Scratch

Happy September!

It hurts so good, doesn’t it?

Just wanted to quickly let you know I added the banana in the Love Muffin recipe! Sorry for the delay. I meant to fix it yesterday and then I forgot in all the excitement.

Let me continue with yesterday’s anniversary recap from way back in August… ;)

The traditional gift for a 2nd year wedding anniversary is cotton.

Sadly, not jewelry. Or copious amounts of chocolate smothered in White Chocolate Peanut Butter.

Sooooo….I got Eric a couple new cotton shirts…

Amazingly, they fit AND he liked them. I usually get one or the other so I consider this a success. Eric has gone from an Extra-large to a large and now he is a medium. One of these days he is going to turn sideways and I won’t see him anymore!

For my cotton gifts, Eric gave me some fall-coloured tea towels:

They will go smashingly with all the pumpkin and cinnamon. ;)

And a gorgeous retro apron from Anthropologie.

A great gift for a cooking + baking obsessed gal like myself.

Then it was time for our anniversary book.

You might recall, I gave Eric this book for our 1st wedding anniversary (the ‘paper’ year).

Paper, now cotton. Well, at least we are making progress…?!

For the explanation and detail shots, see this post.

Each year, we put together 1 large page that documents the entire year in review.

Last year I started it off…

and this year Eric made one.

I laughed so hard when I saw the Vitamix thing.

If you are not watching Lie To Me yet, you must from the very first episode. You will thank me later, I promise!

Eric did an awesome job! Next year it will be my turn again. :) I think it will be really fun to look back in 10, 15, 20 years and re-read everything and see how much things have changed. Or…we might just feel old and pour ourselves another glass of wine and laugh about how immature and naive we used to be.

Only time will tell!

After exchanging gifts, it was time to fill our bellies with delicious food.

Eric suggested that we cook together instead of going out. We rarely get a chance to cook together because Eric gets home from work so late, but last night it worked out just perfectly.

Cooking together is a great excuse to pour some wine and get all crazy.

This tea light set is one of my favourite purchases from Costco.

Chewy, nutty, thick brown rice. Mmm.

Homemade sauce with fresh herbs.

Oh this smells good, I say. Want to try some?

I can’t get over how fast cooking is when you have two people- and four hands- and 20 fingers! We prepared this meal from scratch start to finish in about 45 minutes (and that was mostly waiting for the sauce to cook while we put away dishes).

Another great thing about aprons? They double as a bib when you eat tomato sauce dishes. ;)

Homemade Chunky Tomato Sauce over Salt-Kissed & Buttery Brown Rice

Ingredients:

Homemade Pasta Sauce:

• 2 large cans of organic diced tomatoes (796 ml can x 2)
• 1/4 cup tomato paste
• 1 cup butter beans (or other bean), processed until chunky paste forms
• 2 patty pan squash, chopped
• 1 large sweet onion, chopped
• 1 green pepper, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• Fresh herbs: Thyme, parsley, oregano, minced (about 1-2 tbsp of each)
• 1 tsp sea salt, to taste (more if necessary)
• Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• Sprinkle or three of Herbamare, to taste

Directions: In a large pot place all prepped ingredients. Stir well and cover. Cook over medium heat for 45 minutes.

Salt-Kissed & Buttery Brown Rice

• 2 cups brown rice
• 5 cups (approx I didn’t measure) water
• 1 vegetable brouillon cube
• 2 tbsp Earth Balance

Directions: In a medium sized pot add water and bring to a boil. Once boiled, add bouillon cube, remove from heat, and dissolve. Now add 2 cups of rice. Cook over medium heat for about 30 minutes until tender, being sure to watch it carefully. Add more water if it becomes dry. When it is cooked spoon the Earth Balance on top and stir well. It will taste DELICIOUS!

We fell in love with this dish. The brown rice was great too! Buttery, salty, and tons of flavour.

We split a love muffin for dessert. Lovin’ the love muffins.

It was a fun night, but sadly it was over too soon. That is always the way when celebrations fall on a weeknight. Luckily the long weekend approaches!