Suzie Homemaker

On July 19, 2008 · 2 Comments · In cake decorating, wilton cake classes

Holy crap.

I’ve been married four weeks… I might as well be going on 40 years. What have I done?

Well, I’ve signed up for cake decorating classes.

And if I’m being perfectly honest, nothing has ever made me feel so old. But if I’m going to be even more honest… I’m super excited for them. Ha!

Michael’s offers Wilton cake decorating classes, and I’m planning on starting them at the beginning of August. The first course is two weeks, four classes… and teaches all of the cake decorating basics.

I’m crafty, but I really suck with icing. You need proof? Pathetic. So I’m hoping to learn a few things. The courses are cheap–$17-$20 per course (each course has the four classes). Of course, you need quite a few supplies. While I was at Michael’s last night, I picked up a cake decorating kit, and a few other things (parchment paper, a cool stand mixer spatula, etc.). I also picked up wax paper and toothpicks today at Wegmans.

My cake decorating caddy

All of the icing tips, colors, etc. that came with the kit

Some of the other supplies the came with the kit, plus the extras I bought

If I had to guess, I’d say that the start-up cost for the supplies is like $50-$60. But once you have all of this stuff, much of it lasts forever. You know I’m old and married when I’m thinking things like, “Wow, this will be a really great skill to have for our kids’ birthday cakes!” Uhhh, yeah.

Anyway, I’ll keep you all updated on my progress through Course 1. Should be interesting.

So, local friends and family… I know you’re out there. Anyone interested in taking the course with me? C’monnnnnn. You know you want to. Let me know. It starts August 4.

 

Guilt-Free Basil Pesto

On July 17, 2008 · 5 Comments · In recipes - pasta

This is a recipe that was in my local paper a few years ago. I love pesto, but since it’s normally not very healthy for you (all that cheese and oil!), we tried not to make it too often. Once I saw this “Healthy Basil Pesto” recipe, I immediately photocopied it and decided to give it a try.

It sounds weird–using tomatoes?–but it’s really good. To be honest, I haven’t had “real” basil pesto in a long time (this is all we make), so I’m not even sure how it compares to the real thing. But we think it’s delicious, so you should give it a try.

I never toast the pine nuts. All of the basil pesto recipes I have ever used have never called for toasting the pine nuts, so I always save myself the time and skip that step. I just throw them into the food processor as they are.

We always double this recipe so that we have plenty of leftovers to use for sandwiches, additional pasta, pizza, etc. Although, be careful about doubling the garlic if you’re using fresh cloves. I put four in because we really like garlic, and holy hell, it was garlicky. Good, but TOO GARLICKY. :)

We like using the Barilla Plus or Barilla Whole Wheat pasta.

We had this last night. It was our first meal at our new dining room table. It’s an easy, go-to recipe, especially in the summer. Enjoy!

Healthy Basil Pesto

3 tbsp. pine nuts
2 cups fresh basil leaves
1 to 2 cloves garlic (to taste), halved
2 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium tomato, peeled and seeded (see note below)
1/3 cup shredded parmesan cheese
Salt and pepper, to taste
Cooked pasta

Heat a heavy skillet over medium heat. Add pine nuts and cook, shaking pan, until nuts are golden brown, about 3 minutes.

Place toasted nuts, basil, and garlic in bowl of food processor. Pulse to blend, using rubber scraper, scrape down sides of the work bowl.

With food processor running, slowly add olive oil until blended. Add tomato; pulse to blend. Add parmesan cheese, salt, and pepper and blend.

Spoon over hot cooked pasta. Sprinkle additional parmesan cheese on top of each dish.

Note about tomato: Submerge tomato in boiling water for 15 to 30 seconds to make it easier to peel. The skin will crack and will peel right off.

 

A New Beginning

On July 17, 2008 · 11 Comments · In Uncategorized

Alright, here we go. This is it: My new blog.

I’m not completely done with Road to the Aisle. There are still some things I want to post over there (professional pics, a few other wedding-related things, photos of projects I do, etc.). For a while, I might even double post certain things that may appear both on Road to the Aisle and this new blog.

It’s all about a smooth transition. :)

So I guess I should explain how I landed on “Heather Drive.” To be honest, I’m not 100% satisfied with the name, but I got frustrated and decided to just go with it. Because seriously, does it really matter?

Anyway… my mom grew up right around the corner from a street called Heather Drive. She claims that the street is not why she named me Heather. Her story is that she knew a Heather in high school who was beautiful and fun, and she just thought it was a beautiful name. I always thought that naming me after “Heather Drive” would have been a much better tale, but I digress.

When I was younger, I used to think it would be THE COOLEST thing if I could live on Heather Drive. You know how it is when you’re a kid… it’s fun to see your name on anything–pencils, magnets, keychains–and I thought a street sign was pretty awesome.

As I was wracking my brain for blog name ideas, I kept going back to Heather Drive for a couple of reasons. 1) As a child, Heather Drive was sort of a dream. It was where I wished I could live. Therefore, Heather Drive can be seen as somewhat of a goal. A metaphor for a “perfect” life. 2) Hey, in a very distant way, it does kind of tie into Road to the Aisle. Road… drive… get it? Haha! OK, I’ll admit, I’m really reaching there. But still… it did cross my mind.

One of the biggest problems I had with naming the blog is that I can’t really classify what I want the blog to be. I want to be able to share day to day things, but there were other things to consider. In the future, there may be a house hunt. Followed by new house decorating. Recipes to try, review, and share. And, well, who knows… maybe even a pregnancy someday. I was overwhelmed with all of the possibilities. So the challenge was: How do I pick a name that all of these things could fit under? It had to be pretty all-encompassing, very general.

And so here it is. It may not be the most creative blog name ever. It may not even be the best I could come up with. But it’s me.

I guess all that’s left to say is… Welcome! I hope you’ll stick with me and continue to read.