Zucchini Bread

With fall here (although you wouldn't know it by the temperatures) and summer over, I had an abundance of extra zucchinis left from the farmers market. I was tiring of steamed zucchini, so I thought I would bust out a recipe for one of my favorites treats, zucchini bread. I love all breads, I don't discriminate. I do however try not to make them too often because I can easily eat half a loaf in a day, and my waistline does not appreciate that! This recipe is super easy, it took me like 10 minutes to make and it is so delicious! It is is great by itself, but it is melt in your mouth good when you eat it warm with butter and a touch of honey. Enjoy!

ZUCCHINI BREAD
-2 Eggs
-1 cup sugar
-1/2 cup oil
-1 cup grated unpeeled zucchini
-1 teaspoon vanilla
-1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
-1/2 teaspoon baking soda
-1/2 teaspoon salt
-1/8 teaspoon baking powder
-1 1/2 cups flour

Beat eggs, sugar, and oil together. Add zucchini and vanilla. Mix the rest of the dry ingredients together and add to the zucchini mixture until blended. Bake in a greased and sugared loaf pan at 350 degrees for one hour. Sprinkle top with a little sugar.
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Somebody Stop Me

I am about to spray paint my whole house white. My love affair with white gloss spray paint continues. My newest project is a mirror my mom was getting rid of. It was pretty heinous before but a cute shape and size. I thought the white spray paint might modern it up. I think I was right, It looks much better now. Still trying to decide where to hang it. For now it is above the wine rack in my dining, but the white paint kind of blends with the gray walls so I am thinking of moving it. I am sure there will be more white spray paint projects to come.....
THE BEFORE:

THE AFTER:

It's a Nice Day For a White Wedding

It is official Matt's sister is longer a Mason, she is now a Hawk. We are thrilled for her and her husband Rob. The weekend went perfectly, great weather, amazing food and drinks, and most of all wonderful company. It was so nice to have two nights out with a babysitter for Sterling. Only downside I got about 4 hours of sleep both nights because we got in so late, oh and I was attacked my mosquitoes Friday night, the joys of living near water. I managed to stay awake long enough for Desperate Housewives last night and then I was out until this morning. Honestly it was the best night of sleep ever because I was so exhausted. Sterling must have been tired too because he was still asleep at 7:15 and had not moved from the spot I laid him in his crib last night (normally he flips and rolls and is in a completely different spot in the morning). Here are a few pictures from our fabulous wedding weekend!

Pre-Rehearsal Dinner

The bride to be carved all these amazing pumpkins (its two people kissing)

The view from the tents at the Rehearsal dinner

Bridesmaids

me and the hubby

the happy bride and groom to be!

our standard self-portrait, you can tell we have had fun!

me and my sister and brother- love my family!

Family portrait before we head to the wedding, Matt did tie his bowtie for the wedding!

The bride, her cousin and me

Proud Parents, The Masons

me and my Mother-in-law

The bridesmaids, she let us pick out our own black dresses to wear and gave us the necklaces as gifts

Mr. and Mrs. Hawk

outside the church post wedding (you can tell I have already enjoyed some champagne)

Matt and his besties from high school

Wedding Weekend

This is a big weekend for the Mason family. Matt's sister Britton is getting married! I am so excited about all the festivities, I really do love a wedding! Today is the bridesmaid luncheon and rehearsal dinner. Tomorrow they will get married at a beautiful old church downtown and then the reception is at the Yacht Club. The weather is supposed to be gorgeous! I can't wait to see all our friends and especially my parents, brother and sister!

Britton asked me to do the flowers for her bridesmaid luncheon. Here is a peak at the arrangements I did. I love white flowers, can't get enough of them. I actually did all white flowers at my wedding, so I thought they would be beautiful and classic for her luncheon.




This is gonna be a whirlwind weekend. Pictures to come next week! I hope everyone has a fabulous weekend!

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs

My friend Katie has been raving about these meatballs for a long time. She frequently cooks them for dinner and then she and her husband eat the leftovers as a meatball hoagie the next day. I was inspired, they sounded delicious and honestly I have never made meatballs before, although I have eaten plenty of them. This recipe did not disappoint! The meatballs are amazing, we ate them two nights in a row. Matt preferred his over spaghetti noodles but I just ate mine plain because they had so much flavor! This recipe is so tasty and simple to make.

I've been getting alot of great feedback about my recipes so I am thinking about starting to feature recipes twice a week. This will give me incentive to cook more and try out some new recipes! Send me any suggestions of recipes you would love to see.

Turkey Meatballs
Ingredients
1 small onion, grated
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 large egg
1/4 cup dried bread crumbs
3 tablespoons ketchup
1/4 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley leaves
1/4 cup grated Parmesan
1/4 cup grated Pecorino Romano
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 pound ground dark turkey meat
3 tablespoons olive oil
26 ounces Simple Tomato Sauce, or store-bought marinara sauce

Directions
Add the onion, garlic, egg, bread crumbs, ketchup, parsley, Parmesan, Pecorino, salt and pepper to a large bowl and blend. Mix in the turkey. Shape the turkey mixture into 1 1/4-inch-diameter meatballs. Place on a large plate or baking sheet.

Heat the oil in a heavy large frying pan over medium-high heat. Add the meatballs and saute until browned on all sides, about 5 minutes. Turn off heat. Transfer the meatballs to a plate. Pour off any excess oil. Add the marinara sauce, about 3 cups. Return all the meatballs to the pan. Turn the heat to medium-low and simmer until the sauce thickens slightly and the flavors blend, 15 to 20 minutes. Season the sauce, to taste, with salt and pepper.

Transfer the meatball mixture to a serving bowl. Serve with toothpicks.
** I used light turkey meat and store bought marinara**

Print this Recipe HERE

Hoarding is Bad

There is a hoarder in my family, my sister. It is so bad she has saved clothes from at least 10 years ago. I was astonished when I went to her house this weekend while I was home at how much junk she had! I told her if she didn't clean up her act I was turning her into the TLC Hoarders Show. So my parents and I vowed to help her get a start on cleaning out her closets. I wish we had taken a before picture, but it totally slipped our minds. However, I think you will get an idea of how bad it was by the amount of stuff we cleaned out. Here are a few pictures of her closet afterwards. This is her business closet, all her work clothes. We switched out all the hangers to the velvet ones, which are awesome. They made it look so much more organized and gave her more room. We still have 3 more closets to go but at least one is done!



and here all are all the bags of clothes we cleaned out from one closet, I think you get the idea of how bad it was. Goodwill got very lucky with this donation!

TGIF

Today I am headed home to Charlotte to spend a few much needed days with my family, host a baby shower for my dear friend Melissa, and get my hair highlighted. I can't wait! I love spending time with my family, which equals help with Sterling and I also love seeing all my girlfriends that still live there! Most importantly I love getting my hair done! I love me some blonde hair! I really need to find someone local to do my hair instead of driving to Charlotte, but I just really like my hairdresser and it makes me nervous to try someone new!

Tonight my mom, my sister and I are having girls night. We got a neighborhood girl to come babysit Sterling and we are going to enjoy some wine and sushi!

Then Saturday I will be hosting my friend, Melissa's baby shower, then a night out with the girls! I can't wait! I hope ya'll have a fabulous weekend too!