Wednesday, September 19, 2012

The Sookie Stackhouse

HBO official site

It has been nearly a month since the culmination of True Blood season 5, but for some of us, the loss (or more accurately, huge gain...in time not spent sitting in front of a television) is still too recent. So, when the topic of vampires and werewolves came up at a dinner with friends, there were those of us who jumped on the opportunity to talk HBO smut like a baby vamp jumps on a Fangtasia virgin in dark eyeliner. As the stouts and white wine flowed, and meat--hot off the grill--glistened in candlelight, the conversation invariably turned to sex (this is HBO people!!!)

...and of course, we all have our thoughts, vamp, wolf or otherwise. I think we've all pretty much ruled out faeries entirely. Let's face it: weird lights, creepy mannerisms, crazy-high fertility rate and the possibility of birthing dodecatuplets that call the attention of every blood-sucker on the globe with their scent alone?...mmmm, no thanks. Even the fangers sound better than that--assuming you're Sookie. But despite their sizzling sex-appeal on screen, they are corpses nonetheless. They don't even produce body heat. Just think about that for a moment.

Yuck.

Werewolves, on the other hand, are as hot-blooded as they come. AND they don't have that annoying disfunction with sunlight that maintains the attraction of many a sad, pale teenager; meaning you could actually go on a date (assuming you aren't the one on the menu) in a place where everyone won't look at you like a ham sandwich. Also, you could probably hold down a normal job and generally be a more social and valuable member of society keeping the sun's schedule (considering you are still looking for a life outside of a supernatural's bedchambers). Plus the fur...and flannel...AND the scent of fresh pines...and, and, ok...you get an idea of who I'd choose.

Also HBO official wallpaper

ANYWAY....

As we were discussing these delightfully trashy, fantasy issues,  we just so happened to be eating this little dessert you may have heard of...once, in the distant, far reaches of your Pinterest folders, buried in the first pins you ever pinned. SLUTTY BROWNIES... Yes, it's all coming back to you now, that instant your eyes widened and your sweat and saliva flowed at the very idea of that decadent heart-attack waiting to happen in your kitchen. I pinned it too, oh yes, but out of some forewarning since of guilt over this indulgence I knew would destroy me, I immediately pushed the thought to the furthest corner of my mind, never to be brought up in my own apartment. However, there it was, absorbing the energy at our buddies' dinner party, and beaming its warmth and seductive joy at us in layers of chocolate chip, Oreo and brownie. Of course I couldn't resist. And so, I ate those Slutty Brownies made by my good friend, Kavi...and I took some home, which my husband and I ate at 10 o'clock the very next night. So bad....but oh, ...so good.


The girls, heckling and toasting success.


And that is how this dessert blog idea came to be...(not with the leftovers, but right then)...What better way to combine two amazingly sinful indulgences into one? A True Blood themed version of Slutty Brownies....I call it (but what else?) The Sookie Stackhouse!!!! And so, we promptly scheduled a lady date or girls' night in, in which we could drink and bake and talk steamy, monster man preferences to our hearts' content!

And THIS is what we came up with:



So, there is the simple version of our baking process, but what would a True Blood themed bake night be without a satisfyingly dramatic kitchen fire?

 

I hope this doesn't do permanent damage...as we spend the first three minutes gasping tipsily and taking pictures of the inferno raging in my tiny apartment.
 
Ok, please don't judge me, but I thought it might be a neat idea to turn the oven to broil (just for a minute!!!) in order to quickly melt and bronze the white chocolate chip & coconut topping...you know, to give it that blonde look.
 

 
Turns out I don't really know much about how my broiler works. However, I do think that encrusting our creation in a molten topping shield of ash was actually the secret to a very moist cake underneath. In fact, I would say it is detrimental to creating the perfect "Sookie Stackhouse". I highly recommend it.

 
We re-topped it of course, tough we were a little oven-shy of trying to melt it again. Clearly, though, it did not spoil our evening. Indeed, just the opposite.
 
Everything you see and worry about in this picture is perfectly natural and normal...to us.
Look at those layers!!!!
 Proof!!!


Yes, that is a True Blood cookbook on the table. No, I cannot take credit for that lovely addition. Kavi brought it to our utmost excitement.

 
Now, my lovelies, go try every bit of this at home! Watch the episodes while you're at it. I promise you, it's "to DIE for"!!!!! Mwahahahahha!!!!!

Sunday, December 4, 2011

Merry Crafting!



Okay, so maybe I've been singing Christmas tunes since Halloween, but at least I had the good sense to wait until AFTER Thanksgiving before I decorated the apartment this year! I know I've already posted all these photos on facebook, but having little (that I wanted) to do during my last couple hours of this weekend, I felt like starting up this blog again and re-vamping it a little. No more wedding stuff. That's all put away now, and it's time to face the actual ever after part. So, here is my new/old hobby to picked up on the occasions that I am not frantically too busy with life to enjoy just browsing the internet for beautiful things and adding my little quips here and there. Hope you like the new look.



 Being in the north once again, I've had a mild obsession with reindeer and snowflakes this time around. Yet, I can't help be stay true to my favorite peace theme and kept the tradition alive with birds adorning a live tree, which this year is a rosemary bush I bought on clearance from the nursery down the hill. But all this small talk aside, the holiday season makes me just as giddy now as when I was a kid. Not to mention, we finally have a fireplace mantel for the first time in our adult lives!!! So, here are my little crafts this year to bring on the good tidings in our new home in Vermont. Hope they bring you as much warmth as it brought me to make them.


And of course, my handsome husband, studying while I play some Nat King Cole and decorate the tree!
Happy Holidays!
XOXOXO

Friday, October 7, 2011

Happily Ever After!!!!



Here we are four months after the big day and all I've managed to do post-wedding responsibility-wise is post some pictures on facebook and order prints to fill our albums. Not that I haven't been dying to get back on this blog, but real life swoops in swiftly after the honeymoon! So, to fill y'all in on the details des Garuz, I had to make one last big blog post before I change the title and subject over from "Ash & Jeyko Wed" to something having a little more to do with this crazy balancing act of nesting syndrome, med-school, the establishment of some career or other, and warding off babies (just for now), that we have welcomed as our new life=)
First things first, THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!! To everyone who came and participated in our wedding (Best Day Ever) or sent us sweet cards/gifts even though you couldn't make it, Jeyko and I thank you from the bottom of our hearts. We are also tremendously sorry that we still have not sent out thank you cards. Jeyko got the letter of acceptance to University of Vermont Medical School, and seeing as it started in only a couple of months, we made the split decision to pack up everything and move. The process between deciding what to do and actually Uhauling everything up to Burlington, parking in front of a realtor's office and begging for an application for one of the last remaining apartments, took a grand total of three weeks. It was that crazy.

 


Just before the big move (literally, the week before) we took a few days with Mom and Kevin relaxing in Akumal Bay, Mexico, watching sea turtle mamas lay their eggs, and snorkeling and such. Jeyko and I took an epic (yes, I said it) bicycle ride through the jungle in the rain discovering Mayan sites on trails where we sometimes were entirely on our own for almost a mile. Magical? I say yes!


Then, after a day or three saying our goodbyes, we set off with the help of Jeyko's parents and Daddy's big truck up to future-land. We had so much fun toodling around with them in Burlington for a week while they helped us settle in (and Papi basically re-built every piece of furniture we own, plus more). Have I mentioned we have the most incredible parents ever?!


The next couple weeks after they left were our real honeymoon, soaking up the sights of Vermont (this state is flipping gorgeous!), doing mini roadtrips back and forth between Burlington, Webster, New Hampshire (to visit his cousins), and Portland, Maine (where my brother, Austin lives). We've hit up a few breweries between here and there and intend to do more. All in all, we had a blast together before Med-school quickly swooped in....oh, what am I sayin', we're still having a blast! We've come to know so many wonderful people in his class!


As soon as August hit, we made a frantic dash of completing our new living space, finding a 'place' for our amounts of stuff that suddenly seemed borderline ridiculous, going to all the getting-to-know-you functions at school, and suddenly leaping into my two new jobs that started at once just before the end of the month. Whew! and it hasn't really slowed down since! In other words, please don't hold my lack of etiquette against me too much...as soon as I actually dig all those papers full of addresses out from wherever they're hiding, I will certainly get on the thank you notes. Cross my heart.



In the meantime, I finally have a way of getting all our pictures out to you to print, order straight from the site, or just browse through, your choice. There are something like 1490 of them, so there should be plenty to keep you busy! I'll work on getting some videos up on there as well. The site is a share site from Shutterfly, which is great because there are always deals. The link is: http://announcingashleighjeykogaruz.shutterfly.com/ . Again, THANK YOU so much! Keep in touch!


Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Bridal Shower Thanks!!!!

Before anything else, I want to give a big, huge THANK YOU to these wonderful ladies:

Dona Moss, Memaw Moss, Aunt Anita, Aunt Terry, Aunt Marty, Aunt Alice, Megan and Taylor, Aunt Kathy, Teresa and Shaina Corbin, Julia Schaupp, and Alejandra Garuz, Rebecca Sherrer and Louise Thompson (who unfortunately couldn't be there, but were so sweet to send me a present).

You ladies rock my socks and I love you so much!
Not that I love the other special ladies in my life any less, but these gals made the bridal shower so special. So, THANK YOU again!



May 1st was a beautiful day all planned out by my wonderful "bonus" mom, Dona. She hosted my bridal shower at the Ivy House in downtown Alachua, where we were given our own little room with a fireplace upstairs. The place is BEAUTIFUL, the food was incredible, and oh my gosh....the CAKE! Not quiet your normal carrot cake; a little more citrus and coconut than carrot; but it was to die for! But why talk about what a great time we had when you can see for yourself?

 My Memaw and step-mom, Dona
 Just the aunts!
 The wonderful Corbin ladies, Teresa and Shaina
 My sweet little cousin, Taylor
 Shaina in the schmancy gift shop
 Shaina, one of my bestest friends!
 A few pictures of me with my "bonus" mom and hostess, Dona


 Opening presents!!!
 Maybe I should have finished on this picture...Yum!
 The super awesome and unexpected pink elephant tea-pot!
Shaina and her mama are cool like that;P

The photographers of all these lovely pictures! Shaina took all the black and white ones and the gorgeous cake and present photo at the top. The rest were taken by Teresa. Dona took a bunch also which include the rest of our guests a little more (Julia and Megan weren't shown in these) but I don't have those ones quite yet. I will post them later when they're available.

And now, as a very special thank you to the presenters of all the fine gifts...And for those who unfortunately could not make it but wish they could have (sorry Mama)... I unveil the presents!


 That beautiful tablecloth is also a gift, by the way:)






And I can't leave out this beautiful piece of garden art that our friend, Ezra, gave to Jeyko while I was off sitting fancy with the girls. Thank you Ezra!

So again, THANK YOU SO MUCH to everyone. Everything is so beautiful and Jeyko is just as excited as I am about them. We can't wait to see you all for the big day in just a few weeks! Love y'all!