New Friends

There is a newer couple at church we have been wanting to get to know, but haven't really had the opportunity.  We invited them and their daughter to our house the other night for dinner.
Citrus Rice
Crunchy Pea Salad
This recipe was a SLAM DUNK!

Garlic Soup with Chicken
Easy Cherry Tart

After we all had dessert, the couple's daughter started playing with our cats while we were talking.  Later as we were ending things, I noticed that she had eaten all the remaining cherries off the dessert!  I sent her home with a bag of cherries!

My best friend's birthday was Wednesday, and I made her a:

Churro Cheesecake

I'll post about 4th of July next.  First, I need to go make a Lemon Sour Cream Pie!

New Recipes Abound! I love SUMMER!

Gift for a Friend's Birthday this Week

Creamy Tomato Tortellini Soup

Garlic Parmesan Knots
You used canned biscuits on these, and made a simple mix for the top.  They turned out awesome!

Cotton Candy Cookies
I always believe in having a few quick "to go" items when I need to make something fast.  I bought these "Cotton Candy Cookies" at Target, and loved how they made our house smell.  (Those who I gave the cookies to said they tasted great.)  I bought the icing, but I wasn't as impressed.  These cookies stand on their own without the icing.

Bacon and Truffle Oil Mac and Cheese
I forgot to take a picture of this, and there were not any leftovers!  This was a great dish, but adding truffle oil and bacon to anything automatically makes the dish a winner!

Company!

Neely's Lemon Pasta Salad I took this to a retirement dinner that HH and I went to.

Just Because He's Cute

7-Up Cake I burned this one!  :(  I think we salvaged it artfully!

Easy Ranch Carrots I had never steamed carrots before.  This dish is AMAZING!  Everyone got two servings of this!

HH had a friend who visited from seminary yesterday.  He got a lot of "bro time" in the past 24 hours.  I only wish we were loser to other friends of his.  While cleaning up the house for our visitor, HH was cleaning the cat hair off of some chairs.  He told me that there was so much cat hair on the chairs that I could build a third cat from it.

Wednesday Church Supper...Thank You Pintrest!

Spicy Black Beans and Rice

Kings Hawaiian Baked Ham and Swiss Cheese Sandwiches
I doubled this recipe, since I was taking it to church.  I did read the comments where one person said it was way too much butter.  I doubled everything but the butter, and the sandwiches turned out nicely.

Blueberries and Cream Pie

Back to Normal

After last week of craziness, and making a trip back to Sioux Falls to return our guest...we are sliding back into normal, and it feels awesome!
I did manage to cook a few things last week!
Oatmeal Jam Squares

Chocolate Angel Food Cake

Copycat Wendy's Frosty

Our Awesome Houseguest:

We had our picture taken together at Sioux Falls Park the night before she went home.

Another Birthday

Pineapple Cheesecake Recipe (with Ladyfingers)

A friend at the Telephone Authority had a birthday, and this looked like such a fun summer dessert!
We have a group from Virginia here...40 people, so it has been a busy week.
We have a WORKING DISHWASHER!!!!

Tie-Dyed Birthday

HH turned 33 on Sunday!  We celebrated with this Tie-Dyed cake!  This was super easy to make!  The instructions are perfect, and I appreciate all the pictures the blogger included.
I did not master the top as the directions instructed, but I loved how the inside of the cake turned out!

Henna Tattoo

I've always wanted a Henna tattoo, and this past week I had the opportunity to get one.  We were in Rochester, and they had an open market with an artist.

Food Truck Race!!!

I learned on Twitter Thursday night that the Great Food Truck Race by the Food Network was going to be in Rapid City this weekend!  Naturally, HH and I HAD to go!  We were the first in line for the Bowled and Beautiful truck!  We ended up eating at four of the five remaining trucks over the course of several hours.  HH and I were interviewed for the paper, and signed releases for the Food Network.  They watched us take our first bites, etc. on camera.  

We have church potluck today, and this is what I'm bringing!
Creamy Ranch Pasta Salad

Strawberry Shortcake Doughnut Trifle

Cookies for Class

I have professional development this week from Tuesday through Friday.  No finer way to come back off of holiday if you ask me!  Ha!  
I made these cookies to take to class today:
Chewy Chocolate Sugar Cookies