple from Chattanooga. Hamilton’s parents were originally going to take the trip but couldn’t make it at the last minute so they left their four(!) kids with the neighbors and came down instead. They were very fun loving and so nice—so nice in fact we were pumped to find out they were going fishing the next day too and booked the same trip. Once back on dry land we decided some adult beverages would be nice. So we had a few and split a delicious blackened grouper sandwich. Then we met another newlywed couple who we decided were pretty fun. We made plans to go out that night after dinner with Wade and Betsy.

Tackle Box was the meeting point and also where somehow we decided to forgo dinner. Next stop was some bar, with no people at it. We took a drunken golf cart ride to hotel (thanks Betsy) while searching for food since we skipped dinner. Stopped at Karaoke bar near hotel hoping for food, again no clue on the name, and there was no food. Betsy sang that song by Four Non Blondes. I couldn’t tell you how it goes at the moment. But Mark was singing it in the shower the next morning and didn’t know why. HA!

Day four: Deep sea fishing day. I started with a hearty breakfast of Huevos Rancheros. My stomach wasn’t 100% since we were out late and drinking the night before. I wasn’t too sure how this boat ride was going to settle that at all. So I pulled the trigger. But after emptying out the Huevos Rancheros I knew there was more and it was only a matter of time before that wanted to come out too. I was seriously debating skipping the tour but I so, so, so wanted to go. So I did.


That “matter of time” turned out to be about 7 minutes. At that point I heaved so violently over the edge of the boat I couldn’t breathe. Awesome. Mark tried to give me some water, Kristin suggested Coke so the bubbles would settle my stomach and she kept saying, Sara I’m so sorry. I had to let her know it was 100% my fault as I can’t recall EVER being sea sick. Neat. I took a nap and laid down in the shade for about 94% of the trip. When I did try to fish I wasn’t quite ready and gave my seat to someone else. Hamilton then proceeded to catch four fish in a row. I then felt better and fished some more with no luck. Now my sweet groom fished for an hour while I napped and chatted with whomever was sitting out. Then he heaved for quite some time as he claimed to suffer from seasickness. Oh well, we had a blast anyway!!

I felt perfectly fine on our way back in and once we were on land, so did Mark. Light lunch and then some relaxing on our private balcony. The cool thing about catching fish on the trip is that the hotel chef would prepare it for dinner. So we ate in the restaurant which was quite good and it was fun to eat our catch of the day. Sort of “ours” anyway! We took the Rummy game up to our room and had the delicious molten chocolate volcano dessert sent up. SO delicious.

time to write

I want to write about Belize and all the rad stuff we did.  But I can see over there in the corner a box of thank you notes.  I literally just started pouting out loud.  You know the wheezy, huffy, stamp your foot, "Idon'twanna" thing?  I just did that.  Out loud, all alone in the apartment.  Oy vey.  Maybe I will wait until we finally open our gifts on Sunday and then I can tackle the whole giant list, bit by bit? 

Bomb-diggity Detroit Wedding Vendors

I'm going to crank out a list, if you want more info just email me (sara.heuvelman@gmail.com) and I will get you the specific contacts we worked with.  Please note I won't think you're a weird stalker because this is the best way to find a good vendor!  If you reach out to anyone PLEASE let them know I sent you--thx!

Dress:  Birmingham Bridal
Everyone here was beyond helpful and the selection was great.  Pricing was in my range and the alterations were decent (though mine weren't major).

Hair/Makeup: Todd's Room
Jan did my hair, it stayed all night and I thought it was the perfect mix of modern and elegant.  Loved how it turned out, we only did a minor tweak from the test run.  Marisa does my eyebrows and did my wedding makeup, again we just switched to black eyeliner and added lipstick under the gloss.  My face stayed on the whole day and I was amazed at how gorgeous I could look with the right makeup!!  Hand's down go see either or both of them.

Accessories: Nordstrom, Todd's Room, One in a Million & Simple Beauty
My cute Cole-Haan metallic gray shoes were from my old standby Nordy.  The flashy, dangly earrings were from Todd's Room:  stunning clear crystals and some smaller gray crystals--beautiful and less than $40.  Brooch was from One in a Million, the owners are absolutely lovely and BEYOND helpful.  My piece was actually a hair comb that they took to a jeweler and converted for me.  I had about 10 people ask me if my veil was passed down from a family member, I loved the simple lace detail at the bottom and it had a wonderful vintage look.  But nope, I got it for less than $60 from Simple Beauty on Etsy.

Flower Girl Dresses:  My Angelic Kids
There is such a creepy pagaent world out there!  But if you dig enough you can find very reasonably priced gowns for your little ladies.  This site had lots of options and we jazzed them up with poufy slips and yellow fabric rosettes.  Plus, Mark's mom made the pomanders they all carried by using these directions.

Bridesmaid Dresses: Miss Kate's Maids
Kate has an amazing collection of dresses.  Specifically the collections of Melissa Sweet, Vineyard & Priscilla of Boston--which is what I chose.  She has unusual hours and I would wager she works another job but she was super helpful and had great selections.  We had a mix up and she fixed it immediately and humbly.

Tuxedo:  Men's Warehouse, various locations
Everyone's worked out just fine. Enough said.

Stationary:  Various
Invites were ordered through Lasting Impressions, huge selection and they are very helpful.  We did our programs ourselves on Vistaprint.  Word to the wise: have your entire bridal party proof and then take it to 12 other people because it's not easy to proof online.  Place cards were from Papeterie, which is pricey but I found a great online deal.

Flowers: Westborn Market, Berkley
Nicole is a delight to work with and I thought my flowers were stunning.  Plus they were exactly what I wanted!  Westborn put together my amazing bouquet and all the girls.  The men's bouts came from there as well.  We ordered the stems and Mark's mom put the arrangements together for the reception.  There was a nasty snafu with that and Westborn graciously stepped in to assist.

Chiavari Chairs:  A Moment Forever
OK, I randomly found this vendor after search FOREVER to find a good price on these designer chairs.  Stacy is a sweetheart and you can tell she loves working with brides.  Plus they have beautiful chairs and a price you cannot beat in Michigan.

DJ: Mike Staff Productions
A wedding staple in Metro Detroit, we worked with Matt Candela and the dance floor was bumping even before Mark and I did the first dance.  It stayed jam packed the entire night.

Cake: Sugar's
Raquel recently left corporate life to run her own cake shop.  Thank goodness she did!  Hands down the most delicious cake ever. And I don't even like cake!  We had a lemon-lime cake with raspberry filling and chocolate raspberry cake with raspberry filling.  Both were topped with cream cheese frosting.  Mmmm. 

Limo: Grosse Pointe Coach
They have one stretch limo that worked perfectly for our small bridal party and Mark and I used a car to transport ourselves from reception to the Book Cadillac. Both drivers were prompt, knew where they were going and were SO NICE!  Plus it was the best deal we found in the area.  We were so pleased we added them to our day.



Reception Venue:  Grosse Pointe War Memorial
Gorgeous ballroom of a historic mansion.  Lots of rules and a few small extra costs but overall a reasonable price for an exquisite setting.  Cheryl is super helpful and the day of captain helps keep everything running smoothly.  It is a bit tricky to get a date if you're not from the GP but it's not impossible!

Church:  Fort Street Presbyterian
Another stunning historic place.  You do not have to become a member to have your ceremony there.  In all honesty the church is so beautiful but the only hiccups of the day were around the ceremony...which is sad because before we began the wedding process there we really enjoyed attending the services...

Rehearsal Dinner:  Vince's Italian Restaurant
Eat here.  It's the best food of all time.  The end.

And now MY TWO FAVORITE VENDORS!!!  Well in fairness to all my other helpful vendors I did spend the most time with these two :)

Coordinator:  Details by Laura
Laura, Laura, Laura...she seamlessly made the entire day perfect!  She was so organized, is an undercover comedienne and made herself available to me prior to the wedding to ensure we had all the i's dotted and t's crossed.  The day had scissors, bobby pins, straws for the drinks, appetizers waiting, stain remover for the dress and anything else you could possibly think of (those are examples of things I never thought of and definitely used!).  Her two assistants were hardworking and the reception venue looked beautiful.  I am so glad that I took the advice to hire a day of coordinator.  And like many brides, I truly wish I had worked with her from day one!

Photographer:  The Shooting Gallery
Yin and Yang. Cole and Haan.  Dionne and Joe.  Peanut Butter and Honey.  Some things just go together so perfectly.  Seriously, these two phenoms gave us minimal direction (well, we are practically models) and just went with the mood of the day.  They had scoped a couple of great locations and put together some very unique backdrops around Detroit.  Plus, it was fun.  Super fun.  I hate having my picture taken but I actually started to forget that was the purpose of the afternoon--I was too busy laughing and cracking jokes and nuzzling my beau while they worked around everyone.  From a few days before I met with Dionne to this day I stalk the blog and Dionne's Facebook on a regular basis.  Her work is breathtaking and so emotive. Actually, I'm a little in awe of her so maybe that's why I feel like a nerdy freshman and she's the cool senior with a bitchin' Sunfire convertible.  

Wedded bliss

I honestly cannot even begin to say how wonderful our wedding day was.  From the little details to the big ones, to all the family and friends who came in, to the dancing, to the laughing, to the tears.  It was perfection.  I grabbed some photos my friends/family had taken and am posting here for your viewing pleasure:

(credit: S.Hartman)

(credit: ??)

(credit: A. Bowles)

(credit: A.Bowles)

(credit: G.Patterson)

(credit: G. Patterson)

so much stuff!

Wedding day and everything that went with it was amazing!  I only look back with a huge grin...and I'm so thankful for all the friends and family who came or even just acknowledged with a Facebook note :)  I will add a photo or two soon along with some thoughts on the day and a list of my amazing vendors!

Belize was phenomenal.  We are beyond excited to go back...soon!  Again, photos and stories soon.

Today I found this site, MRS FOREVER, that outlines the enitre process surrounding the big name change.  I struggled with this more than I could have anticipated.  Mostly because I was a concerned that in the professional arena it would be confusing and a little bit because I've been Sara H. for 30 years.  But I'm pledging my life and my future with Mark and I think having a united family name, no matter how awkwardly it's spelled, will honor that.  Or honour.