Dreaming...

It's Wednesday morning. It's been raining for the last three days. It's 7:33 am (at least it was when I started writing this, we'll see how long it takes me to finish it up...) Instead of being grumpy, I've decided not to be. Genius, right? Instead of thinking about how I'd like to be in bed right now, I've decided to share with you what I've been dreaming about lately.

Eating breakfast with my friend Jessie. I loved having her here this weekend and I kind of hated the fact that she had to leave. What can ya do... except for be thankful for the time you did have, right? I'm still dreaming about the cinnamon rolls and iced coffee we had though.

Going to Spain. I'm going to Spain, ya'll. I know you already know that, but I'm still totally psyched. Seeing pictures like this (from my cousin Brad's blog... I'll plug that blog until I'm red in the face!) get me even more excited.

Going to culinary school at Le Cordon Bleu in Austin. Ok, this is simply that, a dream. Whenever I get frustrated at work because a 27-year-old just yelled at me for not being able to get money out of his retirement account for a big screen TV, I start dreaming about culinary school. Le Cordon Bleu has a Baking and Pastry Arts program that's been calling my name lately. And it's in Austin, which is where two of my favorite people (Joel and Jessie) live. So... yep, I'm dreaming.

This jacket. It's been raining a lot lately. And what better way to embrace the rain than a perfectly bright and cute rain jacket. Yep. I want it. Just can't seem to justify spending $100 on a jacket though...

The Jayhawks winning another championship. Keep your comments to yourself, MU fans. Because if you write something nasty on my blog, I'll just delete. Rock Chalk, babay!

Happy dreaming! (P.S. I officially finished this up at 6:38 pm. Took me a while to communicate myself today... or I actually worked while at work. But whatev.)

Try-It Tuesday: Roasted Garlic Chicken Pesto Pizza

Tonight might as well have been called Lazy Tuesday... But I can't think of a word that has the same meaning as lazy and starts with a T, so I guess we'll just stick with Try-It Tuesday...

This weekend my friend Jessie was in town. She hung out at our house on Sunday afternoon before going over to a friend's house for dinner. She was prepared to make dinner for the people who she was visiting (who goes to someone's house and makes THEM dinner? That'd be my friend Jessie...) so she made Annie's Eats' recipe for Perfect Homemade Pizza Crust, but ended up leaving it with us because her hostesses made her dinner after all... So, that left me with pizza dough that I could do something magical with. I decided on this Roasted Garlic Pesto Chicken Pizza recipe that I found on Pinterest. Funny enough, the blogger also used Annie's pizza dough recipe... I was going to make my own pesto, but I couldn't find pine nuts... or reasonably priced basil at the grocery store. So I bought store bought pesto. (I feel like my friend Valeria would be ashamed... Sorry, V.) I decided to continue with the laziness and buy pre-grated cheese, which I don't normally do... So, basically my ingredients:

-Pizza dough - not made by me

-Pesto - not made by me

-Mozzarella cheese - not made OR grated by me

-Chicken tenders - not slaughtered by me (but I guess I did cook it)

-Garlic - roasted by me! (this was the only thing I really did...)

The recipe was pretty good. I wouldn't say it was amazing though. It could have used more pesto... or something to give it a kick. The pizza crust, which claims to be the best pizza crust out there, was also just fine to me. I don't know if it was because I didn't have a pizza stone which it called for, or what, but I wasn't as wowed as I wanted to be. (I'm sure it had nothing to do with Jessie's preparation, because she rocks in the kitchen.) Anyway... it was good, but not great. Not every week can be a home run, right? My family left the meal happy and full, which is all I can ask for.

Until next Tuesday...!

(One of these days I'm accidentally going to drop my phone in the oven.)

A day in pictures...

Today has been a great day, so I thought I'd show you. I am pretty sure anyone who follows me on Instagram is like, "Abby, chill out with the pictures..." because I posted a lot today. But it's for a good cause... So I can show you what glorious things are out there!

(Ok, this one is actually from last night, but I wanted to show you anyway...) I ate at Beer Kitchen with Jessie and it was delicious! I had a Chicken Chow Mein Burger and Sweet Potato Fries. So. good.

I went to lunch with my friend Becca and afterward we stopped by Paper Source. I love that place! It inspires my creative side. I've decided if I don't become a baker, I want to become a card maker... maybe.

We also stopped by Sur la Table. I'm ready to get married so I can register there and get a whole new kitchen. And have I ever told you that I have a thing for whisks...? Because I do. My favorite kitchen utensil. Hands down.

While walking I spotted my first tulip of the year. I'm excited for tulip season.

I made Pioneer Woman's iced coffee recipe. It was pretty good! I have a feeling this is going to be a staple for my summer...

Now I'm headed over to some friend's tonight to play games. I always bring something baked, so made the Chocolate Chip Salted Caramel Cookie Bars again. The pan may or may not be half gone already...

New blog design...

I like my brother Cory a lot. He's funny. He's creative. He's passionate. He's caring. He's smart. He's just great. He designed yet another blog design that I really like. I'm pretty lucky to have a brother to do this for me. If it weren't for him, I'd have some lame header that Blogger provided

He's great. I've plugged his site once and I'll plug it again. corythomason.com You should check it out. Above is a picture of one of his recent designs that I really like. He designed a disc!

Thanks, Corky! (Nope, that's not a typo, that's what I call him.)

Favorite... for now....

I am about to make a very dramatic statement. You ready for it? I believe... that last night I baked what can possibly be called my favorite dessert ever. I know, I know, that's a big commitment. I reserve the right to take it back, and crown something else "favorite". But as of March 14th, 2012, this recipe for Chocolate Chip Salted Caramel Cookie Bars takes the cake.

A few weeks ago, my aunt Georgie called me asking about a recipe I had tried for Deep Dish Salted Chocolate Chip Cookie Pie (gone are the days of simple names for recipe...), but I told her that unless you have a cast iron pan... steer clear. I recommended the bar recipe instead, and she made it, and said they were a hit. So I baked them for a food day at work today, and they were a hit again! So good! My favorite recipe! Well, for now...

Try-It Tuesday: Creamy Baked Ziti

Tonight was a special night for Try-It Tuesday... My brothers Joel and Cory were home (and Kyle was supposed to be there, too, but couldn't make it) so it was a fuller house than normal. I thought it'd be better to lean on the safe side with my pick this week because I don't think the men in my family can handle anything too out of the box. My mom had come across a recipe for Creamy Baked Ziti on Pinterest and suggested that I try it out. You really can't go wrong with pasta...

...and this recipe kept the streak going with not being able to go wrong with pasta. It was so good. Too good actually. I've been shooting for healthy recipes lately, and this one was far from that. Cream cheese? Check. Sour cream? Check. Mozzarella cheese? Check. Parmesan cheese? Check. Italian sausage? Check. That's a lot of calories, ya'll. But that's also a lot of goodness. Don't let the list of craziness scare you away. It was delicious. (P.S. The recipe didn't call for any meat. And the Thomasons... we're meat eaters. So I added a little over a half pound of Italian sausage, thanks to the suggestion of my Momma. I'd say that was a good call.)

Guess who's going to Spain...

...this girl! It's official! I booked my flight! My aunt and uncle are so gracious to let me tag along on their trip to Spain to visit one of my favorite guys: my cousin Brad. May 15th can't come soon enough!