{nifty housewife: removing candle wax from glass}

I love candles because they provide the perfect amount of warm lighting to set just about any mood. For our wedding reception we had over 100 candles lit all over and it made our reception hall (which has a very open and industrial interior design) incredibly warm, intimate, and inviting. The unfortunate side of candles is that if you have them in a deep container, the melted wax builds up and it can be very hard to get out. Even if you slowly chip it out, it still leaves lots of residue.

A while back, my wonderful friend Giselle, shared a trick she learned at work when faced with a similar dilemma. Below is a tutorial I created to take you step by step through this nifty little trick.

Step 1: Remove the lid from your container (if it has one).

Step 2: Place your container in the freezer (move aside waffles!). Allow container to sit in freezer for about 6 to 24 hours (depending on the amount of wax build-up you have).



Step 3: After you’ve let your container sit in the freezer for the appropriate amount of time, remove from the cold and tap wax lightly with a butter knife. The wax should pop right off the glass. If it doesn’t, it needs to sit in the freezer a little longer.

Step 4: Tilt container and let wax fall out onto your counter. Give it a little shake to loosen any remaining pieces.

Step 5: Admire your wax-free container!

I did try this trick with a ceramic candle holder and it worked perfectly. I wonder what else this could also work on.

Have a lovely day!

Mrs. E.



{thanksgiving twenty-eleven}

Hello again!

This Turkey Holiday was especially wonderful, full of delicious meals, lots of games, and The Muppets Movie! The whole time I felt so blessed and thankful to be surrounded by such a fun and loving family. Even in reflection about what we’re thankful for, family floats to the top of the list for Jesse and me. We are so lucky to have not just our own families, but as of October 22, officially we have each other’s. What else could you want?

{turkey day prep}

The morning started out full of energy and hustle and bustle in the kitchen. As usual, I awoke to the wonderful smells of Mom Ellis’ stuffing and freshly fried goetta---a German-American breakfast sausage that is almost a staple in Cincinnati. I had actually thought I slept in really late but when I looked at the clock, it was only about 9:30 am. We had a really delicious breakfast which gave us enough fuel to get straight to work.

Everyone pitched in this Turkey Day to make sure that our meal was spectacular. Even Jesse, who is notorious for ducking out during meal prep, helped out by buttering the toasts for our breakfast and assisting Eric with turkey carving.

Eric, Emily’s hubster took on the very important task of making the turkey. He used special tricks and got so into his cooking that he sliced his finger. Unfortunately the Ellis children did not let him get away with whining about it and made him “suck it up.” Luckily his lovely wife Emily patched him up really well and he could resume to making culinary magic.

{dinnertime!}

When we finally sat down for dinner it was almost impossible not to dig in immediately.

We had:

Turkey a la Eric

Cranberry Sauce (canned and the real stuff)

Steamed Broccoli

Mashed Potatoes w/the option of the most amazing caramelized onions or sautéed bell peppers

Mom Ellis’ Amazing Stuffing

& for dessert

Pumpkin Pie

Lemon Chess Pie

yum!

Oh my! I stuffed my belly way beyond its limit and I could barely move from my spot when I was done. And though it was painful afterwards, I would surely do it again! I’ll just make sure I keep my indulgence to once a year.

{turkey day cornhole}

After dinner to work off some of our gut we played some very competitive cornhole. It was quite fun, especially because Emily and I were undefeated! We even beat the husbands despite all of their tough guy talk.

Eventually we had to take to the indoors as the weather was slipping slowly into the chill zone. We still maintained our competitive spirit by joining in on some intense games of Farkle---a dice game. There is a little skill involved, however the majority of your success in the game depends on how lucky your dice rolls are. Unfortunately for Eric, the Farkle Gods were not favoring him at all. Maybe the next holiday will be his time to shine.

What a great Turkey Day! I hope you all had a very happy holiday full of memorable moments.

Good night!

The Mrs.

{recipe: double tomato bruschetta}

{yum}

This is my second time making this recipe and I’ve decided to officially add it to my fancy appetizer repertoire. I originally found it on Allrecipes.com, my favorite go-to site for new recipes. I especially love that most of the recipes on this site have been tried repeatedly by users and have modifications and advice that can take your dish to the next level. This recipe in particular is very popular and has high ratings. I did take some advice from users however and made a couple modifications of my own which really made this dish outstanding!

Double Tomato Bruschetta:

Servings: 12

Ingredients:

·         6 roma tomatoes (it doesn’t sound like a lot as the tomatoes look small, but trust me, it is the perfect amount. Also make sure you use this type of tomato as it is a little firmer than most)

·         ½ cup of sundried tomatoes packaged in oil (I prefer mine julienned so I don’t have to chop up oily tomatoes)

·         ¼ cup of fresh basil (you can use dried basil if you don’t have fresh on hand but you sacrifice flavor; fresh ingredients are always better!)

·         3 cloves minced garlic (I add an extra clove because I looove garlic)

·         ¼ cup of olive oil

·         2 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar (make sure you use a well aged balsamic as it completely enhances the overall flavor)

·         A few shakes of garlic salt

·         ¼ teaspoon of ground black pepper

·         Mozzarella cheese (you can use parmesan if you prefer or another blend)

·         Pesto sauce

·         1 french baguette

How To:

Step 1: Pour yourself a glass of wine. Cooking is always much more fun with a little vino!

Step 2: Chop the roma tomatoes; set aside.

Step 3: Soak off some of the oil from the sundried tomatoes with paper towels; otherwise your bruschetta may be a little too oily. Set aside.

Step 4: In a large bowl combine the:

o   Roma Tomatoes

o   Sundried Tomatoes

o   Basil

o   Garlic

o   Olive Oil

o   Balsamic Vinegar

o   Garlic Salt

o   Pepper

Step 5: Cover the mixture and let it sit in your fridge for a few hours. This will allow it to marinate and create the best possible flavor.

Then after a few hours…

Step 6: Slice up your baguette into 1” slices, then brush with a little pesto sauce.

Step 7: Place your baguette slices onto a baking sheet (covered in foil so as to not get your sheet dirty) and bake at 350 degrees for a few minutes until your bread is a little toasty—-not hard! By doing this step you will keep your bread from getting too soggy from the bruschetta mixture.

Step 8: Switch your oven to a broiler setting.

Step 9: Divide the mixture amongst the toasted baguette slices then finish the job by adding cheese to the tops; be as liberal as you want with the cheese!

Step 10: Broil your bruschetta for 5 minutes or until your cheese has melted.

Step 11: Serve and enjoy!

I hope you all like this recipe. Just make sure you save enough for your guests!

{pre-turkey day!}

Hello everyone!

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend. We definitely did at Casa de Ellis as we celebrated our first Pre-Turkey Day! It was so great to be surrounded by family and friends as it brought a lot of warmth to our new home. The weekend was packed with yummy food, a very competitive cornhole game (Jesse & Dad Henry vs. Derek & Dad Ellis), and some good times and marshmallow roasting around the fire pit. It was tons of fun and a good warm-up for Thanksgiving Day.

{a lovely spread}

On our menu we had:

Starters:

Baked Brie en Croute w/Raspberry Jam

Double Tomato Bruschetta (a delicious recipe I will share later :))

Sides:

Sausage Stuffing

Smoked Gouda & Bacon Mashed Potatoes w/Gravy

Spinach Holiday Salad

Baked Asparagus w/Smoked Gouda

Main Course:

Slow cooker Rosemary Turkey Breast

Honey Glazed Ham

Drinks:

My famous Raspberry Cham-Punch

{hard at work}

{fruits of my labor}

Although I spent most of the day cooking, I took pleasure in watching everyone enjoy my hard work. Plates were licked clean, seconds were had, and everyone chipped in to clean-up the kitchen while I sat back and roasted marshmallows; the best compliments to the chef!

{mark & derek digging in}

{anna & her mommy waiting patiently for dinner}

What a lovely weekend! I can’t wait for what the rest of this holiday has in store for us.

{Mom & Dad Henry taming our pups…hehe}

Much love to everyone! We hope you all have a great Thanksgiving!

{our wedding: the honeymoon!}

Our little series is back!!! This time with honeymoon details. So Jesse and I were originally debating about whether or not we wanted to take a honeymoon as we had so many things going on around the time of the wedding that made it practically impossible to go anywhere. We had almost completely decided to postpone it when Jesse’s mom offered us her timeshare week in Hilton Head. It was ideal! We could arrive when we wanted as we would not be constricted by flight schedules, etc and we could return just as easily. This gave us an extra day after the wedding to finish packing up some final things for our move, say some goodbyes, and run a few errands.

So the Monday after the wedding we headed in our post-marital bliss to the beautiful Hilton Head Island. It was such a wonderful vacation and we were so happy to getaway. We did miss our puppies very much, however we knew they were in good hands and having their own little vacation at Puptown Charlotte.

Our entire week was incredibly peaceful and fun. It has been a long time since Jesse and I were able to getaway and just enjoy each other. We ate so much good seafood (even Jesse : ) who is notorious for his aversion to all things “under the sea”), went on mini adventures, and just relaxed. Jesse even woke me up with a lovely breakfast he put together one morning.

One of our favorite places was this restaurant called Daniel’s. It was a tapas bar, which Jesse learned he could indeed get full off of. We got to make tableside hummus which we had never done before and I must say, it was some of the best hummus I have ever had. The interior architecture and design was also really cool and Jesse and I decided we would like to incorporate some things we saw into our future home one day. Another stand out place we went to was Kenny B’s which is a Cajun inspired restaurant. We had fried green tomatoes (yum!), shrimp and grits, and grilled Mahi Mahi. Because we were on our honeymoon we were also given beignets on the house! It was delicious and I would highly recommend you visit if you’re craving a little New Orleans flavor.

{yum, yum, yum}

All week we were blessed with wonderful weather (70’s & 80’s and sunny skies), which allowed us to be outside quite a bit. We took advantage and went bike riding on the beach, swimming (for two minutes…haha) in the chilly ocean, horseback riding, pirate putt putting-—which I almost won—-and just leisurely explored. It was tons of fun and we hope we get to return again soon.

{the adventures of j & k}

{just for giggles}

Oh friends, looking back on all the pictures I’m so glad we went away. I can’t remember the last time I felt so relaxed. Many thanks to Mom Ellis for this opportunity!

Goodbye for now!

Mrs. E.



{25 before 25: 1, 5, & 7 check!}

Another project I’ve been working on (like I really need another) is a 25 before 25 list. Inspired by another blogger, I’ve decided to create a list of things I’d like to accomplish before my 25^th birthday (which is literally right around the corner). I think it’s something I would like to do every year. I only have a month and a half before 25 so, I have to get moving. I’ll keep you guys posted as I progress.

So far, I can officially mark off a few.

1.  Start Couch to 5k Program: I’ve never been much of a runner (outside of my lacrosse days) but I have wanted to get into it for awhile. It costs no money (unless you get really serious about it) and is a great way to get in shape and build up your endurance. I found a program which is designed to help non-runners build up to a 5k and have jumped right in. It only requires a three day/week commitment, which is very convenient, as well as some willpower. As long as I have a good playlist, I’m good to go. Hopefully I’ll be signing up for my first 5k shortly after the New Year begins. I’ll get Jesse to tag along (he doesn’t need a program as he’s already a very good runner who scoffs at my ten minute mile). I’ll let you all know how it goes!

2.  Start blog: This has been a big “to do” on my list for a long time but I never quite knew in what direction I wanted to go with it. After getting hitched and realizing how far away we’d be from family and friends it just made sense to use it as a form of communication. Let’s just hope I can keep up with it!

3.  Re-start work-out and healthy eating regimen: An important one! Before the wedding planning chaos, I was very consistent with this and it felt great. I took my vitamins and drank green tea every morning, worked out right after the work day, and was very conscious of everything I put in my body. Since slipping away from that lifestyle it has affected my mood, energy, and body image. It is crazy how much of an impact what you eat and how active you are can have on your body. I have said enough with excuses, I want to live a long healthy happy life, so it is time to get back on track. I re-started last week and I have already started to notice changes! Let’s just hope the holidays won’t veer me off track too much.

I hope this inspires a few of you to make your own lists. I’m sure there are things you are hoping to accomplish!

Love, peace, and reeses pieces!

The Mrs.

{ahhh………life}

Hello again. Remember me?

So, I’ve neglected the blog a little bit, I was on a roll and then (BAM!) I was hit with a mile long to do list. As you might know, Jesse and I have just moved to a new home and new city which is exciting, but comes with strings and by strings I mean unpacking. I never knew how much stuff we had until it all showed up at our new place. Yikes! Over the last few days I have been busy as a bee, unpacking, organizing, laundering dirty clothes, and making our new place feel like a home. Jesse has also been busy refinishing a cedar wardrobe that will hold all of our coats. While we love our new place, we don’t have much practical storage space, so we’ve had to be very creative. We have had some challenges, but overall, this place is really starting to come together. We should be good to go by the time our guests arrive this weekend for Pre-Turkey Day, Turkey Day!

To resolve some of our storage issues I visited the Container Store on Saturday. Have you ever been? They have a container for everything!!! (The Anal Annie inside of me just did a back flip). I had to keep focused and resist the temptation to buy a container for each and every item in our house.

{aisles of awesome @ the Container Store}



Amongst all the crazy, we have been able to take a few moments to enjoy our new surroundings and of course, life as a married pair. I joke with Jesse that this was the easiest first month of marriage as we have barely seen each other. We both have been traveling a lot for our jobs (although I am officially finished!) so we really have not spent any time together. This weekend was the first one we’ve had together since returning from our honeymoon. We celebrated by enjoying a lovely dinner, cooked by yours truly, at home. It was our first dinner in our new home and it was delicious! I made a shell pasta with brie and asparagus (from Trader Joes) and added pan seared pancetta for a little more flavor. I also baked some croissant rolls which complimented the meal really well. It was nice to sit down across from my hubster and just enjoy the moment.

{first dinner in our new home}

Sooo ahh…life indeed. It has been crazy, but I’m loving every minute of it.

Goodbye for now!

The Mrs.

{it’s beginning to look a lot like…thanksgiving!}

{photo by Ginnerobot}

Hello! Hello!

So I’m taking a little break from our wedding mini-series because tonight I’m thinking about Turkey Day. Our holidays will be hectic as usual as multiple families are involved. Luckily, Jesse and I have been together for so long that we have come up with a good system. We’ve had our bumps (the year we had three thanksgivings back-to-back…crazy!), but we’ve ironed out a good holiday plan. I’m sure when we start having kids (a looooong time from now), it will change again, but for now this works very well for us. This year belongs to Jesse’s mom (each year we alternate between our families). We are very excited because 1) Jesse’s sister Emily, new hubby Eric, and possibly my favorite of Jesse's uncles, Jack & Paul will be in town and 2) Jesse’s mom makes the most amazing stuffing ever! I remember when I first had it; I couldn’t get enough! She gets up really early in the morning while everyone is still asleep, turns on the Macy’s Day parade, and goes straight to work. The smells waft all through the house and before you know it, you’re wide awake and craving a spoonful of that yummy stuffing. What’s your favorite turkey day item?

It is pretty crazy how early everyone gets up to start the turkey day meal. My own mom gets up at 4 a.m. (naturally…isn’t that insane!). She also makes sure to serenade the whole house promptly at 7 a.m. with Christmas tunes. It’s a good thing that her meals are always amazing otherwise her sound system might “disappear.” (Don’t worry mom!).

Since we won’t be spending Thanksgiving Day with some of our family and friends, we’ve decided to host a pre-Turkey Day, Turkey Day in our new home the weekend before. It won’t be as large as the actual Turkey Day meal, but it will have plenty of fancy appetizers (my favorite) and some traditional turkey day items (i.e. stuffing, and of course turkey!). While I don’t regularly make huge meals, I’m not nervous as last year I took on Christmas Eve dinner (which was a huge success) and Easter dinner (another success). Those were my first times making large meals and minus a few bumps, seemed to be enjoyed by all our guests.

I really love entertaining so I’m getting very excited about place settings and menu items. My best lady Giselle will also be joining us for Pre-Turkey Day, Turkey Day and is completely in charge of desserts. She is a master dessert chef and I cannot wait to see what she has planned! As for the main menu, one thing’s for sure…Smoked Gouda (the best of all fancy cheeses) will definitely making an appearance. We may have to have a post completely devoted to that…

Well goodnight for now. If you have any good recipes you’re willing to share, feel free to leave a comment or send me a message!

Love,

The Mrs.(hehe)

{our wedding: decor highlights}

Hello again!

Just thought I would share some highlights from our wedding. We still haven’t received our photographer’s pics yet, however we had plenty of friends and family with cameras who were eager to share what they captured.

I will share in segments as there is a lot to cover. This will be the first part of “our wedding mini-series” and will go over the wedding décor. It was fun to make everything and I would never have been able to finish it all without the help of my sweet husband and trusty maid-of-honor Giselle. When I first started picturing the design for our wedding I obsessed over it day and night, oftentimes waking up in the middle of the night with new ideas. I had post-it notes and index cards galore filled with ideas and to-do lists (I love lists!!!). Although she never showed any signs of it, I know I must’ve driven Giselle crazy every time I would jump around in conversation with some new idea. I felt so blessed to have her as my MOH and highly doubt that she can be beat! She did everything possible to make sure that our wedding day was truly everything we dreamed…and boy was it! Her only demand was that we did not make poms…haha.

We worked on several items throughout the months leading up to the wedding, but really focused the week before in a craft frenzy. Luckily I took off of work that week because I don’t know that it would’ve all been done in time if I hadn’t. We were in the process of moving at the time as well—--I know we’re crazy right?---so the apartment was empty and full of wedding/craft stuff, oh yea and a leaky air mattress (which luckily was replaced by a loaner mattress from our wonderful friends next door). It was a rough week to say the least but with a wonderful ending, our wedding day!

So to start off,

{our lovely reception hall,

http://byronssouthend.com/}

I was asked several times to describe the “theme” of our wedding and I could never land on anything in particular. All I knew was that I wanted it to be fun, whimsical, and showcase plenty of mustaches…ha! So maybe the theme was “Funny Whimsical Men?”—-maybe not.

But on a more serious note…I focused on some very small details because I feel like they are often overlooked but can sometimes be the most memorable. I mean tiny cut-out Hunger Games mockingjays seem purposeless but actually made beautiful confetti on our cake table and at the same time paid tribute to one of the greatest book series I’ve read in a long time. You can get some of your own here. I even found cut-out atlas birds that looked lovely dispersed around our centerpieces.

Then there was our photo spotlight. It was one of the first things our guests saw when they walked into the reception hall. It showcased pictures of Jesse and me through the years as a couple, and as individuals. I found this really neat framing idea on pinterest (one of my all-time favorite sites) and put Jesse to work! He did a wonderful job and the frames looked so beautiful at our entrance holding our childhood pictures. I also surprised my parents and grandmother with some pictures of them on their wedding day. At that same spot we had our guestbook which I believe is really unique---more details on that in a future post!

I wanted to make sure that there was fun for all ages and personalities. I babysit a lot and wanted my favorite little munchkins to have a blast---I even consulted them on music for the wedding. Giselle and I went to the party store, reached down and let out our inner kiddos, and picked out plenty of fun toys and treats to pimp out the kids table. From what I heard, the whoopie cushion we sneakily laid out, was a huge hit! We also set out cornhole boards (constructed by my handy hubby) for those interested in a little competition.

One of the projects I was most proud of was our cake topper. I knew I wanted a silly little bird topper for our cake but practically every one I had found was over $100---a little out of my budget. So I realized that this was a craft project I would have to save for my crafty hands. I searched everywhere for little birds which were surprisingly very hard to find, and eventually found some in a craft store by accident. I think it was about two days before the wedding; I sat down (on the floor, as we had no furniture, and at one of the cornhole boards which was my table) with my glue gun, little birds, and miscellaneous craft supplies. I began working and before I knew it I created my little masterpiece. I don’t mind boasting because it is something I am incredibly proud to show-off and better than some of the ones I was looking at. Total cost: $10. Woo!

{our favor tables}

Giselle thought I was a little looney, however I love treats and wanted to treat our guests very generously; it was a joyous celebration after all!

We had:

·         Mustache Lollipops: “I mustache you a ?”

·         Lip Lollipops in our wedding blues & greens: “Kiss me baby”

·         Rock Candy (Jesse’s favorite!): “Rock My World”

·         S’more Treat Bags: “No We Love You S’more”

·         A J&K Wedding Soundtrack featuring songs from key moments of the day: “J&K Greatest Hits”

·         Hand rolled Dominican cigars, a gift from one of my aunties: “Fancy a Smoke”

·         Personalized Team Jesse, Team Katie, (and for those preferring both) J+K, pin buttons: “J vs K, Choose!”

Okay…maybe a little extra. They came out wonderful however and everyone seemed to enjoy them very much (we had nothing left!).

Pheew! That was a mouthful.

Well, that’s all for today. Look out for the next part of our wedding mini-series, coming soon to a blog near you!

Love, Love, Love

{hitched}

{our little cake topper on top of our anniversary box--made by moi (Katie)!}

Hello fam and friends!

We are officially hitched as of 10-22-11! (and a little excited about it too…haha).

So begins this little blog where we will share our new life and adventures with all who want to tune in. We figured since we'll be so far from everyone, this will be a good way to keep you all up-2-date on our lives in between conversations and visits. We don’t have a definitive plan for what this is supposed to be but we hope you’ll stick around as it develops.

Enjoy!

Love,

The Ellises (still weird!)