Feasting

Lots of yummy food was consumed this weekend! Saturday morning, after a tasty breakfast of cranberry scones (using a very easy mix!), eggs, and fruit, Steve and I went to a local farmer's market to:

"Prepare a meal using all fresh ingredients purchased from a farmer's market"

Open every Sat and Sun of the year, rain or shine, this cute little market set up in a school courtyard has a little bit of everything- plenty of beautiful produce, meats and cheeses from local farms, flowers, nuts, fresh herbs, homemade baked goodies, and even a random assortment of jewelry and other nicknacks (or is it knicknacks?) a la "yard sale" style. It was a bit of a mad dash, shopping with no list, just seeing what strikes us, before we had to head out to a wedding, but it was quite fun. More to come on that.

As for the wedding, well, it was one of the most heartfelt, sincere, and precious weddings we'd ever been to. Our worship leader at Apostles, Tom, and his darling fiancee, Angie (who also sings on the worship team- both have awesome pipes) were wed in the sweetest, most emotional ceremony. Check out Shawna's blog for the perfect description of the day and their story.

My multi-talented husband was even asked (just three days beforehand, mind you) to be their photographer! I think he did a fabulous job- here are some of his pics. What a gorgeous couple and stunning bride...

We were so impressed by the way Tom and Angie developed their relationship, and especially in the way they entered into marriage, making it first and foremost about the marriage, and not the wedding. We feasted on almond flavored cake with coffee flavored icing filling and had a great time visiting with close to 100 of our Apostle's friends. Just a few weeks went into planning this, and it was still a wonderful, and very special affair. Fun times!

Back to No. 12 on the list...

Later Saturday evening, Steve and I prepared a very tasty appetizer, main course and dessert using our "fresh ingredients." To start,

French bread with mozzarella, olive oil, and thyme

Then, an entree of chicken breast breaded with bread crumbs, garlic, and herbs,

topped with melted mozzarella and more herbs on top,
with a side of green beans in a garlic, olive oil reduction.

And to finish it off-

Peach crisp with hot apple cider. DELICIOUS!

We definitely hope to make a tradition of preparing meals with farmer's market acquired goods.

Then on Sunday, our community group went back to the Bailey Holt House to prepare and serve dinner. From scratch (yes, I'm very proud of us!), we prepared beefy pasta skillet, Texas potato casserole, garlic bread, corn on the cob, and chocolate pudding pie on graham cracker crust. So good! It's been so much fun to spend time with the residents and continue to build relationships with them. Just a couple of weeks ago we hosted a bingo night there with desserts and it was quite a hit. We're finally learning some names and one of our new friends, Louis, has even opened up to Steve and I about prayers for his family! It's awesome and such a blessing to serve them.

And since this post is about feasting, I realized that I unintentionally have conquered another item on my list:

"Go a whole week without eating out or ordering out"

I'm not even sure when the last time was that we did either of those! (The training lunches through church don't count! And we're breaking it tomorrow with dinner with our comm. group.... BUT:) Steve has been quite the man preparing wonderful meals (Rachael Ray 30-minute Meals ROCK!!!) since school started, which gives me just that extra bit of time I need to practice. He's made some pretty tasty dishes, and even though I think that going out to eat or ordering out every day for a whole week would've been a much more exciting challenge, our wallets are much happier and I certainly don't feel like I've had to give up on quality food. Thanks, my love!