I Scream, You Scream....WE ALL Scream for ICE CREAM!

I don't know about you guys and where you live....but in Atlanta it is SCORCHING HOT! It has been incredibly hot. All I really want to do is go lay out by a pool somewhere with a cold drink in my hand. However, I have no pool and do not know many people with a pool. PLUS....I start work soon. (depressing!)

I recently went to my favorite grocery store ever Fresh Market and stubbled upon some amazing strawberries. They were 2 for $4.00. I thought to myself...what better way to cool off on these scorching hot Atlanta days then ice cream!

So it all began yesterday....I decided to use 1 16 oz package of strawberries and cut them in half as shown in the beautiful yellow bowl. I then mixed them with the most delicious mouth watering combination of vanilla extract and sugar. I put them into the refrigerator for about 30 minutes to soak in all of that goodness. 

I then gathered the rest of the materials to make the cream mixtures. Now I must say that I got this recipe from the Cuisinart Ice Cream Book. However, I like to tweak it here and there to give it a little extra love so stay tuned. 

The ingredients above are the ingredients that I used to make the ice cream mixture. I LOVE using sweetened condensed milk in my ice cream instead of heavy whipping cream. Some reasons....1. sweetened condensed milk is delicious. 2. It adds a thickness to the ice cream that I enjoy. 3. I usually do not have heavy whipping cream. It is a great substitute and makes the ice cream a lot sweeter which I also LOVE! However, I decided not to use it yesterday since I have heavy whipping cream. 

I mixed the ingredients above together. First the milk and the sugar to ensure that the sugar dissolves completely. Then I added the heavy whipping cream and vanilla to the mixture. 

Next I slowly blended the strawberries. I did not want them pureed but I also did not want huge chunks. The chunks get too frozen/hard in the ice cream, and I do not particularly like that texture. 

Next you mix the strawberries with the milk mixture. I put the mixture in the refrigerator for 2-3 hours. Then pour the mixture in the ice cream maker for it to do its thing! In about 30 minutes, you have the most cold delicious gorgeous girly pink goodness there is!

Recipe for Strawberry Ice Cream: 

1 16 oz package of Strawberries (Halved)

1 Tablespoon of Sugar (in with the strawberries)

1 Tablespoon of Vanilla Extract (in with the strawberries)

1 Cup of Whole Milk

1 1/2 Cups of Whipping Cream

2 Tablespoons of Vanilla

1 Cup Sugar

Happy Reading! 

New House means New Furniture....RIGHT???

I have been telling Chad since day one of house hunting that we need new furniture to go in this brand new house we were buying. Our furniture now are amazing hand-me-down furniture from our parents. However, this furniture has lived its glory days back in the day. It has taken its ride to Athens, GA and spent many wonderful years at college keeping many people happy including Chad and myself. It then moved to Atlanta, GA and has kept Chad, Sophie, and myself happy for a year and half. It is time.....it has GOT TO GO.

SO this piece of furniture is what Chad and I like to call, "The Magical Couch." 

The Magical Couch (Please excuse the queen...she was made I was disturbing her nap and would not get off her throne.)

The Magical Couch got its name WAY back in the day. It was located in Chad's parents house in their upstairs den. When Chad and I had first started dating (7 years ago), I would come over to his house, and our favorite place was The Magical Couch. It was magical because no matter what time of day whoever dared to sit down on the couch was destined to fall asleep. It happened ALL the time to many of this couches victims. It has been a fantastic couch, but has lived its glory days. The cushions on the back are all floppy and will not stay up. That absolutely drives me crazy. 

The next piece of furniture that is being replaced is my favorite chair in the whole entire world. I wish I had a clever name for this chair...but I just don't unfortunately. 

This chair is very loud and flowery but is the most comfortable chair EVER. We are actually going to put it in the sunroom because I cannot depart from this chair just yet. I just does not match any of the new furniture I bought! 

Out with the old and in with the new!!!

We went this past Saturday to Rooms to Go and got the most BEAUTIFUL stuff. I am absolutely SO excited!!! I did a little mix and matching from other "rooms," but eventually got everything that I wanted for new living room! 

The beautiful new couch!

My new accent chair!

I am so thrilled with these pieces. I am obsessed with the color gray right now. I went with the dark grey couch. We only got the couch. I was not too thrilled about the accent pillows that came with the couch, the rug, or the foot stool. I found this gorgeous chair in another part of the store and decided that it would look amazing with the couch. The dark grey and lighter grey on the chair really compliment each other well. I also bough accent pillows for the couch that are the pattern/color of the chair that I will be using in place of the ones that you see in the picture! I am taking comments on window treatment colors please!!!

The other piece of furniture that we bought Saturday were new mattresses. We currently have a queen size bed that we have completely "out grown" (if you will). Most everybody knows that it is not just Chad and I that sleep in our bed but also the queen of the house. 

I think I made my point loud and clear! :) So...we decided to get new KING size mattresses. I am very excited. However....now I need a new bed, linens, comforter, and probably curtains. The list is never ending! 

Happy reading! :)

Seafood and SEE FOOD: Tilapia Sliders

Blackened Tilapia Slider with Spicy Chipotle Slaw

One of my favorite hobbies lately in life has been cooking. I do not mean out of a box either! I mean beautiful, colorful, healthy, and delicious food! The meal Chad and I had last night was simply that. 

Excuse the paper plates.......

Chad asked me yesterday if I wanted a hamburger. I responded, "I would actually love a fish sandwich." Let me just say.....my husband is usually ALWAYS on board with food ideas. This one was no different. We set out to the grocery store. The only thing that we needed from the grocery store was tilapia (our fish of choice....usually very affordable) and shrimp. We also decided to have a spicy slaw to go with it! We picked up a bag of just plain coleslaw in the bag. It is in the produce department by the bagged salad.

Spicy Chipotle Slaw

It all started with the spicy slaw. Anybody that knows Chad and I knows that we LOVE spicy food!

Spicy Chipotle Slaw: 

   1 bag of Coleslaw (green cabbage, red cabbage, and carrots)

   1 diced jalapeño (take seeds out)

   1 cup of Mayo

   1/2 lime (just the juice)

   2 tablespoons of honey

   1 1/4 teaspoon of Chipotle Chili Powder

   1/2 teaspoon of Cumin

I whisked the last 5 ingredients together in a bowl and poured over the top of the coleslaw and diced jalapeño. Mix all the ingredients together a refrigerate for as long as possible. The longer the slaw sits..the stronger the flavor!

After I made the slaw, I moved onto peeling and seasoning the shrimp and tilapia. We decided to buy half a pound of shrimp and 1 piece of tilapia. The tilapia fillet was really big, so Chad and I only needed one piece!

I wanted more of a blackened seasoning mix to put on all of the seafood. Below is the mix that I created and maybe should jar for next time!

Blackened Seasoning: 

1/2 teaspoon Sea Salt

1/2 teaspoon Pepper

1/2 teaspoon Oregano

1/2 teaspoon Paprika

1/2 teaspoon Dried Chopped Onion

1/2 teaspoon Thyme

1/2 teaspoon chili powder

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon Old Bay (Lemon & Herb)

I based the seafood with melted butter and then poured all the seasoning on to the shrimp and tilapia fillet. Then I handed the seafood over to Chad and let him work his magic!

NOW....my new favorite obsession is grilling bread! I LOVE IT! We had leftover Publix baked dinner rolls found in the bakery section at Publix. I just slapped some butter on those bad boys and we put them on the top rack for about a minute to a minute and a half. Watch them...you would not want that buttery goodness to burn!

I split the tilapia into 4 pieces and it made 4 little sliders! Pile that spicy coleslaw on top of the tilapia piece and cap it all off with that beautiful buttery grilled bread! You will NOT regret it! 

Happy Eating!!!

Chastain Park Fun!

"All we truly need in this life is God, love, family, and food!" 

Seriously....could my quote not be anymore real/true? When I think about life this is seriously all I think about. Friday night I got all of these things into about 4 hours of fun! Allen and Diana (Chad's parents) got us tickets to see Idina Menzel tickets in one of the coolest and most intimate venues in Atlanta. We were joined by Lindley and Manning (Chad's sister and her husband). We all seriously had the BEST time! Of course the food, music, and laughs continued all night.

This particular venue is interesting in the fact that it has stadium seating but with long bench seats and tables spread through out. We just so happened to have gotten tickets that were seated at a table (purposely got the table seats). The open venue is picturesque after the sun has set and the stars come out and lay above your head. The place is relatively small for a nice intimate experience with the performer.

The food was spread out in a picnic style fashion and we all ate until we were stuffed. Of course, Allen brought champs that when popped went everywhere....including on the lady next to us! ;) However, she was cool with it....maybe.

The feast included the delicious pasta salad (recipe in previous post) and homemade crostinis!

Idina did an amazing job and sang all of the songs that she is most famous for singing in her famous Broadway shows. She even came into the audience and allowed other people to sing with her!! The grand finale was "Let it Go." The song that put her on the map outside of her Broadway stardom.

Chad and I seriously had the best time with everyone. The music, food, and company was fantastic!!!

Mortgage Companies can be the death of a home buyer!

The title of this post is seriously how I feel. After dealing with all of our summer drama about our house this is what I thought about mortgage companies. I feel as though mortgage companies have ONE job.....give people who are qualified and deserving a loan to purchase a home.

Chad and I had a very interesting experience when buying our first home. We decided on Wyndham Capital Mortgage who is based in Charlotte, NC. Chad stumbled across them while he was doing his research back in May. We were connect with a man named Dennis Mccoy. Chad absolutely loved him, and I believe that the feeling was pretty mutual for Dennis also. Chad being an accountant knows numbers and can talk that language that not many of us can follow much less have an intelligent hour and half long conversation about. Chad and I were so thrilled about this company. They gave us everything we needed.

After we found a house, everything continued to go really smoothly until the night of July 3rd. We were told by our real estate agent (Szana Marr- who is AMAZING) that due to an unpermitted bathroom we would not be able to purchase the home. These were the rules of our mortgage company. I was DEVASTATED to say the least. I cried the whole weekend. Of course, we could do nothing about anything that we needed to do because it was a holiday weekend. When Chad and I got back into Atlanta that Monday we quickly set out to call Dennis. Without boring you with all the details of the process, Dennis went out of his way to find a way to get us our loan and it HAPPENED (obviously because you all know we got our house...keep reading though...this post has a reason.)

Dennis and our real estate agent Szana made our dream come true by finding us the perfect house! If you are buying a home in the Atlanta area...I SERIOUSLY recommend both of these people! Now that we are settled in...I had not given much thought to Dennis until last night. About 7:00 pm my doorbell rang. I went to the door to get it and found a package. Chad and I quickly opened up the package to find that Dennis had sent us a tin FULL of some of the most amazing cookies! They are from the Carolina Cookie Company. Y'all....these cookies are AMAZING! There were an assortment of oatmeal raisin (my fav.), Chocolate Chip (my fav.), and Sugar (my fav.)!!!!! You guys should seriously check this place out!

http://www.carolinacookie.com

They would seriously make the best little gifts EVER! You can thank me by posting in the comment box and letting me know what you think about them once you have had them. You will not regret it.

Now all I need is a glass of milk and some trash TV! ;) Have a great Friday!

Relishing the last days.....

Well folks......

The lazy days of summer are coming to a close for me. However, this summer has been anything but lazy for me. As someone put it yesterday....I need a vacation from my summer break.

It has been one of my most enjoyable/active summers except for the summer that I met my husband. I hold that one a little closer to my heart than most summers I have experienced in my lifetime. With all the exciting things that have happened this summer, I am excited to have a nice relaxing night at Chastain Park tonight watching Idina Menzel sing her tremendous lungs out (for those who do not know Idina Menzel: rose to fame by performing on Broadway, sings "Let It Go" from the movie Frozen, and was the one who got her name butchered by John Travolta at an awards ceremony.)

I actually have never been to Chastain Park to see a concert, so I am excited to see what all the fuss is about. We are going with Chad's parents and Chad's sister/her husband. Chad's parents have gotten us a table to sit at while we watch the performance. You are allowed to bring a picnic with you to the concert. I have made a little mozzarella, tomato, pesto, and pasta salad. It looks scrumptious and colorful enough to be enjoyed on a summer night at the park!

I used the recipe below to make my pesto. I tweaked it a little bit for my own taste profile (a little more Parmesan and pine nuts.) I am a little prideful about this pesto because I have been working hard to grow my basil plant that was OUT OF CONTROL! ( No picture evidence unfortunately) All of my basil came straight from my own basil plant which makes the pesto taste even better obviously!

http://www.gimmesomeoven.com/how-to-make-pesto/

I used this recipe for the pasta salad but used tri- color Rotini pasta instead!

https://lexbake.wordpress.com/2012/04/21/mozzarella-and-tomato-penne-pasta-salad/

I will have to get back to you about all of my adventures tonight with some pictures. I have come to find that everyone that reads my blog is all about the pictures. Maybe I need to invest in a good camera Chad! ;)


Hope everyone has a fantastic Friday summer night!

Night 1/ Day 1 of the new house!

Hello All-

All of these new adventures has gotten me so excited to blog again. I have been busy/absent for so long from the blog world. I hope to gradually change that. Adult life is just so much more busy than college was. I have NO idea why that would be the case! ;)

My amazing parents, brother, and his girlfriend came to help us move into our brand new home this past week (although I have no picture evidence that they were actually here). They helped us move our big items, build an amazing fence and two separate gates, build up our amazing deck, and did odd and end things around the house. They did all of those things with a big smile on their faces. I am so grateful for their amazing help and to have such an amazing family who did not once complain about anything. I love them SO much and so thankful for everything that they did!

Night 1 all alone with no guests in the house was a huge success. Chad made a delicious steak dinner on our brand new grill (THANK YOU MOM AND DAD!). We paired it with grilled corn, pear gorgonzola salad, and of course, parmesan bread!

We paired it with a delicious wine that we receive from Club W. Chad has recently signed us up for this awesome website that gives you a flavor profile and recommends red/white wine monthly based on your palate. (another post maybe about Club W if you are interested?) Anyway...one of the wines we bought was called Grenache. It was absolutely delicious! Our entire meal was excellent!

Day 1 of being home alone with the Sophie has been full of cleaning/organizing for me and playing for Sophie. She is loving her new backyard!

This girl NEVER wants to come inside now. She just comes to the door to make sure you are still watching her!

        Check back for more adventures from the new house soon!!

New House!

Hello everyone!! Things have been super busy around the lives of the Cone Family! Chad and I have bought out 1st home. We are so excited and could not be more thankful for this opportunity. We are absolutely thrilled to have moved only about 4 miles away from where we have called home for the past two years. We are nestled in the cutest little neighborhood. Sophie is enjoying herself in the massive backyard that she now gets to chase birds and squirrels. Check back for videos of those great adventures with Sophie!

More pictures to come once I get my new house organized! Check back soon for our adventures!

Degree Spray Deodorant!!!??? WHAT??

Influenster sent me this amazing product for free to test out on their behalf. When this product arrived on my door step I had never seen it before. I decided that I would wait until in the morning to try it out. I very quickly stumbled out of the bed the next morning with only 20 minutes to get ready and be out the door. I noticed the Degree Spray Deodorant on the counter where I had left it the previous night. I twisted the top to make it spray and began to apply it to my underarms. Boy was I awake then..... The spray was EXTREMELY cold but amazing! It went on totally clear as a good respectable deodorant should. It was very easy and quick to apply. A word of warning though...do not spray too too much. It creates this cloud of deodorant around you. It can be uncomfortable to breath it in. The deodorant itself has a great sent to it. I definitely recommend this product. I really enjoyed it and will continue to buy it over a regular stick. I will say I do not think it will last as long as a stick might, but it is worth it! "I received these products complimentary from Influenster for testing purposes."