I might have a grilled cheese...

Gluten Free baking poses a challenge - gluten is what gives elacticity, leavening, flakiness, and a great fluffy chew. When things don't work - they REALLY don't work. Last week I attempted a loaf of bread from a mix and it just really . didn't . work.

Now, I'm not a chef, or even a truly great cook - but I'm a good cook, and I know how to follow directions. It can be discouraging with cooking gluten free. My husband reminds me that everything is trial and error and lessons learned. Being practical, having an expensive mix (as gluten free mixes often are) turn out inedible is just plain sad.

So I turned to what I do know - cooking from scratch seems to work better. It just requires having a lot of different ingredients on hand. Thats where amazon came in handy. I ordered several flours I've used previously, and a couple new, in packages containing 4 of each at a discount.

Thursday night, armed with the ingredients and a recipe from glutenfreegirl.com, I made a (very) successful loaf of gluten free bread!

everyone loves a good before and after

Our apartment is lovely, and just the right amount of space for us at the moment, but living organized in a small space is tough. Our kitchen was seriously lacking in storage and we'd been on the Craig's List hunt for weeks when we found this amazing vintage drawer cabinet. It's a little smaller than we originally wanted, but has tons of character and will be useful in the future.

(I lined the drawers by decoupage with patterned amy butler paper)

(during the registry process I thought a popcorn machine was an unsightly, unused, space wasting machine - but we use it a few times a week! yummy!)

collecting

(via myspinningwheels)

So, who would be willing to send old dress shirts my way? Any men's shirt that is headed for the trash can - please send it to me so I can reuse it! I have future plans for a men's shirting quilt.

taking time to breathe

Finally... we have nights and weekends to relax. Room to breathe. No 150 person menu planning, no favors. Time to enjoy each other, to enjoy our friends, our family, and even ourselves.

I love post wedding life. I love being married and settling in to the days, slowly making our home ours. Everyone said that I wouldn't know what to do with my time after the wedding planning had finally come to an end - but I seem to be filling it just fine. So fine, actually, that I'm already juggling projects.

Here are a few peeks of what I've been up to for the past two months...



I have several before and after projects under way - watch out for my new kitchen cabinet in a few days and our new patio furniture next week!