Look at That View!

We found it!  After a FULL day of searching, we found the perfect location for our wedding!  I've always loved the idea of a beach wedding.  To me, there is just something about the sand, the surf, and the sound of the waves crashing on the shore.  Maybe, that's because I grew up going to the beach every summer.  Maybe, the water just holds a special place in my heart. Well, whatever it is, the idea is now a reality.  The location is booked and now all I have to do is get everything in order.

Most girls dream about planning their wedding.  Most girls have their ideas of every portion of that day planned to the T, even before the love of their life pops the question.  Most girls just "know" what they want for that magical day.  Well...I've found out that I am NOT most girls!  I knew TWO things...I liked the idea of getting married on the beach and I knew who I wanted to officiate the wedding.  Check and check!  Beyond those two things, I've found that I am CLUELESS!  Really, what else do we need?!?  Well, according to everyone else, lots more!  I feel like I'm constantly being bombarded to answer questions about things that I haven't even thought about (or even care about).  By nature I'm a pretty laid back kind of gal, so I refuse to get in a tizzy about "my wedding cake" and a "champagne toast."  (quite frankly, I probably won't have either!)  Honestly, the more I think about it, I do NOT want a traditional, stuffy, what everyone else had kind of wedding.  I want to do things OUR way!  Simple, laid back, and stress-free!

My fiancée and I have always done things OUR way which has always worked wonderfully for us.  Quite frankly, that's what I cherish most about our relationship.  It's what makes us, well, us.  So, why stop now!?!  Well, apparently, planning a wedding seems to be throwing out a few reasons.  Sometimes, I think it would be easier to just give in (that, or just elope!).  Does the guest list really need to be that stressful?!?

Seriously, I love where I'm getting married, but what am I getting into with planning this wedding!?!

Sweating to the Oldies...Ha ha! Not really!

I did it.  I officially started excising again on Tuesday.  Yea me, right!?!

I made a New Year's resolution, as we all do, to begin exercising on a more regular basis.  It's not like I'm in a horrible state right now, but I'm getting married this summer, on a beach none the less, and I just want to be a little more "toned" than I am right now.  Not too much to ask for right?  Well, I guess its just been a little hard to get started.  I tend to always find excuses...I'm tired is usually at the top of that list (hey, give me a break, I work with 6 year olds all day)  Not to mention, I'm REALLY good at finding other things to do with my time besides exercising...playing with the dog, doing laundry, cooking dinner, lounging on the couch watching mindless TV, basically anything other than exercising.  So, I have to say I was really proud of myself when I finally did it Tuesday!  I popped in one of my many workout DVDs and let the "toning" begin!

The workout went fantastic, broke a good sweat, really life was good...UNTIL I woke up Wednesday morning.  I felt like an old person, moaning and groaning with every move!  Okay, honestly, I may be exaggerating a little here, but you get the picture.  Apparently I worked muscles that I hadn't worked in a long time!  But, I stuck with it.  When I got home from work, I hopped on our elliptical and went at it again.  I felt like, "Hey, I did it!  I'm back on the exercise bandwagon and it's rolling right along!  Two days in a ROW!!!"

That leaves us here at Day 3 on the Workout Wagon...
Would you believe I got distracted by working on my blog????  That's a good excuse right?  At least I'm writing about exercising...

Nope...not an excuse!  Time to put up or shut up.  I'm going to stop writing, post this, get off my tush, and hop on that elliptical like I should have done about an hour ago.

Seriously, why did I have to wait until 9:00 to get in gear!?!

Buttermilk Pie

I seriously LOVE buttermilk pie.  Quite frankly Royer's buttermilk pie is my absolute fave!!!  For those of you who are unfamiliar with Royer's Round Top Cafe, one word sums it up...AWESOME!  It's in a little town, in a little building, and when I say little, I mean the town and the restaurant are REALLY little, and they are famous for their pies.  Check them out sometime and find your own favorite.  Let me know what you think.

Well, I'm kinda getting off topic here.  My love of Royer's buttermilk pie leaves me here today...totally frustrated!  I really love baking, and I am always looking for new recipes to try.  Today's endeavor was not exactly a totally new recipe.  I've had the recipe for Royer's buttermilk pie, and I've made it before.  Turned out great, if I do say so myself!  Just one difference, I used a different pie crust when I made it, Ina Garten's Perfect Pie Crust to be exact.  (I seriously love Ina Garten, her recipes, her cookbooks, her show...but I'll save that for another post).  Ina's pie crust is great; however, it's just not the same soft, flaky, utterly irresistible pie crust you get with a Royer's pie.  So, in my quest to make my buttermilk pie "just right," I found the recipe for that "Royer's" crust I craved!  This is where my baking bliss took a turn.

First issue, I found two "authentic" recipes.  One recipe I found on the CBS Sunday Morning site.  They had done a segment on Royer's for their show and the recipe was there.  The other recipe I found was from Texas Monthly.  Again, they had the recipe in their article about the little cafe.  Silly me didn't look very closely for differences between the two.  Just figured they were both the same.  I would soon find out they were not.  First one I tried made me want to beat my head against a wall when I was attempting to roll it out.  It WOULD NOT stay together!  I told you their pie crusts were flaky...they're supposed to be flaky when baked, but this not staying together long enough to get in pie plate was ridiculous.  The stinking thing wouldn't roll out in one piece!  Scratch that!!! On to recipe number 2...  Ahhh, back to baking bliss!  Recipe two was much nicer to me.  Rolled out beautifully, looked great, life in the kitchen was good again!  I'm totally keeping recipe 2.

Now I was on to the easy part, the part I've done, making the actual buttermilk pie.  Piece of cake, right? Well...

Okay, this may seem a little weird, but I have 2 recipes for this pie as well.  The first recipe (the one I've made before) was copied out of the Royer's Cookbook.  The second recipe, I got off the Royer's website today.  Why look for another recipe when the one I made before worked just fine?  Well, it's called trying to please my fiancée.  He mentioned that the pie was really sweet last time, and compared to Royer's buttermilk pie, it honestly was.  It didn't bother me, but then again, I have the biggest sweet tooth ever!  In my book, the sweeter the better!  However, in my quest to be June Cleaver today, I decided to double check the recipe to see if the copied version got mis-copied.  The one difference I found in the recipes was the amount of sugar, so I went with the recipe with less sugar and figured all would be right with the world once my masterpiece came out of the oven...WRONG!!!

I don't know if the amount of sugar made that big of a difference, or I did something goofy without realizing it, but my pie was NOT right.  The texture was off, it was almost spongy like.  When I put the pie in the oven, my only thought was "I sure hope this crust turns out okay."  Never once did I think about the actual pie.  Maybe I should have, because that crust I was so worried about turned out picture perfect!  And as for that pie, well...tomorrow is another day and I still have all the ingredients to make it again!

Seriously, did this really need to be a 2 day project!?!