What if?

These are my IF girls.  I love them so.  We do LIFE together.

In February 2014 I attended the IF:Gathering conference here in Cville that drastically altered the course of my life.  I'm not saying that to be dramatic, I'm just speaking truth. The basic premise: If God is real, then what?  It spurred me on to open my Etsy shop to raise money to fight against hunger (kind of perfect since: a) I'm always hungry, and b) food is my love language).  And it planted the seed for this little tribe of women.

During IF:Gathering they introduced the concept of IF:Table.  Now food.  I love it so anything referencing spending time eating with friends?  YES.  Just YES.  Shauna Niequist (also: LOVE) spearheaded this and my friends and I ended up starting an IF:Table.  The idea is that community happens around the table.  You go deep when you are sitting around the table.  I have always felt this when we have friends over - we spend most of our time languishing at the table, long after we have finished eating.  Have you read Bread & Wine? You should.  My friend Shauna (stalker much?) wrote it and it was beautiful and lovely and all the things I love about food and people.  I feel like it is our manifesto/bylaws for our little IF:Table.

This was the day Graham was supposed to arrive in my arms.  But he is instead in Jesus' arms.  My girls celebrated me and my baby with a beautiful lunch at Pippin Hill.

So we started our If:Table Spring 2014 and we meet once a month around the table and share life together.  These beautiful women have become such a huge part of my life: encouraging me, supporting me, crying with me, and praying with and for me.  I am honestly crying as I write this because I'm just so thankful and blessed by these women.  I want us all to move onto the same culdesac and live out the rest of our lives in community.

So one of our loves is moving.  I am so heart broken but I know this what her family needs and I know she didn't make this decision lightly.  I will miss her desperately but the Lord has built a friendship that will last despite the 2000 miles that separate us!  I love you Amy and here's to Fort Hood to bring us back together :)

And now for the food.  In celebration of Amy's Texas roots, to which she returns, we had a Texas inspired meal.  Alas, I don't have the recipes and or the pics of the brisket that Cari made (Pioneer Woman - it was amazing) but I do have Amy's sangria recipe and Mere's Brussels Sprout Hash.  This meal was DIVINE!  (During dinner, btw, I received a call that my dad had been rushed to the hospital with chest pains and they stopped everything and prayed over my dad.  I mean.  I honestly can't even figure out what to say here. BLESSED.)

Amy's White Sangria

{Ingredients}
750 milliliters  dry white wine (Sauvignon Blanc) chilled
3 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
2  Tbsp superfine sugar
1 1/2 cups  peach nectar (Knudsen) or passion fruit nectar, chilled
1/2 cup  brandy
1/4 cup  amaretto
16 ounces  frozen peach slices
8 ounces  frozen mango slices
8 ounces  frozen strawberries
1 1/2 cups  club soda, chilled

{Instructions}
Dissolve sugar in lemon juice, brandy, and amaretto.  Add chilled white wine, peach nectar, and frozen fruit slices.  Let sit overnight. Add club soda just before serving.

Horrible pic, but don't hold that against this dish!

Mere's Brussels Sprouts Hash with Sweet Potato and Bacon
Serves 2 - (I suspect Mere doubled if not tripled this recipe since there are 7 of us!)

{Ingredients}
4 strips of bacon cut into 1" pieces
1 small onion diced
1 small sweet potato cut into 1/2" pieces
1 clove of garlic, chopped (have you tried the frozen garlic from Trader Joe's?  It makes my cooking so much faster and my hands far less stinky!)
1 lb Brussels sprouts, trimmed and sliced
salt and pepper to taste
4 eggs (this was served as a side dish to dinner so we omitted the eggs but I bet this would make a yummy breakfast!)
**UPDATE** Mere just informed me she adds a splash of balsamic vinegar right before serving!  I'm going to try it with the divine balsamic glaze from Trader Joe's!**

{Instructions}
1.  Cook bacon in a pan over medium heat and set aside.
2.  Add onion and sweet potato to the pan and saute until tender, about 5-7 minutes. (Everything cooked in bacon fat is better.)
3.  Add garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute.
4.  Add Brussels sprouts and saute until tender, about 5 minutes.  Let sit until the bottoms start to caramelize, about 5 minutes.  Throw the bacon back in and season with salt and pepper to taste. **Add the balsamic vinegar at this point, should you so choose!**
5.  Create 4 small wells and in the hash and add the eggs, and cook until desired doneness.  You can also finish in the oven!

Thank you Jen, Mere, Amy, Cari, Bethanyanne and Karen for enriching my life in so many ways.  We will miss you Amy but there is always IF:Gathering Austin 2016!

Let Freedom Ring!

Little O is totally ready to celebrate our Nation's Independence! How cute are those little teethers?! He just got two more on top on either side, but they are slow to move into place. And today he bit my shoulder for the first time - SWEET. I yelped in pain and puffed out his bottom lip and started crying. Like he was the one that got bit with razor sharp baby teeth!! Anyhow, I love this little bug and hopefully he'll wear is USA headband for a few more pics :)


What could be more patriotic and evoke feelings of summertime than watermelon mojitos? (Okay, okay, I recognize that the "mojito" is a Cuban drink, but I like the American twist with some delicious summertime watermelon!) We had these tonight on our front porch listening to the fools in our neighborhood light their fireworks two days early. I remember last year going CRAZY listening to the fireworks. For whatever reason I am strictly opposed to lighting off personal fireworks unless it is the 4th of July. It's just wrong. Last year I just about lost my mind - I was also 36 weeks pregnant, super hot, and super irritable. Kansas heat and humidity is WAY more bearable when you AREN'T preggers!!

Watermelon Mojitos
Makes 6 drinks ~ "Barefoot Contessa How Easy is That?"

Ingredients
30 large fresh mint leaves, coarsely torn by hand
3 to 4 thick slices fresh watermelon (This instruction was hard to follow for me, so I just threw in 2 cups of already chopped up watermelon sans seeds and got a cup and a half of watermelon juice. The recipe calls for 2 cups of watermelon juice later in the instructions.)
12 ounces light rum, such as Bacardi
1/2 cup simple syrup (J Man makes it with one cup sugar, and one cup water. Heat over high heat until the sugar is dissolved.)
6 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice (3 limes)
Sprigs of mint and spears of watermelon, for serving

Instructions
Use a mortar and pestle to mash the mint leaves. Remove and discard the rind and seeds of the watermelon. Put the fruit into a food processor fitted with the steel blade and puree. Put the mashed mint into a large pitcher with 2 cups of pureed watermelon, the rum, simple syrup, and lime juice and stir to combine. Pour the mixture into a pitcher for serving.

Place ice cubs in 6 glasses and pour the mojito mixture into the glasses. Garnish with sprigs of fresh mint and spears of watermelon. Serve ice cold.

Happy 4th of July!