Fruit Salsa

I had my monthly girls night last night and I wanted to make something new. I looked through my Pinterest files and found a recipe for fruit salsa that honestly was one of my very first pins years ago. (Can you believe Pinterest has been around for YEARS now?!?!)

The whole recipe was super easy and was a hit with all the girls. Perfect spring and summer appetizer or dessert. I combine a couple different recipes and you can totally use whatever fruit you like best or what you have in the house.

Fruit Salsa

1 Kiwi

1 Handful of Strawberries

1 Handful of Raspberries

1/2 Green Apple

1 Peach

Strawberry Preserves

Lemon Juice

Dice up all fruit into tiny pieces. I peeled the kiwi and peach before I diced them. Then in a glass bowl heat up a couple spoonfuls of preserves and the juice from a whole lemon for just a couple seconds. (I did this because I found it easier to mix with the fruit.) Then mix everything together and refrigerator until ready to serve.

Cinnamon Chips

Soft flour tortillas

Butter flavored cooking spray

Cinnamon 

Sugar

Stack three or four tortillas on top of each other. Stray each one with the cooking spray. Cover each tortilla with cinnamon and sugar. Take a pizza cutter and cut into slices. I cut mine into quarters but I'll probably do eighths next time since the chips were a little too big. Separate each slice and bake on a cookie sheet in a single layer at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes. Let them cool and you are ready to go.

Five on Friday

Yay for my favorite post of the week. I'm in the middle of my Washington D.C. / Winchester, Virginia trip at the moment. I'm a bridesmaid in my gorgeous friend Krista's wedding this weekend and I'm just so happy to be here.

I'm linking up with my favs April at A. Liz Adventures and Christina at Carolina Charm for.....

 

ONE

I have yet another Trader Joe's addiction: Trader Joe's chocolate covered Sea Salt Butterscotch Caramels. Little candy = tons of flavor. Do yourself a favor and go buy two bags of these. I say two bags because they go fast. ;)

TWO

I know everyone has already posted about this show but I watched the whole Chrisley Knows Best season this weekend On Demand. It's incredibly entertaining, in a "Are these people for real?" kind of way. My favorite part are the quotes that come out of Todd Chrisley's mouth. He is a hoot.

THREE

I bought a new bedspread this past weekend and I'm obsessed! I'll do a room post, but here is a peek.

FOUR

Have y'all seen The 3 Year Epic Selfie video? If not it's amazing. If you have watched it, well watch it again. I want to be this guy. 

FIVE

As I said earlier, I was in Washington DC yesterday and Winchester, VA for the weekend. I'm super pumped for the wedding of two great people. 

Washington, DC

I'm in Washington, DC today for work. I really won't have time to site see, unless I get incredibly lost, which is a distinct possibility.

 

Then it's on to Winchester, VA, home of the Apple Blossom Festival, for my good friend Krista's wedding. So excited!

Second Anniversary in Greenville, SC

A couple weekends ago Andy and I took a quick trip to Greenville, SC to celebrate our 2nd wedding anniversary.

Downtown Greenville is beautiful, fun, and clean. We were there the same weekend Artisphere, an art festival, was in town. We had fun looking though all the booths and imagining what we could put on our walls at home.

 We loved walking through Falls Park. It's always so peaceful and it makes us so jealous that we can't walk Camden here every evening. 

We always eat well when we go to Greenville. For lunch we stopped at Blue Ridge Brewery, which we loved from a trip a couple years ago. It did not disappoint with my buffalo burger and a cordon blue sandwich for Andy.

As a treat for all the walking around we were doing we stopped for gelato at Luna Rosa. It was such a fun experience. The girls behind the counter where so nice helping us pick a flavor and let us try anything we wanted. We sat outside and just relaxed for a bit.

All of a sudden the temperature dropped by like 10 degrees and we decided it might be a good idea to walk to the car. We were barely in the stairwell of the parking garage when the bottom fell out. It was raining so hard that water was flying inside the parking garage. Thankfully it didn't last long and we left when we did.

 

We then met up with some friends who live in town for some drinks and dinner at Soby's. If you visit Greenville, do yourself a favor and go to Soby's. It was so good! I had an amazing spinach salad and the crab cakes and Andy had the she-crab soup and the pork loin. We both we beyond happy with our choices.

 

(Pics from their website)

I swear we did more than just eat while we were there. We stopped in all the different stores and I bought some tea for my mom for Mother's Day.

I thought for a second Andy was going to take a puppy home. A guy had a whole litter of brand new puppies on display right on the sidewalk and we couldn't resist taking a peek.

 

Now a question for anyone who knows Greenville, do you know where I could find a print (photograph or painting) of either Falls Park or downtown Greenville?
 

Best Chicken Salad Recipe

I love chicken salad. Like, really, really like chicken salad. 

I order chicken salad pretty much where ever I go. I like when the chicken is shredded and the salad is more of a spread. I like it plain, with herbs, with slivered almonds, the list goes on and on.

A couple years ago on our honeymoon I read Mary Kay Andrews', who I met here, book called Little Bitty Lies. There was a fabulous chicken salad recipe in the book and I've been making it ever since. Be warned, it's time consuming and the ingredient list is a little different, but the end product is so worth it. (P.S. The name is odd too, but it makes sense if you read the book.)

Beyond the Grave Chicken Salad

(Recipe from Mary Kay Andrews' site)

5 lbs. chicken breasts
2 quarts water
parsley sprigs
1 large onion, quartered
1 tsp. seasoned salt
2 chicken bouillion cubes

In large pot, bring water and seasoning to boil, add chicken, lower heat and simmer 40 min. Remove from heat and shred chicken. (I like using my standup mixer to shred chicken like I did here)

Dressing:
1/2 cup bottled Italian salad dressing
1 cup Duke’s mayonnaise (It must be Duke’s!!!)
1 Tbsp. white vinegar
1-1/2 tsp. celery seed
2 Tbsp. sugar
1/8 tsp. salt
dash paprika

Blend well together.

For salad:
Toss shredded chicken with one cup of dressing and let stand at least one hour to marinate.
Combine remaining dressing with:
1/2 cup sour cream
1 Tbsp. honey
Add to chicken and mix well. 

*As a side note, I like to toss the chicken with all the dressing to start, then make another full batch of the dressing with the sour cream and honey for the second round. It just heightens the flavors. 

5 lbs. chicken breasts
2 quarts water
parsley sprigs
1 large onion, quartered
1 tsp. seasoned salt
2 chicken bouillion cubes
In large pot, bring water and seasoning to boil, add chicken, lower heat and simmer 40 min. Remove from heat, cool. Shred chicken and refrigerate.
- See more at: http://marykayandrews.com/recipes/test-recipe/#sthash.m3fm1ze3.dpuf

Weekend Recap

Why do the weekends go by so quickly?!?!?!

Anyway, I spent my weekend running a million errands, but got so much done!, and playing with the pup. I can't wait to show you what I've been up to later this week.

The highlight of the weekend was picking my brother up from the airport yesterday. He has been traveling through Spain, Portugal, and Morocco the last two weeks. (I know, I hate him too.) It was great to see him and live vicariously through his stories.

However talking to him made it glaringly obvious that Andy and I haven't planned any trips for the summer. Where are you going on vacation? We need ideas.

Five on Friday

I've been a bad blogger and having posted this week, but what better way to make up for it than to post a Five on Friday? I'm linking up with the new mamas April at A. Liz Adventures and Christina at Carolina Charm. Congratulations ladies!

 

ONE

I made mozzarella stuffed meatballs again this week. I used sausage instead of chicken or beef and I honestly didn't like it as much. I think the flavor masked the cheese too much. Either way, it was still an awesome meal. You can eat the meatballs by themselves, with pasta, or on a sub roll.

TWO

Speaking of food, I have found the only way my husband will eat fruit. If it's topping angel food cake and whipped cream Andy will finally eat fruit. This is my favorite spring and summer dessert so I'm happy to have it anytime. 

THREE
I had my hair done yesterday and I asked her to show me an easy hairstyle that I can do myself for parties and stuff. This is what we ended up with. Do we like or no? Goodness knows if I could actually recreate it.

FOUR 
I saw this cool idea on Pinterest the other day and was wondering if anyone has tried it. I thought it would be perfect on a porch, but would it get enough sun?

FIVE
I got to work with the University of South Carolina's mascot Cocky recently and just found this fun picture we took. 

Have a great weekend!

Five on Friday

I'm linking up with my favs April at A. Liz Adventures and Christina at Carolina Charm for.....

 

 

Yay for Friday! That is all, on to Five on Friday.

 

ONE

I know most girls don't care about the NFL or football, but I love it. I am a proud South Carolina Gamecock today because Jadeveon Clowney, a former Gamecock, was chosen FIRST in the NFL draft last night. He was a gentleman on The Tonight Show with all his "Yes Sir"s and showed lots of class last night. Go Gamecocks!!!!!

TWO 

You know when you have a nail polish color that just makes you happy? Well that is what Essie's Foot Loose is for me. I realize it came out years ago. But I just love it. It's on my fingers and toes and I smile everytime I see it. 

THREE

I'm obsessed with hydrangea, however since we are still in the ripping everything out stage of our yard we can't plant any. However we do have one bush of Oakleaf Hydrangea and it's about to bloom. I'd never seen it before we moved in and it will satisfy my need for one more spring. 

 

FOUR

My book choices are a little all over the place at the moment but I'm loving both. I'm reading Divergent by Veronica Roth, which I like but is very much on the same plane as Hunger Games in my opinion. I'm also reading Kate: The Future Queen by Katie Nicholl, which is a biography of Kate Middleton, and I'm not ashamed to say I think she is perfection. 

FIVE

And some words of wisdom to always remember.

 

Have a great weekend everyone!

 

Wednesday Funnies

A couple laughs to get you through Hump Day.

 

This was totally me in school

 

 

I hate when that happen, but I'm terrible at doing it too.

 

Oh stretchy pants are great.

 

I wish this would happen to me. 

Have a great Wednesday everyone!

Five on Friday

I'm linking up with my favs April at A. Liz Adventures and Christina at Carolina Charm for.....

 

 We made it! After lots of predicting and tons of humidity Columbia, SC received almost no rain. My heart goes out to everyone who was hit by the crazy storms. Hopefully everyone has the beautiful weather that we are suppose to have this weekend.

ONE

I had to take my car into the shop for some routine stuff, so I carpooled with Andy to work this morning. As a treat we stopped at First Citizens Cafe on Main Street. I got a chocolate croissant and a Chai Cookie latte, which was chai tea and hazelnut. So good!

TWO

I am on the hunt for new throw pillows for our den. We have a couch and loveseat in a green microfiber that Andy got when he was living by himself. Here is a picture of the couch (dog and Ravens pillow came separate) and some ideas I had. 

 

THREE

Since we got HBO Go, Andy has convinced me to watch some of the first Game of Thrones episodes. I saw the pilot ages ago and decided it wasn't for me. Well, I still think it's intense and have to look at the floor every so often because I'm a wuss, but I'm getting into it more than I thought. Just goes to show, I really will watch anything in marathon form.

FOUR

We got our wedding cake from a local bakery in Columbia, so I picked up a couple slices for our anniversary. I'm not a huge cake fan, but boy do I love this cake. I'm pretty sad that we finished off the last piece last night. 

FIVE

To celebrate our 2nd wedding anniversary Andy and I are taking a quick trip up to Greenville, SC. Greenville is so fun, clean, and young, but we rarely get up there. We have a list of ideas of what we could do but nothing set in stone which I like. I'm looking forward to just relaxing and exploring.